The job change is a bizarre and calamity; the nation begs me to tone it down.

Gu Xu did speak.

But the very first word he uttered shattered everyone's hopes like a bubble bursting.

"No."

Just one word.

It was decisive and efficient, without any unnecessary delays.

Yamamoto Furukawa frowned slightly.

Kanzaburo's lips twitched.

Gu Xu sat in the Styx Ghost Carriage, one arm resting on the armrest, his fingers rhythmically tapping the carriage wall, making a "tap tap tap" sound.

"Yamamoto, you old dog, you've got a pretty good plan."

Gu Xu tilted his head, his tone carrying a subtle dissatisfaction that seemed to say, "Do you think I'm an idiot?"

"Even? Trading a barrier for what you did to me back then?"

He chuckled softly, a sound that seemed particularly jarring in the night wind.

"Don't you even think about what you lost today, and what I lost back then?"

Gu Xu held up one finger and shook it.

"What you lost today was nothing more than a protective barrier."

"Broken items can be repaired, damaged items can be patched up. At worst, you can go to a higher dimension and pick up another one, or get three demigods to gang up on one of our Night Watchmen and steal another one in the chaos."

"Anyway, this isn't the first time you've done this kind of thing, you're very experienced."

These words were so venomous that Kanzaburo almost ground his back teeth to powder.

But Gu Xu's next sentence was the real killer move.

"But what you did back then—"

Gu Xu's voice suddenly lowered: "If we really succeed, I'll lose my life."

"If it weren't for Senior Wang Cang arriving in time..."

Gu Xu narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze piercing through the void for dozens of kilometers, fixing directly on Yamamoto Furukawa's face: "Your attack—it wasn't aimed at thin air."

"You want my life, I'll give you a glass wall in return."

Gu Xu spread his hands, making a gesture that said, "Think about it yourself."

"Is this what you call even?"

He shook his head, his tone filled with genuine regret, like the lament of an older woman at the market when she discovers her watermelon isn't sweet.

"It can't be smoothed out."

"Life and barriers are not the same thing."

After he finished speaking, the whole world fell silent.

True silence.

It wasn't the kind of quiet where everyone was silent, but a kind of quiet where everyone's brain was paused at the same time.

Because everyone present, even the dumbest one, understood at that moment—

This statement is not about bargaining.

This statement is a threat.

A blatant threat.

In layman's terms, it means—you still owe me a life, and this debt is not over.

The saints behind Yamamoto Furukawa exchanged bewildered glances.

Kanzaburo's Adam's apple bobbed, and he realized that his palms were covered in cold sweat.

The main reason was that he suddenly realized that the way of thinking of the young man opposite him was completely different from theirs.

They're figuring out how to end this.

Gu Xu was thinking about how to increase the stakes.

This feeling is like playing mahjong with someone. You have a bad hand and are thinking about how to lose as little as possible, while your opponent is already thinking about what kind of celebration banquet they'll treat you to after they win.

The term "dimensional reduction attack" probably describes this situation.

Yamamoto Furukawa remained silent for a long time.

A suffocating sense of oppression permeated the air.

But this sense of oppression didn't come from Yamamoto Furukawa's demigod aura—he was in no mood to release any aura right now—but rather from the uncertainty of "what irreversible thing might happen in the next second."

Finally, Yamamoto Furukawa opened his eyes again.

His pupils contracted slightly, then returned to normal.

But beneath that calm lies a volcano that could erupt at any moment.

It took him immense self-control to suppress the volcano.

"Oh?"

Yamamoto Furukawa uttered a single syllable.

That one word carried more weight than any of the words spoken before.

"So... what's your suggestion?"

Again, just a few simple words.

His tone was neither humble nor arrogant; he neither showed weakness nor acted tough.

But everyone could understand the subtext of those words: Name your price.

This is the biggest concession a demigod can make.

To ask a level 45 young man, "What suggestions do you have?" in front of his subordinates and countless citizens of his country.

The psychological trauma Yamamoto Furukawa suffered tonight is probably enough to cover half of Tokyo Bay.

Gu Xu was waiting for these words.

The corners of his mouth slowly turned up.

The curve was subtle—not large, but enough to make anyone who saw it feel the unease of being a mouse being watched by a cat.

"It's very simple."

Gu Xu leaned slightly out of the Styx Ghost Carriage, one hand lifting the curtain, the other hand's index finger pointing lightly in the direction of Yamamoto Furukawa.

The gesture of pointing was very light, like casually pointing to a tree by the roadside.

But everyone's heart skipped a beat at that moment.

"you--"

Gu Xu's index finger pointed steadily at Yamamoto Furukawa.

"Take this!"

The air seemed to be sucked away in that instant.

Kanzaburo's eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets.

The saints behind him also gasped in unison.

Even Yamamoto Furukawa, who had been acting like a stone, visibly twitched his eyelids.

Will you take my hit?

A level 45 person needs a demigod to withstand his attack?

If someone else said that...

Everyone present would think this was a huge joke.

But coming from Gu Xu's mouth—no one could laugh.

Because everyone clearly remembers how the Kyoto Great Barrier, which was said to be unbreakable even by demigods, was shattered into dust by this person.

Gu Xu seemed quite satisfied with everyone's reaction. He leaned back in the sedan chair, his tone as relaxed as if he were ordering a plate of fried noodles from a roadside stall.

"If you can catch it—"

He held up one finger and shook it.

"Catch it alive."

"Then we're even. Let's wipe the slate clean. From now on, we'll go our separate ways. You go your way, and I'll go mine."

His smile was so gentle that it sent chills down your spine.

"How about it? Pretty fair, right?"

fair?

Fairness my ass!

Kanzaburo roared inwardly.

How is this fair?

This is clearly sending Lord Yamamoto to gamble with his life!

If you catch it, you're even; if you don't, what happens?

If you can't catch it, does that mean you have to die on the spot?

But Gu Xu seemed to have already guessed their thoughts.

Before anyone else could even speak, he had already uttered his last words.

"But if you die—"

He tilted his head slightly, and Okiyama Honfūkawa gave a genuinely innocent smile: "Then I'm sorry."

This only proves—

"It's because your skills are lacking."