“We’ve already asked around, more or less,” Li Liangzi said, rubbing her temples. “It’s not just true believers—anyone with a certain degree of faith in some religion has been receiving so-called ‘divine revelations’ in their sleep.”
“Depending on what they believe in, the ‘deities’ in their dreams use different rhetoric, but the message is always the same—give up resistance and become a believer.”
He Wuning said flatly, “At a glance, this is obviously a tactic from the monster side, right?”
“It is a simple, easy-to-see trap,” Yi Luo said, sobering up. “But simple doesn’t mean ineffective.”
“In an apocalyptic game like this, the human psyche is far more fragile than we imagine,” Xue Xun sighed. “Starting tomorrow, we’ll probably be hanging banners and doing nonstop loudspeaker announcements. Hopefully it’ll help a little.”
“That golden, shining Buddha kept saying things to me like ‘Since you have seen the Tathagata, why do you not bow?’ and ‘The suffering of this life brings blessings in the next,’” He Anan recalled. “I pretended to be interested and asked what it actually took to become a ‘believer.’”
“He said that agreeing was enough to count as conversion, so I immediately rejected it.”
“I used to think that even in a situation like this, most people wouldn’t rashly stand on the opposite side of humanity,” Zuo Qianming said, frowning and scratching his head. “But now…They’ve found a reason convincing enough for themselves—faith.”
“Those frightened, wavering players are very likely to choose to become ‘believers’ when danger strikes.”
Master Zhiyin frowned and shook his head slightly. “That is not Buddhism.”
Li Liangzi said nothing at first. After a moment of silence, she looked out the window. “I agree with taking the initiative.”
“With this newly opened oracle event, the monster side holds an absolute advantage. For the first three days, we can only respond passively. And given the current situation…”
“Zone B and C correspond to countries on Blue Star with officially recognized religions. In many of them, religious penetration may even exceed general education levels. We can’t underestimate the influence these dreams will have on them,” Li Liangzi sighed. “The newly unlocked zones are probably much the same.”
“And even in our own country, there are plenty of people with religious beliefs. Right now, we not only can’t fully trust other zones—even our own players require a certain degree of caution.”
“In my view, the best way to level the playing field, besides defense, is offense.”
She looked at He Wuning, who immediately understood her meaning. “So you support opening the new event.”
He glanced at Xue Xun. “What about everyone else? If the majority agrees, we need to hurry with the collection task.”
Master Zhi Yin opened his backpack and laid out “Withered Branch,” “Cracked Soil,” and “Muddy Liquid” on the table, expressing his stance through action alone.
He Wuning nodded lightly. “Understood.”
Xue Xun sighed worriedly. “I’d like to move quickly too, but the command divisions are still arguing nonstop. I can’t even find a chance to get them into a meeting about this…”
“Then what about Qi Hong?” He Anan suddenly spoke up with a smile, bending down toward the prophet slumped over the table. “I saw you open your eyes. Don’t pretend to be asleep—did you see anything in the future?”
Qi Hong opened his eyes but stayed lying on the table. He looked at He Anan, as if trying to read something from his gaze, then answered softly, “I did.”
Xue Xun looked startled.
“Huh?” Zuo Qianming jumped up. “What did you see?”
“Silly kid, why didn’t you say so earlier? We had to ask you ourselves! Did you see us starting the task?”
Qi Hong hesitated and glanced at He Anan. Encouraged by his smile, he nodded gently.
Xue Xun stared at the two of them for a long moment, then scratched his head without saying anything.
Zuo Qianming jumped up again. “If he’s already seen it, can’t we skip the middle steps? Save some time. I bet the final conclusion will be offense anyway—let’s hurry up and post requests for materials!”
“Sigh.” Xue Xun ran a hand through his hair, looking troubled. “I’ll try my best to push them, then.”
He Wuning glanced out the window. The sun was already halfway up. He stood. “It’s almost seven. Let’s go.”
Xue Xun looked surprised. “What are you planning to do now?”
“Set up a stall,” Yi Luo said, standing and following after He Wuning. “Director Xue, want to come with us?”
He Wuning suddenly turned back and called out, “He Anan, come out for a moment.”
“Huh?” He Anan looked surprised and glanced at the others present.
Zuo Qianming waved him off. “That little fool’s prophecy cooldown is always long anyway. I doubt he has anything new to say for a while—just go.”
He turned and half-heartedly sought his director’s opinion. “Right, Director?”
Li Liangzi nodded. “Mm.”
“It won’t take long—just a few words,” He Wuning said, leaning against the doorway.
He Anan walked out past everyone and looked at He Wuning curiously, closing the door behind him. A vague sense of unease rose in his chest. He frowned slightly and lowered his voice. “What is it?”
He Wuning patted his shoulder. “Nothing. I just remembered you probably don’t know this yet, so I’m reminding you—don’t lie in front of Xue Xun. He can see right through it.”
He Anan: “……”
“Hmm?” Yi Luo looked at He Anan, noticing his sudden change in expression, and asked confusedly, “When did he lie?”
“How did you tell?”
“I can see through lies in novels too,” He Wuning said, hands in his pockets, seeming unconcerned.
He Anan sighed. “Maybe… even though we’re fraternal twins, we have a little bit of some kind of telepathy?”
“I’d find it stranger if they couldn’t see through it,” He Wuning said, tilting his head slightly. “His face literally screams ‘lying.’”
Yi Luo glanced at He Anan, expressionless. “Sorry, but I didn’t notice anything at all—what exactly did he lie about?”
“Strictly speaking, it’s not that he lied,” Xue Xun suddenly said as he opened the door, shaking his head helplessly. “It’s Qi Hong who lied.”
He Anan stiffened and didn’t look back at him.
“I found it strange at the time. That kid said, ‘I saw it,’ and he was lying. So everything that followed was naturally false,” Xue Xun stood behind He Anan. “But I couldn’t figure out why he lied. He’s never done this before—at most, he just stayed quiet.”
“But when I saw He Wuning call you out, I realized a little bit of what was going on.”
“Sigh,” Xue Xun said. “‘Affinity’—that seemingly useless ability—is also scary. Even after realizing he lied, I still can’t treat him as a bad person.”
“However,” Xue Xun’s expression grew serious, “Qi Hong’s prophetic ability is an important reference for us. I don’t know why you felt the need to make him lie, but this could seriously mislead us.”
“I hope you don’t do this again next time.”
He Anan didn’t look at him, staring away and muttering somewhat gloomily, “…Got it.”
He Wuning didn’t look unhappy at all. Instead, he smirked a little in a schadenfreude way. He Anan, feeling glum, looked over, and He Wuning immediately restrained himself, clearing his throat: “Don’t scold too harshly.”
He Anan frowned and glared at him. “And you’re laughing at me!”
He Wuning shrugged lightly. “I already told you not to lie.”
“But…” He Wuning looked at Xue Xun, “He had no ulterior motives or bad intentions. He just wanted to help me.”
“I wanted to start the event, and he helped me recruit a supporter whose words carry weight—that’s all.”
Xue Xun shook his head helplessly. “I’m also in favor of offense, but when reporting, I still can’t give false intel that ‘Qi Hong saw us starting the event.’”
He Anan lowered his head.
Xue Xun smiled. “But I’ll tell them that both Qi Hong and He Anan support starting the offensive task.”
“Alright, aren’t you supposed to open the store? Go, hurry, and remember to stay within the safe zone!”
He Anan watched his back as he left and pressed his lips together slightly.
“Then I’m leaving,” He Wuning said, and Yi Luo also prepared to depart. Standing beside He Wuning, Yi Luo finally spoke after they’d walked a short distance: “Aren’t you going to soothe your brother a bit?”
“No need,” He Wuning said casually. “He’s probably just a little frustrated because it’s the first time he’s messed up. This is good—it teaches him not to lie casually.”
“He’s used this trick before because people always fell for it.”
“Heh,” Yi Luo chuckled. “Hearing you say that, you really do seem like a brother.”
He Wuning glanced at him. “What’s wrong—want to be my little brother too?”
“That won’t do,” Yi Luo laughed, eyes crinkling. “I want to be something else.”
He Wuning didn’t respond.
Yi Luo couldn’t resist asking, “Why don’t you ask what I want to be?”
“Not asking,” He Wuning said, glancing at him, amused. Who would knowingly jump into a trap when they knew the other wouldn’t give a good answer?
He raised an eyebrow and sneered, “Serves you right.”
Yi Luo: “…”
“Don’t you have any curiosity?”
Q-chan, perched on He Wuning’s shoulder, said, “Probably his competitive streak outweighs it…”
……
Today, the milk tea car went out a little earlier than usual. Most people had woken up earlier as well. Seeing the milk tea car come out as usual actually gave them some comfort. Gradually, people started coming out of the buildings and lining up in front of the car.
The Operations Department’s milk tea had been pre-ordered. Now, in addition to the usual safe zone players, the friendly night watchers they’d seen last night were also there.
One appeared to have brought his whole family, standing at the front of the line and waving warmly.
Q-chan translated thoughtfully: “He says hi, my friends!”
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The author has something to say:
Q-chan: If noodles can have a cult, then I’m going to start the Pink Milk Tea Sect too!
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