The Court's Arrival, and Gao Linzhi's Recognition

Ordinary Player wouldn't be able to tell.

They couldn't tell from the last Sacrifice Event.

Unless they become stronger.

However, as they become stronger, the illusions set in the game also become stronger, so they still can't see through them.

Only someone like Gao Linzhi, who transcends major version updates, can see through the essence of the game ahead of time.

And they saw that the imperial court also used similar illusions.

This made him realize why the game had been repelled each time it invaded the Skyfall World...

Even within this seemingly corrupt feudal dynasty, there were still highly capable individuals.

This is not a materialistic, realistic dynasty, but a dynasty with extraordinary power.

Furthermore, the Archipelago's structure meant that the feudal dynasties' power to exert control was far less than that of dynasties that were confined to the mainland.

Therefore, it is easy for true "reclusive masters" to emerge.

In a closed-off land-based dynasty, there are no reclusive masters.

Because once this happens, either he rises up and defeats the dynasty to become king himself, or he is killed by the king.

There are no two options.

As a time traveler, Gao Linzhi had seen plenty of dramas exposing "reclusive masters".

Various so-called traditional martial arts techniques are easily defeated by professional fighters with just a few punches once they enter the ring.

The real world is materialistic. Scientific training, high-intensity training, ample nutrition, and extensive screening are a hundred times better than so-called "reclusive masters."

We are all ordinary people, with one head and two hands. There are no miraculous events that can change our physical constitution. Only talent, selection, training, and nutrition can guarantee the level of fighting.

But the Skyfall World is different. It is full of strange and mysterious things, which makes all kinds of "accidental factors that make you stronger" much stronger.

The seemingly insignificant official from the imperial court before them was clearly a "master" skilled in this art.

Gao Linzhi learned from the intelligence that the Spokesperson on the large ship was a Prefectural Governor's Clerk governor's office on the Prefectural Island.

A mere Prefectural Governor's Clerk managed to fool a well-informed player into believing it was a system quest that they were willing to fight to the death for.

Although the main quest has very high requirements, many players cannot complete it.

In comparison, the side quests are much simpler.

There will definitely be players who take the bait.

Sure enough, not long after, players came forward to accept the quest and help with the construction.

Some people dug holes, some carried stones and sand, and some brought food...

Before long, the clerk issued only a few tasks, and the small dock in front of them visibly expanded.

Now that players are at higher levels and their physical abilities have been greatly enhanced, their labor efficiency has naturally increased significantly as well.

Gao Linzhi made his way onto the large ship.

The prefect's clerk was sitting leisurely in the tea room of the three-story pavilion on the boat, watching the busy players below.

The advisor sat to the side, keeping him company while he drank tea.

"Sigh, before I came here, I was worried that I had offended the prefect's new ninth wife. But now it seems that this is a wonderful job."

"Yes, sir, these players are truly foolish. They can't even see through some mere illusions," the advisor chimed in with a mocking laugh.

"Hahaha, it's not that they're stupid, it's that they're greedy. All sorts of deceptions ultimately boil down to one word: greed."

"If people aren't greedy, even the best deception will be ineffective," the registrar said, shaking his head.

Gao Linzhi, listening from the side, seemed to agree.

"Your Excellency is truly Gao Ming, surpassing all others," the advisor agreed.

"Hahaha, they probably think we're all old fogies, but they don't know that we gentlemen know everything, we understand everything, we just can't let the commoners learn it," the registrar mocked.

Gao Linzhi agreed with this.

Just like Emperors Kangxi and Qianlong, who were very knowledgeable about Western science and events, they not only failed to promote changes within their own factions, but also, precisely because they understood the outside world, intensified Literary Inquisition, making people even more foolish.

Because they knew very well what the consequences would be if the people were intelligent: they would lose their lives.

And the Sky Wolf Dynasty was no exception.

Although their upper and middle management knew about the other world, the true nature of the players, and the power of the company system, instead of learning from their example, they only intensified their exploitation and suppression of their own people.

Now they're using players to attack them again.

Now Gao Linzhi understands why the game ultimately failed to invade the Skyfall World.

This is all because the Sky Wolf Dynasty has experts who can imitate Game System to deceive players.

In this way, the power that players gain from the Game System is used against the game itself.

How can the game possibly end well?

No wonder you failed several times.

No wonder this time, the game added other operators and new ranking events.

Gao Linzhi believed that the friendly reminder was also added by the game operators.

As those who frequently play online games know, online games are generally divided into development companies and operation companies, and the two may be completely independent of each other.

Those that are extremely large often develop and operate themselves, but most of the time there is one development company and another operation company.

Developers are often from one company, while operators can have multiple platforms and multiple companies.

The Skyfall Game has now clearly brought in an operator.

This is easy to understand.

An incomplete game, introducing strategic allies.

This can also be seen from the fact that the ranking events never involve any changes to the game mechanics.

Simply using game mechanics to provide tasks and rewards does not change the game mechanics.

For example, modifying and improving the recharge portal so that other players can also recharge normally.

Another example is fixing the resurrection mechanism so that players no longer need expensive Revival Stone to revive.

For example, changing the upgrade mechanism could prevent the experience points from decaying too severely.

However, it never did these necessary things.

They're just launching one event after another.

These activities are clearly secondary and do not change the core game mechanics.

Now, this very point has been exploited by the imperial court.

Because the core game mechanics were incomplete and the developers were absent, the imperial court itself also used illusion magic to exploit this game mechanic.

Otherwise, game developers could avoid this by doing just one thing.

That means giving players the ability to determine whether the person in front of them is a legitimate NPC.

Now, games can't do that; they can only watch helplessly as players are scammed, at most offering a warning in the event announcement.

But as the registrar said, greed alone is enough to make people willingly be deceived.

These players, looking at the illusion of "court favorability" and those lackluster rewards, were all thinking about accumulating favorability through rewards, becoming court officials, and then recouping the benefits they had lost.

Little did they know, the other party was simply taking advantage of their short-term labor.

What to do next?

That's simple. At most, select a few typical cases and give them some official positions.

Others, however, have their friendship level deducted in a different way.

This is like hoarding large quantities of Treasury Note issued by others; the consequences are predictable.

More and more players gathered, clearly treating this place as a new instance.

In the event channel, players on Wolf Snake Island also started discussing it.

It's impossible to expect so many people to keep it a secret.

Although many people are thinking of keeping it a secret for now in order to get ahead of others.

But that can't stop the players from talking non-stop.

"Experts are leading a team to clear the Imperial Court dungeon; each point of friendship earns 200 coins."

"That's too expensive, we only want 80 yuan a little."

"We only need 50."

"Damn it, don't try to squeeze in. It's the same price of 100. Anyway, there are so many rich tycoons. Instead of letting them squander their money in clubs, we should give it to them."

"Yeah, this is a real game, a great place to overtake on curves!"

"The imperial court is a newly emerging force, but it's a fairly powerful one in this game, so it must have many advantages."

"Is one hundred expensive? Not at all."

"Wait, didn't the event start with a warning to be wary of scams by the imperial court?"

"Haha, that's just like the game agreements we see every time we play a game. They talk about all sorts of risks, but we still play anyway, don't we?"

"Yes, as long as we're careful, it'll be fine. The imperial court might be playing a trick on us, but the data from the Game System can't lie to us, can it?"

Gao Linzhi did not directly say in the event channel that it was fake.

Firstly, he had no evidence, only what he saw with his own eyes.

Just like no matter how much Sun Wukong said that the old woman, the young girl, and the old man were all the White Bone Demon, Tang Sanzang only believed what he saw with his own eyes.

When will Tang Sanzang finally believe it?

He wouldn't believe it unless a fairy almost ate him.

The brilliance of this work lies in its depiction of human nature; although the plot is fictional, the human heart it portrays is real.

Gao Linzhi only informed a few of his trusted subordinates.

"The registrar from the imperial court is real, but the game prompts you triggered were all illusions."

"It's not shown in the game data. The only real game data is the data panel that records your attributes, talents, skills, and items."

"The other tasks, activities, and game merchants are not original game content; they are merely add-ons created by the operators using illusions to manipulate your minds, and the imperial court has also learned this trick."

He explained it directly to his subordinates.

Anyone who questions him will simply be marginalized.

Clearly, none of his current subordinates—"Qingcheng*Bored," "Xu Gou," "The Puppet Best," and "Dragon Fruit"—doubted Gao Linzhi's words.

Gao Linzhi had no reason to lie to them.

Moreover, they are different from Ordinary Player. They have abundant resources, many of their skills are at an advanced level, and they have some understanding of the game, but it hasn't been pointed out yet, so they are not sure.

"Damn it! I never knew the imperial court was so treacherous. It's impossible to guard against them. I thought they would use traditional methods like marriage alliances, instigation, sowing discord, coercion, and bribery," Xu Gou exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, it is indeed quite insidious, but if you think about it carefully, the ancients could have thought of the same methods that we modern people can think of, but they were unwilling to do so because of their position." Wuhu nodded.

"That's right, we should take these people in the court seriously." The Puppet Best frowned; it was the first time she'd heard of the court playing such tricks.

In her mind, feudal dynasties represented rigidity, inflexibility, and utter depravity.

But now it seems that the elites among them are not to be underestimated either.

That's natural; these guys are far more adept at manipulating people than many modern people.

But they are the elite in the battle of hearts and minds.

In the offline material world, the battle of hearts and minds is nothing, and victory is merely a minor tactic.

The only true path lies in the battlefield of material science.

In this mysterious world, the battlefield of human nature is incredibly fierce.

"What should we do now? Kill them, or drive them away?" Xu Gou asked worriedly.

Everyone looked at Gao Linzhi, Gao Linzhi and said, "Let them be."

"You just need to understand it yourselves."

Bored was the first to agree, saying, "That's right. Let the court make all the moves so we can better defend ourselves in the future. If we expose them this time, the court will be on guard."

"Yes, brilliant, absolutely brilliant."

"Boss is brilliant, beyond the reach of others," Xu Gou flattered casually.

Gao Linzhi had nothing to say.

Sure enough, people feel comfortable being photographed.

He's listening to this very comfortably now.

"Alright, you can go about your business now. Remember, observe carefully and record things meticulously."

"Understood, boss."

Everyone left immediately.

And at this time...

In the Physical Fitness Ranking event channel, people from the Imperial Court also appeared on other islands, especially some popular ones.

On the island of Empty 2086, people from the imperial court also came, but it was only a Military Sima, and the rank was a bit lower.

In reality, the imperial court couldn't send someone of too high a position, as that would alert the enemy.

"Damn it, why did the imperial court come now of all times?"

"It's simple. Anyone who can contribute enough physique points must be a big shot, and also someone with a certain level of intelligence. Such people pose the greatest threat to the imperial court."

"Should we submit to the imperial court or develop independently?"

"Nonsense, of course we should first pledge allegiance to the imperial court, then develop independently, taking advantage of the court's benefits to expand our own territory."

"Are the imperial court fools? Can't they figure it out?"

"They really could be fools. Feudal dynasties only care about face. As long as you give them face, they can't calculate many benefits. They can only see money and not the more important benefits, such as talent, technology, markets, and productivity," someone else said disdainfully.

This clearly underestimates the Sky Wolf Dynasty.

The Sky Wolf Dynasty has had considerable contact with players, so how could they not understand it?

However, they don't know how to do those things; if they did, their dynasty would be gone.

"Alright, let's make good use of them and try to get an Exalted status."

Haha, making feudal dynasties worship players?

These people really play too many games.

Forgot that this is a real-life game.

Soon, on each island, people were making their own moves regarding the arrival of the imperial court officials.

Gao Linzhi, however, didn't care about those things at all.

He continued to steadily improve his two-dimensional attributes and increase his skills at his own pace.

Now he has basically learned all sorts of miscellaneous skills, and his next goal is to upgrade all of them.

Only by upgrading can the two-dimensional attributes be further improved.

In Gao Linzhi's view, everything else might be fake, but the physical constitution and spirit reflected in the real body are not fake.

Because in the real world, multiple verification methods are possible.