Grasping the Stars

"Come on, what do you want to do?"

Li Nai rested his chin on his hand, tilting his head with interest as he looked at Tai Zi Zhi.

"As long as you satisfy me, I can just leave, you know?" Li Nai smiled. "After all, to me, none of this matters."

Tai Zi Zhi stood in the middle of the blood-red sunset, his body covered in wounds. Looking at Li Nai's gentle smile, a ridiculous sense of absurdity suddenly welled up in his heart. He had walked step by step to the present, exhausting all his strength just to exchange for an opportunity, yet in Li Nai's eyes, it was just like a grain of sand blown away by the wind. The destructive future that everyone was working hard to change was just a natural course of events to Li Nai... They weren't even considered opponents on opposing sides.

Tai Zi Zhi looked deeply at the curling corners of Li Nai's lips, realizing more clearly than ever: Li Nai had no "purpose." He appeared here simply to find amusement. That was all. Saying something like "satisfy me"... to pin hopes on the whim of this malicious deity at this moment was truly a sign of mental issues.

Tai Zi Zhi slowly approached, his bloody hand pressing onto the clean counter. Even though he was standing and Li Nai was sitting, a feeling of helplessness continuously spread throughout his body. The youth Oda stood in the darkness behind Li Nai, silently watching him.

Tai Zi Zhi laughed. Despair? Ah, yes, despair to the point of wanting to laugh out loud. But to bear the pressure of the entire world's survival, to overcome helplessness and despair to laugh in front of an unchallengeable god—perhaps that was the unique arrogance of humanity?

"Li Nai, I am indeed the 'protagonist' you chose. But do you know why humanity also chose me?"

Li Nai raised his eyebrows.

"Because in this situation, the only one who can remain sober, think calmly, and find a way to increase the final winning probability—is me," Tai Zi Zhi said softly. He took the 20-sided die from his pocket and gently placed it on the table. The blood-stained die reflected mysterious and beautiful rays of light under the illumination.

"Oh? A die? Good idea," Li Nai smiled half-heartedly. "So, do you want to roll it now?"

"...No. Before that, there is still a method to increase the winning probability." Tai Zi Zhi raised his eyes, silently looking at Li Nai. Only he, at this moment, was bold enough to continue betting!

"Li Nai," Tai Zi Zhi said, "I want to buy the third item—that 【Sticker】."

Li Nai blinked, suddenly remembering the cat Oda that had been carried away the other day. He turned to look at Oda with a meaningful smile. The preparations made long ago were finally starting to play a crucial role.

"Of course you can," Li Nai asked curiously. "But you must know, once this item is sold, I can walk out the door, right? Aren't you afraid of Heng Xin being destroyed?"

Tai Zi Zhi smiled faintly: "Staring straight at one's own insignificance is indeed despairing, but precisely because of this, I want to exploit even this insignificance. In your eyes, humanity is like dust; why would you care about destruction or not? If you really wanted that, I wouldn't be standing here. Therefore, I believe that even if you can go out, you will still choose to stay—until you finish watching this play."

Li Nai became even more amused and snapped his fingers. A sticker shimmering with starlight slowly drifted down, with a vivid silver key drawn on its surface.

"Congratulations, you guessed right," Li Nai laughed. "This item is now yours."

At this moment, the last item on the second shelf was also unlocked.

"Just in time, I'll let you see the information of this item too. To be honest, whether it's the sticker or the pocket watch, they aren't completely my things in essence..." Li Nai snapped his fingers, and the screen lit up. He chuckled, "—But this one, I quite like."

【Tombstone】
Grade: SR
Quantity: 1
Price: 0
Description 1: A palm-sized tombstone, limited by the owner's lifespan, single-use. Designate one person to make their soul belong to you, regardless of life or death. When the owner dies, the contract ends, and both souls belong to the tombstone.
Description 2: Fast to use, extremely high efficiency! Absolutely safe and harmless!
Description 3: Buy it quickly! Why not buy it! No one can refuse. I'll wait and see; everyone must go to this hell, hahahaha!

"How is it, not bad, right?" Li Nai said.

Tai Zi Zhi felt a chill run down his spine. He realized that every R-grade item Li Nai sold represented the breaking of a world order. The page was reality and falsehood, the die was randomness, and the watch was time. Then, what was this SR-grade tombstone? Life and death, or the soul? Terrifying. But there was no turning back.

Tai Zi Zhi picked up the sticker. "Even if it's a good order, it will still cause the current order to collapse." He looked at the silver key pattern and muttered, "Pointing out a shortcut..." He guessed this sticker represented 【Space】.

Tai Zi Zhi calmly pasted the sticker over his heart. "Using 【Me】 as a medium... point out a shortcut for 【Me】 to go."

He didn't know what would happen. The world might collapse, or he might die a horrible death. But facing Li Nai required both meticulous calculation and mad courage. The moment the sticker touched his chest, a passage filled with starlight appeared. Tai Zi Zhi suddenly felt a massive amount of information flood into his brain as his finger brushed past the silver key pattern. He saw the center of eternity, brilliant rainbow spheres of light.

"Wait! It can't be pasted!" Tai Zi Zhi tried to pull his hand back in horror, but from within the passage, a pale hand reached out, tightly grabbing his wrist and pressing it hard against his heart!

A door appeared. Jie Chuan Long Zhi Jie crawled out from it, his breath rapid, his burning eyes staring intently at Li Nai. He had spent countless years expanding the Gangkou Heishoudang, waiting for this opportunity to capture the "Tai Zi Zhi" of this time and space.

"Mr. Li Nai..." Jie Chuan smiled amidst his hoarse coughing, "Finally... I have grasped this opportunity."