"That's right, I am indeed tempted."
Duan Chen admitted directly and without reservation.
There was no desire in his eyes; even though he admitted his temptation, Yi Yi's expression remained calm and unruffled.
This kind of expression and demeanor surprised the Scholar for a moment, but then his face returned to a playful smile.
"Since you are tempted, are you sure you want to stay?"
In response to the Scholar's question, Duan Chen lightly shook his head and replied indifferently.
"Being tempted is one thing, but whether one can uphold their bottom line is another."
"While I am tempted, I cannot abandon the enterprises I have outside and leave with you."
"Moreover, if I agreed to stay with you, wouldn't I become a piece of peculiar furniture here?"
The Scholar even felt a sense of admiration for his intelligence.
He couldn't help but nod slightly, his smile widening.
"I indeed didn't misjudge you. You are indeed very interesting. What you said is not entirely wrong; if you agreed to stay, you would indeed become the only living furniture here."
"But isn't that good? You would still retain your own thoughts and logical reasoning."
"I would also never interfere with anything you wished to do, except for leaving."
After hearing this, Duan Chen shook his head even more firmly.
"However, the only thing I wish to do is leave."
He wanted to leave this place, to pursue a better future, to accomplish the things he had left unfinished, to rescue his parents, to do many, many things.
Therefore, he could not stop his footsteps here, even though he already felt somewhat weary.
The temptations before him were indeed alluring.
But being tempted was one thing.
Whether one could stick to their bottom line was another.
Duan Chen lightly stepped back, shaking his head slightly.
"Furthermore, your place has the most strange objects, but they are not what I desire. I naturally want strange objects without side effects, but if they are things obtained at the cost of other people's lives, then I would rather not have them."
The Scholar couldn't help but look up at Duan Chen.
He felt a bit confused.
"You are truly strange. I have rarely met someone like you."
Duan Chen remained unfazed by this evaluation, which was neither praise nor criticism. He lightly shook his head.
He looked at the Scholar with a cold gaze.
He had some deductions about the rules of this secret realm.
It would be more accurate to say that he had deduced the overall rules rather than just the rules of this secret realm.
That is, the concept of rules persisted everywhere.
Whether it was the zoo back then or the magic cube house now, everything had to adhere to rules. The entire secret realm was an aggregation of rules.
And the rules within the magic cube house.
Duan Chen mused.
If he hadn't guessed wrong, then the rules within the magic cube house should be related to bartering, as well as the desire to actively take things from here.
If one had the desire to take things from here and agreed to a transaction with the owner of the magic cube house, they would likely have to pay a considerable price.
Every item here had no price tag, so naturally, their prices were calculated by the owner of the magic cube house.
The final price could be high or low, it was uncertain.
This was merely a simple psychological game. As long as one could see through it and not fall for the greed within, they would not find themselves in a predicament where their lives were lost here.
Unfortunately, most people are greedy, otherwise, there wouldn't be the saying of the seven deadly sins.
The strange objects here clearly indicated how many people had lost their lives here due to their inner greed.
Clearly, the owner of the magic cube house was a very powerful anomaly.
Even Duan Chen couldn't say he had a one hundred percent chance of victory.
He even had a gut feeling that if he were to truly fight the owner of the magic cube house, the most likely outcome would be a mutual destruction.
Perhaps even his companions behind him would perish.
He had always been confident in his intuition, which was why he treated the owner of the magic cube house with a gentle and polite attitude.
As for his earlier treatment of the green-skinned goblin, it was because the owner of the magic cube house had not faced him in his true form, so he saw no need to deliberately act respectfully.
Moreover, through their interactions during this time, he had discovered that the owner of the magic cube house seemed very interested in interesting things.
That is, more novel things.
He already had some ideas brewing in his mind.
And he planned to implement these ideas.
Duan Chen hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth and suddenly said something.
"You've been guarding the magic cube house solely to acquire furniture for it? Then, besides lives, are there any other ways to add furniture to your collection? I mean, besides human lives."
Upon hearing Duan Chen's question, the Scholar's expression did not flicker. He reached out and adjusted his monocle, his tone flat.
"Of course, there are plenty of ways, but I prefer methods that are mutually agreed upon. And don't you find the furniture they become particularly alluring?"
Alright.
It was now confirmed that the Scholar had a different aesthetic from others.
It was also confirmed that they could not persuade the Scholar.
However, the fact that the Scholar was willing to joke around and play pranks, dressing up as a green-skinned dwarf, indicated that he was not an exceptionally rigid anomaly.
Just as Duan Chen had initially speculated, the Scholar's way of thinking leaned somewhat towards humans.
However, speaking of this, Duan Chen's gaze involuntarily turned to Hill beside him.
He couldn't quite understand why the Scholar couldn't detect Hill.
But as he thought about this, he suddenly noticed various differences.
That is, the Scholar and Hill seemed to have similar characteristics.
Both possessed human ways of thinking, but neither possessed human emotions.
Was it because of this reason that the Scholar couldn't detect Hill, who was similar to himself?
Duan Chen suddenly spoke as he pondered this.
"May I ask what I should call you?"
The Scholar smiled slightly, interlaced his hands under his chin.
"You can call me Scholar, or you can call me by my other name, Melbourne."