Banjie's refusal came as no surprise to Igola.
Of the three companions they had lost contact with, Annan was the only one Banjie cared about in the slightest. Any action that might interfere with rescuing her would never gain his approval. Banjie had rushed toward the gaming floor initially only because he assumed Annan would also rendezvous with Yaxiu. Now that Annan had not appeared and Yaxiu was surrounded, Banjie had no reason to take any risks.
If Yaxiu and Annan fell into the water together, Banjie would surely have Annan step on Yaxiu to vault ashore.
The young butler had spoken at such length in the group chat only because he wanted to persuade the two new employees to search for Annan with him. After all, her current situation was unknown and she had most likely encountered enemies, so the more reinforcements they had, the better.
No matter how well they got along on normal days, no matter that Yaxiu had learned gunplay from Banjie, and no matter that Yaxiu, Lisi, and Banjie had once played classic games together that they planned to "play with kids in the future," when the moment of choice arrived, the value placed on each life immediately separated into higher and lower priorities.
What people treasured inherently differed from person to person.
That was true for the butler, and it was true for the swindler.
Igola knew he had to persuade Banjie. Among the three of them, Igola could only act in a support role, and Harvey required far too much preparation beforehand. Banjie was the only one who could unleash maximum burst damage anytime, anywhere.
Banjie had lingered at the Two-Winged Sorcerer level for decades, and he specialized primarily in Gunplay and Ice—two sorcery factions focused on lethal combat. Heaven only knew to what terrifying heights he had honed his combat prowess.
Though Banjie had never ascended to Three-Winged Sanctuary in his life, that only proved his talent ended there, not that he lacked diligence. In the world of sorcerers, hard work was a basic trait shared by every Void Walker; any sorcerer who was not diligent would quickly buckle down and push themselves after being eaten by a Fishcleaver Dragon a few times.
Yet the skill ceilings of sorcery factions were intangible and unseen; when one hit a wall, one simply could not break through. Experience Orbs were exceptionally precious, leaving many sorcerers to squander their entire lives without ever reaching higher levels of the Void Realm. But one could hardly hang oneself on a single tree; if a sorcerer could not advance in one faction, they would cultivate other factions to test their luck.
Over time, almost every elderly sorcerer mastered several sorcery factions, blending them together to create new miracles or even new sorcery spirits. This was particularly evident among elven sorcerers. As long as an elven sorcerer was several centuries old and continually updated their knowledge base, their foundation was typically deep enough to easily crush a human sorcerer of the same rank who was merely decades old.
Even if their sorcery power no longer grew, a sorcerer could still convert time into strength across other facets.
A sorcerer like Banjie—whose sorcery power had ceased growing, who had immersed himself in technique for decades, and who had the guidance of the Gospel—must have constructed a flawless system of sorcery spirits. Among them, the only person who could shake a Sanctuary Sorcerer was Banjie, and Banjie alone!
[Mr. Bogin: Don't forget that Yaxiu is Annan's employee. The Red Hats will definitely arrest her on charges of harboring a fugitive. If we don't intercept the Red Hats here, even if we find Annan later, we'll still have to face the pursuit of Sanctuary Sorcerers.]
[Mr. Bogin: Right now, the Red Hats are all on the gaming floor. They're in the open while we're in the dark. If we seize this chance to inflict heavy damage on them, escaping later will be much easier. Or would you rather race for your life against the Red Hats across the open night sky, instead of using the terrain to seize the initiative?]
Three seconds.
Two seconds.
One second.
[Butler: Do we have a chance of winning?]
[Mr. Bogin: Yes.]
...
...
Sure enough, schemes and stratagems free of Yaxiu's involvement generally went off without a hitch.
"I am about to unleash a Mind Shriek! Any ordinary person more than ten meters away who hears it directly will suffer sudden death! Three, two, one."
Igola pulled Yaxiu into the blind spot shielded by the gaming pods, counting down aloud in a calm voice.
The countdown was not only to put pressure on the Red Hats, but more importantly, to signal Banjie when to strike.
The key to breaking this deadlock was not themselves, but the Red Hats.
The Red Hats possessed the legal right to use violence, yet at the same time, they were shackled by countless constraints:
1. They were not permitted to attack a wanted criminal first unless the criminal clearly resisted arrest;
2. They were never allowed to harm innocent citizens under any circumstances;
3. When a criminal made an explicit declaration of intent to commit a crime, if the Red Hats had the ability to provide relief, they had to prioritize doing so!
Igola hadn't spent all those days watching documentaries and television dramas purely for entertainment. These three Red Hat regulations were exploited to perfection by screenwriters on television, creating countless dilemmas to test the Red Hats' humanity.
The moment he learned the attackers were Red Hats, Igola immediately realized he had a chance to yank on the chains binding them, carving out a sliver of hope for Yaxiu's escape.
Use Yaxiu to seal their vision, use Harvey to rattle their minds, and then Igola would appear to make a criminal declaration, forcing them to quickly erect soundproof barriers to protect the other Fanmula citizens on the gaming floor. That would drain their magazines and consume their attention. Finally, Igola's Mind Shriek would mask Banjie's deadly gunfire, annihilating this band of Red Hats who had come in the dead of night to snatch a man!
As the price, however, Igola's clean record as a Gospel citizen, which had lasted less than twenty days, was finally about to be tainted by a heavy criminal mark.
While Harvey could still pass his actions off as a prank and Yaxiu's wanted notice might eventually be revoked, Igola's premeditated criminal declaration of attempting to unleash a wide-area lethal miracle in a densely populated zone left zero room for defense. If he ended up killing a large number of the catatonic Sennheiser clansmen, the Gospel would even put a bounty on his head.
It was utter humiliation. Igola never imagined his first criminal offense in the Gospel would not be fraud, illegal fundraising, or even blasphemy, but endangering public safety—a crime only fools committed.
It was always like this. Nothing good ever happened when he was around Yaxiu. Who was the actual beast of burden here?
Still, Igola wouldn't be lonely; Banjie, who was assaulting the Red Hats, would join him on today's trending criminal charts.
Igola sighed inwardly, and a heart-rending tenor shriek tore from his throat.
At the same time, Banjie breached the gaming floor, his Twin Frostcurse Guns spitting out sixty-two miracle bullets within a single second!
Just as the Red Hats seemed about to fall victim to the criminals' insidious scheme, the two Sanctuary Sorcerers suddenly unfurled their void wings!
Silver Wings!
Golden Wings!
And... Seven-Colored Wings!
The moment the void wings appeared, they dispersed, transforming into two transparent barriers that shielded all the Red Hat officers!
*Clack-clack-clack-clack-clack!*
The Mind Shriek stirred only faint ripples across the outer surface of the transparent barriers, while the sixty-two bullets froze upon impact with the barriers, bursting into sixty-two tiny ice flowers!
The Red Hats inside the barrier remained entirely unaffected!
Before absolute power, schemes and tricks were hardly sturdier than foam.
"A very nice tactical combination," Wright remarked. "You just underestimated Sanctuary Sorcerers."
Chapter 346