The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of The Oriole Behind!

Boom!

Buzz.

On the already devastated land of the 【Aiguyi Ruins】, a mushroom cloud slowly rose.

The impact from the 【Holy Hand Grenade】's explosion first brought a tremendous boom, followed by a buzzing that filled everyone's minds, leaving only a sharp ringing in their ears.

In the moment before they could even register the pain, their bodies disintegrated into dust.

As Zhuge Yue vanished, Wu Wang could vaguely make out the shape of her mouth.

“You son of a…”

Her words went unfinished. Everyone died.

The once-bustling cliffside cave entrance was now silent. In the blink of an eye, only Wu Wang remained, sitting up from the ground.

Just as he expected, he hadn't been kicked out of the Hidden Map.

He looked toward the other 【Holy Hand Grenade】 a short distance away, the one Zhuge Yue had used to draw everyone's attention.

“Holy shit, is this thing really a ‘grenade'?” he grumbled, picking it up and stuffing it back into his backpack. “What kind of respectable person throws a grenade that makes a mushroom cloud?”

He hadn't detonated his own grenade at the start for a good reason. After sensing Zhuge Yue's presence, he worried she would simply incite a fight among the players and then escape.

If the grenade failed to kill her, it would have been a massive loss.

Even when they met at the cave entrance, Wu Wang held back for a reason similar to Zhuge Yue's own final ploy. He didn't dare bet on whether she would use a 【Legendary】 grade item to negate the grenade's effects.

If Zhuge Yue had really chosen to take that gamble, all the other players would be gone. It would become a one-on-one duel between them.

The outcome was predictable. He'd be totally screwed.

The nun and Mary couldn't possibly come to help him. When Wu Wang had first prepared to use the 【Holy Hand Grenade】, he had them take him up to the cliff and then immediately return to the Mary.

After all, if a player died here, they would just exit the hidden instance. But what about the two of them, who were natives of this world?

Wu Wang didn't dare to gamble. What if they were blown to bits? The loss would far outweigh the gain.

So, he needed an overt scheme of his own. One that would ensure Zhuge Yue, even upon seeing the 【Holy Hand Grenade】 detonate, wouldn't even think of using a 【Legendary】 item to resist it.

The simplest way was to let her get the seed of the 【Tree of Sighs】.

“Heh heh, you didn't expect this, did you, woman? To be bested by the same trick twice,” Wu Wang chuckled happily.

He reached out and touched the eye wearing the cosmetic contact lens.

【Eye of the Prophet】!

【Passive - After equipping this item, you can observe partial Instance information three days before entering each Instance, including but not limited to major NPCs, key items, and important plot points.】

He had originally thought this item only applied to the personal Instances that players periodically entered. Unexpectedly, three days before the 【Relic Scramble】 began, Wu Wang received the "partial information" after obtaining the tokens from Xiezhi and the Calamity Cult.

At the time, he was squatting on the toilet when a notification suddenly appeared before his eyes.

【Their power converges into a tree】

【Their souls are wailing and weeping】

【Only one who has received the blessing can take the tree away】

【For this tree originates from all that they are】

To be honest, Wu Wang had been completely baffled by those four sentences. Even after entering the instance and saving 【Aiguyi Town】, he still hadn't figured them out.

It wasn't until he jumped into the cavern, died from the fall, revived, and saw the seed of the 【Tree of Sighs】 that the true meaning of those four lines was finally revealed.

The powers of 【Suffering】, 【The Twisted】, and 【Hope】 created the item, corresponding to the first line.

The remnant souls of the townsfolk wailing within their husks corresponded to the second.

As for the "one who has received the blessing," he finally understood when he saw the nun Lilith kneeling and weeping bitterly before the husks. It corresponded to his side quest.

【Side Quest 2: Fulfill the Last Wish of the Townsfolk】

That's right! The fourth line had made it very clear. The 【Tree of Sighs】 came from the suffering, twistedness, and hope of the townsfolk. Therefore, the one qualified to take it had to be someone who held their blessing.

But the real townsfolk had already become monsters. So where could one obtain their blessing?

The answer was self-evident. It was the endlessly looping Aiguyi Town sealed within the nun.

From there, he learned that the townsfolk had two last wishes. One was for the town to continue. The other was for the nun Lilith to survive.

Only by completing the 【Last Wish of the Townsfolk】 could one receive their blessing. The proof of this was the bronze statue of himself now standing in 【Dedication Square】.

“So after all this time, you were a prerequisite quest…” Wu Wang shook his head and laughed helplessly.

When he played certain Souls-like games, he hated hidden conditions that required completing prerequisite quests. One wrong move and you'd have to start a second playthrough to complete them.

But you couldn't start a second playthrough in an instance.

Fortunately, he had already completed the prerequisite quest without even realizing it. This was why he could watch those players fight over the seed of the 【Tree of Sighs】, remaining unmoved and only searching for Zhuge Yue.

Because no one else could take the seed out of this 【Aiguyi Ruins】 constructed by 【Hope】!

This was a contingency He had left behind. His purpose was to wait for the day the seed matured, then return to claim it.

Wu Wang could even imagine the scene that should have originally played out. 【Hope】 would descend upon this place. He would use his own power to assist the nun Lilith, saving the endlessly looping Aiguyi Town within the seal. His methods might not have been different from Wu Wang's, but in short, he would make the townsfolk believe in him.

He could even harvest a wave of believers on the side. A win-win.

After the rescue was successful and the townsfolk began to worship him, He would come to the hidden map He had created and take away the fully grown 【Tree of Sighs】, becoming the sole beneficiary in this experiment of the Venerables.

【Suffering】 and 【The Twisted】 would have unwittingly been working for Him all along.

“I didn't think 【Hope】 was such a sly old bastard! Likes to play the oriole behind the mantis, huh?” Wu Wang sneered. “Too bad for you. The mortal you all look down on is here to reap the rewards.”

From the attitude of the 【Spirit Venerable of the Sea of Desire】 and those Divine Envoys, it was clear that these beings looked down on Spirit Calamity Players completely. But it was precisely someone like him, whom they deemed beneath notice, who was about to take away their precious experimental result.

Wu Wang bent down and picked up the seed of the 【Tree of Sighs】 that had fallen to the ground after Zhuge Yue disappeared. He placed it in his backpack.

The process was smooth, without any resistance.

The players outside all thought Zhuge Yue had taken the seed. After all, Wu Wang had deliberately waited for the others to arrive before detonating the grenade for this very reason. He wanted them to see clearly that just before everyone was wiped out, it was Zhuge Yue who was holding the seed and putting it into her backpack.

The blame was now firmly on her. He liked this game of playing the oriole from behind, too.

【O Blessed One! Your greatness has allowed their souls to rest in peace.】

【From the other shore of the underworld, they make a final plea to you.】

【Please treat Lilith well.】

“Did you hear that, Lilith?” Wu Wang said with emotion. “Even at the very end, you were still deeply loved by them.”

As soon as his voice fell, the nun's confused voice came from a distance as she hurried over.

“Sir, did you call me?”

The order she and Mary had received was to only approach and look for him after a massive explosion from this direction had subsided.

Wu Wang looked at the nun's flawless face and smiled faintly.

“Yes. Take me back to the ship. We need to sail back to the real town in the outside world.”

Since there was no way to die his way out, he would just leave the same way he came.

Besides, there was still a group of players outside, dumbfounded from being blown up by him. Yan Shuangying couldn't just exit the stage so quietly. He still needed to prepare for collecting his payment in the real world later.

Wu Wang never forgot that he was, in essence, still just a level-ten piece of trash. He had gotten this far entirely through hard work and sweat. In the real world, any one of these high-level players could easily disrupt his normal life.

So, he had to take advantage of his position in the instance to fool them and eliminate the possibility of them causing him trouble in the real world.

This was a high-stakes gamble.

If he won, he would get a large number of items, enough to protect his Second Sister and his daily life. For this, Wu Wang would stop at nothing.

May the big boss bless me.

My name is Yan Shuangying, and my performance is about to begin.