If this wasn't a mediation room, if he wasn't familiar with the surroundings, Xie Lin would have really wanted to beat the guy senseless.
The officer tapped the table and said, "Is this your attitude toward mediation? Not only do you refuse to apologize to the party involved, but you're also provoking him! Do you even want to mediate? If not, we're done here."
Across the mediation table sat a man dressed head to toe in luxury brands, wearing a watch worth millions, looking like he'd never known hardship. He sat with his legs crossed, exuding privilege.
"I do, of course I do!"
"But look, there's bad blood between us. That was really just an accident. With so many car accidents every year, things happen. We paid a ton in compensation, so this should be water under the bridge."
"I even did three years in prison! I've turned over a new leaf!"
Wan Huanyu spread his hands, a mocking grin on his face as he glanced at Xie Lin.
"And you're still holding a grudge. So I have every reason to believe this blind man wants to get back at me."
"Officer, how do we settle the losses I took in the game?"
"Over 200 accounts, losses totaling more than three million."
"Can I sue him for willfully destroying my property?"
The officer looked sternly at Wan Huanyu.
"Losses from virtual accounts, unless it involves theft, fraud, or similar crimes, are your own responsibility. Damage in a game does not count as willful destruction of someone else's property."
"Handle your game matters in the game itself."
"That's absolutely no excuse for taking things offline-beating people up or breaking into homes."
"Fine, fine," Wan Huanyu said dismissively, then turned to Xie Lin. "You didn't get hurt anyway. My employees were the ones beaten black and blue. Here's 200 bucks as compensation. Sign the waiver."
"Otherwise, you might want to ask that cripple what my real methods are like."
Xie Lin clenched his fist so hard his knuckles went white.
"What methods? Underhanded tricks? If you've got the guts, come at me. Watch if I flinch."
"Watch your language. You're the one in the wrong here. How dare you threaten the victim and bully someone with a disability? If you keep this up, I'll start looking into whether you're inciting violence."
The officer also sternly reprimanded Wan Huanyu.
Xie Lin forced down his anger, knowing he had no chance in the real world.
Chu Fu was right.
Hitting Wan Huanyu where it hurt-in the game-was the real way to make him suffer.
Taking out two hundred of his game accounts had already cost Wan Huanyu two million.
Next time, it would be three million. Four million.
"Wan Huanyu, listen up. As long as I'm around, you're never going to have a good day in that game."
"Your main base is in Zone 15, right? What's your level? 20? Not even close, is it?"
"Just you wait. When the level 30 expansion drops and servers merge again, we'll settle this in-game!"
"I'll grind you down to a bottom-tier F-grade nobody."
Wan Huanyu's smile faded. "I'll be looking forward to it."
"Are you two going to mediate or not?" The officer was exasperated.
Clearly, neither side had any intention of settling. The officer drew up a mediation refusal form and had Xie Lin sign it.
Xie Lin asked Wang Yun to carefully check it, had photos taken, and used text-to-speech to confirm there were no issues before signing.
Wan Huanyu left first.
His senior secretary, Feng Minhui, said beside him, "Master Wan, Guan Liqiang has been arrested. I consulted a lawyer, and it looks like he'll get over a year. I've taken over his team."
"Though some talents have degraded, we still have some decent B-rank and C-rank players. We can assign them to a new server to compete for the first-kill achievement."
"As for those with poor talents or no discipline-just drifters-I've already let them go."
Wan Huanyu glanced at Feng Minhui. Dressed in a formal suit, with black-rimmed glasses and a face as stern as an old nun in a convent, she immediately soured his mood.
But he knew she'd been sent by his father and had some skills.
"That's fine. Even drifters have their uses. If they're useless in the game, they can be useful in real life. Keep them all. And find me the current leader of their group. Get me their contact info."
Feng Minhui's eyes grew serious, as if she sensed trouble.
But in this line of work, with a sky-high salary, you had to bow respectfully even if you disapproved of your boss's actions.
So she immediately bent at the waist, leaning forward in a deferential pose.
"Yes, Master Wan."
Soon, Feng Minhui was back at the company. She notified everyone to submit applications together at exactly noon.
The game was just too popular.
By the time their applications went through, it was already half a month later.
This group ended up assigned to Server 048.
Meanwhile, at the Shen family residence.
Shen Chi grabbed his phone and sent out an urgent notice in the group chat.
The group had 65 members.
Ranging from his 85-year-old grandmother and grandfather
Down to his 12-year-old niece and nephew-everyone was included.
At exactly noon, they all applied together.
"Primordial Gate reminds you: Your region has been assigned to Server 8888. Current character creation options for old servers are Server 001, Server 009, and Server 017."
"Choosing an old server allows you to create a character at any time. If you don't log in within three hours after notification, your spot will be canceled and you'll enter the queue."
"Choosing a new server means you must create your character on time. You have a three-day window to create the character."
"Old servers cannot participate in the first-kill event."
"New server expansions start from scratch."
"Please choose the server you wish to queue for."
Everyone in the group chose the new server.
Shen Chi was a veteran of the first-kill race. He knew this game was all about snowballing.
If even one relative could fly, they'd have a faster path to leveling up.
Start by hunting rabbits for copper coins, buy copper coins, buy bombs, fly to beehives and bomb them to reach at least level three.
Then take down the wild boar king for its first kill.
Then lead the team to secure the first kill in the three-player dungeon.
He had rehearsed every step in his mind.
"Xiao Chi, the application went through! It's Server 048!"
Primordial Gate was just too popular. Server 048 was already half a month out.
But that was fine. They had half a month to liquidate assets, wrap up jobs and school, and stock up on supplies.
Shen Chi even had everyone move into the luxury villa in Wangxi Village that Jiao Jiao Bu Jiao had bought for them.
He was going all in. He was building his own team.
What moved him, even shook him, was this:
All his relatives, after his parents talked to them, really did give up everything to follow Shen Chi.
Shen Chi felt that maybe his greatest talent wasn't mechanical modification.
It was Bloodline Clan (SSS)!
Server 0308888
Outside the newbie village, it was a chaotic scene.
"Grandma, it's so hard to create a character these days. You're a B-rank professional. You could work for a guild and make decent money. Even just grinding mobs gets you 200 bucks a day. You don't need to get yourself killed for this."
The old woman, who looked to be in her sixties or seventies, didn't want to hear it.
"Die once and get ten grand. After half a month, you can make a new account. Half a month for ten grand-that's over 600 bucks a day! Who's bad at math here?"
"And what's this '200 a day'? You're always telling me to buy this or that with the 200 copper coins I farm. When do I ever actually see any cash?"
I've been lying around playing video games every day, and now my back is killing me. My girlfriends have been asking me to join them for mahjong and square dancing, but I've been putting them off for days.
"I can't be bothered to play these kiddie games with you guys."
