God's Imitator

Chapter 510: Solidified

Wei Yinzhang nodded. "Yes."At the time, the players who exited by standing in Zone A were Lawyer Lin, Cai Zhiyuan, myself, Shen Xing, Auntie Zhou, Dai Yifan, and Boss Wang.

"Of course, there were also Yang Hui and Li Jiang.

"In reality, this system quietly and seamlessly pushed Boss Wang out:

"Lawyer Lin, Cai Zhiyuan, myself, and Boss Wang, the four of us did participate in this plan together, but the order in which we joined was different, and naturally our degree of influence was not the same.

"Lawyer Lin and Cai Zhiyuan were responsible for the most and had the most control, while Boss Wang joined the latest and therefore had the least control.

"Shen Xing, Auntie Zhou, and Dai Yifan were all weak players in the community, so they needed to be prioritized, and as a result they actually received a stable flow of Wealth Voucher transfers.

"Yang Hui and Li Jiang received support from their fellow community players.

"So Cai Zhiyuan actually exploited Boss Wang's 'strong player' status, using this blind-spot method to deliberately ensure that Boss Wang ended up with the fewest Wealth Vouchers among all of them.

"Of course, it would not have been noticeably less, but even if it was only 1,000 or even 100 less, by the rules, Boss Wang would still be the one left behind."

Zheng Jie asked, "Then did Boss Wang not notice at all?"

Wei Yinzhang did not give a definitive answer. "That, I cannot say for certain.

"Boss Wang's earnings during the game were certainly not low, only somewhat lower than those of the other players in our community.

"On the occasional round where he was not arranged any 'support,' it could be explained away as an oversight or a skipped turn. As a 'strong player,' not being prioritized or being skipped was an understandable situation.

"Boss Wang had not been involved in the full planning of that segment, so it was very difficult for him to calculate exactly how many Wealth Vouchers he would need to be safe.

"Perhaps he believed he had enough, but only realized the truth after being left behind.

"Or perhaps he had already become aware of the possibility, but by then there was no longer enough time. With everyone else receiving full transfers, his Wealth Vouchers simply could not catch up."

Yang Hui, who had been silent until now, added, "There is also the possibility that Boss Wang did not actually believe Cai Zhiyuan would dare to scheme against him so openly in such a critical game, and so he let his guard down."

The others all nodded.

Because this was something none of them had anticipated either.

Based on the situation at the time, the vast majority of players believed that Cai Zhiyuan had temporarily set aside his conflict with Wang Yongxin and reached an understanding with him.

Although the two of them appeared somewhat at odds on the surface, Wang Yongxin had already been absorbed into the five-person core, becoming an indispensable part of the community. Furthermore, as a core element of the game, he was playing an extremely important role.

And the 'Tarot Game' required everyone to work in unison in order to complete the objective of bringing Shen Xing back to the community to reunite with Zhou Guifen.

Under these circumstances, Wang Yongxin believed that Cai Zhiyuan had no reason or need to scheme against him, and that even if there were any tricks, they would be deployed later, in the community's internal politics.

So to a certain extent he relaxed his vigilance, channeling more of his energy into interpreting and designing game rules.

He may not have been the last to realize that he had been schemed against, but in this matter, being one minute late and being three hours late made no difference to the outcome.

It is possible he realized it, but was already unable to turn things around. It is also possible he realized it, but chose of his own volition to move on to another community.

No one knows exactly what happened at the time, but in terms of results, Cai Zhiyuan did indeed manage to push Wang Yongxin out while simultaneously completing the 'Tarot Game' layout.

Lin Sizhi explained, "From this perspective, Boss Wang's judgment was not wrong, but at the same time it was drastically wrong.

"If we only consider it from the angle of 'internal community power struggles,' Cai Zhiyuan truly did not need to go to such lengths to kick him out during this game, because within the community he could steadily keep Boss Wang in check through political maneuvering alone. Keeping Boss Wang as a game core within the community would also be more beneficial to the community's overall interests.

"So most people, including Boss Wang himself, felt that Cai Zhiyuan had no reason to do this.

"Cai Zhiyuan would indeed not scheme to this extent over a community power struggle, nor would it make sense for him to cost the community a game core over something as trivial as internal authority.

"However, the reason Cai Zhiyuan wanted to send Boss Wang away was rooted in something else entirely, something simpler:

"Only after Boss Wang was gone could he face off against me without worry.

"Keeping Boss Wang in the community would introduce a great many additional variables, and he did not want those variables to interfere with the outcome between the two of us.

"In that regard, what Boss Wang failed to anticipate was this: Cai Zhiyuan's ultimate goal had always been to 'face me without any lingering concerns,' and Boss Wang was, in that segment of the plan, nothing more than 'someone who was in the way.'"

Zheng Jie said with a somewhat belated realization, "So, actually, when we reviewed the 'Tarot Game' back then, you had already more or less figured it out? But you didn't say anything at the time."

Wei Yinzhang nodded. "I am sorry, but I had no way of saying anything.

"Boss Wang's departure had already become a settled fact. If I had spoken up, it would have done nothing but openly tear the wound open, with no meaningful purpose.

"The stage that is Community 17 had long since ceased to be a place where any of us had a say.

"In the end, the final outcome truly depended on only two people."

Qin Yao suddenly remembered something. "Right, Lawyer Lin also said before that this community had already finished evolving, and that this was its final form.

"Is it the same meaning?"

Lin Sizhi nodded. "Yes. In truth, Cai Zhiyuan was only one step away from completing all of his plans. It is just that most people did not sense it."

No one spoke. They all understood that the so-called 'one step away' simply meant 'killing Lin Sizhi in the game.'

Lin Sizhi continued, "Everyone can imagine for a moment what it would have been like if the result of this game had been my death, and Cai Zhiyuan's survival.

"If it were him sitting here right now, and not me, what would happen."

Everyone fell into silence, and for a very long time no one said a word.

In the end, it was Li Renshu who spoke. "He would take direct control of everything."

It was clear she did not want to accept such a reality, but her political awareness was sharp enough to see it plainly.

Li Renshu suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of helplessness.

Zheng Jie said, somewhat bewildered, "Wait, can someone explain this in more detail?

"Even if that extreme scenario had actually come to pass, do we not still have 10 votes?

"The leader that everyone in the community recognizes is still Li Renshu.

"On what basis would Brother Cai take control of the community?"

Li Jiang asked, "Is it truly 'everyone'?

"Perhaps because I am an outsider, I can see things more clearly than you can.

"Before, you believed that everyone in the community recognized Li Renshu as the leader. That was only because Cai Zhiyuan had always been standing behind Li Renshu.

"But what if it came down to choosing between Cai Zhiyuan and Li Renshu?

"Are you truly confident that everyone would stand with Li Renshu without a moment's hesitation?"