"Deceivers of the World... are they just parasites of the world?"
Hearing Ming Po's words, Naless was briefly left speechless.
She seed to want to say sothing, but after a long hesitation, she swallowed her words.
"Are you being a little too extre?"
She reached up and pulled her little red riding hood lower, obscuring her eyes, and answered softly, "I'm just saying... you can join us. If you already have a new team, they can join us too. Our organization has room for many people. The more people there are, the livelier it gets."
Naless made almost no effort to hide her identity or her intentions.
'If you already have a new team?'
Ming Po scoffed.
"I refuse to believe you don't understand this logic, Miss Naless 'Little Red Riding Hood.'"
Ming Po braced his hand against the subway car, looking down at her. "Perhaps you should go back and take care of your grandmother," he said, his tone calm but slightly mocking. "There is no room for fairy tales here."
The shadow cast by his body almost entirely enveloped Naless.
Naless turned her head slightly in resistance. It was unclear whether she was resisting Ming Po's close proximity or the words he had just spoken.
Crowds of black and white figures continuously brushed past them, yet no one noticed their existence.
Perhaps to distract herself, Naless's eyes subconsciously tracked those monochro silhouettes. Ming Po, however, remained entirely unswayed, his gaze locked unmovingly upon her.
His stare was chilling, like a wolf that had found its prey.
"It's not incompatible."
After a long silence, Naless looked up.
She stared intensely at Ming Po, speaking with utmost earnestness. "Becoming the sole victor in the Ga of Deception does not conflict with protecting others and fulfilling their wishes.
"Isn't that how everyone gathered together in the first place? It isn't about abandoning friends or betraying companions, but rather shouldering their desires. If soone falls, then the others must bear their wishes and continue down their path.
"For months, years, over a decade, even decades—Deceivers can only interact with other Deceivers. Even if we waste chips to bathe in the sunlight, we can only achieve a brief Manifestation in the Material Realm. That is nothing but an illusion of existence. Under these circumstances, we are the only trustworthy companions each other has.
"If we can't even trust other Deceivers under these conditions... then that would truly be far too pathetic."
By the ti she finished, the flippant and teasing deanor she had displayed upon first eting Ming Po had completely vanished.
Tears shimred faintly in the depths of her eyes, as if she were pleading for sothing.
Anyone else witnessing this scene would likely have their heart soften.
But Ming Po did not trust her. His heart was as hard as iron.
He had witnessed with his own eyes how flawlessly Naless had transford into soone else.
He had never even seen her true form, nor did he know her true gender. How could he possibly trust her?
"If you truly know , then you should know that I despise riddlers."
Ming Po slowly withdrew his arm and took a half-step back.
He spoke asuredly, his eyes frigid and devoid of emotion. "If you truly agree with , then you should entrust with more secrets.
"Your true na, your true face, your identity, your wish, your abilities, and how we actually t. Who are your teammates? Who is your captain? Do they know ? Do I know them?
"You tell to place my destiny in your hands—can you place your destiny in mine?"
With every sentence he spoke, Ming Po took a half-step backward.
By the ti he finished speaking, he had reached the opposite side of the subway car.
Seeing that Naless remained standing in place and maintaining her silence, Ming Po gave her one last glance before turning to leave.
As he stepped out of the carriage, he paused slightly and glanced back at Naless.
Looking like a pitiful puppy, she stood aggrieved in her spot, staring up at him.
Ming Po t her gaze for a few seconds, then turned and walked away.
Didn't want to speak plainly?
Then she didn't need to speak at all.
Ming Po grew increasingly certain.
Naless definitely knew him.
She was either a forr teammate, soone he had saved in the past, or perhaps soone he had ntored—any of those were possible. After all, his past Title was suspected to be a Golden Rank Deceiver in the Domain of Virtue; he must have saved quite a few people.
But that did not an Naless was worthy of trust.
Since Ming Po had fallen to such a state—his Title shattered, his chips reduced to zero, and his mories completely wiped clean—it ant he had undoubtedly been defeated.
If his 'teammates' had not found him imdiately and protected him...
Then that ant none of them were worthy of trust.
Ming Po had no desire to force her hand, nor would he actively harm her. After all, she had just saved him twice—even if, in a sense, the danger he encountered was also connected to her.
But Ming Po was clear-headed enough. Since she lacked sufficient sincerity, it was better to part ways right here and now.
This was better for everyone.
"What a ss."
Ming Po let out a sigh, closing his eyes as he leaned against the door of the adjacent carriage.
Right now, he really wished he had a portable music player, just to listen to so music when he had nothing else to do—even if it wasn't a Treasure.
There had to be similar items in the Anchor Points of other Deceivers, just like how he had been able to find tools.
Bringing things directly from the Material Realm was impossible; Ming Po had already tested that. When the chips burned out, any items that did not belong to a Deceiver would simply drop back where they ca from.
If soone possessed a portable music player that could be brought into an Anchor Point, Ming Po would even be willing to trade chips for it.
"Speaking of which, the drinks at Gao Fan's base must have been acquired the sa way."
No wonder Gao Fan was rented out to other teams so often, and why he still had to give his team a cut when returning from a ga. Under those conditions, his team still hadn't managed to save up any chips.
It seed they had spent it all on improving their quality of life.
In a way, it really did count as 'team funds.'
After idling away for quite so ti, Ming Po finally returned ho.
The back-and-forth trip had eaten up a lot of ti; it was already one o'clock in the afternoon.
Fortunately, the trip had not been entirely in vain—he had acquired so crucial intel.
Ming Po now knew that an organized, large-scale operation was creating new Deceivers in an attempt to expand the scope of the Ga of Deception.
And their ultimate objective was highly likely to acquire his wine cabinet.
Looking at it this way...
He still could not bring anyone into his Anchor Point for the ti being.
This was also the fundantal reason why Ming Po had refused to let Naless follow him.
Ming Po stood in front of the old television set, feeling a bit perplexed.
"That wine cabinet is so overpowered, you should have sothing special about you too."
He fiddled with it again, only to find that no matter how he turned the dials, all he could get was static.
He even tried feeding the television so chips, but it wouldn't take them.
After ssing around for a while longer, Ming Po gave up. He didn't dare take it apart, because he had no idea if this kind of Treasure would still work if put back together. If it turned into a completely ordinary television, he would cry his eyes out.
So, Ming Po decided to leave it alone for now.
But right at that mont, Ming Po suddenly felt a stir in his heart.
He decided to take another look at the small room next door—the one that had been transford into an audiovisual room due to the shift in ti and space.
Originally, he had resolved never to open that door again.
It would only brew murderous intent toward Deceivers within him, reminding him once again just how arrogant they were—carelessly altering the life and death of ordinary people, tampering with their experiences and lives, and stealing away their precious mories and existence.
A person's anchor in the real world was their own mory, followed by the mories others held of them.
If even those two things could be tampered with, then what in the world was actually real?
However, Naless's words had genuinely caught Ming Po's attention.
"No way."
Ming Po stood frozen at the doorway.
The previously monochromatic gray room had burst into color.
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