The Golden Jewelry

Everyone fell silent, and tension filled the conference room.

Xu Zongtong was right. In fact, this was the fundamental reason all the companies had independently chosen to keep Rogue Players under strict control. They didn't dare let up.

If they did, and a Rogue Player rose to power, the resentment he'd accumulated from being at the bottom could very well bring the entire company crashing down.

Company Players, on the other hand, weren't as much of a concern. Family ties, blood relations, and all sorts of other bonds naturally kept their powerful players in check.

Just then, Company Executive Xu Zongxin looked over everyone and sighed inwardly.

He raised his head. "What's everyone so nervous about?"

"Players can fight like an army on their own. Do Rogue Players grow faster, or Company Players?"

"C-Chairman, of course it's Company Players," Xu Zongtong hurriedly replied.

"Then what's there to worry about? As long as we make sure the best talents stay in our hands, Company Players will always be out in front. Even if a few powerful Rogue Players emerge, we can easily keep them in check, win them over, or eliminate them," Xu Zongxin said calmly.

"The chairman is right."

"Exactly. There's no need to worry about them. We just need to develop quickly ourselves."

The room immediately filled with praise.

At that moment, Xu Zongyin of the Second Branch undermined the mood. "But, Chairman, what should we do about this man?"

"He killed Xu Hai of the Third Branch."

"Do as Zongtong suggested." A trace of contempt flashed in Xu Zongxin's eyes as he delivered his Decisive Strike. "He's just a loser who got a little power from the game and now thinks he can show off."

"With the power of the Xu Clan, crushing him will be easy!"

"We're not afraid of Rogue Players who make a big show of themselves. We're only wary of werewolves who stay hidden until the very end."

"Yes, Chairman."

Soon, the meeting settled on a course of action: deal with him harshly and make sure he was eliminated.

Gao Linzhi sat in a restaurant, eating beef noodles as he pondered.

He had changed his face again.

He needed to get his hands on gold.

But he'd also realized that the ordinary methods would carry a lot of risk.

Gold was very useful in the game.

That meant the Company Executives had long since begun monitoring all the ways people could buy gold in the real world.

Anyone who suddenly bought a large amount would be investigated from top to bottom.

This was the age of big data.

Any ordinary purchase would leave a trail.

The only places with gold in large quantities were jewelry stores, banks, gold mines, and a few other locations. They wouldn't be hard to keep under control.

He needed to find a way.

As he was thinking, an announcement from a security guard rang out: "Temporary inspection! Turn off your engines and get out of your vehicles!"

He turned to look at the road nearby.

It had been blocked off with barricades.

Before long, cars were forced to brake one after another, and some behind them even collided.

Not long after, the street was packed with a long line of vehicles. Impatient drivers honked their horns from time to time.

Gao Linzhi frowned. He didn't think this was a coincidence.

Could the Xu Corporation have a player with a "precognition" or "divination" talent?

He looked up and saw a security vehicle belonging to the Xu Corporation parked by the roadside.

A group of security personnel filed out and began checking passing vehicles in the street.

Two more teams were searching the shops, apartment buildings, and underground shopping centers on either side of the road.

They were extremely heavy-handed, dragging drivers, shop owners, and customers out of their cars and stores at the slightest provocation.

"Get out! Everyone, get out!"

"Hands on your heads! Get down! Everyone, get down!"

They used to at least show some restraint when doing this sort of thing. Now they weren't even pretending.

Just then, a luxury A8 sedan slowly entered the street, only to be stopped by the endless traffic.

The middle-aged driver was a refined-looking man wearing gold-rimmed glasses. He looked a lot like Little Cabinet Minister.

He hurried out and approached a security guard by the roadside who was directing traffic.

Bowing and scraping, he offered the guard a pack of expensive cigarettes.

"Hey, brothers, my wife's pregnant and about to give birth. I need to get her to the hospital right away."

"Could you let me go around the side?"

"The company's orders are that everyone has to stop for inspection." The security guard didn't even glance at the cigarettes. Instead, he looked the man over warily.

Up ahead, the inspections continued at a snail's pace.

Every driver was searched and had their face pinched to check for disguises.

"What's going on?" the middle-aged driver asked, trying to reassure his wife in the car at the same time. "Honey, hang in there a little longer. We'll be there soon."

The security guard didn't answer.

Just then, a kind-hearted taxi driver shook his head and said, "I heard in the group chat that there's a wanted criminal around here. They're trying to catch him."

"Looks like this inspection's going to take a while. They're letting people in, but not out."

"You'd better call in a favor and see if you can get through. If you don't know anyone, call the hospital emergency line right away and have a doctor drive in to deliver the baby."

"Honey, I can't hold on any longer," the pregnant woman in the car said in pain.

"If you can't hold on, give birth in the car. What's the big deal?" a security guard nearby said coldly.

Clearly, he was annoyed that the man was driving a luxury car.

"You!" The middle-aged driver was furious, but he held his tongue.

He hurriedly started making phone calls.

Gao Linzhi watched the middle-aged driver, deep in thought.

Just then.

A security team leader in his fifties suddenly came over with several people.

"There's a pregnant woman?" the security team leader asked the guard beside him.

"Yes."

"How could I forget? The criminal might disguise himself as a pregnant woman. No one would suspect that a pregnant woman was actually a man." The security team leader stared into the car.

"The team leader is right."

Everyone fell silent.

"No, my wife is a woman. Please don't do this. I'm begging you!" The middle-aged man pleaded.

"We can't be sure she's a woman until we check." The security team leader snorted. "Get out and submit to inspection!"

"Brother, please, do me a favor. I'm from the Technical Department. Here's my business card." The middle-aged man hurriedly handed him a business card, then discreetly offered him a shopping card as well.

The security team leader shoved them away, his expression icy. "You're testing the team leader with this? Which team leader could resist such a test?"

The middle-aged man froze, unsure what to do.

His wife endured the pain and tapped on the window. Then she handed over a gold necklace and two gold bracelets she was wearing.

Only then did the security team leader take a few small steps forward and casually tuck the gold jewelry into his pocket.

"All right, I've finished checking. There's nothing wrong with you. You can go through here first."

With the security team leader guiding him, the middle-aged man got back into the car, thanking him over and over. He turned into the oncoming lane and then drove past the checkpoint.

"Honey, how did you know he'd take gold jewelry?"

"One of the girls in my group chat told me. Gold jewelry's really popular lately. People are paying a lot for it—more than twice what shops offer for trade-ins."