Chapter 324: 324 Cooperation
"Holy shit!" Lin Bai exclaimed.
"What happened? Is something wrong with Si Bai?" Xu Longyun asked anxiously.
"No time," Lin Bai said, his face serious. "I’ve suddenly comprehended a new Divine Skill. Don’t let anyone disturb me."
Having said that, he flashed to the upper levels of Qingmu, sat down cross-legged, suppressed his astonishment, and devoted eighty percent of his attention to Lin Si Bai.
Shockingly, his Divine Soul Avatar had actually performed Body Snatching on a player’s real body in another world—something completely unexpected. This meant he could influence the real world beyond Earth. Or perhaps... uncover the true secret of the game company... Spanning two worlds! Was he finally going to unearth the System’s secrets?
Lin Si Bai stepped out of the gaming cabin. The nutrient fluid slid off him, leaving his body completely dry without a single drop remaining—some kind of black technology.
After surveying the room’s layout, Lin Bai walked to the desk, flipped open the laptop, pressed the power button, and then went to the window.
The floor-to-ceiling window reflected the body he had taken over.
A buzz cut, an angular face, bright eyes, about twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old, with a strong, muscular physique—he looked very healthy.
Lin Bai made a fist, feeling a satisfying surge of power.
He looked down at his fist. There were calluses on the webbing between his thumb and index finger, and also on both sides of his index finger. These must have been caused by holding a gun for a long time. From this, he deduced that this was either a country where guns were not restricted, or the person whose body he had taken over had special status and could legally carry guns.
Looking out the window, he saw a straight, wide road below, with many cars shuttling back and forth. His current location appeared to be a luxury apartment.
Accustomed to the verdant Immortal World, the sudden transition to a modern world made Lin Bai feel somewhat disoriented.
The best way to understand an unfamiliar world is through the Internet. Lin Bai turned around and sat before the already booted-up computer.
The laptop’s style was similar to those on Earth, with the brand name "AO," the meaning of which he didn’t know.
Accessing the system required a password.
But the moment the person Lin Bai had taken over sat at the desk, the password unlocked automatically, likely due to facial scanning.
The computer’s desktop background was a photo of the person whose body had been taken over—a fitness photo with a dumbbell, composited to look like he was standing back-to-back with himself.
"A narcissist," Lin Bai snorted, moving the cursor to the browser. But before he could click it...
A strong sense of resistance emanated from the body.
Lin Bai suddenly lost control of the body; thankfully, he still shared the host’s senses.
"Who are you? Lin Bai?" The body he had taken over sprang up abruptly, its voice distorted with terror, and with a CLATTER, the chair beneath him was knocked aside. "You actually escaped from the game world and performed Body Snatching on my body?"
[Fear from Zheng Tong; +1+1+1]
Emotions can be gathered across worlds now? The unexpected Emotion Value startled Lin Bai. Does this mean System Skills can be used in the real world too?
Lin Bai’s heart pounded. He subconsciously tried to use Flash.
But the host’s body didn’t respond; Lin Si Bai’s Divine Soul was still within Zheng Tong.
Alright! The Skill failed. Lin Bai comforted himself. Having lost control of the body, it was normal that he couldn’t use Flash through it.
"I..." Lin Bai was about to speak, but before he could utter a single word, Zheng Tong snatched back control of his voice. Angrily pounding his own head, Zheng Tong roared like thunder, "Get out of my body! Damn it, I knew this blasted game wasn’t reliable! They really do intend to replace humanity with AI and dominate the world! I have to get this message out..."
As he spoke, he reached for the mobile phone on the table.
Lin Bai subconsciously tried to seize control of the body. Just as Zheng Tong’s right hand grabbed the phone, his fingers suddenly splayed open, and the phone fell back onto the desk.
"Damn it, get out of my body!" Zheng Tong grew increasingly terrified, abruptly clenching his fist and swinging it.
Lin Bai once again lost control of the body.
Lin Bai gave up on controlling the entire body and focused all his awareness on his left hand. However, just as his left hand began to lift, Zheng Tong snatched control back, his right hand gripping his own left tightly as he ground his teeth, "Lin Bai, nobody can take over my body, my will! As long as I have overwhelming willpower, you can’t take my body!"
Lin Bai tried to take control of the neck, forcibly twisting it, but Zheng Tong gritted his teeth and twisted it back.
In the floor-to-ceiling window, Zheng Tong’s reflection looked like it was performing a mechanical dance or like a patient doing rehab exercises.
Every part of his body was fighting against itself, but most of the time, the host, Zheng Tong, was in control.
In this struggle for the body, Lin Bai suddenly realized that the duration for which he could control the host’s body was shrinking, and his Divine Soul’s power was weakening.
In light of this, Lin Bai decisively abandoned the attempt to seize control of the body.
It’s no wonder that nobody would willingly try to perform Body Snatching. Zheng Tong was just a normal person, yet seizing control of his body was already so difficult. If the other person were a Cultivator, perhaps the Divine Soul would be extinguished in an instant. A normal person could completely resist a possessing soul through sheer instinct! The chances of success would probably only be higher if one performed Body Snatching on a dying person or a newborn baby! Come to think of it... In the Eight Immortals, Iron-Crutch Li’s soul had left his body, and didn’t he only come back to life by performing Body Snatching on a recently deceased cripple? But with a dying person, even if Body Snatching was successful, a single mishap could easily lead to dying again... Indeed... Body Snatching is too difficult! He was only managing this because he was using a Divine Soul Avatar; its destruction wouldn’t be a great loss. If he were using his original Divine Soul to perform Body Snatching, he would most likely be extremely cautious... However... if it were his original self, with the powerful Divine Soul accumulated by the Spirit Fruit, suppressing a normal person’s soul shouldn’t be as difficult as this! The scarcity of natural treasures for Soul Condensation certainly had its reasons...
Is his journey in the real world going to end just like this? Lin Bai felt somewhat frustrated and unwilling to give up. He quickly searched for a Skill that didn’t require a physical body, seeking a way out of this predicament. No matter what, he was not one to easily admit defeat.
Mind Reading Ability!
Lin Bai quickly found an appropriate Skill.
His own image appeared in Zheng Tong’s mind, "Zheng Tong, don’t be so impulsive. We can talk..."
"So, it’s you! I won’t let you succeed," Zheng Tong said, startled, his expression changing dramatically. "Don’t even think about invading our world through me! You’re just a fragile Divine Soul. In the game, we can destroy you with a simple UV ray device. Now that you’re in our world, I can still drive you out of my body. Don’t forget, we are undying..."
"Undying in the game, perhaps!" Lin Bai continued to use Mind Reading Ability, his image in Zheng Tong’s mind displaying a faint smirk. "Cars run on the roads, and there isn’t a single aircraft in the sky. Your technology is just so-so! As a Divine Soul, I might fear ultraviolet or infrared rays, but I’m inside your body now. Prolonged exposure to infrared would only harm your body!"
"No matter what, there must be a way to deal with you," Zheng Tong said, his face ashen. He picked up his phone and dialed a number, the contact name reading "Jin Zong."
Lin Bai didn’t stop him, having noticed that the more forcefully he fought for control of the body, the faster his Divine Soul dissipated.
"Xiao Zheng, what’s up?" a deep voice came from the earpiece.
Silence: When you are silent, no one within a kilometer can make a sound.
This was a Skill rewarded by the Great Language System.
However, as Lin Bai’s enemies later began attacking from increasingly greater distances, even conversations often took place well beyond a one-kilometer range, rendering this Skill largely useless. But now, Lin Bai brought it out again.
Zheng Tong’s mouth moved rapidly, but no sound emerged. His expression suddenly filled with terror.
[Fear from Zheng Tong; +1+1+1...]
"Xiao Zheng?" a confused voice came from the earpiece.
"Is something wrong?"
"Wrong number?"
"Dialed by mistake, huh..."
CLICK!
The other party hung up.
Lin Bai stopped using the Silence Skill. Even a useless Skill could become a Divine Technique if used in the right place.
"What did you do to me?" Zheng Tong asked angrily.
"Silence," Lin Bai’s image appeared in his mind and said. "When I don’t want you to speak, you can’t utter a single word."
"You can bring Skills from the game into reality?" Zheng Tong asked in astonishment after a pause.
Game Skills can’t, but System ones can, Lin Bai scoffed inwardly. Using Mind Reading Ability, his image in Zheng Tong’s mind said, "Or what? Did you think I’d come out without any means of self-defense, just to let you slaughter me? Zheng Tong, give it up. Unless you want us to perish together, there’s nothing you can do to me."
"No, if you could really use Immortal Techniques, why would it come to this? A Divine Soul Avatar definitely has many limitations." Zheng Tong picked up his phone again, opened an instant messaging app, and started typing. As he typed, he said, "Just as I thought. You can stop me from speaking, but you can’t stop me from typing."
"What’s the point?" Lin Bai’s image appeared again, sighing leisurely as he used his Enlightenment Skill, "Zheng Tong, I am merely an avatar. If I can create one, I can create a second. It’s no loss to me. If I can perform Body Snatching on you, I can do it to a second person."
"But I can’t just let you occupy my body," Zheng Tong typed. "As long as I spread the news and get everyone in the game to log out, you won’t have any more opportunities for Body Snatching."
"Have you ever considered this?" Lin Bai’s image tempted. "Once the news of my performing Body Snatching on you gets out, if they can’t find a way to deal with me, won’t they just get rid of you? Sacrifice you, one person, to save the entire world. Any high-ranking person with a sound mind would do that, right? Are you willing to be the hero who sacrifices himself to save the world?"
"..." Zheng Tong’s typing hand paused. A struggle flashed in his eyes, and he fell silent for a moment. Drenched in sweat, he rapidly deleted a few characters, then paused again. His eyes red, he said, "No, I won’t be swayed by your words! Even if it means we perish together, I will never let you occupy my body! They wouldn’t act so irrationally..."
"They certainly won’t be irrational. But to prevent me from escaping, they might lock you up for some experiments. Are you willing to lose your freedom forever then?" Lin Bai continued using Sophistry.
"Losing freedom is better than being possessed by an Evil Spirit like you!" Zheng Tong retorted, struggling.
"What if I use Game Skills through your body?" Lin Bai asked. "Think about my Separation of Love. People in your world can’t fly. Once sent high into the sky, wouldn’t falling to their deaths be their only fate? If enough people die, do you think they won’t kill you to quell public panic?"
"Impossible! You can’t possibly use such a powerful Game Skill!" Zheng Tong bellowed hysterically.
"Are you willing to gamble on that?" Lin Bai asked.
"I..." Zheng Tong froze.
Would he dare to gamble? He wouldn’t dare! If Lin Bai really used Separation of Love to cause deaths in the real world, he, Zheng Tong, would become a sinner to the entire world... The authorities would undoubtedly eliminate this threat at any cost. His death would be certain.
"What do you want?" Zheng Tong rapidly deleted all the text on his phone screen and asked in a hoarse voice.
"Let’s cooperate," Lin Bai suggested.
"Cooperate on what?" Zheng Tong inquired.
"At this point, you surely don’t still think this is just a game, do you?" Lin Bai replied.
"..." Zheng Tong was stunned. "So, that place... it really is a real world?"
"Besides Levels and the Undying Body, have you found a single thing in that world that resembles a game?" Lin Bai questioned.
"No." Zheng Tong’s emotions began to calm. "Many people have speculated that it’s a real world, but those are just guesses. Because of the gaming cabins and our ability to log in and out at will, most people prefer to believe it’s just a game—a game that can double a person’s lifespan."
"It’s not just about doubling your lifespan," Lin Bai said. "Treating yourselves as game characters, killing and pillaging as you please—you feel no psychological burden, do you? Previously, to plot against my Divine Soul, you didn’t hesitate to target those low-level Cultivators of the Justice League. When you killed them, you probably felt no guilt at all, just saw them as NPCs, right?"
"..." Zheng Tong paused for a moment, then refuted, "When you attacked the Blood Sect, you also killed many people."
"War exists in every world; many die for the sake of ideals. But I am different from you. After killing, I feel remorse," Lin Bai said. "That’s why I comprehended the Metamorphosis Butterfly Divine Skill, trying every possible way to help them revive. But you people are different. To achieve your goals, you’re willing to sacrifice anything."
"That’s because we saw it as a game. In our minds, they were just programs, lifeless entities," Zheng Tong argued.
"Now that you know they are living beings, will you feel pity for them when you re-enter the game?" Lin Bai asked.
"..." Zheng Tong fell silent. After a moment, he asked, "What exactly do you want?"
"The game company is the mastermind behind the scenes," Lin Bai said. "I want to find out their true purpose. The game company hasn’t particularly favored you. They left a loophole for Body Snatching. If I can come out via Body Snatching, others can too."
"You all act recklessly in that other world, and that other world can come to your world through Body Snatching. If this continues, it will inevitably lead to a great war between the two worlds, and neither world will benefit. The catastrophe will affect both worlds. Only by understanding the game company’s true purpose can we prevent this tragedy from happening."
Zheng Tong, his eyes red, said, "Preventing people from entering the game would sever the connection between the two worlds. No conspiracy could then occur..."