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“You are very quick to accept that you will play in the league with us.” Bai Liu looked thoughtfully at Tang Erda. “Have I recruited you in other timelines?”
Tang Erda, who was crouching down and searching inside the body of the dead monster, abruptly froze as if remembering something extremely unpleasant. His eyes became fierce again.
“Yes.” He exhaled and slightly sneered. “However, it isn’t in the gentle way you used now.”
Gentle?
Bai Liu didn’t feel that his method of recruiting Tang Erda was gentle.
He jammed into Tang Erda’s weakness and almost completely penetrated Tang Erda’s physical and psychological defenses. During the time when Tang Erda’s sanity was weak, he used verbal inducing to reshape Tang Erda’s views and opinions about him.
Bai Liu also took advantage of Tang Erda’s empathy as a righteous public official and let Tang Erda watch his own similar pain and history. This resulted in the captain, who was still very kind in nature, to become dependent on Bai Liu at a psychological level and have a sense of belonging to the group.
People were the product of groups and environments. Being alone all the time could make a person crazy. It was the instinct of a normal, socially conscious person to gravitate toward a familiar group that could accept them.
Tang Erda was a captain who was suspected and rejected by his original group, the Dangerous Heretics Bureau. He was even isolated so he was indeed homeless.
Tang Erda also couldn’t get close to normal people to establish stable group social relationships because his sense of morality didn’t allow him to spread the bad luck that was the ‘game’ to innocent people.
If he chose to establish contact with people in the game, such as the major guilds, the people who simply wanted to use or please Tang Erda wouldn’t be able to empathize with him, who had a certain idealistic nature. This was why Tang Erda could only accept the employment of these people instead of forming a fixed group and forming emotional connections.
In the long darkness of time, Tang Erda was forced to wander alone all the time.
He needed a group connection.
In this case, Tang Erda approaching them wouldn’t produce any sense of guilt or make him be responsible. In addition, there was a certain degree of mutual understanding with the Wandering Circus due to the long-term hostility. Bai Liu’s cold thoughts without any consideration for Tang Erda’s personal feelings was:
He felt that the Wandering Circus was a really good group choice for Tang Erda.
The problem was how to transform Tang Erda’s hatred for the Wandering Circus into empathy. Bai Liu eventually chose to cut in from the angle of ‘similarity.’
[There is someone in this world who is as miserable and lonely as you are. We can understand each other and accept each other.]
[We have been abandoned after fate played with us and are constantly wandering.]
This type of awareness could be called a life-saving straw for a normal person who had been wandering alone in all timelines for a long time and was almost unable to hold on.
The whole transformation process wasn’t gentle for Tang Erda at all. It was basically letting him die and then be reborn.
Yet Tang Erda actually felt this was gentle? This made Bai Liu feel a bit of interest.
In order to not attract attention, Tang Erda’s small TV had always opened the full mute paid service. In other words, the content of his conversation with Bai Liu would be silenced. This was why Bai Liu talked to him so openly and directly without any scruples.
Bai Liu crouched down and started to search for Tawil in the corpse of the monster that had been torn apart by Tang Erda’s gun. He pretended to mention it casually as he searched, “Can I ask what Bai Liu (6) of the other timelines did to you?”
Then Bai Liu quickly added apologetically, “Of course, if I am mentioning a sad thing then you don’t need to say it. I’m sorry you went through this because of ‘me’.”
The movement of Tang Erda’s hands stopped for a moment before starting again. “You don’t need to apologize. Those things have nothing to do with you.”
“In that timeline, the growth of the clown didn’t meet the expectations of Bai Liu (6). Bai Liu (6) wanted to find an output to rotate in the league.” Tang Erda paused. “Then Bai Liu (6) saw my small TV and took a fancy to me. He tried a lot to win me over but my hostile attitude was very tough.”
Tang Erda took a deep breath. “At that time, you had an item in your hand and Bai Liu (6) used this item to deceive me. Then he found out
 the most important person to me is Su Yang.”
“Bai Liu (6) originally wanted to use Su Yang to make me join the team but
 Bai Liu (6)’s act of giving up on the clown angered the clown. He hated me very much and felt that it was due to me that Bai Liu (6) would give up on him.”
“Su Yang went out on field work and Bai Liu (6) ordered for Su Yang to be kidnapped to be used as a chip to negotiate with me. However, I still didn’t agree. Su Yang wouldn’t allow me to join such an organization.”
“After two rounds of negotiations, Bai Liu (6) lost patience and simply gave up on making me join the team. He felt the cost-effectiveness was too low and turned to look for other players.”
Tang Erda closed his eyes. “
Bai Liu (6) threw the useless Su Yang to the clown.”
“You saw what happened next in the mirror.”
Bai Liu was politely silent for a while. Then he reached out in order to pat Tang Erda’s shoulder and show comfort. He felt that Captain Tang needed the encouragement of a normal person at this moment.
Tang Erda abruptly opened his eyes. He seemed to still be immersed in some type of emotion that he hadn’t come out of. His pupils were sharply contracted.
Just before Bai Liu’s hand touched his shoulder, Tang Erda struck Bai Liu’s hand with an almost vicious expression and hoarsely issued a low, threatening roar. “Don’t touch me!”
For a moment, Bai Liu felt that he was seeing a wolf bent over with his teeth about to bite his neck to tear it apart.
Tang Erda’s chest rose and fell violently. He was quiet before calming down his breathing. Then he opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something. Based on the mouth shape, Bai Liu guessed it was an apology.
Yet in the end, Tang Erda didn’t say a word. He turned his head away and looked down to continue searching the corpse for the head that Bai Liu asked him to find.
It was very severe post-traumatic stress disorder.
Bai Liu made a simple judgment in his heart. After getting the information he wanted, Bai Liu withdrew his hand. He wasn’t embarrassed at all, but instead thoughtfully changed the subject,
“Captain Tang, in the battle just now, you could see Tawil’s head without the scope. Why give me the scope?”
Tang Erda was silent for a while but he still replied to Bai Liu. “The field of view for attacking is different from the field of view for finding things. I don’t pay attention to the rolling heads inside when using the skill gun to attack objects quickly.”
“At this time, I need someone else to help me locate it.” Tang Erda paused for another second or two. “That head to you is just like Su Yang to me. It was a lot safer for you to use the scope and it wouldn’t hurt.”
Bai Liu smiled. “Yes, he is very important to me. I am very grateful to you for thinking of me, Captain Tang.”
“
Just now
” Tang Erda clenched his fists hard due to Bai Liu’s words of thanks. His Adam’s apple moved up and down and he exhaled a breath of hot air. “
I’m sorry.”
It was apologizing for what he did to Bai Liu just now.
“It’s fine.” Bai Liu calmly accepted before raising his hand.
This time, Bai Liu’s hand finally landed on Tang Erda’s overly tense shoulder. He smiled lightly, “I can understand Captain Tang’s feelings. You became angry because an important person to you was hurt. It isn’t your fault. I would be the same.”
Tang Erda’s back, which was originally straight like a steel plate, involuntarily melted after Bai Liu’s hand patted him. He was inexplicably relieved.
Bai Liu turned around and continued to rummage through the corpse. Tang Erda stared at Bai Liu’s side profile in a trance.
—Bai Liu said he could understand Tang Erda’s feelings.
Bai Liu (6)
 would he be angry

Tang Erda had played in so many timelines and he had never seen Bai Liu (6) angry. This person always kept his sanity and had no weaknesses. This was why he was so invincible.
Yet just now—Bai Liu’s attention was only focused on finding Tawil’s head. He didn’t pay attention to his surroundings at all and was almost eaten by a monster.
Before that, this guy ran over with a smile, waved at him and called him Captain Tang. Tang Erda recalled Bai Liu’s smile and felt a bit of the naughty feeling of a child bringing back someone more powerful to get revenge on the villain who bullied his important person.
Tang Erda stared blankly at Bai Liu rummaging through the corpse. Bai Liu’s face was dirty and bloody but he didn’t care at all.
This was a Bai Liu with feelings and weaknesses, not a complete monster.
He wasn’t Bai Liu (6).
“Found it!” Bai Liu gently pushed away the messy skull and found the sleeping head under the bones and roses.
Bai Liu’s breathing started to lighten. He knelt on the ground and moved forward. He very lightly picked up the head and placed it on his knees. Rose debris hung from his eyelashes and his chin and nose were covered with mud as he bent down slightly in an arc to protect the very precious head in his arms.
“I found you.” Bai Liu’s eyes curved and his head lowered to touch the head. He revealed a completely unconcealed pure and happy smile.
Tang Erda almost thought he was crazy when he saw such a smile on Bai Liu’s face.
It was just that this smile was too contagious. Tang Erda stared for a while and couldn’t help relaxing. He leaned back on the pile of bones and looked up wearily at the dull and gray sky of the inner world. He snorted and said to himself, “It is great that you found him.”
“You found him intact.”