Puppet Zhang desperately wanted to kill this bastard on impulse, but just as Bai Liu had said, there was no benefit in killing him.
Bai Liu's personal skill had already been activated. Whether Puppet Zhang killed him or not, it couldn't be stopped. Worse, if he killed Bai Liu, he would lose the highly intelligent puppet he had worked so hard to obtain.
The top priority now was to seize the Mermaid Amulet and stop Bai Liu's personal skill. After that, he could use a hundred different methods to torment Bai Liu and vent his anger.
The cost of killing Bai Liu was simply too high. It had taken tremendous effort to capture a puppet with such high intelligence. He couldn't kill Bai Liu before draining every last bit of value from him. That wasn't Puppet Zhang's style; he always maximized his gains.
Reluctantly, Puppet Zhang forced himself to calm down and loosen the silk thread around Bai Liu's neck. Bai Liu collapsed limply to the ground, clutching his bruised throat as he coughed and gasped for air. Tears streamed from the strain, yet he still smiled.
"Master, thank you for sparing my life."
That smile made Puppet Zhang want to strangle him again instantly. He suppressed the surge of rage and took a deep breath, clearing his thoughts. The system had indicated that the transaction would fail when the train started. He glanced at the LED countdown.
Forty seconds remained.
It wasn't hopeless yet. It would only take ten seconds to kill Bai Liu. He could wait until the countdown reached ten seconds before acting.
Puppet Zhang's mind raced as he issued orders. "This isn't a dead end. If players can't get to Liu Huai, lure all the passengers into Mu Sicheng's carriage and have them attack him! His mental value should be almost depleted. Let the passengers alienate him and kill him!"
"Understood!" Liu Huai shouted.
Luring monsters was Liu Huai's specialty. Assassins and thieves possessed powerful provocation skills. Back when he had partnered with Mu Sicheng, Mu Sicheng would steal while Liu Huai lured and assassinated monsters. They had been excellent partners.
Liu Huai darted among the passengers, blades flashing from his sleeves. Soon, their hate value locked onto him. He led the horde toward the still-burning carriage. The passengers pushed inside in pursuit, only to be drawn toward something else once they entered. They began scrambling and tumoring toward Mu Sicheng.
Previously, Brother Thief's flames had incinerated the passengers instantly. But after fighting Mu Sicheng for so long, his condition had clearly deteriorated. The flames were weaker now. Players might not withstand them, but the passengers could.
The fire in the carriage gradually subsided. From the adjacent carriage, the others could barely make out the scene inside.
Blank-eyed Mu Sicheng clung to the monster's neck, teeth gritted, refusing to be shaken off. Burned passengers, seemingly drawn to the lens embedded in the monster's chest, kept flooding in. They climbed over the massive body, roaring. Charred corpses piled onto Brother Thief until they formed a grotesque mound. With a violent twist, the monster flung Mu Sicheng away.
Mu Sicheng appeared exhausted. He coughed, releasing his grip, and fell backward onto the growing mountain of burned bodies.
The charred passengers opened their mouths and clawed at him. Blackened fingers raked across his pale face, leaving streaks of blood. More and more passengers poured in, burying him. Only his drained expression was visible beneath the heap of corpses. He lay there as if suffocating, breathing shallowly, until even his mouth was covered.
Mu Sicheng vanished beneath the blazing mound.
Brother Thief roared, flames igniting around his fist. With a bellow, he raised it high, ready to crush Mu Sicheng beneath the corpse pile.
Mu Sicheng lay motionless, his chest barely rising. He seemed to have lost all awareness. Only the faint movement of his breathing proved he was alive, and even that wouldn't last long.
The monster's fist descended.
Du Sanying saw what was happening and screamed.
At the sound of his voice, Mu Sicheng seemed to stir. He blinked with difficulty and barely managed to roll aside. Even so, the shockwave from the blow made him vomit blood. His eyelids drooped weakly as his body slid deeper into the corpse heap.
[System warning: Player Mu Sicheng, escape immediately! Your mental value is falling! You are nearing the boundary of death!]
Mu Sicheng clearly couldn't last much longer.
"Mu Sicheng is doomed," Puppet Zhang narrowed his eyes. "Bai Liu, even in your rage state, you won't be able to block that monster. Liu Huai, once Mu Sicheng dies, immediately throw the Mermaid Amulet from his dropped items to me!"
"I can't handle it with rage-state attributes?" Bai Liu's thoughtful voice cut in. "What if my attributes doubled while in rage state?"
"How would you double them?" Puppet Zhang scoffed, then laughed. "So Mu Sicheng told you about my personal skill—Puppet Enhancement."
"I'll tell you plainly, Bai Liu. It's theoretically impossible. To enter rage state, your mental value must fall below 20. My Puppet Enhancement requires sacrificing 50 points of mental value. It cannot be used if your mental value is below 20."
"What if I insist?" Bai Liu asked softly.
Puppet Zhang sneered. "You wouldn't die, but your mental value would collapse entirely. You'd enter a state worse than death."
Now speaking leisurely, Puppet Zhang looked at Bai Liu with a victorious smile. "Thirty-six seconds until departure. Mu Sicheng can't possibly last that long. You've lost this time. I will definitely get the Mermaid Amulet."
[System tip: The train has started. Player Puppet Zhang has broken trust with Player Bai Liu. You have failed to complete the transaction regarding the Mermaid Amulet. Player Puppet Zhang will be punished by the system and converted into soul money in Player Bai Liu's old wallet.]
Puppet Zhang's eyes widened. He instinctively looked at the LED countdown screen.
"How can the train be starting? There were clearly thirty-six seconds—"
The train lurched forward.
Liu Huai froze mid-chase.
Du Sanying, who had been running in panic, finally stopped. He collapsed in a corner, limbs trembling, tears streaming down his face. With shaking hands, he removed a translucent cloth that had been covering the LED screen. Leaning against the door, he sobbed, "Bai Liu, I'm never cooperating with you again. It's too thrilling. I really thought I was going to die—wuwuwu."
The cloth slid down completely. The real display read:
[0 seconds. The train is about to start. Passengers, please prepare.]
Puppet Zhang's face darkened as his gaze fell on the cloth.
[Scouting result: Player Du Sanying used the item Disguise Cloth to tamper with the LED screen's time display.]
"Du Sanying!" Puppet Zhang completely lost control. "When did you use that item? Why don't I remember it at all—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
He remembered now. While Du Sanying had been chased, he had thrown items around frantically to stall for time. There had indeed been a piece of cloth tossed toward the screen.
But Puppet Zhang had been blinded by the anticipation of victory. Everything had seemed to unfold perfectly according to his plan. He had never considered that Du Sanying's tearful panic was part of the act.
Though in truth, it wasn't entirely an act. Du Sanying had genuinely been frightened to tears by Bai Liu. Bai Liu had played the villain so convincingly that Du Sanying truly believed he and Mu Sicheng had been abandoned. He had cursed Bai Liu from the bottom of his heart.
Realizing all this, Puppet Zhang staggered back in a daze. He stared at Bai Liu in disbelief. "How is this possible? Your intelligence is only 89. Mine is 93. How could you outthink me? How could you predict my every move?"
"Maybe my intelligence is simply purer?" Bai Liu shrugged casually.
He pulled a crisp new banknote from his old wallet—the soul money that had once been Puppet Zhang. Pressing it against his system panel, he activated it.
[System tip: Player Bai Liu has used Player Puppet Zhang's soul money to intervene in Puppet Zhang's system. Cutting into Puppet Zhang's system panel…]
[System tip: Player Bai Liu has successfully accessed Puppet Zhang's system panel and can now operate it.]
Bai Liu's system panel instantly switched to Puppet Zhang's interface.
The moment Puppet Zhang saw it, he understood—he was completely under control now. Powerless. He turned his head and closed his eyes, unwilling to witness his own defeat.
Overconfidence had led him to make a mistake he never should have made. He had controlled countless people before, yet had never once been controlled himself.
Bai Liu…
This person must have known from the very beginning that Puppet Zhang intended to capture him and absorb his intelligence. That was why he had been so fearless, so certain that Puppet Zhang wouldn't kill him easily. And just as expected, Puppet Zhang had acted exactly that way—allowing Bai Liu to take advantage of it.
Smart people were always greedy. Puppet Zhang didn't think greed was wrong.
He had simply lost to someone ten times greedier than himself.
[System tip: Player Bai Liu has used soul money to intervene in Puppet Zhang's system panel. Player Bai Liu has activated Player Puppet Zhang's personal skill 'Thread Doll.' Player Bai Liu has manipulated Puppet Zhang into controlling Player Liu Huai to attack Bai Liu.]
Puppet Zhang's fingers suddenly began moving against his will. His hands twitched as he tightened the thread wrapped around Liu Huai's heart.
Both Liu Huai and Puppet Zhang stared at Bai Liu in shock.
Bai Liu calmly issued an order. "Attack me, Liu Huai. Use the method that consumes the most mental value."
Puppet Zhang was stunned. "Bai Liu, you've already won. What else are you trying to do? The doors are about to close!"
Yes, the train had already started. The burned passengers and Brother Thief were preparing to disembark. The still-burning monsters dragged their spoils behind them, a barely conscious Mu Sicheng.
Mu Sicheng looked as though he had lost awareness. His pupil-less eyes were unfocused, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth and eyes.
The only reason Bai Liu knew he wasn't dead was this. From beginning to end, Mu Sicheng had never used the Mermaid Amulet to escape.
[Bai Liu, I'm not sure whether I'll use the Mermaid Amulet when my mental value drops to 10. When people are on the brink of death, survival instinct makes them do strange things—like breaking promises and betraying teammates.]
[Still… if I truly don't use it until the end, that means I've maintained my sanity at a mental value of 10—just as you, you madman, required.]
[Mu Sicheng, if you don't use the Mermaid Amulet, I promise I'll save you—as long as I'm alive.]
[I hope so. Bai Liu, someone once said something similar to me before. I agreed to cooperate with you not because I trust you, but because I have no other choice. I don't want to be controlled by Puppet Zhang. I'd rather die. But I can accept being controlled by you.]
[I won't let you die. Mu Sicheng, you have to believe me. You are my most valuable card.]
-----------------
"I'm going to save Mu Sicheng," Bai Liu stated flatly. "Liu Huai, use your weapon. Attack me in a way that will rapidly lower my mental value."
Liu Huai's body moved against his will. He thrust forward, and the hidden blades pierced Bai Liu's chest and abdomen. Bai Liu merely frowned faintly. Liu Huai trembled as he released the blades.
[System tip: Player Bai Liu has been attacked by Player Liu Huai's Dark Night Sleeve Sword. His mental value has been eroded by 30 points. Current mental value: 39. Warning! Warning! Mental value has entered the danger zone!]
Bai Liu exhaled slowly. Covering his bleeding chest, he glanced at Mu Sicheng, who was still struggling faintly in the monster's grasp.
"It's not enough," Bai Liu said calmly. "Keep stabbing."
Liu Huai's hands, still bound by the thread, stabbed into Bai Liu's chest again. This time, Liu Huai's entire body shook violently. He stared at Bai Liu in disbelief as blood trickled from the corner of Bai Liu's mouth.
"Why are you going this far… for Mu Sicheng?"
Bai Liu didn't bother wiping the blood from his lips. He looked at Liu Huai indifferently. "I promised him I would save him."
"This is my transaction and my cooperation with him. Honoring it is the most basic morality of a wanderer."