Facing an Ancient God for a Year

Chapter 2247: Chapter 2242: Sealed Heart

Aha?

After successfully completing yet another mission and returning to the warehouse, Fu Qian sat in his seat, deeply intrigued by what he heard.

This mission summary wasn’t particularly long, but the amount of information in it was substantial.

The content was even somewhat different from before, as it quite straightforwardly included descriptions related to the predecessors.

The "he" mentioned in the summary was undoubtedly the Lonely King.

Regarding the resume before he became king, it directly brought up the concept of missions.

It sounded as if he was indeed an old hand at the warehouse, but due to some greed, he lost his way and ultimately met his downfall here.

As for what kind of greed it was, the warehouse didn’t explicitly say, but it was really easy to guess—

Helping oneself gain more trial-and-error opportunities and combating the fear of death... was it really about SAN Points?

Actually, you can gain extra SAN Points by killing, as long as you have a few successful mission experiences, it’s quite easy to figure this out.

And from what the warehouse said, this predecessor seemed to have discovered a place ripe for harvesting SAN Points during one mission, and from there, things spiraled out of control.

As for where this place is? The previous meeting with Akons had explained everything.

Faith indeed can feed you, these places deeply buried in the Mental World due to devoutness have become non-renewable resources for harvesting.

...

Unfortunately, excess leads to detriment.

This resource-hoarding syndrome apparently provided some opportunistic advantage to the Lonely King’s predecessor when facing a cunning opponent—could such a thing really happen?

Honestly, though he hadn’t deliberately done so, Fu Qian could still quite understand this fear from the predecessors.

After all, once the mission intensity rises, the consumption can likely be significant.

In such situations, accumulating more Resurrection Coins would stabilize one’s mindset a lot more, not to mention some special Skills directly use this as a consumable resource.

In fact, from Fu Qian’s point of view, many other predecessors not doing this might not necessarily be because of compassion or similar reasons, but more likely they hadn’t found that safe "treasure."

So was it because they hoarded too many Resurrection Coins and became complacent?

It shouldn’t be that simple, but unfortunately, he couldn’t see the predecessor’s detailed path to becoming king.

Looking at the entanglement with the Goddess of Sin and Punishment, could it possibly be related to the still unclear concept of original sin?

It’s not confirmed at the moment, but all in all, the predecessor who lost a normal mindset seemed to face the situation as imagined before, that is, the warehouse directly arranged for his body to block bullets, forever trapped in the mission field.

And thus, the Lonely King predecessor, upon ascending to the throne, didn’t reduce his greed but rather increased, becoming a nightmare at the "Barrier Land."

Pillaging and slaughtering, consolidating the Royal Court—and once again inviting disaster.

The attempt to produce an heir, in Fu Qian’s view, might not necessarily be Rom’s inducement.

After all, the Lonely King himself didn’t look well in his state, trying to transform into something new wasn’t surprising.

Unfortunately, having a treasure invites peril, and this hope was indeed eyed by others.

Rom wanted to replace him, and Patch wanted to see the show.

If SAN Points also acted as the nutrients supporting the growth of the bloodline in the Lonely King’s belly, then undoubtedly, it’s the perfect example of the harder you try, the more unfortunate you get.

Moreover, this even led to the downfall of the other two, the Goddess of Sin and Punishment and Rom.

These Superior Beings might not be easy to kill, but judging from this incident, they definitely didn’t have it easy.

The biggest beneficiaries, however, were Patch, who successfully watched the show, and Ariel, who became the new Lonely King.

Indeed, the summary at the end clearly stated that after the Night Watchman confirmed that the Fire of Madness hadn’t contaminated this place, there were no plans to destroy the barrier.

And in the event of the Lonely King’s demise, Ariel, who had originally been quite favored, unexpectedly took over the power.

Even because of his unique mental state, the warehouse considered him a promising candidate for being "king."

Could this unfortunate predecessor finally have a chance to break free from his puppet fate?

This is indeed the legendary everything is the best arrangement—or is it Lord Pa Qi’s arrangement?

Compared to pure Luck, Fu Qian remembered the latter’s final speech very well—your little game is interesting, so I’ll join in.

In Fu Qian’s view, what he actually did this time wasn’t much; he was quite leisurely. What piqued that person’s interest might have been his persistence in character.

Unwavering determination, persistence, and consistently playing the role of Ariel slandering... If Lord Pa Qi wanted to participate, guiding this aspect to the end seems like a good choice.

For example, directly pulling the external Ariel onto the Lonely King’s throne, while the Native Council loses its tool, and even the slow-witted Night Watchman can’t help but notice the change in the Lonely King, making it impossible to gloss over this matter.

Next, they must keep an eye on the situation inside and have a good "exchange" with the Native Council to figure out their schemes.

Anyway, no matter how complicated this situation is, this entire incident is almost certainly something the Native Council will have to take full responsibility for.

...

Yes, if one insists on making the Night Watchman think he is truly Ariel, it would be too conspicuous.

Actually, by the end, who the real one is doesn’t matter anymore.

The core of what Fu Qian had always been doing was making people believe that the real and fake Ariel are of the same nature, both puppets.

And under such circumstances, the council, with its mastery of such professional techniques, truly is the one with flesh rotting in the pot.

Whether it’s internal strife or a smokescreen, regardless, the deed is done by you all.

This is truly the situation where you can’t clear yourself, even if you dive into the Yellow River.

Lord Pa Qi seemingly grasped the spirit, helping to create a beautifully crafted conclusion.

Even he managed to share His "ultimate goal."

Recalling the scene at that moment, Fu Qian finally located the special reward from this journey.

[Name: Sealed Heart]

[Type: Ring]

[Not forged, merely a transparent thin ring formed by crystal.

Yet within the reflected structure of the cosmos’s truth, it also reverberates with filthy corruption.

Upon use, target locking and spending 1 point of SAN Points will form an inevitably hitting ice crystal.

Hitting the target will cause no damage or freezing but will temporarily seal Extraordinary Perception.

The higher the ranking, the shorter the duration, and the same target can only be affected once within 24 hours]

[Remark: Sealing Heart and Locking Thoughts, Killing]

Oh?

You just mentioned the problem of using SAN Points as resources, and now there’s such a fitting reward?

And it even comes in the form of a ring?

At that moment, Fu Qian felt a bit sentimental, as if he sensed the thoughtfulness of the warehouse.

Additionally, although it requires sacrificing life, the effect is undoubtedly very practical.

Currently, with zero Extraordinary Perception, in any case, this is a disadvantageous aspect.

And the effect of the ring, undoubtedly fully brings opponents to the same level of life philosophy as himself, plus it has the trait of being inevitable upon activation.

It’s just that the warehouse seems to have forgotten one little problem—how am I going to activate it?