Evening hours, Tokyo, Ginza Higashiya.

It is a Japanese-style tea shop, and when you step into this shop with the aroma of classic tea, customers can leave all their worries behind, and Higashiya's main store is used to enjoy sweets, and a tea room is also open for customers to enjoy traditional tea.

Anson Deer and Yuliu are sitting in the store, and the NPC waiter brings matcha-flavored pastries.

The cake looks appetizing, and the rich tea flavor and a slight sweetness are intertwined to create a subtle beauty, as if you can experience the beauty of Japanese culture.

However, Anson Deer has neither the leisure of eating pastries nor drinking tea.

He didn't like tea in the first place, except for drinking tea and chatting with the old man in the principal's office, the rest of the time, he hardly even touched the drink, and only drank boiled water all day long.

At this time, Anson Lu recorded the text on his mobile phone and said nonchalantly, "As far as my personal feeling is concerned, let's kill the boss in Tokyo Bay first, and then we will consider entering Sky City."

"On what basis?" Juliu asked.

"Once we get to that Sky Island, maybe we won't be able to get back to land, and if we can't defeat the boss, there's no room to escape." Anson Lu said without thinking:

"But if it's the squid in Tokyo Bay, even if it can't be defeated, unless it floods the whole of Tokyo, we should have room to escape, after all, the venue for the boss battle is not limited to a closed building like a palace."

Juliu nodded, and replied with a blank face, "Indeed, judging by this judgment, it is reasonable to kill the squid first."

Anson Deer moved his stiff neck, "That's it, Cosimo and Kamidai Ruri are official people, and their identities are more convincing, so they will be responsible for gathering the rest of the players."

Juliu hesitated for half a second and asked, "Could it be that those players are not there, and this boss battle is easier?"

Anson Lu took a sip of water and said slowly:

"Tokyo is a capital-level city, and the level of players who can rank this dungeon is not low, and many players have already changed jobs, so they can be regarded as a combat power that cannot be underestimated."

"Heh, with you as a monster, does it matter if they come or not?"

"I'm not God." Anson Lu said disdainfully, "If buddy can slap that squid to death and kick over that bullshit sky city by the way, then what else do you want to do here?"

"My judgment is ......" Juliu took a sip of hot tea and calmly replied, "Even if they are not there, with the strength of our four sequence players, it will be enough to win."

"What then?"

"What do you mean?"

"According to what you said, in the dungeon, those general players are watching us perform, not to accumulate a little practical experience against the boss." Anson Luer paused and said:

"Then, half a year later, if they are trampled to death by the snow dragon that descended on Tokyo due to their lack of experience, won't it all have to be fought by our sequence players?"

Julius said earnestly, "That's what I think."

Anson Lu lifted his chin and said nonchalantly:

"Please, the world's population is about 9 billion, and it is estimated that there are only 900 sequence players, and after half a year, you will have to go through a full twelve rounds of dungeons, and in the end, only 200 people will die, which is a conservative estimate." ….

"Two hundred sequence players, isn't that enough to deal with that snow dragon?" Juliu asked.

"I don't think it's enough." Anson Deer sighed lightly, "Otherwise, why would it be too troublesome to gather players from all over the world to Tokyo to defeat it."

"That's ......," Juliu put down his teacup, "I hope that after the second change of class, I can see something different."

"Be bold, maybe they will overtake directly in the corner after the second turn, and we sequence players will not be fart by then."

"That's impossible."

"Who knows what will happen in the future......" Anson Lu said slowly, "We have an old saying in Huaxia

It's called 'Feng Shui takes turns, in short, don't think too highly of yourself.'"

Despite saying this, Anson Deer laughed at himself in his heart, he really knew a lot about the future, but it was all information he got from the principal.

A bunch of information that would keep him scorched for a long time.

"I'm not going to talk about it." Yuliuu changed the subject and asked expressionlessly, "Speaking of which, why don't you talk like this when you're usually in front of them?"

"What do you mean?"

"I can see that when you're in the middle of the union, you always like to put yourself very low and look stupid, I wonder why?" Juliu took a sip of tea.

Anson Deer tilted his head, "What's going on?"

Juliu shrugged his shoulders, "It's nothing, I just wanted to say that our personalities have some similarities."

"For example?"

"I went through a two-year wandering life since I escaped from that orphanage 10 years ago, and only a few years ago I joined the Mexican mafia, and since then, I have been able to climb the underground world with the ability to be appreciated." Juliu said deeply:

"In other people's words, I'm just a lackey in charge of the dirty work, but I know that if I don't do these things, someone will do it for me, and if I want to completely change these phenomena, I can only endure it all the time and mix at the top of the mafia."

"That's a nice ......," Anson Deer looked up and looked at Juliu, "Let me guess, anyway, the reason you joined the mafia was just to gain power and find a way to vindicate David Mena."

Juliu was noncommittal, "That's pretty much what you say."

"I'm curious, so why don't you go the right way?" Anson Lu picked up a piece of matcha cake and said nonchalantly:

"For example, study hard, get admitted to the best university in the United States, climb the chain of power all the way, and finally become a very influential politician."

"It's not like a question you can ask, it's stupid."

Anson Lu took a bite of the cake, "It's true that if you follow the right path, there are great restrictions, and it is estimated that you will not find a chance to correct David Mena in your life, but what do you get by mixing so deeply in the underground world?"

"Identity, I didn't even have an identity at first, like David Mena, I was a nameless person." Julius said calmly, "And...... Power, at least in Mexico, with my power, to obtain a fake ID for David Mena, to provide him with a stable place to live, and a job that pays well, and, to help him find the perfect psychiatrist." ….

He sneered and said disdainfully, "If I had listened to what you said, what the right path to take, in the end, more than ten years would have passed, and with David's physical condition, his body would have rotted into mud in some alley in the United States."

Anson Lu chewed slowly, tasting the tea-flavored cream on the surface of the cake, "A person with a great sense of justice like him, does he feel good to see you go to the underworld for him?"

"Hmph, it doesn't matter what he thinks."

"Oh, so just because he helped you when you were wandering, and then, you spent nearly ten years doing this to repay him?"

"You may be mistaken, I wouldn't be alive without David Mena." Yuli's eagle-like golden eyes stared coldly at Anson Deer:

"I was only 10 years old at the time, and without his protection, I don't know how many times I was on the streets of Mexico."

"So, you're telling me these experiences to prove how similar we are?" Anson Deer lowered his head and opened a plate of Tetris, "My past is not as complicated as yours."

"Where are we similar...... It's about being able to compromise the means and ignore the opinions of others for the sake of the goal." Juliu was silent for half a second, then said:

"But our ultimate goal is to be good, and it was David Mena who taught me to keep a good heart so that I wouldn't become a demon in that dye vat in the underworld."

Anson Lu grinned, teasing

Road:

"Oh hey, the people who climbed to the top of the mafia said that they kept a kind heart, and at the beginning of 2026, I heard a joke that was enough to keep for a whole year, thank you, Xiao You-san."

"I told you...... I don't do those things, and there are people who do it for me, and they do it more cruelly, and I have even saved many people's lives in comparison." Juliu looked unimpressed.

"That's it, whatever you want." Anson Lu's finger poked at the phone screen, "However, you think too much about me, I am not as great as you say, and I will not compromise the means, and...... I'm not kind either."

"As far as I'm concerned, you're the kind of person I described, but it seems that the last subway incident shook your heart."

"Shaken?"

"Otherwise," Juliu said, interlacing his fingers on his chin, "can you explain...... Where were you all day yesterday?"

"Sleep."

Anson Lu replied, the finger that poked the phone became harder.

"I just want to say that even if you chose not to open that door at the time, I would understand you, and I would not question your original intentions like Cosimo." After a pause, Yuliwu said:

"Sacrificing those two people to save the lives of the whole car is the right choice, but not everyone will choose that way."

Anson Lu sighed and closed his phone, "So, I chose another answer, because I'm a normal person, and I can't be as decisive as you, understand?"

"No...... You hesitated, and hesitated for a long time, which is not at all in line with your usual style." Juliu said, "Originally, your answer should have been the former, right?"

Anson Lu raised his head, met Yuliu's gaze, and said unhurriedly: ....

"So, do you want to prove that I'm a scum who doesn't care about human life, but you don't have to, the crow has said me many times that I'm a machine that follows the right values and doesn't care about other people's feelings."

"That's where we get alike, and I'll choose the previous one." "Although the latter is the most perfect in terms of results, I'm sane enough."

"I chose another answer, don't you understand?"

"I just want to tell you that your original answer was right, and you don't have to question yourself because of it."

"Ha, haha." Anson Lu laughed dryly, "Please, I'm questioning myself again?"

"It's normal, when I was in the middle of the mafia, I questioned myself like this countless times." Juliu said deeply, "But I survived, because I told me countless times in my heart who I really was."

Anson Lu took a sip of tea and said expressionlessly, "Oh, that's my business?"

"I firmly believe that if humanity wants to win this battle, the strongest person must know how to make trade-offs, and not be hindered by personal feelings." Juliu said nonchalantly:

"You can follow the original style, become a leader who is cold and rational enough, and let those who should be sacrificed be sacrificed to embark on the path with the highest chance of victory."

"It's quite serious, so I'll let you die?"

"Me too." Juliu's tone was unwavering, "If I have to die in order to win this battle, then I will do my duty." After a pause, he continued:

"But...... You must promise me that after my death, you will likewise make the official information of 'David Mena' in your possession public, not perfunctory."

Anson Lu's face twitched slightly, he opened his mouth, and was silent for a long time, unable to say a word.

"I'm tired...... Is it okay to stop talking about these issues?" He whispered.

"There is no one in the world better than you, every decision you make will affect the future, you should be clear about your responsibilities and make the most calm and correct judgment."

Anson Deer's mind flashed over the headmaster's face.

He gritted his teeth slightly, and said in a deep voice, "You know, the last person to do this, he has

It's dead, it's like a maggot, it's disgusting."

"So what?"

"I'm talking about the headmaster I mentioned to you earlier."

Yuliuu was stunned for a moment before he reacted, and he frowned and asked:

"He...... Already dead?"

"Yes, he's dead." Anson Lu took a deep breath, "He also told me a lot of things, in the future, the human world will be destroyed by that snow dragon, and he said that I didn't succeed."

Juliu's expression was a little incredulous, and his golden eyes were thoughtful.

Anson Lu shrugged his shoulders and said slowly, "I told you before that he is from the future, and while he admits this, he also admits his own failure."

Juliu frowned.

He didn't expect things to be so ridiculous - the world had already been destroyed once, and the last Anson deer traveled back and became the principal of the listed high school, secretly setting up many games. ….

Everything is too complicated.

"He said I wasn't like him, but I didn't know...... What's the difference?" Anson Lu's voice was full of anger, "He just explained a bunch of things in a mess, but he didn't even tell me what I had to do."

Juliu hissed deeply and asked puzzledly, "What clues did he leave behind?"

"Say it's telling me not to go it alone, say I'm not alone, and then I'm gone." Anson Deer smiled.

"Don't go it alone...... Yuliuu muttered with a frown, "So, you, who were on the last worldline, only told you this."

"yes, don't you think it's funny?" Anson Deer said self-deprecatingly, "Originally, when I met the principal, Raven, Yuri, and Asuka, I really felt for the first time that I was not so lonely, and I was surrounded by a lot of people.

At the end of the day, the old man told me that everything I was going through was arranged by him......

After a pause, he continued:

"There's something wrong with this thing's brain, isn't it, a guy who doesn't understand human feelings, but he has planted a group of people next to me without permission, a group of weirdos like me, so that I can huddle with them for warmth, and then disappear without a trace, saying that I am not lonely anymore?"

He gritted his teeth and said heavily, "I'm not lonely, am I disgusting?"

"At least ......" Yuliuu stopped talking, his throat a little hoarse.

His expression was complicated, and he didn't know how to comfort the young man in front of him.

After all, Anson Deer has experienced all too bizarre things - the sudden responsibility of saving the world on his shoulders, the post-apocalyptic prophecy from the future, and the life arranged like a marionette.

If other ordinary people had gone through this, they might have gone crazy a long time ago.

Who can accept all of this......

Anson Lu was silent for a long time, and asked in a low voice, "Tell me, Yuliu, what else can I believe?"

Juliu hesitated for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "A person who can't even believe in himself anymore, what can he believe, how do you want me to answer you."

"So, since you don't understand anything, then stop talking nonsense about yourself being like me......" Anson Deer raised his head, stared at Juliu with vacant eyes, and said almost word for word:

"Do you understand, I'm really annoyed by being dissected, and having a crow around me is enough to annoy me."

「...... I see."

"Okay, then I'll rest, don't bother me anymore."

Juliu gritted his teeth, "But you're going to keep going like this, discouraged by these things, and finally let the same failure happen to you again, like the headmaster you call it?"

"Don't mention him to me again." Anson Lu said, "You should be ...... I've never said that."

Juliu shifted his gaze to Anson Deer's five fingers, trembling with anger.

"I don't see any fighting spirit in you now, I only see a confused, promiscuous temperant

So, kid, I need to make sure - can you still stand up?"

"If you are defeated like this, it doesn't matter, sooner or later someone else will take your responsibility, but I won't waste any more time with you." ….

"I don't want her to die."

"What?" Yuliuu felt a little baffled.

"Yuri, that Icelandic girl."

"If I'm not mistaken, the person who brought her death was the headmaster you call it, and that headmaster is you from the future." Yuliuu snorted coldly and said unhurriedly:

"If even the future you say that you have no chance to save her, then do you still insist on deceiving yourself and wasting time on things that have already been decided?"

Anson Deer knew that Yuliu was right: Yuri's illness was brought about by the headmaster, and the exact cause was unknown.

Moreover, the headmaster has been living in the future for decades, which means that the headmaster has far more knowledge and intelligence in his hands than Anson Deer, which is a knowledge in decades.

However, even the principal said something like "cherish the people in front of you".

So......

The end of Yuri's death is basically irreparable.

But......

Everything the headmaster saw was limited to the future that was destroyed by the snow dragon. That's why he relied on his limited knowledge to assert that Yuri was no longer saved.

There is another possibility.

That is, the possibility hidden in another future direction.

Anson Deer spoke, "As long as I become stronger than that old man, as long as I can see beyond his vision, there will still be a chance to find a way for Yuri to survive."

"Like ......," Juliu asked, frowning.

"For example, half a year later, when humanity wins the battle against the Tokyo Dragon, then I can see something that the Headmaster has never seen in his life." Anson Deer said slowly:

"Have you ever heard a rumor that if you win the World Boss Battle, the player who wins the MVP in this Boss Battle will get a chance to face the 'game developers'?"

Juliu was stunned for a moment, "I've heard of it, it seems to be from someone from the law enforcement team, saying that it was accurate information obtained in a certain capital-level dungeon, and I don't know which member revealed it."

"Yes." Anson Deer said categorically, "This message should be correct, as long as I defeat Snow Dragon and meet the 'game developer', I will have the opportunity to ask for a way to keep Yuri alive."

Julius whispered thoughtfully, "I understand, this is indeed a path I did not envision......

Although he thought that this matter would be difficult to achieve, if Anson Deer could regain his will with such a thought, then why did he pour cold water and tell Anson Lu that there was very little hope?

"I'm going to win that snow dragon in order to save my friends, saving the world is only incidental, who would go out of his way to help that disgusting stinky old man do what he didn't do." Anson Lu took a deep breath and said in a fierce tone:

"I'll tell him you're here for what you can't do in your lifetime...... It's as easy as eating and drinking, wait for me, dog."

In this instant, staring at Anson Lu's gloomy face, Yuliuu suddenly frowned and froze in place.

A terrifying truth slowly formed in his mind.

Julius Mena suddenly understood—what Anson Deer was depressed about, and why he hated the Headmaster so much, and looked at him like that. ….

The man known as the "principal" has been laying out for ten years, and finally achieved a goal.

Not only did he change Anson Deer's personality, but he also successfully used "Yuri's Death" to guide Anson Deer to raise his will and do his best to defeat the snow dragon that came to Tokyo half a year later.

In order to...... Let mankind get a new future.

He knows himself well enough to be confident enough to walk on his way

After that, Anson Deer of this world line will definitely save the world, because Anson Deer can't let Yuri die like that.

And it is precisely because he knows that he has completely fallen into the trap of the principal, but he is powerless to change anything, and can only follow the guidance of the principal, that Anson Lu will be angry to this extent.

As long as Anson Deer in this timeline doesn't want the Icelandic girl to die - then he must do everything in his power to overturn the snow dragon and bring a new world to humanity.

Finally, find the possibility of saving that Icelandic girl from this new world.

Julius shuddered for no apparent reason.

He looked at Anson Lu's haze-filled side face, and thought tremblingly in his heart: What kind of person can be so cruel to himself? It turns out that Anson Deer in that timeline, how cold-blooded is he?

Only then did Juliu realize that he had completely misunderstood.

If you are standing here at this moment, it is not the Anson Deer in front of you who has been deliberately arranged by the "principal" and adjusted his personality.

It was the original Anson deer who was indifferent and cold-blooded to the extreme.

After being drained of value, that Yuliuu didn't know where he died for a long time......

After all, the original Anson Lu was a person who could even do this to himself, so how ruthless should he be to others?

And how do you build a good relationship with others with a trusting attitude?

Maybe......

The previous Anson Deer, the gray-haired headmaster, had long since been a completely devoid of humanity and a machine-like existence.

The back of Yuliu's hand was covered with cold sweat, and he bit his finger, "I thought that he was not decisive enough, and tried to steer his character to the more indifferent side, was I wrong......

At all, there is no need for guidance......

Because, the Anson Deer of the original timeline was already like that.

But that Anson deer failed, so he would go back to the past by any means, and under the constraints of many rules, he forbearance and layout to gradually change the character and thinking mode of the Anson deer in front of him.

"I'm sorry, I'm getting a little emotional today."

Anson Lu's tired voice interrupted Juliu's thoughts, and he patted Juliu on the shoulder, "See you tomorrow, Juliu Mena, and you should rest early."

With that, he drooped his head and walked out of the refreshment shop.

In the silence of the refreshment shop, Yuliu was the only one left stunned, his spirit still reincarnated in indelible fear and shock, and his thoughts poured out like a waterfall.

"Huh...... Hehe......"

After a long time, Juliu couldn't help but laugh.

The young eagle's sharp golden eyes shone brightly, and he hissed a deep breath of turbid air, and the cold oxygen pierced his lungs like a sharp sword, awakening his soul that was huddled as tightly as a lamb to the slaughter.

"I didn't ...... with the wrong person."

Yuliuu recalled Anson Lu's hazy side face, slowly hooked the corners of his lips, and muttered in a voice that almost trembled:

"Mr. David, what was I questioning before, if such a rotten world is likely to be saved by anyone, it can only be this kind of out-and-out monster......

96.

The rain falls on the evening bell