Catching the momentary panic that flashed in Crispy Rice's eyes, Lonely Old Man was startled. He subtly signaled Crazy Man, and they both stepped aside.

"What's wrong?" Crazy Man asked.

Lonely Old Man's expression was grim. "Crispy Rice has a problem."

"No way," Crazy Man said, puzzled. "He's the first Player to get a Puppet. It's quite normal for him to be a bit ecstatic!"

"If you got a Love Puppet, would you spend an entire night drinking and chatting with it, yet resist showing it off on a livestream?" Lonely Old Man asked.

"..." Crazy Man glanced at Crispy Rice and frowned. "Looking at it that way, it is a bit strange."

"Don't you think Crispy Rice's situation is a bit like Qing Yu and Flower Stream?" Lonely Old Man continued.

HISS!

Crazy Man shuddered violently, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Are you saying...?"

GULP!

Lonely Old Man swallowed hard. "I suspect Shopkeeper Lin's Staff of Love is bidirectional. It not only affected the City Lord but also Crispy Rice."

"How is that possible?" Crazy Man shrieked, forgetting to use private chat. His outburst drew the gazes of several people.

Lonely Old Man glared at him.

Crazy Man, realizing the seriousness of the situation, forced a smile at the others, then switched to private chat and quickly said, "How could that be? This is just a game, isn't it? How can game items affect Players?"

"Then how do you explain Crispy Rice's situation?" Lonely Old Man retorted.

"Maybe... maybe it's a coincidence!" Crazy Man stammered. "Perhaps it's not as serious as we think. How can a game affect a real person? And through such an absurd method? Hypnotism? Even if it is hypnotism, it shouldn't be possible! This is just a game! If Players have accidents in the game, can the game company still operate?"

"What if... it's not a game?" Lonely Old Man asked.

"You mean... this is a real world?" Crazy Man was profoundly shaken.

"Every NPC has independent thoughts. The world has its own unique history and civilization. Bosses don't have health bars. There's no beginner's guide, no actual story quests, not even a proper leveling zone. Apart from the useless Level system, can you find any aspect here that resembles a game?" Lonely Old Man surveyed their surroundings, his tone heavy. "All this time, it was Lin Bai's existence that made us treat this place as a game. What if he's removed from the equation?"

Crazy Man remained silent.

"Perhaps this is a real world, and we, the Players sent here by the game company, are invaders," Lonely Old Man said, each word deliberate, his expression exceptionally grave.

"Pioneers," Crazy Man said dryly. "The game company calls us Pioneers. They never mentioned alpha or beta testing; they've always called us Pioneers. And they kept emphasizing that NPCs only have one life, that any NPC can be killed."

"This corroborates our speculation about Lin Bai from yesterday," Lonely Old Man looked at Crazy Man. "Whether Lin Bai is from the future or from the Righteous Door, his mission is to save this world and, ultimately, to drive out us invaders."

"How can this be?" Crazy Man was at a complete loss.

"So, when other NPCs can't do anything to us, Lin Bai's Divine Skills can directly affect us in reality," Lonely Old Man paused, then continued, "From another perspective, Lin Bai's so-called Laws are very likely real."

"To deal with us," Crazy Man said, crestfallen.

"Mm," Lonely Old Man nodded.

"We can't play this game anymore." Crazy Man glanced again at Crispy Rice, who was still engrossed in discussing the City Lord. A chill ran down his spine. "Losing your life over a game isn't worth it. Lonely Old Man, we should quit! We'll go to the forums and expose the game company's conspiracy. Playing this game could be dangerous!"

"..." Lonely Old Man looked at him, silent for a long moment.

"What's wrong?" Crazy Man asked.

"Are you willing to give it up?" Lonely Old Man suddenly asked.

"Give what up?" Crazy Man asked.

"How much did you earn before you started playing this game?" Lonely Old Man questioned.

"..." Crazy Man was stunned, then stammered, "About five or six thousand a month!"

"And now?" Lonely Old Man pressed.

"A day... fifty or sixty thousand a day..." Crazy Man's expression turned grim, his breathing quickened, and his eyes began to dart with indecision.

"Are you willing to give up an income of fifty to sixty thousand a day and go back to a job earning only five or six thousand a month?" Lonely Old Man sighed and asked slowly.

"I..." Crazy Man opened his mouth but couldn't speak. After a long pause, his eyes bloodshot, he said, "But if I keep playing and end up like Crispy Rice... Right now, he's just being controlled by Lin Bai. What if, in the future, Lin Bai gains the ability to kill Players?"

"To be precise, he's not being controlled by Lin Bai. He has simply fallen in love with an NPC," Lonely Old Man corrected.

"What's the difference?" Crazy Man demanded, almost frantic. "Don't you find it terrifying to be in a situation where you can't even control your own emotions? Previously, Crispy Rice only had eyes for Rice. But now? He's enthusiastically talking about an old man! Why are Players so reckless? Isn't it precisely because they can do anything in a game without facing any consequences? But now there are..."

"They don't know yet," Lonely Old Man interrupted, his voice calm. "Everyone just thinks Crispy Rice is overly excited because he obtained a Puppet."

Crazy Man stared at Lonely Old Man in disbelief, his heart pounding furiously. "Lonely Old Man, are you insane?!"

"I'm not insane," Lonely Old Man stated. "If they knew Lin Bai had methods to counter Players, a large number of people would inevitably quit the game. The Beggar Gang's foundation would crumble. Are you willing to let go of such a huge piece of the pie? Besides, we've signed long-term contracts with many advertisers. If the Beggar Gang collapses, who will pay the penalties for breach of contract?"

"That's force majeure," Crazy Man muttered.

"Who would believe that?" Lonely Old Man scoffed. "Unless someone actually dies in the game. Otherwise, based merely on our speculation, who would believe that NPCs in a game can retaliate against Players?"

"But we have Crispy Rice as an example," Crazy Man said.

"What if he's just acting?" Lonely Old Man countered. "You know what they say about capital: 'it comes into the world dripping from head to foot, from every pore, with blood and dirt.' This is such a massive game, and it very likely involves a real trans-dimensional exploration and conquest of another world. There are too many interests entangled. Do you think a high-tech company far more advanced than anything on Earth wouldn't have ways to cover up the truth?"

GULP!

Crazy Man swallowed again. Looking at Crispy Rice and the others chatting and laughing, a chill seeped deep into his bones, as if the entire world had become a terrifying place.

"Crazy Man, think about it," Lonely Old Man's voice was like a devil's whisper, probing the depths of Crazy Man's heart. "If the Beggar Gang continues to grow, we'll have a continuous and substantial income. We'll be living like kings in the game, commanding everything, Flying to the sky and escaping into the ground, immortal and superior to others. Once we quit, we'll have nothing. You'll just be watching from the sidelines as others get rich, living entirely different lives even while they sleep."

"But..." Crazy Man started to argue.

"If the 'savior' dies, all our problems are solved." Lonely Old Man glanced at him, cutting him off again. "Lin Bai is desperately trying to spread the cultivation methods for the Laws. But because the methods seem like a joke and are difficult, many people doubt whether the Laws are real. Even yesterday, we speculated that the Laws are just a smokescreen created by Lin Bai. So, as long as Lin Bai dies and we control public opinion, a little guidance is all it will take for this whole business with the Laws to blow over."

"How could we possibly kill Lin Bai?" Perhaps unwilling to lose the high income, or perhaps reluctant to relinquish his influential position in the game, Crazy Man eventually suppressed the thought of quitting.

Indeed. Threats and inducements, plus intimidation! Shopkeeper Lin's methods were tried and true.

Successfully dispelling Crazy Man's intention to quit, Lonely Old Man laughed. "We can't, but those natives Lin Bai protects have the ability to kill him."

"He's probably worried we'll become too powerful, so Lin Bai's methods are very aggressive. This approach allows him to quickly open up the situation, but the disadvantage is equally obvious: the overall control rests entirely with Lin Bai. One wrong step, and the whole game is lost. Lin Bai is essentially walking a tightrope. We, who are supposedly on his side, could give him a quiet stab in the back and perhaps push him into the Abyss."

"Aren't you worried he'll use the Laws on you?" Crazy Man asked.

"Lin Bai hasn't truly mastered the Laws; otherwise, he wouldn't need our help at all. If he had mastered them, he would have used them from the very beginning, and that would have scared off a large number of Players already," Lonely Old Man said. "The Crispy Rice incident was likely a trial run for him, and he even had to use an item to do it."

Lonely Old Man looked like he held all the trump cards. "When Lin Bai gave Crispy Rice the Staff of Love, he kept emphasizing that it was a one-time chance and couldn't be used on the wrong person. This indicates that Lin Bai doesn't possess many similar items. At the time, we all treated his arrangements as quests, so we followed our old gaming habits completely."

"If we had been suspicious of Lin Bai back then, we might have just found a random passerby, and the Staff of Love could have been wasted. As long as it's not genuine Spoken Law Follows, we should be fine if we're cautious."

"We have a chance?" Crazy Man asked.

"A very good chance," Lonely Old Man said. "Lin Bai's understanding of the human heart is too precise, so he can easily manipulate people's tempo. We just need to avoid following his rhythm, and that will be enough to disrupt his plans. Moreover, although Lin Bai conceals it very well, he has still revealed one major weakness."

"What is it?" Crazy Man asked.

"He's running out of time," Lonely Old Man laughed.

"Time?" Crazy Man was stunned.

"Yes. If you look at everything Lin Bai has done, you'll find he's always racing against time," Lonely Old Man chuckled. "He cultivated the Way of Incompleteness, not hesitating to cripple the entire Jiamucheng. He cultivated Spoken Law Follows, even if it meant making himself appear as a lunatic to others, eschewing more conventional, slower methods. Why did he do all this? Because he knows he can't give us time to grow. He's racing against us."

"..." Crazy Man paused in bewilderment for a long moment before saying, "You're right. Shopkeeper Lin is always rushing things, and he does almost nothing superfluous."

"Lin Bai is no madman. He's a master of logical deduction and planning, meticulous to the extreme in his actions. He's a true genius. No wonder the Righteous Door let him out; he's terrifying," Lonely Old Man spoke of Lin Bai, his eyes filled with admiration. "If we were placed on the same starting line as him, our group would be crushed by him until not even dregs remained."

"He's still dictating our pace right now," Crazy Man said.

"Not anymore," Lonely Old Man replied. "Why are Players always being led by the nose by Shopkeeper Lin? Because he's all over the place, acting like a complete lunatic! But now that we know his ultimate goal, if we strip away his layers of disguise, all his actions have a basis, and dealing with him will be much simpler."

"What about the Righteous Door?" Crazy Man asked. "If Lin Bai dies, and the Righteous Door sends someone else, what then?"

"It's as I said before: if they were going to send someone, they would have done so long ago," Lonely Old Man smiled. "If there was anyone who could help Shopkeeper Lin, he wouldn't be acting so desperately. Given his talent and wisdom, if he could calm down and develop slowly, no one would be his opponent." He looked at Crazy Man. "Are you still worried now?"

Crazy Man shook his head.

"Crazy Man, don't tell anyone else about our speculations," Lonely Old Man said, looking at the Players still pestering Crispy Rice about his experience with the City Lord, then glancing at the serene clouds and gentle breeze around them. He commented with fascination, "A real world... it seems even more fun now, doesn't it?"

"Yeah! I never thought those foreign experts would actually be right," Crazy Man replied bitterly.

"Perhaps our superiors know too; they're just not saying anything," Lonely Old Man glanced at him. "Crazy Man, you should still practice those Laws. If the Laws can affect people in reality, perhaps we can use them even when we return to our own world."

Crazy Man was stunned.

"Even if we can't, becoming a transcendent god in this world isn't so bad either!" Lonely Old Man gave him a playful glance. "Let's see who masters the Laws first, us or Lin Bai."

"Alright." At that moment, the fear Crispy Rice had instilled in Crazy Man completely vanished. Looking at the Players around him, still blissfully ignorant, he even felt a transcendent sense of being the only sober one in a crowd of drunks, and his spirits soared.

「...」

[System: Discover a trending topic (Completed). Stir social discourse. Reward: Printing Press x1 (Issued). Available for collection at any time.]

[System: Hot topic continues to ferment, maintaining the Weekly's vitality. Deeply investigate the hot topic, making it a focal point to capture widespread public attention. Reward: Printing Press x5 and peripheral equipment.]

The Justice League topic generated sufficient buzz, and his progress as a Media Tycoon was remarkable.

Unfortunately, the love stories in the Justice Weekly failed to capture the public's imagination, which Lin Bai found rather regrettable.

After all, while the Media System could control public opinion, it was of little use in combat. To enhance his combat strength, he still had to rely on the Matchmaker System.

These Players are terrible at writing stories! So dry, not a shred of artistic flair. No wonder they can't resonate with anyone, Lin Bai thought as he flipped through the Justice Weekly. After a moment of contemplation, he decided to take matters into his own hands.