I Don't Agree to the Terms

"Sorry, the situation with the Divine is a bit special, we can't capture or kill them," Shura said with a tone of helplessness.

Half a year had passed in a flash, and Shura and the two from the Wondrous and Unfathomable had made their way around most of the world and back.

"Oh? For what reason?" Gu Shanhai asked directly, though he had also considered how great it would be if he could capture one.

After all, it would be a win-win situation—offering some obsolete products in exchange for urgently needed items was certainly a big profit for him.

"The Divines of this world do not actually exist. Through acts of Tribute and worship, we tried to lure them and discovered that they are intangible and really more akin to rules. Hence, neither capturing nor killing is something we can achieve," explained Wondrous and Unfathomable in a calm tone.

"I see, that's too bad. Well, we'll have to leave it at that, but if you have any valuable intelligence, feel free to speak up. I'll compensate you accordingly," Gu Shanhai added.

However, Shura simply shook his head, "That's all there is, everything has been said."

They would not wait until now to share any intelligence; they would have already cashed in on it through Mr. Qin, immediately consuming the pills to boost their attributes. After all, they couldn't just save them for emergencies. That would be foolish, as their use was inevitable sooner or later.

"Alright then, consider this a consolation prize for you. Please deliver this bottle to Mr. Qin for me." Gu Shanhai took out three bottles of pills. Although Shura and Wondrous and Unfathomable had not met the requirements, he gave them a thousand pills each, adhering to the idea of fostering good karma—besides, the pills weren't expensive.

As for Mr. Qin, it has been quite a while since their last meeting, after having a meal together. Gu Shanhai wondered what the reason might be. Mr. Qin was accustomed to the odd mixture of human body parts in his work, yet his mental resilience seemed surprisingly low.

"No problem, thank you very much."

Both accepted the gifts without any pretense, and then said, "If you have any tasks in the future, you can find us. We will do our best."

Shura and Wondrous and Unfathomable could tell Gu Shanhai was truly generous, lavish, and capable. Befriending such a person, of course, had great benefits.

"Mmm, I understand. Still, I must advise you to transition your systems or change your talents sooner rather than later; otherwise, you'll eventually fall behind." Gu Shanhai felt obliged to give one final piece of advice, mainly because he found them to be very useful—especially their combat abilities combined with their talents. They were truly top-tier assets.

The two said nothing, and it was unclear whether they were considering his advice or had other thoughts.

Seeing that, Gu Shanhai didn't press further. His two suggestions were quite interesting: the former advised them to rely more on their own talents, while the latter was about shedding those talents.

They couldn't keep on being half-way competent at both approaches.

"I will consider it," Shura said, pondering his options. A hundred years ago, he would have scoffed at Gu Shanhai's suggestions as his Divine's Eye talent had never failed him. When he had first encountered Gu Shanhai, there had still been some garbled messages. But now, it was as if Gu Shanhai didn't exist at all for his Divine's Eye.

As for Wondrous and Unfathomable, he didn't have much reaction to Gu Shanhai's words since his simulator couldn't even recognize them. Moreover, as his strength grew, it seemed the simulator just couldn't keep up anymore—mainly due to the increasing cooldown times and energy consumption. He was even considering replacing it.

However, the convenience of the simulator made it difficult for him to make that decision, thus he kept delaying.

"If there's nothing else, I have matters to attend to. You can carry on," Gu Shanhai said as he rose. He had to go build a ship.

The reason he had waited a year was partially because he was waiting for news from these two, and partly because he was constructing a ship—a ship of his own, to journey across the sea.

"Of course, please do as you need," the two said, realizing it wasn't quite appropriate to stay lost in thought at that place.

"If you need anything next time, just send someone to find me. I'll be there," Shura said, speaking for himself and not for Wondrous and Unfathomable.

"I feel the same," Wondrous and Unfathomable echoed.

Just by running errands for Gu Shanhai this once, they had earned nearly ten thousand points across all attributes. This was far more profitable and quicker than toiling through tasks and grinding instances themselves. Otherwise, under normal circumstances, they might not have secured a single consumable of similar value after a year of tasks. Grinding instances might be quicker than tasks, but not to this extent, and the high-intensity battles were taking their toll.

After finishing their conversation, the two left that world.

For them, once a world held no more value, they would not continue to linger there but would move on to the next world.

"Jeez, talk about heartless. And here I thought they might lend me a hand for the sake of the consolation prize," Gu Shanhai remarked jokingly.

As for Mr. Qin, he still had quite a shadow cast over him by Gu Shanhai, and it's unlikely they'd meet anytime soon—not least because there seemed to be no opportunity for it.

His main world wasn't the Azure Sea World; perhaps he was off to grind an instance or take on a task. For players, that was the routine—instances and tasks.