Chapter 32: Borrowing a Knife to Kill
Morelei sat frozen in her seat like a stone statue. She felt that she had both betrayed her teammate and yet not betrayed her teammate—a complex experience. Staring at Su Xiao across the table, she felt he was the bane of her existence.
"Don't worry too much. This isn't Apocalypse Paradise's notarized zone, so your betrayal won't be judged."
Baha spoke up. Hearing this, Morelei immediately retorted, "You're the one betraying teammates! Your whole family betrays teammates, you dead bird!"
After shouting that, Morelei let out a long breath. She had long wanted to curse Baha out, and now she felt immensely satisfied.
"If you want to kill me, go ahead. I'm not afraid at all."
Though she said this, her heart was extremely tense. She was actually terrified.
"Of course I won't kill you. Feel better now that you've cursed me out?"
Baha said with a laugh. Hearing this, Morelei felt a bit uncomfortable and replied, "S-so-so."
"Feeling good now?"
"Yeah."
"Feeling relieved now?"
"Relieved. You bird... aren't as bad as I thought. You even know how to comfort people."
Morelei scratched her head, feeling embarrassed about her earlier words. She was actually someone who softened to kindness rather than force—unless she met someone like Su Xiao, who would make her bleed three feet without a second word.
"Good that you feel better. Amu, beat her up. She dared to curse me!"
"Huh?"
Morelei was completely confused.
"Just kidding. How could I actually hit you?"
"Get away from me. I don't believe you anymore."
Morelei looked around, ready to escape at any opportunity.
Ignoring Morelei, Su Xiao activated the world contact platform and posted a message.
Morelei's Old Father (Rogue Cultivator): "Successfully tracked Yueshitu's location (this is part of the contract, already notarized)."
Hao Mei (Sealed Sky Guild): "Morelei, you still alive?"
Morelei (Battle Angel): "If you're not dead, how could I die?"
Hao Mei (Sealed Sky Guild): "From that tone, you've already thrown yourself into your daddy's arms? Has he been loving you properly? Thorough, deep love, hehehe~"
Morelei (Battle Angel): "How about I give him your location and let him come find you too?"
Hao Mei (Sealed Sky Guild): "Daddy Morelei, I was wrong."
Yueshitu (Rogue Cultivator): "Morelei, you sold me out."
Morelei (Battle Angel): "I swear to the heavens, I did not."
Yueshitu (Rogue Cultivator): "What's going on? Is the tracking fake?"
Morelei (Battle Angel): "Cough~ It's real. Anyway, it's complicated. I think you'll understand soon enough."
Yueshitu (Rogue Cultivator): "What's the situation now? Should I fight your daddy head-on with the summons I already have?"
Morelei (Battle Angel): "He's not my daddy! Also, trust me, with your current number of summons, you can't win. You'll get beaten so badly your own mother won't recognize you."
Yueshitu (Rogue Cultivator): "Your daddy's that strong? Then what do I do?"
Morelei (Battle Angel): "My suggestion here is... come over yourself."
Yueshitu (Rogue Cultivator): "Did you take the wrong medicine?"
Morelei (Battle Angel): "If you could track someone's real-time location, travel a long distance to find her, she resisted fiercely, and after capturing her alive, what would you do?"
Yueshitu (Rogue Cultivator): "I'd beat her until she cried for days. Someone more ruthless would use her and then kill her."
Morelei (Battle Angel): "Yes, exactly."
Yueshitu (Rogue Cultivator): "Damn! If I report my location through the communicator, I won't die, right?"
Morelei (Battle Angel): "If it's you, I don't think so."
Soul Mage (Integrity Merchant Guild): "This conversation... is too confusing."
Golden Count (War Leader): "I won't interfere with your internal conflicts, but if it affects the war's direction, don't blame me for being rude."
Morelei (Battle Angel): "Trash, show me your rudeness?"
Yueshitu (Rogue Cultivator): "Trash, show me your rudeness?"
Yueshitu (Rogue Cultivator): "Cat got your tongue?"
Golden Count (War Leader): "Don't provoke me. Personal grudges, I won't easily interfere."
...
Su Xiao closed the contact platform and looked at Morelei sitting across from him. Morelei was initially confused, then seemed to realize her thoughts had been seen through. She scratched her head, took off her coat and shoes, and relaxed against the sofa.
"Even though I've been caught, I have bargaining power this time. If I report you, you'll definitely kill me, but you'll also have trouble. It's just that what we pay is different—I pay with my life, and you pay with at most returning to Reincarnation Paradise and losing this world's gains."
"..."
"I've been captured alive by you. In Paradise's judgment, this isn't desertion but self-preservation due to circumstances."
Morelei's expression was calm. Though she usually seemed silly, that was during battle. In normal times, her mind actually worked quite well.
"From what I've seen, you're using boar-men to develop an army stream. Don't deny it—I've seen you develop an army stream before. In the Sand Emperor World, when I first met you, I saw you commanding hundreds of thousands of beast cavalry and almost had a mental breakdown. I even suspected you weren't a Reincarnation Paradise Hunter but a hidden plot character from that world."
Morelei sighed as she spoke, suppressing the shadow of her past, and continued: "The army stream in the Sand Emperor World might have been a coincidence, but in the Dark Star World, the boss team you formed couldn't be another coincidence."
"So, what are you trying to say?"
"Just listen to me. We've got nothing else to do anyway."
"You're the one with nothing to do. I'm busy."
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Morelei choked on her tea from Su Xiao's bluntness. After downing the cup, she found the tea exceptionally good.
"Bai Ye, you're an Apocalypse Paradise contractor."
Morelei suddenly said this. Hearing it, Su Xiao narrowed his eyes.
"You're an Apocalypse Paradise contractor. Yueshitu is the former Battle Angel, and I'm the current one. The three of us working together—no problem at all."
Morelei's face was now full of smiles.
"We're all from the same faction. If we work together to wipe out the Holy Light Paradise and Watchful Paradise contractors, Apocalypse Paradise will definitely give us a huge reward. Am I right?"
Morelei's words made Bubu Wang and Baha's eyes light up.
If they teamed up with Morelei and Yueshitu now, once the army stream developed, they could crush the Holy Light Paradise and Watchful Paradise contractors. In Apocalypse Paradise's judgment, Morelei and Yueshitu's performance would be SSS+, and the rewards wouldn't be small.
Morelei proposed this plan to bide her time. After Su Xiao's side wiped out the Holy Light Paradise and Watchful Paradise contractors, Morelei would definitely take Yueshitu and run, because by then, Su Xiao would turn on the Apocalypse Paradise faction.
Morelei didn't plan to become a traitor to Apocalypse Paradise. Instead, she intended to use a "borrow a knife to kill" tactic—using Su Xiao's side to eliminate the Holy Light Paradise and Watchful Paradise contractors in this world. But if she didn't pay something now, she wouldn't just fail to borrow the knife—she'd end up sacrificing herself.
"Your plan is good."
"Right? Come on, let's do it~"
Morelei gave herself a thumbs up, reverting to her silly girl persona. Her earlier cunning made one wonder if she had already guessed that the name "Morelei's Old Father" on the contact platform was Su Xiao. She was very cautious about signing contracts—ever since meeting Su Xiao, she basically never signed contracts with anyone.
It could only be said that after encountering Su Xiao, Huishenshi, Shenfu, Wude, Zuiyasi, and others, Morelei couldn't help but grow in cunning. She was so used to being silly that she hadn't realized her cunning had already surpassed before, though she was still far from becoming an old schemer.
"Your plan is good, but what do I gain?"
"The Drifting Bait is very valuable."
"You threw that at me voluntarily. I'm still puzzled why you 'voluntarily' gave me something so precious."
Su Xiao wasn't about to let Morelei borrow a knife to kill.
"I... I have a screw loose in my head."
Saying this, Morelei seemed to crack apart again. She thought for a moment and said, "I'll pay 20,000 Soul Coins. Yueshitu can also pay 20,000. That's 40,000 Soul Coins total. Do we do this or not?"
Morelei raised her hand, extending four slender, fair fingers. Seeing this, Su Xiao grabbed her hand, pressed it down into a handshake posture, and said, "Deal."
Su Xiao originally didn't plan to cooperate with Morelei and Yueshitu. But a big business deal of 40,000 Soul Coins was too hard to refuse.