The male supporting character was actually myself.

For example, unplugging the internet cable, seizing the company seal, posting inappropriate content on the competitor's app and then reporting it...

In comparison, searching for confidential clues in the game himself is already quite sophisticated and lives up to his title as a senior technical executive.

"Caw!" A large, colorful parrot flew back from outside, landed on the shelf, tilted its head, and made a human-like sound, "New style! New style! Let's go to the dock and get some fries!"

Lin Ruochu smiled and flicked her finger on the newly made crossbow bolt. "Let's go to the dock and get some fries to test its power!"

Her favorite weapon is a homemade crossbow, which is technologically advanced, exquisite, and compact, making it very suitable for women.

In the highly free virtual world, you can make your own weapons. Lin Ruochu put a lot of effort into researching and developing this exclusive weapon. The crossbow bolts can reach a speed of 130 meters per second. It is lightweight and silent, making it more suitable for outdoor combat on Skull Island than guns.

After all, the monsters here will become enraged at the slightest noise, instantly increasing their speed and attack power.

The best option is to eliminate them silently. Lin Ruochu became famous on the combat power list by relying on this move, but she always went her own way and only left a legend in the martial arts world.

“The new crossbow bolts are more powerful, so we can consider participating in the challenge.” She packed her equipment, put on her mask, jumped from the carriage onto the air platform, and hopped forward, whispering to her pet, “We still need to find a suitable partner for Treasure Island.”

A brightly colored parrot flapped its wings and chimed in, "Fries! Fries!"

Chapter Five: Awakening of Insects

Lin Ruochu made a shushing gesture, and the large parrot Jixiang obediently circled and landed on her shoulder, whispering in an almost whispered voice, "Go get some fries, 100 meters to the left front."

Skull Island's survival difficulty is rated four stars, partly due to the terrifyingly powerful skeleton monsters in the center, but also because of the random monster spawning mechanism.

Monsters within a certain range are of the same level and have similar combat power, but the randomness makes them very difficult to deal with.

Players might have just finished a battle and wanted to rest when, by sheer coincidence, monsters spawned nearby. Except for a very small area on the outskirts, all the remaining monsters were aggressive and would attack immediately if they were within attack range, causing many players to suffer heavy losses as a result.

"Alright!" Lin Ruochu gestured, fully armed, and moved through the dense bushes as quietly as possible without attracting attention. Only when she was close to the location predicted by Jixiang did she nimbly climb up a thick, crooked tree.

With his left foot braced against the tree trunk, his entire body was hidden under the dense foliage to avoid becoming too conspicuous and a target for other players. Here, players not only hunt monsters, but often they can also make more money by taking advantage of their misfortune.

Hunters only care about money and strength; the law of the jungle dictates that the strong prey on the weak, and no one cares about morality or ethics.

Beneath the red flame mask, a pair of sharp eyes quickly targeted the skeleton monster wandering in the jungle, and the next second, the trigger was pulled.

The improved crossbow bolt silently pierced the skull of the skeleton monster, and a blood-red critical hit number floated up. The monster fell to the ground and disintegrated into a pile of shimmering silver coins and a glove that shone with golden light.

"Yay! Get some fries!" Jixiang spread its wings and flew over before its master could give the order, quickly grabbing the spoils with its claws and taking them back.

Lin Ruochu was in a good mood. She patted the colorful parrot's head, took out a bag of fries from her spatial interface, and handed it to it, saying, "Here are some fries for you."

"That's awesome!" Jixiang tilted its head, pecked at two fries, and flapped its wings to give a warning: "Fries, 50 meters behind!"

This special pet, which took a lot of effort to capture, is very useful. Although it can only learn a few things, it is already the best partner for Lin Ruochu.

Not only can it provide flight warnings, but it can also collect loot. In dangerous situations, it can risk its own life to lure away monsters, giving itself a chance to escape. Pets can be revived with gold coins if they are injured or die. The only drawback is that it cannot be bound to another pet.

In other words, if a pet's loyalty decreases, it is very likely to betray and leave.

In this respect, Lin Ruochu greatly admires M Technology's design philosophy; they strive to recreate the real world as much as possible to create "Perfect World".

Most items in the game cannot be bound, just like in real life no one can always keep their vehicles, houses, or other things tied to their belts.

However, top-tier equipment is extremely valuable. Players can choose to purchase temporary binding cards to keep their equipment bound for a specified period of time, preventing it from being dropped or stolen. This protects players' assets to some extent while creating a strong sense of urgency.

Opportunities and risks coexist, making it irresistible.

The two existing, competitive technology companies are both divided into two parts: one part operates in the virtual world, while the other part uses technology to operate in the real world, dealing with food, clothing, housing, and transportation.

G Technology Corporation was originally a genetically modified research institute. After the outbreak of World War II, it gradually expanded and controlled more than half of the real world's technology manufacturing sector, including but not limited to daily necessities, technological farms, and most other materials that can be mass-produced.

In the realm of virtual games, while they have made considerable achievements, they still cannot create a massive virtual world as comprehensive as "Perfect World".

As a senior technology executive, Lin Ruochu's task was to infiltrate the company and uncover the core secrets of "Perfect World's" operation. Once G Technology obtained this data, they would make further improvements to the virtual world game to compete in the larger virtual market.

M Technology focuses its development on "Perfect World," since the real world economy is in recession and people prefer to spend their money on virtual games to fulfill their dreams, resulting in a sluggish demand for real-world consumption.

Apart from a small group of people in the upper class who enjoy life, most people don't have high demands for survival. As long as they have enough to eat and wear and a safe and comfortable place to play games, they are content. They don't care about their physical health or quality of life.

Given that Perfect World's strict gold coin system is linked to the real world, many players are inclined to spend lavishly in the game to obtain stronger equipment and earn more money, which they then cash out to improve their real-life lives after reaching certain goals. This has led to a growing number of gamblers who fantasize about getting rich overnight.

In addition, Perfect World provides as many scenarios as possible for people to vent their emotions, and any need can be met here. In comparison, G Technology's games are too uncompetitive, so much so that G Technology's revenue has shrunk significantly since the release of this game.

The undercover agents, with Lin Ruochu at their core, face a daunting task.

That's why she works so hard fighting on Skull Island to hone her reflexes and improve her equipment forging skills, so that she can successfully clear Treasure Island.

According to intelligence acquired at great expense from M Technology Corporation, Treasure Island is one of the core elements of the game "Perfect World," and the mission to uncover the secrets of Treasure Island is imminent.

"French fries! French fries everywhere!" Parrot Jixiang circled overhead, issuing a warning. "Silly kids, run!"

Lin Ruochu was both amused and exasperated. Where else could she run to?

I went out today to test the effects of the new crossbow, but there wasn't a single monster on the cliff edge. I had to venture deeper into the area to find a suitable research target. Just as I was about to turn back, a large group of skeleton monsters spawned around me and instantly surrounded me.

Fortunately, the new crossbow bolts were a great success;

Unfortunately, there are too many high-level monsters, and without any other help, you can only try your best to break through. If you fail, your equipment may be randomly dropped.

This is a crossbow that I designed and made with rare materials with great difficulty. As soon as it was made, it topped the overall weapon ranking list and became the number one crossbow among homemade weapons.

The crossbow named Jingzhe remains Lin Ruochu's pride to this day.

But the incident happened so suddenly that she didn't even have time to buy a binding talisman to ensure that Jingzhe wouldn't fall.

If the dropped equipment is not picked up within ten minutes, it will be lost forever...

"Damn it! I have no choice but to take the risk!" Lin Ruochu cursed, while mentally reviewing her actions. The new crossbow she had worked so hard to perfect had made her too excited and careless. She had thought she would just do a simple test and then return to the safe house, but she hadn't expected to be surrounded by monsters deep in the territory.

Overestimating their own strength and reacting too slowly to risks meant they didn't think to buy expensive binding charms to protect Jingzhe from dropping in time. By the time they realized something was wrong, it was too late.

Dozens of monsters, large and small, roared and attacked, the commotion attracting even more monsters to gather. The experienced Lin Ruochu knew that she had to finish the battle quickly.

"boom!"

The sound of the grenade exploding shook the earth. The monster she had deliberately lured into the valley was instantly blown to pieces. Lin Ruochu was stunned by the powerful impact. After rolling nimbly along the ground to dissipate some of the force, she got up and rushed towards the nearest big tree.

As long as you can climb the tree trunk to buy a few seconds of time, or even just withstand a few attacks, you can buy a binding charm to protect Jingzhe from falling after death.

The huge commotion caused by detonating the grenade will definitely attract more monsters. She won't be able to escape from this valley today. As long as she can keep her weapon from being randomly dropped, she doesn't care about anything else!

Sure enough, the earthquake immediately triggered a monster frenzy.

Numerous hideous and grotesque monsters crawled out from the ground and leaped down from above the valley, seemingly very dissatisfied with the huge noise and wanting to tear the culprit to pieces.

"Oh my god! There are too many fries!" Parrot Jixiang flapped its wings and shouted hysterically, "Go! Go! Silly kids, run!"

As Lin Ruochu launched her attack with a dagger, the explosion drew Jiang Chen's attention.

He was leisurely strolling around Skull Island in a helicopter, wearing dark sunglasses. The script didn't specify what the female lead was doing during this time, so it could only be inferred that she was probably still on Skull Island researching her handy weapon, and she came over to try her luck.

The male lead, Si Anrui, hasn't fully developed yet. He has to wait until he figures out the unspoken rules of the game and gets into trouble before he can meet the female lead for help. Then, he gets a rare material from the best supporting male character to win the beauty's favor and officially become friends with her.

As the future successor of M Technology Company, Jiang Chen has all kinds of equipment and materials at his disposal. Why let the middleman make a profit? Wouldn't it be better to just deliver the goods to the female lead's door if she needs them?

"Host, flying a helicopter is so much fun!" The fluffy little thing excitedly stomped its feet while gripping the control stick.

I've ridden in helicopters in other mission worlds before, but this is the first time I've experienced the thrill of riding in a helicopter in a virtual game. After all, Perfect World is just a game. It's impossible for players who bought helicopters to learn how to fly them in real life. Besides, it's just an auxiliary mode of transportation. In the game, it's all about looking cool. Everything else can take a backseat.

A combination of factors results in this helicopter having a very stylish appearance, a superb riding experience, and being extremely easy to operate; even a little white cat can tinker with it a bit.

"If you like, I'll let you fly the helicopter in the future." Jiang Chen glanced at the location of the explosion, casually set a destination on the display screen, and prepared to go and take a look.

Seeing this, the fluffy little thing pulled the control stick to the left, and the helicopter made a beautiful change of direction in mid-air, flying over at an extremely fast speed with a "tsk tsk tsk".

"What a coincidence, it's Lin Ruochu!" Aside from fighter jets and special vehicles, helicopters are among the fastest vehicles in the game. They don't encounter monsters in the air and quickly approach the explosion site. The little white cat immediately noticed the protagonist's aura surrounding her, pointing with its little paw and meowing excitedly, "We're really lucky! Host, this is a great opportunity for a hero to save the damsel in distress..."

Before it could finish speaking, Lin Ruochu, who was surrounded by monsters, made a graceful turn and was stabbed through the heart by a monster's withered claw.

Jiang Chen: ...

Well, my attempt to save the damsel in distress failed, and I even accidentally witnessed her tragic death. The female lead is a proud and aloof type, so she'll probably be difficult to approach from now on. Should I expose her undercover identity and take the initiative when we meet again?

Velvet dumplings: ヾ('▽｀;)ゝ

What a terrible coincidence! Beautiful lady, at least hold on for a few seconds and give my host a chance to shine! If you get knocked out, you'll have to go back to your birthplace. Where are you going to find one among so many cities, big and small?

Lin Ruochu: ...

It was just a hair's breadth away. If other players had arrived earlier, they might have been able to send private messages to request support, or even spend some money to have them help hold off the monsters, and bind Jingzhe to their accounts.

However, on the other hand, if you deliberately make your character's face very ordinary and inconspicuous, it won't make much of a difference in a virtual world full of beautiful women. Most players prefer to sit back and reap the benefits...

A jumble of thoughts flashed through Lin Ruochu's mind, and her body transformed into red starlight, disappearing at the spot of her death. Her pet also vanished instantly.

"Meow? Host, look what that is!" The little white cat was immediately drawn to the golden light among the many monsters, and its greedy cat nature was instantly activated.

Jiang Chen said absentmindedly, "They probably lost their equipment when they were killed. If you want it, go and collect it."

He paused for a second, then added, "There probably isn't anything good about it. Don't forget that she was able to get on the male lead's bandwagon because he got rare materials from me to forge weapons."

(ˉ▽￣～) Tsk~~

The little white cat gave him a knowing look and said, "Host, no matter how valuable or bad the dropped equipment is, it belongs to the female lead. Let's pick it up for her and return it to her when we meet again. Wouldn't that be a natural way to add her as a friend?"

After saying that, the fluffy ball jumped down and quickly hopped into the monster horde that had lost its target and started to scatter. With a move called "Little Cat Scooping the Moon," it scooped up two pieces of equipment that were shimmering with golden light and put them into its spatial storage. Then, it hopped back to the helicopter.

"Here, take this and prepare to boost the female lead's favorability!" It squatted on the control stick, waving its paws generously as it handed over the equipment it had just picked up. "Tsk tsk, it's not worth much, judging by its appearance."

This is a virtual game, you know! The weapons are all incredibly luxurious and cool. Look at the female lead using this crappy stuff; it doesn't look good at all. Isn't she supposed to be a high-level executive living in a villa? How come she can't even afford to spend money on a game?

It was an ordinary-looking crossbow and a badge that served to conceal one's identity.

Badges are rewards for participating in the event. Although the number of badges is relatively small, they are not very useful and therefore not very valuable.

On the contrary, Jiang Chen's eyes lit up when he saw the crossbows, "The Awakening of Insects?!"

As the future successor of M Technology Company, his wandering around in the game is definitely not just for fun.

The original owner's main tasks, besides identifying spies, also included, but were not limited to, discovering areas for improvement in the game and balancing the strength of various gangs, ensuring that each update would make "Perfect Kingdom" more and more perfect.

Currently, this virtual game is the most profitable product for M Technology Company, and the successor must be extremely familiar with it.

Having a thorough understanding of the various game talents on different lists is a basic requirement.

This powerful crossbow, "Awakening of Insects," made by a player, dominated the weapon rankings from the very beginning, so he could recognize it at a glance.

"No wonder!" Taking the crossbow from the little white cat's paw, Jiang Chen immediately understood the reason. "I knew it! The female lead has money and skills. She entered the game two years before the male lead. How come she hadn't developed when she met him? It turns out that her top-ranked weapon was accidentally dropped and completely disappeared because she couldn't pick it up in time. It needs to be reforged!"

The script didn't mention this at all, but we can infer it from the context—Jingzhe disappeared unexpectedly, and Lin Ruochu and Si Anrui met because of special materials, which led to the creation of the crossbow that would allow them to reappear on the Heavenly Ranking. The name of that crossbow was Bailu.

Then, the token of love she gave to the male lead was a gun called "Frostfall," which means that Lin Ruochu was actually a hidden weapons manufacturing master!