Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 86: Predicting Your Prediction

"Tch!"

Thomas scrambled to his feet and kicked Penny away before turning to Li Wei with a savage grin.

"Not bad, kid. You've got some moves. But my dear little George, at this point, it's out of your hands."

As he spoke, Thomas charged forward like a rabid dog.

At the same time, Margaret summoned strength from who knows where, latched onto Li Wei's arm, and sank her teeth in. Without his leather armor on, the pain shot through him like lightning.

Rage erupted from the pit of his stomach, murderous intent blazing in his eyes!

He hammered a fist into the right side of Margaret's face, shattering half her teeth, though in the exchange a chunk of flesh was torn from his arm. The next second, as Thomas came crashing down on him like an avalanche, Li Wei executed a crisp roll to dodge the critical blow — but Thomas managed to snag one of his legs.

And the bastard was truly experienced. The instant he grabbed that leg, he locked in a submission hold.

But Li Wei was no longer the man he used to be. His reflexes were sharper, his coordination vastly improved. Even though Thomas's chokehold packed serious force, it didn't stop Li Wei from driving his free leg straight into Thomas's face.

One kick — caved in his nose!Two kicks — knocked out his front teeth!

The third kick broke him free from Thomas's grip. A quick roll to the side, and he sprang to his feet.

Then he spun around! Charged!

A devastating kick slammed into Thomas's abdomen, forcing up everything the man had eaten for dinner in one violent heave.

But Thomas's ability to absorb punishment was beyond imagination. Even after taking hits like that, he maintained control of his body, rolled with the momentum, and somehow got back on his feet. He spat out a mouthful of bloody foam, then immediately rushed forward again. After blocking one of Li Wei's punches, he countered with a haymaker that detonated like a cannon shot, sending Li Wei flying several meters.

In that instant, Li Wei's brain felt like it had been turned inside out. He couldn't feel anything, let alone fight back.

'That punch had at least 15 points of Strength behind it. No — at least 18.'

'It's over!'

That's what he thought, but his body kept struggling to get back up.

Yet Thomas didn't seem to be pressing the attack. What was going on?

It wasn't until Li Wei staggered to his feet, the stars still dancing in his vision beginning to fade, that he saw Penny clinging desperately to one of Thomas's legs while Thomas rained down punches on her with vicious fury.

"You son of a bitch!"

Li Wei threw himself forward without a second thought. In that moment, rules, the damn game — none of it mattered. He just wanted to kill Thomas. Unfortunately, the bidding state had forcibly hidden the dagger he always carried.

Right now, all he had were his teeth and his fists.

His flying tackle connected. Thomas couldn't dodge it. Though he landed a punch on Li Wei in the exchange, this one clearly lacked the power of before.

With a heavy crash, Thomas was driven to the ground.

Of course — over the past five months, a full five months, Thomas had been mining stone like a madman, burning through enormous reserves of health. His condition had to be even worse than Margaret's, and his Stamina was critically low.

Otherwise, he would have beaten Penny to death already.

And that was Li Wei's greatest advantage.

He locked Thomas in a death grip, enduring the man's frenzied struggling and wild punches raining down on him. He refused to let go — he just needed to drain the last of Thomas's Stamina.

Penny, meanwhile, seemed to have lost consciousness, yet still clung to Thomas's leg with an iron grip.

After about a minute of this, Thomas's strength visibly waned. But Li Wei still had 60 Stamina points to spare, and the white bread he'd just eaten was steadily restoring more.

So in this moment, how could Li Wei possibly let this chance slip? He released his right hand, clenched it into a fist, and drove it into Thomas's temple like a sledgehammer.

But the bastard's bones were genuinely rock-hard. Li Wei's knuckles split open on impact, blood flowing freely, as if he'd just punched a brick wall. The pain made him bare his teeth.

'Damn it, is he a Defense specialist?'

"Heh heh heh!"

Thomas was still grinning that savage grin.

'Screw you.'

Li Wei drove his fist straight into Thomas's eye.

Then another blow to his ear.

No matter how high his Defense was, within seconds Thomas was bleeding from every orifice!

But right at that moment, a notification suddenly appeared!

[Professional Warrior * has placed a bid. Her price is the standard starting bid plus one standard copper coin.]

'Damn it — Margaret!'

He'd almost forgotten the real objective.

The bidding timer was now in its final ten-second countdown.

Li Wei abandoned Thomas, leapt to his feet, and stared in horror at Margaret, who sat slumped on the ground. His face was a mask of despair.

He was a newcomer — where the hell was he supposed to get standard currency?

Even Penny had never seen any!

"Gya-ha-ha!"

Margaret cackled with delight, wild and unrestrained. The gaps in her broken teeth made her look like an old witch!

Thomas, utterly spent on the ground, let out muffled laughter too. 'Idiot. Bet you didn't see that coming, you rookie. And you thought you could go up against veterans like us? You're nothing!'

The countdown continued. Li Wei's legs gave way and he dropped to his knees, his gaze vacant and lost. He'd accepted his fate.

This was the difference in class. He was simply out of his league.

As the final three seconds ticked away, he squeezed his eyes shut in agony, a silent scream tearing through him... and then, in the last second before the countdown ended, he placed his bid.

One standard gold coin!

And almost simultaneously, Margaret produced a standard silver coin!

She was about to let out a triumphant, maniacal laugh, but the sound died in her throat after a single syllable — like a duck caught by the neck...

Yes.

She had predicted Li Wei's prediction. But Li Wei had also predicted the prediction of her prediction.

If Li Wei had pulled out two copper coins to bid at the last moment, it would have been game over.

The gray mist vanished instantly, everything returned to normal, and Li Wei claimed the two-star quality composite bow!

At the same time, a notification appeared.

[Bidding concluded. As a family member, you have received a share of five silver coins.]

[Friendly reminder: Because the funds used for your bid were on credit, all standard gold coins must be repaid by the end of the mission in 25 months. This debt has been merged with your completion objective — specifically, you must survive for 25 more months and obtain 9.5 standard gold coins, or 9.5 units of standard resources.]

[You owe five standard gold coins.]

Li Wei wanted to laugh.

In that moment, the expression on Margaret's swollen, battered face was absolutely priceless.

Of course, Li Wei, Penny, and Thomas were all equally battered — every one of them bleeding from multiple wounds. It was a brutal sight.

But none of that diminished the beauty of the night. As long as the whole family was together, safe and sound, they were the happiest people alive. Ah, what a loving family they were!

Nobody spoke. Thomas and Margaret lay on the ground for a long time before finally staggering back to their rooms.

Penny remained unconscious.

Li Wei sat in place, his gaze cold as ice.

Fila and Leon huddled in the corner, trembling.

Indeed, apart from the past year of hard labor, they were no different from ordinary people. A scene this brutal had shaken them to their core.

Fila looked at Li Wei, then at Penny, wanting to say something, but the words wouldn't come.

"Mom, sis is exhausted. Please look after her."

Li Wei's voice was calm and flat. Only then did Fila snap out of her daze and rush over to help Penny up. She looked like she'd been beaten half to death, yet no system notification had appeared — as if everything that had happened was within the rules.

'Heh. Rules.'

Li Wei rose to his feet and walked over to Leon, who was still trembling.

Leon stared up at him in terror, as if wanting to explain himself.

But Li Wei just smiled and gently ruffled Leon's hair.

'Little brother, you really are something else.'