Sam sighed.

He kind of understood what Ling Tian is getting at. Sam is indeed too small. Just based on the legends and lores back on earth, all these gods… they are way too powerful and invincible. The only times mortals won against a god is when a bigger and more powerful god had their back.

Or, if that mortal was born to give that god some lesson or a revelation.

Of course, this world is different. Sam already read a lot of information of people trying to beat the gods and how tragically they died. However, he did believe that there are some success stories, its just that he didn't hear of them yet.

Even if there are none, he is going to create one so the coming generations will remember it.

"Ling Tian, your concern is a bit out of hand here.

I don't know if you are concerned about me or if you are concerned for the gods. But either way, if you are that concerned, you should have never ever brought me to this place to mess with me and my death.

So, even if it triggers not just the Messenger council, but also the gods behind them, I would like to welcome the challenge with open arms. I know the bed I am making and I will sleep on it.

"

Ling Tian's frown deepened and he said.

"Sam, this is not like your past life. I know you, I have went through your past life a million times before I actually decided to bring you back here. In your past life, you had minimal attachments, barely any human connection with others, even as you were destroying that world, you didn't have to worry about any retaliation to any people that are affiliated with you at any capacity.

But this time…. this is different.

You are not dealing with people who just wear some expensive clothes, dine some fancy food and try to play the lesser born like puppets.

You are not dealing with some weasel politicians and the people that are controlling that said politician from behind.

You are not dealing with rich asshole who got wealth from so many generations prior to his birth and grew up to believe that even his ** is more elite than the rest.

And you are definitely not dealing with some rich people who had god complex.

You are dealing with actual gods. Their invincibility and egos fostered and fermented their egos for millions of years. With the rules of the game as the shield, you have been poking that ego in the spots that you should actually not even touch.

Even that is manageable.

Right now, you are treading a path which might just make that ego explode.

I want you to be here and be careful.

"

Sam stayed silent for a moment and said.

"If I were you, I would worry less about me and more about the people who destroyed their wrist bands and the bird puppets in the academy realm.

"

His sudden shift in the topic made Ling Tian extremely wary.

"What do you mean?

"

"It seems like everyone got so scared about the possible leakage of the info and forgot something basic. Their contracts with the hub.

They need to pay the weekly payments and today is the payment day. To make the payment they need to scan a wrist band in the machine and deposit the coins.

Of course, they can also let someone else pay with their own wrist band, however, nobody knows how long the hub stays and how long it will take to resolve the contract issue with Joker, which is me.

Now the coins are very scarce. The exchange centers haven't opened in weeks and they showed no sign of opening. Everyone needs coins now, more than ever. So, will anyone trust someone else to pay the coins to continue living normally?

Think about it.

Of course, the Hub does have a deal with the Gambler academy and they don't need to pay with the machine. However, the other academies, don't have that chance. So, how will they react?

"

Ling Tian immediately left.

As Sam said, the Gambler academy really doesn't have much negative impact because of this issue, but the issue is not just paying back the money.

It is about the consequences of all these people struggling to pay the money back before the deadline is over. In this tension, they will not be able to focus too much on the information mules. Of course, that is if all these people actually remembered the payment day.

And if they didn't, and instead focused on the information mules, they will definitely lose a lot.

Tensions will raise, another attack on the hub or activities to destroy it in secret will increase.

Some desperate people might just go after Sam once again. Of course, the academy defense is very tough. Individuals will not be able to put a dent on it.

But no matter what happens at this moment, it will become a trigger point.

The fuse will be lit and everything will blow.

He has to manage it somehow.

Five hours later.

Sam opened his eyes from the meditation and connected with Hub.

Around three hours before, he started getting the notifications of the payment being received and to his surprise, even the people who didn't have their wrist bands are getting their payments done through the people he had.

This is surprising as much as intriguing.

He wondered what Ling Tian has done to manage this.

And just as he was wondering, Ling Tian arrived.

He was panting and sweating. Not of physical exhaustion, mostly mental. He sat down on the ground in front of Sam and asked.

"You got any good wine?

"

"I am sure, yours is better.

"

"In quality, sure. But in taste, yours is.

"

Sam shrugged and threw him a wine bottle.

"Do you know how many morons I had to deal with in the last few hours?

"

"I don't know what you did, but to think you made all these academies coordinate and make the payments smoothly? Great job.

"

"Stop this Sam.

"

"What?

"

"In a few hours, everyone will go to the payments machine to get the info about their info mule. This will blow up. I want you to stop this.

"