Can Game Equipment Be Materialized?

Lin Yi found Zhao Yilong's name familiar. After thinking it over, he quickly remembered that Zhao Yilong seemed to be a relatively young and inspirational tycoon in the country, once ranked somewhere in the fifties on the national rich list.

Half a year ago, many media outlets had often covered Zhao Yilong, who had built his fortune from scratch, but there seemed to have been no reports about him in recent months.

Lin Yi had not expected Zhao Yilong to be the founder of the Black Card Alliance. That was quite surprising.

(Note: Liu Hong had mentioned the Black Card Alliance in his Diary, but never Zhao Yilong. Thus, Lin Yi only knew that such an organization existed, not who its founder was.)

Lin Yi then hurried to the place where he had arranged to meet Liu Bo for dinner.

It was a private room. Liu Bo had already ordered plenty of skewers and was waiting for Lin Yi.

As they sat at the table, Liu Bo ate while recounting his dealings with the Black Card Alliance in detail.

"...After I got the footage, I asked a friend I'd met during training in the Capital City. He said that although the Black Card Alliance isn't an Official organization, all of its members are registered with the Official authorities. That Number 16 used to be Zhao Yilong's bodyguard. He's a retired soldier named Song Rende."

"...After I told you about it this afternoon, I tracked down Song Rende using the registration information. He wasn't surprised at all when he saw that I'd found him. Then he directly asked whether I wanted to join the Black Card Alliance..."

"Join his ass. I've got an official post now, more or less. Why would I join them? I questioned him about my dad afterward. Song Rende said he didn't know either, that he was just someone who did the work. Then, right in front of me, he called his boss—Zhao Yilong."

Hearing this, Lin Yi asked, "Zhao Yilong? So he was the one who sent people to follow you, and then to my place?"

"Yes. Zhao Yilong said over the phone that he and my dad used to be good friends. The reason he had us followed was because he'd once lent my dad a treasure. Then my dad died in an accident, and the thing disappeared. That was why he sent people to follow us and search for it..."

Lin Yi frowned. "A treasure? What exactly was it? Your dad's Diary didn't seem to mention this."

"Yeah. I asked Zhao Yilong what it was, and he said it was a Spiritual Artifact brought out of Apocalypse World."

A Spiritual Artifact brought out of Apocalypse World?!

This shocked Lin Yi deeply. He had tested it himself—there was simply no way to bring anything into or out of Apocalypse World in reality.

Could Zhao Yilong have some special method for bringing things out of Apocalypse World?

Lin Yi hurriedly asked, "Xiao Bo, did you hear anything during your training in the Capital City about being able to bring items out of Apocalypse World?"

Liu Bo shook his head. "No. The training content we received was valuable, but it was basic information to the Official authorities. More valuable information is also a kind of resource to them, so they wouldn't tell us casually."

"But I don't think Zhao Yilong lied to me. This should be true."

"Alright. What happened next?"

Liu Bo continued, "Later, Zhao Yilong told me how he met my dad. It turned out Zhao Yilong had been born in Great Yu Village, where my dad was. He said my dad was highly talented and could forge Spiritual Artifacts at only a few levels. At first, they met through trading Spiritual Artifacts, and gradually became familiar with each other..."

"Anyway, everything he said felt fake, like he really wanted to establish some connection with me. I was scoffing inside. If he and my dad had truly been close, my dad wouldn't have failed to mention him in his Diary."

Lin Yi asked, "Did Zhao Yilong say how your dad died?"

"Yeah. He said that before my dad's accident, he happened to be outside the village exploring the Wilderness. He also said that Great Yu Village's power structure was very complicated. Besides the native NPCs in the village, there were several player factions, many of them from overseas. After my dad died, he investigated too, but didn't find anything."

Finally, Liu Bo added, "But he said my dad was very likely set up and killed by the native NPCs in the village, because my dad had taken Great Yu Village's Village Chief as his master and infringed on some people's interests in the village."

After hearing this, Lin Yi could not help finding it strange. Were Great Yu Village's NPCs really that chaotic?

They could actually get Newborn players killed?

Compared to Great Yu Village, their Ancient Pool Village was far better. He had dealt with the captains of the Four Militia Teams and the two Village Elders, and all of them seemed like decent people.

Moreover, the player population in Ancient Pool Village was small, so there were relatively few conflicts of interest.

After considering it, Lin Yi said, "Xiao Bo, I'd guess eight parts of Zhao Yilong's story are true and one part is false. Still, he doesn't seem to be your dad's killer. If you want to uncover the truth behind your dad's death, you'll probably have to reach Professional level, find Great Yu Village, and investigate it yourself."

Liu Bo sighed. "Yeah, but Professional level is too hard. Yi, I'll be honest with you. Right now, I'm relying on an Official big shot from our village and tagging along with him in the Militia Team to earn Experience Points. But even so, my Experience Points are increasing way too slowly. It'll probably take half a year to reach Professional level."

"By then, it'll be too late for anything."

Lin Yi also knew very well how difficult it was for ordinary people to level up in Apocalypse World. After all, most village Militia Teams required Level 5 just to join.

Yet ordinary players could not even make it from Level 1 to Level 2, much less reach Level 5 alone.

Therefore, the best way to develop in Apocalypse World was to join an organization and have high-level players guide you. Only then could newcomers grow.

It had to be said that both he and Liu Bo had been rather lucky.

One had luckily been selected by the Official authorities and secured a government job, while the other had met Gu Yongqiang and, through Gu Yongqiang's recommendation, joined Militia Squad Two...

Thinking of this, Lin Yi mentioned the Corpse Fiends outside Ancient Pool Village to Liu Bo. He said that Corpse Fiends were easier to deal with than Monsters of the same level, and that he had reached Level 3 within one or two weeks largely thanks to the Experience Points they provided.

After hearing this, Liu Bo immediately said enviously, "Corpse Fiends? Yi, the Ancient Pool Village where you landed is truly a treasure land. Not only did you join the Militia Team at Level 1, but you also have group-type monsters like Corpse Fiends providing Experience Points. Unlike us, who have to search the Wilderness for Monsters to kill whenever we want Experience Points. Honestly, every day I log into Apocalypse World, I'm scared stiff..."

Lin Yi nodded. "Yeah. Our Captain is a good person too. He takes great care of me, and he even told me a little about Professional level."

Liu Bo was instantly surprised. "Information about Professional level? Yi, tell me about it. I still don't even know what Professional level is..."

At present, the players who could become Professional level were basically Newborns from the first or second batch to enter Apocalypse World. To most factions, information related to Professional level was extremely valuable and not something they would reveal casually.

Liu Bo only knew that Professional level had four classes, one of which was Warrior. He knew absolutely nothing about the other three.

Faced with Liu Bo's curiosity, Lin Yi smiled and told him most of the information he knew about Professional level.

In truth, Lin Yi intended to give Liu Bo some of the valuable information he knew.

After all, this kid had held nothing back from him, so he ought to show some sincerity in return.