"Impossible. Your credibility with me went bankrupt long ago. I won't sign any contract with you."
Xu Qi frowned at once. "Does Your Excellency really intend to make an enemy of Xu Corporation?"
"You'd better not forget about Xu Corporation—"
"Shut up!" Gao Linzhi cut him off, sneering. "You bunch of idiots!"
"I just don't get it. Did you even look into my background before coming here to threaten me?"
"I used to think those brainless villains in novels were just made up by authors who'd never met anyone like them, and that they didn't exist in real life. But now I know there really are countless people like that."
In truth, he knew that the foolishness powerful people displayed was simply because they couldn't be bothered to humor ordinary people.
Just like Xu Corporation now.
Xu Qi was stunned.
He had indeed sent people to investigate Gao Linzhi, but they'd found nothing.
After all, the game had given Rogue Players a way to survive: once they entered, their appearances were automatically altered and no longer matched their real-life faces.
Otherwise, it would be far too easy to uncover their real identities.
Big data identification was no joke.
His visit this time had mostly been a test.
Now it seemed Gao Linzhi really did have powerful backing.
The confidence he carried was plain to see, and it was something ordinary Rogue Players couldn't match.
Even the more defiant Rogue Players tended to be all bark and no bite. They might seem tough, but deep down they were still cautious, terrified that someone might uncover their real identities.
So Xu Qi took a deep breath, said nothing more, and turned to leave.
Gao Linzhi watched him go and badly wanted to kick the man to death.
But he barely managed to suppress the impulse.
He'd build up some more experience first.
In the compound where Xu Corporation's players lived in East Wolf Village.
Xu Tianlang leaned back in a grand armchair, twirling a knife in his hand.
Xu Qi recounted everything Gao Linzhi had said, word for word.
"Good. Looks like he really does have something to rely on. Get people on it right away and find out everything you can about him," Xu Tianlang said coldly.
"If his company isn't ranked in the top hundred, kill him immediately!"
"If he can't be useful to me, he can die!"
Xu Qi couldn't help but advise him, "Young Master, I don't think we should offend Gao Linzhi so casually. Why don't we have the Third Elder host him, offer him some gold, and make peace?"
"The master said our priority right now is to develop. We shouldn't make too many enemies."
"Oh? Are you telling me what to do?" Xu Tianlang glanced sideways at him. The knife in his hand stopped, its point aimed at Xu Qi.
"I wouldn't dare. I'm only thinking of what's best for you, Young Master." Xu Qi dropped to his knees in fright.
"Hmph. He only got his game qualification this late. What kind of major company could he possibly have behind him? Ridiculous. Anyone with powerful backing would've gotten their game qualification long ago." Xu Tianlang rarely bothered to explain himself, but this time he did.
"Understood. I'll arrange it right away," Xu Qi said hastily.
"Get out."
The following week passed peacefully.
Gao Linzhi hunted monsters during the day and read at night. He slaughtered the monsters he hadn't managed to sell, then logged out after reading and rested in the mountain ravine.
Over those seven days, he'd accumulated 50,000 experience points, with another 1,000 set aside as a reserve.
His skills had now reached the following levels:
[Basic Fists and Feet Level 10, Basic Defense Level 100, Basic Medical Skills, Basic Lightness Skill Level 100, Basic Perception Level 100, Basic Parrying Level 100, Basic Stealth, Basic Movement Technique Level 100, Basic Spear Technique, Basic Dodge Level 100, Disguise Art, Heavenly Sight, Earthly Hearing, Person-Judging Art (Incomplete)]
Basic skills were capped at level 100. He'd have to advance them to intermediate before he could level them up further.
His physique, meanwhile, had soared to 5+61, for a total of 66 points!
Anyone else would have to practice an external martial art and break through level 10 before they could raise their physique cap above 100 points.
What limited Gao Linzhi's monster-hunting efficiency wasn't his strength, but the number of monsters available.
This wasn't like a regular game.
It was the real world turned into a game, and monsters couldn't respawn in real time.
In a game, the stronger you were, the more efficiently you could hunt monsters, and the more experience you'd earn. That was a basic rule.
But it didn't work that way here.
He could kill as fast as he liked, but the total number of monsters was fixed.
After Gao Linzhi had hunted for seven days, they'd rotated between several monster spawn points, and finally there were hardly any monsters left to hunt. Their efficiency had plummeted.
And that was with Xu Players hunting on a regular schedule too.
"Brother Blood, based on how things have gone in the past, we'll need to rest for a month. During that time, we'll have to do something else." Zheng Dong sounded apologetic.
Gao Linzhi had already expected this and had made plans.
"There should still be monsters to hunt in other villages' monster lairs, right? I remember the Fourth Elder saying West Wolf Village had quite a few lairs suitable for beginners," Gao Linzhi asked.
"That's true. Company players control West Wolf Village. They've opened up more territory and even taken several of our monster lairs," Zheng Dong said, sounding frustrated.
"I see." Gao Linzhi nodded.
He considered the options.
There were two possible directions now.
Expand into new territory or take West Wolf Village.
Both were extremely dangerous.
An ordinary player would have to think it over again and again, test the waters repeatedly, and only then take action.
But for him, it wasn't that complicated.
His physique was now at 66 points. What did that mean?
An ordinary person had only 5 points. His physique was thirteen times that of an ordinary person!
Now he could shatter a boulder with a single punch.
If he was injured, he recovered rapidly, almost in the blink of an eye.
And he was a true player. If he died, he could come back to life.
Still, he was clearheaded.
There were plenty of opponents out there.
Not missiles, thermobaric bombs, or nukes—modern weapons with tremendous destructive power—but other players with all kinds of unknown talents.
If one of them had a sealing-type talent, he'd be in trouble.
So until he had a way to counter that, he decided to expand outward.
If they were sealed while fighting monsters, the village would provide support.
After making up his mind, he asked Zheng Dong, "Isn't Xu Corporation expanding outward?"
"They probably want to get the qualifications of all the Rogue Players in the village first, then expand. That way, they won't end up with so many monster lairs that the Rogue Players can take advantage of the extra monsters and get a better price," Zheng Dong said after thinking it over.
Gao Linzhi nodded.
The richer you got, the less willing you were to let up; the less willing you were to let up, the richer you got.
Xu Clan would only wipe out all the Rogue Players and seize their game qualifications.
Wherever they went, commercial companies had the same instinct: monopolize.
Eliminate the competition and dominate the market.
But Skyfall Game was incomplete. It didn't even have a quest system.
In other words, it had no complete game administration to actively maintain the balance.
Before you continue