40: Chapter 40 Sign My Face

Yang Hang stood where he was, not moving.

"Don't be afraid. I'm not here to rob you of your belongings, nor am I here to assault you." He took his hands out of his trouser pockets, spread them out, and showed them. "I'm just here to discuss a deal."

The eighteen-year-old girl stared at him vigilantly, not lowering the wooden board.

"Who's afraid? This Young Miss isn't afraid at all. And whatever business you're talking about, this Young Miss isn't interested. Hurry up and leave!"

Yang Hang ignored her refusal and said directly.

"I've come to buy your fishing opportunity for today."

"…Buy the treasure chest?" The girl was stunned for a moment, then her vigilance increased by three points. "What kind of joke are you making? How could I possibly sell you the treasure chest? You'd be better off assaulting me instead. Besides, what are you using to pay? Can you even afford it? Could it be that you're from some organization that buys treasure chests?"

"Neither. I'm an individual."

"An individual?" The girl looked him up and down—flip-flops, a white T-shirt, and an Ultraman mask.

What decent person would wear this thing out to discuss business?

"One million karma points," Yang Hang said.

Silence.

The sea breeze slipped through the cracks in the ship's railing, blowing the stray hair on the girl's forehead.

Then she laughed. It wasn't a happy laugh, but the kind of laugh that says, "Are you kidding me?"

"One million?" She lowered the wooden board and instead put her hands on her hips, her tone jumping directly from fear to disdain. "Big brother, if you're going to lie to someone, at least make up a more reliable number, okay? One million karma points? Who on the entire Fate Platform —"

She suddenly stammered to a halt.

Because when she said the sentence, "Who on the entire Fate Platform can come up with one million," her brain automatically filled in an answer.

Number one on the Merit Ranking.

Individual merit as of two days ago was 550 million.

Creator of the Cause and Effect Fate Platform.

The title circulated on the Fate Platform — Fate Master.

Her gaze refocused on that silver mask, and her expression began to change.

"Wait a second, I have a question to ask you."

Her voice dropped.

"People on the Fate Platform have always been discussing… whether that Yang Hang, who is number one on the Merit Ranking, is actually the Lord of the Fate Altar." She stared at him, saying every word slowly. "This question has been asked since the first day the Fate Platform went online, and there's still no conclusion. Although the mainstream view now is that the top-ranked Big Brother Yang Hang is the Lord of the Fate Altar, I still want a definitive answer."

She swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

"Are you Big Brother Yang Hang? Or the Lord of the Fate Altar? Or are you neither?"

Yang Hang looked at her, paused for a few seconds, and answered carefully.

"You probably want to ask me if I am both, right?"

The girl nodded somewhat shyly.

Yang Hang didn't keep her in suspense and gave the answer directly.

"If you believe what I say, then I am both."

The girl's wooden board fell from her hands, hitting the deck and bouncing twice.

"Impossible… You, you're lying, right? Prove it —"

Yang Hang looked left and right, then stomped his foot.

He pointed his hand upward.

The girl instinctively looked up.

The sky hadn't changed. The twin suns were still hanging there, and seagulls were still flying.

But the boat under her feet was rising.

The entire rotted wooden Houseboat was detaching from the sea surface, rising vertically. Seawater flowed down from the bottom of the boat with a splash, and the dried fish on the deck slid to the edge of the railing, nearly falling into the sea.

Ten meters. Thirty meters. Fifty meters.

She could see the surrounding sea surface unfolding beneath her feet, boundless and sparkling.

Then the boat stopped. Suspended mid-air. Steady and stable, even steadier than when it was parked on the sea.

The girl held onto the cabin door frame, her legs trembling.

She looked down.

Fifty meters in the air. Beneath her was the deep blue sea.

"Ahhhhhh —"

A scream.

Yang Hang moved his fingers, and the boat slowly descended, landing back on the sea surface, splashing up a circle of white spray.

The girl collapsed onto the deck, gasping for air, her hair disheveled.

But her eyes were glowing.

Not fear.

It was the kind of light that a fan girl in the front row of a concert has after suddenly being called out for interaction by her idol.

"It really is you!!!"

The speed at which she sprang up from the deck was even faster than the speed at which she had collapsed in fear just now.

"Big Brother Fate Master!!! It really is Big Brother Fate Master!!!"

She rushed in front of Yang Hang, less than half a meter away, her hands clasped in front of her chest, bouncing on the spot.

"Can you sign? Sign on my boat board! No, no, no, sign on my hand, sign on my face!"

"Can we take a photo together? I'm going to change my Fate Platform avatar!"

Yang Hang stepped back half a step.

"Not doubting anymore?"

"Not doubting! At this stage, anyone who can be this powerful, even if you weren't Big Brother Yang Hang, I would still sell you my treasure chest! Besides, my beautiful girl's sixth sense tells me that you are indeed Big Brother Yang Hang, the Lord of the Fate Altar."

Yang Hang nodded, thinking this girl was quite smart.

"Then shall we discuss the business?"

"I agree, I agree to everything! The treasure chest is yours! It's a gift! No money needed!"

"One million karma points."

"No, no, no! Being able to see you in person is ten thousand times more valuable than one million!" She waved her hands like windmills. "You coming to stand on my broken boat makes my boat appreciate in value! This is the deck that Big Brother Fate Master has stepped on!"

Yang Hang couldn't help but be amused by her energy.

He chuckled beneath the mask.

"Then I'm opening the chest."

"Open, open, open! Feel free to open it!"

Yang Hang walked to the fishing spot. He poured the Power of Causality into the blue light, and the golden radiance exploded once again. The entire rotted wooden Houseboat was filled with dazzling gold. The girl covered her eyes with her hands and peeked through her fingers, muttering non-stop, "It's gold, it's gold, holy crap, it's actually gold."

The light dissipated.

Yang Hang took out a palm-sized crystal bottle from the chest. The bottle was transparent, and inside was a little less than half a bottle of iridescent liquid, like liquid stars.

[life spring (Gold-grade wonder)]

[Automatically absorbs energy within range to produce spring water; can also produce spring water by actively injecting energy. After drinking, it can restore all injuries, purify all negative status effects, and continuously restore vitality within twenty-four hours.]

[Infinite durability.]

Yang Hang put the crystal bottle into his embrace.

When he turned around, he noticed the girl's position had changed.

She had moved between him and the ship's railing at some point, blocking his path of departure. Her posture was with her hands behind her back, her upper body leaning slightly forward, and a smile on her face that she thought looked very natural.

"Big Brother, won't you sit for a while longer? I have dried fish here, although it's not very fresh, but —"

As she spoke, she inadvertently tugged at the hole in the collar of her T-shirt and pulled at the frayed fabric edge of her shorts.

The fabric made a slight tearing sound.

The already damaged clothing ripped open a few more gaps.

Yang Hang: "…"

She continued: "Big Brother, look at how torn my clothes are. There's nowhere on the Magic Sea to buy new ones, and it's quite cold with the wind blowing and the sun beating down —"

Yang Hang looked at her for two seconds.

Then he reached out.

The girl's body stiffened.

Yang Hang's hand landed on the top of her head and patted it gently twice.

"Close your eyes."

"…Ah?"

"Close your eyes. I'm giving you something."

The girl's face flushed instantly.

She stepped back half a step, her hands twisted together, her eyes drifting.

"That… Big Brother, I, although I admire you, really admire you super much, but… we're meeting for the first time and… isn't it a bit too fast?"

Her voice became smaller and smaller.

"I'm not that kind of casual girl… I've actually always wanted a sweet romance in the future, the kind where we say goodnight and good morning every day…"