This Character is Suspected of Cheating! [Unlimited Flow]

Rain poured down in torrents.

Although the giant tree blocked most of it, droplets still slipped through the leaves, striking their faces with an icy chill.

It was clearly morning, yet the sky was as dark as night.

Crack—

Thunder roared.

Lightning illuminated the entire world.

He Yu's expression remained perfectly calm.

Wanrenzhan's face, however, was hidden in the darkness, revealing no emotion.

After a long silence, he turned toward He Yu, his voice hoarse.

"What secret? Didn't I already answer one during Truth or Dare? What, are you delivering yourself right to my doorstep? He Yu, who would've thought you liked me this much?"

Anyone hearing such blatant teasing would become angry. Even if they didn't start fighting, they certainly wouldn't keep talking to him.

Yet He Yu's expression never changed.

He seemed completely unaffected by the teasing.

He merely idly twirled the green leaf between his fingers before speaking calmly,

"What happened during the previous Top Talent Show?"

"Why did so many people die?"

Wanrenzhan paused briefly before sneering.

"In which Top Talent Show don't people die?"

"Ten million contestants."

"Nine million, nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine die."

"Only one survives."

"There were fewer contestants last season than this one."

"This season will naturally have even more deaths."

This season had expanded in scale by including garbage planets, bringing the number of contestants up to ten million.

There were more participants.

But there would still be only one winner.

Naturally, more people would die.

"Wanrenzhan."

"You know exactly what I'm asking."

"Stop changing the subject."

"You're only exposing more inconsistencies."

He Yu's expression sharpened as he fixed his gaze firmly on him.

Wanrenzhan's fingers twitched slightly.

Lowering his eyes to hide the complicated emotions within them, he said,

"I'm not lying."

"He Yu."

"Something unexpected did happen during the previous season."

"But the Federation released an official explanation."

"A system bug caused the livestream to stop during the later stages."

"The fighting became much more intense."

After a pause, he sneered.

"You came from a garbage planet."

"And an isolated one at that."

"It's only natural that you wouldn't know."

The previous season's livestream had indeed been interrupted.

When it resumed, Wanrenzhan had already become the final victor.

How could the audience not cause an uproar?

How could they not demand an explanation?

The official explanation had been simple—

A system bug.

Combined with Wanrenzhan's own testimony, it established that the livestream system had malfunctioned.

During that outage...

The battles became much fiercer.

Wanrenzhan ultimately emerged victorious.

Of course...

Many people never believed it.

Wanrenzhan was certainly strong.

But during the previous season, he definitely hadn't been the strongest.

Several contestants had ranked above him.

So how had he been the one to win in the end?

The public's doubts became so overwhelming...

That Wanrenzhan entered the Top Talent Show a second time to prove himself.

He Yu asked,

"Really?"

"Then why are you panicking?"

Wanrenzhan looked at him coldly.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

"What do I have to panic about?"

"I was somewhat lucky to win first place last season."

"But this competition has always required both strength and luck."

He Yu smiled faintly.

"You're right."

"It's entirely possible to win first place through good luck."

If the strongest contestants killed one another...

Or someone obtained overwhelmingly powerful equipment that allowed them to defeat everyone else...

That was luck.

Luck was part of strength.

Then He Yu abruptly changed the subject.

"But you've forgotten something."

"We're a couple."

"We have the Hearts Connected buff."

No matter what Wanrenzhan said...

His true thoughts were the real truth.

—That was precisely why He Yu had insisted on severing his relationship with Xiao Lü and partnering with Wanrenzhan instead.

Wanrenzhan's expression changed dramatically.

His hands clenched into fists.

His self-control wasn't refined enough.

He couldn't completely suppress his genuine thoughts.

He Yu slowly walked over to him.

Raising the leaf in his hand, he lightly tapped Wanrenzhan over the heart.

Smiling faintly, he said,

"I think I already know."

"The truth can't hide in here."

"The rules of this instance are incredibly useful."

Wanrenzhan's breathing stopped.

He Yu deliberately stepped close.

Exposing his secret.

Touching his chest.

Everything was meant to shatter his psychological defenses and uncover even more hidden truths.

Yet...

Looking down at He Yu standing so close...

Wanrenzhan found He Yu looking back up at him.

That exquisitely beautiful face was right before his eyes.

So close...

That their breathing almost intertwined.

Wanrenzhan's Adam's apple bobbed.

His thoughts descended into complete chaos.

His psychological defenses utterly collapsed.

Just...

Not in the way He Yu had expected.

Instead...

Everything suddenly became strangely intimate.

Filled with ambiguous tension.

He Yu: "?"

The confident smile that had said everything is under control faltered.

He looked at Wanrenzhan oddly.

—What ridiculous things is this idiot thinking now?

—As expected, this fool's thought process couldn't be judged by normal standards.

He Yu took a slow breath.

He lowered his hand.

Stepped back two paces.

Then disgustedly threw away the leaf.

Wanrenzhan's ears twitched.

The tips had become faintly red.

Crack—

Thunder still rumbled overhead.

That guy was obviously still heartbroken.

So petty.

Helplessness flickered across He Yu's eyes as he shook his head.

Then he looked back at Wanrenzhan.

This time...

His gaze was as sharp as a blade.

It seemed capable of cutting through every illusion.

His voice carried deep meaning.

"The NPCs rebelled?"

"So that's what happened during the previous Top Talent Show?"

He had absolutely no intention of hiding it.

The moment he learned the truth from Wanrenzhan...

He exposed it immediately.

Calmly.

Before the entire universe.

Wanrenzhan's expression changed drastically.

Every trace of romantic tension vanished instantly.

The Bullet Screen exploded.

[Bullet Screen: "What are they talking about?"]

[Bullet Screen: "What do you mean the NPCs rebelled? I don't understand anything!"]

[Bullet Screen: "There really was something wrong with the previous season!! The Top Talent Show has never had problems in all these years. How could some random bug suddenly interrupt the livestream?"]

[Bullet Screen: "He Yu, hurry up and force Wanrenzhan to explain! We want to know!"]

...

Qiu Dao abruptly stood up, breathing rapidly.

"He Yu!"

"What exactly is he trying to do?"

"Wanrenzhan, you idiot!"

"You couldn't even keep such an important secret hidden!"

He stared fixedly at the projection, terrified they would reveal even more secrets before the entire universe.

Within the projection...

He Yu remained perfectly calm.

Wanrenzhan's face had turned deathly pale.

Love Planet.

The two stood face to face.

Only He Yu could see the warning and deep caution hidden within Wanrenzhan's eyes.

He shifted their spoken conversation into the Hearts Connected channel.

Using only his thoughts, he said,

'Wanrenzhan.'

'Tell me everything exactly as it happened.'

'You can ask for any exchange you want.'

'Even the cultivation method.'

Ever since learning the rules of the instance, He Yu had considered using Hearts Connected to uncover Wanrenzhan's secret.

He had even practiced with Zhen Xing beforehand.

Now, using it on Wanrenzhan...

He was completely proficient.

He Yu never opened his mouth.

Yet Wanrenzhan clearly heard him.

Or rather...

He sensed the voice directly within his own heart.

His eyes widened in surprise.

But he quickly regained his composure.

His ears twitched.

Tentatively, he answered through his thoughts,

'We can communicate like this?'

He Yu replied,

'Of course.'

'Exposing a tiny piece of the secret publicly is enough.'

'Why would I reveal everything at once?'

There was no need to alert the enemy.

Wanrenzhan looked deeply at him.

'Stop investigating.'

'You'll die.'

'No matter what schemes you're planning...'

'You can't win.'

'Inside the Top Talent Show system...'

'No matter how powerful we become...'

'We'll lose.'

He Yu asked,

'Because someone outside can interfere with the competition?'

'They can erase many existences?'

'Including NPCs...'

'And us?'

He didn't believe all those claims that no one could interfere with the Top Talent Show system.

Perhaps interference was extremely difficult.

But impossible?

Absolutely not.

Wanrenzhan pressed his lips together.

His expression became extraordinarily complicated.

He genuinely hadn't expected...

That He Yu could infer so much from only a few sentences.

This man's mind...

Was terrifyingly intelligent.

Could anyone really deceive him?

He Yu pressed further.

'I've already stepped into this whirlpool.'

'Tell me everything.'

'The more information I possess...'

'The greater our chance of avoiding becoming someone else's puppet.'

'This isn't just saving me.'

'It's saving you too.'

'After all...'

'You're participating in the Top Talent Show for the second time.'

His gaze was steady.

Though he appeared small and slender before Wanrenzhan...

His confidence never wavered.

Wanrenzhan looked into his eyes.

After a long while...

He sighed silently.

Then memories of the previous season surfaced.

Because their hearts were connected...

He Yu instantly learned everything that had happened.

The previous Top Talent Show had been largely similar to this one.

Only the instances and contestants differed.

Because the mortality rate was so horrifying...

Even though becoming a god was possible...

Far fewer geniuses had entered than this season.

Even so...

The competition had still been filled with experts.

At that time...

Wanrenzhan hadn't even ranked among the top ten.

Had he wanted first place?

Of course.

Everyone who entered...

Came for first place.

Within the Top Talent Show...

Almost everyone started over from scratch.

Temporarily being weaker than others wasn't particularly frightening.

Wanrenzhan simply focused on clearing instances.

Everything had been normal at first.

Then...

Late in the Slaughter Round...

Everything suddenly changed.

The NPCs rebelled.

—That conclusion was only reached after leaving the Top Talent Show.

At the time...

Wanrenzhan had been too busy fleeing for his life.

The NPCs revolted.

The original instance missions became impossible to complete.

He could only keep running if he wanted to survive.

Wanrenzhan had already been seriously injured while clearing an instance.

He spent the entire time hiding.

He never learned exactly what happened.

He only vaguely heard that some contestants had also joined the NPCs.

To stabilize the situation...

The Top Talent Show system carried out a purge.

A purge...

Against both the rebelling NPCs...

And the participating contestants.

Yes.

A purge.

During the livestream blackout...

The massive death toll hadn't been caused by fiercer fighting.

It had been caused by the system's purge.

In other words—

Those rebelling contestants hadn't died during the competition.

They had died...

During the system's purge.

Wanrenzhan himself had originally been meant to die as well.

For some inexplicable reason...

He survived.

He became the sole survivor.

Naturally...

He became the previous Top Talent.

After leaving the Top Talent Show...

The authorities imprisoned him.

The Federation Royal Palace and the organizers interrogated him repeatedly.

Once he told them everything he knew...

The Federation ordered him never to tell another soul.

To bury the truth forever.

Did Wanrenzhan dare disobey?

Inside...

So many people had been purged.

The authorities and organizers were obviously involved somehow.

If he spoke...

He would certainly die.

After all...

The authorities themselves had ordered his silence.

Without He Yu...

Wanrenzhan had never actually been stupid.

'So...'

He Yu frowned slightly.

'You believe the authorities were involved?'

The truth differed somewhat from what he'd expected.

He already knew the NPCs were connected.

But he hadn't expected...

The contestants to be involved as well.

They had willingly joined the NPC rebellion?

Wanrenzhan sneered inwardly.

'Do you really think they weren't involved?'

'I don't know much.'

'But after hearing everything...'

'The authorities never investigated.'

'They only sealed my mouth shut.'

They had interrogated him over and over.

They merely wanted to determine whether he truly knew nothing else.

Once they confirmed he was ignorant...

They finally relaxed.

He Yu remained noncommittal.

'Is that all?'

After hesitating...

Wanrenzhan continued.

'Actually...'

'While I was dealing with the Federation authorities...'

'I accidentally overheard one word.'

'God.'

So...

The previous NPC rebellion wasn't connected only to the authorities.

It was also connected...

To a "god."

What god?

A god created by the Top Talent Show?

The Top Talent Show had created only one god.

Li Zhan.

'Then why did you enter again?'

He Yu asked.

'To prove myself, of course...'

'Also...'

'The organizers persuaded me to return.'

He Yu looked at him with amusement.

With Hearts Connected active...

A single thought was enough for each to understand the other's mind.

The organizers had encouraged Wanrenzhan to participate again.

Clearly...

They had intended to silence him permanently.

Wanrenzhan knew it.

And He Yu sensed it just as clearly.

If Wanrenzhan died during his second Top Talent Show...

Wouldn't the truth about the previous season disappear forever?

Still...

The entire truth had yet to be uncovered.

No conclusions could be drawn prematurely.

Wanrenzhan was arrogant.

Yet even someone as arrogant as him...

Didn't dare oppose the Federation authorities.

He Yu wasn't afraid.

He continued through their mental connection.

'One last question.'

'Answer it...'

'And not only will I teach you cultivation...'

'When I uncover the truth...'

'I'll tell you everything.'

'What's the question?'

Wanrenzhan took a deep breath.

The conditions He Yu offered...

Were impossible to refuse.

He could live without the cultivation method.

But he desperately wanted to know the truth.

He Yu asked,

'Why did those contestants willingly follow the NPCs into rebellion?'

'How did the NPCs persuade them?'

'Or were they controlled?'

Wanrenzhan shook his head.

'No.'

'They weren't controlled.'

'I don't know why they joined the NPCs.'

'But I know they did it willingly.'

'The ones being controlled...'

'Were probably the NPCs.'

He Yu nodded thoughtfully.

The true problem during the previous season had indeed been the NPC rebellion.

But NPCs were manufactured beings.

Which meant...

Someone...

Or perhaps another NPC...

Had controlled them.

The contestants had willingly joined the rebellion while fully conscious.

Surely they hadn't truly been following the NPCs themselves.

Instead...

They had been following the existence controlling those NPCs.

—What had that existence done to earn their trust?

—Or was its mere appearance enough for contestants to trust it?

Unfortunately...

The rebellion failed.

They were purged by the system.

No...

It couldn't be called a complete failure.

The Top Talent Show system had definitely suffered damage.

Otherwise...

The livestream would never have been cut.

That had probably been the rebels' achievement.

In the end...

The system still won.

There was undoubtedly an even greater secret hidden behind everything.

Otherwise...

The system would never have rushed to purge every last participant.

The only survivor...

Wanrenzhan...

Was actually the one who knew the least.

Because he knew nothing...

He had been allowed to live.

How interesting.

This Top Talent Show system...

Was becoming more and more fascinating.

To He Yu...

The existence behind the rebellion wasn't bad news.

He was already playing chess against whoever controlled everything from behind the scenes.

All along...

He had been gathering pieces for his board.

If the one controlling the NPCs still existed...

And was willing to cooperate...

That would become his most valuable chess piece.

—The odds of victory had just increased.

Anyone else hearing such a secret...

Would've felt only shock and terror.

After all...

The system could purge contestants at any moment.

Their lives literally rested in someone else's hands.

No wonder Wanrenzhan feared it.

No wonder he refused to speak.

Because...

There was no way to win.

Anyone would be terrified.

But He Yu...

Was different.

Instead of fear...

His eyes shone with excitement.

Wanrenzhan was stunned.

He stared blankly at He Yu.

Opening his mouth, he wanted to say something.

But He Yu spoke first.

"Let's head back."

"After this instance ends..."

"I'll teach you cultivation."

"Stay alive."

—Although he'd already uncovered the secret...

Wanrenzhan was still useful.

Hearing that...

Wanrenzhan silently closed his mouth.

His expression became complicated.

[Bullet Screen: "??? They're done talking? Why do I still know absolutely nothing?"]

[Bullet Screen: "They never even spoke out loud!"]

[Bullet Screen: "AAAAAH! What happened?! Explain it clearly!!"]

[Bullet Screen: "There are definitely secrets in the previous season. Go demand answers from the authorities!"]

After finishing their conversation...

The two walked back side by side.

Wanrenzhan muttered quietly,

"The one time you actually become my partner..."

"...and it turns out you had another motive."

Not only that...

He'd dug out every one of his secrets.

Originally...

Wanrenzhan hadn't intended to reveal anything.

But that scheming bastard had exploited Hearts Connected, figured out the NPC rebellion, and forced him to reveal everything he knew.

Infuriating.

Wanrenzhan gripped his axe.

He wanted to hit someone.

He Yu glanced sideways at him expressionlessly.

Wanrenzhan: "..."

Silently...

He put the axe away.

However...

The instant he lowered it—

A black shadow suddenly rushed straight toward them at incredible speed!