“It’s true that Spades’s maintenance costs are considered high,” Charles said, not noticing anything unusual about Bai Liu as he continued, “but his combat power is also top-tier. His weapon is entirely worth that amount of maintenance fees. If it were me, I would also be perfectly willing to spend that many points on him.”

Bai Liu swept a glance over Charles and replied in a tone that was neither warm nor cold, “Oh, is that so.”

Charles did not sense the chill in Bai Liu’s gaze at all. He went on, “Bai Liu, I can modify your skill weapon because it only requires minor changes, but your whip and your teammates’ weapons—”

His gaze made a circle over the whip, the gun, the monkey paws, and the dagger.

“—for these types of cold weapons, you need a professional modifier. You also need to communicate with the modifier face-to-face and describe your habitual attack patterns and types. He will modify them according to your descriptions.”

Liu Jiayi frowned and asked, “Weapon modifiers are very rare in the game. Any modifier with even a little skill has already been kept by the major guilds. Where are you going to find a weapon modifier to do one-on-one modifications for us?”

“As everyone knows, the best weapon modifiers and appraisers in the game are all in the Kings Guild.” Charles sat back in his chair unhurriedly, looking at Liu Jiayi with a half-smile. “But Little Witch, I believe you and I both know that this is only a gimmick the Queen of Hearts has hyped up. The Kings Guild’s appraisers are indeed good, but their weapon modifiers are far from the best.”

Liu Jiayi remained silent.

Charles smiled mysteriously.

“However, what you said is also true. Good weapon modifiers are usually kept by major guilds, so the best game modifier in this game is inside the Deer Hunter guild.”

Liu Jiayi looked up. “Guild modifiers are forbidden from modifying weapons for outside players.”

Charles shrugged and casually twirled the ring on his finger.

“There is always a way to make the other party change the rules.”

“As long as the other party is someone who entered the game because of desire, they will always compromise for the sake of that desire, and I am very good at finding what the other party wants.”

“But I suggest you all get a good night’s rest before meeting the weapon modifier.” Charles glanced at his watch. “Without a good mental state, it is very difficult for the weapon modifier to tailor-make the most suitable weapons for you. This opportunity was not easy to obtain. I hope all of you cherish it.”

“So for today, everyone should go back and rest first. Come find me before training tomorrow, and I will introduce this weapon modifier to you.”

Charles waved his hand in dismissal.

Bai Liu lowered his head slightly and bid farewell politely.

“We have troubled you, Mr. Charles.”

After leaving Charles’s office, Bai Liu lowered his head and asked the tense Liu Jiayi, “Is there something wrong with the weapon modifier Charles found for us?”

Liu Jiayi hesitated, then shook her head.

“Nothing is wrong. What he said is true. The best weapon modifier really isn’t in the Kings Guild, and finding a weapon modifier before the match is very beneficial for individual players like us, whose skills have already been exposed. It’s just...”

Bai Liu asked calmly, “Just what?”

“It’s just that I don’t know how he did it.” Liu Jiayi bit her lower lip, unease obvious on her face. “Maybe I’m overthinking it, but every guild supervises its weapon modifiers with the strictest measures, because that person knows every detail of the team members’ skills.”

“Deer Hunter is a major guild. Usually, in a guild that large, only the guild leader has the authority to mobilize a weapon modifier. For Charles to get this weapon modifier out of Deer Hunter’s hands, in my opinion, it can only mean one thing—”

Bai Liu took over her words.

“—that the guild leader of Deer Hunter actively lent his weapon modifier to Charles so Charles could use him to modify us.”

Liu Jiayi nodded heavily.

“But there’s simply no reason for that. Lending out a weapon modifier is an extremely risky thing. I don’t know what method Charles used to move Deer Hunter’s leader...”

At this point, she paused, then continued, “But that man always seems to have many ways to achieve his goals. Just like how I also don’t know when he started cooperating with the Queen of Hearts...”

Bai Liu reflected for a moment.

“In other words, weapon modification is beneficial to us, but it also carries potential risks. Is there any way to avoid the potential risks of this kind of modification?”

Liu Jiayi looked up at Bai Liu.

“An appraiser. The better the appraiser, the more they can identify whether something has gone wrong with the modified weapon.”

Bai Liu thought back briefly.

“I remember Charles said just now that the best appraisers are in the Kings Guild.”

“Yes.” Liu Jiayi ruffled her hair in frustration. “When I was in the Kings Guild, I could call on them at will, but now I can’t.”

“But I heard that modifiers and appraisers are different, right?” Mu Shicheng asked tentatively. “Appraisers are only responsible for appraisal and can’t understand the internal structure of a weapon. The guilds’ requirements for appraisers aren’t that strict. I remember appraisers can take outside commissions?”

Liu Jiayi’s hand froze in her hair.

Bai Liu said understandingly, “But the premise of all that is that the Queen of Hearts is still willing to let her appraisers take our outside commission after we snatched away her capable subordinate, the Little Witch.”

Liu Jiayi lowered her hands from her face and let out a long sigh.

After logging out of the game, Bai Liu told the others to go home and rest first, so they could gather their strength for tomorrow’s weapon modification.

Although this matter carried risks, for now, it seemed the benefits outweighed the disadvantages.

Charles had told Bai Liu that, based on the emblem logo he had designed for him, he could make some custom items such as hair ornaments, head badges, and brooches—eye-catching items that would attract the audience and make them remember the team.

According to Charles’s usual common sense, Bai Liu should have made gold hair ornaments, diamond brooches, or, at the very least, openwork pendants made of precious metals. However, because these things were too expensive, they were not within Bai Liu’s consideration at all.

Bai Liu leaned against the bed, unhurriedly opened Pinduoduo on his phone, skillfully searched for decorations, then adjusted the filter criteria to sort prices from low to high.

Thirteen minutes later, Tang Erda, Mu Shicheng, and Mu Ke were pulled into a group chat by Bai Liu.

[music] changed the group name to [What the hell is that idiot Bai Liu up to again?].

Mu Ke changed the group name to [The Refugee and the Monkey Without the Monkey].

[music]: Damn??? Mu Ke, you don’t have to go that far!

[Dangerous Heretic Management Bureau Third Branch Captain Tang Erda] patted [music].

Tang Erda: Do not use profanity in the group.

Mu Ke: @Bai Liu, is something wrong?

[Bai Liu]: [Shared Pinduoduo Link—Slash the price to get stainless steel drip-glue exquisitely printed dog tags for free—Come help me slash it!]

[music]: Bai Liu, what are you buying dog tags for? One yuan forty cents each. Are you planning to raise a dog?

[Bai Liu]: No, they are for you to wear.

[music]: ????????? Say that again!

[Bai Liu]: Charles asked me to make an emblem marker. I searched, and this is quite suitable. Patterns can be laser-etched on it. I will wear one too.

Tang Erda: ...This doesn’t seem very appropriate.

Mu Ke: Um... I also think we could change it to something else...

[music]: Bai Liu, I’m begging you, treat yourself and us like human beings, okay!! Who the fuck wants to wear a dog tag to a competition!! At least get a higher-end marker!

[Bai Liu]: [Shared Pinduoduo Link—High-grade anodized aluminum spiral-reinforced metal dog tag—2.1/piece]

[Bai Liu]: What about this one?

[music]: Isn’t this still a fucking dog tag!!!

[Bai Liu]: It’s seven cents more expensive. Much higher grade.

[music]: Didn’t Charles give you a ten-million-point badge?! And you’re giving us this to wear!

[Bai Liu]: [Shared Pinduoduo Link—High-grade one-on-one custom metal dog tag, built-in GPS positioning, find your dog quickly, worry-free for life—56.3/piece]

[Bai Liu]: This is the most expensive dog tag on Pinduoduo. What about this?

[music]: ...Bai Liu, I’m going to kill you!!

Mu Ke: I don’t think this is quite right either, but I know a place where you can order similar decorations that look very high-end.

Mu Ke: [Pet Dog Tag Custom Shop—By Appointment Only]. They can customize dog tags in gold and various precious metals, and they can even set them with diamonds. The finished product looks comparatively high-end.

[music]: ...Isn’t this still a fucking dog tag!! Don’t just give up your right to be human for the sake of Bai Liu’s personal twisted sense of humor, Mu Ke!

Tang Erda: The League is not a game. It’s best to use fewer decorations of unknown origin.

[music]: Finally, a normal person!

Tang Erda: Bai Liu, if you want this kind of tag, there are quite a few discarded dog tags in the Dangerous Heretic Management Bureau’s dog-raising warehouse. I can help you get them. After testing, they are comparatively safe.

[music]: ...Tang Erda, why can you and Mu Ke accept the setting of wearing dog tags so easily!!

[Bai Liu]: Are they free? 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Tang Erda: I have the authority to apply to use them for a period of time, but they have to be returned. I can do some simple engraving tonight, then have them couriered to you through same-city delivery.

[Bai Liu]: Then I’ll trouble Captain Tang. Let’s go with that.

[music]: ...You people are just fucking spoiling Bai Liu! Anyway, I definitely won’t wear any dog tag!

The next day, when they logged into the game.

Mu Shicheng, who was wearing the dog tag properly and neatly, looked at the group opposite him with a blank expression.

“...Why am I the only one wearing a dog tag?”

Bai Liu blinked innocently and spread his hands.

“Last night, I was only joking to help you all relax. Did you actually take it seriously?”

Mu Shicheng looked straight at Mu Ke and Tang Erda.

Mu Ke turned his head away, suppressing laughter.

Tang Erda pretended to be serious and looked away, clenching his fist and coughing softly into it, silently agreeing with Bai Liu’s explanation. However, his other hand was gripping the dog tag in his pocket with lingering fear.

So it had been a joke...

He had thought they were really going to use them.

But he had felt that wearing it into the game was too...

So he had planned to wait and put it on together with everyone later.

He had not expected to escape disaster by sheer coincidence.

Therefore, in the end, only Mu Shicheng suffered the breakdown and humiliation of wearing it into the game.

Mu Shicheng tore off the dog tag and let out an earth-shaking roar.

“You bunch of dog-bastards!!!”

—

Author’s Note:

Mu Sicheng’s League Diary:

Today the sun is out. It’s big. The weather is passable.

Eighth day of training. Bai Liu tricked me again. Damn it, I’m furious! After the League ends, I’m definitely putting dog food in everything he eats! Let him eat until he turns into a dog!