Chapter 176
She flipped to the front of her notebook and picked up her pen, beginning to ponder.
A 30% chance—this probability was already quite high, enough to warrant Xia Er's visit to the simulation of the future to validate her idea.
The key point now was: what plan should she use to prove that she was right?
First, she needed to validate her line of thought.
Second, she would attempt to digest a new potion to earn some Destiny Points.
Third, she had to find a way for Ai Wei Na to digest a second-tier potion.
This was Xia Er's prioritized to-do list for her next simulation.
The importance of the first point was undeniable; the purpose of this investigation was survival. If she could stay alive, everything else would be negotiable.
The second point was also crucial. The more Destiny Points she accumulated, the more security she would have, even allowing her to initiate a later simulation—this crisis spanned a significant time frame, and simulating within thirty days might not be sufficient.
Xia Er reached for her ink bottle, dipped her pen, and began to write.
“Try living strictly according to the rules of misfortune for a few days and see if anything changes. For now, avoid looking for Lu Xi and Ao Bo De.”
“Write the rules of misfortune as a letter and send it to Ai Wei Na, so she can pass it on to Lu Xi and Ao Bo De in a way that can't be traced back. Let them know the rules in advance, but add some fabricated rules to keep control.”
“If they don’t follow your lead… then secretly break the rules yourself, making them think it’s a punishment you imposed.”
“Let’s see whose fate is tougher.”
Chapter 114: The Gang Boss Xia Er and the “Coroner.”
“Make contact with Ta La in advance, give her the rules of misfortune and that ancient An Su language, and have her investigate at the secret monastery of the Holy Lin Sect.”
“This way, by the time I arrive, I should have a reply from Ta La.”
“Also, try to extract some information about the first-tier potion replication ritual from Ta La to see if there’s an optimal replication plan.”
“If I can get the best plan and implement it quickly, prepare the potion and the replication ritual so that I can complete the ritual and drink the potion as soon as I arrive.”
Xia Er paused her writing, reread what she had written, and added some clarifications.
“Lu Xi and Ao Bo De are both proud individuals, not to be underestimated. The letter should primarily guide them, and you can add some fabricated misfortune rules to manipulate them through rule-breaking.”
“Such matters can’t be figured out in a short time; you’ll have to think for yourself. Good luck, simulated me.”
“No matter what method you use, the ultimate goal is to obtain the sealed items they possess. This is for verification.”
“Wishing you success.”
Xia Er set down her pen.
Now, she would leave more detailed content for her simulated self to manage. After all, that was still her, and the way of thinking wouldn’t differ much.
Moreover, a plan devised out of thin air might not be smoothly executed and could encounter many variables, all of which her simulated self would need to adjust.
All she could do was wish for her simulated self to sail smoothly.
Xia Er opened the system and entered the simulation interface.
The current system time was 8:01 AM, giving her simulated self only five days…
This time was clearly insufficient; they were two third-tier beings, not just any random individuals that could be easily manipulated.
It all depended on how far her simulated self could go.
Even if she couldn’t obtain the sealed items from those two, completing a replication ritual to earn Destiny Points would suffice.
After drinking the potion, she could use “Spiritual Summoning” to call Xiao Zuo beside them and steal their sealed items.
As long as she could hold out until the simulation ended, she would be able to figure out what those two sealed items were through the system’s introduction.
With a rough plan in mind, Xia Er no longer hesitated and directly initiated the simulation.
“Future.”
“No.0.”
A dazzling silver light suddenly enveloped Xia Er, completely wrapping her vision, and she gradually lost control of her body…
…
“Future”
“June 29, 741 AD, 12:58 PM”
“Countdown -23:59:59”
The silver light in Xia Er’s eyes gradually faded, revealing a silver-white system prompt box in her field of vision.
The arrival time hadn’t been advanced; it seemed her simulated self hadn’t gotten into any major trouble.
The sky was overcast, and Berun City was once again drizzled with light rain, the raindrops pattering against the umbrella above Xia Er’s head.
Feeling the control of her body return, Xia Er looked down and suddenly realized she wasn’t holding an umbrella at all.
She turned her head and saw that she was walking down the street in the Bell Tower District, with a man on her left, holding a black umbrella and wearing a black-gray newsboy cap, shielding her from the rain.
Upon noticing her gaze, the man lowered his head even further, seemingly avoiding eye contact with Xia Er.
Xia Er: “?”
What kind of situation was her simulated self creating?
Xia Er looked back and saw that a dozen or so men and women dressed in black raincoats and trench coats were following her, all wearing black-gray newsboy caps. When they noticed Xia Er turn around, they all lowered their heads deeply.
Who are you?
One woman in a black raincoat, clutching something in her arms, hurriedly approached Xia Er, extending her hands to present a notebook she was holding.
“Boss, for you.”
This notebook…
Xia Er didn’t say much; she simply reached out, took the notebook, and opened it amidst the rain.
She noticed that her attire had also changed, now wearing a black trench coat with a shawl and black gloves, topped off with a black bowler hat… This meticulous outfit gave Xia Er a strong sense of déjà vu.
Xia Er scanned the notes written in Chinese inside the notebook, gradually feeling at ease.
“June 24, 741 AD, 12:00 PM”
“Four hours have passed, and I still haven’t come up with a particularly good plan.”
“The main reason is that I can’t come into contact with the extraordinary; even interacting with Ta La would bring misfortune upon myself.”
“Contacting Ta La would count as breaking the rules. I want to see if I can use this as a ‘punishment’ for the other two.”
“In the afternoon, they will visit Ai Wei Na, so I’d better come up with a solution before then.”
“My previous thoughts were indeed correct; without my own power, if I have to do everything myself, it will waste a lot of time.”
Xia Er turned the page and continued reading.
“June 24, 741 AD, 8:00 PM”
“In the end, I decided to approach them as a ‘teammate’ through letters. It’s unwise to secretly scheme against third-tier beings, especially with ‘Destined One’ Lu Xi.”
“If she rolls two heads with the ‘Lucky Coin,’ she might just arrest me on the street. Before absolute luck, all calculations seem ridiculous.”
“She loves to gamble, but I don’t.”
“Well, if it really comes to it, you’ll have Xiao Zuo steal the sealed items, right?”
“The letters have been secretly passed on through Ai Wei Na; now I’m just waiting for their reaction.”
Turning the page.
“June 25, 741 AD, 11:00 PM”
“They did receive the letters, but I can’t observe their reactions.”
“Fortunately, Ai Wei Na attended a banquet and brought back information about the two.”
“Lu Xi and Ao Bo De both learned about each other’s misfortune rules through my letters.”
“But they seem to think the letters were sent by each other, and almost got into a fight at the banquet. Naturally, they don’t believe the rules and benefits in the letters… this has put me in a tough spot.”
“I must do something to make them believe.”
“At this time, Ta La should have arrived in Berun City. Tonight, I will seek out Ta La, come into contact with the extraordinary, and escalate the disaster.”
“I can use the ‘Archive’ transformation to block the disaster, but they will have to suffer greatly.”
“June 26, 741 AD, 4:00 AM”
“Although there were some hiccups, after seeing the ‘Divine Servant’ at Ai Mi, Ta La still regards me as the so-called ‘Mother Goddess.’ She can still be utilized.”
“Now, Ta La has returned to the Holy Lin Sect. Perhaps by the time you arrive, Ta La will have just brought back news.”
“Regarding the replication ritual, Ta La indeed has a complete and highly successful ‘Coroner’ replication ritual, but this… never mind, it’s just a simulation; you should be able to accept it.”
Indeed…
The idea was beautiful—using information asymmetry to control two third-tier beings—but in practice, it encountered quite a few obstacles.
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