Chapter 19 April 19th

April 19th, evening, Feng Bujue's home.

At this moment, Brother Jue, who had just finished washing the dishes, was sitting in front of the computer browsing the web.

Needless to say, all sorts of forums related to Thriller Paradise were discussing the matter of [Gates of Paradise]'s forfeiture all day today. And those game media, also spared no effort in creating a large number of articles with extremely misleading titles, but no substantial content.

Feng Bujue wouldn't pay too much attention to this almost useless information, at most just glancing at it; the truly valuable information he wanted to see was the official statement from Dream Inc…

However, Dream Inc. did not make any explanation about this matter. They only posted a new announcement - Due to the forfeiture of [Gates of Paradise], the semi-final match between [Hell's Front] and [Order] is now upgraded to the S3 finals. The finals will be held as scheduled at midnight on April 20th, with the artifact rules remaining the same.

Although many players felt that this announcement was as good as no announcement, there was nothing wrong with Dream Inc. handling it this way.

The forfeiture was originally a decision made by the members of [Gates of Paradise]. Because this matter was too bizarre, it could easily be regarded as the organizer engaging in shady dealings, so the members of the Paradise team also specially announced it through video live broadcast. As for the reason for the forfeiture, that was their own business. Forfeiture was their right, but explaining the reason to the public was not their obligation… If the parties involved didn't speak, what could Dream Inc. say?

Anyway, Dream Inc. was continuing to push the game forward according to the rules. Now that only two teams remained undefeated, the duel between these two teams would naturally be the final.

"Ding—"

Just as Feng Bujue was viewing the announcement, suddenly, a voice chat application window popped up in the corner of the desktop.

The window showed that a strange user with the ID "Michael" invited Brother Jue to chat online, and the other party's source was "unknown," which was a source display item that did not exist in this chat software at all.

After thinking for two seconds, Feng Bujue picked up the headphones on the computer desk and put them on, then clicked "Accept."

In the next second, the voice chat connection was established, and a man's voice immediately came from the headphones: "I think you should know who I am."

"Ah…" Feng Bujue replied, "Of course I know, you guys who use your real names as your online names are basically salesmen."

"Your sense of humor is as impressive as the rumors say, but I don't think these irrelevant words are conducive to our communication," Michael said.

"That's also true," Feng Bujue said, "Then let's cut the small talk… what can I do for you?"

"First of all, I would like to apologize on behalf of my subordinates for some of the unpleasant things that happened to you in the past," Michael said, "And inform you… Uriel has received the punishment he deserves."

"Punishment?" Feng Bujue asked suspiciously, "What punishment? Just a few beatings? Wasn't he still participating with you? I don't think anything happened to him."

"The reason why he can participate with me is naturally because he has already paid the price for his behavior…" Michael replied, "Threatening several candidates, including you and Shi Long, interfering with the gambling game, speaking rudely in the council, etc., are all serious crimes… For this, Uriel not only suffered the private torture of the referees, but was also punished by the council with 'a feather broken'. Afterwards, he himself also made a deep repentance… At least in my opinion, that is enough."

"Oh," Feng Bujue replied in an unwavering tone, "I see…" He smiled, "Heh… but in my opinion, he has to personally apologize to us, the parties involved, to be considered 'enough'."

"Unfortunately, he will not be allowed to communicate with humans in the real world for the next thousand years, including voice calls like this…" Michael said, "Therefore, I, as his superior and brother, can only apologize on his behalf."

"I see…" Feng Bujue muttered, "You seem to be a reasonable person, unlike your brothers."

"I am not a 'person', but I accept the complimentary part of your words," Michael said, "I have to admit that many of my brothers and sisters have varying degrees of antipathy towards humans. Part of this antipathy comes from the objective differences at the biological level, and the other part comes from the depravity of the human race and your contempt for us after you lost your faith. In this 'post-apocalyptic era', the 'rulers of the earth' have forgotten the majesty of us 'heavenly followers', but we cannot abandon our glory and arrogance because of this. That is where the contradiction lies…"

"Then what about you? Why can you communicate with me so equally?" Feng Bujue asked.

"I never said that I am equal to you, and apologizing to you does not mean that I am being humble," Michael said, "You can think… that I am actually more arrogant than them, so my attitude towards you seems more peaceful."

"Simply put, the degree of deification is stronger than them," Feng Bujue said, "You can just say it directly, I understand."

"Oh?" Michael's tone changed slightly, "It seems Woody has told you a lot of things…"

"Since you mentioned 'hehehe', I'll ask by the way, how has he been lately? I haven't been able to contact him for a long time," Feng Bujue replied.

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Michael said, "'Interfering with the gambling game, speaking rudely in the council', etc., are all serious crimes."

"Hmm…" Feng Bujue pondered, "I understand… Although I don't know to what extent Woody has done it, judging from my experience dealing with him and Uriel separately… his crimes are probably ten times more serious than Uriel's, right?"

"Regarding the handling of him, I'm sorry I can't tell you," Michael said, "What I can tell you is… that your act of recovering the 'crown' for him has greatly reduced his punishment, and may even have saved his life."

"Crown?" Feng Bujue thought for a second, and then replied, "That 'Atari Crown' I got from Snow?"

"Yes," Michael said, "That is an important prop in the 'Candidate Game'. Although it has gradually become something of only symbolic significance over the years, according to tradition, they must still be used… Therefore, the council decided to use the actual objects as the basis to generate the 'Four Divine Artifacts' you use in Thriller Paradise; this matter… would have been quite troublesome to accomplish, because there was too much 'karma' associated with those four things, and it was somewhat difficult to recover them. Unexpectedly, Woody quickly completed the recovery work without using almost any resources… This achievement became his lifeline."

"So it was such an important thing…" Feng Bujue muttered, "Tch… I feel like I've lost out again. I have to get another sum out of him next time I see him."

"I highly doubt you'll be able to see him again," Michael said coldly, "Of course, that's none of my business…"

"Okay." Brother Jue curled his lips, and then said, "Getting back to the topic… you shouldn't have contacted me just to apologize for your brother, right? Is there anything else?"

"I'm here to notify… and congratulate you on winning the Candidate Game," Michael replied.

"Huh?" This time, Feng Bujue was a little stunned.

However, as a cunning person, he reacted like this two seconds later: "Wait… you wouldn't be trying to trick me into letting my guard down or forfeiting the finals, would you?"

"Whether you believe it or not is irrelevant, I'm just here to inform you of the result," Michael replied, "Among all the candidates, you are undoubtedly one of the most outstanding…

"If we compare abilities horizontally… since the 'game' began, you have relied on your intelligence and martial strength to defeat every candidate of the same level who competed with you, in different forms and at different times.

"And starting from personal charm and social skills, considering it from the perspective of a 'politician'… your popularity in the Thriller Paradise main universe and the inner world is also unmatched, far surpassing any other player or even virtual creature…

"As for those 'ambiguous' and 'pending' candidates, in this S3 competition, my brothers and I have also personally screened them one by one, ensuring that we have not missed any potential contenders who may have a chance to compete with you.

"In summary, the Candidate Game is over… Although Woody is still 'receiving punishment', he did win. He successfully demonstrated the correctness of his ideas to the council.

"From now on, at least until the next era comes, the 'Candidate Game' will be disguised as 'the most popular interactive entertainment product in human society at the same time'. Humans no longer need to shed blood for this…

"The era of exchanging glory for blood and life is over, and whether it will return… is not something you need to consider."

After listening to his narrative, Feng Bujue basically believed it, because he really couldn't find a reason for the other party to lie.

So, Brother Jue's instinctive malice began to rise: "Good, good, good… that's fine." After saying "good" several times, he then used a teasing tone and continued, "Then the question comes… as the winner, I should have some benefits, right? Like mountains of gold and silver, a wine pool and meat forest, seventy-some virgins or something?"

"You…" At this moment, Michael was clearly suppressed by Brother Jue's cheapness, "... You seem to be living with your girlfriend, saying such things so loudly…"

"Stop talking nonsense, she went to the supermarket to buy things." Feng Bujue didn't even wait for the other party to finish, he raised his voice again, interrupting, "Hurry up and say, what are the benefits!"

"Hmm…" Michael groaned, "There are no benefits."

"Bullshit! Did your cloaca grow into a mouth?" In the real world, Brother Jue could freely use all kinds of swear words, which made his expression ability rise more than one level, "A game that lasts so long and is related to the fate of all mankind, and you're telling me that the person involved gets no reward? Say it! Did you embezzle all the benefits that the Taijun gave me!"

Michael heard this, and was silent for a long time, but still failed to fully understand how dirty Brother Jue's words were and how many puns were hidden in them, so he gave up and directly explained: "According to tradition, the chosen winner… can receive the protection of the council, and become the one and only existence in this world whose actions do not generate 'karma', and can obtain the special physique of 'being able to simultaneously control the two opposite forces of holy power and magic'." He paused, "But… you are not a creature of this universe, you come from another universe… that is to say, you are not affected by the 'karma' of this universe in the first place, which is one of the reasons why Woody asked you to help recover the 'crown'; similarly, because you are not 'one of us', the 'dual force blessing' cannot be implemented." He paused again for two seconds, "... I'm saying this, you should understand, right?"

"Understood." Feng Bujue suddenly replied with an extremely calm tone again.

"Then…" Michael was a little afraid to continue the conversation, "Regarding this matter, do you have anything else to say?"

"Fuck." Brother Jue's answer was short and powerful.

"Hmm…" Michael groaned again, "If there's nothing else…"

Just as he was about to hang up, Feng Bujue asked again first, "By the way, if I win the finals, can I make additional requests?"

Michael wouldn't lie, he said whatever he had to say: "No… the remaining game is just an ordinary game between humans that has nothing to do with the Candidate Game, we can't…"

Di Di—

Before he could finish his words, Brother Jue took the initiative to cut off the voice connection.

Feng Bujue was using action to indicate - since that's the case, then we humans have nothing to talk to you about.