“Hehehe… what brings you here?” A lewd voice echoed over the martial arts stage.

This man in a black suit and glasses had arrived the moment Infinite completed its "evolution." However… neither players nor NPCs could perceive his existence.

"To monitor you." Another calm, cold voice replied.

This was also a man in a black suit, with short brown hair. His aura was in stark contrast to the lewd fellow beside him.

Both of these "people" had appeared in the air as if by teleportation, much like some American TV shows (yes, I'm talking about *Supernatural*) that use the "one-shot, suddenly someone is there" technique to save money… silently and abruptly.

And you've probably already guessed their identities—Woody and Simon.

"Hehehe… do you think I'd do anything strange?" Woody asked with a sinister laugh, the lenses of his glasses gleaming white, revealing a chilling aura.

"Not 'would do'…" Simon continued, "but 'already did'."

"Hehe… are you referring to 'Special Contingency F'?" Woody chuckled. "That has nothing to do with me. I didn't create Infinite." He spread his hands. "Speaking of which… I'm impressed with Ed and Link this time… they actually combined the 'Truth Sequence' and 'Matrix Code' from two different dimensions to create this monster…"

"Don't change the subject." Simon interrupted Woody. "I have a basis for saying you 'did' something." He turned his head and stared directly at Woody. "According to my investigation, the situation is as follows…" His tone was like delivering a verdict. "After the Peak Tournament S1… Feng Bujue not only didn't destroy Root, but chose to cooperate with him. This action… exceeded your calculations. So, you went to Zero and used one of your preset 'language keys' to trigger a set of 'processing plans' (see Chapter 460 - Emergency Maintenance)." He paused. "Then, Zero, at the cost of sacrificing some of its power, forcibly infiltrated the 'space-time data transmission layer,' found Infinite, who had not yet fully formed, and implanted 'Special Contingency F' into it."

Listening to Simon's words, Woody remained confident, his lewd smile even wider.

"On the surface, you just said a few vague words to a special derivative, nothing substantial." Simon continued, "But in reality…"

"In reality… it really has nothing to do with me." Woody interrupted. "Hehehe… I don't know anything about pre-set 'processing plans.' Everything Zero did was never said by me. So… what you're saying is just speculation." He pushed his glasses up his nose with his middle finger. "As a referee, it's not appropriate to make a judgment based on speculation, is it?"

"Hmph… Vincent was right." Simon snorted coldly. "Without solid evidence, you will definitely try to argue your way out."

"Hehehe… that bastard… he's really too talkative…" Woody laughed, "In every sense…"

"Even if he didn't say it, I would have thought of it…" Simon continued, "Presumably… when *Thriller Paradise*'s 'First Era' was destroyed, you had already secretly planted many potential foreshadowing elements for future use. These foreshadowing elements can reverse the situation for you when the ending of some key events gets out of control. And the methods to activate them may be 'a sentence,' 'an event,' or 'the arrival of a certain point in time'."

"Hehe… it sounds very plausible." Woody's tone was still relaxed. "But I won't admit that it's the truth…" He scratched the back of his neck. "Assuming… and please note, it's just 'assuming'… everything you said is true, so what?" He replied fearlessly, "To prove that I used the above methods to guide the development of the game, there are only two ways… one is to force me to confess, which is obviously impossible; the other is to lock onto a 'preset plan' that I haven't activated yet, and then break open, knead, and thoroughly analyze the program that carries this plan… hehehehe… not to mention that there are countless programs in this game, even if you have a specific target, it's probably a very crucial set of data. Such a destructive inspection would probably… have an irreversible and huge impact on the entire game."

"In short…" Simon looked at Woody with contempt. "As the referee, I can't get any evidence of your scheme."

"Hehehe… I'll say it again, I didn't do anything, and I don't know what you're talking about." Woody's answer to this question was airtight. Even if he lost the game, he didn't want to "violate the rules (at least not be caught in the act)," because the consequence of violating the rules would be facing Simon's annihilation.

"Heh…" Simon sneered and asked, "Do you think I can't do anything about you like this?"

"At least you don't have a clear motive to kill me." Woody said. "That's enough."

"'Enough'… is it…" Simon continued, "Then, as a referee, I'm within my authority to interfere with the target you bet on, and you can't say anything, right?"

"Hehehe… so you didn't come to 'monitor me'." Woody shrugged. "But to kill the chicken to scare the monkey in front of me…"

"Kill the chicken to scare the monkey?" Simon glared at Woody. "Who do you think you're dealing with? Some rebellious teenager?"

Hearing this, Woody knew that his "inducement" had been seen through, and reluctantly replied: "Tch… I've been seen through."

"Of course." Simon continued, "I know very well that 'Special Contingency F' seems to be an insurance policy to protect Feng Bujue, but it's actually Infinite's umbrella." He paused. "This contingency plan can effectively prevent Infinite from having a direct conflict with Feng Bujue before completing all the evolution tasks and reduce their contact." He crossed his arms over his chest and pondered, "So far, every derivative defeated by Feng Bujue has made almost the same mistake… that is, underestimating this human's ability. Letting them face Feng Bujue too early often leads to failure. And Special Contingency F allows Infinite, a being with the potential to reach 'infinity'… to avoid this risk. Because he can't fight Feng Bujue and can't be equal to him on the information level, Infinite will inevitably keep a respectful distance from Feng Bujue. In this way, until he completes the final evolution and automatically lifts the contingency plan, he is relatively safe."

Speaking of this, Simon glanced at Woody again: "You arranged for the players to enter this scenario not to let them witness the birth of 'infinity,' but to let Infinite see as early as possible… the greatest 'threat' he will face in the future. In this way… when Peak Tournament S2 comes, he will be able to carry out your plan more easily."

*Clap clap clap clap*

Woody applauded Simon: "Hehehe… you've seen through everything, although that Special Contingency F has nothing to do with me, I can't help but cheer for you~"

"Hmph…" Simon turned his head away. "Is it really worth it to scheme against the target you bet on for the sake of 'another game' outside the game?"

Woody's expression changed slightly, and he asked, "Isn't it… worth it?"

Simon didn't continue this topic, and both of them already had the answer in their hearts.

"Since things have come to this…" After a few seconds, Simon spoke again, "I only have…" He shook his head, "…I can't believe I'm saying this…" As he spoke, a mass of pitch-black energy with a hint of red was condensed in his hand, "…only to enhance Feng Bujue's ability to smooth out the gap that your 'calculations' may bring in the future."

Before he finished speaking, he turned his palm over, and a condensed wave of demonic energy rushed towards the martial arts stage, hitting Feng Bujue's body directly.

In the next second, Brother Jue, who knew nothing about this, only felt a heat on his back, and his body could not move…

Speaking of which, it was really a coincidence…

At this moment, Brother Jue and Ruo Yu were each posing, ready to unleash their attacks. How could Ruo Yu's eyes miss Feng Bujue's obvious stiffness? The latter immediately moved his sword and attacked!

"What's going on?" Feng Bujue thought in his heart, "There's no reaction in the data on her body, why can't I move suddenly?" His thoughts flashed, and his peripheral vision swept, "Could it be Lu Bu?"

This was obviously impossible… Lu Fengxian was standing on the other side of the arena, more than two hundred meters away, pondering the previous changes with a confused expression.

"Or is it…" Feng Bujue was still thinking, "Huan Jian has approached us, but I didn't notice?"

At this point, it was useless for him to think about anything, he just couldn't move… he just couldn't move.

The power that Simon gave, whether from the data level of the game world or the spiritual level of the real world, was something Feng Bujue could not digest in a short period of time. It was like pouring a high concentration of chemical solution into a soft drink's paper packaging – the levels were too different, and it would become a burden.

On the other side… Ruo Yu didn't know what was wrong with Brother Jue. She just used the [Swift Light Secret Style. White Rose] as a probing attack at the beginning of the battle.

Unexpectedly… this sword actually decided the outcome.

*Chi-*

Blood splattered, and a head fell.

[Player, Feng Bujue, has died.]

Even Ruo Yu herself looked back in disbelief. In the following dozens of seconds, she still did not relax her vigilance… as if worried that what she saw was an illusion, and the system prompt in her ears was imitated by Feng Bujue using a fraud watch.

A full minute later, she belatedly and doubtfully muttered, "I… won?"