Chapter 2887 - 1369: Overturn

Yi Dong’s eyes suddenly widened as he said in shock, "You... you damn well know?"

"You’re overthinking it. I just did a bit of analysis, that’s all. You’re not the type who can hide things, and the fact that Diana didn’t catch Fenrir and the other three—if you think about it carefully, that actually doesn’t make sense."

Motan shook his head and said in a rather light, cheerful tone, "Double Leaf believes it because the intel she has is pretty one-sided. But I’m different. In a sense, in some aspects I basically have a bunch of observation points that are close to a God’s Eye View. As long as I string these known bits of information together a little, it’s easy to arrive at some vague conclusions."

Yi Dong tugged at the corner of his mouth, folded his arms, and said irritably, "Not to be rude, but that ’everything under control’ look you’ve got right now really makes me want to punch you."

"Heh, you yourself said ’right now’. Don’t go waving around this kind of non‑universal emotion like you’re pouting. Yi Dong, you’re already an adult."

Just after being told he was asking for a beating, Motan grinned, then immediately used an even more punchable tone to give his friend a round of earnest lecturing. He asked happily, "So, how did you survive Diana? If I’m not misremembering, your [Super Spiritual Body] should’ve been almost maxed out when you were running away."

Yi Dong rolled his eyes and asked sourly, "Since you’re so smart, why don’t you guess for yourself? Guess why I managed to survive Diana."

"That’s a separate issue, brother. I’ve never doubted my own wisdom, but if someone relies too much on their own wisdom, then no matter how smart they are, one day that same cleverness will bite back."

Motan shrugged and said lightly, "Even I can’t stop that. But I’ll try to reduce that backlash as much as possible, so..."

"So maybe you yourself haven’t realized it yet."

Yi Dong calmly cut him off, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Whenever you’re in that so‑called ’Chaotic Neutral’ personality, you especially love talking nonsense. But only when you’re actually wavering do you start trying to use some obviously made‑up big principles to seize the lead in a conversation."

"Hm?"

Motan first furrowed his brow. After several seconds of silence, he rarely put away his smile, raised his head, and stared hard at Yi Dong. "You’re saying... I’m not as composed right now as I’m pretending to be?"

Yi Dong took a deep breath, then let it out helplessly. "At least that’s what I hope, man. If you really are wavering—even if it’s just subconsciously—then as your friend I’d actually feel a bit relieved."

"That’s a hell of a high‑pressure evaluation. My trendiness value in your heart is that high, huh~"

Motan smiled, leaned on the railing of the terrace, and turned his head to look at the sea in the distance, asking in a very casual tone, "So? What actually happened? How did you survive?"

"Although I feel like you’ve already guessed a lot..."

Yi Dong sighed again, then his expression darkened slightly as he looked at Motan. "Put it this way: that Grand Astrologist didn’t go looking for Ned and the others at all. After leaving you, she appeared directly in front of me. Not only did she have no intention of taking action to avenge you and Double Leaf, she even gave [Remnant Rainbow] back to me."

Motan nodded slightly, his face completely neutral. The so‑called windows of his soul showed no ripple either; he just gave a bland "Mm."

"After that, she used some mystical method that should be related to the starry sky to bring me outside Academy City—the place where you guys met for the first time—and then chatted with me for a bit."

Yi Dong walked slowly over to Motan’s side, raised a hand, and pressed it on the latter’s shoulder, saying in a low voice, "I’ll skip the crap. To put it simply: Diana’s understanding of you goes far, far beyond what you imagine. That’s right, Motan—far beyond what you imagine."

"Far beyond what I imagine, huh... heh."

Motan chuckled and glanced sideways at Yi Dong. "So you’re saying I underestimated her?"

"What else?"

Yi Dong laughed as well, though his smile was a few degrees colder and a few degrees sharper than Motan’s. "Don’t tell me you want to claim this was all part of your plan?"

Motan lazily propped his chin with one hand and waved his idle right hand twice. "You’re overthinking it. Your buddy here is taking a heavy hit right now..."

Yi Dong didn’t respond. He just reached into storage from a distance and pulled out a cigarette, lit it with the custom lighter Motan flicked over, then took one more out and shoved it together with the lighter into Motan’s hand. After taking a deep drag himself, he gave a dry laugh. "I can’t see any sign of you being ’hit hard’ at all."

"Some things don’t have to be written on your face."

Motan shrugged, lowered his head, and lit the brand‑less cigarette in his hand—the kind that was, nine times out of ten, absurdly expensive. He popped a smoke ring into the air with a ’pop’ and chuckled. "For example: even though you’ve been giving off an extremely pissed‑off vibe this whole time, looking like you might strangle me any second to uphold the Heavenly Dao, if things really do someday spiral to the point of no return, I believe you’ll still stand on my side."

Yi Dong bit down on the cigarette in his mouth with murderous ferocity and said, radiating Killing Intent, "Me standing on your side doesn’t contradict the fact that right now I find you extremely annoying in the slightest."