Chapter 449: Criminal (4K)

"You two come and clean up."

Li Cheng snapped his fingers, commanding the cylindrical robot to bring over a floor washer to clean up the diesel and blood stains oozing from the Mechanical Horde.

At this moment, Hui Yu's small head poked out from the 3D warehouse, startled upon seeing the Horde: "What the hell is this?"

"The Mechanical Horde, brainwashed via a mental control device,"

Li Cheng offhandedly explained, "It's still just a semi-finished product. I need to figure out its life operation rules and replace the missing components with higher-strength mechanical parts before it can gradually recover to its peak strength."

"Hmm," Hui Yu's eyes darted, "Can I remotely control it?"

"What are you planning?" Li Cheng had just issued a mental command to add Hui Yu to the command authority sequence, and the expression on the latter's face made him sense trouble.

"Stand on one foot, spin one hundred eighty degrees, then bend over and dig your nose with your second right limb."

"Pretend to smash your testicles with a punch, stop just before impact, and start reciting: 'Ma Jiaqi is the light of the popcorns, Niu Yaowen stands atop his pinnacle, and the Wolf King is inherently the Wolf King—only the full moon needs the Wolf King.'"

Under Hui Yu's command, the broadcast speakers on the Mechanical Horde blared: "The Wolf King is inherently the Wolf King," their majestic voice echoing across the entire wasteland.

"Are you trying to summon spirits? Wait till something shows up and you'll shut up."

Li Cheng rolled his eyes; the kill zone's physical space was guaranteed to be at least as large as the entire Solar System.

The chance of encountering other players out in the wilderness was no higher than randomly winning the lottery a hundred times in a row, buying stocks that never dropped, or having your secret crush secretly like you back.

"Let me check."

Hui Yu pulled out his phone, glanced at it, and said seriously: "The Team Seven Weibo followers: 13.89 million. You and me? Two mutual followers."

"That means if they really come after you, Li Cheng, you're going to fight 13.89 million alone."

"???"

Li Cheng cracked: "You finish your mockery and run off, leaving me to take all the damage, right?"

"I'm not even one and a half years old—I'm scared of internet bullying."

Hui Yu declared confidently: "Talk, I run first. Fight, I run first. Run, I run first."

You're just gonna run, are you?

The kill zone's number-one running girl has been found: @TakeMeBigHuiYu.

While the two chatted idly, the cylindrical robot had finished cleaning and, per Li Cheng's instructions, pulled out the data cable from behind the Horde's neck and connected it to the computer host.

Li Cheng's fingers flew across the keyboard as he meticulously examined the Horde's memory bank.

As a divine plague-infected entity who independently developed the flesh-backup plan and successfully killed seventeen "siblings," the Horde was no mere muscle-bound brute.

On the contrary, its intelligence far surpassed that of humans; its knowledge base rivaled that of a supercomputer, especially in the field of biological modification, matching GS Biotech.

"Well I'll be."

Li Cheng's eyebrows twitched involuntarily—the memory bank clearly showed the Horde had encountered human players multiple times, but either fled far away or, when escape was impossible, captured them and set traps to force them to kill themselves.

The reason? On one hand, it didn't want to gain player status and become permanently bound by the kill zone.

On the other, it feared the power of human factions and wished to avoid drawing widespread attention.

"Holy shit—the R&D catalog includes bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, rickettsiae, chlamydia, neurotoxins…"

Li Cheng scrolled the mouse wheel; the Horde was like a walking bioweapons company, having developed all kinds of bio-weapons specifically targeting humans.

If captured, it could still trigger a "Life and Heaven Perish Together" protocol to annihilate its enemies along with itself.

At that point, only Li Cheng's Insect Form, immune to ordinary biochemical weapons, and Hui Yu, as a nanomachine, would be safe from viruses—otherwise it'd be a real problem.

"Looks like we can set up a separate building in the toy factory as a biochemical lab, letting the Horde keep developing during downtime."

Li Cheng muttered, glancing around the factory.

The first batch of cylindrical robots was already running short in number—human resources were clearly insufficient.

Maybe when I've saved enough concept points and anomaly points, I'll manufacture another batch of servitors.

He logged the task into his mental schedule, picked up this batch of newly produced units, and headed to Lousjie with Hui Yu.

The Zhu Xing Zhen Tai business remained as bustling as ever: some players had booked surgical modifications, others brought relics to commission custom gear, and still others simply wanted to sell relics to replenish their funds.

"This is the Western Zhou Li Gui, also known as the King Wu's Campaign Against Shang Gui. I got it from a wealthy collector in a script world similar to 'Ghost Blows Out the Light.'"

A player wrapped in a straw raincoat held up a bronze vessel and spoke to the smart AI vending machine behind the counter: "See these characters? 'King Wu marched against Shang, on the morning of Jiazi, the year of the celestial tripod, he overcame the barbarians and possessed Shang.'"

Thanks to these lines, we can confirm the exact date of King Wu's Battle of Muye as January 20, 1046 BC.

The one at the National Museum? Mine's the real one.

Absolutely priceless."

"Regrettably, it's a forgery."

The smart AI vending machine scanned the bronze vessel with a laser and said calmly: "The Cu-Sn-Pb ratio in the bronze is correct,

but the three-thousand-year oxidation layer originated from electrolytic corrosion; the patina was grown by inoculating ancient tomb soil with rust fungi, then etching the surface with dilute sulfuric acid and coating it with mineral pigments to simulate surface rust.

The forger's craftsmanship is extremely advanced and experienced. As a superb forgery, our shop offers a purchase price of 50 game coins."

"You and I—"

The straw-coated player stammered, realizing he'd been tricked by an NPC from a script world; his face flushed purple with shame, and amid the laughter of onlookers, he quietly packed away the forged Li Gui and slunk out of the crowd.

Technically, any relic a player brings back from a script world, if not fake, is genuine.

But with too many players, everyone knows this is a way to get rich, so everyone brings back relics—leading to global relic markets nearing saturation.

There are five copies of the Cullinan II diamond from the British Crown, seven Mona Lisas, eight Orchid Pavilion Prefaces, eleven Tutankhamun mummies—you could field a soccer team.

Besides, real-world collectors all know something about the kill zone.

Rich people would rather buy shares in Prometheus, GS Biotech, or European Heavy Industry than pay high prices for duplicate relics and useless jewels.

At least those companies actually protect their major shareholders.

"Next."

The smart vending machine diligently authenticated relics; Li Cheng silently gave a thumbs-up, then walked with Hui Yu into the office and casually picked up a tablet to glance at it.

The Zhu Xing Zhen Tai's surgical modification appointments were already booked through next month.

Some applicants' requests were bizarre—even transplanting a Sharingan into the eye socket was considered normal.

Others requested transplanting the arms of martial masters.

Some psychics had cooling fins implanted into their brains.

One even requested implanting the stillborn fetus of an ancient god into their abdomen—no one knew if they intended to use the divine fetus as a weapon, or if some artifact could revive it, complete its birth, and grant them a toddler-form semi-god pet.

Boom—boom—boom.

A knock came at the door just in time. Li Cheng raised an eyebrow, casually pulled open the office door, and found two sharply dressed, handsome man and beautiful woman standing outside—clearly the business representatives from Prometheus Corporation who had previously sought cooperation with Li Cheng.

"Why are you two here again?"

"Ahem, Master Pi Fu, this is a small token of our gratitude."

The man and woman knew their repeated appearances made them seem like insurance salespeople, and feared Li Cheng's annoyance—they immediately pulled out a golden card with a liquid crystal display and handed it over.

"A token of gratitude? What does that mean?"

Li Cheng glanced at the card—it was a standard bankcard from the Slums, containing eight thousand game coins.

"Could we come in first?"

The man and woman sat in the office chairs, nervously rubbing their hands.

"Here, please have some tea."

Hui Yu, who considered himself second-in-command of the Zhu Xing Zhen Tai, acted with full owner's pride, pouring them a cup with a thermos, "This is a four-hundred-year-old Pu'er tea cake—when this was made, the Chongzhen Emperor hadn't even hung himself on that crooked tree yet."

"."

These two, unsurprisingly top-tier corporate reps, exchanged a glance, gathered courage, and actually sipped the four-hundred-year-old tea broth. "Ahem, this is the thing—Master Pi Fu, you still remember the Noise Warrior, right?"

"I remember."

Li Cheng nodded. That man had been part of the Secret Realm expedition, killed by the Card King, revived as a living corpse, killed again, and finally revived along with others by Cai Anjie, who had regained her seven personalities and used a collective resurrection technique.

"The Noise Warrior is a core pillar of our company, representing Prometheus in the Secret Realm expedition."

The business rep said: "According to our post-operation analysis and reconstruction of the mission report, his survival is entirely thanks to your intervention."

Due to his player essence being stolen and returned, the long-term effects are uncertain—he must remain hospitalized for observation and cannot come in person to thank you."

"This is the thank-you video he recorded."

With that, the male rep pulled out a tablet and played the video.

A rock youth covered in tattoos and sporting a wild hairstyle, dressed in a hospital gown, bowed respectfully toward the camera in his hospital room.

Whether it was a clever psychological tweak by Prometheus's intelligence department targeting Li Cheng, the background music was unmistakably "Listen to Me Say Thank You."

"Listen to me say thank you, because of you, the seasons grew warm~"

Li Cheng's eye twitched—he didn't know how to respond. "Uh… you've thought of everything."

To be honest, he'd only let Cai Anjie revive the dead players as a convenient favor.

The real help came from Bai Ma Mu Bei, Blood Xue Shi Paoxiao, and others—they were truly good teammates.

Players like Noise Warrior and Flying Hong Witch simply got lucky and rode the coattails.

The business rep shook his head. "To you, it was a minor act of kindness—but for us, it truly saved entire families."

He paused, then asked cautiously: "Would you consider accepting Noise Warrior's friend request?"

"Fine."

Li Cheng opened his player panel and found that besides Noise Warrior, Bai Ma Mu Bei, Binary Tree, Red Spider, and Flying Hong Witch—all had sent friend requests.

As he approved each connection, these players transferred him gratitude payments.

Some sent a few thousand game coins; others, like Blood Xue Shi Paoxiao, sent ten thousand outright.

Those truly broke left a message: "Bro, I owe you one."

"Huh?"

This sudden influx of money was pure windfall—Li Cheng hadn't expected it, and muttered unconsciously: "Wasn't the Secret Realm expedition a failure?"

The male rep, seeing his surprise, explained carefully: "The guilds organizing this expedition had already signed insurance policies and wagering agreements with numerous insurers beforehand."

The wagers covered the Secret Realm's form, final ownership, player death count, overall gains, and more.

For players like Flying Hong Witch, who had technically died at least once, this entitles them to massive insurance payouts.

For them, this expedition wasn't a loss—it was a small profit."

The female rep promptly pulled out her phone and showed a news article: "Right now, several insurance companies have already declared bankruptcy."

"Two British insurance CEOs chose to jump from buildings—but our necromancers rescued them in time and are now coordinating with real-world banks to freeze their assets."

"That's allowed? Okay."

Li Cheng clicked his tongue—he could guess why Prometheus Corporation was so earnest and eager.

At the time, aside from Changsun Yao and the bystanders Red Car Driver and Fu Ding Hua Long, no one else understood the full backstory of the Secret Realm or who ultimately held its ownership.

But everyone had seen Truth's Side appear in person, chatting amiably with Li Cheng.

Everyone naturally assumed Truth's Side had seized the prize—that the Secret Realm's treasure, or something equivalent, had been claimed by Truth's Side as the main beneficiary.

Now the rumor that Zhu Xing Zhen Tai and the Evil Science Alliance were permanent strategic partners was impossible to dispel.

The two business reps took their leave, leaving the bankcard behind as a gesture of goodwill.

Meanwhile, Hui Yu, scrolling on his phone while reclining in the boss's chair, suddenly noticed something and sat up instinctively.

"What'd you find?"

Li Cheng said casually, slipping on sterile medical gloves, preparing to have the AI vending machine contact scheduled clients to begin today's modification surgeries.

"I'll show you something—don't get excited."

Hui Yu's expression turned unusually solemn, her tone automatically serious as she turned her phone screen toward him—there, on display, was a short video news clip.

"London Criminal Court Hands Light Sentence in International Adoption Abuse Case: Adoptive Parents Receive Only Six Months in Prison."

News published: three minutes ago.

Li Cheng's gloved hand froze mid-motion. He silently took the phone and pressed play at double speed.

In the real world, Cai Anjie had died three years ago, still a minor at the time of her death. Her British adoptive parents had always claimed she suffered from depression and that it was suicide.

It wasn't until half a year ago, when the couple sent their computer in for repairs, that the repair shop's staff discovered a large number of child abuse photographs on it.

This case had long since entered judicial proceedings in the real world. Li Cheng could also be certain that the Special Affairs Bureau had contacted the British authorities last night, demanding a swift and severe verdict against Cai Anjie's adoptive parents.

But the result was still the same.

The London court ruled that "there was no conclusive evidence proving Cai Anjie's suicide was related to abuse by her adoptive parents," sentencing only the adoptive father to six months' detention, while the adoptive mother received no punishment and has already been released.

The news video, only a few minutes long, finished playing and automatically replayed.

Li Cheng set down the phone, looked up at the fluorescent light in the office, gazed at the floating dust drifting like wandering spirits within the beam of light, and suddenly laughed out loud.