[Guangyue, Shuiyuan, Yuancheng District]
[First People's Hospital]
Inside a patient ward, Lu Ye stayed by the bedside. After the girl on the bed woke up, he gently rubbed her head and said, "Dad met the uncle who paid for your treatment last night."
"Really?", Lu Nannan's face lit up with joy, "Dad, what does that uncle look like?"
"He's very young," Lu Ye recalled, "To be exact, you should probably call him big brother."
After a pause, Lu Ye got to the point, "Nannan, Dad needs to go help that big brother carry out a mission in a little while. But don't worry, when you go into surgery this afternoon, Dad will definitely be by your side."
Lu Nannan nodded obediently, "Dad, go ahead! Nannan isn't scared!"
"Dad, be careful. Nannan will wait for you to come back."
"Alright, good girl," Lu Ye bent down and kissed Lu Nannan on the forehead.
Then he turned and left.
———
The instant he stepped out of the ward, the look in Lu Ye's eyes sharpened like a drawn blade.
"From this moment on, I am a sword in your hand."
"If you need me, I will unsheathe myself for you at any time!" [T/N: Geh!]
———
[Inferno City]
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
As waves of white light descended, a group of studio players between levels 51 and 52 logged in together, all bearing the prefix "Qingfeng" in their IDs.
Leading the studio was a greasy-looking middle-aged Berserker with a bloated belly and thinning hair: Smile at Life.
Standing beside him was a girl dressed in a white mage robe, elegant and refined in appearance, with a gentle and scholarly temperament: Zhao Ling'er.
This Smile at Life was none other than Director Zhang, the same Zhang Dong who had gone on a blind date with Zhao Lingyun at the restaurant previously.
Zhao Lingyun truly had no feelings for him whatsoever.
But she couldn't withstand the pressure from her family and had no choice but to agree to be with him.
Because her family had made it clear: if Zhao Lingyun refused to date Zhang Dong, they would lock her inside the house and even forbid her from playing Divine Oracle.
Although being with Zhang Dong was only a temporary compromise for Zhao Lingyun.
She wanted to use this in exchange for freedom inside Divine Oracle. She wanted to carve out a future for herself there and prove her own worth.
At this moment, Zhang Dong, who was even shorter than Zhao Lingyun by a noticeable amount, deliberately showed off the fifty-thousand-yuan order their studio had just received and smugly bragged, "See that? Finish this order, and that's fifty thousand yuan in profit. And this is only the first order of the day."
"Being able to date a successful man like me is basically your blessing."
Zhao Lingyun had never judged people by appearance.
No matter how ugly or pathetic Zhang Dong looked, she could still accept it.
What she absolutely could not tolerate was his superior attitude, acting as though neither she nor even her family deserved to be taken seriously.
Zhao Lingyun said nothing, only burying the disgust she felt toward Zhang Dong deep inside.
"Come on! I'll take you out and show you the world."
As he spoke, Zhang Dong reached out his greasy pig-like hand, trying to wrap it around Zhao Lingyun's waist. Zhao Lingyun hurriedly dodged away.
Under the watchful eyes of dozens of studio members, Zhang Dong's expression instantly darkened.
"Hmph! What are you pretending to be shy for?"
"Next month, once we're married and legally husband and wife, let's see whether you still refuse to let me touch you."
At this moment, even the Qingfeng Studio players couldn't stand it anymore.
"The boss lady's so young and pretty, while the boss is ugly, pathetic, and creepy as hell. I seriously don't get how she ended up liking him."
"Isn't it obvious? Zhang Dong's rich. What girl nowadays doesn't like rich guys?"
"That still doesn't make sense! The boss lady clearly rejects him both mentally and physically. If she were really after money, she'd at least pretend to like him, right?"
"What a waste of such a pretty girl! Total beauty-and-the-beast situation!"
"Keep your voice down! If the boss hears you, he'll fire your ass!"
Zhang Dong looked at the order details the client had submitted.
The request was to gather enough materials to forge a Tier 4 piece of equipment.
The client would provide the reputation points themselves.
Zhang Dong shook his head and sighed, "What an idiot with more money than brains. Reputation points are the real expensive part when crafting equipment."
"Spending this much money just for a pile of worthless materials?"
"But I like idiots like you! Hahaha! One order earns my studio an entire month's income. Feels great."
With that, Zhang Dong immediately led the several dozen players of Qingfeng Studio out through Inferno City's west gate according to the client's instructions, preparing to farm materials in the wilderness outside the city.
It was the weekend.
At eight in the morning, both inside and outside the city were packed with people, bustling with activity everywhere.
The moment Qingfeng Studio's players exited through the west gate, among the passing crowd at the western city entrance, two pairs of eyes immediately locked onto them.
"Let's go. Follow them."
"Yes, boss."
———
[Western Outskirts of Inferno City, Wilderness]
Zhang Dong and Zhao Lingyun had just left the city and were on their way to the material farming location.
Suddenly, two figures appeared ahead of them, blocking the road.
The first wore black combat gear and a black cloak, mysterious and unreadable.
The second wore fully enclosed black armor, with a shadow greatsword resting against his back, radiating sharp killing intent.
Seeing that the newcomers clearly had bad intentions, Zhang Dong didn't bother being polite and immediately pointed at them while cursing loudly, "Are you blind? How dare you block my way?"
Of the two, the black-clad Assassin in the lead spoke coldly to Zhang Dong and the Qingfeng Studio players behind him, "Zhao Ling'er stays."
"Everyone else, get lost."
Zhao Lingyun's eyes widened as her heart trembled.
"They... came for me?"
"But I don't think I even know these two people. Who are they?"
At the same time, Zhang Dong naturally couldn't tolerate being provoked like this.
Especially since the other party had specifically called out his woman. That was basically trampling on his dignity as a man.
Seeing that the enemy were only two people, and relying on the fact that he had more than thirty studio underlings beside him, Zhang Dong didn't take the pair seriously at all.
Without the slightest restraint, he pointed at them and roared angrily, "You ignorant little bastards dare try to steal my woman? Get them! Kill both of them for me!"
At Zhang Dong's command—
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
Six Qingfeng Knights and five Warriors charged forward with swords and shields raised, rushing straight at the two men.
Behind them, Zhang Dong wore a smug expression.
In his eyes, this was the perfect chance to show Zhao Lingyun his strength and authority.
Just as the Warriors and Knights of Qingfeng Studio entered attack range, before the lead Assassin even made a move, the black-armored swordsman behind him suddenly drew his sword with a sharp shing, flashed past the Assassin like a violent gale, and launched forward in a killing charge.
Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!
-11325!
-10998!
-11198!
As the black-armored swordsman swung his blade, within a storm of flashing steel, the nine Warriors and Knights from Qingfeng Studio at the very front had virtually no ability to resist. In an instant, every single one of them was cut down where they stood.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Amid the nine pillars of white death light rising into the sky, the black-armored swordsman's previously hidden ID was forcibly revealed in blood-red text above his head—
[Dark Hunter · Black Night] (Lv54 Third-Turn Shadow Sword God · Rank #3 on the Heavenly Ranking)
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