Chapter 309

"The leader tested by fire will rebirth Sigef City from ashes—vote for peace, and make Sigef City great again!"

A truck broadcasting Wu Chang's campaign speech parked in Sigef City's Central Park, less than twenty meters from Mayor Avery's campaign team, facing off head-on.

After securing the support of Senator Henderson and Senator Kathlyn, Wu Chang used money to accelerate the candidate nomination and campaign phase, skipping directly to the voting stage.

This is Sigef City—where, if you have money, you can do anything except resurrect the dead.

Theoretically, Wu Chang had enough Federal Credits to buy even democracy itself, bypassing the voting stage entirely and just buying the mayorship outright.

Unfortunately, Bai Lao K's resources weren't that deep—enough to accelerate the process, but not enough to overturn the electoral system.

The voting window originally lasted a full month, but under the power of cash, it was shortened to three days.

Today is the third day of voting; ballots close tonight at eight, and counting will officially begin at nine.

When the sun rises tomorrow, Sigef City will welcome its new mayor.

Wu Chang was currently inside the mobile command center, observing real-time election projections.

In two words: total annihilation.

Although Mayor Avery was born into an old political family—his ancestors had served as town mayor when Sigef was still a town—he now trailed Wu Chang far behind in support, whether black or white, upper or lower class.

Wu Chang simply could not conceive of any way Avery could win.

This result owed much to that secret weapon, who had been relentlessly siphoning away Avery's upper-class supporters these past days.

Wu Chang was curious how the person did it—the Curse-Bound instance had protective rules; his Mental Shock couldn't control the instance's natives, so how had they managed it?

He'd mentioned it several times to the Negotiation Master, wanting to meet the secret weapon, but each time the Negotiation Master could only awkwardly say the person was busy and unavailable.

The Negotiation Master spoke vaguely, but Wu Chang sensed the person didn't want to deal with him.

That only made him more curious.

But right now, he had no time to worry about the secret weapon—because for the past two days, flies had been buzzing around him nonstop, annoying the hell out of him.

The moment he thought of flies, he saw Miles and Colton stride up to him.

Miles sighed: "Boss, we've lost two more bases to some mysterious person—our guys didn't die, but all their legs were broken."

Colton stayed silent but gave Wu Chang a look—this was Lin Jiang's work again.

Since the campaign began, Lin Jiang and another Evolutionist remnant had been attacking all businesses tied to Bai Lao K.

For Wu Chang, who was about to go legit, damage to underground operations wasn't a big deal—but it was like a toad hopping on your foot: not deadly, just disgusting.

"Didn't I tell them to shut down until after the election?"

Miles spread his hands: "That shop was downtown, right next to City Hall and the police station—they thought the other side would hesitate, so they got careless. Didn't expect the guy would actually strike downtown."

Wu Chang sighed. Lin Jiang and the others would dare anything—they were about to die in two days, so what did they have left to fear?

"Go tell everyone: shut down completely. Let them smash everything. I'll compensate them for the lost income these days."

He turned to Colton and said:

"You too—stay indoors these days. Stay by my side. If they dare strike downtown, they won't spare isolated players."

Just wait. Once I'm mayor, I'll deal with these two properly.

Lin Jiang and the others had suddenly gone berserk after days of restraint—this proved he was right.

As long as he stayed unmoved, ignored Lin Jiang's provocations, and didn't follow their rhythm, their plan would fail.

The only thing puzzling him was that Lin Jiang's actions felt like thunder without rain—they bullied Bai Lao K's regular members and assassinated native politicians with glee, yet never dared to team up and directly attack him.

Were they scared, trying to lure him out? Or was there another plan?

Another thing that caught his attention: none of the players attacking Bai Lao K bases or politicians had ever shown up as Dragon Armor. What was Dragon Armor doing?

Were they trying to lure him out and ambush him together?

He shook his head. First priority: secure the mayorship.

Once he became mayor, combined with the already-built Philanthropist statue, he'd gain one ability to alter Sigef City's rules.

No matter what conspiracy Lin Jiang and the others were preparing, it would be exposed under the sheer force of his overwhelming power.

Besides, in another two or three days, Amber's inner demon should be over.

Today was also Amber's third day volunteering at the orphanage.

Volunteering was highly effective in suppressing Amber's inner demon—over the past two days, she hadn't had nightmares, slept deeply, and on the third day, the curses targeting her school and home no longer appeared.

Moreover, the black thorn bracelet on her wrist had faded to near-transparency—it looked like it would vanish completely in another day or two.

What he'd thought was the most difficult inner demon had been resolved without a single blow, thanks to Professor Marvila's guidance—this brought back the feeling Wu Chang had when clearing earlier instances.

Since gaining overwhelming stats, he'd grown used to crushing everything—but now he saw that with careful analysis and help from instance natives, even seemingly impossible tasks could be completed without violence.

Just like when he first entered the Abyss Game and cleared the Moonlight Sanatorium instance.

He must find time to properly thank Professor Marvila.

As night fully fell, Amber's volunteer work ended, and Wu Chang picked her up and returned to 26 Huayuanjie.

With her inner demon fading, Amber returned to her cheerful self, telling Wu Chang and Erin funny stories from the orphanage over dinner.

After dinner, the three of them sat on the sofa watching TV—the mayoral election was being broadcast live.

Voting had closed; under the power of cash, staff were fast-forwarding through ballot sorting, with vote counting scheduled to begin in one hour.

Wu Chang pointed at the TV and asked: "If you want to help orphans, why not become a great philanthropist like Peace? Wouldn't that help more children?"

Amber shook her head: "I'd rather help those in need with my own hands."

"Besides, I heard from Superintendent Susan that Peace isn't a great philanthropist—he's the city's biggest villain. Over half the kids in the orphanage were made orphans by him and his Bai Lao K."

Wu Chang chuckled awkwardly, defending himself: "I heard Peace just arrived in Sigef City—can you blame him for Bai Lao K's past crimes?"

Amber said: "But I can tell—he's killed people. Anyone who's taken a life isn't good."

She suddenly remembered something, looked up at Wu Chang, and added: 【59】 "Except you, Xiao En."

After she finished speaking, she suddenly thought of something, looked up at Wu Chang, and added a saving line:

"Xiao En, you're the exception."

Wu Chang said indifferently, "It's fine. I never planned to be a good person."

Amber asked curiously, "Why? Many people have told me that only by being good can one gain the gods' protection."

Wu Chang sneered and countered, "Do gods really protect good people?"

Hearing Wu Chang's question, Amber remembered something, and her face darkened quickly.

Wu Chang realized he had said the wrong thing, making Amber recall Sister Amanda's memories, and hurriedly said:

"I don't care whether I'm good or not, or whether I've hurt anyone—I only care whether I can protect what's mine and what I value."

"Being good isn't bad. I respect every good person. But I hope you become good because you want to, not because you're forcing yourself to please some entity."

Wu Chang was about to say more, but his voice stopped. He frowned, gazing out the window.

Erin, who had been watching the two chat, stood up, took Amber by the hand, and said, "It's late. You need to do your homework."

After seeing Amber dragged into the study, Wu Chang slowly rose and opened the door.

He saw a stranger standing at his front door, about to step onto his lawn.

Though a stranger, Wu Chang had seen his wanted poster—this man was Long Kai, who had vanished these past two days.

Long Kai looked at the male head of household at Huayuanjie No. 26 and smiled warmly.

"I heard you adopted a girl?"

Wu Chang stared at Long Kai, who had come to his door, and asked, "Yes. And?"

Long Kai smiled easily, "Nothing. That's all you need to know."

He'd finally found them. God knew how he'd endured these past two days.

Searching for the World Will wasn't dangerous, but it was far more troublesome than he expected—he had to walk street by street, house by house.

For the past two days, every place he searched showed no anomalies—so normal he began to suspect Lin Jiang had tricked him, deliberately sending him away to plot something during this time.

Today, with no results and about to return to Lin Jiang for an explanation, he finished coloring the explored areas and noticed he'd unconsciously avoided one street: Huayuanjie.

This time, deliberately seeking it out, he entered Huayuanjie, checked every house, and finally zeroed in on No. 26—Wu Chang's home.

To confirm who was the World Will, he kidnapped several residents and questioned them about this household.

When he heard Amber's absurd backstory, he was certain: Amber was the World Will Lin Jiang sought.

So his task was simple.

Long Kai smiled at Wu Chang and said, "Because you adopted a girl, you deserve to die."

Saying this, he drew a sword and swung it down at Wu Chang.

In his view, a frail, ordinary elementary school teacher could be killed with a single casual slash.

Yet Wu Chang sidestepped in an instant, closed the distance in one step, and delivered a sharp elbow strike.

"Man!"

CRASH! Long Kai's nasal bridge shattered under the elbow. Blood gushed instantly. He staggered back two steps and collapsed onto the ground.

!

He clutched his nose, staring at Wu Chang in disbelief.

What the hell? An indigenous resident had dodged his attack and countered with an elbow?

He shook his head, a faint golden glow emanating from his body, dispelling the dizziness in his mind. He staggered to his feet.

Now it was Wu Chang's turn to be surprised. If Manba Iron Elbow's debuff could be displayed, it would fill the target's status bar entirely. In his experience, only Huanxi could clear all Manba Iron Elbow debuffs this quickly.

What level was Long Kai, to match Huanxi's performance?

Was he not a noob, but a hidden expert?

Long Kai stopped the bleeding from his nose, his gaze growing slightly more serious. He wasn't a regular player—he was the leader of Iron Armor Gang, the Wasteland Realm's largest PvP toxin guild!

In actual player-vs-player combat, even players with far higher stats weren't guaranteed to beat him.

In any fight against a humanoid opponent—player or dungeon boss—he was confident he could win one-on-one.

Fighting humans was his domain, his pride.

The local native before him had piqued his interest.

"You're not ordinary."

Wu Chang shifted lightly on his feet and said, "Former professional fighter. Now, an utterly ordinary elementary school PE teacher."

Long Kai narrowed his eyes, studying Wu Chang's footwork and posture, and said:

"You're definitely a powerful martial artist. Too bad you met me."

As he spoke, Long Kai swung his sword—its edge glowed, signaling he activated a skill.

But before his strike could land, Wu Chang's elbow smashed into his face again, sending him flying backward. The freshly crusted blood on his nose split open once more.

What just happened? That elbow was too fast.

Wu Chang shook his head slightly at Long Kai, who sat on the ground questioning reality. He'd overthought it—Long Kai wasn't a hidden expert. Just another noob.

But he couldn't blame Long Kai. Wu Chang's current agility was 33 points. In his normal state, Long Kai had only 10% of his stats—10 points in agility would already be high for him.

A threefold agility gap—even if Long Kai were a grandmaster of martial arts—he could never bridge that numerical disparity.

Long Kai rose from the ground again. He'd originally thought the hard part was killing the girl's adoptive parents while the World Will wasn't watching. He never imagined a random native could make him eat two defeats.

Though his pride as a top PvP player urged him to fight fairly, skills and stats were part of fairness too.

So, sorry.

Long Kai extended both arms. Golden plate armor coalesced around his body, its chest bearing a roaring golden dragon head.

Simultaneously, he sheathed his sword and summoned a four-meter-long golden lance from Jin Guang.

This was the full manifestation of his Dragon Knight transformation: Golden Dragon Armor and Golden Dragon Lance.

The dragon head on the armor's chest had once been mere decoration. After fusing with dungeon monsters, it became alive, making him resemble a humanoid golden dragon.

The Golden Dragon Armor's effect: drastically increased defense, immunity to all control skills below D-rank, partial reduction for D-rank and above.

After the monster fusion, he became immune to control skills below B-rank, reduced the control effect of A-rank control skills by 75%, and restored his attributes to 40% of his panel value.

Anyone who has played PvP knows that in human-vs-human combat, victory doesn't depend on who deals higher skill damage, but on who can land the hit.

No matter how high the damage, if you can't touch the opponent, it's useless; mobility, control, and immunity to control are the core of player-vs-player combat—how invaluable full-time immunity to control is, those who understand, understand.

Moreover, after putting on the Golden Dragon Armor, his attributes surged fourfold; even a squadron of armed helicopters couldn't touch him, and dealing with a single dungeon native would be a total steamroll.

Even a lion fights a rabbit with all its strength; what he did was correct.

The Dragon Armor, clad in the Golden Dragon Armor, scanned around and found Wu Chang had vanished.

Fled?

Before he could look into the house, he saw an elbow growing larger in his vision; despite his boosted attributes, he finally reacted in time to dodge with the Iron Plank Bridge, but the elbow followed like a shadow, smashing him to the ground with one strike.

"You didn't really think I'd stand still and watch you transform, did you?"

Wu Chang looked down at the Dragon Armor lying on the ground and rolled his eyes.

Come on, bro, you think this is an anime? When the hero transforms, the villain just waits patiently.

No, you're the villain.

The Dragon Armor, in his monster fusion form, had unleashed destruction beyond that of an ordinary person; they couldn't keep fighting in his own home.

We've played enough; it's time to end this.

He activated his ability, causing a pool of water to seep from the lawn, engulfing the Dragon Armor, ready to drag him into the Blind Abyss.

But under the protection of the Golden Dragon Armor, the Dragon Armor couldn't be pulled in.

Good, good, good—immunity to control, huh?

Just as Wu Chang realized this, he suddenly saw a flash of Jin Guang; before he could react, the Dragon Armor's lance descended from above, piercing straight through his throat.

The Dragon Armor looked at Wu Chang, pinned to the ground, and showed a look of regret.

Natives are still natives—too inexperienced. Didn't he notice that when he couldn't dodge the elbow, the Dragon Armor had already thrown the lance into the sky?

Dragon's Bite—this technique of a lance descending from the heavens—you can die with peace knowing it.

As the Dragon Armor rose to pull out the Dragon Lance, he saw Wu Chang climbing to his feet; only then did he realize the Golden Dragon Lance hadn't pierced through Wu Chang—it had only sunk half a centimeter into his skin before stopping.

How is this possible?

Wu Chang stood up, pulled out the lance from the back of his neck, and smiled at the Dragon Armor.

"Kind of interesting."

"Title: Titan"

"Title Description: As a giant from mythology, you possess nearly infinite vitality; attacks from ants cannot inflict fatal damage upon your massive body."

"Title Effect: While wearing this title, the player is no longer threatened by fatal injuries—even if struck at vital points, they will not die outright. The player still suffers limb-severing effects, but only attacks powerful enough to sever a limb in the player's maximum size state will cause actual limb loss; otherwise, the attack is blocked by the flesh."

In the Cursed Dungeon, player-vs-player combat already has 90% damage reduction; the Dragon Armor took three elbow strikes from Wu Chang, stacking three layers of Mamba Mark, further reducing damage to Wu Chang by 30%.

This meant the damage the Dragon Armor inflicted on Wu Chang was only 7% of its original value.

Wu Chang's current HP is 48, but his permanent shield from the Knight's Immortality to Bare Hands ability grants him an additional 460 HP.

Even if Wu Chang did nothing to resist, the Dragon Armor would find it hard to kill him with only 7% damage.

Too bad the dungeon's damage reduction and the Mamba Mark's reduction stack multiplicatively, not additively—otherwise, the Dragon Armor's attacks would've actually healed him.

Wu Chang stretched, grinned at the Dragon Armor, whose expression was stunned, as if he'd seen a ghost in broad daylight, revealing a row of white teeth.

A Dragon Knight's lance can pierce a dragon—but not a Titan.

Kid, aren't the numbers amazing?

(End of Chapter)