Chapter 634: 634
The balding man was a little groggy after he fell out of the birdcage . He hit the ground hard and rolled across the platform unconsciously, only regaining his consciousness just as he was about to fall down from the platform . He grabbed the edge and raised his head .
His mind was still a muddled mess, and stars whirled in his eyes . He gave a quick shake of his head to chase the stars away .
“What?” He rubbed his mouth, scrambled up from the ground, and began to take in his surroundings .
Even without turning his head, Maxin could sense the tensed atmosphere behind him . The grand prize was standing stiff as a ramrod, his jaw tightly set .
“You… You… Are you the one who re-released me?” the balding man said, slurring his words like a drunkard .
“Yes, you’re free now,” Ji Shanqing replied calmly .
“Where am I?”
Suddenly, disappointment crawled upon Ji Shanqing’s face . He clenched his jaw so tightly that his teeth ached . He made a fist with his hand and took another deep breath as he looked straight into the balding man’s eyes . Looking at his expression, Maxin retreated two steps back .
“Hold on a second . ” The fog in the balding man’s eyes cleared . His memories returned . Then, as everything came together and formed a rational thought in his brain, he jerked up and growled furiously, “Hey! You’re the one who took my things! Give them back to me!”
Maxin heard Ji Shanqing let out a breath . He swiveled his head and looked over his shoulder . He saw the grand prize gather his hair behind his ears as a warm and gentle smile blossomed across his face .
“Yeah, it’s me,” Ji Shanqing replied, his voice sounding lighter now . “I thought you wouldn’t be able to feel anything when you’re inside the cage . Since you know it’s I who took your Special Item, things will be easier now . ”
The balding man, at long last, returned to his senses . His scalp, which had lesser hair, turned scarlet as his anger rose almost to a boiling point . He spat into the sea and hissed, “That woman is gone . There’s nobody to protect you now . Do you think you stand a chance against me?”
“Pretty much . ” Ji Shanqing snorted . Then, he crouched down by the edge of the platform and rested his chin on his palm . He looked like a child in this position . “If you want your item, then you will have to come and take it,” he challenged .
The balding man scoffed, a satirical smile spreading across his face . He knew the grand prize could never best him in a brawl . His confidence was short-lived though as a fearful expression soon appeared on his face, replacing his earlier arrogance . As if something unseen was pulling him, he fell on the platform with a loud thud and rolled uncontrollably towards the edge of the platform .
“Damn it!” The man grabbed a rock that jutted out from the platform at the last minute before he fell into the sea which was colonized by the yellow shadows . He wrapped his limbs around the protrusion for dear life as he hissed, “That’s The Phoenix again!”
Although Pay Phoenix was not a powerful Special Item, it was still something not to be underestimated . The balding man knew this very well as he had suffered a few losses ever since Lin Sanjiu snatched it away from him .
“What the hell do you want from me?” he shouted, his voice quivering as he battled against the strong suction force .
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Ji Shanqing sat down by the side of the platform .
“You don’t seem as strong as the first time I saw you . Could it be perhaps because of the birdcage?” Ji Shanqing asked, appearing calm, relaxed, and confident as he had the upper hand over the situation . “Anyway, I guess nobody knows The Phoenix better than you do . I’m now using the lowest level of power . How long do you think you can hold on for?”
The answer was obvious—not very long .
“What the hell do you want?” Supporting his weight with only his ten fingers required a lot of physical effort . Even though Ji Shanqing did not reduce the suction strength, he could not move even the slightest bit, let alone regain his footing .
“You only need to answer a few questions of mine . ” Ji Shanqing raised his eyes and looked fixedly at the balding man, his searing stare shaking the man to his core . “You were here in the Olympics before us, and you fell into the water along with my sister . Now, you’re going to tell me what happened down there . Where is my sister? And what is going on with Zeus?”
“I’ll answer your questions, but can you first undo The Phoenix?” The balding man huffed . “I can’t hold on any longer!”
After hearing his request, Ji Shanqing caressed the phoenix coronet tattoo .
Despite being a hundred meters apart, Maxin somehow could hear the flustered heartbeat of the balding man . He watched as the man pulled himself back to the platform crossly . Ji Shanqing did not undo The Phoenix entirely . He only toned the output down by a small margin . The balding man sat on the platform as he stopped himself from sliding forward by stepping on a protrusion in the ground with his feet . His forehead was full of sweat, and his limbs were shaking .
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“You wouldn’t trust me even if I told you . ” He shivered as an eddy of cold breeze blew past . “This isn’t the first time I joined God’s Ordeal . Although it’s a little bit different, in the sea, there are these…”
He paused, nodding his chin at the sea . “These damned yellow things as well .
“At that time, Zeus said he had caught a cold, so there would be snot flowing here and there, and he asked us to be careful not to touch them . ” The balding man paused momentarily to look at the grand prize in the eyes before moving on . “I believe that you’re a smart person . Didn’t you notice that there’s one thing that doesn’t any make sense?”
There was no expression on Ji Shanqing’s face . Maxin had no idea whether Ji Shanqing had it all figured and was merely testing the balding man, or whether he was pretending to be sophisticated and smart .
The balding man observed him through narrowed eyes for a few seconds, but the grand prize remained indifferent . He did not allow any of his emotions to spill onto his face .
Eventually, the balding man gave up and continued, “The ultimate goal of God’s Ordeal is to pick a winner to meet Zeus, the highest god . ” He enunciated word by word, hoping that his advice would shake the two young men up . “Here comes the contradiction: haven’t you guys seen Zeus already? So, what’s the point of holding this God’s Ordeal? It makes no sense, does it?”
Maxin frowned . ‘Well, judging from his bearings, I don’t think Zeus would do anything that makes sense,’ he thought inwardly before coolly adding, “Perhaps he was having fun teasing us . ”
“You’re wrong . ” The balding man shook his head . “You guys are indeed lucky . The secret I’m going to tell you now is something that’s sought after by many people . However, some of them died without knowing it, so prick up your ears and listen carefully,” he hissed through his teeth in a low voice . Then, after waiting for a few seconds, he whispered, “The Zeus you guys saw isn’t the real Zeus . ”
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“What?” Maxin sucked the air in through his teeth .
“He called himself Zeus . That’s right, but my name is Hegel . Does that make me a philosopher too?” The balding man chuckled . He stared straight at Ji Shanqing as if his next sentence was meant for him . “There are many people who go by the name of Zeus . ”
In actual fact, not many people called themselves Zeus . Furthermore, it was even rarer for someone to go by the same name while concurrently having abilities similar to Zeus’s . Just as Maxin fell into confusion, a light, rattling sound came drifting into his ears . Dumbfounded, he turned around and realized that the noise came from Ji Shanqing’s teeth clacking against each other .
“I guess our Mr . Smartypants has already gotten the idea . ”
Hegel smiled a toothy grin as if he found immense joy to see both of their reactions . “The real Zeus, the highest god, would never appear before the final round . Aside from managing the Olympics and adjusting the rules of the game to his liking, he will find someone to carry out such a menial job like catching people to be in God’s Ordeal that requires him to show himself since he can’t show himself in front of people . ”
He tipped his chin at the sea once more . There was some stubble growing out from his chin after he had been trapped inside the birdcage for a couple of days .
“There is only one Zeus, but why he is the ‘highest’ god? This is because there are plenty of lesser gods serving under him, and it’s easy to create them . ”
At this point, Maxin finally understood . All of the hairs on his back bristled up as a chill crept up his spine .
“Every posthuman that falls into the pool of yellow shadows will be transformed into a Zeus . Your sister… Well, I guess you’ve seen it with your own eyes already, haven’t you? Didn’t you get The Phoenix from her?” Hegel said, a cruel smile tugging at the corner of his lips . “More Zeus will be born from this game . Just watch . ”
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