Du Yuheng was clearly someone skilled at reading people's expressions.

Or, to put it another way, he was very good at "judging character."

Beneath his seemingly calm, even somewhat timid demeanor, his eyes were constantly observing.

In economics, the value of a commodity is not determined by its cost, but by the range of flexibility the customer can bear.

Therefore, he understood very well that the value of the bargaining chips in his hand often did not depend on the chips themselves.

Rather, it depended on what the opposing party in the negotiation was willing to accept.

The reason he dared to scheme was because that bit of scheming would not cross Jiang Ye's bottom line.

After weighing the pros and cons, Jiang Ye would most likely make some concessions.

But this absolutely did not mean he could use these chips to do whatever he wanted.

Jiang Ye's rhetorical question was also pointing this out.

Du Yuheng had his own calculations in mind. After a moment of silence, he said in a low voice:

"After obtaining this skill, I won't make any other demands."

"As for the skill cooldown issue... should we wait until the cooldown is complete?"

He asked this probe very carefully as well.

After all, waiting for the skill cooldown meant this transaction would also be delayed.

This request had a bit of a stalling tactic flavor to it.

The key point was, when Jiang Ye's curiosity was at its peak, using time to whet his appetite was somewhat ungrateful.

Du Yuheng was a bit unsure whether Jiang Ye could accept this particular negotiation.

Jiang Ye did indeed feel that this guy's request for the skill might not just be about wanting the skill; there really might be a taste of a stalling tactic to it?

He thought for a moment, not answering directly, but instead posing another question:

"If you want to obtain this skill, it's not just about waiting for my skill cooldown."

"There's an even more critical problem—who will you find to act as the lab rat you betray?"

As he said this...

Jiang Ye's gaze seemed to drift, landing on He Yuliang.

Du Yuheng answered quite frankly: "Him, of course."

He Yuliang: ???

What??

What are you guys talking about??

I still haven't understood a lot of things, okay!

Who is Li Si?

And the issue of Du Yuheng encountering Li Si in his reincarnation dreams, and Li Si knowing it was his reincarnation dream... I still haven't figured that out!

And now what skill??

He Yuliang could no longer care about his fear of Jiang Ye. He immediately frowned and questioned Du Yuheng:

"What skill? What lab rat? How could I possibly agree to be your lab rat??"

Du Yuheng didn't answer him directly. Instead, he asked Jiang Ye for permission: "Can we show him the skill description of [Salvation Domain]?"

Jiang Ye thought about it. Since Du Yuheng should indeed know about it, personally showing it would just smooth over the trust barrier of mere words.

So, he quickly took the initiative to display the SSS-grade [Salvation Domain] skill description.

It was only then that He Yuliang discovered—

"This skill description actually also mentions 'Rebirth state'!"

"And this 'Deduction Mode,' it's actually real... uh."

He almost let it slip.

After all, he thought the so-called "Deduction Mode" was Du Yuheng's disguise for the "reincarnation dreams."

Now it seemed that the "reincarnation dreams" he mentioned earlier might have been the disguise for the "Deduction Mode"!

This Du Yuheng, what a dog!

His words were half-truths and half-lies; who knew how many things he was hiding!

He Yuliang couldn't help but think to himself, maybe Jiang Ye should just kill this guy!

This kind of guy with too many schemes clearly wasn't a good person!

However, after simply understanding the [Salvation Domain] skill, He Yuliang finally understood this time:

"If I'm not mistaken, the 'Curse of Despair' and 'Rebirth state' in this skill description are two opposite situations, one beneficial and one harmful."

"'Curse of Despair' is the bad situation, and 'Rebirth state' is the beneficial situation."

"You want me to act as the lab rat you betray... you think that by utilizing my SSS-grade [Luck] talent, I can 'randomly' get the Rebirth state based on my own ability?"

Du Yuheng nodded directly, looking completely matter-of-fact:

"Aren't you also very curious about what exactly the 'Rebirth state' mentioned in your skill description is like?"

"Now, a shortcut to obtaining the 'Rebirth state' is right in front of you."

"One use of [Salvation Domain], you choose 'trust,' I choose 'betrayal'; you get the Rebirth state, I get the SSS-grade skill."

"Killing two birds with one stone, this is a win-win."

Seeing this guy so confident, Jiang Ye couldn't help but feel—

People with so many schemes like this really were dogs!

How the hell could this be called "win-win"?

He didn't mention the risk of randomly getting the "Curse of Despair" and that 100-minute long "near-death state" at all!

At this moment, Jiang Ye suddenly understood more profoundly—

This [Salvation Domain] skill, put nicely, is called "salvation."

But in reality, it was initiating one major test of human nature after another!

Here was a living example right before his eyes.

The skill hadn't even started yet.

The drama of trust and betrayal was already playing out.

If He Yuliang chose "trust" right at this moment...

Then he would be gambling his entire life on the so-called "luck"...

This thought suddenly gave rise to a terrifying line of thinking in Jiang Ye.

A word suddenly surfaced in his mind, called... dependence on luck!

Chen Cang possessed the SSS-grade talent [Divine Assistance], which derived the SSS-grade skill [Protagonist Halo].

He Yuliang possessed SSS-grade [Luck] and similarly obtained the SSS-grade skill [Reroll Life].

In essence, both possessed SSS-grade luck-type abilities.

And this luck ability was not fake.

Whether it was Chen Cang or He Yuliang...

They had indeed enjoyed the benefits brought by luck.

Especially Chen Cang, who kept turning misfortune into fortune.

In situations where ordinary people would surely die, he could transform a dead end into an opportunity favorable to him.

Even for the sake of that [Protagonist Halo], various seniors rushed to cling to his coattails.

And Chen Cang's heart had clearly, during the repeated activations of the [Protagonist Halo], become more and more convinced of this intangible, elusive ability.

Without a doubt, he would gradually develop a dependence on "luck."

This special "luck" would change his thinking patterns and behavioral patterns.

But...

Thinking deeper, what difference was there between this and a gambler?

Jiang Ye had been fortunate enough to see some videos discouraging people from gambling, which mentioned a viewpoint he highly agreed with—

Casinos are never afraid of you winning; they are afraid of you not gambling.

And the people most prone to gambling addiction are often those who win frequently.

Just like when teachers warn students not to swim outdoors during summer vacation, they also say—

Those who drown are the ones who know how to swim.

Because you know how to swim, you will enter the water.

Because you win often, you will keep gambling.

But the reality is—

You do know how to swim; out of 100 swims, 99 times nothing happens.

But as long as something happens once, your life is gone.

You are indeed good at gambling; out of 100 bets, you can win 99 times.

But it's very likely that the one time you lose will make you lose everything.

Such a viewpoint made Jiang Ye feel a sliver of doubt towards the so-called [Protagonist Halo] and [Luck].

He couldn't help but suspect...

Could those who possess [Luck] be pigs being fattened by the so-called "luck"?

Making them little by little believe they are truly lucky, forming trust and dependence on "luck."

Then at a certain moment, the betrayal of "luck" would deliver the most fatal blow to them?

Otherwise, why is there a saying, "Fate toys with people"?

Fate seems to indeed enjoy playing tricks on people.

And Jiang Ye's generation of these thoughts wasn't pure imagination either.

Because he clearly remembered—

When Wan Xin introduced the [Lucky Bracelet] to him before, he said—

The [Lucky Bracelet] was not without drawbacks.

A period of luck could lead to another period of misfortune.

Just as if there existed a "law of conservation of luck" on a person.

This viewpoint was not proposed by Wan Xin, but was generally confirmed by players of later generations.

And this viewpoint might also exist for Jiang Ye.

He still remembered before, when his main body first lost contact, trapped in the illusion...

It was right after obtaining a trace of so-called "luck" from the [Dice of Fate].

He used that "luck" to generate the light clone and dark clone.

Afterwards, the main body had terrible luck.

Later, he experimented with the [Dice of Fate] again, and ended up destroying the entire void mirror palace!

Moreover...

Jiang Ye had to admit.

His rash entry into the personal exclusive instance also seemed to be influenced by "dependence on luck."

His blood could actually directly recharge the [Lucky Bracelet]...

This might have also subconsciously made him feel he was lucky, breeding wishful thinking.

Actually, thinking about it now...

Perhaps the so-called "blackened crow" was not converting "luck" into "misfortune."

In reality, crows, considered omens of ill fortune, themselves do not "bring misfortune," but rather warn of the arrival of misfortune.

So, perhaps the blackened crow followed the same logic.

It was not converting "luck" into "misfortune"...

But rather, it brought forward the period of misfortune you were originally destined to experience from using the [Lucky Bracelet]!

Meaning, perhaps the [Lucky Bracelet] itself had two effects.

Making you lucky for a period, then unfortunate for a period.

And the effect of the blackened crow blood was to swap these two periods.

Making you unfortunate for a period first, then lucky for a period.

Thus, forming the so-called "conservation of luck."

From this perspective...

The blackened crow blood might not necessarily carry "misfortune."

This also made it easy to understand why He Xingyue was so interested in the bowl of so-called "blackened crow blood" Jiang Ye took out before.

Because this thing was truly a good item! It was just misunderstood by ordinary players!

Real seniors would definitely know it was a good thing!

So...

What Jiang Ye truly cared about was—

If this "conservation of luck" was indeed an ironclad rule.

Then all the "luck" enjoyed by players might follow the law of "retribution will come, it's just a matter of time."

If Chen Cang and He Yuliang were pigs being fattened by fate...

Then, what about Jiang Ye?

How could he be sure he wasn't the pig being even more meticulously raised by fate?

And such thoughts gave rise to a strange sense of crisis within him.

From the information about "Zhou Qiming" obtained from Du Yuheng and He Yuliang.

Jiang Ye felt that some of "Zhou Qiming's" behaviors had a slight deviation from Jiang Ye's own personality.

For example, if it were the previous Jiang Ye...

He would most likely directly use a skill on the auditorium relief, to experiment, to research, to uncover the secrets behind it.

Because Jiang Ye's curiosity was strong.

Previous experiences had also fully set the stage for his curiosity.

Like that coded message from Lin Ling, like the special prompt sound heard by the main body in prison when zero o'clock passed...

Both the coded message and the prompt sound pointed to the auditorium relief.

How could Jiang Ye have resisted, stopping his exploration of the auditorium relief?

He even felt...

Based on the personality "fattened" by fate before.

Even if He Yuliang said the "Zhou Qiming" of the previous life died in the auditorium explosion.

"Zhou Qiming" might not have believed in the so-called "death" and continued bravely exploring!

But "Zhou Qiming" didn't...

This indicated that even if a clone was in a state of disconnection.

The other clone might also have sensed the unpredictable and treacherous nature of fate in this era.

Therefore, the other clone also dared not rely on the so-called "luck" anymore, becoming more cautious!

Thinking of these things, Jiang Ye felt somewhat dazed for a moment.

And soon, he personally witnessed a scene that made his emotions even more complex, even somewhat dramatic—

He originally thought...

He Yuliang would firmly refuse Du Yuheng's so-called "win-win" cooperation.

He never expected...

This guy, after only a brief consideration, actually agreed!

Although he added: "Although it's a win-win, you're taking a big advantage from me, right?"

"If it weren't for me, probably no one would be willing to cooperate and act as your lab rat."

His meaning was clearly to try to get some benefit from Du Yuheng.

However, Du Yuheng directly refused, continuing to keep the initiative in his own hands:

"Don't think a lab rat like this is hard to find."

"I can tell you clearly—even if you refuse to cooperate, I can find other players to cooperate with me."

"Even for me, perhaps some special players are more worthy of trust than you."

"On the contrary, it's you who gets to enjoy the benefits of this skill because of me. So in this 'win-win,' it's you taking advantage of me."

These words left He Yuliang speechless.

If he truly wasn't willing to cooperate, then he could just walk away.

But the problem was...

He did want to take a shortcut, using his own "luck" to directly randomly get the "Rebirth state."

So, after a period of silence, he had no choice but to compromise:

"Fine, win-win it is then. I'll accompany you in this experiment, alright!"

This meant neither side would mention additional conditions.

Watching this scene, Jiang Ye felt inexplicably surreal.

If it were before, he might have suspected He Yuliang's brain was fried?

But after understanding "dependence on luck," he realized—

It was the so-called "previous life," those instances of "luck" verified time and time again.

That had made He Yuliang's dependence on "luck" reach a level even he himself was unaware of.

Therefore, he directly made a choice that seemed incomprehensible to ordinary people.

Just as ordinary people cannot understand gamblers...