D-Class Material, the Court's Ambitions

Soon, everyone saw the reason.

Soon after, another group of yamen runners arrived.

They nodded to the yamen runners who had arrived earlier.

Then they began to select from among the refugees.

"You, you, and you..."

"We need to hire laborers here. There's no pay, but each person will receive 10 jin of rice per day."

"You guys have been selected!"

"Others can also come and line up to register, with priority given to those who are physically strong."

"We'll give you twenty kilograms of the An Family rice right here."

Several yamen runners, each holding an iron ruler in one hand and a bag of rice in the other, were shouting orders.

Gao Linzhi was speechless.

Ten catties of rice a day? That's the price of cattle and horses!

That's equivalent to 20 yuan a day, less than 600 yuan a month.

This amount of money is enough to make it to the top of the trending topics online.

As expected, the players were all discussing it.

"Holy crap, this is outrageous!"

"That's right, that's what a feudal dynasty is like."

"This is truly eye-opening. Even the most unscrupulous boss wouldn't act like this, would they?"

Gao Linzhi, on the other hand, thought it was nothing out of the ordinary.

After all, he was a time traveler; he had seen people in another time and space earning only three hundred a month.

It's also common for people to work without receiving wages or even having to pay their own salaries.

Those who know, know.

As expected, Gao Linzhi guessed correctly.

There was a reason why those officials drove away the players and prevented them from giving alms.

If these starving people were all fed, they would definitely hesitate about what was happening.

Because in their minds, nothing good ever comes from government offices.

To get something good from the government, you need money, connections, a powerful background, and a powerful clan.

Otherwise, you'll be completely taken advantage of.

Now, those starving people have no way to cope.

The path for player relief has been blocked.

They weren't stupid; they knew there was something wrong with this.

But looking at his wife and children, he had no choice but to comply.

If we don't choose, we'll starve to death today.

If I choose this option, I can live for another half month.

Everyone had no choice but to follow along and queue up one by one.

Several players were frowning.

They couldn't bear it.

"This feudal court truly has no bottom line."

"Yes, that's normal."

"A court with such Powerful, and with no one among the people able to restrain it, must be utterly shameless."

"These people are so pitiful; I even did some work for them before!"

"Sigh, this realistic game is really no fun, because all these NPCs are real."

"I've always played games with a sense of justice and morality, but I just couldn't stand it anymore."

Several players stepped forward to negotiate.

"Sir, we're willing to pay for your services."

"Buying people?"

"Then you'll have to go to a brokerage firm and find a broker. You outsiders don't think you can just buy people like that, do you?" The constable brandished his iron ruler.

The player then took out a few pieces of silver.

The constable's eyes lit up, but someone beside him reminded him:

"Be careful, this is someone being sent to the officials of the Imperial Observatory."

"Not just any money can be taken."

The constable had no choice but to say, "If you want to buy people, the old, weak, sick, and disabled are acceptable, but these able-bodied young men are not."

The player had no choice but to spend money to buy some elderly and weak people.

Although they were described as elderly and frail, they were actually quite strong women and teenagers.

The truly elderly and infirm simply cannot enter the city.

Several players pooled their money to buy the women and children among the starving people and arranged for them to work in their restaurant.

The other able-bodied starving people knelt down and kowtowed.

Some tried to sneak away, but were intercepted by the constables.

These yamen runners may seem to hold lowly positions, but they are actually just like feudal emperors.

Some emperors were so tyrannical that it's unimaginable.

They raised their iron rulers and began to strike.

"Damn it, you're asking for it!"

"We give you rice, and you're not even happy about being hired as laborers? You still dare to run away?"

"The master will immediately conscript you into hard labor!"

The players are furious.

Clearly, as new Rogue Players, they still adhere to modern moral principles.

They couldn't stand seeing someone bullying others so unreasonably and abusing their power, so they attacked them head-on.

The able-bodied starving people did not resist; they were beaten until their heads were covered in blood and they fell to the ground, not daring to fight back.

Unable to resist.

Gao Linzhi observed carefully.

"Damn it, those damned yamen runners!"

"I'm going to kill them!"

"Don't do anything reckless! The system has warned you that killing a constable will turn you into Red Name individual, and you won't be able to stay in the city!"

"Yes, a small act of impatience can ruin a great plan."

The players decided to avoid seeing it and left with the women and children.

Gao Linzhi understood something.

It seems the imperial court must possess such great power that the player is unable to overthrow it.

Otherwise, given their behavior, powerful players would have overthrown this damned dynasty long ago.

However, who can guarantee that the current court wasn't established by the players?

It's common knowledge that a dragon-slaying youth becomes Black Dragon.

At this time.

While in Gao Linzhi suddenly had an idea.

He immediately transformed himself, disguising himself as an ordinary starving person.

Because of his strong physique, he was quickly selected as well.

He was immediately dragged away by the constables.

"Hey, you're not bad either. Let's bring you over and have you do the hard labor."

Soon the constables dragged out more than a hundred people. Their true intentions were revealed: they tied each person's hands together with rope, stringing them together.

He then led this group of people toward a place in the city.

"Labor? What kind of labor do you want us to do?" Gao Linzhi asked, feigning ignorance.

"Haha, the master is in a good mood today, so I'll tell you."

"So-called 'coolies' are experimental materials," one of the constables said directly.

"In the words of the older men, you are equivalent to Earth-tier personnel."

"You wouldn't understand what 'Earth-tier personnel' means, but anyway, it's a good job, and you'll be able to live a life where you don't have to worry about food and clothing."

"Yes, we can guarantee that, at least while you're alive, you'll all be living the high life, enjoying a lifestyle that even landlords and rich people can't afford," several constables said, sounding somewhat envious.

Upon hearing this, the others showed a hint of longing on their faces.

However, only Gao Linzhi understood what this meant.

Earth-tier personnel?

They should be a Level D personnel.

These yamen runners misheard.

Players understand what D-level personnel are.

Before long, more than a hundred people were led to a large hall square.

The main hall square is located in the southwest corner of the city wall.

They walked for more than an hour.

They later rode in a horse-drawn carriage for a while; otherwise, many starving people would not have been able to endure it.

In the distance of the square, a grand hall could be seen.

The main hall had a dark, gaping entrance, like a giant python opening its mouth.

The eight large pillars in front of the hall are dragon pillars, with several giant pythons coiled around them.

Each one sent chills down your spine.

Not long after.

An old man holding a whisk appeared, accompanied by two boys.

He glanced at the group of over a hundred people, then waved to the constables.

One of the boys immediately took out several pieces of gold and threw them directly to the constables.

The constables, their faces etched with humiliation, bowed their heads, bent low, picked up the gold, and left one after another.

The gold was clearly fake.

Gao Linzhi had already figured it out.

[Gold nugget: A stone disguised as an illusion.]

Sorrow.

They oppress the weak, yet are easily deceived by the strong.

But these starving people seemed to sense that something was wrong.

Someone whispered, "What are they asking us to do?"

Someone else mustered up their courage and said, "Old Immortal, please have mercy and let us go back."

I want to go back to my hometown.

Upon hearing this, the old man's eyes widened, and he waved his hand at the crowd.

A wisp of black mist appeared from his whisk.

Then he turned the two who were begging for mercy into two piles of white bones!

At the same time, a foul, fishy stench arose!

"Ah!"

Everyone was immediately terrified!

They all fell silent, too terrified to utter another word.

With his hands tied together, running away was impossible.

This Black Mist is comparable to aqua regia.

Everyone was immediately taken aback.

Gao Linzhi didn't care about this.

This is just a minor trick; he can do it too.

One spell will suffice.

He waited patiently.

He wanted to see what the other party wanted them to do.

He had two purposes for coming to Capital Island this time.

First, we must utilize the power of the Imperial Observatory to resolve the Eye of the Storm.

Secondly, they wanted to explore the background of the Imperial Observatory and the Sky Wolf Dynasty.

Last time he came, he only probed a small part of it.

The opponent is indeed formidable.

If he hadn't exploited a bug and used cheats, he would have been controlled by the other side.

The previous test had already brought him great gains, giving him a new talent for bloodlust.

He also replicated a laboratory.

This demonstrates that the Imperial Observatory possessed unfathomable depth and profound knowledge.

He already knew that the other party had a laboratory system within its ranks.

This laboratory system includes a director and envoys from above.

They are all very powerful, authoritative, and resourceful.

But now, this old man is clearly part of a completely different system.

This can be seen from the fact that the other party had to capture people themselves to make D-class material.

Their system is relatively poor.

They even tried to deceive the constables with illusionary gold.

They seem to be a very sleazy and stingy group of people, and also very cruel.

At that moment, the old man raised his whisk and pointed it directly at Gao Linzhi.

The old man said, "You, come out here!"

Gao Linzhi looked at the other person, and then he suddenly realized that he could not move his body.

Then the rope in his hand was untied.

He then felt he could move again and walked out.

"Hmm, your eyes are quite bright, you're someone who hasn't been corrupted."

"From now on, you'll be making C-class material."

Upon hearing this, Gao Linzhi knew that these people from the Imperial Observatory had been highly influenced by modern gamers.

Commonly used words can easily be used interchangeably.

Just like in another time and space, Chinese also began to use many simplified English words.

Like the NBA and the like.

The fact that the old Daoist priest used terms like "D-grade" and "C-grade" clearly indicates that he was conducting an experiment.

She's just different from Ouyang Jing.

Gao Linzhi knew that D-grade materials were consumables.

Grade C should be a higher grade of material.

These are materials that won't be consumed in non-critical experiments.

Gao Linzhi pretended to be bold and asked directly:

"Sir, what exactly do you mean by 'C-class material'?"

At this moment, as soon as the words were spoken, the young Daoist beside the old Daoist coldly said:

"You scoundrel, is that something you can just ask anyone?"

He was about to give Gao Linzhi a beating to teach him a lesson.

At this moment, the old Daoist priest stopped the boy with a smile.

"Don't hit him. This C-class material requires a certain degree of initiative and the courage to ask questions."

"That's right, let me tell you, actually, C-class material are equivalent to Grade 3 materials."

"You should know about first, second, and third ranks."

"I do know that," Gao Linzhi replied, feigning ignorance.

"That's good. These people belong to the D-level personnel, and they enjoy the same treatment as fourth-grade Capital Guard."

"And C-class material refer to C-level personnel, who are considered third-rank materials and enjoy the same treatment as third-rank officials."

"As for what we'll do with these materials, you'll find out soon enough."

Gao Linzhi immediately guessed that this was to test the strange phenomenon.

Faced with a variety of bizarre phenomena, they urgently needed people to test the patterns in these strange occurrences.

And these starving people were just like that.

And at this time...

The old Gao Linzhi to stay by his side, as he wanted to personally teach Gao Linzhi some knowledge.

"C-class material qualifies one to serve as Captain."

"It requires initiative, the ability to actively complete tasks, and a willingness to take risks to summarize and record patterns."

"You could say this is a fairly high-level position."

"Don't worry, you're in management; they're the ones who are cannon fodder."

"You could say you are different."

At this point, Gao Linzhi suddenly understood a great deal.

A thought suddenly occurred to him: to submit the previous Eye of the Storm to the Imperial Observatory and have them develop a testing plan.

Soon, the group walked to the back of the main hall.

There is a large area of single-story houses and courtyards here.

Each courtyard can accommodate four households. The four houses are arranged in the four cardinal directions to form a courtyard, which saves a lot of building materials.

The old Daoist priest instructed the two boys to make the arrangements, then he left with his hands behind his back and his whisk in hand.

The two boys simply arranged a courtyard for them to stay in, without conducting any background checks or using any mind-reading techniques.

Clearly, these are all consumables to them.

Who would care if a group of consumables were spies?

As long as they don't get access to classified information, it's fine.

Besides, they wouldn't have a chance; they'd die very soon.

They don't care whether there's an undercover agent or not.

If an undercover agent comes, it's like providing them with experimental material—working for free.

Gao Linzhi across the courtyard.

The so-called dormitory compound was quite spacious.

The four rooms, with the central hall being his alone.

He was assigned to the central bungalow.

The others were assigned to communal sleeping areas in the other three houses.

The environment was passable, though.

At least these starving people did have enough to eat.

When it was mealtime, people carried large buckets of rice, soup, and dishes to each courtyard.

"Rice porridge, rice, dried radish, pickled vegetables, one smoked fish and one piece of dried meat per person!" the cook shouted.

Unlimited rice!

"But you're not allowed to eat too much for the first two days!"

"Lest you choke to death!"

"It'll be fine in a couple of days."

The starving people came out of their houses.

Their ropes had already been removed after the courtyard was allocated.

But after seeing the two piles of bones, no one had the thought of running away.

Everyone else behaved themselves.

Since dying of starvation is inevitable anyway, I might as well die well-fed.

These people are quite lucky.

They were kept healthy for more than two weeks before their bodies were finally put to use.

Many people have become obese from overeating.

To Gao Linzhi's surprise, the strange thing they went to explore this time was actually the Eye of the Storm.

This made him immediately realize that this was definitely not a coincidence.

It's likely that the old players on Island No. 8 activated the Eye of the Storm, which caught the attention of the imperial court.

The ability to launch a targeted storm attack on an entire island—what a powerful deterrent weapon that is!

These are weather weapons straight out of science fiction!

Clearly, the imperial court wanted to control it.

So they quickly began their research.

The task was also assigned to the Imperial Observatory.

Gao Linzhi immediately understood everything.

The causes and consequences are all connected.