The Linjiang City authorities finally made their move.
Saints Hall Group was swiftly locked down, and furthermore, it was implicated in multiple illegal activities.
Drug abuse.
Human experimentation.
And organ trafficking.
The emergence of the “Primordial Gate” had also cured a range of mental illnesses.
Several drugs produced by Saints Hall Group were exactly what these patients needed most.
The Primordial Gate had only been open for a little over a month, yet sales of various drugs dropped sharply.
Saints Hall Group assembled a team to investigate its secrets.
They needed to obtain this technology.
After all, there were still many people who didn’t play games—especially those with mental illnesses. They planned to extract the technology, repackage it, and sell it to patients for profit.
But this required a large number of experiments, hence the emergence of illegal human research.
The kidnapping of Chu Fu by Guan Youlong was merely a trivial tip of the iceberg.
Following this lead, the entire Saints Hall Group was uprooted.
Now was the time to close the net.
However, Guan Youlong and his family had sensed the crisis early and fled overseas.
Naturally, the lockout of Saints Hall Group meant the golden goose disappeared.
Guan Youlong’s Dragon Roam Studio also collapsed instantly.
Inside the Dragon Roam Studio:
“I’ve wanted to quit for ages. We work in hospitals during the day, and at night, we’re still grinding in the game. Get a promotion, they said. Orders from above, they said. No time to ourselves—do I owe you my labor?”
“The studio boss is already inside, and you want me to stay calm? You go calm yourselves down!”
“Disgusting. I can’t believe I worked for someone like this. I’ve known it was wrong for a while—it’s only because of orders from above that I played the villain.”
The players of Dragon Roam Studio defected one by one.
Those players who had carried the “Dragon Roam” name tag found it became a cyber stain on their records. They were even hunted down and assassinated in the game.
Eventually, they had to quit the server, create new IDs, and cut all ties with Dragon Roam Studio.
The Linjiang City authorities kept issuing updates:
“It is strictly forbidden to commit criminal acts in real life over in-game conflicts.”
“The city has solved a major gang crackdown case, serving as a warning to the public and preventing further escalation of disputes.”
“The authorities will strictly crack down on in-game harassment and abusive behavior. Players can report it to the authorities for action to prevent hidden criminal forces behind them.”
This string of thunderous actions finally allowed the furious players to vent their pent-up emotions.
“The internet isn’t a lawless place. Those studios cuss people out at the drop of a hat, and if they can’t beat you in the game, they ambush you offline—it’s lawlessness.”
“If they curse at me in the game, can I record the screen and report it to the police? This is great.”
“With official backing, we won’t have to fear their numbers anymore. They’re nothing but gangsters.”
Amid this outcry, a video went viral.
“Game Avenger, Real-Life Brawl: Blind Monk Takes on 13 Alone.”
It was the indoor and corridor video of Xie Lin being surrounded.
A blind man was chasing down 13 thugs.
The thugs fled in panic.
Edited and wildly promoted by creators in the meme video community, the clip exploded.
Because of his distinctive appearance, he was quickly recognized.
Game ID: Who Says Play Blind!
He was Thorn Group’s Blind Sword Sage.
“In the game, I’d call them big shots in-game; in real life, I’ll call them my boss!”
“How could a member of Plant Master’s squad be ordinary?”
“How do I explain to my foreign friends that we really don’t all know kung fu in this country?”
“Wheelchair Boss has a mech, Suture Boss can stitch up a corpse, and Blind Boss can fight—only Proud Boss came up short. Both contribution rankings were very low.”
“Proud Boss has the power of wealth!”
Unexpectedly, after this live stream, the most popular person wasn’t Chu Fu, nor Shen Chi in his mecha, nor Suture Saint performing live dissection—it was Xie Lin.
He had gone viral beyond anyone’s expectations.
…
Inside Wangxi Village:
The players escorted one hundred NPCs into the village.
The village chief naturally welcomed the newcomers and planned to expand the village.
Proud Not Spoiled immediately had an idea: she settled the new NPCs next to Thorn Guild’s headquarters.
Thus, after the village expanded, Thorn Guild’s base ended up counted as part of the village’s area.
This was huge.
All other studios were built out in the wild.
Only they were inside the village.
This meant the NPC guards would defend Thorn Guild for free.
Aside from expansion tasks, players also traded contribution points among themselves.
Wangxi Village Contribution Points and Tianhe Village Counterattack Contribution Points were two different currencies.
There were two exchange shops, but the items available were the same.
Chu Fu had only 6.28 million Wangxi Village contribution points, but a staggering 22.21 million Tianhe Village Counterattack contribution points.
She planned to exchange contribution points 1:1 to maximize their use.
After a few hours of work, Chu Fu finally exchanged all the items and sorted her gains.
Tianhe Village Counterattack rewards: 1x Talent Enhancement Stone, 3x Skill Enhancement Stones, 1x Golden Treasure Chest.
Wangxi Village shop exchange: 2x Skill Enhancement Stones.
Tianhe Village Counterattack shop exchange: 1x Talent Enhancement Stone, 3x Skill Enhancement Stones.
In addition, both shops allowed the exchange of 100,000 contribution points for 1 attribute point, with a limit of 10 on each of the four stats.
She spent 8 million contribution points to buff all stats by 20 points.
With 4.99 million contribution points left, Chu Fu purchased an additional 10,000 points and exchanged them for a Resurrection Scroll.
【Resurrection Scroll = 5 million Contribution Points (Limit 1)】
As the name suggests, this scroll allows a player to be revived—not only themselves but also others.
In the scroll merchant’s shop, it cost 100 gold coins each.
At the current market price, that was roughly 100 million per life.
And 5 million contribution points was the purchase price from Proud Not Spoiled’s acquisitions.
A huge profit.
The group was buying contribution points in the newbie village square. Proud Not Spoiled stood with her hands on her hips, laughing wildly.
“Hahaha! My talent—it’s finally S-rank!”
Proud Not Spoiled’s talent had been A-rank 【Pain Immunity】.
This was crucial for a tank being immune to pain, making her fearless.
Pretty worthy of the name—she was certainly not fragile.
However, its attribute boosts and combat abilities were relatively weak.
After upgrading to S-rank, Proud Not Spoiled instantly leaped in power.
【S-rank Talent: Body of Fearlessness:
Feature 1: Pain Immunity Ignores all pain; being hit or severely wounded does not cause flinching, retreat, or reduced combat effectiveness from pain.
Feature 2: Fearless Spirit Any attack has a chance to be blocked. After blocking, reflect 200% of the enemy’s damage.
Feature 3: Increase max HP by 100%.】
“Proud’s skill, hmm, her damage output depends entirely on how hard the enemy hits!” Xie Lin commented first.
Chu Fu nodded. “The more the boss hurts you, the higher your damage. The higher your damage, the more stable your aggro. From now on, no fear of losing threat!”
“Hahaha!” Proud Not Spoiled was incredibly proud:
“A tank who knows martial arts—unstoppable. From now on, I’m a super damage dealer.
But don’t worry, I won’t forget my original job. I’ve upgraded my shield to level 6.”
From now on, you don't need to worry about your safety!
Compared to her excitement, the Suture Saint looked as mournful as if he had lost his last hope.
