The Dagger Revealed

The advantage was mine. Wu You was certain of victory, and he raised his head proudly. "So, can this change your mind? You have two choices now:

Either hand over the account obediently and transfer eighteen million yuan, and I'll let you leave safely;

Or we beat you half to death, then make you hand over the account and transfer the money anyway. If I'm feeling kind, I might even call 120 for you. You have ten seconds to think it over!"

The rich second-generation heirs behind him began counting down in unison to apply pressure.

"Ten... nine..."

"You two pathetic losers, wise up and know when to quit! Two million is enough to last you your whole lives, so don't push your luck!" one of the rich heirs advised them "kindly."

When they counted down to three, the black-clad men surrounding them began itching to make a move.

Chen Hao helplessly sighed and raised a hand, signaling them to stop counting. He took a laptop from his backpack, sat down in a chair, and began operating it.

"Hey, that's more like it~ See? This way, everyone's happy. We're all civilized people!" Wu You was very pleased by Chen Hao's cooperation.

After entering the final line of commands, Chen Hao pressed Enter and revealed a mysterious smile. "Done! Let your technician take a look."

Wu You faintly sensed that something was wrong. Before he could call the technician left at the server room, his phone rang.

After answering the call and listening for a few moments, Wu You's expression shifted unpredictably. He glared viciously at Chen Hao, who was sitting on the sofa, and snarled in a low voice, "You! What did you do?"

Chen Hao chuckled and ignored his fury, remaining utterly calm. "Nothing much. I saw that the private server had been running nonstop for over two months. Even the donkeys on a production team aren't worked that hard, so I let it rest for a while. Of course, if I can make it rest, I can also make it move!"

"I see you won't shed a tear until you see the coffin!" Wu You gritted his teeth. After hesitating for a moment, he steeled himself and waved his hand.

"Get them!"

Pang Ban moved faster than the black-clad men around them.

Without anyone seeing how he had moved, he caught one of the black-clad men behind him by the arm. Lowering his center of gravity, he twisted on his heel and spun around his body's axis. With a powerful shoulder throw, he sent the man flying, crashing into two black-clad men opposite them and knocking them to the ground.

Before anyone could react,

Bang, bang, bang! A series of thunderous explosions rang out without pause.

Pang Ban attacked with fists, elbows, and knees, displaying ferocious explosive power. Every move struck the enemy's vulnerable vital points—the neck, joints, and other weak spots.

In the blink of an eye, within just a few seconds, another five men were lying on the ground. His efficiency was astonishing.

The other side's fighting strength had dropped by a third.

Pang Ban stood where he was, neither flushed nor out of breath. He had clearly held back. Taking the initiative and seizing the moment, he instantly intimidated everyone present.

As for the black-clad men, most of them were internet-addicted youths, and their abilities varied wildly. The moment they realized they had encountered an expert, they all became timid and hesitant, not daring to step forward.

A sharp squeal rang out.

It was the sound produced when the soles of his shoes scraped against the floor under tremendous friction.

Pang Ban pressed his advantage and charged straight at a burly man standing six feet tall beside Wu You.

After fully gathering his strength, he drove forward with a straight punch, blasting apart the man's guard. He raised his knee to strike, but the man blocked it by pressing down with both hands. Even so, the fierce momentum lifted him slightly off the ground.

Pang Ban closed in on him. Before the man could react, Pang Ban's palm sliced into the center of his chest. His palm became fingers, his fingers became a fist, and the fist unleashed three layers of force in a single strike—the Inch-Step Exploding Fist.

The burly man flew several yards backward and crashed heavily to the ground. Only after a long while did he slowly climb back up. Blood stained the corner of his mouth, and he had clearly suffered serious internal injuries.

Pang Ban glanced at him in surprise. The man had actually managed to get back up after taking his inch punch. He nodded. "You're not bad."

The pupils of Wu You and the other rich heirs shrank, and they all retreated several steps to keep their distance from Pang Ban. They knew that the burly man who had been knocked down was their real bodyguard—a genuine expert who had killed before. Normally, even four or five people attacking together would not be his match. He was also Wu You's greatest source of confidence.

They had never expected him to be knocked down in a single exchange. The situation had completely reversed, and Wu You's spirit collapsed along with the burly man.

Chen Hao stood up, the corner of his mouth curling into a grin. He clicked his tongue and said, "I was sincere when I offered you the moon. Why make things difficult? Did you really think I'd dare play with a few second-generation heirs like you without making any preparations? Aren't you curious why, after causing such a huge commotion here, none of the men you left outside have shown up?"

Step by step, he walked up to Wu You and patted his face, each slap harder than the last. "Young Master Wu, I was still showing you some respect. I didn't let Old Ban come straight at you. Otherwise—"

Chen Hao left the sentence unfinished, but its meaning was obvious. If Wu You still refused to cooperate, he would cross the line.

"You have two choices. Either hand over the remaining payment obediently, and I'll pretend none of this happened. We can still be friends. Or we beat you half to death, make you pay the balance, then take control of the private server and leave you with a pile of servers and abandoned code that cost you forty million. I'll give you ten seconds to think about it~"

Fortune had turned, and Heaven spared no one. Wu You said dejectedly, "Brother Tian, no need to count. I admit defeat. You call the shots!"

Brother Tian? Chen Hao froze, then realized what had happened. Damn, I forgot I gave him the name Long Aotian.

The two sides sat down. Watching Wu You transfer the remaining twenty million yuan, Chen Hao said, "Hey~ If only you'd done that from the start."

Chen Hao also operated his own laptop for a while. "The private server's service has been restored. I've sent the website data and the private server's super administrator account to your email. See? I'm a man of my word!"

That afternoon, every player who was playing Greedy Blue Moon Legend, whether they were fighting monsters or engaged in PvP, experienced a full-server disconnection. No one escaped it.

Similar voices immediately rang out across all the internet cafés. "Manager, I got disconnected!"

When they tried logging in again, a pop-up appeared, saying that the server was undergoing temporary maintenance and asking them to try again later.

It turned out they had not been disconnected. The server was undergoing temporary maintenance.

There was nothing they could do. Some people paid up and left, while most players continued waiting where they were.

Only the players stuck in the queue secretly rejoiced. Now they finally did not have to wait in line.

Several minutes later, after countless attempts, Greedy Blue Moon Legend finally returned to normal. The players speculated that the server had probably been restarted.

A server restart meant that the bosses had respawned. The players flooding into the game eagerly formed groups of three to five and rushed off to hunt them down!

They did not know why the server had needed maintenance. As long as it did not last too long, Greedy Blue Moon Legend would not be affected in any way apart from drawing a few curses.

Meanwhile, the culprit, Chen Hao, was playing bowling. He picked up a moderately weighted bowling ball with his right hand, took a few quick steps, then slid forward with the momentum and released the ball in one smooth motion.

Crash—all ten pins!

Chen Hao had played bowling a few times during company team-building events in his previous life. It had been purely for fun, though he occasionally managed a strike. It seemed his luck was pretty good this time.

Blowing on his right hand, he said to Wu You, "Want to play a couple rounds?"

Damn, play what? I'm in no mood.

That was what Wu You thought, but he still forced a smile. "No, Brother Tian. Another day, another day~"

Tch, no fun! I only had to show off twice, and it was all settled.

"Then, pleasant trading~ We won't need to see each other again!"

Chen Hao beckoned to Old Ban, wrapped things up, and headed toward the exit.

"Um... Brother Tian!"

Wu You's somewhat ingratiating voice came from behind him. Chen Hao stopped and turned around. "Is there something else?"

Wu You asked unwillingly, "That backdoor or whatever... can you give it to me?"

Chen Hao laughed and pretended not to understand. "Backdoor? What backdoor? Old Ban, do you know what he's talking about?"

He asked Pang Ban, who shook his head.

"See? Even my dearest friend doesn't know about it, so you must be talking about some damn backdoor that doesn't exist~"

"Then how can I be sure you won't shut down the server again in the future?"

The smile vanished. Chen Hao walked up to Wu You and straightened his slightly disheveled collar. "When it comes to being a person, you have to keep your word! You can only trust that I'm a good person. And more importantly, you—"

Chen Hao leaned close to Wu You's ear and whispered, one word at a time,

"Have! No! Choice!"