Chapter 2816 - 1334: A Tacit Understanding

An imaginary cold wind silently brushed past Motan’s body.

Cold—

It was truly cold!

From inside to outside, from top to bottom, a chilling cold!

The matter of seemingly having hurt a certain girl’s heart was immediately irresponsibly thrown to the back of his mind. At this moment, although Motan could still barely maintain his composure without collapsing, the mental burden had already been pushed to the extreme.

Truth be told, even the previous contest with Teresa, which nearly suffocated the spectators, leaving them dazed for almost half an hour after the second match began, didn’t exert as much pressure on Motan as this current scene.

In front of him was the one with whom he’d played mind games for countless years, made an unending vow upon entering the Realm of Innocence, and ranked high in his mind both in terms of strategy and intellect—the well-known nemesis, one of the duo of the Black Sun. A representative of Miracle City, the youngest formal member in centuries, one of the three Grand Astrologists, the apprentice of Diana A. Achizolti, and the closed-door disciple of Ana Ta Lasha, an ancient great sorcerer of all elements. Recently, a monster steadily in the top twenty of the Personal Power Rankings—Double Leaf.

And Motan was not only the primary opponent in this unending rivalry but also Double Leaf’s first player friend when he joined. They were in a ’cohabitation’ state but had not officially met for about six months—a very unique existence.

Certainly, as ’Hei Fan,’ Motan theoretically didn’t need to fear Double Leaf directly obliterating him, yet his current disposition caused intense tension, extreme gut pain, and a palpitating heart.

Moreover, if facing just one Double Leaf could be endured by Motan, the gentle and pleasant voice of Yu Chen behind him instilled the terrifying illusion of being half-buried. In fact, the imaginary chill constantly washing over Motan actually came from behind.

Motan wasn’t a fool. Regardless of his personality, whether extremely weak, extremely strong, or utterly insensitive, his intelligence and emotional intelligence were notably high. Especially under the ’Absolute Neutrality’ persona, his atmospherical reading, emotional observation, and mindset analysis honed since childhood worked like radar in social interactions!

Put differently, he didn’t fit the image often depicted in arts or subpar works—the ’insensitive, gentle, wooden protagonist.’ Though Teresa’s insistence left room for debate regarding his gentleness, he certainly wasn’t insensitive and was far from being a blockhead.

So, where did his non-dullness and non-woodenness manifest? How to prove it?

Very simple. Unlike the Witch, Motan, who also loved someone, never thought he was in a one-sided love—explicitly, he was well aware of Yu Chen’s fondness toward him. It was the kind of fondness that, once he minded, could easily turn her into his girlfriend without much effort. To put it bluntly, this affection was ’mutually striving.’

But the problem lay in that Motan couldn’t pursue this end. Yu Chen had already done the best she could, even hinting quite overtly during their first and last ’date’ in reality, discreetly sending a clear signal; yet Motan neither caught it nor, rather, deflected it.

In conclusion, at least until Yu Chen completely lost hope in him, they tacitly maintained a form of ’unspoken understanding,’ both knowing they held special places in each other’s hearts. But Motan never took the first step, and Yu Chen, having already done so, couldn’t do anything more.

This was a delicate balance where all the bittersweet emotions within it were magnified infinitely.

On the positive side, many interactions between them allowed a shallow indulgence.

Yet often, precisely due to their mutual, conscious affection, they both sometimes had ’boundary overstepping’ actions. For instance, despite trying hard to restrain himself, Motan often found himself wanting Yu Chen to wear more, even in summer.

Furthermore, he’d use ’at least in-game we’re a couple’ as an excuse to assert his rights in front of others. Recently, the victim of this was Batty Arthur, a peer whose character was fine, only the downside being his habit of chasing every crush. Yesterday, Motan almost scared him literally to death.

As for Richard Ryan, who had the guts to openly throw a direct ball at Yu Chen, although Kordo’s beating wasn’t by Motan’s directive, if not for that beating, Motan, after finding out about the harassment of his beloved, might have resorted to his own means, especially the insane kind. In that case, the future Iron Lion’s early downfall was possible—yes, literal ’demise’—which in turn would deprive the Great United Army of a matchless defensive general, throwing the world into irreparable chaos.