Fourth Prince's Plan, Gao Linzhi Lurking Behind the Scenes

In the eyes of the Fourth Prince, these lowly people were paid by the imperial court and used the imperial court's resources; their lives were like grass.

It's cut off today, but it'll grow back tomorrow.

What does it matter if a few people die?

Even the strongest are just big trees.

Even if you cut it down, it will grow back.

So he said fiercely:

"How dare they openly slander the imperial court! They deserve to die! Kill them!"

"Leave no one alive, kill them without mercy!"

The guards immediately drew their swords and began to kill.

Most of them are level 50, or even level 60 or above.

Many of the leaders were highly skilled individuals who had been temporarily transferred to the front lines.

In terms of combat strength, they far surpass the other players present.

After all, most of the players who come here are new players who have only been playing for less than a year.

Experienced players have long seen through the nature of the imperial court, so they will not cooperate with it, much less get involved in its affairs.

"Run! They're really going to kill us!"

"Damn it, no wonder those big shots always use Substitute Puppet when they travel. I used to laugh at them for being afraid of death, but now I realize the Joker is me!"

"Use the Revival Stone quickly!"

"I didn't!"

"Ah!"

"Ah!"

On the ground, as the first player was killed, blood flowed like a river.

Gao Linzhi was hiding nearby, but he did not come out to rescue them.

Saving people? That's out of the question.

He will only take the treasure at most.

He won't do evil, he'll just steal what he can get his hands on.

To be honest, people who are already level 40 or higher and still so trusting of others are mostly Corporate Players.

Because Rogue Players will definitely not make a move easily.

Even when it comes out, it's heavily protected.

Puppet, stealth, observation...

I will never put my life under the Powerful of others.

These players, who come from companies and are protected by them, usually have a smooth life and have never experienced danger.

Only now do I realize where the danger lies.

Countless people were killed or injured in an instant.

Many players also began to flee in all directions.

Unfortunately, the surrounding area had already been completely sealed off.

Some people were immediately frightened:

"We're willing to compete!"

"Don't kill us, we're willing to compete!"

"It's too late!"

Blood flowed like a river on the ground.

Some players have Revival Stone; after being killed, they immediately turn into a beam of light and disappear.

Seeing this, a light immediately appeared in the Fourth Prince's eyes.

"To be able to survive being killed and to be resurrected—that's an amazing skill!"

"Unfortunately, the Imperial Observatory studied that so-called game for many years, but they didn't figure it out at all."

"What a pity, what a pity."

The Fourth Prince sighed.

An elderly man in red robes standing nearby, the chief eunuch of the Prince's residence, quickly said upon hearing this, "Your Highness, you can capture some of these players alive to analyze them."

"Yes, that's true."

"Pass down the order: kill 499 people, but don't kill the rest indiscriminately; leave them alive."

"His Highness has ordered that only 499 be killed, and the rest be spared!"

Some players saw hope.

If they killed others beforehand, reaching the required 499 kills, wouldn't they be able to survive?

Then, a scene that left Gao Linzhi speechless unfolded.

In this time of crisis, instead of uniting and rushing outwards, some people turned on their comrades and attacked them.

For a moment, even the servants were shocked.

This person will stop at nothing to survive.

Half a day has passed.

In this corner of the imperial city, corpses lay strewn everywhere.

Eunuchs and palace maids appeared and dragged the body into the garden.

Then they washed the ground with a large amount of water and covered it with flowers.

With many hands making light work, the scene of bloodshed was quickly transformed back into a peaceful and serene place thanks to the efforts of hundreds of palace maids and eunuchs.

Like the earth that has been repeatedly ravaged.

Soon, the corpses piled up near the Heaven's Heart Stone.

But not long after, the Heaven's Heart Stone underwent Mutation Tier.

In Gao Linzhi's eyes, the patterns on the towering Heaven's Heart Stone were radiating a bright red light.

The light swept over the corpses, and with each one, the corpse instantly became emaciated, losing all its fleshy luster, leaving only a human skin covering white bones.

And then the stone began to display its Divine Anomalies.

It was originally just an ordinary piece of bluestone, but now it has begun to glitter with gold.

This is clearly a treasure at the starting level of the Gold Tier.

It's high-end, classy, and sophisticated—a complete transformation from before.

It is strikingly similar to the end of a dynasty, a time of chaos and tyranny, where a hero rises from humble beginnings, kills countless people, and builds a magnificent throne from the bones of his dead.

"Wow, this really is a treasure!" The three players excitedly pounced on it.

However, the next moment, suddenly, the Gold Tier Heaven's Heart Stone disappeared.

This was naturally taken by Gao Linzhi.

[Heaven's Heart Stone: Gold Tier]

[Effect: Absorbs the blood, tears, bones, and souls of 999 powerful individuals.]

[Possesses exceptional mental defense capabilities.]

[Anyone can use it]

[It can protect your soul and spirit, and can resist attacks from monsters of the highest rank (like those at the Imperial Gold Tier), as well as mental pollution of a corresponding level.]

[Negative effect: Long-term use of this stone may turn you into stone.]

[Important Note: You must be constantly vigilant.]

[Secondly, you must never use this stone to fight against higher-level monsters.]

[For safety's sake, it's best to only resist monsters below the purple rank.]

After seeing this, Gao Linzhi nodded.

He thought this thing was pretty good.

It adds at least one more layer of protection.

Better safe than sorry.

And at this time...

The garden was already in an uproar.

"Our treasure?"

Where is our precious stone?

"This sudden disappearance must have been done by you players, right?" The Fourth Prince quickly absolved himself of responsibility.

Player 1 immediately agreed, "That's right, it must have disappeared suddenly, so some player must have put it in their Game Backpack."

"Looks like there are still some who slipped through the net!" Player 2 immediately looked around.

The Fourth Prince shook his head.

How could any fish possibly slip through the net?

He had just seen it clearly: all the players either fled or died; not one of them got close to the Heaven's Heart Stone —except for these three.

He didn't actually care about a piece of Heaven's Heart Stone.

Such treasures can have significant negative effects.

Although precious, it can be mass-produced by the royal family.

That's why it was placed in broad daylight.

Less is less.

This is how you rebuild a piece.

In fact, this mentality is also why royalty always overspends.

They have no concept of cost; they only care about whether they can get it.

As long as they can get an item on time, there's no problem for them.

It doesn't matter if it costs many lives.

This explains why feudal dynasties, despite their low productivity, still managed to create many wonders.

Because those dynasties never considered the labor costs of laborers as money.

However, they overlooked the fact that forcibly conscripting laborers also costs money.

The laborers might not be paid, but the teams that guard, suppress, and intimidate them would cost a lot of money.

Without a cost-conscious mindset, money may seem to disappear even when it's not, but it's actually slipping away little by little.

The Fourth Prince, of course, did not consider this point.

He felt that this was something that could be done as long as he had time.

Only these lowly players would find it precious.

So he said, "The three of you don't need to be surprised. It's gone, it's gone."

"It's no big deal, we can just do it again."

The three players looked at each other in bewilderment.

Actually, they had another thought in their minds: the other person must have taken it!

Since there's only one item, who should it be given to?

They don't have long enough to wait.

We must get our hands on the Heaven's Heart Stone as soon as possible.

"Who the hell is this bastard?" The three players looked at each other.

They all began to doubt each other.

"If we find out, we must kill him, cut him into a thousand pieces, and execute him by slow slicing!"

"Tear him apart with five horses, drag him into the deep mountains to feed the wolves!"

"That's right, we must kill him using the most ruthless methods!"

At this moment, the three of them stared at each other.

They wanted to use vicious words to create openings in others' defenses.

As a result, after looking at it again and again, they discovered that the other person was just as indignant and filled with hatred as they were.

They couldn't help but admire him in their hearts: he really was a cunning fellow.

The disguise was incredibly convincing.

This is just as cunning as Sima Yi; he swore an oath to the Luo River, and it sounded exactly like the truth.

As a result, they successfully fooled their opponents and ultimately killed the entire family.

This also made oaths in later generations seem like empty promises.

That's ridiculous.

This is extremely foolish.

The three men shared a common goal: to kill the thief.

Upon seeing this, Gao Linzhi couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

As expected, my skills weren't up to par; that's how it is.

Being manipulated by others without even realizing it is a problem.

Finally, one of the three spoke up.

"So what should we do now?"

"There's only one way now, and that's to clear ourselves of suspicion!"

"What do you mean?"

That's exactly what it means!

"Hmph, you suspect that one of us took it."

"Isn't that right? There are only three of us players now."

"It couldn't possibly be one of the prince's men, could it?"

The Fourth Prince sneered inwardly.

That's just awful!

There was absolutely no distinction between superiors and inferiors.

"Alright, let's check each other's backpacks now, take screenshots and send them to the offline computer. Are you in?"

"Of course I dare!"

The so-called "screenshotting offline" actually just means taking a picture of yourself offline and then sending it online.

After all, you can see the Game Backpack with your naked eye, and the camera can see it too.

"Damn it, what's the use of this?"

"As soon as you log off, you can immediately transfer out."

"I suggest that the three of us stay together every day from now on, and none of us can leave the other two's sight for even a minute."

"That's right. We eat together, sleep together, and keep an eye on each other at all times. Only in this way can we prevent thieves from having a chance to use the Heaven's Heart Stone."

"However, using the Heaven's Heart Stone requires time and specific steps. Even if he could transfer it out, he wouldn't have the opportunity to use it."

"That's right. If we can't use it, what's the difference between that and not getting it at all? That person will eventually slip up."

The three players quickly reached a consensus.

Since they were all convinced that they hadn't taken it, then the other two people must have.

Therefore, this method does them no harm.

Gao Linzhi, however, simply smiled and shook his head.

It was the Fourth Prince who stopped the three from their farce.

"Very well, wise men," he said to the three, "I have now fulfilled my promise."

"And now you can resolve the court's deficit."

"That's simple. Your Highness did what you were supposed to do, and we killed the people we were supposed to kill."

"It's time to resolve the problems of the imperial court."

"We previously stated that the imperial court would auction off the gold mines and books, but after the recent battle, the players certainly won't trust the imperial court anymore."

"This requires an intermediary, and we will find this intermediary to help the prince sell his belongings."

The three players took on all the responsibilities.

The Fourth Prince was furious upon hearing this about the three of them.

Because the other party said they were selling their belongings, which clearly showed a disregard for the dignity of the imperial court.

And then they talk about middlemen, clearly trying to line their own pockets.

He needs to sell directly to users, who will definitely pay a high price.

Little did he know, this time the three players really didn't intend to trick him.

After all, the imperial court's strength and resources were clearly demonstrated in the recent Heaven's Heart Stone incident.

I obtained a Gold Tier item in no time.

Unfortunately, it was stolen by a dog.

This is so frustrating!

They must find it.

Otherwise, their efforts would have been in vain.

The Fourth Prince was clearly dissatisfied with their actions.

But it's inconvenient to act on it right now.

So he said, "Aren't you just wasting the court's time by searching for your stones?"

"I'll have the Imperial Observatory just place another raw stone there."

"No, this time I'll set out three pieces, one for each of you."

How could the Fourth Prince tolerate their reckless actions?

If they continue like this, their mission to serve the imperial court will be completely ruined.

How could he possibly gain his father's favor, and how could he possibly seize the throne?

"Your Highness is right. That bastard took our treasure, but we cannot delay Your Highness's important business."

"Yes, we will help the prince raise funds now."

The three players desperately wanted to burst into tears on the spot, but they couldn't do that.

They never expected that after all their painstaking planning, the item would end up belonging to someone else!

Moreover, although they are hiding, they will definitely be infamous once the truth is exposed.

Don't underestimate the players' investigative skills; wherever they are at the scene, they will leave traces.

Fortunately, the Fourth Prince was sensible enough to grant them three more promises.

This time, each person will get one, so I doubt anyone will try to take someone else's.

After all, this is a large rock several meters high.

"Etc..."

"I remember the backpack has a maximum load capacity, which is related to your physical condition. How many people have the physical attributes to withstand such a high rock?"

Player 2 discovered something strange about it.

He should have thought of that earlier.

After all, he knew the physical attributes of the other two; they were all magic users, and their physical attributes were only around 200.

With this kind of physique, I can't carry such a heavy stone.

Upon realizing this, the other two also changed their expressions.

They looked around and felt that there were shadowy figures all around them, which seemed very dangerous.

Various voices were closing in on them.

Combined with the evil deeds just committed, allowing the prince's men to kill players, that's simply terrifying.

They felt they might be possessed by something strange.

"Ah!"

"Your Highness, I am seriously ill and need to go home to recuperate."

"No need, I'll have someone from the Imperial Observatory take a good look at it for you."