HP - Chapter 44

Kingdom of Gods 22

The heavy rain in the city districts had lasted for a full week, with no sign of stopping.

The prosperous nation, its colorful neon lights, gradually went dark beneath the downpour.

The “gods” moved through the curtain of rain with numb expressions, blood winding beneath their feet. Wails and sobs became the most common sounds in the city. Later, monsters’ bodies grew out of their flesh and blood. “Reversed battles” occurred again and again. Corpses collapsed in the torrential rain—submerged, ignored, trampled underfoot.

The stench spread everywhere, so strong it could even seep through walls. The smell grew stranger and stranger, sharp enough to sting the eyes.

But in the end, everyone got used to it.

“I’m back.” Ji Zhou closed his umbrella and stepped into the abandoned tower.

This place had once been a Tarot Path stronghold, but after You Shaofei and the bald man died, no other Tarot Path members came. The patrol drones that once circled the area had long since been withdrawn. It seemed they had already given up on this place.

No one would have imagined that Zhong Xu and the others would dare hide here.

There was no choice. Ji Zhou and Qiu Heming’s residence had long been exposed. This was already the best hiding place they could think of.

“Food is limited. Ah Xu, hang in there a little longer, okay?”

Ji Zhou distributed the few pieces of dry bread and bottles of water he had painstakingly snatched to Qiu Heming and Ning Zhi.

The city districts were now in complete chaos. Whenever food appeared in shops, it was almost immediately looted. Those shop owners were NPCs. No one knew how they obtained their supplies, and no one dared to attack them either—because at this point, they were the only ones who could still provide food resources on a regular basis.

Zhong Xu glanced at him indifferently.

She wouldn’t die, so there was indeed no need for her to compete with them for food.

Ji Zhou tore open a bag of bread and walked over to Zhong Xu, hesitating as he said, “But I know—you still get hungry, you still crave food, right? Otherwise you could chew it and then…”

Zhong Xu finally lost her patience. “If you dare say something disgusting, I’ll throw you over to Qiu Heming as food.”

Qiu Heming: “……”

Ji Zhou took a resentful bite of bread. “I think that’s actually a pretty perfect idea. And the one who’d be suffering wouldn’t it still be me?”

Qiu Heming coughed twice. “Just a reminder—I don’t eat people.”

Fortunately, Qiu Heming’s Tarot card ability was “Resurrection,” so he survived. Although his injuries were severe and couldn’t heal immediately, they were slowly recovering.

There was only one problem. The skeletal monster that had grown out of the flesh of his back still existed. No matter how he tried, he couldn’t retract it or return it to normal—at best, he could shrink it. As a result, Qiu Heming now looked as though he were carrying a headless skeleton on his back.

“Good thing the monster on your back is made of bones. It doesn’t need to eat.” Ji Zhou, who was mainly responsible for scavenging food, was particularly concerned about this point.

“I’m still really curious—how did you even come up with reversed cards?”

Ning Zhi looked up from the corner and asked.

She didn’t really trust Qiu Heming and was keeping the farthest possible distance from him.

Back then, the four of them had basically escaped the base under Zhong Xu’s protection.

The upper ranks of the Tarot Path also seemed to be tied up with something else and didn’t pursue them relentlessly, which was how they narrowly escaped with their lives.

After getting out, the very first thing Ning Zhi wanted to understand was what exactly was going on with the monster.

Both she and Ji Zhou had assumed it was some strange method used by the Tarot Path.

Then Qiu Heming said, “I’m the starting point.”

Ning Zhi immediately retreated into a corner that allowed both offense and defense.

“Not me—NPCs.” Qiu Heming’s voice was still hoarse. “I once heard the term ‘Reversed Calamity’ from an NPC, so I made some guesses of my own.”

“You can just guess something like that?

“Of course not. I was captured by the Tarot Path back then and had no other option. I could only risk everything on one desperate gamble. I didn’t expect my guess would turn out to be right.” Qiu Heming spread his hands and smiled.

Ning Zhi studied him closely—she felt that what he was saying didn’t sound entirely true.

But her identification ability told her something else: this person was good.

Ji Zhou spoke bluntly, “Good thing you tried. Otherwise, you probably would’ve died at the Tarot Path’s hands.”

“But now, the Tarot Path is using reversed cards on a large scale, creating more and more monsters,” Ning Zhi said with a grave frown. “I’m afraid the Judgment Eye and the Pantheon… will lose.”

Hearing this, Qiu Heming looked at her strangely. “Why do you think those two factions wouldn’t start using reversed cards as well?”

Ning Zhi replied instinctively, “Because that doesn’t align with the original purpose behind their factions’ creation.”

But after saying it, she herself was startled.

Both Ji Zhou and Qiu Heming were looking at her. She slowly lowered her eyes. “In the face of life and death, nothing is absolute.”

At that moment, Zhong Xu’s voice sounded. “Ning Zhi, say it. Why did you come looking for me?”

Several pairs of eyes immediately turned toward Ning Zhi.

After all, she had appeared out of nowhere, risked her life to break into the Tarot Path’s base with them, and was now hiding here alongside them. They all wanted to know—what exactly was she trying to do?

“You all know that the Judgment Eye is mission-oriented. So am I. I want to complete missions,” Ning Zhi said openly, showing no intention of hiding anything. “Have you played MMOs? Multiplayer games require coordination. I have no combat power, so I need teammates with strong combat ability. Zhong Xu is wanted by the Tarot Path—I think that means her strength must be formidable, and she’s bold. The Judgment Eye doesn’t dare casually kill Tarot Path members, but she does so without hesitation. So I want to become Zhong Xu’s teammate.”

Ji Zhou jumped up immediately. “Great! I’ll buy you food! And you’re actually trying to steal our captain?!”

“Captain?” Zhong Xu turned her gaze toward Ji Zhou.

Ji Zhou patted Qiu Heming on the shoulder, grinning brightly. “Ah He and I have already decided. We’re offering our greatest sincerity to invite you to be our captain, our leader—no salary needed. Just give us food and let us stay alive.”

Qiu Heming hissed. “My shoulder is injured too!”

“Sorry, sorry…”

Ning Zhi hesitated as she glanced at the two of them, then quickly made up her mind. “Zhong Xu, I can also be your team member.”

Ji Zhou said, “Ah He, did you see that look just now? Wasn’t that disdain? She’s forcing her way into our triangle squad and still looking down on us!”

Qiu Heming said, “Then should I kill her?”

Ji Zhou replied, “Do it at night. Too many people around right now.”

Ning Zhi took a deep breath. “I’m more mature and steady than the two of them.”

“……” Ji Zhou turned his head. “That’s it, I can’t take it anymore. Do it now!”

This childish farce was put to an end by a single kick from Zhong Xu.

She looked at Ning Zhi. “You said you’re a game planner. Then what ideas do you have about clearing the game?”

Before Ning Zhi could answer, Ji Zhou jumped up yet again, eyes sparkling with excitement. “Ah Xu! You agreed! What’s the date today again? Ah Xu agreed!”

He didn’t care—since Ah Xu hadn’t rejected it immediately, that meant she agreed.

“Quiet.” Zhong Xu raised her hand, tapped Ji Zhou on the forehead with her fingers, and pushed him away.

His eyes were still bright as he stared at her without moving.

Ning Zhi knew this was Zhong Xu’s test.

After a moment of composure, she answered, “Games don’t set dead ends. Even if players have different identities and different abilities, the game mechanics will create a basic balance—the principle of one rising as another falls. We are all players. We will all have a way to clear the game.”

She looked straight into Zhong Xu’s eyes. “Whether it’s the identity of a god, or the identity of a sinner.”

The moment Ning Zhi said this, Ji Zhou’s and Qiu Heming’s expressions subtly changed.

Zhong Xu raised an eyebrow, finding it somewhat interesting.

Previously, Ning Zhi had always believed Zhong Xu’s immortality came from a card, and Zhong Xu had never denied it. But now that Ning Zhi said this, it was clear she knew Zhong Xu’s identity was different from theirs.

“It’s still an issue of balance within game mechanics,” Ning Zhi continued explaining. “Multiplayer games require cooperation, so card abilities can differ, but there shouldn’t be overwhelmingly suppressive abilities. If such an ability exists, it likely means a different identity was drawn. So I speculate that our enemy is you, and your enemy is us.”

“In that case, you still want to team up with me? And what reason do I have to team up with you?” Zhong Xu smiled faintly. “I should kill you first.”

“I think this game is not a killing game!” Ning Zhi said rapidly. “If it were simply a killing game, all abilities would be combat-oriented, not spread across so many types.”

“So I believe there is a path that allows all of us to clear the game safely.”

“That’s just your speculation,” Zhong Xu said calmly.

“That’s right. I still need more clues to verify it.” Ning Zhi nodded, her gaze sweeping over everyone. “I need everyone’s strength to explore this world and find a way to survive.”

Ji Zhou and Qiu Heming didn’t speak, only shifting their gazes toward Zhong Xu.

Zhong Xu looked at Ning Zhi. After three seconds of silence, she said, “Alright.”

Before Ning Zhi could smile, Zhong Xu added, “But if it’s confirmed in the end that clearing the game requires killing all of you, I won’t hesitate at all… Of course, you’re also welcome to try to kill me.”

Ning Zhi’s expression turned solemn. She nodded. “Before that happens, I’ll do my best to find a way to clear the game without killing anyone.”

Ji Zhou smiled. “I’ll follow whatever the captain decides.”

Qiu Heming also nodded, a flicker of a smile flashing through his eyes as he looked at Zhong Xu.

Ding ding ding—

A strange ringing sound suddenly came from outside.

The few people inside the abandoned tower all jolted, instinctively thinking their whereabouts had been exposed, but quickly realized it didn’t seem to be the case.

They rushed to the window and looked outside—

At the same time, more and more players heard the sound and came out as well. Discovering that the source was above them, they lifted their heads.

A flying ship drifted through the sky, projecting a real-time holographic broadcast.

What was happening?

That was the question in everyone’s mind.

In the next moment, the holographic image lit up, revealing a figure.

Qiu Heming’s pupils shrank as he blurted out, “How is that possible?”

Zhong Xu said, “Oh wow.”

“Good morning, everyone! Did you all manage to grab food? The weather forecast says the heavy rain will last forever—how depressing!”

“What kind of Divine Kingdom is this? It’s basically a Kingdom of Calamity, isn’t it?”

“Shall we leave this place? We need to complete the mission and clear the game!” The person in the image smiled sweetly. “How do we clear it? The rules already say it: among the gods, there is a sinner hidden. Find that sinner, and we can successfully clear the game and survive.”

“The sinner has already been discovered by the Tarot Path. She is—”

In the next instant, Zhong Xu’s photo was projected from the flying ship.

“Zhong Xu, holder of the blank card. She is the sinner.”

Luo Shen—who had already died—appeared in the holographic image, smiling sweetly, her eyes cruel, as if steeped in poison.

Sevyn here ~~~

Enjoy!