Chapter 34: Chang'e Must Regret Stealing the Elixir!

"Draw now?"

Jiang Yi shook his head directly. "My current lifespan isn't even enough for a white-tier roulette draw, so how could I possibly attempt a green-tier one?"

As soon as these words were spoken, many gazes fell upon him. Some were curious, some skeptical, others disdainful.

If he didn't even have enough lifespan for a white-tier draw, wasn't he essentially a walking corpse? For such a piece of trash to put on airs and reject a white-quality Longevity Pill—had the guy lost his mind? Or was it that he had no intention of surviving at all?

If he was going to die anyway, eating a Longevity Pill would indeed be a waste. Viewed from that angle, his choice to give up the pill in exchange for three pieces of "trash" roulette gear from Wu Xu started to make sense. After all, if he couldn't draw, the gear was useless to him.

Wu Xu’s mind began to race. He figured the kid was just trying to curry favor with him. Maybe he could just act as if the white Longevity Pill had been a gift, and ask for the three green roulettes back?

Just as Wu Xu was shamelessly plotting how to reclaim the green roulettes from Jiang Yi, the latter had already turned and started walking toward Qin Lake.

"Hey! Little brother Jiang Yi, wait up!" Wu Xu hurriedly chased after him.

But Jiang Yi, acting as if he hadn't heard a thing, leaped directly into the lake.

Usually, when people first use such lake passages to enter the Beast World, they show hesitation, conflict, and visible nervousness. Jiang Yi, however, had jumped without a second of doubt. This only convinced the onlookers that the kid was truly seeking death.

"Look at how he jumped in—that’s just blatant suicide!"

"Trash like him has no place in this apocalypse. Ending it himself is probably the most rational decision he’s ever made."

"Damn it all! If he wants to die, fine, but he took three green roulettes with him! They might be trash quality, but they're still green roulettes! What a waste of resources!"

Wu Xu cursed under his breath as well. After a moment of hesitation, he jumped into the lake too.

Guan Ling, however, stood with a sharp, poised air, watching the spot where Jiang Yi had disappeared for a long time, lost in thought.

"What is it, Captain Guan? What are you looking at?" Liao Yuanfeng asked, stepping closer.

Guan Ling frowned. "That kid—his name is Jiang Yi?"

"Yeah, Jiang Yi. Why? Something wrong?"

Guan Ling pondered for a moment before withdrawing her gaze. Her voice was profound. "That boy didn't utter a single honest word."

"He isn't as he claimed—that he doesn't qualify for a white-tier draw."

"I checked. Like Luo Shan, he has a temporary 'All Attributes +5' status effect active. His current lifespan is twenty-one years. Furthermore, that watch on his wrist? If I’m not mistaken, it’s a piece of spatial equipment."

As the information spilled out, Liao Yuanfeng was left dumbfounded.

"All Attributes +5, twenty-one years of life, and he has space gear too?"

"That little punk! He’s playing the 'pig eating the tiger'! Pretending to be weak to catch his prey!"

"Wait, how did you..." Liao Yuanfeng suddenly looked at Guan Ling with a hint of dread.

Guan Ling arched an elegant, spirited brow, her expression full of character. "I have a detection skill that allows me to view the status panels of players whose levels are not higher than my own."

She said it nonchalantly, but Liao Yuanfeng recoiled, his expression turning guarded as if he were facing a thief.

Guan Ling laughed. "I’ve already seen everything there is to see; being guarded now is useless."

Liao Yuanfeng’s mouth twitched, his attitude toward her remaining stubbornly resistant.

Guan Ling ignored him and asked, "What’s the story with that Jiang Yi? I heard from the chatter earlier that he has a grudge against Chang Jiao'e?"

Liao Yuanfeng shook his head slightly. "I’m not entirely sure. It seems he just got promoted from the 'Cancer-Cell' fodder to the suicide squad. If there’s any history between them, it likely predates the invasion of the Apocalypse Game. Probably just some cliché, melodramatic story of unrequited love turned to hatred."

Liao Yuanfeng dismissed it with a wave of his hand, sounding almost contemptuous. Guan Ling, however, remained pensive.

"What is it? What are you thinking about?" Liao Yuanfeng couldn't help but ask.

Guan Ling was silent for a moment before answering with a question: "Do you know the Silver Frost Club?"

Liao Yuanfeng thought for a moment and nodded. "I've heard of it. Is that the second-rate faction that's been doing fairly well in the city center?"

Guan Ling nodded. "I heard that the Silver Frost Club once had the potential to become a top-tier power. But because of one rigid policy, it triggered widespread dissatisfaction among its members, leading many to quit."

"Members quitting voluntarily?" That was no small matter. Liao Yuanfeng frowned, struggling to understand. "What kind of policy? If the members were so against it, shouldn't they have abolished it immediately?"

Guan Ling paused, then said meaningfully: "The policy was this—the Silver Frost Club refuses to engage in any transactions with Chang Jiao'e, including a strict ban on members conducting private trades with her."

"What?!" Liao Yuanfeng was stunned. "Are you kidding me? A ban on trading with Chang Jiao'e? At this stage, she's the only one in the entire Jiang City region capable of refining Longevity Pills!"

Of course, their own Lotte Club’s Sun Hao had recently drawn a Longevity Pill recipe, but it was only for the white-quality version, and the news hadn't spread yet. For all intents and purposes, the market for artificially refined Longevity Pills was currently monopolized by Chang Jiao'e. For a major faction to ban trade with her was nothing short of digging its own grave.

"Is the leader of the Silver Frost Club insane? That’s even crazier than Wang Xueyan from your Blood Swallow Club!" Liao Yuanfeng couldn't fathom it.

Guan Ling spoke quietly. "The few members the Blood Swallow Club recently recruited came from the Silver Frost Club. They say the club leader simply holds a grudge against Chang Jiao'e."

Liao Yuanfeng frowned again. "How deep a grudge could it be?"

Guan Ling shook her head. "I heard it isn't even a grand, dramatic grudge. It’s just that the leader of the Silver Frost Club finds Chang Jiao'e’s character deeply repulsive."

"Finds her character repulsive?" Liao Yuanfeng was speechless. *This is the apocalypse! A world where fists and power rule everything! And someone is actually judging people based on their 'character'? Are they crazy?*

He cursed inwardly, only to hear Guan Ling say with a heavy, thoughtful tone: "Don't you find that the way Jiang Yi views Chang Jiao'e is very similar to the leader of the Silver Frost Club?"

"Could there be a connection between the two?"

Liao Yuanfeng’s eyes flickered. He mused, "Could it be that... there really is something wrong with Chang Jiao'e's character?" He leaned in. "Do those new recruits of yours know any inside information?"

Guan Ling shook her head slightly. "Nothing definitive. But I heard that when the members of the Silver Frost Club curse Chang Jiao'e, they often quote a line of poetry that fits the situation perfectly."

"Oh?" Liao Yuanfeng blinked. "What poem?"

Guan Ling looked toward the direction of Qin Lake once more, her voice low and somber:

"Chang'e must regret stealing the elixir of immortality, left to face the azure sea and the vast sky, night after night."