Traffic He Got by Riding Others' Coattails

Night fell, and Du Ge announced that the public trial was over.

The plaintiffs who hadn't received any money were disappointed, but they had no choice but to return to the city one after another. In this world, the concept of class was deeply ingrained. Even if they had ten times the courage, they wouldn't dare disturb the Heavenly Demon Lord's rest.

The Heavenly Demon Lord might be kindhearted, but he was still someone who would actually kill people.

As Du Ge scattered silver coins by the handful, the Peacekeeping Gang's reputation quickly spread throughout Luyang City.

Heavenly Demon Feng Qi was a good man, a just official, the people's guardian deity...

In no time, word of his good deeds had spread far and wide.

Du Ge's prestige reached its peak in Luyang City in a single day, and his overall attributes had nearly tripled. His speed and agility in a direct attack were now almost on par with the speed of the Backstab he'd used when ambushing Qiu Yuanlang.

As for a thrust from behind, that went without saying. Put simply, within ten meters, his Backstab was practically a flash step. In a low-martial world, no one could dodge it...

Night had fallen.

The Peacekeeping Gang was completely silent.

From the previous night until now, Du Ge had kept the former members of the Iron Palm Sect busy. They'd barely slept. Once the public trial ended and they finally relaxed, they couldn't hold on any longer.

Even Liu Cheng, whose Martial Arts were exceptionally powerful, was yawning nonstop.

A wise general didn't send hungry soldiers into battle. Seeing this, Du Ge simply sent everyone off to rest.

In the vast Iron Palm Sect, snores rose and fell. Only a few servants and the three Heavenly Demons remained active.

Du Ge: Overall Rank: First, Mental Strength: 100, Total Simulation Field Population: 576.

He opened his personal profile and took a look. His mental strength had increased by another 20, while the population had dropped by dozens. Du Ge sighed and looked around the empty Iron Palm Sect before closing the status panel. "There are too few people I can use!"

"Seventh Brother, I'm useful!" Feng Zhong said with a fawning smile. "I've still got plenty of energy. Just give me the word, and I'll do whatever you need. I'd climb a mountain of blades or plunge into a sea of fire for your cause. I'm not doing this for the rankings. I just want to experience life in the Simulation Field..."

Feng Zhong had spent the entire day helping Du Ge preside over the trials. He hadn't dared to run off, and only now had a chance to speak. Afraid Du Ge was still planning to kill him, he immediately declared his loyalty.

"Seventh Brother, kill him. The more people in the team, the harder they are to control. You only need me to assist you."

Wang San's hair fell over his forehead as he lowered his head slightly. His voice was ominous. He was still fiddling with a severed hand. Like Du Ge, his attributes had soared today, propelling him to second place on the rankings.

He knew exactly who was in first.

Earlier, he'd been unhappy with Du Ge for revealing his Keyword and putting them both in the spotlight. But after his attributes skyrocketed in a single day and he leaped to second place in the Simulation Field, he'd benefited so much that he didn't want anyone ruining his bright future.

"Didn't you hear Seventh Brother say he doesn't have enough people? You're a Yandere. What can you do besides scare people?" Feng Zhong retorted. "Can you influence the fate of the world? If I hadn't sent Qiu Yuanlang a letter and piqued his interest in the Heavenly Demon, you'd still be looking for other Heavenly Demons at Xingyu Tower! We'd never have caused such a stir or improved our strength so quickly!"

"Are you provoking me?" Wang San grinned and suddenly turned toward Feng Zhong, his gaze like a blade.

Whoosh!

Feng Zhong ducked behind Du Ge and warned him, "I'm warning you, don't use your skill on me! Seventh Brother didn't even kill me. If you use your skill on me and ruin his plans, he won't let you get away with it."

Qiu Yuanlang and his son had been revived by a doctor partway through the day. When they woke up, they'd looked at Wang San like mice facing a cat, their eyes darting about as they trembled. Feng Zhong had seen how badly they'd suffered, and naturally didn't want Wang San's skill used on him. Then he really wouldn't be able to do anything.

"Useless." Wang San sneered and looked away. He'd accepted Du Ge's leadership, so he didn't dare overstep. Though his attributes had soared, he still didn't think he could escape Feng Qi's thrust. Feng Qi was too fast.

"Seventh Brother, in a few days, every contestant will have heard of the Peacekeeping Gang," Feng Zhong said. "It's easy to dodge an attack you can see, but hard to guard against one you can't. Nobody knows what Keywords the others have. The best way to hold on to what we've got is to strike fast and keep striking, giving them no time to react or grow stronger before we eliminate them."

He paused, then asked, "Boss, you must be ranked first now, right?"

Du Ge glanced at him, but before he could speak, Wang San said, "How dare you ask about Seventh Brother's ranking?"

"Anyone with half a brain can guess. If all this commotion over the last two days hasn't put him in first place, then the heavens themselves must be blind." Feng Zhong glared impatiently at Wang San. "Can you say a few words less, you sick freak? Go kiss your stinking hand. Do you even understand strategy?"

"Let him speak," Du Ge said. Liu Cheng and the others were too exhausted to help, while Qiu Muqian and Han Zuo hadn't returned since entering the city. Who knew what they were plotting behind his back?

The Iron Palm Sect now had just over four hundred people, all told. The only one who could be considered an expert was Liu Cheng, and his Martial Arts were about on par with Feng Shiyi's.

Originally.

Du Ge's plan to establish the Peacekeeping Vanguard was to proceed gradually, gathering like-minded people bit by bit. But Feng Zhong had thrown everything into disarray, and now the operation had expanded so suddenly that there were too few people he could rely on. No matter how much energy he had, he couldn't keep track of everything or handle every task himself.

Feng Zhong's suggestion to strike fast was one solution, but carrying it out would be extremely difficult. After all, the world was enormous.

"Seventh Brother, the top ten contestants' names won't be announced until a month from now. You may be enjoying yourself now, but you've basically revealed your ranking ahead of time," Feng Zhong said. "And you've disrupted everyone's plans to stay hidden and grow. You've practically made yourself a target for all. No one will just sit back and watch you grow stronger. After all, killing you would let them take your place in the rankings. And your Keyword is maintaining the peace..."

He gave a sly grin. "Of course, I know that's a disguise, but someone will be able to figure out your real Keyword from your actions. Then they'll deliberately target you. Even if they can't figure it out, they can keep testing until they do. Especially since you've exposed the Heavenly Demons. There'll always be clever people who, like you, use the locals to their advantage."

The top ten contestants' names would be announced a month later?

A shrinking circle?

Feng Zhong's words had given Du Ge an even more important piece of information.

No wonder. He'd thought that in a world this vast, with tens of millions of people, it would be easy for a few hundred contestants to stay hidden. If everyone relied on their own growth, how could the contest be any kind of challenge?

So there was a mechanism like this.

After a month of growth, the top ten would become glaring targets, hunted by everyone. For anyone who wanted to fight for a better ranking, killing one of the top ten and taking their place was a shortcut to getting stronger.

And as fewer people remained later on, the fighting would only grow fiercer...

Fuck!

Not knowing the rules could get you killed!

Fortunately, he had Backstab to throw people off, and everyone was influenced by the usual way of thinking. They hadn't considered maintaining the peace to be his real Keyword. Otherwise, he'd really be in for a rough time...

Du Ge's head began to ache.

But then he thought about it. Even if he knew the rules, so what? Was he supposed to stop fighting for a place in the top ten?

After all, he had one more Keyword than the others, which gave him a natural advantage. Reaching the top ten would be easy.

Whether he was exposed now or a month from now made almost no difference to him.

Growing his forces early would also let his attributes soar quickly. Facing a bunch of weaklings who hadn't had time to grow was much better than facing a bunch of old foxes who'd had a month to develop.

Thinking it over, Du Ge felt relieved again.

Feng Zhong continued, "...That's when my Tongue of Right and Wrong comes in. We can get all the sects busy and set them in motion, even lure in their experts. Then we can recruit them one by one or take them out. That way, our forces will keep growing, and others won't be able to use the locals even if they want to."

Tongue of Right and Wrong?

What a tongue this guy had. He really could talk people into things!

Du Ge looked at Feng Zhong. "What's your ranking now?"

Feng Zhong chuckled, looking rather pleased with himself. "Thanks to Seventh Brother, I've been stirring up trouble between you and the Iron Palm Sect. I've played my part in shaking up the whole world, and now I'm ranked ninth in the Simulation Field. I barely made the top ten."

Fuck!

Du Ge cursed. He'd worked so hard to become the Simulation Field's top-ranked contestant, while this guy had done nothing but write a single letter—and ridden his coattails right into the top ten. It was so damn unfair.

"Lucky bastard," Wang San muttered. Clearly, he was just as displeased that Feng Zhong had ridden the wave into the top ten.

"What's your ranking?" Du Ge asked Wang San.

"Thanks to Seventh Brother, I'm ranked second in the Simulation Field. I barely made the top three." Wang San glanced at Feng Zhong, deliberately revealing his ranking to spite him.

"Fuck!" Feng Zhong's eyes widened. "You're the lucky bastard here, you sick freak! Without Seventh Brother, you'd have been burned to death as soon as you showed yourself, with such a disgusting Keyword. How could you have grown so fast?"

Second and ninth!

Du Ge suddenly smiled. "All right, enough arguing. We're all in the top ten now, tied to the same boat. A month from now, none of us will be able to escape. We'd better work together and figure out how to protect our rankings."