Chapter 2334: Foreign Lands Are No Paradise
Gu Yu's expression was somewhat complicated, and after a moment, she said, "I'll be honest with you. Zone 014 is not a very livable place for players like us who aren't very strong."
"You handle those murderers for the Special Defense Department. I understand you want the players entering Ting City to follow the rules, so ordinary people can have a slightly better life."
"But in reality, players don't have it easy either. The powerful players have nothing to complain about, and those who travel in groups are fine too. For people like us, life isn't very smooth. We're a bit stronger than ordinary people, but that also makes us easy targets for even stronger players, especially with my identity..."
"Quite a few players come to harass me, and even my family has been repeatedly disturbed. Even though the Special Defense Department has stepped in to investigate and protect my family, those people find every loophole. Last time, my mother was almost killed."
She sighed as she spoke. "Sometimes I don't understand either. Does being a celebrity really mean that much to those people? Is it worth them doing these things over and over again... When I first entered the game, I thought I could use my abilities to establish a fair player organization. But now, my organization has been attacked multiple times, and the few remaining members I have, I had to let them join other large player organizations just to protect themselves."
"But it's hard for me to get out. The fewer people around me, the greater the danger."
"Only by moving to a district with good public security can I stop worrying about my identity and appearance being targeted."
"In fact, when Tan Yang and the others came to find you, they definitely meant to seek your help as well," Gu Yu said. "Too many players and elites have emerged in Zone 014. That's good for the future development of the district, but it's not necessarily good for those of us living in it. For ordinary players like me, one misstep and we'll be crushed to pieces."
"I came today to deal with my assets. Once I sell everything off, I plan to settle in a B-level district."
"If you're short on money, I can lend you some," Xu Huo said. "The cost of settling into a B-level district must be high."
Gu Yu smiled gratefully. "Although our money isn't as valuable as White Notes, I've saved quite a bit over the years. It's enough to buy a long-term residency permit. Life might not be as comfortable as before, but at least if I die in an instance in the future, my family won't be kicked out. That's enough."
Xu Huo was silent for a moment before saying, "You can keep your house in Ting City. You can live here in the future too."
Gu Yu's smile deepened. "With you here, Ting City will definitely be the safest city in the future."
She received a phone call, greeted them, and left the room.
"Even a big star like Gu Yu has to live like this. I never would have imagined it," Yuan Yao suddenly leaned over and said.
"Were you eavesdropping?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow.
"How can you call it eavesdropping? You guys weren't using any items. I just happened to overhear..." Yuan Yao quickly changed the subject. "Gu Yu's family is in Jing City, and they've always had a good relationship with the Special Defense Department. The department even invites her for promotional events. She's practically a brand ambassador. For her to be targeted like this privately, the Special Defense Department is really useless."
"Good thing the Special Defense Department people have already left, or you'd definitely get a beating," Xu Huo said, taking a sip of tea.
"To be fair, you can't really blame the Special Defense Department for this," Liu Jia couldn't help but say. "The number of players is just too huge. With the limited manpower the Special Defense Department has and all the things they have to do, how can they cover everything? Besides, at the slightest sign of trouble, those players escape into the game. The Special Defense Department doesn't have the manpower for long-term surveillance... We can only hope that advanced instruments will become more widespread in the future."
"I forgot you're also from the Special Defense Department. A fish that slipped through the net," Yuan Yao said with a grin.
Liu Jia glared at him. "I'm just stating the facts."
"Alright, alright, I was wrong," Yuan Yao poured her some tea. "Let's not argue about this. But I do think Gu Yu's plan isn't wrong. It's inconvenient when you have a family to drag around. We can't get into the country's classified safe zones, so finding a stable place to live is a good choice."
Liu Jia was also helpless. "If everyone leaves, what will happen in the future?"
"We'll worry about the future when it comes. For now, we have to survive first," Yuan Yao said without any psychological burden. "Don't forget, Gu Yu is one of the wealthy ones who can actually leave. Most people can't even afford that kind of wealth, okay?"
Liu Jia was quite frustrated and muttered quietly, "I just don't think it should be like this..."
"This is how the world is. Even the B and A-level wormhole points, whose technology and culture surpass ours by centuries, are pretty much the same," Zhou Ning said. "Foreign lands are no paradise, and home is not a hell. Everyone just makes different choices."
Liu Jia couldn't help but give her a hug.
Then she added, "Ting City will definitely become a great place in the future."
"That goes without saying," Yuan Yao gave a thumbs up. "With my Brother Xu here as the stabilizing pillar, what blind player would dare to cause trouble?"
"Look, the Special Defense Department just released an announcement," Tan Yang and Huang Junjie said as they approached from a distance. "They directly made public the crimes of the killed players, including photos and everything. Although they didn't explicitly say it was Mr. Xu who handled it, they've hinted that this wanted criminal list was updated today."
"These Special Defense Department guys are pretty sneaky. They don't outright say it was my Brother Xu's achievement, making it look like their branch has some big shot!" Yuan Yao also opened it to read. "Ting City isn't that big, but I didn't expect it to hide over a hundred such murderers. The worst killed over a hundred people, the least killed over a dozen. They sure had the guts to kill ordinary people quickly, but I've never seen them make a name for themselves in the game..."
"Speaking of reputation," he suddenly looked up, "with Brother Xu's strength, he should be ranked on the combined wormhole point leaderboard, right?"
Xu Huo hadn't paid attention to that. Generally, for C-level players, the single wormhole point leaderboard was more significant. At B-level, the combined wormhole point leaderboard was what mattered.
A single district's population could reach tens of billions, and a wormhole point often consisted of dozens of districts. So making it onto a single wormhole point leaderboard meant a player was truly an elite among elites.
As for the combined leaderboard of a dozen or even dozens of wormhole points, that required even more strength. Even the last place on this 50,000-person leaderboard was definitely a powerhouse among players of the same level across all the wormhole points at that tier.
Of course, the leaderboard considered instance clearance ratings. But what you could see on this leaderboard wasn't just instance ratings—it also reflected personal ability. As Shi Sanjiu had said before, he could identify people who had undergone Super Evolution from this leaderboard. Once you were on it, interacting with other players would inevitably reveal some of your personal abilities, and naturally, players would continuously supplement the leaderboard's data.
Xu Huo didn't think he had made it onto the B-level leaderboard, because his last B-level instance had disappeared, and he had failed to clear it. That would definitely drag down his overall rating.