LSDWTWHA chapter 40

Chapter 39

“Hello.” The words were directed at the players, but his eyes were completely glued to the beautiful Phoenix-class starship.

Su Su watched the starship which disappeared without a trace, revealing his greedy expression.

This Phoenix-class starship was the predecessor of the currently active Zhuque-class starship, specifically designed for single-starship combat, a pure weapon. Although it looked about two-thirds less in size than the Yinlong-class starship, it possessed the strongest power system and weaponry.

The Yinlong-class was also a top-tier starship, but as the original command ship, it needed to balance operations, defense, commands, and transporting mechas, so in terms of combat, it was not as overwhelming as the Phoenix.

Su Su liked Yinlong, but he also liked Phoenix; as long as it was a beautiful and powerful starship, he liked it.

“Vice president! Vice president, what brings you here?” The driver of the Meteor-class starship, who had been arrogant earlier, immediately changed to a respectful demeanor upon seeing his vice president.

【You Can’t Go Back】: “I was passing nearby and heard that some guild members were in combat, so I came to check the situation.”

“This person is too despicable; vice president, you must help us.”

Members of the 【Chongxiao Guild】 thought reinforcements had arrived and hurriedly began to complain: “We killed a hundred-legged shield bug, and this person insists we stole his prey and demands ten thousand as compensation. Of course, we refused, and a fight broke out. He broke his own starship and then seized our 【Dog Tooth】 starship, tricking two 【Kongyu】 starships and one 【Liuyan】 starship into taking damage as well.”

“Did you steal someone else’s prey?” 【You Can’t Go Back】 asked directly in the public channel.

“Of course not!” the driver of the Meteor-class starship hurriedly rebutted, “He was alone, and his starship was wrecked and unusable; how could he possibly kill the hundred-legged shield bug? Perhaps we actually appeared and saved him in time, yet he was ungrateful and made unreasonable demands.”

“I see.” 【You Can’t Go Back】 responded gently, suddenly directing his anger towards his own guild’s starship.

The Phoenix unleashed a torrent of crimson flames from its side, illuminating half the sky. The closest to it was the Meteor-class starship, which was slow to move and couldn’t escape; before long, it was roasted to the point of being scrapped, with the driver declared dead, disintegrating into sparkling starlight in the void, far exceeding the firepower of the 【Liuyan】 starship, which also wielded flames as a weapon.

The other starships scattered like startled birds. The youngest player in the third-tier starship, unwilling to acquiesce, asked, “Aren’t you our vice president? Why are you hitting us? Clearly, we were the ones being bullied.”

【You Can’t Go Back】 replied, “Why? Bullying others, stealing the kills of others’ weakened monsters, and then inverting right and wrong.”

“How do you know it was him who reduced the hundred-legged shield bug’s health? We didn’t see it, and he has no evidence.” The driver of the 【Liuyan】 starship couldn’t remain seated due to his bad temper.

“If he didn’t do it, could it have been you?” 【You Can’t Go Back】 snorted, “I only need to know that ten of you surrounded one, and you still lost. The 【Chongxiao Guild】 doesn’t keep useless members; you should all withdraw from the guild yourselves, don’t wait to be kicked out; it doesn’t look good.”

The remaining starships remained in place, as if still wanting to argue.

【You Can’t Go Back】’s voice carried a harsh threat: “Are you waiting for me to send you off?”

Eight starships scattered in all directions.

“Hey!” Su Su looked at the fleeing starships, feeling no gratitude at all.

The 【Dog Tooth】 starship moved closer to the 【Phoenix】: “They haven’t compensated me; you chased everyone away, so who do I get the money from?”

【System Message: Player ‘You Can’t Go Back’ has gifted you 10,000 star coins.】

【You Can’t Go Back】: “I’ll cover their debts.”

“This has nothing to do with you,” Su Su didn’t quite understand this person’s action.

【You Can’t Go Back】: “They’re from the Chongxiao Guild. I am their vice president. The losses they caused should be compensated by the Chongxiao Guild.”

Upon hearing the response, Su Su felt an inexplicable sense of discomfort: “Do you speak this way to everyone?”

【You Can’t Go Back】: No, I only speak to players who can solo the 【hundred-legged shield bug】.

Su Su: “Maybe it was just a coincidence that someone passed by and killed it; I might be setting them up.”

“I’ve been paying attention to you for a long time, Whitefin Shark.” 【You Can’t Go Back】 suddenly changed the topic: “I know that on your first day playing the game, you used an E-class starship to counter-kill the 【Star Pirate Captain】. If I’m not mistaken, you should have already mastered how to use your mental force to communicate with your starship by that time.”

He extended an invitation to Su Su: “There’s still half a month before the preliminaries; how about considering joining my team? As long as you cooperate with me, I am confident I can take you smoothly through the preliminaries.”

The game preliminaries were scheduled for half a month later and would feature comprehensive racetracks with different challenges set for the early, mid, and late stages, where thousands of qualifying contestants would compete, with only the top hundred accepted.

“I’m not interested,” Su Su said. “It’s just the top hundred; I can get in on my own.”

He indeed had that confidence. After a few days of understanding, he was no longer the naive newbie who knew nothing about the game; he knew that being able to manipulate a starship with mental force was incredibly rare in the game, and he believed his skills were quite decent.

【You Can’t Go Back】 shook his head disapprovingly: “Too naive. You might think you’re strong, but have you considered that it’s just because you’re still a newcomer, and you haven’t encountered the truly strong players in the game? If today, instead of those ten fools, you were surrounded by ten players piloting S-class starships and also possessing the same mental force as you, would you still have the confidence to defeat them?”

“Fighting can be a solo endeavor, but war requires cooperation. This competition is the same; solo players will be prioritized for elimination, and only by grouping together can one strive for better placements.” 【You Can’t Go Back】 advised, “I have a decent team, and the numbers are substantial; we can definitely hold an advantage in the competition. If you join, I guarantee you a spot in the top hundred.”

Su Su did not oppose 【You Can’t Go Back】’s assertions; he also understood that teamwork could indeed provide advantages in certain challenges, just like when sharks cooperated to hunt powerful prey in the deep sea.

However, Su Su had no interest in this. He held no good feelings for the 【Chongxiao Guild】 and did not trust the person in front of him. An untrustworthy ally was more dangerous than a powerful enemy; he had learned many lessons about this in the past.

Su Su said, “But there can only be one first place.”

【You Can’t Go Back】 let out a pleasant laugh, as if amused by a child’s ignorant remark: “I admit your talent is quite good, but your time playing the game has been too short, and you lack many experiences. If you don’t join us, you’ll be our enemy. As a potential competitor, you’ll be surrounded and might not even pass the first level. This isn’t a threat; I’m just stating the facts.”

“The hundred and first place is the same for me as the second.” Su Su said. When there is only one prey, cooperation is meaningless. Even if they teamed up to drive away other enemies, in the end, they would have to turn on each other.

【You Can’t Go Back】 watched Su Su pilot the 【Dog Tooth】 starship away without blocking him. Those with a resolute attitude would find threats and persuasion ineffective.

He opened his friend list and sent a message to 【Bai】 who was online: “The little friend you mentioned is quite interesting.”

Yan Bai logged on tonight; he was a typical casual player who mostly spent time in the guild when online.

Although the 【Whitefin】 Guild ranked among the top, as its president, he was overly low-key.

No one knew that his control over the game extended far beyond just the Whitefin Guild; the vice president of the 【Chongxiao Guild】 was also one of his people.

【You Can’t Go Back】 was currently ranked first on the starship PK leaderboard. Real name: Zheng Hui.

【Bai】: “He’s not a little friend; he’s my cousin, a year older than me.”

【You Can’t Go Back】: “Is that so? But he looks very innocent.”

【Bai】: “Did you run into him? You didn’t bully him, did you?”

【You Can’t Go Back】: “How could I dare?”

【You Can’t Go Back】: “I noticed his talent is good and intended to recruit him, but he refused; he said he only wants first place.”

This statement caused Yan Bai to frown. Su Su wants the first place? Wasn’t he just playing casually before? The first place means he would meet Qi Hanyi; is he not afraid of being discovered by her?

Yan Bai’s gut instinct suggested that perhaps something was subtly slipping out of control without his awareness.

【You Can’t Go Back】: “I’m a little worried about encountering him in the competition.”

【Bai】: “Why, are you scared?”

【You Can’t Go Back】: “If he grows another year or two, perhaps he could pressure me, but at this level, he’s not worth my fear. I originally wanted to take him along for your sake in the first level, but unfortunately, he wasn’t appreciative. I’m more concerned about if there’s a conflict on the field and I accidentally hurt you, his older cousin. You wouldn’t be happy.”

【Bai】: “Just eliminate him in the first level; I don’t want him getting too involved in this competition.”

【You Can’t Go Back】: “Is this favoritism? Not wanting him to face danger but sending me to do so?”

Yan Bai sensed the underlying grievance in the tone, causing him to chuckle.

【Bai】: “So, can you win?”

【You Can’t Go Back】: “I’ll keep winning as long as you’re behind me.”

Su Su piloted the 【Dog Tooth】 toward the nearest supply point; he needed to reset the 【Yinlong】 at the supply point.

“You want to take first place?” Qi Hanyi seemed somewhat surprised; he recalled Su Su had only displayed a participatory attitude before. What made him change his mind?

“I want to become a starship pilot and sail a real starship.” Su Su admitted this with sincerity, even smiling at Qi Hanyi: “Didn’t you say last time that even mermaids have the right to ascend to that starry sky?”

“Yeah, that’s great. I’m just a bit surprised.” Qi Hanyi said: “You suddenly seem to have a goal.”

“Pretty much.” Su Su didn’t deny this: “A friend of mine has developed mental force collapse syndrome.”

“Uh?” Qi Hanyi’s movements paused slightly; was he talking about him?

“I want to help him.” Su Su said: “If he can never pilot a starship again, I can drive for him.”

Qi Hanyi felt his throat go dry, and his heartbeat became somewhat erratic: “Why help him?”

To work hard for the sake of achieving an uncertain first place for him, to bear heavy pressure, to become a starship pilot as a mermaid… no, as a shark, did Su Su really like him that much?

“Because he looks really cool going against the current.” Su Su stated earnestly: “He’s prepared to do something contrary to the rules of reality, something that could shake his status, affect his rights, and even threaten his life, yet he is so resolute because he believes it to be right.”

“I think that’s very cool; I want to help him.”

Qi Hanyi was taken aback. He had thought of many answers in his mind and even prepared himself to hear Su Su express his feelings, as this little shark usually spoke straightforwardly and hid nothing.

But this statement was completely unexpected for Qi Hanyi.

As if being poured into the pitch-black night sky was a river of stars, the sudden appearance of beauty felt a bit unreal.