Chapter 22
Chapter 22
Composing himself, Zhou Ming returned his attention to the equipment in his inventory.
A whole pile of Bronze and Silver gear would drive the current market into a frenzy.
“It’ll only depreciate if I keep holding it. I need to find a buyer fast!”
Zhou Ming returned to Qingshui Town. After a moment’s thought, he opened the Add Friend interface and entered the in-game ID of his favorite sucker.
Gaibang Laoer!
Beep! Beep!
Gaibang Laoer accepted the request in less than two seconds.
“Ding!”
[System: Attention! Your linked account has received a transfer of 20,000 yuan from Gaibang Laoer!]
“I knew you were coming after me for the money!” Gaibang Laoer immediately sent a voice message. “I lost the duel, so of course I’ll honor the wager. But don’t get too arrogant. No matter how strong one player is, they can’t defeat an army!”
One player could not defeat an army…
Zhou Ming declined to comment on Gaibang Laoer’s empty threat.
Was it truly impossible?
Not necessarily!
His exclusive hidden class, Flame Demon Lord, and Qianying’s assistance gave him a powerful foundation. If a day came when he truly had to face an army alone, he was quite curious to discover which side would win.
“You don’t need to worry about me,” Zhou Ming replied calmly. “I dropped some decent equipment while grinding. Do you people want it?”
…
Gaibang Laoer sent a string of ellipses to express his speechlessness. “No!”
Zhou Ming wanted to sell them the very equipment their own brothers had dropped!
How could anyone even think of that?
If Gaibang Laoer agreed, wouldn’t he be throwing away every last scrap of dignity?
Zhou Ming did not respond. He silently sent over the detailed attributes of several items.
“…Sorry. My voice was a little loud just now!”
Gaibang Laoer’s eyes went wide at the stats of the Silver equipment. “Name your price.”
“You make the offer.”
“It’s transitional equipment that’ll only last a few days, so it isn’t worth a fortune in itself,” Gaibang Laoer replied. “The value is that nobody else has gear like this yet. It’ll help us snowball in the early game. Ten thousand per piece.”
“Twelve thousand each,” Zhou Ming countered.
“You ruthless bastard. Deal!”
…
The two soon met inside Qingshui Town.
After counting everything, the trade concluded without issue.
“Ding!”
[System: Attention! Your linked account has received a transfer of 163,000 yuan from Gaibang Laoer!]
He was rich!
The instant the transfer arrived, Zhou Ming felt refreshed from head to toe. He could barely contain his delight.
Truthfully, this was the largest sum of money he had received since graduating from university.
It might not amount to much in the eyes of the genuinely wealthy, but for him, it could cover his living expenses for a very long time.
And this was only his second day in *Destiny*!
“Farewell!”
Once the transaction was complete, Gaibang Laoer turned to leave.
Business was business!
The Gaibang Guild’s conflict with Zhouyou Shijie was nowhere near resolved.
“So that’s how it is!”
Zhou Ming watched him walk away without looking back, thoughtful.
“Hm?”
Gaibang Laoer turned around in confusion. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Any normal guild would try to recruit powerful players. We may have had some friction, but it certainly hasn’t reached the point of irreconcilable hatred.”
Zhou Ming spoke as if the subject barely mattered. “Yet even as part of the guild’s management, you haven’t shown the slightest interest in recruiting an independent player like me. That means the Gaibang Guild’s dealings with Mo Yun go far beyond him merely sending you to cause me trouble.”
Gaibang Laoer had received temporary skills from the god-tier Star Guardian ยท Mo Yun, which had inflated his confidence enough to challenge Zhou Ming. Of course Zhou Ming had not forgotten that detail.
Judging by Gaibang Laoer’s dismissive attitude toward him, the relationship between the two sides had not ended there.
This was extremely important information.
“Hmph!”
Gaibang Laoer snorted. “I suppose you’re a little clever!”
With that, he turned away again.
“So that’s how it is!” Zhou Ming called out once more.
“What now?” Gaibang Laoer stopped and glared viciously at Zhou Ming.
“You came to conduct this trade in person, which means you don’t need to avoid being seen in contact with me. Gaibang Laoer and Gaibang Laosan were both present for the PvP fight outside town, but your guild leader was nowhere to be found. That means Mo Yun’s true interest lies with him. And since your leader is busy right now, he must be doing something extremely important, most likely something aimed at me.”
Zhou Ming finished his analysis. “Am I wrong?”
…
Gaibang Laoer’s expression turned ugly.
For a moment, he stood rooted in place, unsure what to do.
Seeing that, Zhou Ming nodded repeatedly. “So that’s how it is!”
“Fuck!”
Gaibang Laoer began to panic. “Don’t push it! I haven’t done anything!”
“You don’t dare make a move because you’re afraid I’ll notice something. That proves you have a guilty conscience.” Zhou Ming looked Gaibang Laoer up and down. “What exactly are they planning?”
“!!”
Gaibang Laoer’s face changed dramatically. He turned and ran as if some primordial monster were chasing at his heels.
Only after reaching the Gaibang Guild’s gathering point did he stop, panting and feeling as though he had escaped with his life.
“Second Brother, what’s the emergency?” Gaibang Laosan asked in confusion.
Gaibang Laoer’s face was full of terror. “I met a ghost!”
…
Zhou Ming filed the matter away. Rather than rush to find his next leveling spot, he headed for the general store.
“Shopkeeper, do you sell skill books?” he asked upon entering.
The shopkeeper beside the counter glanced at him impatiently. “Third shelf on your left!”
What a terrible attitude!
Zhou Ming frowned, then suddenly thought of something and looked at his own name.
After killing over a hundred players, his name had turned completely red. Among a crowd of white names, it stood out dramatically.
The Gaibang Guild might have started the conflict, but Zhou Ming could hardly wait for every opponent to damage him before retaliating. Striking first had been inevitable.
As a result, his Infamy was high enough to provoke an NPC’s instinctive dislike.
[Infamy: 75]
“That much?”
Something felt wrong. Zhou Ming quickly selected the Infamy stat for more information.
“Ding!”
[System: Due to [Flame Demon Lord], your Infamy cannot be reduced by any means!]
“Damn!”
Zhou Ming was genuinely surprised.
He had never anticipated that his Infamy would be impossible to lower.
“So there really is a reason my class is called a Demon Lord.”
All Zhou Ming could do was accept the situation.
If his Infamy could never decrease, then he was rather curious to see whether accumulating enough would cause some kind of change.
Of course, that was something he could only investigate when an opportunity arose in the future.
Reaching the shelves where the skill books were displayed, Zhou Ming swept his gaze across them in search of what he currently needed.
[Inspire] (C-Rank Skill)
[Description: Only by leading from the front can one inspire one’s companions.]
[Skill Effect: Reduces incoming damage by 10 + 1% of bonus HP points.]
[Class Requirement: Knight]
[Price: 50 copper coins]
[Sneak Attack] (C-Rank Skill)
[Description: Fighting dirty is the assassin’s way of life.]
[Skill Effect: Deals damage equal to 130% of Attack. If the user is not detected in advance, also inflicts 20% Armor Break for 5 seconds.]
[Class Requirement: Assassin]
[Price: 50 copper coins]
[Fireball] (C-Rank Skill)
[Description: Fire is my favorite toy.]
[Skill Effect: Gathers fire elements to deal damage equal to 130% of Attack to an enemy, with a chance to inflict Burn.]
[Class Requirement: Fire-Element Mage]
[Price: 50 copper coins]
…
“Found it!”
Zhou Ming’s gaze locked onto Fireball.
“Ding!”
[System: You spent 50 copper coins and purchased [Fireball] (C-Rank Skill)!]
With the book in hand, Zhou Ming immediately tried to learn it.
Flame Demon Lord, with fire-element affinity that had no upper limit!
He wanted to see whether he could truly learn any skill related to the fire element!
…