When to Destroy, Then Destroy

He continued forward.

It was now deep autumn; the trees along the path had shed their leaves, and the grass lay withered and yellow.

He faintly heard two hurried footsteps behind him, accompanied by a burst of excited conversation.

The yellow dots on the Minimap suddenly turned red.

"Old Chen, that guy in the mask and hat just now was a bit suspicious."

"Old Wang, looks like you felt it too. I think he's that Gao Linzhi—I worked on a project with him at the company, so I'm still somewhat familiar with his build."

"Haha, then today's our lucky day to get rich!"

"That's two million. He's just a programmer, weak and helpless. We'll scare him a bit, and he'll cave."

"Right, just like when we were in school, sneaking into dorms at night to shake down those dumb students."

"Yeah, those guys were all book-smart. A few threats and none of them dared to run. If they'd just bolted, we couldn't have caught that many people."

After hearing this clearly, Gao Linzhi only sneered inwardly.

He walked forward while zooming in on the map.

He saw two guys who looked like salesmen—still in suits and ties, slick-haired and greasy-faced—chasing in his direction, even though they were in the mountains.

Heaven has a road, but you refuse to walk it; Hell has no door, yet you insist on barging in.

He checked the surrounding environment through the Minimap.

Not far ahead was a steep slope covered in dense forest.

The slope was over twenty meters high, very steep, with many shrubs and weeds, but still climbable.

At the top was a stretch of woods, relatively flat.

It was a good place for an ambush.

Scumbags like these only had eyes for money; they wouldn't reason with you at all.

If he said he was wronged, he'd get no sympathy, only mockery.

Gao Linzhi quickened his pace, grabbed the shrubs, and climbed all the way up the steep slope.

Then he hid his body behind a tree.

He summoned the Corpse Vine and concealed it beneath the soil and rocks.

The two salesmen, Chen Xing and Wang Cong, were hurrying over.

That was two million on the move!

Just catch up, and it was theirs!

They never even considered the possibility of resistance.

Chen Xing walked a bit faster. He watched Gao Linzhi quickly ascend the steep slope and then disappear into the woods above.

Because of the angle, he could no longer see him.

He grew anxious—if they lost sight of him, they might not find him again.

Chen Xing scrambled up the steep slope first. As he climbed, he shouted:

"Gao Linzhi, come on out, I see you!"

"Hurry up and come back with me to turn yourself in to the company. They definitely won't deal with you too harshly!"

"You don't want your family to be worried sick, do you?"

He was completely bluffing Gao Linzhi. He only wanted the money.

Whether Gao Linzhi lived or died, he didn't care.

As for whether Gao Linzhi was wronged by the company?

He thought he probably was.

Because he'd heard of "Gao Linzhi" too.

A few female employees at the company, when privately rating which guy was the most eligible bachelor, said that Gao Linzhi had potential as a husband—young and already owned a fully paid-off house.

He just wasn't in a high position, wasn't handsome enough, and still needed to work hard. Another thirty million in savings, and he'd be about right.

Someone like that—how could he possibly delete the database and run?

Give up his house?

But that had nothing to do with him. He only cared about the two million.

Chen Xing struggled quite a bit, finally making it up the steep slope. Before he could catch his breath, what greeted him was a gaping, bloody maw!

"Ow, holy shit, what the hell is that thing?!" Before he could react, his vision went black.

How could an ordinary person possibly deal with a monster from a game?

Especially since this Corpse Vine had already tasted blood.

Death coil, devouring bite—in just a few seconds, Chen Xing vanished into the vine's maw.

Gao Linzhi watched from the side, thoroughly pleased, without a hint of nausea.

He looked at it like a hated enemy getting what he deserved.

When an enemy gets screwed over, how many people actually feel like throwing up?

Before long, Wang Cong also hurried over.

Because of the angle, he only heard Chen Xing's scream and didn't see the ambushing Corpse Vine.

So instead of fleeing, his face lit up with glee.

He pulled out a field-use Kukri Knife and kept climbing upward.

"Haha, Old Chen, you were way too careless."

"Now the money's all mine!"

Wang Cong climbed up the steep slope, brandishing his knife, expecting to scare Gao Linziz into losing his will to resist.

But the next moment, a sickly green vine reared up like a person and coiled toward him.

"Ah, what the hell is that?!"

Wang Cong barely managed two more words before meeting the same fate.

Coiled, suffocated, gone...

Gao Linzhi watched it all unfold.

Supernatural power was just great.

Before this, how could he have casually taken out two people?

These were two living, breathing human beings!

And now, this was perfect...

No bodies, not a trace.

Not even a killer.

The next moment, he stored the Corpse Vine into his Game Backpack.

No bodies, no killer—normal investigation was impossible, unless things went abnormal.

Besides, this spot was far off the main mountain path.

The terrain was rough, the wind strong, and the forest blocked sound. No one heard the two men's screams.

Even if someone did, they'd just write it off as nonsense.

After taking those two out, Gao Linzhi felt nothing but calm.

He didn't feel the slightest urge to vomit, that first-kill nausea.

All he felt was a complete sense of release.

He'd finally let that anger out.

From now on, anyone who threatened him, he'd clean them up!

Damn, that felt good!

Gao Linzhi's whole body was suffused with an indescribable comfort.

This was what life should be!

Before, when people cursed him out, he could only swallow it, only endure it!

That wasn't living—that was just surviving!

And this wasn't enough yet. There was still the Xu Corporation.

Just wait—not a single one would be spared!

Gao Linzhi studied the Minimap and headed deeper into the mountain range.

He walked from daylight until nightfall before finding a rocky windbreak and stopping to rest.

Sitting down against the rock, he looked around—deep forest, sky nearly dark.

He checked his supplies.

Then he summoned the Corpse Vine and had it guard him underground.

After tallying, he found his current items totaled:

Five Defense Talismans and two Escape Talismans, one 15-liter jug of mineral water, a big box of instant noodles, a lighter, a boning knife, and a large bottle of 500 vitamin tablets.

That was enough to keep him alive for a week.

Then he tried cutting some branches, gathered fallen leaves, feathers, and dry moss, and used the lighter to start a fire.

Of course, before lighting it, he carefully built a closed fire pit with stones.

To keep the light from scattering outward and to prevent a forest fire.

With the fire going to ward off the cold, he leaned against a rock, ready to spend the long night.