Welcome to Rewind World Game
Chapter 465 - 462: ’Nice rhythm, let’s grab a treasure chest.

Chapter 465: Chapter 462: ’Nice rhythm, let’s grab a treasure chest.

...

The brightly lit workshop stood at the center of the farm.

It was the tallest and largest building on the farm, spanning three floors. The various metal tools inside emitted thunderous roars, like a beating heart. The large machines around spewed vibrant flames upward, emitting smoke and the stench of oil, even causing a resonant humming vibration underfoot.

Su Ming’an entered this factory.

In his live broadcast, people were still talking animatedly about Wang Chaoze and the others’ actions just moments before.

"Margaret really made a fool of herself this time. She poses as a European princess, but she ended up rolling in the pigpen... That scene was spectacular, she probably thought we hadn’t seen it yet."]

"These usually haughty top-ranked players act like timid mice in front of the Number One Player."]

"That ancient martial artist, Wang Chaoze. In the Dragon Country’s Yangtze River system, he’s usually snooty, drinking the finest tea, always posturing like a lord, even Minister Liu has to be overtly courteous to him. But in the instance, he revealed his true colors and mingled with the pigs."]

"...In that case, Su Ming’an is actually pretty good. He just usually ignores people, at least he doesn’t put on any airs."]

"Then I must talk about Lu. Lu is much more gentle than the Number One Player, everyone quickly go support him..."]

"..."]

In the live broadcast, the division between factions, players, and ranks was extremely evident.

Suddenly, Su Ming’an heard noises coming from the second floor... the clinking of hammers, the creaking of saw teeth, and the crisp sounds of metal tips being struck.

"It’s so late, there shouldn’t be any NPC workers here working, right?" Su Ming’an said softly.

"It might be the sound of automatic machinery." Xiber said.

"Your era confuses me," Su Ming’an said, "It’s like living in primitive tribal conditions, yet there are automated machines... Next, am I likely to see things like TVs and computers?"

"Ah, perhaps," Xiber actually responded directly, "Qiongdi is not secluded from the world; it is said that the elders of the First Tribe can communicate with the outside world to some extent. Though people can’t pass through the Black Wall, the outside world can send in some things, so, they also have some high-tech gadgets."

"...Like your shotgun?"

"That’s nothing, I made it myself," Xiber said.

Su Ming’an was somewhat surprised.

He found that Xiber was truly omnipotent. She knew how to hunt, could set traps, used cunning to kill Spacer Kael Nashe, knew all the Guides, was familiar with every area of Qiongdi... she even understood Raven’s ancient text and could assemble shotguns...

If she hadn’t devoted herself to Jiu Shen, her future would have been brilliant.

"So what high-tech items are you referring to..." Su Ming’an said.

"I don’t know, I’m not that high in status," Xiber said.

Her status... could even be said to be the lowest. After all, she was a banished heretic of Jiu Shen.

"Let’s find someone first," she said, "This is the most conspicuous and illuminated building in the entire farm. For those overly oppressive and dark environments, light is something people subconsciously crave."

Su Ming’an had already faintly heard footsteps below.

"The factory has a basement," Xiber stated succinctly, familiar even with this place.

Su Ming’an felt that the person in the basement ideally was his target, JingXue Chunzi, or Leslie would also do, her Guide being Raphael who specialized in Charm, had no effect on him in Shadow State... or even Eni would do, as he currently had immunity to fire, killing Eni would actually be the easiest.

After descending the stairs, he saw a figure crouching in a corner of the basement, rummaging through a box.

Beside the box, various wrenches, screws, nails, and burlap were scattered all over the ground. The player seemed to have not noticed his arrival, not even turning around.

But at the sight of that person’s back, Su Ming’an immediately wanted to turn around and leave.

The live comments too tensed up, as they sensed that something was wrong.

Because.

...the person leisurely rummaging through the box was Lu.

Of the twelve Black Sheep Players, Lu, the one with the strongest overall strength.

He also possessed the skills "Remote Communication" and "Eye of Tracking," capable of seeing the positions of other escaping parties and communicating with them. If he sensed something was off, there would be trouble.

There were still about six hours and fifty minutes until dawn, and the count of altars was still 0, which was very troubling...

But Su Ming’an’s body slightly shifted, and he still didn’t leave.

He considered a scenario where he temporarily couldn’t leave.

"Number One Player."

Sure enough, at the next moment, Lu, unsurprised, turned around, smiling as he looked at him.

At that moment, a strangely dressed person came out from the blind spot in their vision.

He wore an ostentatious Wizard Hat decorated with several sparkling metal stars on its brim. He looked very young, almost immature, dressed in a white tank top and dungarees with long boots, a combination that made him look very out of place, as though he had merged features from several different centuries.

On his shoulder perched a noisy jack-in-the-box, and by his feet were mechanical models of a sports car and a tractor, and even model helicopters flying around. These "toys" moved around him, seeming not as harmless as they appeared on the surface.

Clearly, these toys were likely the weapons of this Guide.

Xiber had already informed Su Ming’an about all the Guides. Lu’s Guide was the eleventh ranked "Machinist" Mocha. A mischievous and bad-natured character, he liked to create destruction and explosions with his childlike toys.

A player like Lu, who always considered everything thoroughly, wouldn’t rummage through a box without looking away; he would definitely have his Guide watch out for him. If Su Ming’an had turned and left immediately, it would have aroused suspicion.

Su Ming’an’s hand was brewing Spatial Vibration. He pretended to be charging his power, not releasing it yet, just waiting—

"Wait a moment, Number One Player."

Sure enough, Lu immediately spoke, "I’ve already sent a message. If you insist on killing me, Isabella, located a kilometer away, will use ’Hand of Redemption’ on me. Even if it means regressing a bit in the altar’s progress, I will safely leave here."

Lu had not perceived Su Ming’an’s current weakness; after all, under normal circumstances, players would not question the known rules.

He was just conversing with the terrifying ghost of Jiu Shen in front of him, with a confidence that he could escape from here.

"So... you’re not leaving yet because you have something to say to me," Su Ming’an said.

"That’s right," Lu said. "However, could I finish going through this box first?"

"You want to buy time?"

"No, not at all," Lu waved his hand. "It’s just a personal and somewhat embarrassing little quirk... I like discovering the unknown. And a box full of unknowns is a sacred thing to me. I hope to spend a tiny, insignificant amount of time witnessing the unknown hidden within it."

If someone else had said this, Su Ming’an would have suspected they were mentally ill. But when Lu said it, there was a sense of calm and composure.

While Lu was talking, he had already gone through the box and found a syringe filled with green liquid. It was a syringe that sped up health recovery, a Blue Level prop, similar in effect to the Strengthener, and a good emergency tool.

Lu seemed very pleased and put away the syringe.

"Finished?" Su Ming’an said.

"—The current world game, I think, is really too chaotic."

As he straightened up after putting away the syringe, Lu suddenly blurted out.

"...and unlike the usual world, Su Ming’an, I think we might need to establish a ’new order’."

At these words from Lu, Su Ming’an instantly raised his hand and shut off the live broadcast.

Seeing Su Ming’an immediately shutting off the broadcast, Lu laughed and said, "You see, this is the disadvantage of the ’old order,’ you need to be mindful of these people’s concepts and thoughts."

"I remember, you are one of those who especially care about these people," Su Ming’an said. "People often say, ’Lu’ is a qualified host who cares greatly about the audience’s thoughts."

"It’s just a few words to the audience to cover my real thoughts, you know... isn’t your clone doing this too?" Lu said. "With your foresight into the plot, your wisdom should be far superior to mine."

"...That’s flattering."

"You must have already received several invitations from different factions," Lu said, and actually began to slowly approach him:

"Clearly, those who are not suited to this world are also sharing the pie with us top players. But the problem is—they have a very clear weakness, they lack a cohesive and unified command system, no one who can make decisive calls, all their actions are negotiated outcomes, considering all aspects. Such groups... are too slow and too unsuitable for the fast-paced world game of today."

Su Ming’an slightly furrowed his brow.

Seeing that Su Ming’an did not directly contradict him, the corners of Lu’s mouth curled up slightly, seemingly very pleased.

"This piece of cake is too small, the cake we struggled hard to obtain... why should we cut it for them?" Lu said.

"You mean?" Su Ming’an said.

"I think... you’re already doing it, aren’t you?" Lu said. "There’s no one else around now, you don’t need to hide it."

"What?" Su Ming’an genuinely hadn’t caught what the other was implying.

"Click."

A soft clinking of mechanical gears sounded, and Mocha bowed his head beside it, focused on playing with the toy car in his hands. This noise was somewhat abrupt in the quiet basement.

Watching Lu approaching closer and closer, Xiber raised the shotgun cradled in his arms, aiming it at Lu.

Seeing this, Lu stopped in his tracks, deliberately maintaining a safe social distance, pulling closer without causing any displeasure.

"Su Ming’an, I’ve always admired you," Lu said. "If I had to choose the person I respect the most among all the top players... that would be you—I really like you as a person."

Su Ming’an had heard this before the instance began. At that time, Lu indeed mentioned that "Su Ming’an is a good person."

However, he didn’t understand why Lu, who had never had any contact with him, would say such a thing.

While he pondered, Lu, facing Xiber’s muzzle, moved forward another step.

The dim lights of the basement shone on his ocean-blue hair, casting a mysterious and magnificent glow.

Lu’s eyes were bright, reminding Su Ming’an of the Light Pursuers he had encountered in the instance.

"Su Ming’an, you are very, very visionary. Your foresight is so high that it makes me look up to you," awe apparent in Lu’s eyes that seemed genuine: "I have analyzed your actions from the beginning to now and gradually realized... you are connecting every scattered point into lines. Your strategy deeply shocks me beyond measure."

"...Ah?" Su Ming’an didn’t know what exactly was shocking the other party.

What strategy had he laid out?

He himself was unaware of it.

"During the opening ceremony speech, you imprinted your image deeply into people’s minds," Lu said in a deep-tone: "In the First World, you intentionally introduced the somewhat abrupt, yet highly visionary Lighthouse theory, causing a global whirlwind of public opinion, pulling people’s attention back from elsewhere. Since then, you consistently implemented your theory into actions, and gradually, subtly added more of what you truly needed... until it was perfected— the world can no longer do without you."

"..." Su Ming’an, looking at Lu whose thoughts were becoming more delusional, couldn’t help but reflect on whether many others also overthought his existence like Lu did.

Watching Su Ming’an who did not contradict, Lu’s smile became more genuine:

"You differentiated levels and groups, segregating Adventurer Players and Casual Players with inherently different essences."

"From the very beginning, you established everyone’s roles to prevent points from being wasted due to sudden faction switches."

"At the same time, you emphasized the importance of Adventurer Players, motivating people to join, to demonstrate your advanced wisdom in the mid to late stages."

"You... deliberately expanded the influence of your ideology, cementing your existence as a deeply ingrained ’concept.’"

"Your strategic layout is splendid, and perfect," Lu said, sounding genuinely impressed, as though he wanted to applaud:

"—From the beginning, you were classifying levels and groups, with unique theories and distinctive actions, engraving the title of ’Number One Player’ into their minds, focusing their attention solely on you... all the problems that organizations have—negotiations, concerns, slow planning... none of these exist for you. You represent the purest Adventurer Players, the group that the world game should commend most—not the Casual Players, not the spectators who just talk, not the leaders who only consider post-game benefits... nothing else!"

Lu extended his hand, placing both hands directly on Su Ming’an’s shoulders with swift motion, his expression excited, as if he hadn’t even seen Xiber pointing the gun at them:

"Because you are the Number One Player, the most unique and indispensable single interest entity—you are the best, the most suitable, the perfect fit for what people need now!"