"What? He agreed to settle?"
"Yes, yes, thank you, Mr. Taruno. From now on, the Firefox Gang will be sure to give the Chris Group a wide berth."
In a high-end hall, Li Tianming, who was waiting for this meeting, received news that made him ecstatic.
The "powder keg" that had set off a series of calamities for the Firefox Gang had suddenly vanished.
Ever since he took over as gang leader, life for the Firefox Gang had been getting harder and harder each day.
As for taking revenge on the "culprit" behind it all, he wouldn't even dare to dream of it.
If he angered Jomoya again, the rich man would only need to flex his financial muscles and fund a few of the neighboring hungry wolves, and they would surely tear the Firefox Gang to shreds.
That was why for this meeting, he had truly been prepared to surrender. He had even, under Taruno's coaxing, considered pledging his allegiance.
This current outcome was actually a pretty good result. No one likes being someone else's dog.
As for how to avenge Hu Wanhai, the murderers were, of course, the several underground factions that were currently besieging the Firefox Gang.
It had absolutely nothing to do with the Chris Group.
...
In the days that followed, Chen Qi's life was peaceful and stable.
Aside from attending a few gatherings for Talin City's elite, he spent all his time studying ancient scripts, Fighting Techniques, and developing his abilities.
His diligent and motivated attitude stunned countless tabloid reporters who made their living off of "playboy" news.
Jomoya Chris's reputation in Talin City instantly underwent a reversal.
It's always easy for people to accept a rich man who has "turned over a new leaf."
...
December 18th was the date Chen Qi had estimated he would complete his study of seven ancient civilization scripts.
However, Chen Qi had ultimately underestimated how formidable the bronze die was. With its help, he surpassed his goal, managing to learn eight ancient scripts.
As evening fell, Chen Qi returned to his luxurious villa once again and took out "Jomoya's Diary."
Tonight, he planned to completely decipher Jomoya's secrets.
...
"It's truly incredible. What on earth is this Red Heart 7, to bestow an ability like Body Control."
"The Puppet Threads it condenses are definitely a miraculous form of energy, able to pass through any physical matter."
This was the first diary entry Chen Qi translated, which described in detail the various experiments Jomoya conducted after obtaining the Red Heart 7.
Jomoya was deeply shocked by the abilities the Card possessed.
Because the entire Temya Magic Academy possessed only a dozen or so Magic Artifacts, let alone ones that could be used by ordinary people.
The idea of an ordinary person being able to use magic equipment was already beyond Jomoya's "Magic Common Sense."
Therefore, Jomoya was convinced that the Red Heart 7 was far more than a simple piece of equipment.
And a bold experiment he conducted later on proved this point.
"How is this possible?"
"The Card... it's actually alive! The Source Ore somehow woke it up!"
When he wrote this passage, whether from shock or fear, Jomoya's hand must have been trembling, as the script was unusually scrawled.
From this experiment, Chen Qi also learned about the properties of Source Ore.
Source Ore is a metal that possesses Spirituality. In other words, it's a living metal.
They are only found in the Outer Ring of the human sphere, and each piece is priceless.
To Mages, Source Ore is the core material for constructing a Magic Array to Summon the Four Symbols Book.
With enough Source Ore, one could even use a Magic Array to construct a small Magic Well and gain a limitless supply of Magic Power.
In Jomoya's experiment, the Spirituality of the Source Ore awakened the Red Heart 7. Like a ravenous beast waking from slumber, the Red Heart 7 instantly Devoured one-third of the Source Ore.
If Jomoya hadn't acted fast enough, his Source Ore would have been completely devoured.
Even so, the Source Ore lost much of its Spirituality, and Jomoya had no choice but to place it within a mineral vein to recuperate.
The Red Heart 7's String Strangulation ability was an evolution that occurred after it Devoured the Source Ore.
To be more precise, after Devouring the Source Ore, the Puppet Threads gained the ability of Transformation of Reality and Illusion.
...
'So that means the initial Cards only have one Superpower!'
Jomoya's later diary entries also confirmed this point!
The Spade 6 and Plum Blossom 2 that he hunted both only had one ability each.
As for the reason Jomoya hunted them, it was because he had learned a secret.
"Cards can Devour each other to form even more powerful abilities!"
Jomoya, who was single-mindedly pursuing power, naturally conducted the experiment without hesitation, and thus became a Traitor.
He even wrote smugly in his diary, "The evolution through Devouring other Cards is the only way to win the game!"
And it was at this point that an infuriated Ireland had left a note, bluntly stating that Jomoya was a complete fraud.
Evidently, when he encountered the Plum Blossom 10, Ireland had naively believed the diary. Letting greed get the better of him, he made a foolish attempt at a hunt.
The result went without saying. If he hadn't groveled for his life, he likely would have been killed long ago.
...
'The Cards are actually alive... so is that the root cause for why those Traitors plunder and kill?'
Chen Qi stared at the Red Heart 7 pattern on the back of his left hand. This pattern was not visible to ordinary people, and even fellow players could not identify it if the ability was not activated.
Only when a player used their ability would the Card manifest.
Near the end of Jomoya's life, there was actually an encrypted diary entry: [NEVER LET ANYONE KNOW YOUR CARD'S NUMBER].
Clearly, this was an "epiphany" Jomoya had reached after some great calamity, one for which he had even paid with his life.
'Damn him for not writing down the reason. No wonder he's dead.'
'The hidden secret in all this is probably why Jomoya called the Red Heart 7 the Card of Certain Death.'
'Thinking about it now, the will Jomoya wrote in common script was just a huge trap.'
'As soon as someone inherited Jomoya's "game character," the Red Heart 7 would be exposed.'
'So much for hiding it, my ass!'
...
In fact, this wasn't the only secret Jomoya had hidden in the diary.
In the diary, Chen Qi also read about the Demon Slaying Association, a mysterious group formed by Traitors.
They firmly believed that King Gutaf was a Demon, and that their own actions were all in the name of Justice.
Jomoya had planned to join them, but unfortunately, he kicked the bucket before he could even take the entrance assessment.
Moreover, the Demon Slaying Association was not the most powerful faction among the Traitors.
Those Traitors who had experienced the King's Judgment and survived multiple "shuffles" were the true top-tier High-level Players.
After reading the entire diary, Chen Qi felt uncharacteristically emo.
'This damn game gives new players no path to survival whatsoever.'
'You expect to win without cheating?'
'Jomoya and Ireland are prime examples.'