anovelconsole Chapter 324 I want to die a glorious death!
Chapter 324 I want to die a glorious death!
Inside the Baiyujing Forging Workshop, the high temperature had not completely dissipated.
Li Guoan led Zhang Yunhai, Sun Feng, and several others into the hall quickly.
They were drawn by the strange phenomenon of the mythical equipment appearing in the world.
All eyes naturally fell on Chen You.
The surface of that moon-white Taoist robe with flowing clouds had a faint, iridescent glow.
Each flowing dark pattern subtly distorts the surrounding space.
"Xiao Chen, what happened?" Li Guoan asked.
Real-world monitoring just issued the highest-level energy alert, and the source is this forge.
"It's nothing serious," Chen You said calmly. "I just got a set of mythical equipment."
Then I synced my recent gaming experience.
By now, Li Guoan and the others have reached an unbelievable level of psychological resilience. They listened quietly without showing any obvious emotional reaction.
Li Guoan's gaze was fixed on the top of Chen You's head—as if he could see the nearly empty health bar.
"Your health is almost gone," Li Guoan frowned.
Chen You nodded.
"Are you using your main body or your shadow clone right now?" Zhang Yunhai suddenly interjected.
"A clone," Chen You replied. "My main body is still AFK in the Supreme Training Room."
Li Guoan and Zhang Yunhai exchanged a glance.
A glint of light flashed in both of their eyes at the same time.
"Xiao Chen, we need to talk about our next strategy." Li Guoan pulled up a chair and sat down.
Zhang Yunhai pulled out a top-secret report and pushed it in front of Chen You.
"Based on Pan Yu's analysis of social relationships, although the guild leaders of the three major gods are outwardly respectful to you and even act as your lackeys in dungeons, this is only temporary."
"Once there's an obstacle of conflict of interest," Li Guoan tapped his fingers on the table, "they will definitely not hesitate to draw their swords."
"So?" Chen You asked.
"You need to die once," Li Guoan said, looking into Chen You's eyes, "while you only have 1 point of health left."
If Chen You were at full health, we would really need to think of a way to kill him.
The forging workshop fell into dead silence.
Chen You froze for two seconds, then suddenly took a step back and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Director, I've shed blood for the country and risked my life for the organization!" Chen You shook his head repeatedly. "Even if I were to die, I would die a worthy death!"
"Shut up." Zhang Yunhai interrupted him irritably. "I didn't ask your main body to die."
Chen You blinked.
A clone? That's alright then.
"You can choose to sacrifice the clone after the skill cooldown ends," Li Guoan decided.
"Since you entered the Origin Realm, you have never suffered a defeat, nor have you ever died."
"In the eyes of those players from other races, you have become an invincible symbol."
"This kind of symbol is very powerful, but it can also easily trigger collective fear and backlash."
"You want me to break this myth?" Chen You stroked his chin.
"Yes," Zhang Yunhai replied, "You're going to die. And you're going to die in public, in a very dramatic way."
"Let everyone see that you are not invincible; you can bleed and you can fall."
"This can greatly reduce the wariness of all parties and increase the chances of survival in the future."
Chen You understood.
To put it bluntly, it's about showing weakness.
Even if the newbie protection period ends, someone might underestimate you if they want to target you.
"However, this is not mandatory," Li Guoan added.
"Take advantage of the opportunity yourself. If a suitable opportunity arises, do it. Don't deliberately spend too much energy on it."
Chen You nodded, indicating that he understood.
"By the way, why haven't you topped up the money from last time?" Li Guoan asked, turning back as he was about to leave.
Chen You: "..."
"I'll top it up right away, right away..."
Watching Li Guoan and the others leave, Chen You couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
These costly KPIs are not something the average person can afford.
Chen You then crafted several more mythical equipment pieces, intending to bring them back to the real world for research.
After leaving Baiyujing, Chen You headed towards the Cangxing City Chamber of Commerce.
The cooldown for [Shadow Clone] isn't over yet, so let's continue with the quest.
……
The Zangxingcheng Chamber of Commerce is located at the end of the main road.
The building's exterior walls were mostly peeling off, and two rusty iron doors were half-closed, making a harsh scraping sound when the wind blew.
Chen You pushed open the door and entered.
The lobby was dimly lit, and a person could be vaguely seen lying behind the counter.
The man had his legs crossed and propped up on the table, tossing a worn-out copper coin in his hand.
He had the same dark brown skin as Lord James Sand, and a head of messy, dirty braids.
Chen You's gaze swept over the nameplate above his head.
[Sanshui, General Manager of the Cangxing City Chamber of Commerce]
Chen You walked to the counter and tapped the table with his fingers.
Sanshui didn't even lift his eyelids; the copper coin tumbled in mid-air before falling back into his palm.
"Closed for business. Out of stock, out of money."
"The city lord has assigned me to handle the matter of restoring trade."
Sanshui paused in his movements.
He sat up straight and looked Chen You up and down.
Their gazes finally settled on the sliver of health bar above Chen You's head, which could be wiped out at any moment.
"Outsider, you look like you couldn't even withstand a gust of wind." Sanshui toyed with the copper coin, his tone lazy.
"Trade? The outside world is full of mutated monsters. Three large caravans just went missing recently."
"Now even the most greedy bandits dare not take orders from Cangxing City."
"People are filled with anxiety, how can we communicate?"
Chen You braced his hands on the edge of the counter, looking directly into San Shui's eyes.
I've already resolved the mutated monster crisis; this NPC should already know that.
He looked at the other person's snobbish face and sneered inwardly.
He's an expert on this tactic.
To put it bluntly, they just want kickbacks.
"Speak, what are your conditions?"
Sanshui grinned, revealing a set of white teeth.
"You'll have to pay more."
He opened the drawer, rummaged around for a moment, pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment, and pushed it in front of Chen You.
"A generous reward will surely attract brave men."
"As long as the money is right, those guards would even dare to pull out the teeth of the Abyss Lord."
"Our chamber of commerce has launched four tiers of business sponsorship programs. Take a look."
Chen You looked down and scanned the parchment.
[Beggar-level Sponsorship (1000 Gold Coins)]: The Merchant Guild offers a hefty reward for a desperate fugitive. The caravan will sneak into the city under cover of darkness, quietly entering without firing a shot.
[Commoner Sponsorship (2000 Gold Coins)]: Hires a third-rate mercenary group to clear the way. The caravan consists of fifty people and flies the sponsor's flag.
[Noble-level Sponsorship (5000 Gold Coins)]: The caravan will be escorted by a heavily armored knight order. The caravan will consist of one hundred people and will fire a salute upon entering the city, displaying a banner with the sponsor's name.
[King-Level Sponsorship (10000 Gold Coins)]: Legendary behemoths pull the chariot, and a luxurious procession of a thousand people clears the way. The caravan carries aloft a giant gilded portrait of the sponsor, and flower petals are showered throughout the city as it enters, announcing the sponsor's fame to the entire server.
After reading it, Chen You's eye twitched slightly.
The planners of this Origin World system must have studied at Tencent or NetEase.
They have a firm grasp on the psychology of spending money to show off.
"Young man, I suggest you choose the budget option." Sanshui rubbed his hands together, smiling like an old chrysanthemum.
"It doesn't cost much, and it'll ensure the mission is completed smoothly. Plus, we'll have a flag hanging up—how prestigious!"
Chen You remained silent, wondering if the system had been monitoring him all along.
Li Guoan just confessed to looking for an opportunity to publicly fake his death.
This "trade sponsorship" mechanism is practically a stage tailor-made for us!
Chen You raised his head and looked at Sanshui.
"I don't like any of these price ranges."