Chapter 134: A City Full of Cuckolds

Many an interstellar gamer had been caught off guard by their underhanded tactics. If both sides were evenly matched, a skirmish with 4ua3 would naturally result in mutual destruction. Afterward, they would engage in a brief period of recovery before launching another round of psychological warfare, guaranteed to drive you to a nervous breakdown and trap you in their exhausting war of attrition. Players with mediocre skill, poor mental resilience, or a lack of patience would almost always lose to them. Yet, whenever they encountered true top-tier masters, these freaks would lose nine times out of ten.

The notorious reputation of the Freak Madmen StarCraft clan stemmed not from their win-loss record, but from the fact that even when you defeated them, you felt no joy or sense of achievement. Instead, you were left with an overwhelming urge to grab someone and beat them violently just to vent your lingering frustration. Their most famous match was a seven-and-a-half-hour game on an infinite-mineral map against four players rumored to be the top StarCraft clan in a small city. From the very beginning of the 4v4 until the end, neither side suffered a single casualty. Finally, it was said the players were so unbearably hungry that they mutually agreed to settle for a draw.

Recounting Lin Jia’s past glories here was not meant for boasting, but rather to illustrate that his micro-control skills and hand speed were exceptionally monstrous compared to the average player. For someone capable of executing four-threaded, multi-unit tactical operations in StarCraft, what was so strange about casting magic while simultaneously opening his inventory to unpack bundles of potions? As for accurately calculating and controlling his own hit points, that was simply a matter of personal experience and intuitive flair.

Having loaded up on ten bundles of Super Healing Potions and five Strong Sun Potions, Lin Jia once again chased away the unfortunate Taoist player, Nangong Cangma. His confidence skyrocketed instantly. With such a massive supply of provisions, Lin Jia was fully confident in his ability to slowly grind them to death!

From this day onward, that poor kid Nangong Cangma would likely harbor a psychological shadow regarding Mages.

Although Nangong Cangma and his companions had repeatedly suffered defeats at the hands of Lin Jia's group, it had to be said that they were still exceptionally formidable top-tier players among the veterans. Not only were their levels high, their equipment top-notch, and their skill levels advanced, but their execution was also remarkably sharp. If it were merely Lin Jia's trio versus Cangma's trio, the outcome would still be hanging in the balance. But now, in addition to Lin Jia's group, they also had two Taoists who were practically not real Taoists: "Yuehua Wuya Zhi Suiyue" and "Dao Yi You Dao"!

Although the situation was tilting heavily in Lin Jia's favor, one could not ignore the sheer monstrosity of Nangong Cangma's Level 7 skeleton. Boss's Level 2 skeleton, Yuehua's Level 1 skeleton, and Dao Yi You Dao's Level 0 skeleton had charged forward shoulder-to-shoulder, only to be hacked down into a pile of bone shards in a mere two minutes.

After rescuing Lin Jia, Boss and Old Dao—since Lin Jia found it too troublesome to use full names while speaking, he had taken to calling Dao Yi You Dao "Old Dao" without asking for permission—charged straight toward the fleeing Nangong Cangma. Meanwhile, Yuehua chased relentlessly after the Mage "Hao Ren Yi Ge," who had hunted him across eight streets just moments before. As for Old Si, he locked eyes with the enemy warrior "Fengyun Xia" like a turtle staring at a king tortoise or sesame seeds glaring at green beans; the two foolish warriors simply stopped running altogether. Standing side by side right where they were, they traded blows, hacking away at each other's health points.

Once Lin Jia finished resupplying, he stood idle for a moment, debating whether to help Boss and the others take down Nangong Cangma or assist Old Si in finishing off Fengyun Xia. At that exact moment, Nangong Cangma's Level 7 skeleton had already dispatched the three weaker kindred skeletons and was sprinting rapidly toward Boss's group, preparing to deal a vicious axe blow to the villains who had bullied its master! Following its level-up, the skeleton's speed, attack power, defense, and hit points had all increased dramatically. The deep-blue, Level 7 skeleton was terrifyingly formidable, and its artificial intelligence seemed to have vastly improved as well.

The axe strike from the Level 7 skeleton nearly frightened the wits out of Boss. The attack power of a Level 5 skeleton was already terrifying enough, let alone a Level 7! A single blow nearly shaved off one-third of Boss's health, prompting her to hurriedly summon her own Level 2 skeleton to entangle the beast.

Lin Jia turned his head and shouted, "You guys take down the Taoist! Leave the bag of bones to me!" With that, he unleashed a bolt of Lightning against Nangong Cangma's Level 7 skeleton. Seeing Lin Jia target his skeleton once again, Nangong Cangma grew anxious. Abandoning his retreat, he stopped in his tracks and flung a Green Poison and a Fireball at Lin Jia, while the skeleton shambled on spindly legs straight toward the Mage.

Before the skeleton could close the distance, Lin Jia rapidly cast Banishment (Seduction), pouring all his effort into bewitching Nangong Cangma's pet. The power of a Level 3 Banishment was indeed vastly superior; after just a couple of attempts, the skeleton turned yellow-named and stood stock-still, paralyzed in place. Trying to kill a Level 7 skeleton with Lightning alone would take at least three minutes before showing any real results. Seeing that Boss and Old Si had the situation completely under control, Lin Jia dedicated himself entirely to dealing with the creature through a rhythmic cycle of Banishment and Lightning.

After fumbling with spells for over a minute, Nangong Cangma's skeleton finally collapsed into a pile of azure-named bone shards. Lin Jia knew this wasn't the result of being blasted to death by his lightning, but rather the instant-kill probability triggered by his Banishment spell. When a Mage used Banishment on monsters, there was a high chance the spell would instantly slay the target. Lin Jia had accidentally discovered this mechanic while practicing Banishment earlier, purely for fun, by testing it on Boss's skeleton.

The death of the Level 7 skeleton immediately plunged Nangong Cangma's trio into a desperate predicament. Boss and Old Dao promptly summoned their own skeletons; Boss's Level 2 skeleton engaged Nangong Cangma's Level 3 skeleton, while Old Dao's Level 0 skeleton joined Boss and the others in surrounding Nangong Cangma, who was now running out of breath. Meanwhile, Lin Jia leisurely opened the equipment windows of all three enemies one by one to see what treasures they carried, hoping something good would drop when they died.

***

The equipment worn by Nangong Cangma and his two companions remained largely unchanged, except that "Hao Ren Yi Ge" had switched into a Magic Robe with Magic 0-3, and the Ice Scalpel (Ningshuang) in Cangma's hand had stats of Attack 10-13 and Taoism 0-2—granting two more points of Taoism than the standard Ice Scalpel Old Si was holding!

Lin Jia's eyes lit up! The Ice Scalpel was originally a warrior's weapon, but with an extra two points of Taoism, an attack rating of 10-13 could instantly elevate a Taoist's physical striking power significantly! What a fantastic item! There was no telling where Nangong Cangma had managed to acquire it. Whether he had dropped it himself or purchased it with gold coins didn't matter; if it dropped here, Boss would probably die of laughter!

Having made up his mind, Lin Jia began hurling Walls of Fire indiscriminately across the surrounding terrain to restrict the enemy's movement space, then unleashed torrents of Lightning while hot on Nangong Cangma's heels.

Nangong Cangma was no fool; realizing there was no hope of victory, he immediately used a Random Teleport Scroll to vanish. Although he failed to eliminate his opponent, forcing the enemy to flee was tacitly accepted as a victory in Legend of Mir. It just wasn't quite as satisfying as killing the enemy and watching their gear drop.

Feeling deeply regretful that he hadn't managed to blast Nangong Cangma's +0-2 Taoism-enhanced Crescent Moon Sword out of his inventory, Yuehua watched the opponents teleport away and asked, "How on earth did you guys end up fighting them again?"

Seeming quite excited, Yuehua ran right up to Lin Jia and exclaimed, "Look! Because of this!" With that, he opened the trade window and loaded ten lush, green Prayer Helmets into it consecutively!

"Holy mother of—!" Lin Jia's eyes widened in shock as he blurted out, "Where on earth did you get so many green hats?" As players grew increasingly familiar with the game, zombies would occasionally drop Prayer Helmets. Due to their supreme physical defense and magic resistance, combined with extremely low level requirements and most importantly, a weight requirement of only 2 points, they had become coveted treasures chased by every player. Virtually priceless and exceptionally rare, with drop rates too minuscule and coincidental, their market value had skyrocketed repeatedly into astronomical figures!

"......" Yuehua said with depressed frustration, "Damn it! What do you mean 'green hats' I got? If my wife sees you calling them that, she'll fight me to the death! Come, come, come! I'll gift each of you a green hat to wear! And here you are cursing me!" Lin Jia and the others grinned wickedly as they accepted the Prayer Helmets traded by Yuehua. Even Boss and Old Si swapped out their original headwear. By comparison, the attributes of the Prayer Helmets far outstripped every single helmet currently available on the market!

After the trade concluded, Yuehua excitedly babbled, "I don't know what got into the scarecrows around the skeleton cave today—they've been dropping Prayer Helmets like crazy! Fengxi and I were wondering why everyone loves wearing green hats; I had no idea. Turns out, newbies reaching the appropriate level around Bicheon basically all wear Prayer Helmets now. I asked a newcomer and spent half a day figuring out that the scarecrows were dropping them, so Fengxi and I ran over here to farm. That Nangong Cangma must have caught wind of the news and came to hunt for Prayer Helmets too. When he saw us pick one up, he tried to snatch it, and that's how the fight broke out..."

"No way?!" Lin Jia asked in astonishment, "Scarecrows drop Prayer Helmets?"

Yuehua replied, "They didn't before, but they started dropping them today. How are you guys so out of the loop? Haven't you noticed how many more players there are on Bicheon's Orc Plain?" Prompted by Yuehua's words, Lin Jia and the others finally realized that the Orc Plain of the Bicheon continent, which usually only saw low-level beginners, was indeed swarming with high-level players coming and going.

Boss suddenly blurted out, "You got here early! After you found them, did you rush over to Mongkok to sell them?"

Lin Jia paused for a moment before instantly grasping Boss's intent. Before the broader player base realized that scarecrows were dropping Prayer Helmets, if someone rushed to sell them in Mongkok—where high-level players gathered in droves—they could likely command an exorbitant price. However, once the news became common knowledge, the market price of Prayer Helmets would plummet wildly, rendering them impossible to sell for a profit.

Yuehua likely realized this as well, and with a tone of deep remorse, he lamented, "Ah! I was too focused on farming and didn't even think of that angle! I'm heading to Mongkok right now!" With that, he immediately popped what was presumably a Town Teleport Scroll, vanishing before Lin Jia could even get a word in. Even if they rushed back now, it was probably too late to sell them for much. Since the drop rate for Prayer Helmets from scarecrows was so high, why would anyone bother paying a high price when they could just run over and farm their own?

***

Boss sighed with regret, "Sigh! We found out about this way too late! We shouldn't have turned off guild chat while we were in Woma earlier; otherwise, someone in the guild definitely would have known!" Because they had been leveling up on the third floor of Woma Temple and found the guild chat too noisy, the trio of brothers had used a system command to block the guild chat contents. Similar to the system command used when joining a guild, typing "reject guild chat" rendered the messages invisible—a trick GMOQ had taught Xiao Xiaoming back when the latter first established the guild.

"Screw it! Let's hurry up and farm a bunch of green hats to stockpile. If we can't sell them, we can wear them ourselves!" Lin Jia urged, "These helmets are great, except they vanish the moment you die! Let's farm a bunch and hoard them so we have spares when we drop them later!"

The respawn rate of scarecrows in the Gobi desert near the skeleton cave on the Orc Plain was still exceptionally high. Furthermore, for Lin Jia's group, scarecrows were now trivial monsters they could instantly obliterate with zero difficulty. Consequently, the four of them scattered to widen their search radius and began "scavenging" green hats in earnest.

Word traveled faster than an airplane in Legend of Mir. Because it was the early hours of the morning, the player population wasn't overwhelmingly dense yet. After farming for a while, around 8:00 AM, the number of online players surged dramatically. The entire Orc Plain became packed with people, and PK incidents sparked by fighting over green hats multiplied. Deciding to call it quits, Lin Jia's group retreated back to the Bicheon Royal City. Besides, after farming for several hours, each of their inventories was stuffed with roughly twenty green hats.

Upon returning to town, the bursting crowd at the Bicheon safe zone startled the trio. Presumably, everyone had rushed over after hearing rumors about the Prayer Helmets. Almost every single person's head was crowned in emerald green, casting a hazy green cloud over the entire city of Bicheon. Overnight, the market price of Prayer Helmets had crashed from astronomical heights to practically worthless.

"Those guys who hoarded Prayer Helmets trying to artificially inflate prices must be wishing they were dead right now, huh?" Lin Jia mused. When a priceless helmet suddenly became standard issue for everyone, how could they not feel wronged? Countless novices had even taken to slaughtering scarecrows just to sell the dropped Prayer Helmets to NPCs for quick cash—after all, selling them to shops fetched a guaranteed 10,000 gold coins apiece!

The sudden appearance of Prayer Helmets dropping from scarecrows seemed highly abnormal. Many observant players caught wind of the underlying business opportunity, and crowds began acquiring Prayer Helmets from novices in the beginner villages at prices slightly higher than NPC shop values. After purchasing a dozen or so Prayer Helmets from various local shops, Lin Jia's group also began shouting out offers to buy them across three locations: Bicheon Royal City and the beginner villages.

This massive influx of Prayer Helmets clearly wasn't normal. How could an item with such stellar attributes have a drop rate higher than standard gear and jewelry worn by novices under Level 7, while inferior items like Taoist Helmets and Skull Helmets remained stubbornly rare? Unless the brains of the game's official programmers had suffered a sudden stroke, they would never design something like this. If his guess was correct, this "scarecrow-dropped Prayer Helmets" incident would likely be patched by the official developers very soon!

One had to admit that Boss's commercial intuition was razor-sharp. While everyone else was treating Prayer Helmets like garbage, she dared to take the risk and buy them up everywhere. In her words: "Screw it. Even if I take a loss, these are great for Second Brother to wear since he drops gear all the time anyway! No matter how many we have, it's never enough for him!" Those words left Lin Jia sweating profusely.

......