29. Chapter 29

The bathroom was silent, the crimson wine still quietly flowed in the arms of Venus, filling the surrounding air with the aroma of wine.

The golden dome was reflected in the dark wine, and it seemed like the legendary extravagant cocktail party on Mount Olympus that lasted all night.

Puppet Master!

Zong Jiu's eyelids lifted, and he repeated uncertainly: "Will the person controlled by the puppet thread not leave any trace of being manipulated?"

The black-haired man nodded slowly, "Yes, there is no trace, and it can only be barely identified by the difference or clues between this person and the past."

There is no doubt that if the ability of the No. 1 demon is really as Zhuge An said, then this ability is definitely enough to be called an unsolvable skill.

Five puppet threads can completely turn a person into a puppet, and the person being manipulated is actually unaware of it and completely loses the ability to perceive.

Of course, the most terrifying thing is that there is no trace. Even if you know his ability, it is not very useful, because others can't tell who the devil is controlling and who is one of the puppets under the devil. It's really creepy to think about it this way.

No wonder he has so many fanatical followers. This ability is indeed worthy of the name of No. 1.

Zong Jiu slowly exhaled from his chest, "The stronger the ability, the greater the restriction."

Such a terrible, bug-like terrifying ability, if there is no restriction, No. 1 can directly control all trainees or NPCs, and there is no need to participate in this competition. From this, we can make a simple inference that although the ability of the puppeteer sounds terrible, there are still limitations, and most of them are quite large.

"Not bad."

Zhuge An nodded in appreciation: "But the problem is-no one knows what the conditions are for the devil to activate his ability. Even the conditions are not clear, let alone circumvention."

He didn't say the last sentence, but both of them knew it.

Because... those who know are either dead or turned into one of the puppets, and the end can be imagined.

Zong Jiu fell into deep thought again.

According to Zhuge An's meaning, he really couldn't think of any need for the devil to participate in the horror trainee competition. Was it just for the universal wish ticket reward for the first place center?

Although it made perfect sense logically, Zong Jiu's intuition told him that there must be some unknown conspiracy.

"Let's change the subject."

After talking about the ability of No. 1, the white-haired young man changed the subject, "Then how can you know the devil's ability so clearly, honorable Lord Zhuge?"

"Since there is no trace of the devil's manipulation, do I have reason to believe that you also have an unwashed suspicion?"

Faced with this question, the black-haired man's face looked very cold, and even the look he gave Zong Jiu was full of subtle disdain.

"I can't believe you would ask such a stupid question."

If Zhuge An had really been manipulated, he would not have been able to help Zong Jiu in the first copy, let alone stand here leisurely and tell him what kind of ability No. 1 has.

How can someone be so bored that he would announce his trump card to the world?

Zong Jiu certainly knew this truth, but he would tease Zhuge An even if he was free.

There are countless mysteries about this guy, including his attitude towards himself, which made Zong Jiu have a very subtle understanding.

Now the information between him and Zhuge An is not equal. Zhuge An obviously knows a lot about him, and the root cause is probably the "prophecy" mentioned by the other party. However, Zong Jiu knows nothing about him, only that he has an arrogant and noble character, is extremely smart, and has a wise and demonic image.

He doesn't like the feeling of being out of control.

What's more, the other party is such a dangerous and resourceful character, and such a person must be guarded against.

"You don't have to use such a clumsy way to test me."

The black-haired man said coldly: "Some things, when you know them, you will know them naturally."

"I'm not telling you now, it's just that the time has not come yet."

Zong Jiu: "..."

He wanted to say it last time. This No. 3 spoke mysteriously, like a charlatan who was swindling.

"Your attitude makes me suspicious, No. 3."

The white-haired young man crossed his arms, smiling, "You keep saying that No. 1 and I are destined to be enemies in the prophecy, but in fact you have been intensifying the conflict in front of me... In my opinion, you and No. 1 are the ones who really have a grudge."

Zong Jiu didn't use a questioning tone in this sentence, because it was obvious that Zhuge An and the devil didn't have a very good relationship. Otherwise, the other party wouldn't have come to him again and again, giving him so much valuable information for nothing.

"No."

Zhuge An denied it flatly, and his words were concise.

"Only you."

Zong Jiu raised his eyebrows, "Really? What a terrible line."

Zhuge An ignored the teasing. He looked stern and looked deeply at the white-haired young man.

"I don't like to make promises. But no matter what... I won't be the one who is hostile to you. Our interests will eventually coincide. You can rest assured about this."

Zong Jiu shrugged, but didn't say whether he believed it or not.

"I'm not here to give you bargaining chips."

Zhuge An put down his hands and stood up from the golden wall he was leaning against.

When in the mental hospital, all the trainees wore hospital gowns, which greatly blurred their personal colors. Now that they have returned to the trainee dormitory, everyone is wearing their usual clothes, which makes it easier for Zong Jiu to make a profile judgment.

The man has black hair, sword-like eyebrows, a cold expression, and is handsome and unparalleled.

He is wearing a Taoist robe that is pure black, with flowing cloud patterns embroidered on the cuffs, and a dragon-patterned ancient jade tied around his waist. When he walks, the hem and cuffs are slightly raised, which gives him a sense of frivolity and aloofness.

This outfit is quite common, after all, there are trainees who wear all kinds of strange clothes. There are Indian shamans wearing feathers and painted faces, and cross-dressing men who start to let themselves go after entering an infinite loop.

Just now, when Zong Jiu was playing cards at the A-level gambling table, he heard someone say that Zhuge An was a stingy miser. Relying on his ability to count cards, he gambled at the central gambling table several times. He either folded his cards directly after getting low-probability cards due to bad luck, and didn't even want to bet; or he killed a lot of people, using all 36 strategies, such as the empty city strategy, the secret Chencang strategy, and the counter-espionage strategy. Almost no one could escape unscathed from his serial frauds. If they didn't die, they would have to peel off a layer of skin from him.

Unexpectedly, he looked like a madman, but in fact he was a stingy miser.

With this background, Zong Jiu was not surprised by what Zhuge An said.

He didn't speak, but stood there calmly, waiting for the other party's next words.

As expected, after stating that he would not provide cash chips, Zhuge An sent him another clue.

"The main system did not say that chips can only be exchanged for special props, life or rare props. If you have carefully read the rules board at the front desk, you should know... There is also a non-physical existence that can also be exchanged for chips in the main system."

The black-haired man looked at him meaningfully, "The S-level props you got in the last copy should also come in handy."

Zhuge An knew that he got the S-level props, and Zong Jiu was not surprised.

The No. 3 in front of him collected all the clues the next day and directly passed the unsolvable copy. Zong Jiu got such a high evaluation in the last copy, and half of the credit came from him. Logically speaking, the main system would definitely deduct points for this unearned behavior. In the end, the main system not only did not deduct points, but also pulled him up to S-level. Thinking about it this way, the ownership of the S-level props in the last copy is naturally self-evident.

Furthermore, Zhuge An had already collected all the information of the previous copy. Apart from anything else, the reading room might have been searched by this big guy. Although he chose to leave the copy directly, which benefited Zong Jiu who followed behind to pick up branches, it was also very likely that he knew what the S-level prop was. After all, all special props came from the horror copy. Before being collected by trainees, they were derivatives of the horror copy. Some copies even revolved around this prop, so it was not surprising to leave information.

In the final analysis, it was the information asymmetry between the two sides that made Zong Jiu feel uncomfortable.

He knew nothing about Zhuge An, but Zhuge An seemed to have seen through his past and even his future.

How could he let down his guard?

He knew that it was impossible for both parties to build trust, but he still said "You can trust him". I don't know what this person's intention is.

Watching the black corner of the clothes disappear in the corner of the bathroom, Zong Jiu shook his head and took back the poker in his palm, turned around and walked into the cubicle, and took out his tarot cards from the system backpack with his backhand.

Even if Zhuge An didn't say it, Zong Jiu could think of this new prop he had found.

As an S-level prop, isn't the function of the twenty-two major arcana to provide clues when there are no clues?

He spread out the tarot cards, and they floated up one by one, automatically stacked in the air, waiting for the next instruction from the white-haired young man.

Zong Jiu looked at the cards floating in the air, and kept thinking about the actions of the NPC doctor in the mental hospital.

When he was in the studio, Zong Jiu noticed No. 1.

Perhaps because he had studied mental magic before, he had a strong intuition about gazes. Almost the moment this sticky and malicious gaze fell on him, waves of trembling currents began to roll from the coccyx at the end of his spine, and he felt extremely cold, just like what he felt at the central gambling table just now.

At that moment, Zong Jiu even thought that Dr. Chu had chased him out of the mental hospital and came to him for revenge.

It's hard to describe this feeling.

Doctor Chu gave him a very bad impression. Although he looked extremely perverted on the surface, he was superficial, fake and deliberate. The few times Zong Jiu looked at him, he seemed to see the abyss from the pupils behind the gold-rimmed glasses.

That doctor is definitely not as simple as he seems. But after all, he is just an NPC. Zong Jiu has also taken revenge. After leaving the dungeon, he did not take this person to heart.

But now... thanks to Zhuge An's timely rain.

Those intermittent and fragmentary inspirations are all integrated together to form an incredible pattern.

"Then let me see if you are the same person."

Meditation, shuffling, cutting, and arranging cards.

The young man's slender fingers gently brushed across the back of the card and finally landed on one of them.

He gently pulled the tarot card suspended in the air out of the deck.

At the same time, the system showed that his remaining number of draws has become two, and the cooling time is twelve hours.

This cooling time is not long, nor short, just right.

Zong Jiu slowly turned over the drawn tarot card.

On the front of the card, a huge demon with an inverted pentagram on his head, stepping on the chain tied to the human neck, grinning.

Major Arcana Card No. 15, Demon.

As expected.

Zong Jiu raised his eyebrows without any surprise.

Good fellow, no wonder he always felt oppression and malice from the other party. It turned out that he had rewarded him with a hammer and directly made him play a dungeon. This grudge was also made.

All the trainees were at the same starting line, but now No.1 openly manipulated the NPC to cheat. He was really cunning.

"Main system, apply for exchange of chips."

[The exchange channel has been opened for you. You can exchange the corresponding chips by directly reciting the exchange silently]

Zong Jiu sank his eyes.

Zhuge An would not give him a useless information. Since he mentioned that the chips could be exchanged through the non-physical channel of the main system, this clue must be valuable. In addition, he could guide the topic to No.1 before. Zong Jiu felt that the trick was mostly here.

He tried to feedback the information about the trainee playing the NPC to the system. The next moment, a cold voice sounded in his mind.

[Exchange successful, chips increased by 50,000]

[Information has been exchanged. Note: Trainees are not allowed to tell others about this information through any means, otherwise they will be punished.

Zong Jiu: "......?"

Why did the main system give No.1 more chips when the information was fed back to the main system?

Moreover, the second notification of the main system was very subtle, and it was obviously meant to pay him to keep his mouth shut.

A bold idea came to Zong Jiu's mind.

He refocused his attention on the floating tarot cards and started the remaining two divinations.

Meditation, shuffling, cutting, and arranging cards.

Meditation, shuffling, cutting, and arranging cards.

There is no doubt that the card drawn in these two divinations is still the same.

The white-haired young man held the devil card in his hand and laughed so hard that his waist could not stand up straight.

Maybe No.1 would never have dreamed in his life that the puppetry he was proud of, which was even certified by No.3 Zhuge An and had never been discovered, would be exposed in front of a small C-level through tarot divination, which was almost a playful way.

Zong Jiu felt that he didn't need to worry about what Zhuge An said. As long as he had this S-level item, he could find out the devil's disguise in a minute.

When in doubt, ask for a divination. The ancients were not wrong!

He kept the most important information he got from the three divinations, exchanged it with the main system once, and then swaggered back to the gambling table with the fresh 190,000 chips.

This time, Zong Jiu did not avoid the devil's gaze, but took the initiative to smile at him meaningfully.

On the high seat at the gambling table, the right eyelid of No. 1 suddenly jumped.