40: Chapter 40: Surges from All Sides, Undercurrents Approaching

Qing Luo and her companions had been staying in Luofeng Village for three days.

On the first day, she still carried a bit of restraint.

On the second day, she was already dumbfounded.

On the third day, she simply took the Elf Race's Natural Divine Power image-recording leaf and filmed everything, from the village entrance to the dungeon entrance, and from the public warehouse to the Novice Area teleportation array. She even recorded every scene of players queuing up to give gifts, queuing to collect medicine, and queuing to complete quests.

The more she recorded, the brighter her eyes shone.

"How is this possible..."

By the wooden window on the second floor of the inn, Qing Luo held the image-recording leaf, her small face filled with shock.

"Human players actually take the initiative to give things to NPCs."

"The Novice Area actually has an exclusive dungeon."

"There is also a public warehouse, free supplies, and area-wide buffs..."

Several Elf Maidservants behind her were also numb from watching.

"Big Sister Qing Luo, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't dare believe it."

"And that Lord Lin Zhe, he is really so strange."

"He is clearly just standing there, yet the surrounding rules seem to be obeying his words."

Qing Luo pursed her lips, her gaze subconsciously falling toward the dirt slope at the village entrance.

Lin Zhe was leaning against the maple tree.

Lin Chen was curled up in his arms, sleeping.

Xing Jianwan stood beside him, blocking the noisy crowd for him.

Sunlight fell down, and the coarse linen clothes on Lin Zhe were still the same coarse linen clothes.

But the more Qing Luo looked, the more she felt she couldn't see through him.

She no longer hesitated and pointed with her fingertip.

A wisp of soft natural light flew from the image-recording leaf, turning into a palm-sized cyan light butterfly.

"Go find Her Royal Highness the Princess."

"Tell her everything here."

The light butterfly flapped its wings, swooshed out of the wooden window, and headed straight toward the Elf Secret Realm.

...

Deep within the Elf Secret Realm, the Ancient Tree Temple.

Ling Xi was sitting by the Moon Spring, lowering her head to sort through a Moon-Shine Herb she had just gathered.

She wore a light white dress, her long hair hanging down, her profile as soft as water.

The next second, the cyan light butterfly passed through the temple barrier and landed gently on her fingertip.

Ling Xi was startled.

"A message from Qing Luo?"

She reached out and tapped it.

Hum—

Scenes immediately unfolded before her eyes.

In front of the Luofeng Village public warehouse, players lined up to receive white-grade equipment and potions.

At the entrance of the Luofeng Secret Realm, a five-person team entered the dungeon in an orderly fashion.

In the monster-grinding area at the village entrance, wild wolves respawned in droves, and players were excitedly grinding monsters.

There was another scene: Lin Zhe standing under the maple tree, his expression calm, with everyone around him looking at him.

At the end of the footage, Qing Luo's voice, lowered but unable to hide her excitement, came through.

"Your Royal Highness, there is a very special human NPC here."

"His name is Lin Zhe."

"He not only controls the Novice Area rules, but he also took us in."

"Even human players and official forces are bowing their heads to him."

After watching, Ling Xi's eyes noticeably brightened.

"A human NPC who controls rules?"

"And he took in Qing Luo and the others..."

She gently pinched the image-recording leaf, her eyes filled with a curiosity she had never felt before.

The Elf female official beside her whispered, "Your Highness, should we send someone there immediately?"

Ling Xi thought for a moment and shook her head gently.

"The border purification ritual I am working on is still a little short."

"After I finish up here, I will go see for myself."

She paused, then looked down again at the figure standing under the maple tree in the footage.

"I want to know what the background of such a person really is."

...

On the other side, Holy Light City.

Inside a side hall of the royal palace, a disheveled attendant was kneeling on the ground, his forehead covered in sweat.

In front of him sat a woman wearing a red-gold royal robe.

Su Ninghua.

The Queen of the Human Empire.

Her features were sharp, her aura extremely heavy; even just sitting casually, she was like a blade pressing down on the grand hall.

"So, what you mean is."

"The envoy I sent to the Novice Area was directly expelled by a Novice Area NPC?"

The kneeling attendant's body trembled.

"Reporting to Your Majesty... yes."

"Lord Envoy had his teleportation and communication privileges sealed; the message was sent back by the accompanying guards taking a detour."

"And beside that NPC, there is also a newly born Epic-grade Archon's child, who controls the entire Novice Area's rules."

The hall was silent for two seconds.

The expressions of several old officials nearby changed.

A Novice Area.

An Epic-grade NPC.

And he can even expel an imperial envoy.

This news sounded absurd.

But Su Ninghua did not get angry.

She just narrowed her eyes, her fingers lightly tapping the armrest of the throne.

"Interesting."

"It seems that either that useless envoy was humiliated too badly, or that place really has a problem."

She stood up, her red-gold robe dragging across the steps, her voice cold and steady.

"Investigate."

"Investigate Lin Zhe's background clearly for me."

"From the moment he appeared, check up to the present."

A close official in black immediately knelt on one knee.

"As you command."

Su Ninghua looked up, gazing toward the Novice Area, a sharp interest flashing in her phoenix eyes.

"To be able to cause such a huge commotion in a Novice Area."

"And to be able to make an imperial envoy suffer a setback."

"I would like to see what this Lin Zhe actually relies on."

...

In the real world, the headquarters of the official miracle game.

In the conference room, the atmosphere was unprecedentedly heavy.

On the big screen, it was all data from the Falling Maple Novice Area.

Activity rank: first.

Revenue rank: first.

Popularity rank: first.

The executive in charge of the Novice Area project swallowed hard.

"It has been confirmed."

"Not only can the areas related to Lin Zhe not be touched, but touching them also results in a rebound."

"But as long as we go along with him, the data skyrockets."

Another person said in a deep voice, "We can't keep playing dead anymore."

"Now, almost all server-wide Novice Area activities are being compared to the Falling Maple Area."

"We must bring the cooperation to the table."

Zhou Ming, sitting in the front row, immediately spoke up.

"I suggest we formally send people to talk to Lin Zhe about long-term cooperation."

"Not just a temporary show of goodwill, but a binding partnership."

"In the future, Novice Area activity plans should be reviewed by him first."

"If it goes well, we can gradually hand over more activity approval rights to him."

Once these words were spoken, the conference room fell silent for a moment.

Subsequently, several executives nodded slowly.

"It's feasible."

"At least for now, Lin Zhe understands what players want better than we do."

"Let's start with Novice Area activities."

"Server-wide activity approval rights... can be added to the discussion list first."

On the big screen, the real-time footage of Luofeng Village was still flickering.

Players cheering.

Dungeon queuing.

Warehouse distribution.

And that man leaning against the maple tree remained quietly standing there.

At the head of the conference room, the final decision was made.

"Prepare the formal contact plan."

"This time, keep a low profile."

...

Evening.

The wind in Luofeng Village blew through the maple tree, and the leaves rustled.

Lin Zhe leaned under the tree, holding the sleeping Lin Chen in his arms.

The little one was sleeping soundly, his small hand still clutching his lapel.

Xing Jianwan stood beside him, not speaking.

She could feel that Lin Zhe had been very quiet today.

But it wasn't relaxation.

It was waiting.

Sure enough, the next second, faint golden light patterns flowed slightly in Lin Zhe's eyes.

In the west, the aura of Natural Divine Power was pulled over from afar.

In the east, a cold and hard fluctuation coming from the direction of the Human Empire's royal city was slowly approaching.

Further away, a cold data aura belonging to the official game authorities also began to approach this side.

Three different lines were already pointing toward the Novice Area simultaneously.

Lin Zhe looked down at Lin Chen in his arms, the corners of his mouth slowly curling into a faint smile.

"It's finally going to get lively."

Xing Jianwan turned her head to look at him.

"You knew it would be like this early on?"

Lin Zhe raised his eyes, gazing toward the vast horizon beyond the boundaries of the Novice Area.

"The Novice Area is too small."

"It cannot trap me for too long."

The wind blew for another while.

Maple leaves fell from the branches, brushing past his shoulder.

And beyond the boundaries, more invisible gazes had already begun to cast toward here.