After ending the call, Bai Liu turned to look at Liu Huai beside him.
Liu Huai's arms had been severed. Now he struggled awkwardly on the ground, like a beggar. He held a bottle of mental bleach between his teeth, trying to drink from it, but he kept choking and spilling it everywhere.
Earlier, Bai Liu had intended to feed him, but with only one hand, it had been difficult. When Bai Liu (6) called, Liu Huai told him to answer first.
Now that the call was over, Bai Liu leaned down and took the bottle to help him.
Liu Huai looked up at him.
Bai Liu's expression was blank as he held the bottle to Liu Huai's lips.
Liu Huai stretched his neck forward and drank.
He knew he must look miserable right now—face smeared with soot and blood, drinking from someone else's hand like a stray dog. He was aware that countless viewers were watching this humiliating scene.
As his mental value gradually recovered, so did his clarity—and with it came an overwhelming sense of shame. The emotional backlash made tears spill down his face.
"What are you crying for?" Bai Liu asked calmly, steadying the bottle. "You survived, didn't you?"
"I don't know why I'm crying," Liu Huai replied hoarsely. His mental value hadn't fully stabilized yet. At this age, he was still someone who felt shame too easily. He tried to hide his face from Bai Liu.
He shrank back slightly and lowered his head.
"…I look like a homeless stray dog."
"It's a bit similar," Bai Liu replied without emotion.
He glanced at Liu Huai's bleeding shoulders. "We both look like stray dogs. The difference is—we're living stray dogs. Everyone survived. Your sister is alive too."
Liu Huai bit down on the bottle in Bai Liu's hand.
He tried to endure it.
But in the end, he couldn't stop himself from breaking down.
Armless, Liu Huai curled up on the floor and cried. He bent so low that his forehead nearly pressed to the ground, like he was kowtowing. His tears soaked Bai Liu's hand as he choked out:
"Thank you… for saving me. Thank you for saving my sister."
A few seconds before the explosion, Liu Huai had been certain he would die.
An assassin who had lost both arms and exhausted all his strength had no value to someone like Bai Liu—a man who always prioritized his own interests.
And yet—
Bai Liu had rushed into the flames and dragged him into the mirror with the whip.
"In truth, I didn't expect my other self to save your sister," Bai Liu said calmly. "I'm not entirely sure why he did."
He lowered his eyes and nudged Liu Huai upright.
"But I saved you for a reason. You saved me, too. That was our agreement. If you successfully held Miao Feichi back, I would try to save you."
Bai Liu looked into Liu Huai's tear-filled eyes and added evenly,
"I'm a trustworthy stray… if I have to describe myself."
"…A stray dog, I suppose."
—————————————————
Thirty-seven Minutes Earlier — Ward 913
Liu Huai paced anxiously back and forth, repeatedly glancing at Bai Liu, who sat calmly on the edge of the bed.
"Are you really going to ambush Miao Feichi and Miao Gaojiang?" Liu Huai asked, voice tight. "They're S-rank players. If we fail even once, we'll all die."
"Then we won't fail," Bai Liu replied evenly.
"They'll suspect Mu Ke's identity. They'll go to the ward to find me, but I won't be there. Then they'll search elsewhere to catch 'Mu Ke.'"
"They won't guess he's in the medical records room. So they won't find him immediately. But Mu Ke will return to the ward before 9:15 p.m. The nurses conduct checks then. My guess is—they'll wait for him."
"Where?" Liu Huai asked nervously. "In Mu Ke's ward?"
"That would be foolish," Bai Liu said. "What if Mu Ke returns to my ward? Or another empty one? They'd risk being trapped during patrol."
He looked at Liu Huai.
"If I were Miao Gaojiang, I'd guard the elevator."
"Mu Ke can't use the emergency stairs—his stats aren't high enough to survive the monsters there. He'll take the elevator. Between 9:00 and 9:15, they just need to wait near the doors. If it moves, they press the button. The nurses will be busy. The only one sneaking back will be Mu Ke."
"After catching him, Miao Gaojiang will try to extract information about me. Mu Ke won't talk easily, so they'll think of the keyboard we used to communicate. I'll leave coded hints—like [9], [0], [6]. He won't doubt what he believes he deciphered."
"And since we're adopting the children tomorrow, Miao Gaojiang will definitely try to kill me tonight to prevent any interference."
"In that case," Bai Liu continued calmly, "the initiative is theirs. They won't suspect Room 906."
He met Liu Huai's gaze.
"That gives you the opening. You're the main piece of this plan."
"It looks like the usual thief-and-assassin combo you had with Mu Sicheng. But this time, the assassin carries the core task."
"…I know," Liu Huai murmured.
He sat beside Bai Liu, fist pressed against his forehead.
"But I was always the attacker. Brother Si—God Mu—handled the rest. It's too risky to put everything on me."
"There are three stages," Bai Liu said softly.
"First: when they burst in, you ambush Miao Feichi and restrain him. I steal Mu Ke from Miao Gaojiang and send him to find a nurse. That forces Miao Feichi to shorten the fight with you—and redirect toward me."
Liu Huai's voice turned hoarse.
"To shorten the fight… he'll disarm me."
"In other words," Bai Liu said flatly, "he'll cut off your arms."
Liu Huai lowered his head.
"Yes. That's the fastest way to neutralize a dual-wield assassin."
"The advantage," Bai Liu continued, "is that once your arms are gone, he'll stop seeing you as a threat. That's stage two. I buy time for you to trigger the Rage panel."
His tone suggested holding off two S-rank players was a trivial inconvenience.
"Once your stats spike, you use One Hit Flash to immobilize Miao Gaojiang."
"Stage three: you block Miao Feichi's attack. I'll need one or two seconds to pull out the bomb."
Liu Huai looked up, horrified.
"Bai Liu… I can't stab Miao Gaojiang and then block Miao Feichi too. If you give me your back, you'll die. I'll die!"
"You've covered Mu Sicheng's back many times," Bai Liu said quietly. "You didn't let him die."
Liu Huai closed his eyes.
"…But I let him lose his hands."
"You betrayed Mu Sicheng with a dagger," Bai Liu replied. "But when the time comes, you won't have arms to betray me."
He looked at Liu Huai calmly.
"My habit is to assume the other person can do it."
"You can do it. Right?"
"…I don't know."
"Then try first," Bai Liu said. "If you can't, we'll know."
"And if I die?"
"If you block him, I won't die easily. If I don't die, I won't let you die. If you fail—"
"I'll probably die with you."
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
"What? Not satisfied with me keeping you company?"
—————————————————
Liu Huai hadn't died.
When Bai Liu dragged him out of the mirror after the explosion, he briefly thought he had reached hell.
Then he saw his severed arms.
He was still alive.
Bai Liu forced mental bleach down his throat. He coughed through it. Soon after, Bai Liu (6)'s call came.
Only after the nurses carried Miao Feichi and Miao Gaojiang away did they dare leave the mirror. The nurses hadn't noticed them and assumed no one else remained.
Now Bai Liu lay calmly on the scorched floor.
"Wait for Mu Ke," he said lazily.
His "investor" skin was thick. The ground, though recently blasted, didn't feel unbearably hot.
Liu Huai sat cross-legged nearby, leaning against a cracked wall. He stared up at the bright, empty sky for a long time.
Then he suddenly turned to Bai Liu.
After hesitating, he asked quietly:
"If I sell my soul to you now… would you want it?"
"Yes," Bai Liu replied immediately. "But Bai Liu (6) currently holds my game manager. Once I get it back, how much are you selling it for?"
Liu Huai blinked, startled.
He almost laughed.
"I thought you wouldn't want it," he said softly. "I'll probably die in this game. A dead man's soul has no value."
Bai Liu regarded him cautiously.
"Don't price it like Mu Sicheng did. That's too expensive. I won't buy it at that rate."
"…I don't want that much," Liu Huai said, half laughing, half crying.
He had meant it as a heavy, solemn gesture. Somehow, Bai Liu had turned soul-trading into ordinary business.
The weight in his chest lightened. Liu Huai lowered his dirty lashes.
"Just one point," he said softly. "One point is enough."