Back home, Qin Chuan was still digesting the huge amount of information Ji Huai had brought.
The Special Affairs Group had become aware of his gaming identity and had expressed goodwill toward him.
And this goodwill seemed to surpass the "value" held by the identity "Luo."
Besides increasing the confidentiality level of his own identity, making it less likely for his identity to be exposed to outsiders, this goodwill also included a significant improvement in his treatment.
More importantly, to preserve himself under threats from Erik, they directly assigned him a player with a Gold Talent.
The other party's identity should be deemed more important than his own by the Special Affairs Group.
Was reaching the Elite Rank first that crucial?
He sat by the bedside, watching the moonlight outside the window, lost in thought for a moment.
After a while, Qin Chuan's gaze gradually focused, and his expression turned serious.
He realized he might have made a mistake in his assumption.
He had only considered that a Spiritual Beast breaking through to Elite Rank could be explained by luck and did not prove he had a Gold Talent, but he failed to consider that many things in the world do not need proof.
Compared to being lucky enough to obtain a needed Rare Resource, him being seen as having a special Talent was more probable in the eyes of others.
This Talent might not be Gold, but it would certainly make it easier to find Rare Resources.
Thinking this, Qin Chuan's eyes slightly lowered.
Instead of waiting for the Special Affairs Group to continue investigating, it was better to take the initiative and limit their judgment to the range he desired.
After hesitating for an instant, Qin Chuan picked up his phone and dialed the number he had just noted down that evening.
After two "beep" sounds, the call connected, and an androgynous voice came from the other end, "Don't talk yet."
Qin Chuan, who was about to speak, slowly closed his mouth.
Soon, the voice on the phone guided him, and following the guidance, Qin Chuan downloaded an app through a special link, registered it with his ID card, and filled in a twenty-five-digit verification sequence, creating his own account.
"Use this to call me in the future."
Indeed very cautious, Qin Chuan thought to himself, redialing through the encrypted call function in the app.
The voice that came through the phone this time was no longer androgynous but was a calm and not-so-old voice, "Luo? I'm Dragon Halberd, Chang Jinze."
"It's me." Qin Chuan took a deep breath, "Can you deal with Erik?"
"I cannot," Chang Jinze spoke calmly, "but together with you, we should be enough."
On hearing this, Qin Chuan paused for a moment.
This was a bit different from what he had imagined.
More surprising to him was what Chang Jinze said next.
"I think you might have guessed that my Talent is a Gold Talent," he said.
"I did indeed guess so." Seeing how directly the other asked, Qin Chuan spoke openly, "Your Spiritual Beast hasn't reached Elite Rank, and with strength comparable to Erik, aside from the same Gold Talent, I can't think of other possibilities that could counter him."
"It seems you aren't foolish; I don't particularly enjoy dealing with foolish people," Chang Jinze's voice relaxed a bit, "Giving you my contact was arranged by the Special Affairs Group, but it was at my own suggestion."
"Now, I have a question that will decide whether we can establish a basis for cooperation."
"Does your Talent Effect increase luck, making it easier to find Rare Resources?"
Upon hearing Chang Jinze's question, Qin Chuan was certain, also guessing a bit about Chang Jinze's proactive suggestion.
It seemed that his first big secret was about to be exposed to the Special Affairs Group.
"It's not related to luck," Qin Chuan spoke evenly, "My Talent can explore resources, including Rare Resources."
"An interesting Talent," Chang Jinze's voice from the other end paused, with a hint of amusement, "My Talent is Holy Sanctuary."
"Holy Sanctuary?" Qin Chuan's pupils slightly constricted, his voice carrying a hint of surprise.
Being one of the nine Gold Talents, Holy Sanctuary was subject to many speculations on the Dream Realm Forum.
But despite considering the top ten speculations in his mind, he still couldn't figure out how Holy Sanctuary could compete with Spirit Ascension.
According to the speculations, this should be a Domain Talent that alters the terrain.
In terms of individual strength, it wasn't a match for Enhancement Talents.
The only possibility was that the Talent Effect of Holy Sanctuary was not as the outside world speculated—it likely had a very critical effect that nobody had guessed.
"There's no need to speculate about the Talent Effect of Holy Sanctuary anymore," Chang Jinze laughed, "I can tell you directly why I can suppress Erik."
"The Third Talent Effect of Holy Sanctuary allows for the creation of a domain that disables all Talents; in this domain, including myself, all Talent Effects will become unusable."
Qin Chuan's pupils sharply contracted.
Disabling all Talents?
If that was true, Erik's Spirit Ascension was practically a joke.
No wonder Chang Jinze was confident against Erik but said he couldn't handle him alone.
Without Talents, he and Erik were equally matched, which would likely result in a draw.
Erik might as well delete his account.
Forget discussing which Gold Talent is stronger; let's stop using any at all!
Who could have thought, among the Gold Talents, there was such a game-changing one.
"You just said… cooperation?" Qin Chuan suppressed the enormous wave of excitement in his heart and spoke calmly, "How do we cooperate?"
"You first give me a basis; if I need a Rare Resource, how long could it take for you to provide it?"
Qin Chuan estimated in his mind.
Yue Li could search in a second way, which didn't require using the Third Talent Effect of Sun Needle.
Finding Rare Resources for Chang Jinze would definitely be a lower priority after ice cream; he had to reach Elite Player level himself first.
So, at the earliest, it would be after the next cooldown of Sun Needle's Third Talent.
And he had just used the Third Talent of Sun Needle.
"Half a month," Qin Chuan spoke slowly.
"That's acceptable," Chang Jinze's voice came evenly from the phone, "You find me a Rare Resource, and I help you disable Erik's Spirit Ascension Talent, deal?"
Qin Chuan appeared contemplative.
Without Chang Jinze, he could defeat Erik using his own strength, but this would consume one use of his Third Talent targeting Erik, and would also consume Time Stop.
Having Chang Jinze's help, he wouldn't need to use Time Stop, just the Third Talent once to locate the necessary resource for Chang Jinze.
Moreover, Chang Jinze was part of the Special Affairs Group, and he was in a cooperative relation with the group.
"That works," Qin Chuan nodded, agreeing to the cooperation, "After obtaining the Rare Resource, how should I give it to you?"
"Don't give it to me," Chang Jinze chuckled, "Just sell one of Crack Crystal Marrow or Fantasy Vertical Pupil in the Special Affairs Mall."
"The Special Points you get are still yours."
"Don't worry, I'll arrive at District 3675 earlier than Erik."