East Xia’s Deal, Qi Sword (4K)

Chu Qi looked at Bai Cangshu’s avatar’s ugly crimson face and shook his head with a bitter smile.

"Let’s go into the Private Space and talk in detail first."

Bai Cangshu did not object. With a flash of light, he brought Chu Qi, Song Xian, and the others into his own Private Space.

Song Xian and Tianjie looked around the enormous Private Space, silently calculating just how many Reincarnators Mercenary Tao had killed.

Chu Qi, however, swept his gaze around before sitting down on a sofa in the empty hall.

"Cang Shu, your heart is still the same as before…"

"Completely blank."

A Reincarnator’s Private Space was a place specially granted by the Infinite Dimensional Space for Reincarnators to rest and relieve stress.

Just as many men burdened by life liked to hide in their cars after work for a smoke, having a completely safe space that belonged solely to oneself could ease a great deal of pressure.

The Private Space was such a place. Moreover, it could be decorated freely according to the Reincarnator’s wishes. Any style of interior design, no matter how expensive, luxurious, or fantastical in the real world, could be realized here.

It could be said that a Reincarnator’s Private Space was a residence reflecting the most peaceful scene in their heart.

Some chose to make it resemble the "home" most familiar in their memories. Some designed it as a gorgeous room from their dreams. Others created fantastical scenery that could never exist in reality, complete with mountains, seas, lakes, and starry skies.

Yet Bai Cangshu clearly possessed such an enormous space, one that could be transformed into nearly anything, but he had done nothing with it, leaving the room in its empty, original state.

From this alone, Chu Qi could tell that Bai Cangshu was still that person with nothing but desolation in his heart.

When they were young, Chu Qi had believed himself to be Bai Cangshu’s best friend. Because Bai Cangshu had imitated his actions, he had mistakenly believed that he was likewise the other man’s best friend.

For that reason, he had wanted to take the initiative and get to know this "close friend" better.

But the more he interacted with him, the more confused he became. He could not sense anything at all.

Bai Cangshu had no particular likes or dislikes, nothing he especially wanted, and nothing he feared.

Someone who had no special reaction to anything had felt incredibly difficult for Chu Qi to approach back then, creating an intense sense of distance.

And the deeper he got to know him, the stronger that alienation became. In the end, after seeing Bai Cangshu’s reactions to birth, aging, illness, and death, Chu Qi had begun to fear this "close friend."

Song Xian, Chu Qi, and Tianjie seemed to share some unspoken agreement, as none of them used avatars.

The avatar Chu Qi had previously used had been destroyed right after his staged death.

Bai Cangshu also removed his avatar at this moment, revealing his original appearance.

Even though Song Xian had long since confirmed the truth, seeing that familiar face sitting before him in Mercenary Tao’s pink robe still left his expression complicated.

Only after taking in everyone’s reactions did Bai Cangshu smile and answer Chu Qi.

"What about you, Chu Qi? Now that you’ve become a Reincarnator before me, do you still fear me?"

A natural smile rested on his face. He sniffed lightly, as though smelling some kind of scent, then answered his own question.

"Mm… you still fear me."

"That’s right. I still have some fear of you left," Chu Qi admitted openly, without concealing it.

In his view, fearing an aberration like Bai Cangshu was a normal human instinct, just as humans, being primates, instinctively feared all kinds of snakes.

It was an instinct for self-preservation, nothing to be ashamed of.

Satisfied, Bai Cangshu withdrew his gaze and lifted the black tea before him.

If Li Qingzi had any use outside of combat, it was probably in these insignificant little details.

Song Xian also realized that the relationship between these two childhood friends was not as close as he and Elder Li had anticipated, and his heart sank slightly.

"His Excellency Mercenary Tao… the agreement we made before, to exchange Singularity Dimensional Points for Gantz to manufacture special weapons, hasn’t been voided, has it?"

Song Xian went against his own feelings and added the honorific "His Excellency," but it still felt strange. Not long ago, the face before him had respectfully called him Officer Song, and even his naive disciple had been called Officer Luo.

Now, barely two months later, the other man had become the so-called His Excellency Mercenary Tao.

Bai Cangshu nodded. To him, Gantz was a rare creation well suited for earning resources.

It would not be just Song Xian. In the future, quite a few people would likely hope to purchase the high-tech weapons inside Gantz from him.

Although they had shortcomings such as slow activation, a slow rate of fire, and mediocre range, Gantz-series weapons and Reinforcement Suits undoubtedly provided powerful enhancements to ordinary people and even low-level Reincarnators.

With proper operation and coordination, in the hands of a major nation like East Xia, they could also pose a powerful threat to some elite-level Reincarnators.

"Of course. I have always honored contracts."

Bai Cangshu’s answer put Song Xian somewhat at ease. At the very least, their first objective had been achieved.

They intended to order a batch of Gantz-series high-tech equipment from Mercenary Tao. On one hand, it would be used to arm the soldiers of the Azure Dragon Department and turn them into a true special force capable of fighting Reincarnators.

On the other hand, they wanted to attempt research on it.

Before the concept of Ability Users emerged and gained worldwide recognition, Reincarnators had not dared hand high-tech items over to research institutions. They feared violating confidentiality rules. Once information leaked and the rules were breached, a purge would be nearly impossible to carry out, leaving only erasure.

Now that the concept of Ability Users was increasingly accepted throughout the world, they believed they could gradually let the real world accept high-tech items and attempt a technological upgrade.

Though Song Xian believed the possibility was slim. After all, the technology within the Gantz world came from the Multi-Faced Star People and had no connection whatsoever to the technology of the current real world; they were not even on the same level.

Chu Qi took the opportunity to continue.

"There’s one more thing. You sent that clone back to East Xia because you wanted to use East Xia’s research to try and get the clone into the Space…"

Bai Cangshu’s lips curved slightly, and a trace of appreciation appeared in the way he looked at Chu Qi.

"Correct. I know you’ve been trying to use hypnosis to get more soldiers into the Space and turn them into Reincarnators. How about I give you a candidate with absolutely sufficient potential?"

"Do you dare take it?"

Tianjie’s indifferent gaze focused on the face of Mercenary Tao, the man who had stirred up the Space. Song Xian had been right—this man was indeed a complete madman. He truly intended to send the clone he could not control into the Space.

Bai Cangshu spread his hands and unceremoniously praised his own talent.

"Just in terms of physical ability and combat awareness, it’s a promising newcomer who could rival same-tier Reincarnators the moment it enters the Space~"

"If you’re willing, I can give you a few more."

He had never intended to control his clones, nor did Bai Cangshu view them as "another self."

To him, those clones were merely unfamiliar offspring with the same physical aptitude and life characteristics as himself.

Sending those clones into the Infinite Space was merely an experiment. Success would be best, but failure would not matter.

If another version of himself could enter the Space and become a powerful Reincarnator, Bai Cangshu would instead be quite interested in hunting that version of himself.

Given the same information, after randomly gaining all manner of enhancements in a place like the Infinite Dimensional Space, which side would prove superior compared with himself?

Hunting such a clone would probably have its own unique pleasure.

Seeing the unconscious smile at the corner of his old friend’s mouth, Chu Qi could vaguely hear a crackling sound.

After once again confirming in his heart that Bai Cangshu was truly an aberration entirely unlike an ordinary human such as himself, Chu Qi smiled in relief.

"Just as expected of you, Cang Shu. The way you view problems and the way you handle them are completely different from ours…"

"This world really does belong to beings like you…"

Bai Cangshu looked at this old friend whom he had not seen for seven or eight years. That plain, ordinary quality still showed in Chu Qi’s eyes, and Bai Cangshu shook his head.

"Heh. I really don’t know how someone like you earned the title Phantom Sword."

Chu Qi froze. At that instant, he strangely sensed a slight change. Bai Cangshu had indeed made some judgment regarding his behavior.

And it was not an evaluation of strength, but of his personality.

Even if it was only a little, he could still sense the difference.

Had Bai Cangshu, who had never held any thoughts about anything in the outside world, begun to have thoughts now?!

To Bai Cangshu, Chu Qi’s turbulent thoughts were so obvious. If they had not been in the Space, Bai Cangshu felt he could probably have read his thoughts with ease.

Chu Qi was, after all, only a mortal~

Bai Cangshu’s eyes became indifferent again. He set down his tea and leaned back against the sofa.

"Go on. What kind of agreement do you want to make with me in exchange for letting my clone enter the Space?"

Tianjie was startled, and Song Xian’s expression changed as well. The two looked at each other before both instinctively turning toward Chu Qi, suspecting that he had leaked the information.

But Bai Cangshu merely sneered.

"Does a judgment on this level require something like intelligence?"

He reached up and poked his temple. He did not pierce his skull, but he stirred the magnetic field there, causing his cerebral cortex to secrete at an abnormal rate. His hair seemed to be growing rapidly, producing a tingling sensation.

Then he extended his hand and held his index finger and thumb only the tiniest distance apart.

"For something like this, all you need is… this tiny bit of wisdom."

Human thought usually followed patterns people themselves could not perceive, just as with him sending the clone to East Xia.

If the people of East Xia had not realized that he had actively wanted the clone sent into the Space, then East Xia’s decision-makers would probably have tried to conceal the matter and use the clone to make secret plans.

That would have aligned with their interests.

But once they were a little smarter and realized this was what he wanted, they would begin to think, to negotiate, and to consider whether they should let his plan succeed.

And now, they had clearly come with the decision to let the clone enter the Space. From this perspective, the decision-makers behind East Xia’s so-called Southern Heavenly Gate Project or the Singularity Affairs Bureau stood on the third level.

They had agreed to this plan and accepted that his intentions would succeed. Correspondingly, those decision-makers would inevitably want to use that outcome to obtain something in exchange.

Just as Bai Cangshu had said, this whole chain of thought required only the tiniest bit of wisdom.

Tianjie pressed his lips together, instantly raising his assessment of the danger posed by the beast called Mercenary Tao by several levels.

A powerful beast was not frightening. This beast was intelligent too…

After a moment of silence, Song Xian spoke.

"We hope your Paradise will remain within Myanmar and not cross into East Xia’s borders."

"In return, within East Xia, we will guide and pressure high-risk Reincarnators to enter the Myanmar border, or directly enter Paradise. I imagine… that is also the outcome you want."

Bai Cangshu’s smile deepened. Song Xian—or the decision-maker of East Xia’s Singularity Affairs Bureau—was indeed a smart person.

He had no reason to refuse.

Besides, he was currently restricted by the King of Azure Sky. Going out hunting in the short term was not a good idea.

On the contrary, properly developing Paradise would be more worthwhile in the long run.

He already had a fairly complete plan. For that, he was willing to restrain his urge to hunt for a while and spare those who were too weak.

What he needed to do now was turn Paradise into a true real-world paradise, stable and free enough.

"Very good, Officer Song. This is a fine deal."

Bai Cangshu addressing Song Xian as Officer Song made the hairs on the latter’s back stand on end.

Song Xian seemed to see that incomparably cruel and dangerous beast disguising itself once more as the harmless young man from Binhai University.

He almost regretted continuing this deal, but Chu Qi gave him no time to regret it and spoke directly.

"This time, we need to first acquire a batch of Gantz Reinforcement Suits, as well as basic X-Guns and H-Guns."

"As for payment, Singularities are also quite scarce for us. For the time being, we can only offer a few B-rank Anomaly Points."

Before Bai Cangshu could frown, Chu Qi turned over his right hand, and an item appeared.

"But I think this will be useful to you."

Reincarnator AN70219495 has displayed item: Three Talents Sword - Qi Sword (Extremely Rare)

Three Talents Sword - Qi Sword

Quality: Extremely Rare

Description: A special sword technique created by a cultivator of Astounding Talent, condensed from the innate energy Qi.

Usage Requirements: Possess a sense of Qi; Energy > 5; Constitution > 10.

Effect 1: Control the Qi Sword to kill from afar. Using this effect requires Swordsmanship Mastery above Lv7 and Energy - Qi no lower than 20.

Effect 2: The Qi Sword can be absorbed and transformed into pure innate energy, increasing Energy by 4-16 points. The specific increase is affected by the Reincarnator's absorption and conversion rate of Qi.

It was a Qi Sword that seemed to float in the air!

It had no material structure, yet it radiated a free and sharp presence, like a special treasured sword.

Bai Cangshu merely reached out his hand and sensed that incomparably pure energy. Whether it was called Qi or even purer bioenergy, it was likely the pure Qi most highly revered in cultivation-based worlds!

In Daoist philosophy, Qi was innate energy, distinct from acquired breath.

Though Bai Cangshu’s Energy attribute was extremely high, his total amount of Qi had not actually reached its limit.

For Bai Cangshu, who possessed Kaio-ken, increasing his Qi energy meant multiplied gains after activating Kaio-ken!

"Very good, very good!"

He was extremely satisfied with this choice of payment. Song Xian knew he could not stop it and said nothing further.

Only Chu Qi, who was happy to see Bai Cangshu grow even stronger, was satisfied with the result of this deal.

East Xia had obtained high-tech weapon items, while Cang Shu had obtained pure Qi.

He was certain that this world would face unimaginably terrifying calamities in the future. That was the true reason he had gone so far as to fake his death, seize the card, and forcibly send Bai Cangshu into the Space.

Chu Qi smiled bitterly to himself. Rather than searching for some Savior, it was far more realistic for him to find an even stronger, more terrifying aberration to face it.