Serving Heaven's Mandate, Acting in Heaven's Stead

Lin Cangming looked at the people huddled in the village, trembling and awaiting their Judgment.

He felt a pang of sadness.

As a player, he could certainly have escaped.

Logging off beforehand to avoid it is also an option.

You can switch to another island.

Unfortunately, he couldn't leave.

As a solo player, he was also hunted and hunted down by offline Corporate Players after entering the game.

He could only remain hidden online.

It was these villagers and island natives who sheltered him.

The reason the other party was covering for him was because he had caught the eye of the island's village chief's daughter.

His stubble and melancholy eyes deeply attracted the village chief's daughter, who was not yet twenty.

Lin Cangming, who had always been at the bottom of the matchmaking hierarchy, soon became the village chief's son-in-law.

His wife is now one month pregnant.

Under these circumstances, how could he possibly abandon these people and run away?

The offline world holds no appeal for him anymore.

This is what is called a bond.

Unless it's a machine, emotions can make even a strong player, a player with great potential and cheat codes, risk fighting here.

And at this time...

The imperial fleet launched its second barrage of cannon fire.

One of the projectiles hit the gate, sending wood chips flying everywhere.

The wooden door quickly shattered into pieces.

The shells landed on the ground and began to emit green smoke again.

After casting the curse, the enemy began releasing poison.

"Get ready, everyone prepare to retreat!" Lin Cangming shouted to the crowd.

He couldn't let these villagers become cannon fodder.

He knew that those high-level players were hiding among the villagers, disguised as ordinary villagers, waiting for the imperial court to arrive and deliver a major blow to the court.

Players shouldn't be directly confronting the imperial court, but it's rumored they've triggered a series of quests with very generous rewards.

What does the imperial court matter when faced with such rewards?

Even God himself dares to create a hole.

He led the resistance because it was difficult for the villagers to evacuate.

He rallied the villagers to hold their ground, hoping to demonstrate his courage and persuade the imperial fleet to leave without bothering to dock.

The result was that the other side didn't care about them at all and wanted to kill them all.

As Lin Cangming was pondering his next plan, a voice suddenly rang out.

"Sir! Sir!" A middle-aged man with a face covered in blood ran up; it was the village blacksmith. "There are boats on the back mountain... there are boats on the back mountain too! The imperial court has a small fleet that has circled around from the south of the island!"

Lin Cangming frowned as he looked at the massive fleet in the distance.

The banner above read, "Right Vice Metropolitan Zheng".

According to the information provided by that player, this person is "Zheng Yuanheng".

The other party was originally the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, who rose to power by stepping on the corpses of his colleagues in a certain case.

He has now been promoted to Right Vice Metropolitan, specializing in maritime affairs.

This guy is really ruthless; he even planned out the villagers' escape route.

This is an attempt to wipe them out completely.

"Pass on my message," he opened his eyes, gritted his teeth, and said in a steady voice, "Each village should defend itself and need not concern itself with others. Every government soldier you kill is a bonus."

When push comes to shove, all we can do is fight with everything we have.

Fortunately, he had already secretly sent his father-in-law's family and his wife away beforehand, through those players.

He just gave his only student, a young man, a jade pendant that allows him to breathe while submerged in seawater.

Of course, this item has a limited number of uses; it can only be used 10 times.

These are in-game store items—typical consumables.

In-game stores rarely sell permanent items.

Ultimately, he had deep feelings for the villagers.

After all, he found the meaning of life here: the respect, recognition, and admiration of others.

These are among the things a man needs most.

But he was not Saint after all, so he still had selfish motives.

Given the current situation, the only option left is to fight to the bitter end.

Otherwise, no one could survive.

So he took off the square scarf from his head, revealing his extremely short hair.

This was so that he could blend in with the villagers.

From the moment he entered the game, he gave up any thought of returning to real life.

He took a sword from a hidden compartment in the watchtower.

The sword had a long, narrow blade; it was a gift from the village blacksmith.

This is said to be made from the bones of a siren.

"Aman," he called to the boy, "Aren't you leaving?"

The boy cried, but stood still.

Lin Cangming sighed and ignored him.

The third round of shelling began.

This time, a corner of the village wall collapsed.

Clumps of blood-red substance shot out from the shells.

Wherever they touch, a raging fire breaks out, difficult to extinguish.

Curses, poison, flames...

These are all powerful tools used for murder.

"Everyone, hurry up and leave the village, then gather at the back!"

He then issued another order.

He and his students stood guard, observing the movements of the imperial ships.

Half an hour later.

When the curse dissipated, the somber atmosphere filled the air, and the fire raged, the imperial ships finally set sail again.

The beach was covered with countless black dots—the imperial infantry had begun their landing.

That's the classic gun and shield squad formation.

Long shields are in front, followed by wolf-tooth rakes, and long spears are like a forest.

It's similar to the Mandarin Duck Formation from the Ming Dynasty in real life.

At this moment, a few brave villagers who stayed behind also brought out several old cannons.

That was actually sponsored by players.

They were unaware of this.

"Release!" Lin Cangming ordered fiercely.

The three old cannons in the village suddenly roared to life.

The cannonballs, enhanced with runes to extend their range, traveled several miles.

In feudal times, this was absolutely remarkable.

They hit the beach.

Several bloody furrows were ploughed out of the ranks of those imperial infantrymen.

However, the imperial infantry formation only paused for a moment before pressing forward again.

The soldiers, clad in cotton armor, were as silent as machines.

They advanced by stepping over the corpses of their comrades.

They all knew they were cannon fodder.

The real winners are the big shots and strong individuals behind the scenes.

Why didn't the stronger party strike first?

The goal is to make them step into traps, to test the waters, and to minimize the loss of their magical power.

To these powerful figures, these people were merely tools; as long as they could serve even a small purpose, it wouldn't matter if they all died.

It's simply a matter of collecting another batch of taxes.

In any case, under feudal dynasties, there would always be conflicts between people and land, and problems of overpopulation.

This is because the agricultural system is best suited for population growth—children don't need to go to school; they can live with their parents until they are three or four years old and then do farm work.

Where there is land and labor, there will be output.

These workers don't require much investment in education or living expenses; they are essentially natural slaves to their parents.

In contrast, while the industrial system is a thousand times more powerful, it has one fatal weakness that it cannot solve: a natural contraceptive for the population.

Any industrialized nation will face the problems of an aging population and a declining birth rate.

This is probably why the local feudal dynasties have been reluctant to develop industry: they actually know exactly how to do it, after all, players have already visited this world several times.

But they need people.

Therefore, it has remained a feudal dynasty.

Lin Cangming witnessed this scene.

He suddenly remembered that three years ago, he was still working for a large offline company.

During the lecture, the manager said something like, "Employees are the most important, the company is second, and senior management is the least important."

He actually believed it back then.

Later, he was gradually promoted to a junior management position and saw how middle and senior managers shared profits with clients.

How to exploit employees, how to be obsequious to large companies, and how to drive employees to the point of exhaustion and death.

He then realized that all those so-called corporate cultures were just a lie.

Only wages and bonuses are truly substantial.

The same applies to this online gaming world.

He witnessed firsthand the people of Capital Island eating chaff and wild vegetables while having to pay heavy taxes.

Conversely, those living far from the imperial court lived relatively well; at least they wouldn't starve or have their military pay embezzled.

"The people are the most important?" He chuckled softly, drew his sword, and walked down from the watchtower.

By this time, the gate of the stockade had already been blasted open by a group of soldiers using battering rams.

The imperial arquebusiers are advancing under the cover of their shields.

The loneliness and the curse have dissipated.

The fire also burned a path through the area.

The villagers did not completely evacuate the village.

Some of the able-bodied men voluntarily stayed behind to buy time for their families.

Their courage is truly admirable.

Lin Cangming greatly admired them.

They could have scattered and fled, but they didn't.

This is probably a characteristic of fishermen and islanders: they are not afraid of death.

Compared to farmers and land dwellers, their courage index is much higher.

It's probably because they often encounter death when they're out at sea.

Over time, it became a habit.

At that moment, lead bullets rained down on the village.

Many villagers collapsed to the ground.

Lin Cangming witnessed the blacksmith fall before him, a bloody hole in his chest, still shouting, "Kill the soldiers..."

Lin Cangming his sword and unleashing an intermediate-level sword technique.

He cut down a spearman who charged in.

Blood splattered on his face, warm and salty.

More officers and soldiers poured in.

The imperial court's "Mandarin Duck Formation" unfolded in the narrow village passage.

The long branch of the wolf-tooth mace caught his sword, and then two spears thrust forward...

He dodged one bullet by sidestepping it, but another pierced his thigh. The excruciating pain caused him to fall to his knees, and his sword flew from his hand.

"He must be alive!" a shout came from outside. "Zheng Zhongcheng must be alive!"

"This person doesn't seem to be a local villager; he might be Descenders!"

Lin Cangming almost laughed; it seemed the other party was quite shrewd.

He choked out a mouthful of blood.

He fumbled in his pocket and took out a tinderbox—the gunpowder depot in the village was right at his feet, and the fuse had already been laid out.

"Gentlemen!"

The boy Aman suddenly lunged forward, shielding him, and was pierced through the chest by a long spear.

Lin Cangming was stunned.

The jade pendant in the boy's hand fell to the ground and shattered in two.

This is something left for the other party to save their life.

Once the other party gets involved, they will understand its usefulness.

He didn't say anything because he was afraid of undermining the villagers' morale in their resistance.

The child's eyes were still open, and his lips were moving as if he wanted to say something, but only blood gushed out.

"Sir... you go first."

The last word was as light as a sigh.

Lin Cangming did not move.

He watched helplessly as the boy's body was kicked aside by the soldiers, and then watched as a military officer who looked like Qianzong approached.

He watched himself being bound by ropes one last time.

He didn't have a treasure like the Revival Stone.

After all, this island is still too poor.

He couldn't bear to loot it.

The shouts of battle in the village gradually subsided, turning into sporadic screams.

Then came the crackling sound of flames rising.

The imperial guards were setting fires; this was standard practice.

They wanted to destroy the rebels' strongholds, leaving them nowhere to go.

As Lin Cangming was dragged out of the village gate, the setting sun was sinking below the horizon.

The island was littered with corpses, men and women, young and old.

Several soldiers were rummaging through the valuables on the corpse, uttering vulgar laughter and curses.

In the distance, on the stern of a multi-storied ship, the figure of an official in a scarlet robe was faintly visible in the twilight.

Lin Cangming suddenly remembered that today was the fifteenth of August.

At this time of year, the villagers on the island would hold banquets, dance, sing, and admire the moon until dawn.

A bright, round moon rose over the sea at that moment.

Today, however, it seems to glow red, reflected by the pools of blood on the island.

At this very moment.

Lin Cangming was unaware that a live stream was being broadcast directly at him.

These are actually the players.

They didn't make a move until the very end.

They understand very well what it means to accumulate and suppress emotions.

Nowadays, many people are using all sorts of methods to climb the rankings.

Their strategy is to use the tactic of "building up the impression by first criticizing."

This method is very effective.

At least at this moment, the viewers watching the live stream were all angrily shouting:

"It's a big shot! The big shot has come out!"

"Kill these treacherous soldiers!"

And at this time...

Gao Linzhi had already noticed the live stream.

He had been watching various live streams the whole time.

After all, this is a ranking competition.

Although he didn't initially intend to get involved, he doesn't want to give up now.

After all, 200 points of free attribute are very valuable.

Now, seeing Lin Cangming's persistence and courage, he was, for some reason, moved.

Gao Linzhi sighed.

He still has some humanity left.

This is not the mindset one should have as Longevity Being.

He quickly began to reflect on his actions.

After looking at it carefully for a while, he was shocked to discover a fact.

The sanctioning activities launched by these players were not interfered with by any Heavenly Dao intervention.

Clearly, the rules of the game are very powerful, powerful enough to partially shield the influence of the Heavenly Dao.

It seems it's time for him to step up his game.

Of course, he still adhered to the idea of using an alias.

Although many people know that his true identity is Gao Linzhi.

However, no one knew that he and his Game Character were actually two separate individuals.

Those people only thought they had logged in and spent money to buy skins.

Little did he know that he and the Game Character Canxue were two completely different individuals.

Now that Gao Linzhi has discovered there is no problem, he naturally has to step forward.

Since you're going to step forward, you should demonstrate your capabilities.

So he started doing live streaming as well.

"Look closely, this is an island where innocent people were plotted to kill."

"This man's name is Little Lin, and he is the island's leader."

"His courage is commendable, but unfortunately he lacked the strength and could only watch helplessly as the court officials slaughtered indiscriminately."

"The villagers suffered heavy casualties."

"Yet no one stood up for them."

"And now, the anchor is going to stand up for them and seek justice."

"What God can't do, the streamer will do; what God can't kill, the streamer will kill."

In short, it all boils down to this: By the mandate of Heaven, we act on behalf of Heaven!