False Contract

Xu Qi left the cafeteria, but before long, he returned.

"The young master says you can have the hundred kilograms of gold, but you must sign the contract first."

Gao Linzhi wasn't surprised by this.

Lin Qing's value clearly far exceeded a hundred kilograms of gold.

After all, she was a talent the village was willing to go all out to protect.

But that was fine—it would help him draw the heat.

So Gao Linzhi smiled and said, "I can sign the contract, but I want half the payment upfront."

"At most ten percent," Xu Qi haggled.

"Ten percent works too."

After eating, Gao Linzhi followed Xu Qi to an open space in the village.

A crowd was already waiting there, led by Xu Tianlang.

Xu Tianlang swept a glance over Gao Linzhi and chuckled. "I knew there was no one who couldn't be bought, only prices that weren't high enough."

"Here's your gold. Remember, you only have two days."

With that, he waved his hand.

Someone carried over a heavy bag of gold—ten kilograms wasn't a small amount.

There was also a parchment contract.

Gao Linzhi looked at the contract and immediately laughed.

The terms seemed fair:

"Party A shall pay Party B 100 kilograms of gold, and Party B shall be responsible for..."

"Party A: Xu Tianlang. Party B: Can Xue Waves Across the Map."

But the game skill he had just learned, <Heavenly Sight, Earthly Hearing, Person-Judging Art>, gave a prompt:

[Deceptive Contract: This contract contains hidden clauses. After signing, you will receive not a single coin, but instead owe the other party one life and 100 kilograms of gold.]

Ruthless.

Ordinary players, ordinary people—in the hands of these company executives, they'd be toyed with like dogs.

Without the checks and balances of the real world, the company's cruelty, cunning, and mercilessness were on full display.

Just like in another world—the colonial companies of the Grand Voyage era.

Cheat when you can cheat, rob when you can rob.

Gao Linzhi smiled and took the contract.

Right as Xu Tianlang's eyes gleamed with triumph, he suddenly called out to the side:

"Captain Zheng, if someone uses a deceptive contract like this to trick a village guard, what does the village have to say about it?"

He had already spotted Zheng Dong nearby on the minimap.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Zheng Dong indeed appeared with a patrol of dozens of people.

Zheng Dong stepped forward, took the contract, and frowned.

It was a thick parchment contract.

He rubbed it with his hands, and the thick parchment revealed a hidden layer.

Inside the layer was a thin silk sheet.

On it was written a completely different text.

Zheng Dong slowly read the contract aloud: "Party B, in gratitude for the learning opportunity provided by Party A, is willing to pay to work, giving Party A 100 kilograms of gold, and in times of crisis, risking their life to protect the company."

"This contract is signed, never to be revoked."

Hearing this, Gao Linzhi burst out laughing.

"Hahaha, interesting! Truly interesting!"

"Ugly human hearts—how fascinating!"

He looked at the Xu clan members, not particularly angry.

As a transmigrator, he already knew how ugly human hearts could get.

Xu Tianlang, seeing the contract exposed, showed no shame or anger. He just said indifferently, "I was going to let you keep some dignity, but since you don't want it, we'll have to force it on you."

"Get him!"

With that, the people around Xu Tianlang immediately began to close in!

Zheng Dong was furious.

"The Xu clan—you people are way too arrogant!"

"This is inside the village!"

Xu Tianlang barely glanced at Zheng Dong, then said disdainfully, "An ignorant fool. Do you think we'd dare do something like this in the village without support from your own people behind us?"

"Take a good look at what this is."

As he spoke, he waved his hand, and a player named Xu San behind him swaggeringly produced a jade token.

Carved on it was the private seal of "Third Elder Zheng Shishuang."

"What? Third Elder actually gave you this jade token?" Zheng Dong's face instantly filled with shock.

He had never imagined that an elder of the village would be implicated in something like this.

"Impossible. If this is true, how can Rogue Players still feel safe working for the village?" he retorted instinctively. "Isn't Third Elder's move just Ruinous Depletion?"

"Hmph, you idiot. Do you really think Ordinary Players matter that much to your village?" Xu Tianlang sneered. "No, they're nothing but a burden. They'll only be parasites on your village."

"On the contrary, if the village cooperates with us to force their game qualifications out of them, we can recruit more Corporate Players. Corporate Players are the fiercest warriors."

"By then, the monsters around your village will be cleared out. The beasts, the aberrations—none of them will threaten your village anymore!"

"Farmland will increase, mines will increase, and gold tickets will flow in abundance..."

Hearing this, Zheng Dong fell silent. The other villagers fell silent too.

They seemed to be convinced.

Someone muttered quietly, "What he says makes sense."

"That's right. Those Rogue Players only know how to run back to the village whenever something happens. Sure, they can work, but what our village lacks isn't laborers—it's people who can drive away the monsters," another added.

Gao Linzhi, however, sneered inwardly.

Everything Xu Tianlang said sounded good, but the problem was—once their company grew strong enough, would they still cooperate with the village as equals?

They would only replicate the path of colonizers: first friendly cooperation and trade, then, once they had a foothold, they'd start conquering.

"Impossible. The village won't allow this. Besides, as long as Rogue Players grow, they can achieve the same things Corporate Players do." Zheng Dong's gaze was sharp as he shook his head.

"Haha, do you even believe that yourself? Ordinary Players take at least three months to learn a single skill, and one or two years just to master it. And because they're afraid of danger, they don't dare take risks—their development is painfully slow," Xu Tianlang mocked. "Can your village afford to wait that long?"

Zheng Dong was left speechless, while the patrol members behind him whispered among themselves.

"That's right. Rogue Players are all cowards. They level up slowly, hesitate over everything, and log off all the time. It takes forever for them to grow."

"I like Corporate Players too. Ever since they showed up, it's been a lot safer outside the village."

"Yeah, and those aberrations—they attack the village a lot less now."

Hearing this, Zheng Dong finally understood: from the elders at the top to the ordinary villagers at the bottom, everyone was starting to favor Corporate Players.

No matter how domineering Corporate Players acted, they were precisely the most useful to the village!

It was simple—though the village wasn't small, it only had a few thousand villagers.

Against monsters and aberrations, they were utterly powerless!

Only Corporate Players could provide a steady stream of strength.

Thinking this far, Zheng Dong couldn't help but waver.

But he still shook his head. "Canxue is different from other Descenders."

"He's a village guard signed under the Fourth Elder. Using a fake contract to deceive him like this—the village won't allow it!"