Becoming a God Starts with Acting-Chapter 127: [The Corpse Collector] (3)

Silvanus looked at Lucian in a daze. Standing to the side, Ryan frowned and said coldly, "Don’t listen to his nonsense!"

Lucian shrugged, looking entirely indifferent about whether Silvanus believed him or not.

[Oh my god, was that a public confession?]

[Can some of you wake up, please? I actually think Lucian has some profound hostility toward Silvanus...]

[Totally agree! It feels like he could push Silvanus into the lake at any moment!]

[It’s not that bad... is it?]

It was that bad. Silvanus thought to himself. He could sense something strange in Lucian’s attitude toward him. It felt like the man utterly despised him, and yet his words and actions didn’t carry any real malice. That contradiction left Silvanus unable to make sense of him.

But for now, it was better to stay wary of Lucian. Silvanus looked out into the thick rain and asked softly, "Is this my house? Or where are we, and where is my family?"

As soon as he said that, everyone’s expression turned grave. They quickly explained to Silvanus why they were all there.

It turned out they had all lived here as children. But when they were around four or five years old, their families moved away from the village to live and work elsewhere.

Only a few families—those who fanatically worshipped the lake, believing it to be the source of all life—had stayed in the village up to the present.

The families who left the village had continued to live near each other and stayed connected. As they grew up, even though they were far from the great lake, something about their blood still tied them to it. They all became divers, though not in any professional sense—they were drawn more to danger and thrill.

This time, they returned to the village because of a job offer of an unbelievable amount of money. To put it into perspective, the sum was enough for all of them to live comfortably for the rest of their lives, never worrying about money again.

In fact, a third of the payment had already been wired to their accounts as a deposit—an amount so large that none of them believed it could be a scam.

However, the mission itself was a little odd. The client said that a serial killer had been disposing of bodies in the lake, and due to specific issues, the police had kept the whole thing under wraps. Now, this person needed to retrieve the victims’ corpses to reopen the case and press charges.

Naturally, none of them knew what relationship the client had with the victims sunk at the bottom of the lake. Nor did they care. As long as the money was real, that was all that mattered.

"Achoo!"

Aboli suddenly sneezed, her nose slightly red from the cold. She grumbled, "If it weren’t for the money, I’d never have come back to this godforsaken place!"

Julie nodded in agreement. "Exactly. Did you see the looks in those villagers’ eyes? I didn’t expect them to be this impoverished now..."

"The fate of a bunch of superstitious fools," Aboli scoffed, waving a dismissive hand. "They probably think that lake will feed them forever."

She didn’t actually know much about the village or the lake’s role in it—everything she knew came from stories her parents had told her.

She felt far superior to everyone in this poor village after receiving a more modern and advanced education.

At that moment, Ciel suddenly spoke. "I remember the lake used to be full of fish. If the villagers could still catch fish, there’s no way they’d be living like this..."

In Ciel’s memory, every time his father cast a net into the lake, they would haul in loads of fish. That vast lake had truly sustained the entire village. Ciel was starting to sense that something wasn’t right...

"Tomorrow, we’ll just go talk to the village chief." Bryan spoke up.

Aboli pursed her lips slightly, clearly not too thrilled with Bryan’s suggestion. She felt they only needed to finish the mission—there was no point wasting time on this old, poverty-stricken village.

But Bryan was their team leader, and besides, the house they were currently staying in was only available thanks to him talking to the village chief. Even if she disagreed, she knew it wasn’t the right time to speak up.

"Hmph, and now suddenly there’s an issue. Silvanus, do you even remember how to dive? If not, we’ll have to split this huge payment six ways instead of seven!"

Aboli folded her arms and said bluntly, looking straight at Silvanus.

Silvanus pressed his lips together. Before he could say anything, Lucian cut in:

"Ha! I’ll do his share, too, how about that? A guy like him? No way I’m letting him in the water—he’s like a lump of dough!"

Silvanus instinctively looked down at his stomach. Even under his shirt, he was sure his six-pack was still there. Lucian’s words were nothing short of slander!

Aboli frowned as if she wanted to say more, but Lucian raised his eyebrows and continued,

"Or how about this: whoever recovers more bodies gets a bigger cut. Isn’t that the fairest way?"

His words left Aboli speechless. Obviously, she wasn’t confident her diving skills could outmatch Lucian’s.

"But Aboli’s right, too," Ciel added. "Silvanus has lost his memory. He can’t really participate in the mission right now. No matter what Lucian says, it wouldn’t be fair for him to get the same pay as the rest of us..."

Bryan looked at Silvanus as if considering a solution. Facing his gaze, Silvanus suddenly lowered his eyes and said quietly,

"It’s okay. I don’t need any compensation. I really don’t remember anything... becoming like this all of a sudden, it’s my fault."

After a pause, he looked up at his teammates and said with determined eyes,

"I can at least watch everyone work—maybe it’ll help me remember something!"

Just look at him—his absurdly handsome face tinged with a trace of sorrow and regret. His eyes were filled with a quiet sadness, yet he tried to appear strong and resolute. Still, he couldn’t quite hide that faint shimmer of moisture.

Lucian roared,

"You call yourself a man, and you’re about to cry?! Don’t you have any damn pride?!"

Silvanus: "..."

Even if he was acting, first of all—he wasn’t crying. Second, the outside world has evolved plenty by now. There was nothing wrong with a man shedding a few tears—everyone’s human.

But his silence only made it seem like he had accepted his fate. In the others’ eyes, he was just that devastated—too heartbroken to speak.

Watching him like that, even Bryan was left at a bit of a loss for words.

Julie turned to Aboli with a mildly reproachful look.

"You really didn’t have to be that harsh. Silvanus doesn’t even remember anything—if you hadn’t brought it up, he wouldn’t have even known there was a reward."

Aboli opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say. Somehow, she had suddenly become the one in the wrong—the villain in the room—even though all she wanted was what was best for the team!

"Fine, fine, do whatever you want. Just don’t expect me to put up with any freeloaders!"

Aboli huffed and stormed off to her room, her entire posture radiating irritation.

Silvanus lowered his eyes and said softly,

"This is all my fault. I really don’t need any payment. Please don’t fight over this because of me."

The more they fight, the better, Silvanus thought while spouting his innocent little lines. After all, the more emotional people got, the more likely they were to reveal something useful.

Lucian suddenly rubbed his arms.

"The way you’re acting is making me so nauseous I’m getting goosebumps."

Silvanus: "..."

Why couldn’t Lucian stay in his room? What was he even doing out here?

Ignoring Lucian, he continued,

"But no one’s mentioned how many bodies we’re supposed to retrieve... Don’t we have that information?"

Ciel shrugged. "Yeah, that’s true."

Then he looked toward Bryan. "You didn’t get a clear answer on that? Without that big upfront payment, this whole thing would feel like a scam."

The village already had a creepy vibe to it. They’d barely entered, and Ciel was already thinking of grabbing the money and running.

He chuckled, half-joking and half not:

"Honestly, that deposit was already generous enough. Once the rain stops, we could vanish into the wind. I mean, the whole body-recovery thing already sounds shady as hell. There is no way that guy would dare publicly come looking for us. Ha ha ha."

Bryan looked at him and replied,

"The signal here’s not great, especially in this weather. Let’s focus on pulling up one body first—maybe by then, I’ll have found a spot in the village with better reception."

Ciel shrugged again, offering no further opinion.

Bryan then turned to Silvanus and said,

"It’s raining today, so we can’t do anything anyway. Just rest for now. Maybe by tomorrow, you’ll remember something. Our team can’t afford to lose a member. Silvanus, don’t let Aboli’s words get to you—she’s a bit impulsive but means well."

Silvanus lowered his head slightly.

"I understand. It’s my fault."

"It’s not—" Bryan started, then rubbed his forehead like a little worn out.

"Forget it. Don’t overthink. Just get some rest. We’ll figure things out tomorrow."

With that, he didn’t say another word and headed back to his room. Ciel quickly followed him, and Julie went into the room Aboli had just entered.

Silvanus glanced around. Only one door remained unopened. That meant there was only one room left.

He couldn’t help but glance at Lucian and then at Ryan. Smiling, he said,

"So I’m sleeping in the living room?"

"Ha," Lucian let out a dry chuckle like he was so angry he found it funny.

Ryan, on the other hand, acted like he didn’t catch the subtext in Lucian’s laugh. His face remained calm, even smiling politely:

"We’re sharing a room. If anyone’s sleeping in the living room, it won’t be you."

As he spoke, he looked over at Lucian.

And there was nothing friendly left in that gaze.