"The fight is over?"
Taruno, who had been hiding and watching from a distance, was ecstatic when he saw Flette, the mercenary leader, fall into a pool of blood.
'The Executor is truly mighty!'
At a moment like this, Taruno naturally had to rush over to show his loyalty.
"Boss, it was my failure to gather proper intelligence!"
"These detestable mercenaries actually set a trap for us long ago!"
At that moment, Chen Qi stood in the pool of blood, his expression unreadable.
Taruno thought his boss was angry and hurriedly began to critique himself.
"It doesn't matter. Their goal was to lure me out in the first place."
"You handle the cleanup here. I'm going to check on the ore vein!"
Coiled around Chen Qi's right wrist were continuously squirming metallic strings.
This separated "Puppet Thread" strongly resisted getting close to Chen Qi's left hand.
The reason Chen Qi's expression was uncertain was that he was considering how to solve this problem.
He didn't think letting it run wild was a good option. Even a "pet," once it gained a feral nature, would turn on its master.
'Only power that I control is truly my own.'
"Don't you worry, boss. I'll be sure to completely erase all traces of the battle here."
Seeing that his boss still had a use for him, Taruno breathed a long sigh of relief.
After witnessing such "inhuman" power, Taruno understood more than ever the importance of latching onto a strong backer.
After giving his instructions, Chen Qi set off at once.
His figure flickered a few times, then vanished from Taruno's sight!
However, Chen Qi didn't head for the ore vein as he'd said.
Instead, he stopped in a secluded spot, quietly waiting for something.
But everything was calm and peaceful. Nothing happened.
'Strange. My senses shouldn't have been wrong.'
'During the fight, there was definitely someone hiding in the shadows, spying on us!'
Chen Qi waited a while longer, but the spy still made no move.
'It seems that person has no intention of showing themself. Or perhaps their only goal was to observe the battle.'
Since that was the case, Chen Qi stopped worrying about it and started heading toward the ore vein.
······
"So, I was discovered after all!"
Several kilometers away, a middle-aged man with a scar on his face put away the high-definition telescope in his hands.
He was the one who had been spying on the battle between Chen Qi and Flette just now.
Although he hadn't seen the specific details of the fight—or rather, he hadn't understood at all how Flette was defeated.
But it didn't matter. He had already recorded the footage of the battle, which was enough to report back to that personage.
This was also why he hadn't taken any action; he was merely an observer.
Soon, the video data was transmitted to the person behind the scenes.
"Hahaha, [Jomoya Chris], you really are dead!"
In Tongyu City, Qi Tianming received the intel sent by his subordinate.
After watching the video, his expression was exceptionally complicated.
Was it schadenfreude, or was it a pang of sorrow for one of his own kind? Qi Tianming found it hard to describe the feeling in his heart.
"The rumors are true after all. The number 7 really is a Card of Certain Death!"
"If you keep your head down and stay out of trouble, you might live until Judgment Day."
"But if you court death like [Jomoya], you'll be cleaned up ahead of schedule."
Qi Tianming muttered to himself. In his palm, a Spade 7 floated quietly. This was his trump card.
He was also a new player, having only officially entered the game in the 9th round.
It's just that he was much more low-key than [Jomoya Chris] and hadn't become a [Traitor].
Likewise, he hadn't joined the [Order Keeper] faction either.
In truth, there weren't many Loose Man players like them. It was hardest to survive in the cracks, and they would surely be the first to be dealt with.
But Qi Tianming had his own "schemes" and had also found a new "backer."
In this "Treasure Land" of the Lanyu Kingdom, [Players] weren't the only ones with Extraordinary Power.
"No rush, no rush. My strength isn't enough right now. I can't be hasty with the harvest. For now, I'll let Red Heart Seven have his fun!"
"After all, the final opponent will most likely be some High-level Player who escaped [Judgment Day]!"
"That guy [Jomoya] set a bad example for me!"
"Card of Certain Death? Heh, it's not yet certain who will have the last laugh!"
No one would willingly accept a fate of certain death, and Qi Tianming was no exception.
······
The ore vein was located deep in the hills. Since it had been abandoned for a year or two, the paths were all overgrown with weeds.
But this posed no obstacle to Chen Qi. In just 15 minutes, he crossed three hills and reached his destination.
However, as soon as he approached the mine entrance, the metallic string coiled around his right hand began to stir restlessly.
"As expected, it's reacting. Excellent!"
Even though the metallic string was cutting into his wrist, leaving behind gashes, Chen Qi was still overjoyed.
'The method for retrieving the metallic string recorded in [Jomoya]'s diary really works.'
As Chen Qi entered a main mine shaft, the metallic string's reaction grew even more intense; it was even trembling violently.
"Just as I thought. Part of this metallic string's power comes from the [Source Ore]."
"A complete Red Heart Seven can treat the [Source Ore] as food, but a small, separate piece will only be Devoured by the [Source Ore] again!"
As Chen Qi went deeper, the metallic string could no longer hold on. It transformed directly into Puppet Silk and merged into the Red Heart Seven.
Chen Qi instantly felt his power become whole again!
So he stopped in his tracks. He wasn't stupid enough to go deep into the mine.
If someone with malicious intent were to collapse it with explosives, wouldn't he be trapped and die down there?
But even without going deeper, Chen Qi could still vaguely sense some kind of presence.
But that feeling permeated the entire mine, as if the whole ore vein had come alive.
Chen Qi knew this was impossible. A single piece of [Source Ore] didn't have that much power.
"Is this Spirituality?"
After leaving the ore vein, Chen Qi was lost in thought.
Perhaps his greatest gain today wasn't the chip, but that unique sensation from just now.
Chen Qi felt like a blind man who had never seen light, suddenly seeing a blurry image of the World.
No matter how blurry, he had at least gained a direct perception of this World.
This was Chen Qi's current state. Even though he knew before that the Red Heart Seven was a living thing, that it possessed life, he couldn't truly comprehend it.
But now, he could genuinely feel the difference. It was a change in his perception.
To be more precise, he had perceived the Spirituality of the [Red Heart Seven].
And at the very instant Chen Qi perceived the Card's Spirituality, two parallel lines of different colors, which had previously never interfered with each other, suddenly intersected.
They began to "render" each other. Unfortunately for Chen Qi, he was on the losing end.
The manifestation in the real world was that the pattern on the back of Chen Qi's left hand began to spread, covering his entire arm.
"Is this the sign that my skill is about to advance to Lv. 2?"
Chen Qi was neither surprised nor pleased. This scene was described in detail in the [Jomoya Diary].
Studying the characters of the ancient civilization was, in itself, a way of polishing one's own Spirituality.
Once a certain level was reached, one could vaguely sense the Spirituality in external things, especially those closely related to oneself.
And once the Spirituality of the Red Heart Seven was sensed, one would inevitably be subjected to its Erosion.
But this Erosion would soon stop, and a new balance would be reached.
In return, the Card's host could raise their skill by one level.
This was the path for a skill to advance to Lv. 2.