85: The strong prey on the weak, this is the law of the world.

“Hello, Ding Chang!”

“It’s good to see you again, Mr. Lin Ye.” Ding Chang coughed twice, then motioned for Lin Ye to come closer.

An elder calling Lin Ye “Mister” was enough to show his respect for Lin Ye!

“Did I scare you a bit? I’m very different from how I am in the instance, aren’t I?” Ding Chang struggled to sit up from the bed, a haggard smile on his face.

To be honest, Lin Ye was indeed a bit startled at first glance.

But upon closer thought, it wasn’t surprising.

This was related to the Sky Curtain instance’s mechanism.

In the instance, a person’s body would be adjusted to a perfect state by the Sky Curtain, making it easier for the Challenger to challenge the instance.

So, even a disabled person would acquire a complete body upon entering an instance.

Because of these mechanisms, a person’s psychology would be affected, and many people’s personalities would change between inside and outside the instance.

The Ding Chang in Lin Ye’s impression was very hot-tempered during the Battle of the Imperial Sea, but in reality, he seemed very gentle.

Lin Ye actually didn’t want to pry into such private matters; in such a cruel world, who wouldn’t have some unspeakable difficulties of their own?

“Old Ding, I’m very sorry about Miss Zhao’s matter…” Lin Ye spoke directly.

“You mean… Sword Rain, that child… it’s truly a pity.” Ding Chang sighed deeply, his eyes subtly moistening.

“Sigh… Actually, there’s nothing to regret. Young Designers are eliminated every day in the Great Xia Settlement; everyone is already used to it.”

“Young people die one after another, yet an old bone like me, the Sky Curtain still doesn’t take.”

Ding Chang deliberately spoke lightly, but he couldn’t hide his overall sorrow.

The two fell silent again.

“If you have time, I’ll tell you Sword Rain’s story.”

Lin Ye nodded, sat down on a chair in the room, and Ding Chang began his narration.

Zhao Jianyu’s father was a professor at the Great Xia Army Academy, and her mother was a researcher at the First Research Institute, and she was also Ding Chang’s student.

She also had a twin sister named Zhao Jianxin.

When they were three years old, Zhao Jianyu’s father and mother were both targeted and eliminated by people from a South Korea conglomerate in an instance. From then on, Zhao Jianyu and Zhao Jianxin became orphans.

Although under the control of the Sky Curtain, Azure Star did not allow any harm to children, it was still very difficult for two three-year-old children to survive in this world.

Later, Ding Chang took in these two children and treated them as his own granddaughters, teaching them instance knowledge from a young age.

There are several regulations on Azure Star. First, children under 18 are not allowed to enter any instance, nor are they allowed to design instances.

Only after a formal coming-of-age ceremony and Sky Curtain approval can they officially begin challenging and designing instances.

Additionally, pregnant women also enjoy immunity until their child is three years old.

Of course, this is not the Sky Curtain’s benevolence or mercy; it’s simply because the Sky Curtain needs to control the normal growth of the Azure Star population. Without these regulations, if instances continued to eliminate people in large numbers, the people of Azure Star would soon die out.

So, the best life plan for many women is to marry a high-level male Challenger after eighteen and then continuously bear children…

But Zhao Jianyu did not do this. At eighteen, she resolutely joined the Research Institute and became an instance Designer!

In her words, it was to avenge her parents!

Because of Ding Chang’s consistent guidance, Zhao Jianyu performed very well. Her first instance, Alley War, received a good response, and her second instance, Kowloon Walled City, was even judged as a Difficult-level instance by the Sky Curtain.

She upgraded to LV2 in less than a year. This was already a very fast speed among young instance Designers in Great Xia.

“Old Ding, there’s something I don’t quite understand.” Lin Ye couldn’t help but interrupt Ding Chang.

“As an LV2 Challenger, it shouldn’t be easy to be eliminated, right?”

Ding Chang nodded, then sighed again.

“That child, she was just too impulsive…”

“Just a young LV2 Designer, what right did she have to challenge a South Korea conglomerate, what right to challenge Kim Geun-seok?”

Hearing the name Kim Geun-seok, Lin Ye’s pupils slightly contracted.

“Old Ding, could you please tell me about the process of Miss Zhao’s elimination?”

“Alright…” Ding Chang took a pack of cigarettes from the bedside, lit one, and took a puff.

“Mr. Lin Ye, to talk about this, we must mention South Korea’s Kim family chaebol.”

“Seventeen years ago, the people who eliminated Zhao Jianyu’s parents were from the Kim family chaebol, and now the actual head of the Kim family chaebol is Kim Geun-seok, so Sword Rain has always considered Kim Geun-seok her challenge target.”

“Three days ago, Kim Geun-seok posted that statement challenging you online, even slandering you as having South Korea bloodline.”

“You didn’t respond to this matter immediately. That child Sword Rain has a strong temper and felt indignant, so she went to challenge Kim Geun-seok’s instance.”

Actually, Ding Chang didn’t explicitly say one thing: after Lin Ye’s Raging Sea, many young Designers from Great Xia were full of confidence, or rather, were inspired by Lin Ye’s sudden rise to fame. Everyone had that unrealistic dream of being a hero.

Zhao Jianyu was no exception.

“And the result, naturally, was failure.”

“Perhaps the news leaked from the previous Great Xia Instance Research Center conference, and the South Korea people seemed to know that Zhao Jianyu had contact with you. The next day, another South Korea Designer pulled Sword Rain into a Difficult instance.”

“On the third day, Kim Geun-seok even directly pulled Sword Rain into his own instance. This Kim Geun-seok seemed to have been inspired by your Raging Sea. He also added a set of amplification and penalty mechanisms to his instance. This time, the instance deducted over 1000 points from Sword Rain…”

At this point, Ding Chang didn’t continue speaking, just exhaled a long puff of smoke.

With three consecutive point deductions, elimination was naturally understandable.

“Cough, cough, cough.”

“Mr. Lin Ye, Sword Rain’s matter is not a big deal. Her death was caused by her own mistake; there’s actually nothing to be aggrieved about.”

“In this world, if your skills are inferior, you will naturally be eliminated by others.”

Ding Chang coughed twice more, seemingly trying to deliberately change the subject.

“The reason I called you here this time is to remind you… Your identity is different now. You could say you’re the number one person in Great Xia besides Elder Longyuan. Some people will fear you, but inevitably, some will try to take advantage of you.”

“Because of the inspiration you’ve given this world, many high-level Challengers are now learning to add so-called reward and punishment mechanisms to their instances, and they’re also starting to imitate you in designing some high-precision weapons. You still need to be more vigilant.”