139: Chapter 139 Exploding the Trade Route? Wiping Them All Out at Once

As night fell, strings of moonstone streetlights were lit along the exclusive trade route leading from Holy Light City to Luofeng Village.

One freight carriage after another shuttled back and forth along the official road.

There were potion merchant caravans from the Human Empire.

There were herb carts sent by the Elf Race.

There was also a batch of low-grade dragon crystal ores just traded out of the Dragon Domain.

Ever since maple coins became the server-wide hard currency, this trade route had become the fattest gold line.

Everyone knew that with Falling Maple and Holy Light linked together, the economic chain in Lin Zhe's hands was terrifyingly stable.

Right at that moment.

Behind an abandoned stone slope beside the official road, over twenty dark figures lay flat.

Leading them was a middle-aged noble with a sinister face, Zhao Huan, the leader of a remnant faction of conservative nobles who had slipped through the cracks earlier.

Standing beside him were several death soldiers from foreign powers, clutching pitch-black explosive magic crystal barrels in their arms, their eyes full of ruthlessness.

"Keep your eyes peeled."

Zhao Huan gritted his teeth, his voice kept extremely low. "Blow up this trade route. Once the flow of goods between Holy Light City and Luofeng Village is cut, the maple coin transactions will fall into chaos! Doesn't Lin Zhe rely on benefits and the trade route to support those players? I want to see how he continues to act tough once the chain is broken!"

A foreign death soldier nearby sneered, "Rest assured, My Lord. This batch of explosive magic crystal barrels is specifically designed to destroy roadbeds. After one round, half the trade route will collapse."

A flash of pleasure crossed Zhao Huan's eyes. "Leave as soon as the explosion is over! When server-wide transactions are paralyzed tomorrow, I'll see if those players who suck up to Lin Zhe can still smile!"

The next second.

"Ignite!"

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Several sparks suddenly shot up.

Over twenty explosive magic crystal barrels rolled down the stone slope, slamming right into the center of the trade route.

Boom!!!

The first explosion directly lit up the night sky.

Followed by: Boom boom boom boom—

The flames merged into one as the entire official road shook violently. Stone slabs flew apart, soil churned, and a dozens-of-meters-long section of the roadbed was forcibly blown into collapse. Two freight carriages in the back were overturned on the spot, wooden crates shattered across the ground, and potions, ores, and herbs were scattered everywhere.

The surrounding caravan guards and players instantly exploded into a frenzy.

"Holy crap! Someone blew up the trade route!"

"Damn it! Who did this!"

"The road is cut! The road ahead is cut!"

Hiding in the distance, Zhao Huan looked at the severed trade route, his face twisted with excitement.

"It's done!"

"Spread the word! Say that this is only the beginning! Since Lin Zhe cut off our livelihood, we'll cut off his economic lifeblood!"

Soon, a piece of news intentionally leaked was thrown onto the world channel and several player forums.

[The Holy Light—Falling Maple exclusive trade route has been cut! Lin Zhe's economic chain should also be broken!]

As soon as this news appeared, the entire world channel instantly exploded.

"What? The trade route was bombed?"

"Which idiot did that?!"

"My entire carriage of materials is still on the road!"

"Damn it, daring to touch the trade route, isn't that seeking death!"

Inside the side hall of Holy Light City.

Lin Zhe's fingertips paused slightly.

Faint golden rule patterns flashed through the depths of his eyes.

The rule feedback from the entire trade route instantly flooded into his mind.

The explosion point.

The degree of damage.

The residual aura.

And the locations of that group of remnants who hadn't run far yet.

Everything was perfectly clear.

Su Ninghua's face darkened. "Someone actually dared to touch the trade route?"

Lin Zhe's expression was indifferent as he stood up. "A bunch of things that don't know whether they're dead or alive."

The next second, he tapped with his fingertip.

Buzz—

A faint golden light screen unfolded directly within the side hall, and a map of the empire emerged in mid-air.

The place where the trade route was severed glowed with a piercing red light.

And in a deserted warehouse, two forest areas, and an abandoned post station thirty miles to the southwest, over twenty black dots were moving rapidly.

Each one was labeled with an identity.

conservative noble remnants.

Foreign death soldiers.

Not a single one was missing.

From the explosion to the lock-on, it hadn't even been a minute.

Lin Zhe spoke indifferently, "I've given you the locations."

Su Ninghua's gaze instantly turned cold to the extreme as she reached out to grab a dragon-patterned token. "Zhao Feng!"

The commander of the guards outside the hall stepped in. "Your servant is here!"

"Arrest them according to the Prince Regent's coordinates."

"Within half an hour, I want them all kneeling at the entrance of the trade route."

"Yes!"

Boom!

Zhao Feng turned and left, a thousand Royal Guards having long been on standby.

Iron cavalry rode out of the city.

Torches formed a line.

Following the coordinates given by Lin Zhe, they pounced straight over.

In the first deserted warehouse, Zhao Huan had just torn off his black cloak and was about to drink some water to calm his nerves when the warehouse door was kicked open.

Bang!

Zhao Feng rushed in with his blade raised, his voice booming, "Take him down!"

"How could it be so fast?!"

Zhao Huan's face turned pale with horror. Just as he wanted to jump out the window, three magic-breaking arrowss were already nailed into the window frame, directly sealing off his escape route.

Over a dozen guards behind him swarmed up, pinning him to the ground on the spot, his face pressed into the wood shavings.

In the forest on the other side, several foreign death soldiers were trying to scatter and flee.

As a result, they had only rushed out two steps before being surrounded by the guards lying in ambush.

A flash of a blade.

Two people's knees were directly severed, and they fell to their knees with a thud.

It was even faster at the abandoned post station.

Several remnants had just activated teleportation scrolls when the rule lock-on pre-marked by Lin Zhe descended.

Buzz—

The scrolls failed on the spot.

Zhao Feng led his men to break through the door, and in less than ten seconds, everyone was tied up.

The entire arrest process was as fast as pulling in a net.

In less than half an hour.

The over twenty remnants and foreign death soldiers involved in blowing up the trade route were all dragged back to the scene of the explosion, without a single one missing.

By this time, the entrance to the trade route was already crowded with players.

Seeing those people really being captured back, everyone exploded.

"Holy crap! They finished the arrests so quickly?"

"Not a single one got away?"

"Zhao Huan! Isn't that the old dog who slipped through the net before!"

"Daring to blow up the trade route, you deserve it!"

Zhao Huan was pressed to his knees on the ground, his face covered in dirt and blood. He looked up to see Lin Zhe walking over from a distance.

At that moment, his whole body trembled.

"Lin... Lin Zhe..."

Lin Zhe didn't look at him, only casting a faint glance at the severed trade route.

Then he raised his hand.

Buzz—

Faint golden rule patterns and Natural Divine Power spread out together.

The shattered stone slabs began to pull back together on their own.

The severed foundation was refilled and leveled by earth elements and natural power.

The overturned streetlights stood up one by one.

The damaged guardrails on both sides also reconnected themselves.

The herbs and ores scattered all over the ground were swept up by an invisible force, sorted, and sent back into the caravan's wooden crates.

The entire severed trade route was restored inch by inch before the wide-eyed gazes of countless players.

"Holy shit..."

"It's repaired just like that?"

"How long has it even been?!"

"I thought it would have to be stopped for several days!"

But this wasn't over yet.

Lin Zhe tapped with his finger again.

Dense, faint golden patterns lit up simultaneously on the ground on both sides of the trade route.

A new layer of hidden rules was directly embedded into the entire Holy Light—Falling Maple exclusive trade route.

A system prompt popped up accordingly.

[Trade route defense rules have been updated]

[Added: Automatic detection of malicious destruction]

[Added: Hidden shockback traps]

[Added: Automatic locking of intrusion targets]

[Effect: Any malicious attack, explosion, poisoning, or destructive behavior, once triggered, will have the damage reflected back along the original path, with the perpetrator bearing all consequences]

The world channel instantly went wild again.

"Good grief! From now on, whoever blows up the trade route will blow themselves up first?"

"This is the way! It saves these rats in the gutter from constantly causing trouble!"

"Big boss Lin Zhe really doesn't give them a way to live, but I like it!"

Only then did Lin Zhe turn around and look at the remnants kneeling in a row.

His voice was very flat.

"Ban them all."

Buzz—

Streaks of red light exploded from the tops of their heads.

[Permanently banned from all server-wide permissions]

[Permanently stripped of transaction rights, event rights, and teleportation rights]

[Permanently placed on the server-wide blacklist]

The faces of those twenty-plus remnants turned deathly pale.

This wasn't as simple as being killed once.

This was completely cutting off their path in miracle.

Zhao Huan looked up like he was going crazy. "No! No! Lin Zhe! You can't—"

Su Ninghua spoke coldly, "Blowing up the empire's exclusive trade route and colluding with foreign powers shall be treated as treason."

"The main culprit, Zhao Huan, is to be beheaded in public."

"The rest of the accomplices are all to be thrown into the death cells, never to be pardoned."

"Yes!"

Zhao Feng's blade fell.

Pfft!

Zhao Huan's head rolled directly onto the newly repaired stone slab in front of the break, blood flowing everywhere.

The surrounding players were silent at first, then suddenly erupted into earth-shattering cheers.

"Well killed!"

"He deserved it!"

"Thinking you could run after blowing up the trade route? Keep dreaming!"

"Now let's see who else dares to cause destruction!"

Soon, a server-wide announcement lit up.

[Server-wide Announcement: conservative noble remnant Zhao Huan colluded with foreign powers to maliciously blow up the Holy Light City—Luofeng Village exclusive trade route in an attempt to destroy the server-wide economic order. He has now been locked on and wiped out by Prince Regent Lin Zhe! The main culprit, Zhao Huan, has been beheaded in public for treason, and the other accomplices have been permanently banned from server-wide permissions! The exclusive trade route has been repaired, and new automatic counter-defense rules have been added!]

The entire world channel was in a complete boil.

"Awesome! From blowing up the road to finishing the arrests in only half an hour?"

"Fortunately, big boss Lin Zhe is here, otherwise my entire carriage of goods would have been stuck tonight."

"Who would dare touch this trade route in the future? Touch it once and you'll blow yourself up first!"

"This is what you call a sense of security!"

The caravans and players on both sides of the trade route quickly began moving again.

The carriages set out once more.

Herbs, dragon crystals, and ores continued to flow.

The maple coin turnover on the transaction panel also began to climb steadily again.

Lin Zhe stood by the repaired trade route, his expression indifferent.

Su Ninghua glanced at the official road that had regained its smooth flow and said coldly, "It's about time these dregs within the borders were cleaned out."

Lin Zhe didn't speak, only raising his eyes to look at the trade route extending into the distant night.

The wind swept across the official road, and the newly embedded rule patterns by the roadside glowed slightly before quickly fading away.

The first truck to set off again had already rolled over the smooth stone slabs, steadily driving toward Luofeng Village.