The male supporting character was actually myself.

A newly improved crossbow bolt, faster and more damaging, flew out and pierced the two-headed, dragon-like monster that was only about half a meter long.

"Bang!" The flying dragon drooped its wings and fell at Lin Ruochu's feet. After struggling for a couple of seconds, it disintegrated into a pile of glittering gold coins and disappeared.

Wushuang Zhinan's eyes widened immediately. "No wonder it's the number one weapon on the Heavenly Ranking! It's damn awesome! We used to be unable to kill it every time we came here. It would self-destruct before we even landed. It was so annoying!"

“Yes, it’s truly a wonder of Jingzhe.” Jiang Chen smiled and explained to the bewildered Lin Ruochu, “We’ve been stuck here and haven’t been able to get in. Once we clear out the monsters on both sides, this flying dragon will randomly attack from different directions. It’s very fast and has the ability to self-destruct. You can only use bows or crossbows, otherwise, if you get hit and there’s a spark, it will self-destruct regardless of whether you die or not, causing a chain reaction of explosions in the canyon.”

Now that we've dealt with the first problem and the surrounding minor enemies, we can try to move forward.

This marks M Technology's first real step into the Valley of Heroes in the ten years since the game's launch. All the archers from the four teams stepped forward, while the rest of the team, fully armed, guarded the entrance to prevent any onlookers from causing trouble.

"Damn it, Jingzhe shot down Feilong with one arrow, they really got in!" The undercover agent from G Technology Company watched Lin Ruochu clear the level and got a little anxious.

The message was reported and immediately sent to the desk of the chairman of G Technology Company.

Ji Linyan, who was over sixty years old, fiddled with the thumb ring on his thumb, watching the video replay sent by the undercover agent over and over again. Lin Ruochu's heroic and valiant process of shooting down the flying dragon with an arrow was so smooth and graceful that she seemed to be a girl born for battle.

"As expected of her!" Ji Linyan smiled with satisfaction. He looked up and saw that his subordinates had solemn expressions, so he waved his hand and said indifferently, "Isn't it normal that we are restrained and can't let go in 'Perfect World' and can't compare with M Technology Company?"

Since we can't help Lin Ruochu clear the level in a big way, wouldn't it be perfect if she were absorbed into the group?

"By leveraging the expertise trained over many years by M Technology Company, we can send Lin Ruochu in. There's more than one key; she only needs to obtain one."

Ji Hong, the president and the next successor of the company, frowned deeply. "Dad, do you trust Lin Ruochu that much? What if M Technology Company offers better terms than us? If she gets the key, she might have access to core secrets. She wouldn't have to hide at all if she followed them. What if Lin Ruochu wants to defect and turn her undercover work into a real one?"

"What do you mean?"

"According to my idea, from the very beginning when Lin Ruochu researched the Awakening of Insects, I had her hand it over to the company!"

"You are still too young and inexperienced." Ji Linyan glanced at the other executives without showing any emotion, and changed the subject: "Remember to record the entire process of M Technology Company's passage. They probably didn't seal off the island this time because they wanted to show off and let us watch helplessly without having a weapon as powerful as Jingzhe to imitate and pass the level."

Don't worry, Lin Ruochu will return with the key and Jingzhe. Instruct the action team to prepare; we'll be advancing into Brave Canyon and clearing Treasure Island by tonight at the latest!

Everyone else accepted the order and left, leaving only the anxious Ji Hong in the office, wondering what his father was up to.

"Idiot!" Ji Linyan glared at him and lowered his voice, "No matter what, Jingzhe was designed and created by Lin Ruochu with her own abilities. She is also one of our senior technical executives! In front of so many senior executives, she openly said something stupid like that it should be handed over to the company. What do you think they'll think?"

After being scolded a few times, Ji Hong realized that he had been too impatient.

Even if you have such thoughts, you can't say them in front of others. Otherwise, if you achieve anything, the company will covet them, and who will dare to work hard?

"Dad, I know I was wrong." Ji Hong was quick to admit his mistake, especially in front of his father, where he never dared to argue. "But I'm really worried, what if Lin Ruochu betrays us..."

Ji Linyan toyed with his thumb ring and sneered, "Treason? She wouldn't dare even if you gave her ten lives!"

Seeing his son's still clueless look, he slammed his fist on the table in anger, "You're six years older than Jiang Chen, how can you not understand something so simple? He knows how to use the 'ungrateful wretch' incident to return a helmet and create a buzz, look how much the public's admiration for M Technology Company has increased!"

You're so old, I still have to teach you the most basic things step by step.

What does Lin Ruochu care about most?

"Jing...Jingzhe?" Ji Hong asked tentatively, only to be slapped across the face by his father. "Jingzhe my ass! She has the blueprints; if she can build one, she can build countless! The one she cares about most is her younger brother!"

When I sent her infiltrated the organization as an undercover agent, I had her residence monitored. If she showed any signs of betrayal, we'd have to weigh whether the game or her brother was more important.

Ji Hong looked shocked.

After a long while, a surprised smile appeared on his face. "Dad, you've thought of everything!"

“You… never mind, spend more time thinking about how to manage people. The company will be yours sooner or later, and you will be in charge.” Ji Linyan shook his head, sighed, and waved his hand. “Go and keep an eye on the R&D department. The game pod is progressing very quickly recently, and we expect to conduct the first round of physical testing in a few days. We absolutely cannot allow any accidents to happen.”

After agreeing, Ji Hong walked out of his father's office, secretly pleased with himself. He thought that he would soon realize digital life technology, at which point everyone would be controlled by AI and become slaves of G Technology Company. Why bother with the art of personnel management? In the face of absolute power, all schemes and calculations would be utterly ineffective!

As long as I hold onto the core technologies, no one can defy my will.

"Everything is ready except for the east wind..." Ji Linyan watched his son's retreating figure, a smile playing on his lips.

If they can control Lin Ruochu's younger brother, Lin Xiaoyun, she will obediently hand over the key obtained from M Technology Company. It's still early. The real test will come when G Technology Company shows its strength in the battle for the last unsolved mystery.

Otherwise, if we reveal our fangs too early, wouldn't it make it easy for our old rivals to discover our true strength?

Jiang Chen is indeed very talented, but he's still too young.

Once G Technology obtains the core secrets and uses them in its newly developed virtual world game, launching a game pod for the entire population that allows them to live in a virtual world and never wake up again, the pent-up frustration with reality that has been subtly instilled over the years through donations to build schools, distribution of teaching assistants, and revision of textbooks will be unleashed into an unstoppable frenzy.

By then, inexpensive virtual world game pods that are even more perfect than Perfect World will be very popular.

Once the tide turns against them, how long can M Technology Company struggle?

Ji Linyan stood up, his body already hunched over and panting heavily despite being only in his sixties. He walked to the window and looked at the busy, healthy figures in the company, his slightly cloudy eyes revealing a deep sense of anticipation.

Digital life can fulfill one's dream of immortality!

Once everyone in the world becomes his slave, he will activate the AI ​​management program and enter a specially designed cryogenic sleep game pod. His body will remain as it is, maintaining its vitality, while his consciousness will live an immortal life in the virtual world, enjoying eternal wealth and glory.

At that time, there will be no need to manage various large-scale engineering projects that consume electricity, such as planting, breeding, and processing.

All the AI ​​and electrical energy are only needed to maintain the operation of the game pod, fulfilling the public's dream of living in a perfect virtual world, and the great self is the creator god!

"The world will eventually tremble at my feet." Ji Linyan closed his eyes, enjoying the gentle sunlight streaming through the glass onto his face, imagining himself at the top of the world, holding the power of life and death over everyone. It felt wonderful.

"Achoo!" Lin Xiaoyun suddenly sneezed, rubbed her nose, and got up to close the window a little.

Having just turned eighteen this year, he was able to buy a helmet and enter "Perfect World." However, he did not become too addicted to the virtual world. After all, no matter how wonderful it is, it is fake. After disconnecting, he still has to return to reality. The mature-beyond-his-years Lin Xiaoyun understands this very well.

Moreover, once you put on a helmet and enter the game, you can wander around and be overwhelmed by the dazzling array of virtual scenery and items that don't exist in reality. Before you know it, a long time has passed and you're sitting still, which is very bad for your health.

A strong physique is the foundation of life. Lin Xiaoyun would set an alarm and take off her helmet every hour to rest before considering whether to enter the virtual world again.

Although his sister works at G Technology and spends a lot of time developing weapons in the game "Perfect World," he has no interest in playing with virtual data.

Lin Xiaoyun was even more curious about how the virtual world actually worked, how to ensure that there wouldn't be any errors with such massive amounts of data, and whether M Technology Company would discover if she wrote a small cheat program herself...

"Why is that car still parked next door?" As he closed the window, he caught a glimpse of a car with an unfamiliar license plate, which seemed to have been parked in the next parking space since the day before yesterday.

I haven't heard that my neighbor got a new car, and I haven't seen any guests at his house. Could it be that someone else is using his parking space here?

The Lin siblings lived in a small villa area, which was inhabited by executives of G Technology Company. There were only about twenty villas in total. Lin Xiaoyun was familiar with the general situation, and the sudden appearance of the vehicle made her feel that something was wrong.

"Oh no, could they be here to spy on my sister?" He immediately recalled his sister mentioning that she wanted to infiltrate the core team of M Technology Company, and the video clip that was circulating all over the social circle of "Perfect World" just now—the virtual avatar controlled by his sister was trying to pass through Treasure Island with the professional team of M Technology Company.

Becoming alert in an instant, Lin Xiaoyun remained calm and methodical, slowly closing the window a little, watering the potted plants on the balcony, and then taking a book to her sister's study.

He knew that there were no surveillance cameras installed in his home, and that he was safe for the time being.

However, the villa's large floor-to-ceiling windows offer an unobstructed view from the outside, allowing anyone who wants to monitor the villa to see their every move clearly.

"sister?"

Lin Xiaoyun pushed open the door and saw her sister wearing a helmet, eyes closed, leaning back in her chair, presumably currently battling in the Valley of Heroes; fortunately, she always drew the curtains when she entered the game, so no one outside could see what was happening in the study.

He tiptoed to the window and peeked out through the curtains. Sure enough, he saw the car parked next door with privacy film on its windows facing his sister's study.

"Hopefully, it's just to prevent my sister from betraying us, and not to discover her true intentions in joining G Technology Company." Lin Xiaoyun left her sister's study without saying a word, pondering a countermeasure in her mind. She went to the kitchen refrigerator with a normal expression, took an apple, and sat in the living room where she could be clearly seen, reading a book and eating the apple.

A few minutes later, Lin Xiaoyun put down the book, threw the apple core into the trash can, and then picked up the trash. She picked up the tied bag, walked out of the yard, crossed the road, and threw the trash into the trash can on the other side.

As he turned around, he happened to catch a glimpse of his neighbor's pet cat sunbathing in the yard. He pretended to be very interested and walked around to the fence in front of the car, teasing the cat while observing it out of the corner of his eye.

There were two people sitting in the back row.

One person had their face covered by a hat and looked like they were sleeping; the other seemed to be fiddling with their phone.

"Xiao Yun, you like kittens so much, why don't you ask your sister to buy you one!" The stay-at-home mom next door teased him with a smile. "Your sister earns such a high salary, can't she afford a little pet?"

"My sister is too busy with work to keep a pet, and she's worried it will affect my studies, so... I'll wait a bit. I'll definitely get one once I start working and earning money!"

"If only my daughter were half as obedient as you, you'd make my life so easy. You love reading, while my girl is driving me crazy..."

After a few simple, casual words filled with everyday life, Lin Xiaoyun went home and closed the gate to her yard.

He had confirmed that his house was under surveillance and needed to tell his sister quickly to prevent any unforeseen events from leaving him with no time to evacuate.

The fierce battle is still ongoing in the Valley of Heroes.

Lin Ruochu was on high alert. She needed to be quick and swift to eliminate the mini-bosses that seemed to fly out from nowhere. With Jingzhe's powerful attack and the help of other professional archers, all the mini-bosses that were prone to self-destruction had died and landed safely, preventing everyone's efforts from going to waste.

They had only covered one-tenth of the 500-meter distance in fifteen minutes.

"Eleven o'clock, big fries!" Parrot Jixiang circled in the canyon, her loud voice issuing a warning. She pulled the trigger and fired the crossbow bolt, but did not notice that she slipped and almost fell off the steep cliff.

Jiang Chen, who had been no more than two steps away from her, grabbed the rope wrapped around Lin Ruochu's waist and hoisted her up to within centimeters of the self-destruct mechanism. "Don't move, I'll pull you up."

Upon entering the canyon, the group discovered that in addition to the visible and hidden small monsters, there were also randomly placed self-destructing traps hidden in the messy grass at the bottom of the valley. Stepping on one of them would trigger a chain of explosions.

For safety reasons, they decided to climb the rocks.

The elves of Wushuang South have the highest agility. After the archers provided cover to clear the monsters on the cliff, he took the lead and nimbly climbed the cliff. Then, he anchored the points so that his teammates who were not as agile as him and could not climb the cliff could move forward with safety ropes.

The emergency measures formulated in haste were not very comprehensive, and teammates with high self-esteem would occasionally fall off the cliff. Fortunately, everyone was quite capable and no explosion occurred for the time being.

"It's so good to have you here!" Lin Ruochu broke out in a cold sweat. She looked up and saw Jiang Chen standing steadily on the cliff, holding her up. The bulging veins on his arms gave her a great sense of security.

Chapter 21 Cleared

The rainbow's rays cast down from above the canyon enveloped him in a radiant glow.

His tall and imposing physique resembled that of a war god, his calm expression suggesting that everything was under his control. Seeing his bright eyes, Lin Ruochu's previously pounding heart gradually calmed down.

Jiang Chen left the Soul Weapon in the real world to protect the Lin siblings' residence. At this moment, he could only rely on his own strength to maintain his balance. On the steep cliff of the virtual world where everything was incredibly close to reality, this was no easy task.

If they are not careful, they will fall off the cliff with Lin Ruochu, bringing this challenge to an end.

"Go, Host!" The little white cat, wielding a dagger, was clearing away the monsters on the cliff face. Seeing this, it meowed loudly, "The heroine's aura is starting to shine! Stay calm, we'll definitely win!"

Its tender meows drew sighs from a crowd of onlookers.

"Are legendary pets really this powerful? Even a little kitten can kill monsters!"

"Any pet with combat capabilities will do, it's just that nobody is willing to spend that much money to train a battle pet, those things are very dependent on equipment configuration."

"Didn't the number one war god spend five years cultivating a top-quality fire dragon? Its combat power is top-notch; it can fly and breathe fire, it's incredibly powerful!"

"Such a cute little kitten should be meowing, why bother killing monsters..."

……

The fluffy little cat didn't hear anything; it was busy being an assassin cat, trying its best to help its hosts clear out monsters so they could pass the level more easily.

Jiang Chen wrapped the rope around his hands and pulled her up little by little. When they were close to the cliff face, he reached out his left hand to her.

"Thank you!" For a moment, Lin Ruochu was in a daze. Her face flushed, and she reached out to grab his warm hand to steady herself before reattaching the safety rope.

Their bodies were pressed close together, and she could even feel the warmth emanating from the virtual avatar's body.

From the moment they entered the canyon, OGN had never left her side. Whether it was killing monsters or finishing off enemies, he handled it with ease. Lin Ruochu had no doubt that even without the Awakening of Insects, with M Technology Company training these professional gamers, clearing the game was only a matter of time.