Chapter 81: A Way Out for You All (Added for Alliance Leader Great Cat Grandpa)

Damn it!

Gugao Laoren had just logged back in and ran back up; he didn't care about losing that bit of money, the key was that he couldn't afford the loss of levels and time.

The player levels in Jiamu City were already lower than everyone else's.

He had originally planned to take down Lin Bai, and the experience gained would have allowed him to level up quickly, then loot a few awesome Skills, and from there, soar to the heavens.

Plus the live stream show, his account in the Xianxia World would have taken off.

He saw further than others.

This cross-era virtual reality game was bound to be a trend in the future; by seizing the initiative, he would have both money and fame.

For this reason.

He spent money on microtransactions and spared no effort lobbying many people, only just managing to organize this boss fight.

As a result.

He didn't even touch a hair on the boss before being pressed down.

Furthermore.

With Lin Bai guarding their corpses, they couldn't even properly disperse.

If they went to prison, their leveling time would be gone.

If they were expelled from the martial arts hall, their new Skills would be gone.

Both were ruined.

What was the point of playing the game?

Even if he deleted his account and started over, he would still be a dozen days behind other players in levels; how could it be easy to catch up?

Moreover, with a plague god like Lin Bai around, the number of players in Jiamu City would only decrease, and they wouldn't be able to develop their own forces even if they wanted to...

Truly damn annoying!

Dog-like developers!

The former Five Bears of the Hei Clan, now known as Kanmu No. 1, Kanmu No. 2, and others, logged in one after another, glared at Lin Bai, and ran to the side of Gugao Laoren.

"Gao Laoda, what do we do now?" Kanmu No. 1 said. "This grandson Lin Bai is too underhanded. After being messed with like this by him, over ten days of time have been completely wasted."

The five of them had come specifically for Lin Bai, but they had suffered setbacks at his hands one after another; they were all unconvinced and resentful, hating Lin Bai to the bone.

Also logging in at the same time were Lianqi No. 1 and Huayishen; one was keen on Weapon Refinement, the other on being a healer. They were the main suppliers of weapons for this boss fight. Once they were thrown into prison or forced to delete their accounts and start over, it meant all their hard work over more than ten days was in vain. Leveling up for life-skill players was already more tedious than for others!

They had snatched their closed-beta accounts by luck, only for them to be ruined like this; they were truly unwilling!

Even more of a loss were the first batch of closed-beta players like Fengzinan, Not Easy to Quiet, and Bitter Melon Vine, the Dark Guards of the City Lord's Mansion; their levels were the highest.

Moreover, they had recently obtained professions and could collect a salary from the City Lord's Mansion, slowly working their way up; it wasn't as if they had no future.

As a result.

Out of greed, they followed to fight the boss, and everything was ruined...

The most critical thing was that from beginning to end, they had only logged off once and hadn't even landed a single strike. In real society, this would at best be called attempted crime...

But in the game, being locked up for attempted crime was just too stifling!

More and more players logged in, all gathering around Gugao Laoren, using team voice chat to complain about the shrewdness of the NPCs and discuss ways to break the situation, yet not a single one could hit the nail on the head.

The three martial arts halls had been operating in Jiamu City for who knew how many years, and with numerous Disciples, they formed an Absolute Suppression over the players in both quantity and level; charging in was just walking into a trap.

The NPCs surrounded them without attacking, clearly waiting for them to lay down their weapons and surrender. Once dawn broke, their black-clad, masked disguises would have nowhere to hide.

Gugao Laoren listened to his teammates' discussion and sighed; not one of them could come up with anything useful. High-quality players would likely not choose Jiamu City anymore!

Looking at the barrage floating before his eyes, he hesitated for a moment and said, "Friends watching the live stream, I am very sorry to have brought you an imperfect viewing experience;

The failure of the boss fight is entirely my responsibility. It was because I did not understand the game rules that this crushing defeat occurred. However, failure is also experience, and I hope it can serve as a reference for you all. I do not regret doing this, but this matter has become a dead end, and I cannot watch the players I implicated lose their levels and future.

Therefore, I ask the experts offline to provide a way to break the situation. If there are any usable ideas, please display them in a highlighted barrage. If you can resolve this predicament, there will definitely be a great reward."

Negative Emotion in Lin Bai's mind kept popping out, and the ones providing the most were those high-level players.

The level-one small accounts didn't have much emotion; at worst, they would just delete their accounts and start over. Anyway, their losses were compensated by others, and besides, they had earned a small profit from the live stream.

Lin Bai heard all their private chats.

Seeing Gugao Laoren start asking for help from outside the game, he couldn't help but be amused.

He gave a light cough, drawing everyone's attention, and Lin Bai said, "There is no need for pointless resistance; it has no meaning. Xiao Deng betraying you might not count as evidence, but there are only so many Heavenly Descended in the city, and I have some status in the City Lord's Mansion. It is too easy to follow the clues to find you. Even if I don't guard you, you won't be able to run..."

In the night.

Xu Longyun gave a soft hum.

Boasting shamelessly, you have status in the City Lord's Mansion, my foot!

She watched Lin Bai quietly, her eyes full of curiosity. At this moment, Lin Bai's status in her heart had risen once again.

She knew better than anyone that these past few days, Lin Bai had been obsessed with Pill Refinement and hadn't stepped out of the City Lord's Mansion once; it was only because he offended her this morning that he had sneaked away in such a sorry state.

Yet, he had only used one day to not only discern the ambush plan of these Heavenly Descended but also mobilize the people from the martial arts halls to set up a counter-ambush.

This point was somewhat terrifying.

Sometimes, Xu Longyun even suspected whether Lin Bai had truly mastered the Deduction Art, allowing him to precisely know everyone's movements.

Regarding Lin Bai dealing with the Heavenly Descended, Xu Longyun was happy to see it happen; she loathed all unstable factors that endangered the world.

However.

The fact that Lin Bai knew the Heavenly Descended's plan but didn't inform her still made Xu Longyun somewhat dissatisfied.

Mobilizing the City Guard in the name of the Government could completely round up these Heavenly Descended in one fell swoop, and it wouldn't even invite heavenly retribution...

But Lin Bai always had deep meaning behind his actions, so Xu Longyun did not act on her own initiative; she wanted to know more about how Lin Bai intended to deal with these people.

Gugao Laoren found a way to break the deadlock from the barrage comments and confidently stood out from the crowd: "Shopkeeper Lin, perhaps we can talk..."

"Of course we can talk." Lin Bai smiled and interrupted him, looking around at the surroundings, "I didn't notify the City Guard precisely to leave room for us to negotiate."

"..." Gugao Laoren's heart was beating rapidly.

As expected, the netizens were right.

To play this game well, one must follow the rules of reality; the more one treats it as a game, the more miserably one will lose. The City Guard not appearing was indeed the breakthrough point!

However, having found the way to break the deadlock, Gugao Laoren did not feel a shred of joy; instead, a sense of terror rose in his heart. Lin Bai's strategy was interlinked—could this really be something an intelligent AI could come up with?

"Shopkeeper Lin, what will it take for you to let us go?" Gugao Laoren temporarily abandoned the solution provided by the netizens and asked.

"You have caused such a big commotion, and with so many eyes watching on the scene, even if I let you go, your prospects in the city will likely be ruined." Lin Bai shook his head and smiled, "Master Zhang and the others will not sit idly by and watch you continue to use the Martial Art they taught you to commit crimes. Therefore, no matter whose school you studied at, you will definitely be expelled."

"Not only expelled, but the Martial Art must also be reclaimed." The master of the Mo Family Sword Hall looked at the players before him and said in a deep voice, "There is no room for negotiation on this point."

"Damn it!"

"It's still an unsolvable situation."

"Losing the Skill is no different from deleting the account."

The whispering of the players started up again.

"Shopkeeper Lin must have still left a solution for us!" Gugao Laoren looked at Lin Bai, cupped his hands and said, "Otherwise, you wouldn't have made such a big scene. Shopkeeper Lin, please don't keep us in suspense; as long as it's not an excessive request, we will obey."

"That's right, I have indeed prepared a way out for you." Lin Bai clapped his hands lightly, "Join the Beggar Sect."

"The Beggar Sect?" Gugao Laoren was stunned.

"Lao Mi, come out!" Lin Bai beckoned behind him.

Lao Mi and Gengmi stepped out from the crowd and stood by Lin Bai's side.

Looking at the elite players of Jiamu City before him, Lao Mi's expression was inexplicably excited. He really hadn't expected his little brother to be so capable; he had been wondering how to play next, and his little brother had just stuffed so many players into his hands. He was truly having a smooth ride!

"That's right, the Beggar Sect." Lin Bai nodded with a smile, "Lao Mi is also my man. The disciples of the Justice Gate throughout the generations have all had to establish a protective sect when traveling the world, and the Beggar Sect is the protective sect I have prepared for myself..."

(End of this chapter)