Facing an Ancient God for a Year

Chapter 712: Chapter 710 Moment of the Meal (26)_1 Chapter 712: Chapter 710 Moment of the Meal (26)_1 Ha ha… Heh heh…

Fu Qian’s response successfully stunned Patch for a moment, but he soon burst into a sleazy laugh.

“Are you trying to say that it was I who made you destroy my creation, kill my horses, and then sit here to chat with me?”

“Are the horses referring to Gaya and the others? I must say that’s quite an interesting nickname.”

Fu Qian clicked his tongue in admiration, recalling the name of the item he was supposed to contain this time, and gestured around with his hand.

“As for your question, you arranged such a classic welcoming ritual, wouldn’t I be too disrespectful if I didn’t show up?”

“Interesting!”

Patch finally seemed a bit surprised.

“I have to say, you Scavenger, are a bit different.”

Was that an acknowledgment?

Hearing the term Scavenger, Fu Qian could almost confirm that his guess was correct.

So, this was indeed a ritual?

The test for the Dimming Pony was merely an outward show; essentially, it was a well-set trap to lure one into a pot, ultimately reaping SAN Points.

“Where am I different? Did you not expect me to be a Demigod?”

Fu Qian thought aloud as he asked.

“I didn’t expect you to be such a powerful Demigod.”

Patch’s tone sounded mockingly sincere.

“Oh? Then have you met other Demigods who aren’t as powerful?”

Fu Qian asked, not minding in the least, even eager to know more.

“I’ll give you a piece of advice, if you want this conversation to be more meaningful, the only way is to show sincerity, not to play tricks.”

“Trust me, it won’t do any good for you.”

Patch, while sneering, actually squatted on the seat, hands dangling by his knees, looking much like an elder at the head of the village.

“Let me think about it.”

His warning gave Fu Qian a moment’s pause for thought.

“Are you trying to tell me that intimidation is useless? Whether I can know something or the credibility of the answers all depend entirely on your mood? It seems you’re very confident that I can’t cause you any substantial harm.”

“How can there be no harm?”

Patch laughed even more provocatively, pointing at the ceiling above.

Beneath the ravage unleashed by Fu Qian just before, there was a large hole filled with violent aesthetics.

“Such a fine toy, ruined at your hands, is rather heartbreaking.”

“So the situation now is that you have already hurt me, and under these circumstances, you want me to answer questions—don’t you think you need to be a little more sincere?”

“Logical and well-founded.”

Fu Qian nodded seriously.

“How should I be sincere about the question, shall I knead you another horse?”

“No need, the Dimming Pony is nothing more than a symbolic assembly, which you’ve been devouring for so long, the horse’s neigh is still continuing, isn’t it?”

Patch pointed to his head.

“Besides, you don’t need to worry too much, soon, when the time comes, I’ll leave on my own and won’t delay your work.”

“Essentially, there’s no irreconcilable conflict between us.”

“Are you sure?”

Fu Qian looked shocked.

“How do you account for the losses I’ve incurred before?”

“For that, I can only say I’m sorry—and before this game is over, I don’t know how many losses you’ve had.”

Patch laughed slyly, but there was an oddly sincere ring to it.

“Actually, this is precisely what makes a toy interesting. Until you lift the cup, you’ll never know what numbers lie beneath. The unknown is the source of all fun.”

“Many times, I have pondered over the possible encounters between the Scavenger and those numbers,” Fu Qian said.

“Believe me, that’s way more sophisticated than any made-up story.”

Interesting!

So, at this moment, Patch isn’t aware of how many times he has failed in his containment attempts?

Does he even not know how many SAN Points he’s harvested?

Although Patch spoke ambiguously, Fu Qian found something intriguing in his words.

It seems that only when the mission is completely over can he tally up his gains all at once.

In fact, this was closer to Fu Qian’s own speculation.

The Patch before him, even if not of a Divine Tier, was probably not far off.

And it was almost certain that he had some understanding of the warehouse, its characteristics, and the patterns of its interventions.

Only with this knowledge could he set traps in return.

But even so, essentially, the core of this game was still provided by the warehouse—the ability to reset indefinitely until successful containment was achieved.

As for the warehouse’s authority in this matter, Fu Qian had confirmed earlier that even some true Divine Beings were not immune to it.

In this regard, Patch was likely no different.

Therefore, with each containment attempt by the warehouse, Patch would probably also be reset in sync.

When facing himself or his predecessors, he would not retain the memory and cognition from the previous attempt.

Only when his unfortunate predecessors’ SAN Points dropped to zero, consumed completely, or when the SAN Points didn’t drop to zero but the staff had to make a run for it and the warehouse was forced to accept a failed outcome as reality, would he be able to acquire his spoils all at once and retain the experience of the last attempt.

Of course, the same was true if the warehouse succeeded.

If Patch wasn’t lying, he was just dropping a toy and running away, and the memory of the entire failure process would also be retained, with just fewer harvested SAN Points.

The only unfortunate ones were the Dimming Ponies.

They would die in perfect self-deception, trapped in the persona they had created for themselves.

“I must say, it really is an interesting game!”

Fu Qian, who always sought the truth, did not skimp on his praise for the intricate structure of the game.

“Heh heh heh… I knew from the start that you were different,” Patch said, his tone even feeling like he had met a kindred spirit.

“Morality and justice, such things are meaningless to you; essentially, you are more like me than anyone else.”

“You flatter me. So, were you the one who suggested the creation of this toy to the Dimming Ponies?”

Fu Qian was receptive and eager to learn.

“A chance every year for forty-eight hours, to play out a perfect test, where a potentially lethal challenge from the heavens could result in either a huge reward upon success or complete obliteration upon failure?”

“I have to say, this reminds me of something akin to a tribulation concept,” Fu Qian commented.

“Tribulation, that is an interesting way to put it, heh heh…”

Patch continued with a sly laugh.

“Speaking of which, Gaya should be the first of the four Dimming Ponies—”

But Fu Qian’s next question was suddenly interrupted by a different sound.

It wasn’t Patch; it was similar to the chirping of crickets, clearly produced entirely by mechanical means.

The next moment, Fu Qian reached into his chest pocket and took out a golden wristwatch.

That was the one he had hung there before.

And right now, the cricket chirping sound was coming from it.

The alarm clock on the watch was going off.

Seven fifty AM.

Fu Qian looked closely at the time displayed but did not speak for a moment.

He had set the alarm himself; he was very sure of this.

The question was, why did he set such an alarm?