Riding the Hype to Traffic

Night fell, and Dug announced the end of the public trial.

Though those seeking justice who had not received any money were disappointed, they could only head back into the city one after another. In this world, class hierarchy was deeply ingrained. Even if they had ten times the courage, they would not dare disturb the Heavenly Demon lord's rest.

The Heavenly Demon lord might be kind-hearted, but he truly dared to kill people.

As Dug scattered silver coin after silver coin, the Peacekeeping Gang's reputation swiftly spread throughout Luyang City.

Heavenly Demon Feng Qi was a good man, a righteous official, and the people's guardian...

For a time, word spread by word of mouth, and praise filled the air.

In just one day, Dug's reputation in Luyang City had reached its peak. His overall attributes had nearly tripled. His speed and agility in a frontal attack were now almost as fast as when he had Backstabbed Qiu Yuanlang from behind.

As for Backstab, that went without saying. Within ten meters, his Backstab could practically produce a blink-like effect. In a low-martial world, no one could evade it...

Night had fallen.

The Peacekeeping Gang was utterly silent.

From last night until now, the former Iron Palm Gang members had been run ragged by Dug and had barely slept. Once the public trial ended and they finally relaxed, every one of them collapsed.

Even Liu Cheng, whose Martial Arts were exceptional, yawned repeatedly.

Even an emperor did not send hungry soldiers into battle. Seeing this, Dug simply told everyone to rest.

In the vast Iron Palm Gang compound, snores rose and fell. The only ones still moving about were a few servants and the three Heavenly Demons.

Dug: Overall Rank 1, Mental Power 100, Total Simulation Arena Participants 576.

He opened his profile and took a look. His Mental Power had increased by another 20, while the total number of participants had dropped by several dozen more. Dug sighed, looked at the empty Iron Palm Gang compound, and closed the status panel. "There are too few people I can use!"

"Seventh Brother, you can use me!" Feng Zhong said with a fawning smile. "I can still keep going. Just tell me what you need done. For Seventh Brother's cause, I'd climb mountains of blades and plunge into seas of fire. I'm not doing this for rank. I just want to experience life in the Simulation Arena..."

After accompanying Dug through a full day of trials, Feng Zhong had not dared to run. Only now did he get the chance to speak. Afraid that Dug still intended to kill him, he immediately began declaring his loyalty.

"Seventh Brother, kill him! The more people there are on the team, the harder they are to control. Having me assist you is enough."

Wang San's messy hair covered his forehead, and his head hung slightly low. His voice was gloomy and sinister. He was still fiddling with a severed hand in his arms. Like Dug, his attributes had surged today, propelling him straight to second place on the rankings.

He knew perfectly well who held first place.

Previously, he had exposed Dug's Keyword and put the two of them under the spotlight, so he had been rather dissatisfied. But in just one day, his attributes had soared, and he had leaped into second place in the Simulation Arena. Having benefited so greatly, he naturally did not want anyone to ruin his bright future.

"Didn't Seventh Brother say there aren't enough people to use? You're just a yandere. Besides scaring people, what else can you do?" Feng Zhong retorted. "Can you influence the overall situation of the world? If I hadn't sent that letter to Qiu Yuanlang and stirred up his interest in the Heavenly Demons, you'd still be at Xingyu Tower looking for other Heavenly Demons! How could we have caused such a huge commotion and improved so quickly?"

"Are you provoking me?" Wang San grinned and abruptly turned toward Feng Zhong, his gaze sharp as blades.

With a swish.

Feng Zhong darted behind Dug and warned him, "I'm warning you, don't use your skill on me! Seventh Brother hasn't even killed me. If you use your skill on me and ruin Seventh Brother's plans, Seventh Brother won't spare you."

The doctor had revived Qiu Yuanlang and his son midway through the day. When the two woke up and saw Wang San, they acted like mice spotting a cat, their eyes darting around as they trembled in terror. Having seen their miserable state, Feng Zhong naturally did not want Wang San's skill used on him. If that happened, he truly would become useless.

"Trash." Wang San sneered and withdrew his gaze. He had accepted Dug's leadership and naturally did not dare overstep. Though his attributes had surged, he still believed he could not evade Feng Qi's Backstab. His speed was simply too fast.

"Seventh Brother, in a few days, every candidate will hear of the Peacekeeping Gang." Feng Zhong said. "It's easy to dodge an open spear, but hard to guard against a hidden arrow. No one knows what Keywords others possess. If we want to preserve our current position, the best way is to strike fast and leave them no time to react or grow before clearing them out."

He paused, then asked, "Boss, you should be ranked first now, right?"

Dug glanced at him. Before he could speak, Wang San said, "Is Seventh Brother's ranking something you can ask about?"

"Anyone with half a brain can guess it, all right? After causing such a huge stir in two days, if he still wasn't first, that would be absurd." Feng Zhong shot Wang San an impatient glare. "Can you, you damn pervert, talk less? Go kiss your stinking hand. Do you even understand strategy?"

"Let him speak," Dug said. Liu Cheng and the others did not have the energy to keep going. Since entering the city, Qiu Muqian and Han Zuo had not returned. Who knew what they were plotting behind his back?

The Iron Palm Gang now had only a little over four hundred people in total. Liu Cheng was the only one who could be called an expert, and even his Martial Arts were only about on par with Feng Shiyi's.

Previously.

Dug's plan in founding the Peacekeeping Vanguard had been to proceed step by step, gradually gathering like-minded people. But Feng Zhong had thrown things into chaos, spreading the operation so wide all at once. There were too few useful people, and no matter how energetic he was, he could not possibly cover everything or handle every matter personally.

Feng Zhong's proposal to strike fast was an option, but carrying it out would be extremely difficult. After all, this world was far too vast.

"Seventh Brother, the names of the top ten in the Simulation Arena won't be revealed until a month later. You may be feeling great now, but you've also exposed your rank ahead of time." Feng Zhong said. "What's more, you've disrupted everyone's hidden growth. You've basically become a target for everyone. No one will sit by and watch you grow stronger, because killing you lets them directly replace your rank. And your Keyword is Maintenance..."

He chuckled. "Of course, I know that's a disguise. But someone will eventually infer your real Keyword from your actions, and then they'll deliberately target you. Even if they can't figure it out, they can test you again and again until they do. Especially since you exposed the Heavenly Demons. There will always be smart people who, like you, borrow the natives' strength."

The names of the Simulation Arena's top ten would be revealed after a month?

Was this a shrinking circle?

From Feng Zhong's words, Dug obtained an even more important piece of information.

No wonder. He had previously thought that this world was so vast that hiding a few hundred people among tens of millions would be easy. If everyone relied solely on their own growth, how could there be any real competition? So there was a mechanism like this.

After one month of growth, the top ten would become glaringly obvious targets for everyone to attack. For anyone determined to compete for rank, killing a member of the top ten and replacing them was the quickest path to growth.

And later on, as fewer people remained, the fighting would only grow more brutal...

Damn it! Not knowing the rules could get people killed!

Fortunately, he still had Backstab as cover, and these people had been influenced by fixed thinking. They had not taken Maintenance as his true Keyword. Otherwise, he would really have been in deep trouble...

Dug's head ached slightly.

But on second thought, what difference would knowing the rules make? Was he supposed to stop competing for the top ten? After all, he had one more Keyword than everyone else, giving him a natural advantage. Reaching the top ten was far too easy for him.

Being exposed now or being exposed a month later made almost no difference to him.

Developing early would also let his attributes rise quickly. Facing a group of weaklings who had not yet grown was far better than facing a group of old foxes who had developed for a month.

Thinking that way, Dug relaxed again.

Feng Zhong continued, "...That's when my Tongue of Right and Wrong becomes useful. We can keep every sect busy and moving, even lure over the sects' experts, then recruit them one by one or kill them. That way, our power will grow larger and larger, and others won't be able to make use of the natives even if they want to."

Tongue of Right and Wrong?

What a Tongue of Right and Wrong. This guy really was persuasive.

Dug looked at Feng Zhong. "What rank are you?"

Feng Zhong chuckled, looking somewhat proud. "Thanks to Seventh Brother, I stirred up trouble between you and the Iron Palm Gang. That could be considered influencing the overall situation. I'm currently ninth in the Simulation Arena, barely squeezing into the top ten."

Fuck! Dug cursed inwardly. He had worked his ass off to become first in the Simulation Arena, while this guy had written one letter from start to finish and ridden the hype straight into the top ten. It was fucking unfair.

"Lucky bastard," Wang San muttered. Clearly, he was also quite dissatisfied that Feng Zhong had ridden his way into the top ten.

"What rank are you?" Dug asked Wang San.

"Thanks to Seventh Brother, I'm second in the Simulation Arena, barely breaking into the top three." Wang San glanced at Feng Zhong and deliberately stated his rank to disgust him.

"Fuck!" Feng Zhong's eyes widened. "You damn pervert, aren't you the real lucky bastard? Without Seventh Brother, with a disgusting Keyword like yours, you would've been burned to death the moment you showed your face. How could you have grown this quickly?"

One was second, and one was ninth! Dug suddenly smiled. "All right, stop arguing. We're all in the top ten now, tied to the same rope. In a month, none of us will escape it. We might as well work together and figure out how to protect our ranks."