Lucky billion players, you've never seen one before / I can accumulate my own luck

She and Lulu were usually the closest, and they lived together.

When questioned by others, she dared not tell the truth and could only tell a lie to get through it.

Residents from the East District sometimes do come to the West District to adopt some young children who are orphans.

The lie she fabricated was plausible enough.

But now a week has passed and Lulu has not shown up, which has aroused suspicion from others.

Xing Tong didn't know what to do either.

Although she was the oldest among them, at 16 years old and second only to Lulu, she was regarded as the second leader by the others after Lulu went missing.

But... she wasn't as decisive or assertive as Lulu at all. She was timid, introverted, and had difficulty communicating with strangers. She was not a qualified leader at all.

The subconscious reliance of others put her under great pressure. She couldn't bring herself to refuse them directly. On one hand, she was still emotionally attached and felt a little soft-hearted. On the other hand, she couldn't bear the self-reproach. She could only go with the flow and reluctantly take on the position, forcing herself to find jobs for everyone and raise money for Xiao Sheng's father's medical expenses.

In addition, she had to devise new lies to continue covering up Lulu's disappearance.

If she dares to voice her guess, given her friends' admiration for Lulu and their impulsive nature due to their young age... something bad will definitely happen!

They must be the ones who got into trouble!

Oh, and there's work tomorrow... The factory manager they went to today kept leering at her, and said that if she wanted to continue cleaning tomorrow, she'd have to go to his office...

Xing Tong's mind was in turmoil, and she fell silent.

"Sister Tong! Did you lie to us before?"

Seeing that Xing Tong didn't answer, the little girl asked angrily, "Where did Sister Lu go?"

“She…she really has been adopted.” Xing Tong said, forcing a smile, “Lulu is very smart; she was chosen at first sight. The East District is a wealthy area, and wealthy families definitely have many rules. Lulu may be restricted in her movements and can’t go out for the time being. Perhaps…”

She paused for a moment and then said, "Perhaps Lulu won't be able to come to see us on her own. How about this, let's work and save money to help Uncle Sheng get better, and then Uncle Sheng can take us to find Lulu, okay?"

Uncle Sheng is Xiao Sheng's father. They have been taking care of him since he fell ill.

Upon hearing this, the little girl glanced at Xing Tong a few times, somewhat suspicious, but ultimately said with trust, "Then... okay. I'll try my best to clean up tomorrow and see Sister Lu as soon as possible."

"tomorrow……"

Xing Tong hesitated for a few seconds, then said, "We might not go to the factory tomorrow. That factory... the environment is terrible, it's full of dust. If we go there often, we might really get pneumoconiosis. Given our current situation, if we get this disease of the poor..."

She shook her head: "The factory is still a backup option. I'll take you to look for other jobs tomorrow."

"Sister Tong, Sister Lu said that there are too many people in this neighborhood who are about our age, and they are all looking for odd jobs to earn money."

Xiao Sheng shook her head: "Where would we get so much work to do? Besides, didn't that horse-faced factory manager say we could go back to clean tomorrow? We can't be picky."

"...I'll look for other jobs tomorrow. If I can't find any...we'll go to the factory then."

Xing Tong changed the subject: "Alright, it's so late, let me take you all back to sleep. You'll have the energy to work tomorrow if you get a good night's sleep."

Upon hearing this, the others all showed slight dissatisfaction.

They all thought Xing Tong was being a bit too fussy, making excuses because she didn't want to do dirty or hard work. They all came from rural areas, and she was so picky… compared to Sister Lu, she was far inferior!

Fortunately, the seven of them had a fairly good relationship, so no one said anything more about it.

"No need to see us off, we're all in the same building, we can go back ourselves."

Xiao Sheng didn't get up and leave immediately, but instead started talking about other things: "By the way, Sister Tong, what happened with the blood test before? I saw that Uncle Chen's house, which lives next door to me, was broken into because he didn't participate in the test. Those people forcibly held down Uncle Chen's son, drew half a tube of blood, covered his head with a device, and just finished the test... The law enforcement people here are so scary."

“They’re probably not law enforcement officers,” Xing Tong shook her head. “They’re most likely the people who collect protection money. When I went to the collection point to check, I saw some of their people mixed in with the staff.”

This neighborhood is secretly protected by an organization called "Blood Asura," whose leader seems to be a player named Kashu... In reality, they are a gang that collects protection money.

This phenomenon also exists in other neighborhoods.

Limited by the rules of Star Memory City, players cannot directly slaughter ordinary people, but they can easily find ways to deal with and torment them.

Moreover, the rule against killing is not strictly enforced in secret; for example, Lulu's disappearance did not elicit any reaction.

Here, the power and influence of the "local bully" is needed to deter lower-level players from causing trouble.

However... while other low-level players dare not act recklessly, "Blood Asura" can act with impunity under the guise of legitimacy.

So Xing Tong only mentioned it once and dared not say anything more.

She urged the six people on and then quickly sent them back.

……

Fan Xiao and his group of four quickly arrived at their destination.

Sakura stayed at the "Blood Asura" base. This time, the thin man who had previously reported information to the burly man was in charge of driving.

His name is Poole, an ordinary man who serves as the assistant to the leader Kashu in the "Blood Asura" gang.

Kashu was the burly man sitting in the passenger seat.

The driver who drove us in from outside Star Memory City was named Lu Wei. He was a taciturn guy with a smile on his face all the time. He was also a C-rank, just like Kashu.

The entire "Blood Asura" has 15 cannibal players, including 4 C-level players and the rest D-level players... By the way, there are only two C-level players left now.

Because Fan Xiao secretly killed two of them, Bing and Ying took over those two positions by disguising themselves.

Besides the players, "Blood Asura" also has hundreds of ordinary members who control all sorts of underworld businesses in the neighborhood.

After getting off the car, the thin man Poole led Van Shaw and the other two straight to a factory.

Looking at the large groups of ordinary people who resembled refugees along the way, Fan Xiao started a conversation: "When we entered the city earlier, there was a group of players leading a lot of ordinary people into the city... I suppose those players were the so-called patrolmen?"

“That’s right,” the burly Kashu asked Vanshaw, “Interested in the patrolmen?”

Patrolmen are a profession that has emerged in recent years. They are responsible for searching for ordinary people who are still alive in the 004 district and transporting them to Star Memory City.

This profession did not exist in previous years. When Xingyi City was just starting to develop, the communication facilities in various parts of the 004 district were still intact. Xingyi City could broadcast throughout the entire district to deceive outsiders into coming to settle down.

This method is no longer feasible. In order to ensure a stable population, players have no choice but to go out and collect survivors and transport them into the city.

“Not interested,” Fan Xiao shook his head. “I’m just a little sad. The number of ordinary people being transported by the patrolmen is getting smaller and smaller. Is our 004 district’s population almost wiped out?”

"Over the years, you've either been eaten, played to death, died in a dungeon crisis, or degenerated into a member of a cannibalistic family... Heh, it's a miracle that you've managed to survive until now."

Kashu's tone was also somewhat wistful: "The chances of those modified items from the satellite city becoming players are too small. Our Star Memory City is indeed facing a hidden population crisis. However..."

He shook his head and said, "District 004 is indeed running out of stock, but there are plenty of ordinary people in other districts!"

"You mean relocation?" Fan Xiao asked. "Our 004 division is not a merged division. Ordinary people from other divisions can't come here directly unless... another merged division helps them."

Although he reviewed the other person's memories, he only found some key information.

How vast is a person's memory capacity?

Unless he opens the Blood Sea and indirectly controls supercomputer-like computing power by using the brains of a large number of Blood Sea creatures... it is impossible for him to grasp all the details of a person's memories.

In the game "Evolution," the game company has granted the merged zone certain operational rights over the time-space train, which is why the train that ordinary people ride can appear.

Wealthy and influential ordinary people in other non-integrated zones can travel between different zones for tourism or relocation by purchasing these ordinary tickets.

Under the authority of the game government in the merged zone, ordinary people who arrive at the station in the non-merged zone can directly go to the current zone through a temporarily opened portal without having to go through any dungeons.

However, these portals only work for ordinary people; players cannot pass through them.

The game company has essentially left some decent perks and privileges for the game government in the merged zone.

In other words, as long as there are any merged zones willing to secretly help Xingyi City, ordinary people from various zones will be continuously tricked into coming to Zone 004.

"The higher-ups in our city have a lot of power and always have all sorts of ways to get all kinds of resources from the outer districts."

The burly man chuckled and said, "People... are also a resource."

"Alright, there's no need for us to discuss this anymore. Let's just enjoy the fruits of our labor. Why worry about so much?"

"By the way, why are you asking me about this? Don't you already know?"

“Oh,” Van Shaw replied, “because your mother died.”

"I see. So your previous instance involved memory interference, which caused some damage to your mind..."

Zhuang Yu sighed, "You're unlucky. Dungeons involving mental attributes are always among the most dangerous of all types of dungeons."

"Well, everything you said is right."

Fan Xiao smiled.

"Your mother is dead"—this is a kind of psychological suggestion he gives to the other person.

Whenever he says this, the other person will automatically fill in all sorts of excuses in their mind to explain the loopholes in his behavior and words, and they will be completely convinced of their own imagination.

The brilliance lies in the fact that the loopholes are not explained by him, but rather filled in by the other party in their own mind. This avoids the phenomenon of telling more lies to cover up the lie, which leads to more and more loopholes.

It also avoids the hassle of repeatedly using memory intervention to correct distortions.

Of course, there is a prerequisite for doing this—the other party's mental strength must be far lower than his, otherwise, he would not be able to do mental interference so freely.

Because the burly man was only a C-level player, he was able to be manipulated by him.

If it were a Class B, it wouldn't be so easy.

Chapter 642 There is a way to die

Led by the skinny man Poole, Van Shaw and his two companions soon arrived at the only factory in the neighborhood.

The factory was located on the outskirts of the city, its architectural style differing from the surrounding residences. It didn't feel old or dilapidated at all; instead, it appeared quite futuristic. This factory was one of the businesses secretly managed by "Blood Asura," and the factory manager was an outer member of "Blood Asura"... essentially an ordinary person recruited into the organization.

All the inner circle members are active players.

As the leader of the organization, the burly Kashu didn't need to do the work himself when looking for someone; the peripheral members would bring the person to the factory.

Two "suitable individuals" were discovered within a block... Kashu was quite surprised.

The bounty mission issued by Satellite City 44 is not only aimed at Star Memory City, but also includes other districts.

In other words, the people who issued the task did not expect to be able to gather enough "suitable candidates" in Star Memory City.

And that's exactly the case. So much time has passed, and no players from other districts have brought anyone to the satellite city... That's right, Kashu has been secretly keeping an eye on the nearby districts, looking for an opportunity to steal the fruits of others' labor.

This time, although he didn't manage to snatch anything from others, he encountered two at once... Kashu thought that perhaps Lady Luck was on his side.

He was in a wonderful mood, and said with a smile to Fan Xiao and the others, "Finally, we have a chance to have some fun in the satellite city! Hehe, you guys better look forward to it. The goods in the satellite city are nothing like the ordinary stuff we usually play with. The experience, the fun... tsk tsk, it'll blow your mind!"

"Boss, does the reward include a trip to the satellite city?"

The thin man who led the way was extremely surprised.

As an ordinary person, he was unaware of the specific details of the bounty mission issued by Satellite City 44. The incident had only recently occurred, and the relevant information had not yet been fully disseminated.

"That's right, and you can freely choose a satellite city to have some fun."

Kashu's eyes lit up with delight: "The goods in the satellite city are usually more expensive than some items. How can we afford them? Only the high-ranking officials can play around with them like that."

"Now... let's all think carefully about which satellite city to go to."

"This is a rare opportunity; you should think about it carefully."

"Boss! I recommend going to Satellite City No. 7!"

The skinny man, Poole, replied instantly, "Let's go to number 7! There..."

He swallowed hard. "I've heard from knowledgeable people that it's a breeding ground for many small kingdoms, a veritable breeding ground for princesses!"

"Cute, dignified, noble... we have them all!"

"Moreover, Satellite City 7's business model isn't just about selling goods; they also sell rather exciting services. For example... we can enter the kingdom as mercenaries, burning, killing, looting, and abusing. We can forcibly tear off the princesses' clothes anytime, anywhere, in full view of everyone, and brutally ravage them, enjoying their shame, screams, and despair... Hehe, that's just too wonderful!"

"Tsk... I never knew you had such a perverted hobby?"

Kashu narrowed his eyes, sending out a dangerous signal: "Those people you usually send me... you didn't steal any food along the way, did you?"

"Boss, how could I dare?" Pull's face tightened, and he quickly shook his head, saying, "Those are all the goods you're going to sell. Even if you gave me a hundred lives, I wouldn't dare touch them!"

Yes, the buying and selling of people isn't just something done by the higher-ups in Star Memory City; lower-level players can also get a share of the profits.

The higher-ups cultivate various special gene products through satellite cities and sell them to the entire G08 node. This is a high-end strategy that ordinary players cannot access.

But ordinary players also have their own methods... such as secretly selecting some targets from ordinary people in Star Memory City, secretly controlling them, and selling them to other safe zones in the Star Memory City Alliance.

Other safe zones don't enjoy the same benefits as Star Memory City, and it's impossible for them to have a large influx of people every year.

This gap is also the reason why this business was able to take shape.

How many cannibalistic players are there in the entire alliance? Their demand for "food" is huge. Therefore, the higher-ups of Star Memory City often turn a blind eye to this. As long as the players don't go too far, damage the city's population base, or disrupt the entire system, they won't restrict them in every way.

Of course, it's not just gamers who buy these kinds of "secondary goods".