Chapter 1350: 1350 Divine Game: Graveyard of Bones 72

Light and shadow swept past Cat’s Ideal like the rise and fall of the sun.

When the unseen outline of the ship completed a full circuit, the tavern fell quiet.

Rita gripped the helm. The first thing she did was scan the entire tavern, checking whether Deceitful Bloom and Foolishness were present.

Not by the windows. Not at the bar. Nowhere in sight.

Only after confirming this did she finally relax.

In this timeline, those two might not kill her outright. But they would almost certainly not let her succeed.

They might not know why she came, but they would definitely try to stop her.

If they were here, she would leave this timeline immediately. If necessary, she would try another.

Other timelines were unpredictable. If discovered, they might kill her on sight.

That would be even more dangerous.

She would need Nivalis’s Gacha Machine to secure the wine. Rita summoned Nivalis again and had her sit in the co-pilot seat, ready to leave the moment they succeeded.

Temporal Stroll only lasted ten minutes, but she could reset its twenty-four minute cooldown using Cat’s Schedule.

No time to waste.

Avoid detection. Steal the wine. Get out.

This Demon Tavern was quieter than her original timeline. Fewer gods, about eighty percent fewer.

If things went well, she would not even need to reach the bar.

Ten minutes was enough. Even at one meter per second, she could cover half the tavern.

The small boat crept forward like a stalking cat.

Eight minutes later, it stopped beside a wall of bottles.

The ship pressed close to one.

Rita took off the flag and wrapped it around Nivalis’s paw.

"The moment you grab it, seal it into a capsule."

"Got it."

Nivalis extended her paw and hovered beside the bottle.

Three.

Two.

One.

She grabbed it.

The instant the bottle transformed into a capsule, Rita canceled Temporal Stroll.

The world dimmed.

Only the flow of time shimmered.

Rita returned to her original timeline with the wine.

The moment the tavern lit up again, Foolishness appeared at the entrance. Her gaze swept the entire room, then stopped at the empty spot on the wine wall.

"Someone was here?"

Deceitful Bloom’s voice came from behind her.

"Wrathful Moon."

"Oh. That timeline’s Wildfire."

...

Noise returned to Rita’s ears.

"If I were Order Clock, I wouldn’t even give you a rest period."

"What’s the point of letting you recover? Just to destroy everything again?"

"So Quiet Mountain can copy the best players."

"...You could copy too. Divine Game exists on your side."

"Every Starsea player is handpicked. Don’t dump trash on us."

"...Without Starsea, can Quiet Mountain even function?"

Hearing the familiar arguments, Rita felt oddly at home.

Then QM Lynx Duke spoke.

Her voice was cold.

"You can talk all you want. Starsea still loses again and again."

"You all know it. The moment we win, we gain the past."

"We are no longer copies."

"We are your other possibility."

Silence.

The entire tavern fell quiet.

Only skill effects remained.

Rita froze.

She looked around.

Every Starsea hairless cat had lowered ears.

Even Starsea Deceitful Bloom.

QM Lynx Duke continued.

"Your pain comes from Starsea. Ours comes from ourselves."

"Who is inferior?"

"Is pain something that can be ranked? Divided into superior and inferior?"

She let out a soft laugh.

"Quiet Mountain never gave us a past."

"It only takes our instincts and the heat of our soul fire."

"It values the future we can create."

"The past does not matter."

Silence deepened.

She had struck the weakest point.

The hidden doubt within Starsea.

Yes.

No matter how painful the demon game loop was, it was still artificial.

How could it compare to what truly happened in Starsea?

Every Starsea player had thought that.

Deceitful Bloom closed her eyes.

She could not refute it.

She once called Foolishness arrogant for ranking pain.

But she had done the same.

Gradually, even the sound of combat faded.

Quiet Mountain watched, savoring the moment.

Then a voice echoed.

Only Starsea could hear it.

"Modify setting. Starsea gains a new talent."

"Jibberish What Are You Saying."

"When a Starsea entity hits a Quiet Mountain entity, there is a 1 percent chance to trigger Drooling for 3 seconds."

Rita spent fifteen soul fire to grant a faction-wide ability.

If she spent more, it could be stronger.

But fifteen was her limit.

She could only afford it because she had already secured the wine and reduced consumption.

Whether it would work depended on Starsea.

But she trusted them.

If Deceitful Bloom and Foolishness could break her concealment, others had their own tricks.

Immediately, several Starsea cats widened their eyes.

Their pupils lit up.

Nearby allies noticed at once.

It worked.

Rita guided the boat behind a white cat and hid.

The tavern erupted again.

This time with excitement.

The five dark cats were confused.

Back in Graveyard of Bones, Starsea players were equally confused.

...

Rita and Nivalis stayed hidden, watching the chaos.

Nivalis whispered, "Why don’t we leave?"

Staying at the scene did not match Rita’s usual style.

"This is the adventure Cat’s Ideal wants."

"If it needs an adventure to evolve, then I should stay."

"And I probably can’t leave anyway."

Her hand brushed the glowing helm.

Over the six carved Cat’s Heads.

Not long after leaving Graveyard of Bones, she had felt the six vice captains return.

She paused, then said quietly,

"I’m not sure Cat’s Ideal still suits me."

Nivalis stayed silent.

But she understood.

Wrathful Moon and Cat’s Ideal clashed for a reason.

They were fundamentally incompatible.

One chose confinement.

The other sought freedom.

Rita matched Wrathful Moon perfectly.

Like a second Wrathful Moon.

Belonging to no one, yet stepping into a cage by choice.

She locked herself inside BS.

Then discovered a wider world beyond.

Nivalis had not seen the moment Rita upgraded Wrathful Moon.

But she knew.

There was no better match.

That arrogant lantern used to ignore everything.

Now it lit up for hours every day.

But Cat’s Ideal...

Rita once chased freedom.

Now the ship carried too much.

And the stories written inside it were far too heavy.