A False Contract

Xu Qi left the cafeteria. Before long, he returned.

"The young master said he can give you a hundred kilograms of gold, but you have to sign a contract first."

Gao Linzhi wasn't surprised.

Lin Qing was indeed worth far more than a hundred kilograms of gold.

After all, she was the kind of talent the village would go to great lengths to protect.

But that was even better. She could help him draw their hatred.

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

"One-tenth at most," Xu Qi bargained.

"One-tenth works too."

After they ate, Gao Linzhi followed Xu Qi to an open area in the village.

A group of people were waiting there. At their head stood Xu Tianlang.

Xu Tianlang glanced at Gao Linzhi and chuckled. "I knew there was no one who couldn't be bought, only people we hadn't offered enough."

"This is your gold. Remember, you have only two days."

As he spoke, he waved a hand.

Someone brought over a heavy bag of gold. Ten kilograms was no small amount.

There was also a parchment contract.

Gao Linzhi looked it over and immediately smiled.

The terms seemed fair:

"Party A shall pay Party B one hundred kilograms of gold. 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 him a warning:

[Deceptive Contract: This contract contains hidden clauses. After signing, you will receive not a single coin. Instead, you will owe the other party your life, as well as one hundred kilograms of gold.]

Ruthless.

In the hands of these company executives, ordinary players and ordinary people were treated like dogs.

Once free from the constraints of the real world, the companies' cruelty, cunning, and mercilessness were on full display.

Just like the colonial companies of the Age of Grand Voyages in another world.

They cheated whenever they could, and stole whenever they could.

Gao Linzhi smiled and took the contract.

While Xu Tianlang looked on with a smug expression, Gao Linzhi suddenly called out to someone nearby:

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

He had already spotted Zheng Dong nearby on his Minimap.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Zheng Dong appeared with dozens of members of the Patrol Team.

After coming over, Zheng Dong took the contract and examined it, immediately furrowing his brow.

It was a thick parchment contract.

He rubbed it between his fingers, and a hidden layer appeared in the thick parchment.

Inside the layer was a sheet of thin silk.

It bore completely different writing.

Zheng Dong slowly read the contract aloud: "In gratitude for Party A providing the opportunity to learn, Party B is willing to pay to work, giving Party A one hundred kilograms of gold, and, when danger arises, to protect the company at the cost of his life."

"By signing this contract, I swear never to go back on my word."

Hearing this, Gao Linzhi burst out laughing.

"Hahaha, amusing. Truly amusing!"

"How fascinating the ugliness of the human heart is!"

He looked at the Xu Clan members, without much anger.

As someone who had crossed into this world, he had long known just how ugly people's hearts could be.

When Xu Tianlang saw that the contract had been exposed, he wasn't embarrassed. He merely looked unconcerned.

"I was going to let you keep your dignity. Since you don't want it, we'll have to make you keep it."

"Get him!"

As Xu Tianlang spoke, the people around him immediately began closing in!

Zheng Dong was instantly angered.

"Xu Clan, you're getting far too arrogant!"

"This is inside the village!"

Xu Tianlang merely glanced at Zheng Dong, his expression disdainful. "You clueless fool. Do you think we'd dare do this in the village if we didn't have people from your village backing us?"

"Take a good look at this!"

He waved a hand, and a player behind him named Xu San proudly displayed a jade token.

It bore the private seal of Third Elder Zheng Shishuang.

"What? The Third Elder actually gave you that token?" Zheng Dong was stunned.

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

"That's impossible. If this gets out, how can Rogue Players feel safe working for the village?" he blurted out. "Wouldn't the Third Elder be killing the goose that lays the golden eggs?"

"Hmph, you idiot. Do you think Ordinary Players are important to your village?" Xu Tianlang said scornfully. "No. They're a burden. They'll only leech off your village."

"On the other hand, if the village helps us make them lose their game qualifications, we can recruit more Corporate Players. Corporate Players are the bravest fighters."

"Then the monsters around your village will be wiped out. Demons and aberrations will no longer threaten your village!"

"More farmland, more mines, and piles of gold bills..."

At that, Zheng Dong fell silent, as did the other villagers.

They seemed to have been persuaded.

Someone murmured, "He has a point."

"That's right. Those Rogue Players only come running to the village whenever they're in trouble. They can work, but what our village lacks isn't people who can work. It's people who can drive out monsters," another person said.

Gao Linzhi sneered inwardly.

Xu Tianlang's promises all sounded good. The question was, once their company grew powerful enough, would they still cooperate with the village as equals?

They would only follow the colonizers' path: start with friendly trade and cooperation, then dig in their heels and begin conquering.

"Impossible. The village won't allow you to do this. Besides, once Rogue Players grow stronger, they can do the same things Corporate Players can," Zheng Dong said, his gaze steely as he shook his head.

"Hahaha, do you even believe what you're saying? It takes Ordinary Players at least three months to learn a skill, and one or two years before they might master it. They don't dare take risks for the sake of safety, so they develop very slowly," Xu Tianlang sneered. "Can your village afford to wait that long?"

Zheng Dong had no answer. Behind him, the patrol members whispered among themselves.

"That's right. Rogue Players are all timid as mice. They level up slowly, hesitate over everything, and often log off. It'll take them ages to grow stronger."

"I like Corporate Players too. Ever since they arrived, it's been much safer outside the village."

"Yeah, and there are fewer aberrations attacking the village now."

Only then did Zheng Dong understand: from the elders down to the ordinary villagers, everyone in the village was beginning to favor Corporate Players.

The Corporate Players might act domineering, but they were undeniably the most useful to the village!

It was simple: the village wasn't small, but it had only a few thousand villagers in total.

They were simply too weak to deal with demons and aberrations!

Only Corporate Players could keep coming in an endless stream.

At the thought, Zheng Dong couldn't help wavering.

But he still shook his head. "Canxue is different from the other Descenders, after all."

"He was appointed as a village guard by the Fourth Elder. Using a fake contract to deceive him is something the village won't tolerate!"