“Okay, I will return first.” Since everything had been settled, Jiang Qianxue stood up to leave. She said, “You can’t stay at Bright Sunshine anymore. Dali, you should spend the night here. There are virtual helmets and everything else here, and it’s big enough and relatively convenient. I have already made arrangements for everyone else.”
“En, en. Deal. No problem!”
Soon, after Jiang Qianxue left.
“Dali.” Yin Tiangzong manipulated the two energy gems in his hands like health balls. As he played with them, he said, “Since we are good friends now, there’s a piece of good news I must tell you.”
Aye? Good news?
Hong Dali asked curiously, “What good news?”
“Yes, it’s like this.” Yin Tianzong thought about it before saying, “You know our Roth clan is mainly in charge of the Galaxy Virtual Internet?”
Hong Dali nodded. “Yes, I know. So?”
“It’s like this.” Yin Tianzong said, “Tomorrow, in the virtual world, the Tower of Trials will be opened. In the Tower of Trials, there are all kinds of beasts guarding every level. When players enter, their physical attributes will become normal and they must battle the beasts. There is a total of one hundred levels, but currently, only thirty levels are open to players. There are treasures on every level. The further you manage to get, the more treasure you can obtain! Those are all rare items that even the Galaxy Aristocrats covet.”
Tower of Trials! One hundred levels in total, thirty levels opened to date, and there were treasures on every level!
Hong Dali’s eyes opened wide. “The Galaxy Aristocrats want what’s inside as well? Isn’t the Galaxy Virtual Network under your control? Can’t you just go in and get the items?”
“Let me explain.” Tang Long’s projection suddenly appeared in the air. He said, “The Roth clan is in charge of the day to day running of the Galaxy Virtual Network, but not content creation. Simply put, the Roth clan can profit from the Galaxy Virtual Network, but nothing in it belongs to them. Whatever they want from the inside, they have to obtain it like everyone else. By hunting. If they win, they get the item. If they don’t win, they don’t.”
After Tang Long explained, Hong Dali understood.
Simply put, if the Galaxy Virtual Network was an online game, the Galaxy Aristocrats were like the official company in charge of the game, and this game had no GMs 1.
They could only profit from the game and were not allowed to enter the game to get equipment using their GM IDs…
“Oh, so it’s like that.” Hong Dali rubbed his chin. “Is the Tower of Trials fun?”
“Fun! It’s a lot of fun!” Yin Tianzong smiled and said, “I will go in and try too. I’m so perfect, I’m sure I will be fine inside. If I get any good stuff inside, we’ll split it half-half!”
Yin Tianzong had practically zero battle experience and was just shooting his mouth off as usual…
“Okay, okay.” Hong Dali nodded vigorously. “Let’s go together when the time comes. I will call Big Brother Fang Han along too!”
“Deal, that’s settled then.” Yin Tianzong carefully kept the two energy gems and said, “I will go back first then. Where do I go to look for you tomorrow?”
“What is that place called…” Hong Dali tried to remember. “Oh yes, the Weili Company’s Warehouse Building. I work on the thirty-first floor!”
“Okay, no problem!”
Seeing that Yin Tianzong was getting ready to leave, Hong Dali hurriedly added, “Oh yes, right, Brother Tianzong, about the eight space carriers that went to Earth…”
“Oh, I almost forgot about that.” Yin Tianzong waved his hand, pleased. He was glad there was finally something he could do to help. “I will tell my father to get the space carriers to just make a friendly call on Earth. That’s easy.”
It was simple, indeed. With Yin Tianzong’s position as the doted child in the family, all it would take was one word from him. Their relationship was good at the moment and Hong Dali had gifted Yin Tianzong two precious energy gems, so Yin Tianzong had totally forgotten about their previous enmity. All he could think of now was that it should be quite fun playing with Hong Dali in the future…
Hong Dali was all smiles. “In that case, thank you, Big Brother Tianzong!”
“It’s something I should do. See you tomorrow!”
“See you tomorrow.”
Yin Tianzong left.
“Yay! Success!” Everyone started cheering. Tang Long checked the room to make sure there were no listening devices, then smiled and said, “Brat, you’re good. Everything happened as you predicted.
“Hehe, Dali is really very good.” Tang Muxin pulled Hong Dali’s hand. “That scared me.”
In actual fact, when Yin Tianzong left, Hong Dali had already predicted all that would happen.
Yin Tianzong was a Galaxy Aristocrat, which meant he came from a powerful background. Although he was not a match for Hong Dali, Hong Dali still could not possibly just kill him with a bolt of thunder.
Hong Dali was very protective of those weaker than him. He would definitely not allow the misunderstanding to develop to a stage where it was unresolvable, or it could mean trouble for Earth in the future.
He could kill Yin Tianzong and go on the run, but if Earth encountered any danger in the future, they would be at a disadvantage.
Therefore, Hong Dali predicted that even if Yin Tianzong called for reinforcements, he would not attack immediately without saying anything. After all, they were on a planet, not in outer space. No matter how cocky Yin Tianzong was, he would not take risks with the safety of his planet. Also, with Granzon’s armor and the AT force field, Hong Dali was sure he had a 90% chance of winning. Even if Yin Tianzong came, there was nothing he could do to Hong Dali.
What happened next would be much simpler.
If Yin Tianzong was forced to a corner, Jiang Qianxue would step in to mediate.
At a time like this, all he had to do was offer a gift, then both parties would give in a little and the matter would be more or less settled. With Yin Tianzong’s straightforward character and his own connections to Elder Mo Tianji, a settlement between the two of them was sure to happen. Hong Dali was not stupid. How could he not know how valuable an energy gem was? That was why he used it to overwhelm his opponent right from the start, and things after that would all fall into place, developing the way he expected.
Actually, if it were anyone else, they might have persisted in their ways to the end.
But Hong Dali was different.
He always believed that one more friend meant one more way out. There was usually no need to go onto the road of no return.
As for Yin Tianzong’s father turning up to look for them, he had already settled things with Yin Tianzong and given him a gift. So, with Yin Tianzong on his side, there would naturally be no problems.
Speaking of which, Hong Dali was usually thoughtless, but that was just because he was too lazy to think. At crucial moments, his predictions were extraordinarily accurate!
“Yeah! Since everything is settled,” Hong Dali laughed. “everyone should rest early!”
“Okay! To be honest, I’m quite tired. Haha!”
Everyone retired to their rooms.
Tang Muxin, blushing and not daring to look at Hong Dali, quickly entered a room and locked the door securely behind her—she did not dare to seduce Hong Dali again.
“Xinxin is embarrassed.” Li Nianwei and Ling Xiaoyi glanced at each other and pursed their lips.
Soon, everyone had gone off and there was only Li Nianwei and Hong Dali, who was resting his head on her thigh, left. Li Nianwei was reading novels on the smartphone Hong Dali had given her back on Earth, and Hong Dali was lying quietly with his eyes closed, resting.
“Sister Nianwei.” After lying still for a while, Hong Dali suddenly said, “I think there’s a need to get everyone well equipped…”
Hearing that, Li Nianwei put her phone down carefully and asked softly, “Young Master, why did you suddenly think of that?”
“The universe is not like Earth.” Hong Dali muttered, “Earth is a lawful place, and I have my parents and Grandpa Mysterious protecting me there. I can do whatever I want. But in space, the power disparity is too big. Just one Galaxy Aristocrat has that much power. What about higher up in the hierarchy?”
“In the universe, there are so many star systems. There’s no guarantee that there is no higher level royalty above the Galaxy Aristocrats. In normal circumstances, there should be no problems. After all, I’m just a prodigal who likes to spend money. What I’m afraid of is that trouble may come to me one day instead.
“I don’t want to lose everyone, I don’t want to lose my friends.
“So…” Hong Dali took a deep breath. “I want to protect my friends.”
After listening to Hong Dali, Li Nianwei stretched out her hand and gently massaged Hong Dali’s temples. Her touch was light and gentle because she was worried Hong Dali would be uncomfortable.
“Young Master, I know that you always seem to be carefree and happy-go-lucky, but…” Li Nianwei said gently, “You have a lot on your mind, but you don’t want to worry us. Actually, you are always trying to protect us.”
Li Nianwei was a delicate and gentle lady. She was also very intelligent. She may not say it, but in her heart, she knew.
“When we were on Earth and Xiaoyi’s brother was framed, you practically demolished the prison. Ko Gohon wanted Jiang Ruoyu’s sister to serve him, but you protected her the moment you saw what was happening.
“If anyone dared to lay a finger on us, you would definitely fight them to the death.
“The universe is immense. It’s so huge that we are unable to grasp exactly how big it is. There will definitely be danger in the future, so Young Master, what you think is correct. Perhaps all of us should be trying our best to make ourselves stronger. We do not seek official titles or power. All we want is to be able to protect ourselves and those we love.”
Li Nianwei spoke from the bottom of her heart.
The universe was simply too big. Without going too far, just today’s happenings. If they did not have enough power, what might the outcome be? Even if they were not killed on the spot, they would probably be jailed. Tang Muxin and Li Nianwei would probably be in dire straits.
The matter was settled this time, but next time? The third time? Who could guarantee that something similar would not happen again?
“Hence, I have decided.” Hong Dali grinned and rubbed his nose. “Although we might not have the talent to train in martial arts and cannot compare with the geniuses, there is still something we can do. This is why earlier I said I wanted to get everyone well equipped.
“I don’t have much of anything else, all I have is money. Hehe. I’m a prodigal, after all. Let’s just treat the entire universe as a game!
“Other people train desperately. We don’t have that talent, so let’s just be rich and pile on the attributes. We’ll simply win by having higher attributes than them. So what if you have more skills, are more powerful? We will overwhelm you with our superior gear. What can you do about it? Haha!”
Footnotes:
A GM or Game Master is a person who acts as an arbitrator and moderator for a multiplayer role-playing game. Their character usually has higher attributes than normal characters.
