My gaze darted to a corner of the display. As I thought, my account had been restricted. I couldn’t make a post or reply to a comment. Hot and Sour Noodles was right, I could never understand the mechanisms of politics. All I knew was that Tang Long had absolute say in this matter, and anyone who tried to go against him would be beheaded for their efforts. I could even imagine how things more or less went behind the scene: A mysterious caller contacted the president of Eternal Moon Corporation’s Shanghai branch, Ling Xue and said to her, "You’ve heard about Lu Chen? Good. Think twice before you act, okay? Businessmen don’t go against politicians, so don’t displease vice chief Tang more than he already is. You’re a smart girl, I’m sure you understand what I mean." After that, Ling Xue put down her phone and said to her secretary, "Do as the VR department’s red header documents we received dictate. I’m sorry for Lu Chen, but it’ll pass eventually…"

Scratch imagination, it could very well be exactly what had happened in reality.

Thankfully, I could still visit the forums and search for information as usual, and these were the functions that I really needed. I would be stuck in Final Duel Valley for the foreseeable future, so it was inevitable that my enemies would catch up to me eventually. My choice to destroy Purple Grape City had caused millions and millions of Japanese players to lose their home. It would surely generate the kind of hatred that even killing me to Level 0 couldn’t sate. If nothing else, Red Maple would definitely send his goons my way. For as long as I remained in Final Duel Valley, I would have to dance atop the knife’s edge.

I sucked in a deep breath and mentally prepared myself for the challenges to come. Li Chengfeng, Heaven’s Rain, Diamond Dust, and 5000 Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls elites had lost everything and dropped to Level 0 at Final Duel Valley. What was my sacrifice compared to theirs?

Suddenly, a new headline appeared on the forums, and it was one that shocked even me—

"Little Heavenly King Falling Dust’s expulsion from the CGL Hall of Fame caused great anger. Lin Fan, Shusheng, Lin Yixin, Murong Shanshan and more announced their withdrawal from the CGL Hall of Fame as a way of protest against tyranny!"

I shuddered when I saw this. To think that my incident would cause such craziness in the China server!

I clicked into the thread, and the post stated:

“Well known as the Little Heavenly King, Lu Chen is the vice leader and soul of the guild Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls. During the War of Purple Grape City, Lu Chen and Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls pitted wits and brawns against the three enemy main cities—Cyan Earth City, Elephant City and Purple Grape City—and was able to destroy Purple Grape City in the end at a great cost to themselves. In a sense, one could even say that Lu Chen was the biggest proponent behind the destruction of Purple Grape City.

However, his action angered the vice chief of the China VR Department, Tang Long, resulting in Lu Chen being expelled from the Hall of Fame and stripped of his in-game nationality. Our hero won the day for us, but all he got in return was injustice and punishment! The announcement had come as a massive shock to the entire Chinese gaming world. After the truth was revealed, over 20 CGL Hall of Famers including the retired ones such as Shusheng, Lin Fan, Murong Shanshan, the Fruit Knife Goddess Lin Yixin, Seven-Star Lamp, Windy Snow, Zhi Yun’er, Luo River God of the Capital, Farewell Song, Wind That Touches The Moon, Ling Xueshang, Moonkiss, Legendary Brave Li Chengfeng, October Rain, Stranger of Three Lifetimes, Come See The Snow Tonight and more announced their withdrawal from the CGL Hall of Fame. Now, there are less than 10 people left in the once well-regarded CGL Hall of Fame.

Is this a natural part of the sorrows of modern society, or one that was perpetuated by an official’s loss of morals? The people had come together to protest against the CGL organization, but the outcome remains to be seen.”

……

My heart overflowed with gratitude when I saw this. It made me realize that I wasn’t fighting alone. Tang Long would pay for his attempt to manipulate the entire China server to serve his own interests. Every one of these CGL Hall of Famers was a powerhouse in their own right. Not even a vice chief like him could handle all of them by himself!

I checked out the Japanese forums next, and the first thing I saw was an image of the ruined Purple Grape City. What was once a magnificent city was now an abandoned ruin. It was what I wanted though. Peace of mind was impossible unless the wolves were dead. Now that Japan’s players had lost their main city, could they still keep pace with the three main cities at the Center? Of course not!

The first stickied thread in the forums was posted by Red Maple himself. In fact, it was an issue of challenge to me: "Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand, didn’t you say you would fight us to the death at Final Duel Valley? If so, where are you? It’s been 12 hours since you came online, or are you all bark and no bite, so-called Little Heavenly King of the China server? Show yourself if you’re a man. We’ll teach you a whole new lesson in shame!"

I laughed. I couldn’t believe he had the gall to issue anything after he was killed and dropped to Level 0 thanks to Heaven’s Rain. Even if he shot up the levels at godlike speed, it would be ten days [1]at least before he returned to his former level. Until that happened, he wasn’t even worthy of my attention!

That being said, I supposed that it was almost time I went back online. I couldn’t let the Japanese think that I was actually scared!

Before I went online, I drank a glass of water and gave He Yi a call—

"Lu Chen?"

"Yep. Hi Eve!"

He Yi giggled a little before saying, "Hi to you too. What is it?"

I smiled a little before replying, "I want to talk to you about Li Chengfeng, Heaven’s Rain and Diamond Dust…"

"Hehe, I knew you would bring it up eventually!"

"Now that the map has been reopened, I want you to help them to return to their former strength as much as you can, preferably within half a month’s time. Also, they should have priority to the equipment in the guild warehouse. I’d like to let them pick any equipment they like at the cost of just10% of their current guild contribution points. The sooner we can restore our 5000 Dragonlight Cavalrymen’s strength, the better. No matter what happens, they will always be the main force of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls."

A smiling He Yi replied, "I’ve done it all already. Lian Xin and Mingyue took Li Chengfeng, Heaven’s Rain and Diamond Dust to the D Rank instances this morning, and they are expected to grind C Rank instances tomorrow. Barring any accidents, they should all to return to Level 150 in three days tops. Li Chengfeng didn’t drop everything when he died and still has his Dark Blade and boots, so he was a great help during the grind. Our 5000 Dragonlight Cavalrymen are doing fine as well. Mounts are bound to the riders and can be summoned no matter the level, so things are going smoother than expected. They’re not Level 50 yet, but they’re expected to get there very soon. Xu Yang even spent the morning organizing and mobilizing the entire guild to carry the Dragonlight Cavalry with 3-leechers-2-grinders method."

I nodded smilingly. "Mn mn, that’s one huge worry off my shoulders. Speaking of which, are you doing okay while I’m away from Suzhou? Do you miss me?"

He Yi fell silent.

"Eve?"

"Mn."

"Why aren’t you saying anything?"

He Yi murmured, "Of course I miss you, stupid. If it wasn’t for the guild, I would put down everything and travel to Xinjiang to see you right now…"

"Hehe, I know…" I said smilingly, "I really do. Anyway, I won’t bother you any longer. I myself have a date with little Japan. I like that Final Duel Valley is a place where I can kill players and rob their experience. I can even upgrade my Ancient Divine Dragon. Once it reaches Level 100, I’ll show them what pain really means!"

He Yi chuckled. "Mn mn. But be careful, okay? By the way, about your dad and third uncle…"

I shuddered. "I know, I was worried about that too. The entire China server is in chaos after all the gods in the CGL Hall of Fame have pulled out. Now that the pressure is truly on the VR department, I don't even want to know what Tang Long will do to get his way. Nothing can happen to them, or I—"

He Yi comforted me with a giggle. "Calm down, I already took care of it. Last night, I sent my men to pick up both your dad and your third uncle. Right now, they are both staying in the Suzhou headquarters of Raincube Corporation and are as safe as they can be. I even hired a bunch of retired special unit policemen to beef up my security department, so nothing can touch us unless Tang Long literally mobilizes the army, which is just impossible. The most that bastard can mobilize is a couple of greenhorns…"

I smiled. "Take care, Eve. Don’t tire yourself out too much."

"Mn, I won’t. Well, go beat up your little Japan. I have some stuff I need to take care of as well."

"Yeah."

……

A sense of happiness permeated inside me as I hung up. He Yi was such a gentle, thoughtful and caring woman. It was no wonder that third aunt loved her so much and kept urging me to marry her. She said that she would feel ten thousand years happier that way, whatever she meant...

Of course, I was well aware that the status gap between He Yi and I was like night and day. No matter how accomplished I was—which I wasn’t—it was inevitable that someone would accuse me of social climbing. I didn’t care though. I had always been thick-skinned as fuck, so this bit of criticism was like nourishment to me. If someone wanted to accuse me of living off He Yi, then so be it. I love her, and that was that.

Speaking of love, the other woman I love, Lin Yixin, seemed to be plotting something. We traded messages for a bit, but she didn’t call me in person. Knowing her, it meant that she was plotting something I absolutely didn’t want to be on the receiving end of. The memory of her piercing gaze alone sent shivers up my spine.

Anyway, it was finally time to go online and fight!

……

I entered the game using the code He Yi gave me. Once again, I must say that she was a bona fide genius. Her code had easily cut into Heavenblessed’s client program and concealed my IP address, something that most people had deemed as impossible. In fact, no one had ever managed to cheat in an Eternal Moon Corporation game. Technically speaking, He Yi’s program was neither a hack nor a cheat, but what she did was still a feat that would put countless self-appointed hackers to shame. That she had written it within an impossibly short amount of time was just the icing on the cake.

Swhoosh!

My vision brightened, and my avatar appeared inside the tent. I didn’t rush out immediately because I wanted to scout out my surroundings first. It would be foolish to run out screaming only to be shot like a porcupine by the enemy’s archers.

I looked outside. It was early morning inside the game, and a blue mist was pervading the valley. My vision range was only 100 yards or so, but I still saw a dozen or so Purple Grape City players roaming the area. Further away where I couldn’t see, I heard the noises of players battling against the mobs. All of them were at least Level 170 and, collectively, could definitely be a threat to me.

There was a ten-man party sitting not far away from me. The party leader was a brawny guy wielding an axe. Sitting idly on top of a rock, he said, "Pooh. I bet that kid is going to stay offline until reinforcements arrive. Hmph, Red Maple and his stubbornness. There was no need for us to camp this place at all!"

A lean assassin beside him chuckled. "Yeah, I think he’s too scared to show his face as well. Let’s just pack our stuff and leave, boss. By the way, a new maid CD shop just opened next to my home. You wanna head over and have some fun? I heard that the girls there are wild and open to one-night stands!"

The axe wielder replied, "Pooh! Have some standards, will you? The girls in that CD shop are as ugly as goddamned dinosaurs! My kind of woman is something like… the guild leader of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls. Man, both her looks and her temperament are top-tier, not to mention that she’s the guild leader of that kid, Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand. If we can take her from him, hehe…"

The assassin exclaimed in surprise, "You’re a really picky eater, aren’t you, boss?"

"Haha, but of course!"

……

I took a look inside my bag. I still had dozens of sets of Saint Spirit Potions, and my equipment durability had also returned to 40% or so after a full day’s rest, which was just enough to fight a prolonged battle. Alright, it’s time to teach those fuckers a lesson for setting their filthy gazes on Eve!

Swhoosh!

I emerged from the tent and dashed across the maple leaf–covered ground like lightning. My target was the ten-man party.

1. So Li Chengfeng is dead and we talk to his corpse, but Red Maple? Meh, just out of commission for 10 days!