Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 80 - 75: Never Fought Such a Wealthy Battle

Chapter 80: Chapter 75: Never Fought Such a Wealthy Battle

He sat back down in his place, and the demon inhabiting the Eastern Barbarian General continued to drink and eat meat.

Scholars looked at the Eastern Barbarian General who hesitated to speak, ultimately not daring to say anything.

The demon was well aware that its behavior was somewhat abnormal, which had already caused some negative effects to a certain extent, leading this body and even the whole slice of history to develop some rejection towards it.

But quite evidently, this attempt was very meaningful.

Because it had accurately identified a key figure in this slice of history and successfully manipulated them!

"Among Su Xianjun, Yang Xinyan, and Wang Jinhui, one must be the key figure of this historical slice—Yang Xinyan is likely the most probable candidate.

"Su Xianjun’s attitude is resolute, difficult to manipulate; while that Wang Jinhui, though seemingly brave and fearless, is actually weak inside.

"Only this Yang Xinyan, though seemingly docile on the surface, has his principles, preferring death over betraying Su Xianjun...

"Such characters are the most dangerous; the effect after manipulation is also the best.

"It’s still uncertain whether there are any Return Order Abilities in this slice; but even if such abilities enter, they would mostly choose someone like Gao Ze to play, unlikely to play roles like Yang Xinyan or Su Xianjun.

"Besides, Yang Xinyan’s subtle expressions show nothing abnormal.

"But just to be completely sure..."

He called over two shadow servants and instructed them a few words.

...

At this moment, Zhao Haiping felt his heart still pounding as he reached backstage at the theater.

The AI in this game was just too realistic!

He could clearly sense that the Eastern Barbarian General reeked of slyness; it seemed that any minor mistake he made could lead to irreversible consequences.

In fact, Zhao Haiping wasn’t even sure whether his reactions were correct, but based on the current situation, it seemed he had succeeded.

This was mainly due to two reasons.

On one hand, he constantly kept in mind Yang Xinyan’s persona; in any response he made, he acted from the standpoint of Yang Xinyan.

Whether it was agreeing to perform on stage or refusing to betray Su Xianjun at the last moment, both responses perfectly matched the real Yang Xinyan.

Initially, Zhao Haiping worried whether he might actually die, but then he remembered it was just a game—pain might be 100%, but death was nothing more than a slice with the blade, so the fear of death didn’t entirely twist his reason and judgment.

Now it looked like he had made the right bet. Moreover, he had effectively used that fear in his acting, making the Eastern Barbarian General believe his reactions were genuine.

On the other hand, it was because the Return Order Ability he had received played a small role.

[Ren Level·Sincere Expression (Gold): Your expressions and movements can more clearly and accurately convey the emotions you wish to express.]

As for why Zhao Haiping had a gold talent?

Was it because he had a lucky attribute?

Not at all.

It was because, upon entering this ultimate trial, players discovered that the Return Order Abilities facing them was no longer a simple set of three cards, but a whole deck!

So dazzling it almost blinded them.

Furthermore, the vast majority of skills had upgraded to Ren Level blue skills, with a significant portion even upgraded to gold skills.

There were also a few rare abilities they seldom saw in many simulations.

Then, everyone felt like an otaku entering a model shop, not knowing which one to pick.

They had never fought such a well-endowed battle before!

Of course, not everyone chose the gold talent in the end but selected based on the roles they needed to play.

For example, Yun Ying, playing as Gao Ze, mainly enhanced the flexibility of his movement technique through his talent skill; Xia Ruoling enhanced the stealthiness of his assassinations, while Chu Ge enhanced the persuasiveness of his words and the effectiveness of his righteous qi.

Meng Yuan didn’t specify what talent he had taken, but it was probably related to acting.

It was precisely because of this talent that Zhao Haiping could perform his acting to its utmost, completely deceiving the Eastern Barbarian General with a performance that could be called perfect.

Of course, Zhao Haiping’s solid qualities were also crucially important.

If his mind wasn’t clear at that time, if he had forgotten the setting that Yang Xinyan did not understand the language of the Eastern Barbarians, or if he had behaved irrationally due to excessive panic, then even the golden talent couldn’t have made up for it.

In short, the strange feeling earlier had made Zhao Haiping realize that he seemed to have successfully deceived the demon’s ultimate move.

Such altered abilities would be automatically shielded by the Return Order Ability—Zhao Haiping could still act according to the established plan.

Of course, success was still far off, for after possession by the demon, the combat ability of the Eastern Barbarian bandits significantly increased. Only by eliminating all these bandits could the ultimate Trial Illusion be considered perfectly completed.

Zhao Haiping glanced at one of the opera troupe members, who was portrayed by Chu Ge.

The two exchanged a look, and Zhao Haiping, who was playing the role of Yang Xinyan, proceeded to knock on Su Xianjun’s door as planned.

...

Everything proceeded as planned until Yang Xinyan, Wang Jinhui, and several opera troupe members left through the secret door.

Zhao Haiping, playing Yang Xinyan, didn’t hesitate with Chu Ge; they ran directly towards the militia’s position.

According to the simulation of the Trial Illusion before, a shadow servant would inevitably try to kill Wang Jinhui, which would give them enough time to escape.

However, Zhao Haiping had barely started running when he felt something was off.

Because when he turned his head, he saw two shadow servants jumping down from the roof of the opera house!

One shadow servant, as usual, went after Wang Jinhui, but the other headed straight towards him and Chu Ge!

"Indeed, the ultimate Trial Illusion is different from the previous illusions.

"You go first; I’ll hold him off!"

Zhao Haiping made a split-second decision, stepping in front of Chu Ge.

The plan to set the opera house on fire had already been rehearsed many times by Huo Yunying, who played Gao Ze, so there was no need to restate it. But Chu Ge, being a scholar, his vast righteousness could greatly enhance the combat abilities of the militia.

Therefore, Zhao Haiping decided to stay and block the shadow servant, letting Chu Ge and Huo Yunying hurry to complete the plan.

Moreover, thinking positively, with both shadow servants having left the roof of the opera house, even the step of luring one of them away could be skipped.

Chu Ge quickly grasped Zhao Haiping’s intention, nodding and saying, "Then be extra careful. Run if you can’t win."

After speaking, Chu Ge quickly recited a few lines of poetry, applied several effective buffs on Zhao Haiping, then quickly left.

The opposing shadow servant looked somewhat confused.

He seemed puzzled as to why an opera troupe member was suddenly acting crazy, babbling a bunch of nonsense?

Yang Xinyan was just a singer—where did he get the courage to stop him?

There was an inexplicable sense that "these people seem to have stopped acting" ...

...

At this time, inside the opera house.

"General, great news!

"Su Xianjun has finally agreed to come on stage and perform!"

The scholar excitedly shared the good news with the Eastern Barbarian General.

The Eastern Barbarian General put down his cup, and the originally noisy bandits also turned their attention to the stage.

Su Xianjun, his makeup done and costume changed, was about to go on stage.

The Eastern Barbarian General’s eyes narrowed slightly. He vaguely sensed some danger, yet he couldn’t specify what it was.

Meanwhile, Meng Yuan, who was about to play Su Xianjun on stage, was continually comforting himself.

"I’ve rehearsed so many times, it should be okay, right?

"After all, I’ve got three talents related to opera..."

The sound of gongs and drums began, and the great show started.