123: Chapter 123 At the critical moment, the system disconnects.

"System!"

Gu Yan's consciousness sank into his mind, sending out that call that concerned the life and death of the Gu Family.

His plan was crazy, but it was also simple.

Lure the enemy deep, catch the turtle in the jar.

But to implement this plan, he needed a trump card—a trump card that could save his life at a critical moment or deal a fatal blow to the enemy.

"Open the shop! Exchange a 'Small Displacement Talisman' for me! Hurry!"

Small Displacement Talisman, a top-tier Yellow-grade Talisman.

Although it couldn't travel ten thousand miles in an instant like the Grand Displacement Talisman, it could allow the user to instantly move to any designated location within a hundred-mile radius.

Ignoring obstacles, ignoring the Formation, and even... ignoring the spatial lockdown of a Golden Core Master!

This was a life-saving divine object he had long eyed in the System shop, priced at a high of three thousand points.

Although expensive, for the sake of this battle, he would not hesitate even if it meant losing everything.

As long as he had it, he was confident that at the moment Golden Core Master Wu Yong entered the Formation, he could use spatial displacement to give that old thing a vicious blow!

However.

What responded to him was not the familiar "Exchange Successful" that carried a hint of a profiteer's aura.

But rather... a suffocating silence.

Gu Yan was slightly stunned.

What was going on?

Could it be that he didn't have enough points? That was impossible!

Ever since the Medicinal Pill business became popular, he had accumulated quite a fortune; let alone one, he could afford ten!

"System?"

He called out tentatively once more.

There was still no response.

In that pitch-black space of his consciousness, the System interface, which should have been glowing with a faint light and standing by at any time, was currently gray and dim.

And in the very center of the interface.

A white circle made of lines was there...

Spinning slowly.

Spinning and spinning.

Spinning and spinning.

As if mocking his anxiety, and as if telling him what... despair was.

[Loading...]

Veins instantly popped out on Gu Yan's forehead.

At this life-or-death moment where every second counted, you mother-f***er... lagged?!

He didn't know how much time had passed; perhaps it was an instant, perhaps it was a century.

That damned circle finally stopped spinning.

Immediately after.

Lines of cold, emotionless blue text, accompanied by a flat, synthesized electronic voice, slowly appeared in his mind.

[Automated Reply:]

[Respected Host, hello.]

[Your exclusive System 007 is currently participating in the final stage of the '10086th Heavens and Myriad Worlds System Union Slacking Off Competition' and is currently in 'Full Silent Do Not Disturb' mode.]

[In order to compete for the supreme honor of 'King of Slacking Off,' this System has temporarily blocked all external signals, including but not limited to the Host's calls, cries for help, verbal abuse, and complaints.]

[If there is an urgent matter (such as the Host being about to die in battle, the world being about to be destroyed, etc.), please leave a message after the 'beep.' This System will handle it at its discretion after the competition ends (in approximately three epochs).]

[To watch the competition live stream, please press 1; to file a complaint, please press 2 (lines are extremely busy, not recommended to try); to purchase a membership acceleration pack, please press 3...]

[Beep——]

Gu Yan stared blankly at the lines of text.

Slacking Off Competition?

Finals?

Three epochs?

Pfft!

A mouthful of old blood was forcibly swallowed back, but a faint metallic taste still permeated his mouth.

He felt the blood vessels in his brain throbbing, as if they would burst at any moment.

This is ridiculous!

This isn't just a scam!

This is simply... murder!

At the most critical moment when he needed it most, at the moment of the Gu Family's life and death, this damned System actually went off to participate in some hellish Slacking Off Competition?!

And three epochs?

By the time you come back after three epochs, my ashes will have already turned into oil!

Anger.

Extreme anger!

But after this anger, what welled up in his heart was a bottomless... coldness.

The trump card was gone.

The only retreat was cut off.

Without the Small Displacement Talisman, without the System's support, what could he use to fight a Golden Core Master? Should he use his head to ram into him?

Feelings of despair, like a venomous snake, tried to coil around his heart, making him suffocate, making him give up.

But.

Gu Yan closed his eyes and took a deep breath of air that smelled of blood.

When he opened them again.

In those deep eyes, there was no longer a hint of panic or despair.

Replacing it was a light that was even crazier, more ruthless, and more determined than before!

So what if there is no System?

Without that scamming thing, can't I, Gu Yan, survive?

I am a Transmigration traveler!

I am a ruthless person who crawled up from the bottom with memories of two lifetimes!

My life is only in my own hands!

Since you dropped the ball, then I'll rely on myself!

Isn't it just an Early Golden Core Stage?

Isn't it just risking my life?

Who's afraid of whom!

"Yue'er!"

Gu Yan turned around abruptly and shouted in a low voice toward the white figure behind him who was looking at him with a worried face.

Leng Yuechan had been guarding behind him; although she didn't know what had happened, she could keenly feel that the aura on Gu Yan had changed.

It had become... like a drawn sharp sword, revealing its edge, yet carrying a tragic air of being ready to die.

"I am here," she replied softly, her long sword unsheathed, emitting a chilling coldness.

"The plan has changed."

Gu Yan's voice was very soft, his speech extremely fast, every word sounding as if it were squeezed out from between his teeth.

"There is no retreat."

"I didn't get that Talisman."

Upon hearing this, Leng Yuechan's delicate body trembled slightly, a flash of shock appearing in her eyes, but she quickly returned to calm.

She didn't ask why, just tightened her grip on the sword hilt, looking at Gu Yan with firm eyes.

"Then... let's fight."

"No, we cannot fight head-on."

Gu Yan shook his head, sparks of wisdom and madness intertwined in his eyes.

"Fighting head-on means certain death."

"We must... use strategy."

He leaned close to Leng Yuechan's ear and spoke a few sentences quickly in a voice only the two of them could hear.

As he spoke, Leng Yuechan's eyes widened, the expression on her face changing from shock to horror, and finally... into a deep admiration and determination.

"This is too risky!" she couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice, "The slightest mistake, and we will be doomed beyond salvation!"

"Do we have any other choice?" Gu Yan retorted, a ferocious smile curling the corners of his lips, "Only by putting oneself in a desperate situation can one find a way to live!"

"Good!"

Leng Yuechan did not hesitate any longer and nodded heavily.

"Since you want to go crazy, then I will accompany you... to go crazy this one time!"

Gu Yan took a deep breath, calming the surging Qi and blood in his body.

He looked again at the figure in the high sky who was like a cat playing with a mouse, his eyes becoming incomparably clear.

This time, there is no System.

No cheat.

All there is, is his, Gu Yan's, brain, and this life!

"Town Mayor Zhao Hong, Golden Core Master Wu Yong..."

He muttered these two names in his heart.

"If you want my life, then use your lives... to exchange for it!"

He slowly raised his hand and cast an extremely obscure yet fatal spell toward the center of the Formation.

Hum——

The four-colored light curtain, which had been tottering but still barely maintaining its integrity, after this spell was cast into it.

Suddenly...

It trembled violently!

Immediately after.

The light on the curtain began to flicker, becoming extremely unstable.

The four pillars of light that reached the sky and the earth also began to sway and flicker like candles in the wind, as if they would be extinguished at any moment!

Even at the very top of the light curtain, right opposite Golden Core Master Wu Yong's position.

A tiny crack, hard to detect with the naked eye, quietly...

Cracked open!