In the cramped room, a balding middle-aged man spoke in a low voice.
"Ever since I was young, I've hated people who don't follow the rules most."
"Whenever I saw classmates or coworkers cheating on exams or copying homework, I was always the first to report them!"
"I respect the rules very much. I've always kept the Special Management Regulations drafted by the committee beside my bed. Everything must be carried out, produced, and operated according to the relevant laws and regulations. That is my personal principle."
The prosecutor sitting across from him, Song Shiyi, wore a strange expression.
"Then why are you here, Jia Xiaokai?"
"That's an injustice! A misunderstanding, a setup..."
Song Shiyi cut him off. "Let's talk business first."
"We all know that individuals from lower-dimensional worlds cannot break through dimensional restrictions on their own. They must cooperate with players."
"You said you didn't remotely manipulate anyone by any means. Then how did that Donghai Clan member named Yu Yao enter the real world? That was the tribe under your control."
"I don't know either."
Jia Xiaokai spread his hands. "You can't falsely accuse a good man, can you? Although I did make some minor mistakes before... I've been serving my sentence these past two years, and I haven't committed any violations."
"Jia Xiaokai, you were the first case of organizing lower-dimensional groups to engage in cross-dimensional prostitution."
Song Shiyi's gaze sharpened. "You weren't the first to use lower-dimensional believers and ordinary people to breed mutants, but you have committed the largest number of such crimes in history."
"You claim to respect the rules. Do you believe that yourself?"
The middle-aged Jia Xiaokai smoothed his hair. Not only was he not embarrassed, he even smiled. "Prosecutor Song, let's not bring up the past. Ever since you arrested me, I've been staying here obediently, peacefully managing faith in the Crawling Zone. The Pantheon has records of all that."
"Oh, right. It must have been the props in my room. The Donghai Clan must have used those props to travel over. That has to be it. That's the only possibility."
Song Shiyi said sternly, "I hope you will cooperate with the committee's investigation and tell the truth. Otherwise, once we uncover everything, your sentences will be combined, and your prison term will be extended further. You'd better behave yourself."
After the young female prosecutor left, the small room returned to darkness, with only the computer on the table flickering with a faint glow.
Jia Xiaokai's expression darkened.
His trump card had not been exposed. Sooner or later, he would soar to greatness.
"Once I enter the Leap Zone, what can the committee do to me? They're just a bunch of cowards who bully the weak and fear the strong."
"Song Shiyi, weren't you from a girl group? When the time comes, I'll make you wear a bodysuit in front of me, dancing square dances while singing Husband, Husband, I Love You!"
Lu Yao opened his takeout box, took out the Ginger Duck Noodles, and slowly ate them with pickled radish slices and sour plum soup.
After Zhou Qiang moved out, the place had returned to its usual peace.
He could finally focus wholeheartedly and return to the Simulator.
Isabelle naturally returned to the Pixel World.
She was Lu Yao's most important strategic weapon. It could be said that the Garlic Tribe's explosive development stemmed from Isabelle's exceptional individual abilities.
Normally, for a tribe to continuously develop its civilization and expand its population, it required sufficient patience and ongoing attention and care.
Civilization required long-term accumulation before it could show spiral progress.
Lu Yao vaguely felt that God players in the Safe Zone normally could not possess Apostles.
There was no related option at all in the list of Miracles. Isabelle was more like an inheritance Lu Yao had received from the Forest God.
He guessed that to independently create an Apostle, he might need to leave the Safe Zone, construct a wonder, and enter the Crawling Zone before the corresponding options would become available.
Lu Yao looked at the upper right corner.
Population: 11,371 Faith: 11,094
Under the advance of the Ghost City, Sanilo, these numbers were still growing further. Compared to living people reproducing, finding the Ghosts left behind by the dead was much easier in the short term.
With Mayor Chapman's vigorous promotion, Commander Alex led soldiers to find one wandering Ghost after another along the coast. Most of them were willing to join Sanilo in exchange for God's protection.
Sanilo's work of absorbing Ghosts had already advanced further into the desert.
Because Isabelle had slaughtered everything in the desert and scared the Sand Worms into hiding, the threat level there had now greatly decreased.
After continuously killing groups of Sand Worms, the traits of Isabelle's [Sword of the Forest] had also been triggered. Two more [Striped Lynxes] were created. They too ran into the forest, serving as invisible guardians of the Garlic Tribe.
The only flaw was that the vast Sanilo City did not have any decent Sacrificial Offerings.
Mayor Chapman had explained the reason.
All the precious treasures in the city had been offered to the Forest God. When God fell, their whereabouts became unknown. Later, Prayer God discovered that there were no Sacrificial Offerings here, and because Sanilo City refused to submit easily, it drew the punishment of a Totem curse.
Lu Yao had asked Isabelle, "You used to be the Forest God's Apostle. Why do the people of Sanilo City know nothing about you?"
"My lord, Apostles spend long periods traveling outside and rarely remain stationed in one place. Believers also know very little about them."
Considering that even Little Fire, the Temple servant, did not recognize Isabelle, it seemed to make sense.
Lu Yao did not investigate further.
Just as Lu Yao was closely monitoring Sanilo's situation, trouble broke out on the Garlic Tribe's side.
Some [Cave Dwellers] suddenly appeared in the western mountains that had collapsed during the Earthquake.
To buy time for the Garlic Tribe to gather people, two Hero Hunter-Heads, Yu Zou and five Hunters lured the Cave Dwellers in another direction. However, because they were outnumbered, both Hero Hunter-Heads and four Hunters died in battle. Only the injured Yu Zou survived.
The news came so suddenly that Lu Yao was caught off guard, followed immediately by anger.
I ignored the situation in the mountains, and now you're pushing your luck?
--Isabelle, kill those Cave Dwellers and avenge Lie Tou.
Upon receiving the order, the Apostle rushed into the mountains.
Soon, [In Battle] appeared above Isabelle's head.
Lu Yao clicked into the battle screen.
In the battle scene, the Cave Dwellers were humanoid creatures with bare upper bodies and Stone Masks on their heads. They held stone spears and were covered in thick hair. There were five of them in total, ranging from level 1 to level 5.
Against monsters of this scale, Heroes without soldiers truly had a hard time fighting them.
Lu Yao looked at the panel of the highest-level Cave Dweller.
[Cave Dweller level 5] Health Points: 102/102 Mana Points: 22/22 Damage: 6 Defense: 4 Speed: 4 [Sturdy Lv2] Health Points are above normal, allowing it to maintain high morale for a longer period.
To Isabelle, no matter how many Cave Dwellers there were, they were nothing more than insects. They charged desperately, but could not break through Isabelle's defense at all. Their thrown stone spears all missed.
Isabelle slaughtered them coldly. After wiping out two groups of Cave Dwellers in succession, she finally found the monsters' main camp. Their nest was on a mountain, where there were another ten of them. Their leader was a [Mutated Cave Dweller].
[Mutated Cave Dweller level 10] Health Points: 219/219 Mana Points: 51/51 Damage: 8 Defense: 6 Speed: 6 [Sturdy Lv5] Health Points are above normal, allowing it to maintain high morale for a longer period. [Heavy Strike Level 1] Has a chance to deal additional damage when attacking.
Salt Pool Tribe little people could also be seen moving around inside the Cave Dweller nest.
When they saw Isabelle arrive, they fled outside in a panic.
Lu Yao frowned.
Those troublemakers again. They were everywhere.
It was hard to say that the Cave Dwellers' sudden ambush on the Garlic Tribe had nothing to do with the Salt Pool Tribe.
Faced with Isabelle, the [Mutated Cave Dweller] actually turned and ran, fleeing alongside the Salt Pool Tribe members without the slightest bearing of a leader.
You offended God and still wanted to run?
Lu Yao directly unleashed a bolt of Lightning, knocking 40 Health Points off the [Mutated Cave Dweller]. The Electric Shock slowed its escape for a moment, and Isabelle immediately caught up to it.
Having summoned the Holy Sword, Isabelle completely overwhelmed the Mutated Cave Dweller. Under her successive thrusts, slashes, and bombardments of green light, the Cave Dweller leader's health bar emptied. After it fell to the ground, [Dead] appeared above its head.
Isabelle then began exterminating the remaining Cave Dwellers.
Perhaps because they were not very intelligent, the lower-level Cave Dwellers were instead fearless of death, rushing forward one after another, though every one of them was easily killed by Isabelle.
After the battle ended, Isabelle stood with her sword planted in the ground. Specks of green light emerged from the corpses on the ground and gradually condensed into a small animal.
[Off-road Rabbit level 5] [Created by Isabelle] Health Points: 75/75 Mana Points: 25/25 Damage: 2 Defense: 2 Speed: 10 [off-road level 5] Can run at high speed for long periods and evade enemies. [Forest Elemental Level 1] A Forest Elemental Creature that benefits the rapid growth of the forest. All attributes are enhanced within the forest. The effect depends on ability level and Health Points.
The Off-road Rabbit's attributes could not be called outstanding. At best, it was better than nothing.
"My lord."
Isabelle said, "It can serve as a communication hub between tribes and transmit information."
Lu Yao's main focus was not this rabbit.
He typed in the Dialogue Box.
--Ask the dead souls why the Cave Dwellers attacked the Garlic Tribe, and who was behind it.
Thanks to Hani Repeater for supporting with 100 Qidian Coins, and Star Moon River for supporting with 100 Qidian Coins.
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