San Wenzhou

Chapter 74: Forging My Bliss from Others’ Suffering

Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Forging My Bliss from Others’ Suffering


Feng Lindu walked toward his rented room with a grim expression.


"What? You lost?" Chai Dasheng said incredulously, "I told you to save your trump card, but not to such an extent, right?"


He certainly wouldn’t believe that Feng Lindu would crash and lose to a new student who just entered Duel Academy; his mind automatically filled in a reasonable explanation.


"Don’t talk about it. How’s the battle intelligence analysis of Yang Liguang? I need a detailed battle analysis report. In the next few days, I need to prepare in seclusion for the finals." Feng Lindu didn’t give Chai Dasheng much of an explanation. He couldn’t possibly say that he didn’t hold back at all and was defeated in a straightforward confrontation by that boy named Shen Sui, right?


Although this matter was extremely embarrassing, fortunately, the Exploration Bureau promised not to release the official duel video before the finals.


The audience at the scene may spread the news, but Feng Lindu knew that as long as he didn’t admit it, and without hard evidence, his fans would automatically cover up for him.


At this time, all he needed to do was remain silent.


Feng Lindu touched his dueling device.


Sure enough, he’s still not strong enough!


He looked up at the dark alley.


As long as he wins the finals, everything will turn out okay—endorsement deals, peripheral income, countless wealth will pour in. By then, he could even buy a villa of his own in the cutthroat real estate market of Modu.


"Is this really okay?" Suddenly, a voice rang out.


Feng Lindu’s heart jolted as he looked towards the voice. A slightly chubby man leaned against the greasy wall of the alley, looking at him with a scrutinizing gaze.


"What?" Feng Lindu took a small step back.


"I watched your duel today." The man walked towards Feng Lindu, "Your soul card has been tormented by you to such an extent, is this really okay? To torment a being who should have a good life just for your own benefit."


"What are you saying?" Feng Lindu forced a smile, then showed an expression of anger and disgust, "Also, who are you? Do I know you well?"


"Ah, I’m just a passing duel enthusiast." The man spread his hands and said, "I can’t stand people like you who deliberately use the Time Regulator to bring suffering to soul cards to obtain more life cards and soul card forms."


"Hmph! Let alone I’ve never done such a thing." Feng Lindu laughed in anger, loosened his collar, and said, "Even if I did such things, so what? Is it illegal? Soul card followers supposedly exist, but can they influence reality? What I’ve done to them is no different in nature than what a video game player does to a controllable character."


"You guys don’t actually regard soul card followers as your friends, do you? They’re just cards!"


With that, Feng Lindu turned and hurriedly left as if to flee.


The man stood there, silently watching Feng Lindu leave.


Ring, ring.


A melodious cell phone ringtone echoed in the confined alley.


The man answered the call.


"It’s me, Wang Ming," the slightly chubby man said briefly.


"Wang Ming, how’s the investigation going?" A man’s voice came from the other end of the call.


Wang Ming withdrew his gaze, turned around, and walked towards the outside of the alley, speaking his analysis into the phone as he walked: "Using others’ suffering to build one’s own bliss is the method of a follower of the Suffering Bodhisattva."


The Suffering Bodhisattva, one of the Dominators of World of Soul Card No. 8, was also one of the culprits behind several major incidents in the real world years ago.


"Figured as much. To those life card masters who ignore the lives of their soul cards, the selfish rhetoric of the Suffering Bodhisattva is very attractive. As long as the concept that the soul card world is just a game is perpetuated, disheartened life card masters can wantonly torture their soul card followers without any psychological burden."


"So, General Bureau, is there really nothing we can do about them?" Wang Ming asked, a bit unwillingly.


"Did they break the law?" Zhang Fang on the other side asked lightly, "Soul card followers are, after all, entities from another world, not protected by our real-world laws. Otherwise, how could the followers of the Suffering Bodhisattva seize the opportunity to spread the ideology of suffering in reality?"


"But I still think such behavior is wrong."


"So, you want to punish them? Just because they use means to torture those who might exist in reality? And all you have as evidence are a lot of texts."


Wang Ming fell silent.


"In recent years, life card masters exhibiting similar behavior have become increasingly common and rampant domestically," Zhang Fang said faintly, "Why do you think that is?"


"Ordinary life card masters find no hope of standing out in the domestic competitive environment. To qualify for high-level duel matches, they must obtain a large number of life cards to circumvent the Life Card Association’s increasingly abused Forbidden Card scrutiny...."


"Exactly, Wang Ming?" Zhang Fang’s laughter came through the phone, "We may not be able to deal with those life card masters directly, but we can eliminate the fertile ground that breeds them. When the environment improves, those life card masters who have a choice won’t do things that break the bottom line of human nature by merely looking at the text."


"But not everyone has morals; this kind of thing can indeed bring in many life cards...."


"No, Wang Ming, you need to understand, the reason these people torture their soul cards so unscrupulously is that they know, in such a competition environment, even if these things are exposed, the audience can understand their actions."


"But if the environment improves, do you think the audience will tolerate this kind of behavior?"


Zhang Fang’s question brought Wang Ming into a momentary silence.


"Alright, you should return to the academy there. What I’m more worried about now is the spread of the Suffering Bodhisattva’s ideology among student groups. That’s where you should focus your main efforts. I have to deal with the issues in World No. 1 now."


"World No. 1 is having problems again?"


"Yes, seventeen employees’ soul cards died inexplicably. The compensation alone is enough to give me a headache." Zhang Fang paused then added somewhat gloatingly, "But we’re better off. In the United States, nearly all of World No. 1’s soul cards died in the City of Sin, cutting off their connection to World No. 1. They’re now scouring the world to find life card masters of World No. 1."


"Life card masters of World No. 1 are not easy to find." The image of Shen Sui flashed through Wang Ming’s mind.


"No worries, the United States can ask the Cosmic Country or Japan for help."


And while Zhang Fang was troubled by compensation costs, Shen Sui was also troubled.


He looked at the text on the dueling device, falling into deep self-doubt.


Dear me, could Alice be a magic idiot?