Chapter 283 A Good Plan

Jian Nanyou's gaze remained coldly fixed on the crowd, radiating an aura of indifference to life and death. The onlookers grew increasingly uneasy, many averting their eyes, and more than a few hiding their faces altogether. As the saying goes, a thief can be a thief for a thousand days, but you can't guard against a thief for a thousand days, especially in a game where you can't catch or kill the thief. It can truly be pursued as a lifelong career. So, what about the average player? Are they supposed to make a career out of defending against thieves?

Those standing in the front ranks of the crowd were particularly regretful, feeling they had stirred up a hornet's nest, the kind that would leave a lingering stench even after scrubbing clean. They were now hastily hiding their faces, turning their heads, and thinking of slipping away.

Jian Nanyou, in the face of such a situation, proudly strode outward. The players weighed their options, thinking that his departure would be the best outcome. After all, they had been confronting him for so long, and offenses had already been made. Fear was useless. If he dared to step outside, they would eliminate this menace to society, then disappear and fly far away, never to be found!

Thinking this way, no one stepped forward to stop Jian Nanyou. Many were secretly reaching for their weapons, planning to rid the world of this scourge the moment he exited. Hiding now was pointless; if he truly wanted to target someone, he already had.

Unexpectedly, Jian Nanyou didn't head outside. Instead, he walked through the parted crowd onto an auction platform and began operating the interface with a flurry of clicks. The players who followed closely saw that the search term he had entered was: Teleport Scroll.

"Damn it!" someone shouted. This guy was preparing to use a teleport scroll to disappear, proving that he was, in the end, afraid. A guilty conscience needs no accuser, and evil cannot triumph over righteousness—these were truths, after all! With this realization, the players' spirits surged once more. Those who had been covertly preparing for a sneak attack now openly revealed themselves, brandishing their weapons overhead and shouting curses.

Jian Nanyou paid them no mind. After searching, the auction house indeed had teleport scrolls available. Current research indicated that these items had a significantly higher drop rate from magical monsters around level 50. However, killing level 50 monsters while being ten levels lower required an extremely formidable team, and even then, the drop rate was a factor, making the overall production still quite limited. Nonetheless, they were no longer the kind of rare items that ordinary people had never even heard of. But given the current supply, combined with the fact that they were consumables, not many would consider using them as common items. In the eyes of ordinary players, it was basically like throwing money into the water just to hear it splash.

Jian Nanyou was in the game to make money, so he would never engage in such wasteful behavior. Unfortunately, he was now forced into a corner. Looking at the string of numbers after the teleport scroll, his heart shattered into a million pieces. After grinding his teeth for a long time, he fiercely purchased it.

Jian Nanyou turned around, and someone immediately yelled, "Don't let him through!!!"

He had purchased the scroll, but Jian Nanyou still needed to go to the delivery NPC to retrieve it.

Jian Nanyou coldly stared at the player who had shouted, nodding and saying, "I'll remember you."

The player couldn't help but feel a chill. Just a moment ago, he had felt that Jian Nanyou had a guilty conscience and that evil would surely be defeated. Now, he didn't know where that confidence had gone. He shrank his neck, but forced himself to take courage, puffing out his chest and saying, "Who are you trying to scare?"

"Lali's Sword, a strength-agility type, currently priced at 200 gold coins on the market."

"Kalan Armor, decent appearance, but the stats are average. The market price is at most 100 gold coins."

"Restriction Ring, this one's not bad, a magic resistance ring with increased resistance to ice, fire, and lightning spells. Although the increase is a bit low, it's worth 500 gold coins."

"Vitality Emblem, hmm, adds agility. It's a bit of a waste for you to use it. Selling it to an archer or rogue would fetch about 300 gold coins."

Jian Nanyou spoke unhurriedly, systematically evaluating the player's equipment from head to toe, jotting down brief notes on everything he mentioned. Finally, he sighed and said, "All your equipment combined, 2750 gold coins. You're doing pretty well for yourself."

A hush fell over the crowd. Jian Nanyou had demonstrated the professional skills that a robber should possess. Upon verification, his assessment of the player's equipment was spot on. For a moment, all the players looking at this person were either appraising his equipment as well or regarding him as a tragedy.

"Someone will be contacting you soon," Jian Nanyou said, heavily closing his notebook, as if pronouncing this guy's death sentence. Then, he looked at the others and asked, "Anyone else?"

The eyes of everyone began to flicker and avoid his gaze once more. Jian Nanyou left the auction platform and walked outward. The people in front of him dodged his gaze and involuntarily made way for him. Jian Nanyou sneered; he understood the thoughts of these ordinary players all too well. The one he always misjudged was that guy, Qian Li Yizui. That guy's thinking wasn't that of a player! Jian Nanyou snapped the pen in his hand at the thought of that name.

Then, under the watchful eyes of everyone, yet without any obstruction, Jian Nanyou arrived at the delivery NPC and obtained the teleport scroll. He glanced back at the players who still didn't dare to meet his gaze, shook open the scroll, and teleported away.

The players were stunned for a long time, looking at each other, unsure of what to say. Everyone had similar thoughts: they were displeased with the rampant robbery but didn't dare to be the first to stick their necks out for fear of being targeted. When their own interests hadn't been genuinely harmed, people's courage always remained deeply hidden.

The crowd was silent for a while, then dejectedly began to leave the auction house one after another.

After contacting Jian Nanyou, Gu Fei didn't hide in the corner anymore. He stood in the square outside the entrance, strolling around and reading. Many people were streaming into the auction house, and he knew they were all coming to watch Jian Nanyou. Seeing a large group of people suddenly swarm out as if school had let out, he immediately realized that Jian Nanyou had left the auction house. He quickly sent a message to Bai Shijinglun at the bounty mission office.

"Nope, haven't seen Jian Nanyou," Bai Shijinglun replied definitively.

"Didn't use the Chasing Wind Emblem..." Gu Fei muttered, realizing that Jian Nanyou had seen through his plan. He immediately grabbed a passing player and asked, "Where's the robber, Jian Nanyou?"

"He left," the player said.

"How did he leave?"

"He bought a teleport scroll and teleported away," the person replied.

"He could get close to the auction platform?" Gu Fei was surprised. It was because of the continuous stream of onlookers that he had assumed Jian Nanyou had no way to leave except by logging off or using the Chasing Wind Emblem.

The person didn't say anything. Clearly, how Jian Nanyou had gotten close to the auction platform wasn't a glorious story for this large group of people. To put it simply, everyone had succumbed to the tyranny of the robber.

"I don't know," the person curtly answered Gu Fei's question and hurriedly slipped away.

Gu Fei was taken aback. He then noticed that the dispersing players all had a somewhat somber air, a stark contrast to the joyful excitement they had shown when coming to watch the robber! What exactly had happened? Gu Fei asked several more people, but everyone was evasive and unwilling to directly address the issue. After piecing together the information from several people, Gu Fei roughly understood what had happened and could only sigh deeply.

The negative trends that existed in reality had been completely brought into the online game. Who said that the internet was all just virtual? Moreover, online games were even more terrifying than reality. In reality, criminals would already be apprehended by the public and handed over to the relevant authorities. Even if not, being beaten to death by the crowd would at least eliminate the worry of future retaliation. But now, because everyone knew that Jian Nanyou was just a player who could be resurrected upon death, this realization made everyone deeply aware of the terror of revenge.

Gu Fei didn't blame these people. In this day and age, even the public security agencies advised people not to resist excessively when facing desperate criminals, lest they lose their minds. The bad guys had too much of an advantage, and the good guys lacked a sufficient sense of security.

"No need to waste time there, Jian Nanyou has already run," Gu Fei first sent a message to Bai Shijinglun.

"Ah? Where did he run?" For Bai Shijinglun, Jian Nanyou running away was equivalent to his income running away.

"He used a teleport scroll for a random teleport, I don't know where he went," Gu Fei said.

"What do we do now?" Bai Shijinglun asked.

"It seems we won't be able to find him in the short term. You go busy yourself!" After replying to Bai Shijinglun, Gu Fei contacted Jian Nanyou again: "Dare to tell me where you are!"

How depressed was Jian Nanyou upon receiving this message? He wanted to add Gu Fei to his blacklist, but then he thought that it was just a couple of messages. The psychological impact might be stimulating, but as long as he remained strong, it wouldn't be a big deal. Maybe he could even glean some useful information from it. So, he allowed Gu Fei to become one of his "friends." Of course, he didn't reply to the "dare to" message. Having just been teleported, he was currently studying his location while contacting his brothers.

"With Qian Li Yizui around, we'll never have good days!!!" Jian Nanyou came straight to the point.

"What's up?" The two teams of three were playing cards and bluffing, having a great time, when they suddenly received Jian Nanyou's message.

"That guy is sticking to us like glue, refusing to let us go. Unless we completely take him down, he'll always be a thorn in our side," Jian Nanyou said.

"Can't we just stay away from him?" Huo Ranyi said weakly, feeling very unconfident on this issue.

The game was vast, and avoiding someone was indeed not difficult, but Jian Nanyou was primarily unable to swallow his pride. A tree lives for its bark, and a person lives for a breath of air. Most people could cast aside their pride for a living, but swallowing this anger in such a way would surely shorten one's lifespan by ten years.

"Didn't that Hongchen Yixiao say he had a way to deal with Qian Li Yizui? I wonder how his plan is progressing," Jiaoshui reminded everyone. Dealing with Qian Li Yizui was their main task for the next stage, and Jian Nanyou and Huo Ranyi seemed to have forgotten about it.