Chapter 29: A God from the Future?

The sudden appearance of a mysterious figure in a black cloak led Lu Ming to believe they were one of the bodyguards protecting Ye Chen. He immediately grew vigilant, his hand reaching behind his back, ready to draw his sword at any moment.

Just then, the cloaked figure spoke, uttering words that left Lu Ming completely bewildered.

"Nether, I know your past, and your future."

"You are the hope of the Great Xia nation, and indeed, this world. I need your help. Join forces with me to save this world, which is destined to perish in three years."

Lu Ming frowned slightly. He had thought he’d encountered a reclusive master, but it turned out to be someone with a screw loose. Dismissing the figure, he walked straight past them.

Behind him, the voice spoke again:

"You are the only one who can save this world."

"And I am the only one who can save you!"

"Otherwise, this world will fall, and you, I, and everyone else will die!"

Hearing the stranger curse him, Lu Ming couldn't take it anymore and turned back to retort, "Are you crazy?"

With that, he walked away without looking back. This person was clearly a scammer. No doubt, the next thing they would say was, "Give me ten silver coins, and I shall resolve your impending blood disaster!"

Don't ask Lu Ming how he knew.

Just as Lu Ming reached the entrance of Moonfall Town, he sensed something. Turning around, he saw a figure tailing him. Expecting it to be that fraud in the cloak again, he prepared to give them a piece of his mind. He looked closely and discovered it was Lin Youwei!

He had no idea how long she had been following him. She had just been trailing him silently, saying nothing. When Lu Ming stopped, she stopped too, fidgeting with the hem of her clothes, looking utterly helpless.

"Ye Chen is dead," Lu Ming said. "Stop following me. You don't need to pay back that five thousand either."

Lin Youwei seemed to muster her courage to catch up. She kept her head down, unable to meet his eyes, her nervousness palpable. She whispered, "Can you... can you take me with you?"

Lu Ming looked at her. For a moment, he felt as if he saw the shadow of Ye Ling'er in her. He remembered when he first met Ye Ling'er—her family was destitute, and as a weak girl without any outstanding gaming talent, she was bullied everywhere in the Abyss world until Lu Ming stepped in to rescue her.

Lu Ming saw right through her; Lin Youwei was simply trying to get close to him because she saw how powerful he was. He said indifferently, "I've seen plenty of women like you."

Lin Youwei looked wronged. "My brother is dead. I have no family left, and the landlord has kicked me out. I don't have a single cent to my name. I... I have nowhere to go..."

"What does that have to do with me?" Lu Ming replied coldly.

A girl's sense of shame caused Lin Youwei's face to flush red instantly. Yet, she had no choice. To get Lu Ming to accept her, she bit her lip and continued to plead her case: "I can wash clothes, cook, and clean! I can do anything!"

"Not interested."

Lu Ming responded dismissively and returned to Moonfall Town to log off.

Lin Youwei stood there blankly, her small hands nearly shredding the hem of her clothes. In that moment, she felt wronged, lost, and utterly helpless. Thinking back to how the only person who had ever been good to her, her brother, was gone, she couldn't help but crouch down and bury her face in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably.

***

On the other side, Lu Ming had just logged off when he received a transaction notification. He realized that the bronze equipment chests and gold coins he had listed only dozens of minutes ago had all sold out in an instant.

"It seems Level 10 bronze gear is indeed in high demand!"

After deducting the five percent platform fee, he had netted 152,000 yuan. Combined with the 40,000 he’d earned from the Slayer dungeon, Lu Ming’s bank account now held nearly 200,000 yuan. In his previous life, he had never seen so much money, so he allowed himself a moment of excitement and thrill.

"This massive fortune has finally come my way!"

Lu Ming left the internet cafe and went straight to a large shopping mall that night. With a grand gesture, he walked into an Apple store and bought a laptop worth over 30,000 yuan. No haggling—he swiped his card and finished the process in half a minute. Even the sales clerk was eager to add him on WeChat.

There was only one word to describe this feeling: "Awesome! Being rich is so awesome!"

After returning home, Lu Ming immediately downloaded and installed the game *Abyss*. This way, he wouldn't have to run to the internet cafe every day; he could play from home.

Next, he headed to the night market food street downstairs. In the past, he never went out to spend money at night. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but he knew that a single meal could cost hundreds, which was too wasteful. He had to save up for a house to marry Ye Ling'er. In the past, even when he did eat out, it was only to buy food for her; he himself never dared to eat.

But now? Beef skewers, lamb skewers, spicy crayfish—bring it all on! And a few bottles of Wusu beer.

Awesome!

As he ate his barbecue, Lu Ming planned his next steps. Ye Chen was just a small fry. His real enemies were Ye Ling'er and the person pulling her strings behind the scenes. However, he had managed to squeeze some useful information out of Ye Chen.

"According to Ye Chen, this mastermind is a member of the God-Slaying Guild. But this 'God-Slaying' seems to have a massive background!"

Lu Ming picked up his phone and searched for information about the God-Slaying Guild.

Sure enough! According to the web results, God-Slaying had a fifty-year history and was currently ranked seventh on the Great Xia nation’s guild leaderboard. It had a total of 5.321 million members, with its main force stationed in the capital, Jingcheng. Its influence spanned thirty-four provinces and two hundred and seventy-five cities throughout Great Xia, including Linhai City in Jiang Province, where Lu Ming currently resided.

Looking at the information on the screen, Lu Ming finally understood the meaning of Ye Ling'er's words: "He has overwhelming power; killing us is as simple as crushing two ants."

If this person was a high-ranking official in God-Slaying, then he did indeed have overwhelming power. But!

"Even if you have all the power in the world, I will make you pay for what you have done!" A murderous glint flashed in Lu Ming's eyes. His target would be the entire God-Slaying Guild!

***

Meanwhile, in the capital of Great Xia, Jingcheng, inside a luxurious private room at the Xingyue Sea Restaurant, a beautiful girl in an elegant white dress sat at the dinner table, looking like she was on pins and needles.

"I want to go back to Linhai!" she said, full of unease.

Across the table, a handsome man in a tailored suit was calmly and gracefully cutting his steak. "No rush, Ling'er. Let's finish dinner first."

"But that was my own brother!" Ye Ling'er gripped her dress tightly, her eyes shimmering. "He died so inexplicably..."

The man sitting opposite remained as calm as a mirror. "I know. He was my brother-in-law, after all."

Tears fell from her beautiful eyes. "I don't believe my brother died in an accident!"

"However, the two people you sent with him were three-star experts, and your brother wasn't weak himself—he had a two-star account and a full set of black iron gear. As far as I know, the two who entered with them included a one-star Array Diviner who didn't even have a full set of equipment, and a white-tier Mage. Even if they had the motive, they didn't have the strength to rival your brother."

The man stopped cutting his steak and reached out to hold Ye Ling'er’s fair, slender hand.

"Don't worry, Ling'er. I just got off the phone with the higher-ups in Ancient Egypt. They said they detected the aura of a god after breaching the Sixth Heaven! If we can find the legendary gods slumbering in the Abyss world, we might be able to use the power of Osiris, the Egyptian god of resurrection, to bring back those who died in the Abyss!"

Ye Ling'er was pleasantly surprised. "Really?"

The man kissed her fingers. "Rest assured. Once there is news of the God of Resurrection, I will spare no cost to have the Egyptians resurrect your brother immediately."

"Also, I have notified our God-Slaying branch in Linhai. Regardless of whether it was an accident or not, I will make those two people pay for your brother's death with their lives!"

"Thank you, darling!" Ye Ling'er said, feeling both joyful and a bit guilty. "I'm sorry. You trusted me so much, but in the end, I still couldn't get the God-Sealing Scroll from Lu Ming for you..."

The man dismissed it entirely.

"It's fine. With my current status and strength, the God-Sealing Scroll is just a nice-to-have. Even without it, it doesn't affect me much."

"It's just a pity for you, Ling'er, wasting three years of your youth on that loser for the sake of this scroll. Don't worry, I will treat you twice as well from now on!"

Ye Ling'er smiled happily. "Mm!"