The Fallen Who Kill Those Who Refuse to Join

The Heavenly Assassin looked at Gao Linzhi and then nodded:

"So you're using a body double too. No wonder you're so bold as to approach us."

Gao Linzhi did not deny it. "This is a world of Mystic System and Chaos System. Going out without a substitute is practically suicide."

"Besides, you're using a body double."

The Heavenly Assassin looked at Gao Linzhi and suddenly threw out a chopstick.

Gao Linzhi simply pinched it between two fingers.

"Yes, you are qualified to sit down."

Gao Linzhi then sat down and began to talk:

"What exactly is your Heavenly Assassin Organization like?"

"What is our mission? How do we recruit people?"

"First, I need to correct one of your mistakes. I am not a substitute, I am the real me," the Heavenly Assassin said calmly.

Gao Linzhi frowned immediately. At this moment, the Heavenly Assassin was dressed in a blue robe and was eating and drinking, looking no different from an ordinary person.

However, the Game System's Person Appraisal Technique does indeed show:

[Heavenly Assassin]

[Substitute]

He was immediately puzzled.

The other party is unlikely to lie.

It's just using a stand-in; there's no need for that.

Furthermore, given the technology of the Game System, it shouldn't make mistakes in this area.

Is it a bug in the Game System, or does this Heavenly Assassin himself not even know whether he is the real person or a substitute?

This is something that could happen.

It's not uncommon for people who have worked as stand-ins for a long time to start to see themselves as the real person.

Etc.

Gao Linzhi looked at the Heavenly Assassin, and suddenly he understood.

This is indeed his true form.

However, the game itself isn't wrong either.

This is because the other party must have completely transferred their consciousness or soul into this body.

In this way, his Person Appraisal Technique was not advanced; he only identified that the body was a substitute.

This physical body was indeed not his own, but the soul was his true self.

For an individual, whether it is the original body or a substitute can be determined by identifying where your own soul truly resides.

So he probed, "I see. It seems your research on the Way of the Soul is truly remarkable."

Upon hearing this, the blue- Heavenly Assassin was slightly taken aback.

He nodded. "You're alright."

"Being able to see this floor means you meet the basic requirements for joining our organization."

I can answer your question now.

Gao Linzhi sat down. "Then I'm all ears."

"Our motto as Heavenly Assassin is balance and control."

"Checks and balances?"

The blue- Heavenly Assassin looked at Gao Linzhi, nodded, and his eyes revealed fanaticism:

"Yes, that's exactly what we need to do—keep a sword hanging over the heads of those in positions of power."

"In your words, players, it's called the Sword of Damocles."

"Long ago, the rulers of the dynasties here never had a sword hanging over their heads. They could arrest and kill their subjects at will."

"The common people usually have to swallow their anger, and the officials can only try their best to advise, but most of the time it's useless, or it might be useful for a while, but then they revert to their old ways."

"And they indulged themselves, pushing themselves further and further until one day, no one in a place could survive."

"And the people of this place are like ulcers, quickly spreading to all parts of the body."

"Finally, the imperial treasury was burned to ashes, and the streets were littered with the bones of nobles!"

"And then it happens again."

"Because the newcomers are newcomers, and people have short lifespans, this means the next generation will not learn from the lessons of the previous generation."

"And our presence will deter them from going too far."

"It's that simple."

"We will not pursue any kind of world harmony, nor will we pursue any kind of world peace. We will only be a sword, a sword hanging over the heads of all the strong."

"Oh, then when will your sword strike? My island, which suffers endless oppression, has never seen your sword come at me."

"Heh, to actually do this, one naturally needs to be at a certain level, capable of interfering in the lives and deaths of people in a prefecture and hundreds of islands."

Gao Linzhi nodded.

Unlike others, he didn't constantly nitpick at the other person.

Actually, it's better for the other person to exist than not to exist.

That's enough.

The premise is that the other party can do what they say.

"I see. I remember the previous dynasty was Daqian, and now it's Tianlang. The change of dynasties in this court began with the Imperial Observatory."

"Yes," the Heavenly Assassin nodded.

"We don't care about this. Those in high positions can kill themselves; let them do it."

"We will only assassinate those in high positions directly from the central leadership when they become unscrupulous and extravagant."

"I see. I've been reading some historical records, and they say that when dynasties rise and fall, it rarely affects ordinary people. There are also few massacres here. I thought it was some strange barrier, but now it seems that your presence also plays a role." Gao Linzhi nodded.

"Hehe, not bad, you're one of the few who don't criticize us harshly, you're quite good." The blue- Heavenly Assassin said emphatically.

The look in his eyes as he looked at Gao Linzhi held a newfound appreciation.

What you have done is indeed of immeasurable merit.

"Alas, what a pity. An organization like yours could never exist in the offline world."

Gao Linzhi naturally understood that if an organization like the Green-Robed Heavenly Assassin appeared offline, it would be subjected to a thorough and comprehensive crackdown.

Bandits, bullies, and local tyrants are not cared for by those in power. This kind of Heavenly Assassin Organization will inevitably be completely wiped out from the bottom to the top, and will be portrayed as a group of villains and demons.

"Yes, I understand your world."

"In your world, there are no supernatural powers. Organizations like ours might be able to be established at first, but they are easily destroyed and easily defended, and they don't pose a sufficient deterrent."

"Furthermore, a large organization needs to eat, drink, relieve itself, and sleep, which consumes a huge amount of resources. If an individual doesn't have extraordinary power to suppress it, it's difficult to maintain cohesion."

"In our world, a few people can maintain an organization of several hundred by doing logistics, while in your world, hundreds of thousands of people are needed for logistics to maintain a force of several hundred."

Gao Linzhi nodded.

That's right. Generally speaking, a military expenditure of around 2% is considered healthy.

With hundreds of thousands of people, such a target is too obvious.

This kind of act, like a sword hanging over the heads of all those in power, is far too cruel.

No one in a position of authority would allow him to exist.

It can only exist in the extraordinary world.

But Gao Linzhi soon discovered what interested him:

"I suspect you must possess the Longevity Technique."

The blue- Heavenly Assassin frowned immediately. "How did you know?"

He did not refute the other person's words.

As a strong person, there's no need for you to tell such a lie.

"Because those who die young are more likely to compromise."

"The dynasty can tempt them with the promise of Immortality."

"And your organization is so powerful that it can enable one person to wield such great power."

"Will he still maintain his original aspirations under the temptation of the dynasty's promise of Immortality?"

"The greatest temptation in the world is the temptation of Immortality."

"Under the influence of Immortality, even those who appear wise often commit evil deeds."

Gao Linzhi thought of the Jiajing Emperor.

In their pursuit of immortality, they brought ruin to the entire Great Ming.

If it weren't for Zhang Juzheng's intervention, the Great Ming might have perished suddenly.

And indeed, after the Jiajing, the Great Ming resisted for another seventy years.

"Your question is very good. Therefore, we will require everyone who joins the organization to make a vow before a stone tablet, promising not to betray their original intentions and not to be recruited by other organizations," the Azure-Robed Heavenly Assassin said fanatically. "Actually, you could say that this stone tablet is a strange thing."

There's nothing to hide about it.

"We simply do things with integrity and live with integrity."

"I see. You guys are really amazing."

The other party didn't mention the Longevity Technique, which was clearly a taboo subject for their organization.

Gao Linzhi understands this.

He didn't ask any more questions; it was already worthwhile to get so much information out of him.

"So, do you want to join us now?" the blue- Heavenly Assassin asked.

Gao Linzhi shook his head.

Clearly, he is ineligible to join this organization.

He will not make any oaths to any organization.

Because he wants to Immortality, he needs to have flexible bottom lines.

Then, Gao Linzhi said, "Any oath will have loopholes."

"Where there are loopholes, there will be people who will exploit them."

How do you avoid this problem?

The blue- Heavenly Assassin fell silent.

"That's just how it is; nothing in this world is absolutely perfect."

"It can only be relatively perfect," he said, shaking his head.

"Not bad, not bad, but unfortunately, I can't join you." Gao Linzhi was moved but declined.

Because he knew that such an organization must be extremely brutal internally.

To prevent traitors, top-level secrecy is essential, and frequent verification is necessary.

This is troublesome.

"That's a real pity. You have the potential to become a core member of our organization." The blue- Heavenly Assassin looked at Gao Linzhi with genuine regret.

Gao Linzhi was about to say something when the other person finished speaking.

Suddenly, he pierced Gao Linzhi's chest with his sword.

Gao Linzhi was stunned.

The two of them were just having a nice chat.

Is he going to assassinate me at any moment?

Does this person perhaps have some serious illness?

Gao Linzhi looked at the sword's edge against his chest and then asked, "Why did you want to kill me?"

"It's simple: if you don't join us, you'll die."

"Whether or not someone joins your organization is entirely voluntary, isn't it?"

"Heh, I've told you so many of the organization's secrets, and you still won't join? That's a path to your death," the blue- Heavenly Assassin said calmly.

In his eyes, Gao Linzhi was already a dead man.

Gao Linzhi immediately smiled.

As expected.

This is an extreme organization.

He should have known that an organization like this could not be perfect.

This is quite normal.

How many organizations' slogans started off lofty and impressive, only to quickly degenerate?

Just like the Great Ming, which initially claimed to be about expelling barbarians and saving the people, but what happened later?

They still oppressed the people, and were even more brutal and stricter than barbarians, causing the economy to completely regress.

Gao Linzhi's newly formed goodwill towards the organization vanished.

Organizations like this may have had good intentions from the beginning.

But it's too high-end.

It's out of touch with reality.

It can easily become very scary and terrifying.

Now, it has probably become someone else's tool.

These were tools used by the Imperial Observatory.

And this guy is the same.

His mind is no longer functioning properly.

That's why he tried to assassinate me at the slightest disagreement.

This guy's completely out of his mind.

Gao Linzhi and said, "What's the point of you killing me?"

"I'm just a stand-in."

"Even if you kill this body of mine, what good will it do?"

"Have you forgotten?" the Heavenly Assassin sneered. "This is Sword of Curse that can travel along your clone all the way to your true form."

And at this time...

Gao Linzhi saw it; the other party was right.

His own Game Character, "Can Xue Waves Across the Map," indeed displayed a panel buff.

"You have been assassinated by the Sword of Curse."

"You are under a curse."

[Died two hours later.]

Two more hours.

Gao Linzhi laughed.

Fortunately, it turned out exactly as he had imagined and as he had predicted.

The curse did not extend to his true form.

Of course, this is also very dangerous.

After all, this world has everything.

This made Gao Linzhi realize that he absolutely could not be careless.

We must continue to survive.

This is the true path to victory.

It's important to know that he had been using this Game Character to navigate the game and isolate himself from various dangers.

Therefore, it is clear that it can indeed exempt one from most of the curses and constraints of this world.

This is the advantage of being an ordinary, normal player.

Game developers have an obligation to protect the safety of every Ordinary Player.

If the opponent were any other player, that person would definitely be dead right now.

"You're laughing? Do you think you're a player who can be resurrected?" The Heavenly Assassin suddenly laughed too.

"You're overthinking it. You can't survive even if you want to."

"Because this curse will continue to spread, and you will still carry it with you after you are resurrected."

How many Revival Stone do you have?

Upon hearing this, Gao Linzhi immediately launched a counterattack.

He also struck the other person in the chest with a palm strike.

The other person was sent flying, leaving him speechless.

"Impossible, how can you still have such a strong counterattack?"

"You're incredibly powerful. It's a pity you don't join us," the Heavenly Assassin said regretfully.

"You idiot, the Heavenly Assassin were originally an organization with a very good purpose."

"Perhaps you did very well at the beginning."

"But now it has become a tool of those in power."

Gao Linzhi sneered, "Do you think you're still independent?"

"The Imperial Observatory sent you to assassinate this prefect in order to force him to agree to their stationing here."

"And they're stationed here to seize a treasure."

"They will become even stronger if they acquire that treasure."

Do you think you're so great?

"Actually, you've already fallen. In this balance of power, those in power have won. Just like the Hundred Schools of Thought, those who are best at flattering those in power have triumphed."

"No, that's not how it is!" The Heavenly Assassin was immediately enraged.

"Heh, that's it. You've already fallen, and you know it in your hearts."

You can't fool your own heart.

Upon hearing Gao Linzhi's words, the Heavenly Assassin, who had been quite smug, turned pale instantly.

"Impossible! It can't be like this!"

"That can't be!"