It was as if the air in the dining hall had frozen. A few seconds later, Cyrus sprang up from the table. He was so fast that Lin Sanjiu couldn't even react. With a loud thud, he pressed Peng Ping's shoulder against the dining table.
When he spoke, his voice was hoarse.
"Draw it," he said, "Draw it and let her see it."
Indeed, if Lin Sanjiu drew it and asked him to recognize it, Peng Ping might not cooperate with her sincerely. Drawing it was the best way to obtain information.
Lin Sanjiu understood, but she couldn't help shooting a glance at Cyrus.
In the short time since they met and reunited, she had never seen him with such an expression. It was as if there was no path in front of him or behind him. There was only a rock under his feet, bobbing up and down, and he could fall into the abyss at any time.
Perhaps, to him, the Shadow Sanctuary was like his home, but now, it seemed like his home was slowly disappearing.
In just a few seconds, the expression on Cyrus's face disappeared. It was as if he had used his willpower to cover his face with a layer of calmness. Then, he sat back down.
"Is that so?" Peng Ping asked uncertainly, "I don't know how to draw … but the symbol is quite simple."
As he spoke, he pushed a piece of paper toward the center of the table.
Lin Sanjiu raised the paper. She could feel Cyrus's gaze on the side of her face. At first glance, she thought that the symbol was completely different from the one she had seen. However, a voice in her heart urged her to flip the paper over. It was the same symbol she had seen when she fell off the spaceship.
She didn't say anything, but Cyrus already knew. He sat firmly in the chair. From the corner of his lips to his shoulders, every inch of his muscles was tense.
"When and where did you see this symbol?" Lin Sanjiu asked Peng Ping.
"Before I got the approval and was about to receive the investment." Peng Ping was very uneasy, as if he had committed a crime that he didn't know about. "It's strange. I met with two investors during the 'roadshow', but I didn't see any symbol. Later on … I had to report to the Shark Faction regularly, so I asked them to send more reinforcements. The spaceship that they sent over had this symbol on it. "
"But the headquarters doesn't have it?" Cyrus interrupted. His eyes glowed.
Lin Sanjiu knew what he was thinking. He probably had a glimmer of hope, but what Peng Ping said next quickly shattered his hope.
"I don't know if it can be called the headquarters … Although there are no investors, I think I can guess what's going on. The shark department has a few divisions, and each division has a different logo … For example, I happened to see the logo of a shark's dorsal fin. That should belong to another division. "
Cyrus fell silent.
Clearly, it was the Shadow Palace who initiated the operation in Fan Jia City, but the Shark Department took over after that … Lin Sanjiu did not expect that these two seemingly unrelated incidents would be so deeply intertwined. The question she had originally prepared to ask Peng Ping suddenly became extremely heavy.
"Shark series …" she said, choosing her words carefully. "What exactly do I want you to do by investing in you?"
Peng Ping's gaze landed on the dining table. After a slight reluctance, he finally let out a long sigh.
"Who doesn't want to become stronger in the apocalypse? I want to stand out. I want my words to carry weight. I want others to consider my opinion before they speak or do anything … Do you think I'm happy being locked up and pushed around? There are many kinds of life. Some people have to fight, compete, and struggle, while others can do whatever they want. When the Shark Department found me, they promised me that if I could make good use of my ability, I would definitely become a powerful person one day. "
"What's your ability?"
"[Wildfire Prairie]," he said calmly.
Lin Sanjiu and Cyrus did not say anything. They waited for him to continue.
"Even though I was born after the apocalypse, the description of my ability was from before the apocalypse … It took me a lot of effort to understand its meaning," Peng Ping said calmly. "In the past, I thought it was useless and couldn't increase my combat ability. I was disappointed."
[Wildfire Prairie]
"Suddenly popular", "Went"
"Viral", "Spread to every corner of the internet overnight" … Wasn't it common to hear such phrases?
You don't know why, but a video of an animal, a strange song sung by someone, a popular phrase, or a new concept … and countless other examples suddenly spread like wildfire, filling everyone's field of vision and filling everyone's conversations.
The reasons behind their popularity were very complicated, and many factors and coincidences needed to be checked. It was an extremely difficult task to reproduce it by relying on manpower. Otherwise, there would not be so many companies in charge of marketing and promotion.
However, the [Wildfire Prairie] ability had already condensed all the favorable conditions into one. In other words, as long as you used [Wildfire Prairie], you could make anything you wanted to become popular and achieve a widespread effect in a short period of time.
Unlike many ordinary evolved abilities, there was no time limit to its effects. If the caster was well-prepared and persevered, the effect of [Wildfire Prairie] could be sustained. It was possible for a certain thing to be passed down deeply into the hearts of the people, or even become a common belief.
After Lin Sanjiu listened to Pengping's explanation, she frowned.
"What about the limitations?" She asked, "There must be a limit to your ability, right?"
"Yes," Pengping nodded. "No matter what I promote, it cannot conflict with human survival instincts. For example, I can't make concepts like 'suicide is a good thing' or 'everyone should give their survival resources and Special Items to Pengping' popular, but I can promote 'it's best to bring a bottle of water with you when you teleport' … This is also why I thought it was useless in the beginning. "
Perhaps it had no value in battle, but if it was used on a specific target, this ability would probably unleash an astonishing power … More importantly, what was the Shark-type's goal?
"They told me that they wanted to use my ability to promote a concept, but I haven't been told what it is." Pengping spread his hands and said, "This is the truth. Everything I did before you caught me was to lay the foundation for the day when I would promote it. "
From the way the Shark-type had always been secretive, it was indeed not their style to promote their goal before everything was ready. Lin Sanjiu looked at Cyrus and saw that he was listening to her in a daze. She sighed inwardly and asked, "What about the Eight-Headed Druid? When you took Quan's pocket dimension, you wanted to tamper with the Eight-Headed Druid's memory and make him work for you, right? "
"That's right." Pengping didn't seem to think that tampering with a person's memory was morally unreasonable. The morality of humans in the apocalypse was like a loose fishing net. There were holes everywhere. "You said that you got to know him after that, right?"
He thought it over carefully and said with a bit of hesitation, "I think you also know that after I leave, my plan of action will continue. If you want to remind him to be on guard against me, I can understand … but there is a better way. Why didn't you persuade him to work with me? You know his ability, right? With his information gathering ability, he can help me spread [Wildfire Prairie] to places that I can't reach … "
Lin Sanjiu started to understand his motive at that time.
"In other words, you need the Eight-Headed Druid's ability to double the range of [Wildfire]?"
"That's right. That's what I mean," Pengping said, "After all, the range of my ability is limited. The Shark-type's idea is that the thing they want to promote is far beyond my reach, so they need a 'multiplier' … "
While Lin Sanjiu was mulling over this, Cyrus suddenly leaned over and spoke.
"I have a question." His voice was very calm as he asked, "Where is the Shark-type?"
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