At this moment, Notch was completely different from that bald middle-aged man he had been before.
If Notch had summoned the Blade of the God of War like this earlier, the only two words that would've appeared in Rookie's mind would be... greasy.
But right now, Rookie had to admit, Notch actually looked a little cool.
"Tsk, damn it, he really pulled it off." Even though Rookie was complaining about Notch out loud, he was blooming with joy inside.
He simply couldn't believe that this plan was progressing so smoothly!
One had to know that in the entire plan he had designed, every single part, every single step, didn't actually have a 100% guaranteed chance of success.
Rookie had been gambling from the very beginning.
From the moment he learned that D had kidnapped those living beings, he used all the information he had gathered to repeatedly simulate every possible scenario that could follow.
It was precisely because he had poured in so much effort and thought that he was able to quickly come up with a response plan that had a certain chance of success within such a tight and limited time.
After all, Notch failing to reclaim his own power was undoubtedly a huge accident in the development of the entire situation, and for Xu Yuan, it was an unfavorable turn of events.
Even Xu Yuan himself hadn't anticipated such an accident beforehand.
But Rookie, by his own strength, had managed to turn the tide and patch up this massive loophole.
Although Rookie had previously prepared contingency plans for the various situations that might arise after Notch failed to reclaim his power, what was about to happen next was basically all unknown.
Therefore, every event and every small key node in the subsequent development was like a constantly growing tree, naturally sprouting countless branching paths.
And each branch would continue to split and evolve into even more potential possibilities.
Take one specific example.
Although Rookie was very certain that Xu Yuan would ultimately agree to D's demands without hesitation and willingly hand over Notch's power in exchange for the innocent lives being held hostage, even so, Rookie had no idea what kind of consequences Xu Yuan would face after giving up that power.
Maybe Xu Yuan would instantly turn into a wisp of smoke and vanish completely.
Or perhaps he would barely manage to keep his physical body, but lose all his memories from then on.
Of course, it was also possible that nothing special would happen at all, and everything would remain exactly the same.
It was even possible that the moment Xu Yuan handed over the power, Notch would successfully reclaim what originally belonged to him…
Just this one seemingly simple node could branch out like a snowball into so many completely different possible outcomes.
One could imagine how the entire plan was as intricately tangled as the blood vessels inside a human body.
And the reason Rookie was so happy right now was precisely because every step so far was moving smoothly in the direction of success he had envisioned.
The current progress had already reached halfway.
As long as they passed through a few more nodes successfully, the plan would be perfectly completed.
Just as Rookie was secretly delighted, Notch suddenly spoke, interrupting his thoughts.
"So what do we do next?"
Hearing Notch's words, Rookie couldn't help but freeze for a moment. He pointed at the Blade of the God of War in Notch's hand, then looked at him with a puzzled expression.
"So… its purpose is just to let you show off in front of me????"
Seeing the expression on Rookie's face, Notch was stunned. Rookie had completely changed his attitude.
Just now, he had been looking at Notch with admiration, but now he was looking at him like he was an idiot.
Good news, he finally gained some respect.
Bad news, it only lasted one second.
Rookie's sudden question caught Notch completely off guard, leaving him standing there blankly for a moment.
He had to admit that summoning the Blade of the God of War did indeed have a bit of showing-off mixed into it, but it wasn't only for that.
Before this, when Rookie had shoved Notch into the game pod, the task he gave him was to fully recall the state of mind he had when he originally created the game and forged the Blade of the God of War.
That feeling had only flashed by briefly, but fortunately, Notch managed to catch it and successfully entered the inner world.
However, what he didn't expect was that not long after stepping into the inner world, he clearly sensed the powerful and unique presence of the Blade of the God of War.
Although Notch had no idea why the blade appeared there or what it was actually used for, Rookie had mentioned it earlier.
So Notch thought he'd surprise Rookie and take the chance to show off a bit, restoring his dignity as a creator god.
But who would've thought that right after finishing his flashy display, just as he was enjoying Rookie's amazed gaze, the first sentence out of Rookie's mouth would instantly knock him off his pedestal…
"Damn it, did I actually guess right?" Notch complained inwardly, his mind racing at the same time.
From Rookie's words and that expression just now, it was clear that this Blade of the God of War had a crucial impact on the current situation.
Even though Notch was the one who created the blade and knew it was special, he didn't actually know what made it special.
Seeing that the image he had just managed to restore was already on the verge of collapsing, Notch still refused to give up and tried to salvage it.
"Of course not! Why would I need to show off? I know it's important."
At this moment, seeing Notch's wise expression, Rookie felt that his earlier judgment about him had a 99% accuracy rate.
But Rookie, who was always rigorous, still didn't give up on that remaining 1% possibility, so he looked at Notch and asked, "Then aside from showing off in front of me... what other use does it have…"
Before Rookie could finish speaking, the panic on Notch's face had already eliminated that last 1% of uncertainty.
Seeing this, Rookie let out a long sigh. He patted Notch on the shoulder and comforted him, "It's not really your fault."
"After all, as the CEO of Zero Company and the game's creator… you've got way too many things to worry about…"
"Like which beach to go to on vacation… what kind of beauties to find… what kind of wine to drink… those all take time to study!"
"When would you have time to research..."
Before Rookie could finish, Notch rushed forward and covered his mouth.
"I treated you so well for nothing. Even a blade understands things better than you do!"
"Alright, it just formed a mental connection with me. I know what to do now."
[🎉 Shoutout to baby_pal and LeadStar p@treon. Thank you very much.🤗]