By the evening of June 20th, the magical cube hovering over the Roland Royal Capital disappeared, and everyone trapped in the trial space was released, with no casualties confirmed. The officials from various countries who participated in the joint meeting and made the decision to cooperate with Joey finally breathed a long sigh of relief, believing they had made the correct decision.
At that moment, they no longer needed to worry about potential accidents and could look forward to the promising future of the Spirit Forgers system spreading, though they understood this future would inevitably include rough and dark aspects that would require their continued attention.
Regardless, this difficult challenge had been resolved.
One needed to understand that Joey’s character in the Cursed+ Painting incident was not particularly noble. Even though they had reached a cooperation agreement with him, it was merely a verbal promise with no substantial constraints. If Joey were to suddenly renege or had deceived everyone from the start, and the officials had already issued statements to the public promising the missing persons would return safely, the potential consequences would be devastating. If casualties or injuries occurred, it would undoubtedly deal a massive blow to the officials’ reputation, and most critically, people would blame the government for being misled and taking no preventive measures.
In other words, from the beginning, proposing cooperation meant they had to completely trust Joey—believe he would not break his word and that he was not a manipulative criminal, but a truly pure and trustworthy artist.
This was a gamble with thousands of lives at stake. A bet that this powerful extraordinary individual would choose to stand on a friendly side.
For politicians long immersed in conspiracies, this was rare. Fortunately, Joey’s identity was so special that the potential benefits of being on good terms with him far outweighed the risks of antagonism. This tempted government leaders from various countries to take the chance.
The key element driving this decision was the Special Case Investigation Team from Yao Country—they seemed to have tremendous faith that this powerful extraordinary individual would not act recklessly. Although their reasoning was that a fortunate individual had been acquainted with him, staying close for nearly two months and allowing them to understand his temperament.
But determining a person’s true nature was incredibly difficult, especially for someone who had barely appeared, leaving room to question whether this was a mere facade. Making such a massive gamble based on vague character assessments and self-assured understanding, potentially risking thousands of lives and facing international backlash, seemed unnecessarily risky.
Therefore, the Special Case Investigation Team must have unspoken, hidden chips that overwhelmingly tilted the gamble in their favor.Other participants in the meeting vaguely recognized this but chose not to expose it, superficially accepting the Special Case Investigation Team’s judgment and agreeing to cooperate with Joey.
Who could resist such enticing future prospects? Who wouldn’t want an endless supply of Spirit Forgers directly serving their countries? Who wouldn’t desire friendship with a powerful extraordinary individual?
After all, if they lost the gamble, wouldn’t the Special Case Investigation Team take the blame?
With this unspoken mutual understanding, the seemingly impulsive cooperation invitation was transmitted to Joey through Chandler.
Afterward, although everything proceeded smoothly as discussed, only when all trapped individuals returned completely unharmed did those monitoring the situation finally relax, experiencing a long-missed surge of adrenaline.
–They had won the bet!
Not only had they secured the friendship of a powerful extraordinary individual, but they had also acquired a group of new Spirit Forgers from various countries, with more to come in the future.
Western countries, in particular, were ecstatic!
Their martial arts system was incompatible, and experiments like the Transcendence Project had progressed extremely slowly, even sparking public protests. Meanwhile, Eastern martial arts were spreading rapidly, causing countries led by the Chenxing Empire to be anxious and constantly vigilant about the Eastern threat, desperately seeking ways to strengthen themselves.
Now, they finally possessed their own extraordinary power, and with a complete inheritance.
They even had a pioneering messenger in this system who, at the very least, would establish connections with secular nations if seeking something—perhaps becoming their trump card. Unlike the Lord of the Heavenly Capital, who remained completely invisible except for sending martial arts techniques.
—In this regard, it seemed they had won.
One could say that the Chenxing Empire and other Western countries made a substantial gain, while Eastern countries focused on martial arts only achieved a minor victory. Yao Country, in particular, had undertaken unnecessary risks, ultimately enabling the Chenxing Empire to obtain a complete extraordinary system.
“It seems that the Special Case Investigation Team’s facilitation of Joey’s cooperation with various countries was not the most advantageous choice for Yao Country.”
In a tea house within an ancient city of Yao Country, wisps of tea fragrance rose with soft white mist, blurring the face of the young man sitting across the tea table.
He laughed leisurely, his voice playful.
“Actually, if you hadn’t proactively pushed for cooperation and instead remained silent and observant, given certain people’s suspicions, they might not have decided so quickly to show friendship to Joey. As time dragged on, facing thousands trapped and global panic, the situation might have taken a different turn. Countries swept up in public fear would be forced to make poor statements. Even while wary of Joey’s potential restraint, their attitude would become cold and cautious, approaching him with defensive postures… That do-as-he-pleases fellow would likely be much less accommodating.” 𝔯𝖆ꞐοΒΕṡ
“Thus, the course of events would be completely different.”
The young man in a blue Taoist robe gently sipped tea, carefully describing an alternative progression. His crystal-clear eyes seemed to genuinely pierce through the possibility he described, seeing an alternate branch of fate, and thus casually delivered his judgment:
“By then, if your Special Case Investigation Team had appeared with completely friendly intentions and contacted Joey, you would probably have obtained this powerful Spirit Forger’s unique friendship. Such a development is clearly the most advantageous choice for Yao Country, isn’t it?”
At this point, he set down his tea cup, casting eyes that seemed to comprehend everything toward the person sitting opposite him.
“Mr. Qi is joking,” Li Fufeng responded.
Throughout the conversation, he had listened quietly. The other’s language seemed to possess a magical quality that made one unquestioningly believe it wasn’t merely a conjecture, but a truly foreseen future development—a different fate line born from the Special Case Investigation Team’s alternative choices. If they truly followed his suggestion, they would indeed proceed toward such a future.
But hearing the conclusion, he simply smiled.
“…You know we could never do that.”
He looked directly at the young man, his tone frank.
“—Isn’t this precisely why you chose us in the first place?”
“We could never gamble with thousands of lives for Yao Country’s most advantageous possibility. Moreover, who could know whether allowing everything to develop badly would truly benefit Yao Country or instead cause chaos affecting far more than thousands of lives? I believe you saw through this, which is why you sought us out in advance, allowing us to preemptively understand the harmlessness of Mr. Joey’s trial and compelling us to choose the path of immediate cooperation.”
Li Fufeng’s words revealed an astonishing fact: the hidden chip behind this gamble that helped them win was actually guidance from the Heavenly Master of Divine Calculation.
–It was precisely because the infallible Heavenly Master of Divine Calculation told them that the accident in the Roland Royal Capital would cause no harm that they could decisively promote cooperation in the international meeting and proactively extend an olive branch to Joey, thereby ending public panic at its inception.
The facts now proved their choice was correct.
Li Fufeng’s gaze was clear. “…So, the current choices and developments were actually what you and your group promoted.”
The young man in the blue Taoist robe smiled slightly. “That’s not wrong. This is indeed a result we directly pushed forward.”
“However, there’s a question I’ve been curious about and wanted to ask before…” Li Fufeng leaned forward, suddenly asking, “May I know how you were certain the trial would not be dangerous? Was it because you calculated the outcome, or because you understood Mr. Joey?”
Qi Jiu looked at him in surprise. “Neither, actually.”
He spoke calmly. “I never calculated anything, nor did I have a deep understanding of that Western junior. I only know that whatever he might want to do, ultimately, he would certainly not cause significant chaos.”
The young man’s tone was like stating an undeniable truth.
“—Because this is not allowed.”
Li Fufeng was slightly stunned.
For some reason, a long-dormant memory slowly emerged in his mind—a reminder from the Flower Speaker:
[Everything that should happen will happen. Everything that should not happen will absolutely not occur.]
Unconsciously, he blurted out, almost in a whisper. “…Who is the one not allowing all this to happen?”
We are currently recruiting. CN/KR/JP Translators/MTLers are welcome!
Discord Server: https://discord.gg/HGaByvmVuw
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter