91: Thanks for the invitation. I just went bankrupt. The reward is weird. The next stop is Evil Valley.

Five pairs of identical, dull, and bewildered eyes simultaneously stared at their “shriveled” points accounts.

The one million points they had just received...

Before they could even warm up to them...

They were gone.

Gone...

A crack appeared on Shadow Empress Ye Liuli’s perpetually icy face.

Ling Xi’s small mouth formed an “O” shape and remained agape for a long time.

Shadowless Ghost - Ye Qiong’s figure, usually hidden in the shadows, even materialized due to shock.

As for Seer - Cang Xuan, the expression on his face was utterly spectacular.

From ecstasy, to bewilderment, to stupor, and then to indignation...

Finally, he trembled as he pointed at the pure white sky, and after a long pause, he only managed to utter two words:

“What... the hell?”

His indignant and speechless cry echoed throughout the entire settlement space.

Perhaps the chat group also felt that this was a bit unfair.

After a moment of silence, the notification sound rang out again.

“Heavenly Secret Shielding has been completed.”

“It has been detected that this mission’s difficulty exceeded its original scope due to interference from unknown factors.”

“Compensatory rewards are now being distributed to team members.”

The chat group’s emotionless voice sounded once more.

The four individuals looked up, their eyes already numb.

They no longer held any hope.

Give us whatever you want, we’re tired, let’s just destroy it all.

“Compensatory Reward One: Distributed to group member ‘Shadow Empress Ye Liuli’.”

“Reward Item: Interlude Script (Fragment)”

“Type: Special Authority (Unique)”

“Effect: You will have an extremely low probability of forcibly triggering an ‘Interlude Script’ when watching the ‘Main Storyline’. You will see some plot segments that were ‘deleted by the author’, ‘not adopted’, or ‘hidden’.”

“Everyone’s life is a movie that has been edited. And you will have the privilege of seeing those behind-the-scenes clips that should not have been seen by the audience. Please remember, sometimes, the unperformed drama is far more real than the ‘main text’ that is currently being performed.”

Ye Liuli felt the new information in her mind, and her eyes became incredibly solemn.

Seeing deleted plotlines?

This meant that she might be able to see another side of the characters.

Or even... another possibility for the story!

This ability... for an “assassin,” an empress skilled in manipulating hearts, its value far exceeded ten million points!

“Compensatory Reward Two: Distributed to group member ‘Star Gazing Goddess Lingxi’.”

“Reward Item: Temporary Authority · Reader’s Eye”

“Effect: From this moment on, every three days (calculated by the standard time of your world), you will have one opportunity to see a ‘high-dimensional comment’ related to your own destiny or the current main storyline.”

“Attention! Attention! Attention!”

“This ability is extremely dangerous! The ‘comments’ you see may come from friendly ‘readers’ or from malicious ‘spoiler mongers’ or ‘trolls’!”

“When you see something you shouldn’t, such as your death ending, then there is a very high probability that this ‘comment’ will evolve into an ‘ultimate prophecy’ for yourself! You will die, die in the ending you saw!”

“—Please, use with caution.”

Ling Xi’s face instantly turned pale.

This reward was like a devil’s temptation.

It allowed her to glimpse heavenly secrets, but it also required her to be prepared to suffer a backlash from those secrets and die on the spot at any time.

She felt that what she was holding was not a reward, but a ticking time bomb that could explode at any moment.

She just subconsciously thought, “What if I see a comment about me being scared to death?”

The next second, a vivid image clearly appeared in her mind: her dying from fright, bleeding from all seven orifices, and her heart and guts torn apart, all because she glimpsed some terrifying truth!

“Ugh...”

She retched, too terrified to use this ability even a little.

How was this a reward? This was clearly a death warrant!

“Compensatory Reward Three: Distributed to group member ‘Seer - Cang Xuan’.”

“Reward Item: One-time Use Item · Interactive Segment”

“Effect: When you use this item, you will be able to ignore all dimensional barriers and ask a group of mysterious ‘high-dimensional beings’ a question that cannot be modified.”

“The fixed question is: ‘Families in front of the screen, what do you think... will I die?’”

“Note: They may or may not answer you. But please remember, every ‘thought’ of theirs may cause unpredictable causal disturbances to your future. Good luck.”

Cang Xuan: “...”

He looked at the card in his hand, pieced together from countless bullet comments and emojis.

He, a person who lived by prying into the destinies of others, now had to turn around and ask a group of “audience members” about his own life and death?

What kind of hellish joke was this?!

His expression was as if he had simultaneously eaten ten catties of lemons and durians, reaching the pinnacle of absurdity.

“Compensatory Reward Four: Distributed to group member ‘Shadowless Ghost - Ye Qiong’.”

“Reward Item: One-time Authority · Plot Hole”

“Effect: After activation, for the next hour, you can temporarily define your existence as a ‘plot bug’ or ‘animation error’ in the current world. In this state, you will completely ‘disappear’ from all levels, including logic, causality, and destiny.”

“Any observation method, including but not limited to divine gaze, law tracing, and destiny deduction, will be unable to capture any trace of you. Because in a ‘reasonable’ story, you should not have appeared there.”

“Note: Shh, don’t make a sound. Look, isn’t there a polar bear under Qin Shi Huang’s crotch?”

Ye Qiong, who had been silent all along, felt a subtle tremor of excitement the moment he saw the description of this reward.

For a ghost shadow who had pushed the path of “concealment” to its extreme...

This was a divine skill!

...Settlement complete.

The entire pure white space once again fell into an eerie silence.

The four individuals, holding four bizarre rewards filled with mischievous elements, looked at each other.

The atmosphere was both absurd and joyful, mixed with a hint of creepiness.

And Gu Yanci merely watched all of this calmly.

As if he had already anticipated such an outcome.

Zhang Wei, throughout, watched and listened silently, like an outsider.

She didn’t understand what “comments,” “screens,” or “interactive segments” meant.

These everyday things she usually encountered were shrouded in a mist, leaving her baffled.

But she could feel that these people, including herself, seemed to be caught in a “drama” far grander and more incomprehensible than a war of gods.

And they were all actors in that play.

Just then, the chat group’s cold voice broke the silence, bringing new... despair.

“All rewards have been distributed.”

“Key NPC ‘Zhang Wei’ has been detected to have gathered the three core emotions of ‘joy, anger, and sorrow’.”

“Matching the next most suitable emotional world based on her current state...”

“Matching complete.”

“The Fourth Act — World of Evil, will commence in 10 seconds.”

“...10...3...2...1”

“We wish you all an enjoyable time.”