This Boss Was Surprisingly Sensible

Bang!

Bang!

Just as the players were getting fired up, two more gunshots rang out.

The four players watched Su Yi stand motionless as the alloy bullets suspended before him multiplied to over a hundred.

108's eyes went wide. "What! The! Fuck! What kind of skill is that? It's so cool!"

Tentacles Aren't Evil God said, "He looks a bit like Nero from The Matrix."

108 said, "What are you talking about? It's Neo!"

Mountain Dog had no time to argue. His face lit up with excitement. "Holy shit! This boss is so cool! He even stepped in to help us at the critical moment!"

Winter, who had already resigned herself to starting over, looked just as stunned.

She hadn't really trusted this boss from the enemy faction. She had even prepared for him to betray them.

Never in her wildest dreams had she expected him to save them from a total wipe at the last possible moment!

Then Su Yi said, "Get him! He's out of bullets!"

The four snapped out of it and rushed forward again.

With his throat cut, Mad Dog had long been on his last legs.

The only thing keeping him going was his fury and his determination to take them down with him.

After firing three shots, Mad Dog stared wide-eyed at the masked Su Yi, unable to utter a word.

The four players finished him off, and Mad Dog collapsed where he stood.

Phew!

The four sat down, panting. Each saw the same shock and excitement in the others' eyes.

They'd done it!

They had killed a level 7 elite boss!

Level-up notifications appeared before them all. Every one of them had reached level 5.

"Yes!" 108 shouted in triumph.

Mountain Dog eyed the exoskeleton on Mad Dog's body hungrily. "An exoskeleton! Level 5 B-grade equipment sells for 200 Void Abyss Coins in the shop!"

Tentacles Aren't Evil God was excited too, but his attention was mostly on the masked Su Yi.

Su Yi's face was covered, but the players' special vision let them see his name.

"Winter, what should we do about this boss? He doesn't seem interested in attacking us."

Winter replied in their private chat, "You're right. I was overthinking it."

She stood and said solemnly, "Thank you for your help."

"Without you, we might all have died here today."

Su Yi smiled. "No need to thank me. You've done me a huge favor too."

It was Mountain Dog's and Tentacles Aren't Evil God's first time meeting Su Yi, and they started chatting privately.

Mountain Dog said, "This boss's name is incredible. He's got every buff stacked."

Tentacles Aren't Evil God laughed. "I think this boss is pretty interesting. Bet he'll have more quests for us later."

108 said, "Definitely. Born to be a traitor."

While the three chatted, Su Yi said, "The loot on him is all yours. You have one hour."

Winter nodded and asked, "Will we have another chance to work together?"

Compared with the noble NPCs in the Alliance who only knew how to hide in the back, this boss from the enemy faction felt more like one of their own.

Su Yi smiled. "Of course."

"Now that Mad Dog is dead, I'll take his place collecting debts in this area."

The four players' expressions shifted.

108 said privately, "Shit. Are we supposed to take him down next?"

Mountain Dog said, "No way. The classic 'kill your benefactor with your own hands' plot?"

Tentacles Aren't Evil God said, "Gehros, your double-dealing doesn't surprise me!"

Winter sighed. "I knew it. He's a boss from the enemy faction, after all. We were just tools to help him eliminate a rival."

As the four players lamented, Su Yi continued, "But I have no intention of exploiting these poor people."

The four perked up and looked at him.

Su Yi said, "Mad Dog's men are all scum. I'll keep giving you information on them. You can kill every last one, which will do wonders for your reputation among the civilians."

"Then I'll recruit a group of my own men."

"That way, you can keep doing your quests and collecting rewards from the Alliance."

108 said excitedly, "Holy shit, this boss is way too good to us!"

Tentacles Aren't Evil God said, "I think he must want something from us."

Mountain Dog said, "Who cares? If the pay's good, I'll call him Father."

While the three chatted, Winter continued negotiating with Su Yi.

"But these poor people still owe money on their high-interest loans."

Su Yi smiled. "That's why we need to keep working together, isn't it?"

He took out 100 Void Abyss Coins. "I'll still need to collect debts for a few days. My plan to change how things work will take time."

"But these people won't have to pay."

The other three stared at the money in Su Yi's hand.

Winter remained fairly calm. "What do you mean?"

Su Yi said, "I'll tell you before I go to collect a debt. Then you show up and pretend to beat us up."

"After that, use this money to pay off what those people owe."

"That way, I collect the debt, the poor people clear what they owe, and you gain a reputation."

The four were stunned.

108 immediately said, "This boss is brilliant!"

Mountain Dog was puzzled. "What does he get out of it? He pays and takes the blame?"

Tentacles Aren't Evil God said, "He gains our trust and friendship."

"Think about it. We're players from the enemy faction. To him, we're the perfect tool for getting rid of rivals."

Mountain Dog said, "Holy shit, this boss really thinks big!"

108 said, "He knows to get on the players' good side. This boss has it all figured out!"

Winter took the money and looked at Su Yi with admiration and approval. "All right!"

"If you have any quests for us in the future, come find us anytime!"

Having shown enough goodwill, Su Yi had carried out his plan for the day perfectly.

Mad Dog was dead, and he had befriended four major players from the game's launch.

Besides Winter and 108, Tentacles Aren't Evil God and Agile Dog in the Mountains would both become top players renowned across entire regions.

Among the ten major beta-test players, Tentacles Aren't Evil God had the greatest talent for organizing people.

While others leveled up, he started revolutions, founded companies and churches, and launched expeditions... He gathered more than ten thousand loyal professional players under his command.

He later became the governor of a star system.

Agile Dog in the Mountains would become a master assassin and a saint of the Gray Shadow Venerable. He would found a vast bounty organization called the Battleaxe Assassins.

Its work would include contract killings, ruin exploration, espionage, and more. The organization would span over ten star systems.

Alton and the other two, who had been keeping watch outside, hurried over when they saw Su Yi emerge. "Boss, how did it go?"

Su Yi smiled. "It's done."

The three were delighted. Mota asked, "Boss, what's next? Report straight to the boss?"

Su Yi smiled and shook his head. "We're treating him to a meal!"

The three blinked in confusion.

Su Yi said, "Come on. We'll deliver a shipment of bullets to Enns this morning. You three can take the afternoon off, and I'll treat the boss to dinner."

"Got it!"

Su Yi then went to Iron Beetle and picked up a batch of 5 mm capacitor rounds.

Ten 5 mm capacitor rounds cost one Void Abyss Coin. Su Yi spent 900 Void Abyss Coins on 9,000 rounds.

The capacitor rounds were light. Only the tips were alloy; the casings were plastic.

Each round weighed just five grams, so the whole batch came to a little over forty-five kilograms.

Su Yi took them to District Nine and easily sold the entire batch at five rounds per Void Abyss Coin.

Three hours there and back earned him a net profit of 900 Void Abyss Coins.

After giving each of the three men 50 Void Abyss Coins, and factoring in the money he had given the players, Su Yi now had 1,800 coins on hand.

Su Yi looked toward the company in the distance. Next, it's time to show the boss what I can do.

The boss was useless, but Su Yi would still need his recommendation if he wanted to join the company's official ranks.

He would also need the boss's cooperation to expand his gun-smuggling business and change the debt-collection operation.

He had awakened the Void Abyss Projection, but he was starting too low and had too little backing.

It was like working for a large corporation. No matter how capable someone was, a person with only an elementary-school education would never make it into upper management.

So he had to keep this man under his thumb.

While Su Yi was making money, the four players were beside themselves with excitement.

Their raid on the boss had hit a few snags, but with help, they had pulled it off perfectly!

They began sorting through the loot.

The four had obtained a B-grade exoskeleton worth 200 Void Abyss Coins on the market. Its stats were as follows.

[Name: KG-S1001 Engineering Uniform]

[Category: Exoskeleton]

[Quality: B]

[Armor: 200]

[Total Power: 160 kg]

[Requirement: Level 5 or above.]

[Effect: None]

(This is company property. Employees have usage rights only and must pay for any damage themselves.)

They also had a D-grade spiked club worth 5 Void Abyss Coins.

A modified short-barreled shotgun capable of firing three shots in succession was worth 10 Void Abyss Coins.

And Mad Dog had been carrying 46 Void Abyss Coins.

That was everything they had gained.

All the four had spent was one handmade battery mine that had cost them 6 Void Abyss Coins!

"We're rich! We're rich!" Mountain Dog rubbed his hands together excitedly.

"An exoskeleton gives you 160 kilograms of force. Add the impact, and one punch could probably kill someone!"

108's face glowed with excitement. "That boss was amazing! He even came through with an assist when it mattered!"

Mountain Dog's eyes widened. "Boss? That's my father!"

He looked at Winter. "And we suspected he might ambush us. Shame on us, shame on us."

Winter cleared her throat. "I overthought it."

Tentacles Aren't Evil God asked curiously, "What was that skill he used just now? It looked incredible."

108 scratched his head. "Telekinesis? Didn't look like it. Besides, he doesn't have that skill."

Mountain Dog nodded. "Right. He's only level 4. How could he have a skill that powerful?"

Winter said thoughtfully, "Maybe it's some kind of equipment we can't see?"

"Don't forget, the backstory says all kinds of shield generators became commonplace long ago."

After they finished discussing it, Tentacles Aren't Evil God's eyes lit up. "A shield generator that can block bullets has to be S-grade at least. What if we... take him out?"

Mountain Dog snapped, "Idiot. You'd really kill a boss this good?"

Winter rejected the idea too. "Right. We can't kill him."

"Never kill an enemy who can't aim. What if the replacement has better aim?"

108 nodded. "Exactly. And this boss is generous as hell. If anyone goes after him, I'll be the first to object."

Tentacles Aren't Evil God gave an awkward smile. "I was only kidding. Only kidding."