The billionaire was completely stunned.
Honestly, before he lied, he had imagined countless possibilities. Even the worst-case scenario—where Lu Qingjia, with his intelligence, might instantly see through the deception—was within his psychological tolerance.
He had fully expected the other’s reaction to be at most one of doubt and disbelief. He had prepared several sets of arguments to counter Lu Qingjia’s anticipated questions.
These were the results of his all-night deliberations. He had considered various aspects, such as Lu Qingjia’s tastes, sexual orientation, conservatism, and behavioral style.
The only thing he hadn’t considered was that the other party already had a lover outside, and what kind of words were those?
Did it mean that he himself knew his moral standards were so low that he could feign affection and play with emotions for the sake of benefit at any time?
“You, you, what did you say? Ch-ch-cheating?” The billionaire’s mind was completely numb.
Lu Qingjia, however, looked deeply at him for a moment, then smiled. “It seems your understanding of me is still quite superficial. If you can’t even accept this, then you couldn’t possibly be the object of my infidelity.”
He glanced around the environment, noticing that they were in a luxurious bedroom, the kind that would be a presidential suite in a five-star hotel, starting at 18,888 per night.
Lu Qingjia had now fully retained the memories from the day before yesterday—the part about taking the train to the employment agency and realizing there might be a save point.
But yesterday’s memories were still reset to zero. However, the nature of zero and one is different.
He could still figure out the context from zero, but now that he had some early memories, he could immediately deduce many things.
For instance, this was definitely not the night after the first day of interviews. For example, he must have already set up many things yesterday.
He must have very detailed information and plans left on him. Also, like the idiot in front of him.
Although he seemed a bit dim-witted, he must have reached a certain level of tacit agreement with him yesterday. At least from the current direction of action, he trusted the other party.
So Lu Qingjia sat up and asked, “Alright, what do you want to tell me?”
The billionaire’s worldview had collapsed multiple times in less than twenty-four hours.
First, the woman he was extremely interested in turned out to be bigger than him, and then he found out she already had someone.
He had secretly thought that being with a man wasn’t so bad, that he was halfway out of the closet, and now he was told it was already too late.
Ah, no, there was still a chance. Would you like to know about the backup candidate position?
The billionaire was indignant, his eyes red as he glared at Lu Qingjia. “You already have someone? How dare you come after me when you already have someone?”
Before Lu Qingjia could answer, he continued shouting, “What’s so great about women? They’re so wishy-washy and scared of everything. You’re risking your life in the game every day, how could she handle it?”
“Don’t just make a habitual choice because of the environment you grew up in. We had such a great chat yesterday, why don’t you consider trying out a man?”
Lu Qingjia: “…?”
Although he never expected this guy to be even more naive than he thought, Lu Qingjia now understood that he must have deceived this guy by wearing a gender-bending dress yesterday.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t explain why the other party instinctively thought his lover was a woman. Reversing the logic meant that he initially didn’t present himself as a man to make this guy develop a crush, and this guy probably only dated women before.
If he were truly interested in men, it would be easy to see what kind of person Lu Qingjia was.
So Lu Qingjia said, “I never said my partner is a woman.”
“Don’t be too confident about your sexual orientation. I’m telling you, sometimes change happens in an instant—” The billionaire was still rambling, but he shut his mouth after hearing Lu Qingjia’s words.
“Ma-ma-male? So you do like men?”
The billionaire’s face immediately lit up with an excited smile, but he didn’t dare say anything.
It’s not easy to change someone’s sexual orientation, but it’s easy to steal someone’s partner, isn’t it?
Seeing that Lu Qingjia didn’t want to get entangled with him, the billionaire also came to his senses. If they kept being stuck here, it would be completely useless.
So he followed Lu Qingjia’s instructions from yesterday and recounted everything that had happened since he first saw him.
Upon hearing this, Lu Qingjia confirmed that he had indeed worn women’s clothing. He felt a bit regretful that he couldn’t keep any photos, as the save point had already passed by then.
Now that he still had the memories from the first day, and he had learned about the information after infiltrating the mansion through the billionaire, the only thing missing was the memories from the second phase of the mission yesterday.
Lu Qingjia pulled out a few letters from his pocket. The first two were either blank or garbled, which didn’t surprise him.
If he could determine the save point, he would definitely find a way to test how to record the most detailed information in the most convenient way.
Clearly, the first two were either direct written letters or relatively simple and common codes.
The third letter was completely preserved, containing a large amount of numbers, each pair enclosed in parentheses.
Seeing this, the billionaire asked, “What is this?”
“A letter I left for myself.” He recalled the contents of the book he had memorized and quickly deciphered the information by matching the numbers to the rows and columns of the book.
“So that’s it, the wax museum factory.”
He waved his hand, and a drop of wax fell on the scented candle by the bedside. This drop of wax caused the candle to melt instantly, and then Lu Qingjia could manipulate it at will.
This was the ability he had obtained from the boss’s family before killing them, along with the molten wax left in the boiler when he left.
Seeing this, the billionaire said, “You really are a sugar rooster, picking up benefits wherever you go.”
Lu Qingjia smiled, “No choice, small household, family fortune depends on saving.”
The billionaire picked up the paper with the numbered codes and raised an eyebrow, “This is similar to the code I used before. See, we’re quite fated, aren’t we?”
Lu Qingjia said, “I anticipated that. As long as the information isn’t too directly expressed, it can usually be preserved.”
“Otherwise, it wouldn’t be possible for so many players to challenge the later stages. The first two stages alone could exhaust most people.”
The billionaire became interested, “Oh? You made even more rigorous plans? Tell me about it?”
Lu Qingjia took out a paper package from his space, containing a mini listening device, the size of a button, but already broken into several pieces.
The billionaire exclaimed, “Ah! If it weren’t for the numbered letter being preserved, this failure would be quite embarrassing.”
Such a smart person failing due to improper item storage.
Lu Qingjia scoffed, “If it were intact, the contents might not have been preserved, right?”
Then, the button on Lu Qingjia’s bracelet flashed, and Old Uncle’s ability activated, immediately restoring the listening device to its original state.
“I crushed it myself,” Lu Qingjia said. “Only a worthless transmission tool can evade the system’s scan, and since I don’t know the contents, it can’t be screened based on my subjective cognition.”
“No matter how strict the rules are, there must be some operational loopholes left. Otherwise, if the rules were completely unbalanced, that thing wouldn’t be qualified to issue tasks to players.”
The billionaire was somewhat amazed by this guy’s meticulousness.
Not to mention the current level of defense, it seems that even if the loophole were smaller, the other party could still find a way to know what he wanted to know.
“This is the listening device I hid on the wax museum boss during our conversation. Of course, I can’t guarantee they completely said something useful for me to sort out the information. But with the abilities and items I obtained from the wax museum, combined with the verbal information, it’s not difficult to fully understand what happened yesterday.”
Sure enough, after the listening device was restored, it transmitted the boss’s family gathering together to observe Lu Qingjia’s group through wax figures. Seeing that he had analyzed the situation to this extent, they immediately decided to use a murder case to divert attention and hinder their task completion plan.
After listening to the information, the state of affairs at that time was almost fully revealed to Lu Qingjia.
At this moment, the system’s voice sounded, even somewhat gnashing its teeth, “Congratulations, Player Lu Qingjia, for unlocking the second day’s memories.”
Then, all the memories from yesterday were transmitted intact.
Lu Qingjia stood up, “Let’s have breakfast first, then start working.”
“You’re really composed,” the billionaire said. “You know, your memories from the past two days are no longer subject to the reset rules, and you’ve already tested the effective information retention rules. That means the basic traps of this instance are meaningless to you.”
“Such a player will soon receive a grand reception from the system. Honestly, you might not be able to handle it.”
As they spoke, breakfast was served. The billionaire lived a luxurious life, so breakfast was naturally varied, extravagant, and exquisite.
Having been busy working all day yesterday and not eating much, this meal was quite satisfying.
Lu Qingjia smiled, “Why wait for it to come to me?”
The billionaire had a bad feeling, and then followed Lu Qingjia out the door.
Arriving near the station entrance, other players from the same batch had also partially figured out the situation.
But they hadn’t recovered their memories, only realizing they weren’t the first to appear in the game.
Before they could make a plan, someone appeared before them.
It was Lu Qingjia, who had marked them yesterday, found them one by one, and brought them to the station entrance.
Sure enough, even though they had hunted countless stranded players at the billionaire’s mansion yesterday, everyone’s memories were still reset to zero, and they still received the task prompt to come to the station and wait for the train.
After explaining yesterday’s situation to his team members and providing ample evidence, Lu Qingjia assigned them the task of gathering the people at the station.
After all, this wasn’t the first time they had done this. Even without yesterday’s memories, it felt surprisingly easy.
Meanwhile, Lu Qingjia and the billionaire went straight to the station’s main office. Seeing them enter, the employees became alert.
Lu Qingjia asked, “What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to welcome your new boss?”
Everyone was stunned as Lu Qingjia confidently sat down in the CEO’s chair.
Looking at them, he said, “I believe the first work email you received this morning should be about the change in ownership of the train company.”
“Let’s get acquainted. I’m Lu Qingjia, and I’ll be taking over here from now on.”
“That’s impossible. How could a train company be privately acquired?” someone instinctively retorted.
“Why not?” Lu Qingjia chuckled with a hint of mockery. “A world disguised as reality, where the rulers do nothing but suck the blood of a limited number of people.”
“A few trains that never reach their destination. Even if they want to replicate the rules of reality, they have to consider that their selfish motives completely disregard the state of the industry, hoping everyone forgets that you’re a scam company.”
“Such a company is too easy to acquire, with loopholes like a sieve.”
Although some of the people inside were confused by Lu Qingjia’s words, the leader was clearly dispatched by the instance’s owner. After all, the station was the starting point for all players, a strategically important location. How could they not have someone overseeing it?
Hearing Lu Qingjia’s words, the leader’s face turned gloomy, and he stared at him intently.
Lu Qingjia, however, propped his legs up on the desk and smiled, “A new official has three fires to set. The first, of course, is to remove the old owner’s direct subordinates.”
“What are you waiting for? You’re fired.”
The leader was shocked, incredulous, “You dare to fire me? On what grounds?”
Lu Qingjia waved his hand impatiently, “Get a few security guards to escort him out. HR, settle his severance—oh, wait, he managed so many train malfunctions during his tenure, not a single train successfully reached its destination. Why should he get severance? Someone with any shame would have resigned long ago.”
Then he added, “Second, all employees will get a six-month vacation. The train company will undergo a long period of rectification. Don’t worry, salaries and benefits will remain the same. Everyone, don’t be burdened, enjoy your vacation. After all, a train company that can’t even get its passengers to their destination really needs to reflect deeply.”
“Third, and most importantly,” he threw out a speech draft, “this will be broadcasted through the station’s PA system later.”
“Although the passengers aren’t fully aware of our issues, a truly responsible company must have the courage to face its problems. A company that relies on deceiving the public to get by doesn’t deserve to have so many people entrust their lives and futures to it.”
“First, apologize, then compensate all passengers for their fare. That’s not too much, is it?”
The leader immediately realized what was happening. He glared at Lu Qingjia with wide eyes, “You want to rebel? You dare to refund the fares? Don’t even think about it.”
In this world, fares weren’t purchased with money or even points. They were obtained through fingerprint recognition after entering the instance, with only seven chances. Once the seven chances were used up, they lost their player status and became ordinary NPCs, residents of this world.
Lu Qingjia wanted to refund them, which would mean giving those idiots their wasted chances back. How could there be such a good thing?
Moreover, with the current situation, with this troublemaker around, probably not many people would fall for the first trap.
Lu Qingjia, however, wasn’t angry at all. Instead, he smiled and nodded at him, “So it really can be refunded? Thanks for letting me know.”
“You—”
Before he could finish speaking, his body was torn apart and sent flying.
It was the billionaire who made the move. He wasn’t in a good mood, so he threw out a few light needles, pinning the leader’s various body parts to the floor.
Squatting in front of the leader’s head, his face was terrifying, “Huh? So this thing can really be refunded?”
“Miscalculation. I’ve been calculating and acquiring industries everywhere to increase my bargaining chips, but I still missed one thing. Made me stranded in this godforsaken place for so long.”
“You can’t do this,” the head continued to babble, “You’re playing with the rules, not honestly clearing the instance. You’ll definitely be counterattacked—”
Before he could finish speaking, his mouth was stuffed with a piece of sludge thrown by Lu Qingjia.
The leader’s dismembered body was collected into Lu Qingjia’s sludge space, and the others, seeing this, no longer dared to object.
Following Lu Qingjia’s instructions, they went about their tasks.
At this time, the passengers at the station were being informed of their identities by Lu Qingjia’s team. They were horrified to discover that almost everyone present was either a player or a former player.
And that so-called task of going to another city to find an employment agency was complete nonsense, merely a trap and a facade to keep players in this world.
Initially, many people were skeptical, but then the station’s PA system made an announcement.
Their number of ticket purchases was instantly restored to seven. Some skeptical players went to the automatic ticket machines to check and found that it was indeed different from before.
Even players with only one or two chances left, after combining the information provided by Lu Qingjia’s group, realized they were just one step away from becoming NPCs, forever trapped in this world, and broke out in a cold sweat.
Inevitably, this led to a riot. Angry players smashed the entire station. Players with superhuman abilities had astonishing destructive power, and soon the waiting hall, station, and railway tracks were all destroyed.
But after venting, no one knew how to escape this world.
So in a sense, Lu Qingjia, who had saved everyone from their predicament, now held significant authority.
He used a mental telepathy method to issue tasks to all players, and soon everyone dispersed, leaving the station empty.
The only regret was that those who had already become NPCs didn’t regain their memories because their ticket chances were restored.
Lu Qingjia still didn’t know what would happen to them after this instance was cleared, but he didn’t worry too much, as the game would take care of it.
After leaving the station, the billionaire was still very unhappy and asked Lu Qingjia, “What are we doing now?”
Lu Qingjia said, “I destroyed the employment agency, shut down almost all the stranded players, disbanded the instance-clearing players, and blew up the station, not just for a temporary advantage in the rules.”
“After all, this is someone else’s world. Even if it’s temporarily paralyzed and can’t issue tasks to players, given time, it can rebuild another set of rules and continue to exploit players.”
“Now that its task mechanism is non-functional, and I’ve cracked the ticket purchase and refresh rules, the most urgent thing for it is probably to eliminate this troublemaker.”
“But I’m still quite confident,” Lu Qingjia said.
“What confidence?”
“It won’t kill me.”
“Pfft! You—” The billionaire was somewhat speechless. Honestly, if he were the rule system of this instance, with someone like Lu Qingjia causing unprecedented destruction, he would definitely spare no effort to eliminate him. This was also what worried him.
But Lu Qingjia had a different view, “Haven’t you noticed the problem?”
“Those who fall into becoming NPCs are usually those who couldn’t make it through the first or second rounds.”
“To be realistic, such players aren’t very talented, have limited potential, and their development ceiling is visible. Players who can’t even react to the first stage’s station trap, even with seven chances, have pretty much reached their limit in the game.”
“Players with no development value, turned into NPCs at once, have their abilities, points, items, and spiritual power extracted to fill and perfect the world’s structure. That’s their only value.”
“But those who have reached the later stages of the instance, or even like you, just one step away from clearing it, in terms of overall strength, indeed, in this entire instance, the abilities and status of stranded players are directly proportional.”
Indeed, among the stranded players, the billionaire was overwhelmingly strong, followed by the bosses of large companies and factories, then medium-sized ones, and finally small workshops, forming a relatively straightforward hierarchy.
Hearing Lu Qingjia praise him again, the billionaire felt somewhat proud, and his mood improved.
Then he heard Lu Qingjia say, “Those players who were initially eliminated had their nutrients extracted and became NPCs. Why are only you, who have gone further, not treated the same way?”
“If it were just to make you assist in evil and share the burden, I don’t think it would be necessary. After all, players like you, who were left behind without the interference of stranded NPCs, show that even without forming this industry chain, people could still be kept here.”
“My idea is that they can’t bear to part with you.”
“Can’t bear to part with us?”
“Because spiritual energy is continuously generated, like a living spring, even if the other party periodically siphons it off, you can quickly replenish it yourself. With your current Ability, the success rate of advancing to the Advanced Zone is well over 80%, and even after entering the Advanced Zone, you will perform exceptionally well.”
“Such a high-quality Player is essentially an inexhaustible reservoir of spiritual energy, so the other party would never easily eliminate you.”
The richest man rubbed his face and chuckled sheepishly, “Alright, alright! That’s enough. You’re praising me too much, it’s a bit embarrassing. I haven’t even reached the Advanced Zone yet.”
“But I’ve also been deliberately holding back, because I know that entering the Advanced Zone with unstable strength isn’t really beneficial.”
Lu Qingjia nodded, “I think so too.”
“Not to boast, but my potential is no less than yours. So, by the same logic, if the other party’s goal is to siphon spiritual energy from Players, they wouldn’t be willing to kill me off so easily.”
“But you can’t rest easy just because of that,” the richest man said.
“True, but I prefer to take the initiative. I don’t have the patience to play along with these tasks, one after another, full of clumsy, petty tricks.”
“Since it has set up so many detailed and strict rules, then, in the interest of fairness, its defenses must also be weak and passive.”
“That’s why I’m certain that with the employment agency and the station blown up, and the Players detained, the task mechanism would temporarily be paralyzed.”
“Setting aside the false infrastructure prosperity, the entire instance should now be in a state of paralysis. However—”
At this point, Lu Qingjia and the others received a task assigned by the system: “Player Lu Qingjia, please proceed immediately to the abandoned amusement park in the north of the city. Restore the amusement park to operational status within the day.”
Yet, upon hearing this task, Lu Qingjia sneered.
He picked up the mobile monitoring terminal he had purchased from Infinite City and completely ignored the so-called task.
Seeing a flashing bright spot on the screen, he smiled.
As if speaking to either the richest man or the system, he said, “This world is new, and its structure is simple. Apart from here, there are only a few cities with employment agencies.”
“Why did I deliberately blow up each employment agency yesterday? Did you think I was just venting, or that I hoped to completely cripple your task mechanism?”
“Of course, for most Players, it might lead to paralysis, but targeting a single Player should still be manageable.”
“All the places managed by the detained Players have been paralyzed because their owners are trapped. We agreed that all of the richest man’s businesses would cease operations today. The employment agencies are blown up, the station is blown up.”
“While I was blowing up the employment agencies yesterday, I sent out many eyes. In theory, this small world should now be completely paralyzed.”
“So why is there such a strong operational energy emanating from a clock factory in the south of the city?”
Lu Qingjia grinned, his eyes malicious, as if staring through the air at someone, “There must be something interesting in there.”
