A Gathering of Criminals

Xiao Yu turned around and saw a fair-skinned, chubby man in his early thirties, staring longingly at the food on his plate.

The fat man had a C-grade meal on his plate, and it seemed he had almost finished eating it.

Xiao Yu shook his head and casually pushed the plate over. The fat man immediately shoveled the beef curry rice onto his plate and began to eat heartily.

He finished his meal in no time, and the fat man patted his belly contentedly. "Thanks, buddy. The food here is pretty good, but the portions are really not filling."

Xiao Yu thought to himself, "That's because you can eat too much."

The fat man seemed quite happy, extending a hand, "My name is Shu Legao, what's your name, brother?"

"Xiao Yu," Xiao Yu said, shaking hands with the other person.

"So, what did you do wrong?"

"And you?"

"Gambling City Las Vegas capital! Malicious murder!" the fat man said nonchalantly. "Who would have thought that killing isn't allowed in the game? I had no idea there was such a thing as a [Real-Time Synchronized Game] before. I only went in because I lost too much money gambling, so I decided to rob someone. I ended up killing a few security guards on a whim, and I didn't expect to get arrested. What bad luck."

Xiao Yu was speechless for a moment after hearing this.

Xiao Yu had played the game "Gambling City Las Vegas" before. It's a gambling game with only one map: Gambling City Las Vegas. Players can freely play in dozens of casinos within the city. However, the game currency is exchanged from the official website at a 1:10 ratio with game points. Xiao Yu only spent the 1,000 game points given to him by the official website and never went back. He only played the cheapest slot machines and other gambling games, never touching the more advanced ones.

In his opinion, this kind of game is simply robbery, but it seems that quite a lot of people are playing it.

This game is a so-called "real-time synchronized game." Like most real-time synchronized games, while killing is allowed, it is actually prohibited.

So-called reality-synchronized games refer to games that follow the same rules as reality. These games are often very similar to reality and have almost no system restrictions. You can do almost anything in them, including crimes such as murder, robbery, rape, and theft.

To regulate player behavior, these games are usually registered with the National Network Information Office, ensuring that the laws in these games are synchronized with real-world laws. However, the penalties are only one-tenth to one-half of those in real-world cases. In other words, if you kill someone in such a game, you are still committing a crime, just without the severe punishment in reality.

After all, in these kinds of games, the process of being killed is almost identical to reality. Although you don't actually die, it's extremely painful. Theft and robbery are basically no different from real life because the in-game currency has a fixed exchange rate with real currency. As for rape, that's completely off-limits, and the psychological damage to the victim is almost the same as in real life.

So it's no wonder that this chubby kid was arrested.

"As for the charges against 'The Sky World' —can I say I'm innocent?" Xiao Yu said.

Shu Legao slapped his thigh, "The Sky World!? Holy crap, could you be the legendary Azathoth? Holy crap, a big shot! Your story has spread all over the internet. I've heard about you guys, it's absolutely amazing! By the way, why didn't you choose to become a god? If it were me, I would have chosen to become a god."

When Shen Yuan revealed his true plan to Xiao Yu and the others, many of the adventurer players around them heard it. Although they couldn't control their bodies at the time, they could still sense their surroundings. So, after they logged out of the game, the news spread immediately.

Xiao Yu couldn't help but smile bitterly after hearing the man's words. He never expected to become such a big shot in prison. But thinking about it, it made sense. With the lives and safety of hundreds of thousands or even millions of players at stake, such an incident was undoubtedly a major case.

These days, the death of a few dozen people in some place can cause a national uproar. If Shen Yuan succeeds, it won't just be a few dozen people, but the unnatural deaths of millions of people. That would definitely cause a global uproar.

In comparison, the people locked up in the National Network's prisons are either malicious murderers in games or virtual fraudsters. Compared to someone like me, they're utterly insignificant. No wonder Shu Legao showed an admiring expression as soon as he heard my name.

Xiao Yu waved his hand casually. "Easy, easy. As for why I didn't choose to become a god, it's because—"

"That's because he's an idiot!" A voice suddenly rang out across from the two of them. Immediately afterward, with a clatter, a plate landed heavily opposite him. Shen Yuan and Merlin sat down on either side of Xiao Yu, Shen Yuan's gaze towards him carrying a hint of murderous intent.

Xiao Yu was unconcerned about the two's appearance. Although the prison looked calm and peaceful, seemingly without any surveillance facilities, its security level was actually very high. The surrounding walls themselves served as defensive structures. Xiao Yu remembered that when they first met, Shen Yuan had tried to fight him, only to be severely shocked by the electric current shooting from the walls, while Xiao Yu himself hadn't even lost a hair. So, having learned his lesson, Shen Yuan had become more cautious and could only attack Xiao Yu with his eyes and words now. Every time they met, he would definitely have a bit of complaining.

"See? I told you long ago that you'd be thrown in jail the moment you returned to reality. Look, it's come true. Hmph, you could be a god in another world, but you'd rather be a prisoner. Fool, this is what happens to a traitor like you."

As he spoke, Shen Yuan ate large mouthfuls of food from his plate, still seething with anger.

Xiao Yu sneered, "Forget it, who betrayed whom? If you had explained your plan clearly from the beginning, I wouldn't have gone with you. You just want to force things, don't you think I can't see through you? You've done the first thing, so don't blame me for doing the fifteenth."

Shen Yuan slammed his hand on the table, about to speak, when Merlin intervened, "Alright, alright, boss, stop worrying about this. It's no use dwelling on it now. Let's think about what to do next. By the way, how did you get away with it last time you were caught? Can you do it again?"

Shen Yuan shook his head. "It's not that easy. Last time, I planned it but didn't even have time to act, and the price I paid was my influence within the entire game company. This time, the operation almost succeeded, and I have almost nothing left to give up. So I think I'm completely finished this time, and I might be locked in a big iron cage forever."

Xiao Yu thought to himself, "So you've already done it once. It seems that your falling out with Li Mingfei back then wasn't so simple after all."

It's true what they say, speak of the Cao Cao Cao appears.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen—and Shen Yuan." Li Mingfei also came over at this time. Compared with Shen Yuan's worried face, Li Mingfei was not much better off. Although he probably wouldn't be sentenced this time and should be able to get away safely, the bankruptcy of the game company seemed to be inevitable.