Chapter 218: Gu Killed Me

He stopped their nonsense, Sha Ge gritted his teeth.

"You guys really remember to eat but not to get beaten—just yesterday you overturned, and today you're out robbing again!"

After thinking, he decided to follow other players' example and grabbed the team captain's collar directly.

"Take off!"

But the mercenaries couldn't understand his thoughts; they immediately closed their eyes and shouted loudly on the spot.

"No, please let me go!"

"I've never experienced... sob sob, I can't take it!"

"Go on, kill me!"

Sha Ge: "Huh?"

In order to conveniently collect more suggestions, he set the livestream to continuously run starting yesterday.

At this point it was mealtime, and many new viewers flooded into the livestream; as soon as they opened it, they saw this harsh scene.

【Holy shit, I'm broadcasting live!!!】

【Scared, is the UP even here?】

【Good service, good attendance, the chief will reward】

【From the Black Xinji Fei super topic, heard there's an otherworld goblin DLC?】

【Fight! The super moderator has already been bribed by me with two coins, all our own people, streamer just go boldly do it!】

Looking at this chaotic, extremely dangerous barrage, Sha Ge was almost numb; he could only hurriedly try to put out the fire.

"Author, be careful Shen He... nope, this game can't even take off the bitter tea servant, it's impossible!"

【No way, the streamer is really considering this? Then I won't be bored】

Ah, forget it, treat me as an idiot...

At the critical moment, we still have to use a little force.

Raising a palm like a fan, Sha Ge lifted his hand and struck.

The momentum was great and force heavy, somewhat carrying venting of anger and personal grudge.

"Bastard, I want you to leave all your equipment with me!"

"Oh oh..."

Under the watch of over a hundred goblins, the mercenary squad that had originally harvested two carts of supplies instantly turned into seven shirtless men.

The team captain had long lost his earlier arrogance, obediently hugging his head and squatting on the ground.

"Respected and great Goblin Chieftain, may we leave?"

"You can't leave!"

In the tribe, such a big thing happened; the other three who had just gotten off work and wanted to rest also hurriedly went online.

Interrupting the team captain's pleading, Dog Head hurriedly pulled Sha Ge to a corner and started muttering.

"Chief, actually from last time you could tell, this bunch of mercenaries aren't anything good."

"Considering their human intelligence and the unseen but certainly existing background, they're obviously the official setting's internal test major villain."

"If we let them go, the mercenaries who just suffered a loss will definitely dump all their hatred on us!"

The slime nearby also waved its two short tentacles.

"Yeah, our tribe's strength is too weak; if they hit us with full force retaliation, we'd have no room to fight back."

"Even if we could contact others for help, our site is too far from the main base, making timely support hard to get."

Sha Ge furrowed his brows.

"This..."

He turned his head to glance at the screen, seeing the viewers also urging those few to be decisive in killing, not to invite disaster by a moment's mercy.

There were even extreme voices trying to incite them to learn the wisdom of their ancestors.

【Cowardly cannon, since we've already chosen to play as non-humans, why care about human life or death? Slaughter, slaughter and it's done!】

"No no no..."

Although the officials have never restricted players from killing human NPCs, the game's order of goodness stance is obvious.

If we really pull off this crazy ruthless act, what's likely to burn first isn't the world but their account data.

At the critical moment, the troll who had been silently listening came up with a reliable idea.

"Um, you mean... we tie up these mercenaries and sell them to the Mysterious Merchant?"

The troll clapped his hands, looking completely justified.

"Yeah, I remember the Mysterious Merchant can communicate, right? Let's go try!"

Three people with troubled faces. jpg

A barrage of question marks. jpg

"Isn't this a bit..."

Still, Sha Ge was the first to recover from the numbness, but his words came out haltingly.

"No, if we do this, aren't we becoming human traffickers... I mean, slave traders?"

"Wait a moment!"

Dog Head seemed to suddenly recall something, pulling out a screenshot from the folder.

"Speaking of slaves, this is a screenshot I took when I was mining earlier; take a look!"

Against a dim backdrop are two men in linen clothes, one on the left, one on the right, diligently mining in a candle-lit cavern.

If that were all, it would just be a work photo of two pitiful miners.

But above the heads of the old uncle and the young guy, each floats a transparent frame representing their identity.

【Bandits (war criminals)・labor reform in progress】【Mercenaries (war criminals)・labor reform in progress】

「Hiss~」

The slime waved its tentacles, inhaling a breath of cold air in a very human-like manner.

「I remember this! This is an easter egg that existed since the internal test launch! 」

「No no no……」

The troll, however, waved its hands, his words ringing.

「I think the officials are hinting to us, hinting to us what way we should use to punish the wicked! 」

After saying that, the atmosphere among the four suddenly became strange.

Standing in a circle, you look at me, I look at you.

Their eyes seemed to say something, yet also seemed to say nothing.

In the end, it was the chieftain Sha Ge who slapped his thigh.

「Let's do it! 」

After painstakingly grinding monsters for half the night, Ji Ming had just switched to the Mysterious Merchant's account and gone online when he was surrounded by several demi-human players.

Moreover, with just a flick of their hand, they could put all the world's anesthesiologists out of work—a truly ruthless act.

「Hello, I have some hard goods here, not easy to carry around, take a look at the pictures. 」

Ah? You wouldn't…

Ji Ming quickly lowered his head to look.

Holy shit!

Yesterday I was still thinking about how players run trade, bringing advanced industrial goods to the primitive tribe to harvest leeks, giving a bit of the Age of Exploration vibe.

Today we fast-forward straight to the triangular trade, becoming a bloody slave‑catching gang, capturing mercenaries to make dirty money, right?

However, his expression was hidden behind a mask, so to the demi‑human players he merely appeared as the Mysterious Merchant falling into silence.

Seeing the crowd of onlookers growing, Sha Ge feared someone would steal his exclusive business, so he hurriedly urged.

「How about it, big boss, will you take it? If you want the whole lot, we can sell it cheap and even deliver it for free! 」

No way, you're even offering discount and free shipping for selling a slave?

Holding to the lawful good alignment, Ji Ming had originally intended to refuse.

But on second thought, each of these mercenaries had rotten, pus‑oozing feet, spending their days either swindling and deceiving or oppressing and plundering.

In that light, capturing them would actually be accumulating virtue and doing good, invisibly saving many potential victims.

——So where's the chaos and evil? This is clearly raking in massive merit!

After organizing his wording, Ji Ming obliquely taught a sentence.

「Hello, player, we are a legitimate game; we do not advocate attacking, capturing, or selling these evil NPCs that are born with a red name. 」

The four all looked bewildered upon hearing that, except the troll, who suddenly understood.

「Not advocate? Hey, not advocating is great! 」

After he shared the mystery with his companions, everyone raised their eyebrows and smiled knowingly.

After selling the few captured mercenaries to Ji Ming, they immediately added investment, directly turning that money into iron rods and ropes.

「Get ready to move! Get ready to move! 」

Thus, when a faint light began to come from the exit of the underground plain, a new day was about to arrive.

Sheldon, waiting anxiously at the camp gate, discovered with disappointment that none of the three squads he had sent out had returned.

「Wail~」

He could only tremble as he took out a small packet from his pocket and brewed himself a cup of coffee.

A light sip, the black coffee without milk or sugar was sour and bitter to the extreme.

But it's still okay, can be accepted, after all, nothing is worse than losing one's own life……

Meanwhile, in the Pioneers' market, Ji Ming, who had enjoyed an easy night, packed up his stall early.

Possibly because the Mysterious Merchant hadn't appeared in a while, the players were especially enthusiastic today.

This is literal enthusiasm—aside from a few players who tried to spar with him and got crushed, nobody laid a hand on him.

But he didn't rush to be happy, after all, seeing that some players never left the logistics center, they were surely brewing something big.

After getting along for so long, he actually figured out the players' routines.

This bunch of show‑offs, once they develop a new weapon—or rather, a new toy—will immediately try to test it in actual combat.

And if there's no challenging new dungeon to test on, their itchy hands will drive them to look everywhere for other suitable targets.

For example, the Mysterious Merchant, who had never lost a battle from the closed beta to the open beta—and had never even been embarrassed—makes an excellent target.

Even to defeat this novice‑village boss, they had formed hundreds of attack teams, among which were not lacking various big shots.

And as the Mysterious Merchant's achievements grew more brilliant and various related rumors sprang up, that number kept increasing.

Even the last time information was provided, LaoZhao said that even the Security Bureau had set up a special analysis team to study the uniqueness of the novice‑village boss.

After all.

「Regardless of whether those rumors are true, as the sole channel of communication between the Great Holy Seat and the players, defeating him will surely bring about something special. 」

In short, players are just a bunch of masochists.

They curse the officials for spawning creepy, disgusting monsters, yet deep down they love it to death—can't go a day without it.

So Ji Ming hurried to find Bai Lang Feierluo, the person in charge of game operations, to have him ponder where to open the second dungeon.

By using an extremely dark, high‑difficulty stage in advance to give players a smile, we save them from having to lug guns and cannons to come looking for trouble.

「Sir Envoy, what kind of trial do you think we should give the players? 」

「You can go ahead and do it; the players' stress resistance is still strong, so believe in their wisdom. 」

Feierluo nodded thoughtfully, then remained silent.

Nowadays, the underground city has so many people participating in its operation that it can practically run itself.

After checking every part of the underground city on the map, Ji Ming returned to the clinic.

He skimmed a few pages of an alchemy book to help him sleep, then lay down on the bed with a hint of drowsiness.

But he hadn't slept long before he heard someone knocking on the door.

Damn it, I've finished my work—who would come looking for me so early in the morning?

When things are out of the ordinary, there must be monsters—so as he approached the door, he first activated 【Saint's Judgment】……

Ah, that was close—I almost saw through an extra layer!

In short, after confirming that AdaiEr was outside the door, he then opened it with relief.

As for why she knocked……

"Ms. Buluowa, do we really need to train every day?"

"It's necessary."

"But I'm so tired—can't I rest for a day?"

"No."

Being forcibly dragged onto the carriage by Lao Nv Shi, Ji Ming watched AdaiEr in disarray at the clinic's doorstep in the wind, and suddenly felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

Familiar with the route, the carriage brought them to the Sheng Guang Jiao Tang.

Today, the place was especially lively, the grand plaza filled with joyful crowds.

It was indeed worth celebrating, after all, the gloom that had shrouded people's hearts finally lifted.

Two days earlier, after confirming all the evil god strongholds, the Holy Light Church mobilized its full forces and launched a surprise attack.

The results of the surprise attack were astonishing—they destroyed every evil god's altar without losing a single soldier.

——because the place had long been abandoned, spotless to the point that not even the cultists' usual ambushes or mechanisms were left behind.

When Ji Ming heard this news, he was astonished—could it be that the Wendigo, though sly and cunning, is actually a trustworthy good person?

But the fact is, last night, inside and outside Sunlight City, not even a single violent creature incident occurred.

The long-lost peace was wonderful—everyone couldn't help but marvel at how lovely life used to be, even if they had once loathed it intensely.

Thus, the Holy Light Divine Sect instantly became the great hero who saved Sunlight City, and its followers surged in this barbaric land.

However, the equally seasoned Bishop Tenisi did not claim credit; instead, when recounting this story, he added the participation of many other forces.

Although it was mostly nonsense, who wouldn't want a share of such tremendous merit? So all the major powers tacitly accepted the church's version.

It's a shame everyone was happy—only Ji Ming wasn't.

On one hand, he tried again to convince himself that the Wendigo had given up on Sunlight City, but his fickle fate said otherwise.

On the other hand, Lao Nv Shi was extraordinarily fierce today—who knows what she ate, but her strength and attack speed increased greatly.

Forced to keep spending his free attribute points to boost strength and agility, he barely managed to keep up in the fight.

After a day's training ended, he opened his status panel.

【Name: Ji Ming】

【Level: 21 (60/400)】

【Occupation: Official Apothecary】

【HP: 25】

【Agility: 25】

【Wisdom: 40】

【Charisma: 40】

【160】 【Combat Skills】

【Combat Skills】

【Skills: Polearm Weapon Mastery—Excellent, Combat Instinct】

【Life Skills】

【Skills: External Injury Treatment Technique—Proficient】

【Free Attribute Points: 23】

【Free Skill Points: 13】

Regarding the numbers.

After adding another five to strength and agility, Ji Ming discarded the flawed overall power of his weird skills; even if he couldn't match Sunlight City's top combat strength, he was now an absolute mainstay.

Wisdom and charm should have risen to 39, but he added an extra point to round it out, prematurely hitting the next integer's bonus.

As for skills.

【Polearm Weapon Mastery】 rose to excellent; according to Lao Nv Shi, many great knights' career endpoints are roughly like this.

After repeatedly studying alchemy books, although he still hadn't formed a basic skill, he drew analogies, and consequently 【External Injury Treatment Technique】 broke through to proficient.

Free skill points remained reserved, awaiting future needs for targeted enhancement, to give potential troublesome foes a little bit of divine shock.

But free attribute points……

He originally thought that, after painstakingly reaching level 21, he should have plenty of operational leeway, but now it looks like he still has to grind!