68: Chapter 68: A mole sabotaging things? Immediately blacklist the entire server.

As soon as the Harvest Festival began, the three Novice Areas of Luofeng Village became scorching hot with activity.

Long queues formed at the entrance of the public warehouse.

People were everywhere, collecting potions, receiving food, handing in Harvest Tokens, and exchanging for Elven equipment.

The livelier it became, the more some people grew green with envy.

In an abandoned straw hut outside the village, the remnants of seventeen small and medium-sized guilds that had been blacklisted for three months prior had expressions gloomier than the next.

People from the Black Rock Society, the Broken Blade Alliance, the Red Snake Group, and the Grey Eagle Society had all arrived.

The leader of the Black Rock Society, who was at the head, smashed a fist onto a wooden crate.

"The hotter Luofeng Village gets, the more I can't swallow this anger!"

"We've been banned for three months. We can't enter dungeons, and we can't participate in events. This is all thanks to Lin Zhe and his son!"

The leader of the Broken Blade Alliance gnashed his teeth and said, "Forcing our way in is useless. You die the moment you cross the boundary."

"Then we'll strike from the inside."

A member of the Red Snake Group sneered and pushed forward a thin lifestyle player.

The person was wearing ordinary gathering clothes, and his ID was [Little Mushroom Chicken Stew].

He usually hung around Luofeng Village, making food and helping move things in the warehouse to earn contribution points.

He looked completely inconspicuous.

"We've bribed him."

"He's responsible for poisoning that pile of free food in the public warehouse."

The leader of the Grey Eagle Society took out a bottle of murky potion, a ruthless glint in his eyes.

"Diarrhea Potion. It won't kill anyone, but it'll make a bunch of players vomit and have diarrhea, completely ruining their status."

"When the warehouse falls into chaos and the Harvest Festival collapses, Luofeng Village will lose a massive amount of face."

The Black Rock leader stared at Little Mushroom Chicken Stew.

"The money has already been given to you."

"Once the job is done, we'll add triple that amount."

Little Mushroom Chicken Stew swallowed hard, his hands trembling.

"Will... will I really not be discovered?"

The Broken Blade Alliance leader gave a sinister smile.

"You have a Life Class and warehouse helper permissions. Who would suspect you?"

"Just pour it in and leave. Move quickly."

Little Mushroom Chicken Stew gritted his teeth and stuffed the potion into his sleeve.

"Fine!"

On the other side.

On a slope in Luofeng Village, Lin Zhe leaned against a maple tree, his gaze calm.

Lin Chen was sitting in Ling Xi's arms, fiddling with a Harvest Token.

Suddenly, the golden pattern on his forehead flickered slightly.

Rule Perception had been triggered.

It wasn't an external enemy coming in from the boundary.

There was malice within the village.

And it was right in the direction of the public warehouse.

Lin Chen looked up, speaking in a childish voice, "Daddy, there's something bad."

Xing Jianwan immediately looked over.

"Where?"

In mid-air, a pale golden regional map instantly expanded.

Behind the public warehouse, a yellow dot was moving rapidly.

A second later, the yellow dot turned red.

Information popped up.

[Target: Little Mushroom Chicken Stew]

[Class: lifestyle player]

[Status: Malice Value Skyrocketing]

[Behavioral Judgment: Poisoning]

Ling Xi's gaze turned cold.

"The warehouse?"

Lin Chen nodded, his small face darkening.

"He's heading toward the food pile."

At that moment, behind the public warehouse.

Little Mushroom Chicken Stew looked left and right. Seeing that the surroundings were full of players collecting supplies and moving items, he steeled himself and quickly slipped into the supply shed next to the free food pile.

Wooden barrels were filled with hot soup.

Wooden baskets were piled with bread and roasted meat.

This was all public food distributed to novices and solo players.

With a trembling hand, he uncorked the Diarrhea Potion in his sleeve.

"Just one moment... I'll leave as soon as I finish pouring..."

Just as the potion bottle tilted.

Buzz!

A pale golden Rule Chain instantly shot up from the ground!

"What?!"

Little Mushroom Chicken Stew didn't even have time to react before his wrist was locked. He was slammed onto the ground with a thud, the potion bottle rolling half a meter away as the murky liquid spilled all over the floor.

At the same time, all the solo players patrolling near the warehouse received a notification.

[Warning: Poisoner discovered at the public warehouse]

[Target locked, please apprehend immediately]

"Catch the traitor!"

"Someone's poisoning the warehouse!"

Boom!

Over a dozen patrolling players rushed forward in a swarm.

Some pinned his shoulders.

Some pinned his legs.

One warrior even pressed a shield directly against his back.

Little Mushroom Chicken Stew screamed in pain.

"Misunderstanding! It's a misunderstanding!"

"I didn't do it!"

"You didn't?"

Lin Chen had already been carried over by Xing Jianwan, his small face devoid of any expression.

He raised a hand and waved it.

In mid-air, a Rule Projection instantly unfolded.

From the secret talk in the straw hut, to receiving the money, to taking the potion, to slipping into the warehouse's back shed, and finally to uncorking the bottle.

Everything was shown with crystal clarity.

The evidence was overwhelming.

The surrounding players exploded with rage on the spot.

"Holy crap! He really is a traitor!"

"And he's a lifestyle player too!"

"You eat using things from the public warehouse, and then you turn around and poison it?"

Little Mushroom Chicken Stew's face turned pale as he tried to struggle.

"They forced me! I didn't mean to—"

Lin Chen interrupted him in his childish voice.

"Search him."

Without a word, the patrolling players flipped open his backpack.

In the next second, a string of communication logs and transfer items fell out.

[Black Rock Society Leader: I'll give you triple once it's done]

[Broken Blade Alliance: Remember to pour it into the free food]

[Grey Eagle Society: Don't chicken out, just leave once you're done]

The entire area fell silent for a second.

Then, it completely erupted.

"Seventeen guilds did this together?"

"Damn it, they were blacklisted for three months and they're still not behaving!"

"Poisoning the public warehouse, that's truly filthy!"

Lin Chen raised a small hand. His voice was childish, but it was incredibly cold.

"The traitor is permanently banned."

"Those seventeen guilds, every single member is banned together."

"Not for three months."

"It's a permanent blacklist from every Novice Area on the entire continent."

Buzz—

A massive Rule Light Screen instantly rose into the sky!

A server-wide announcement boomed out.

[Server Announcement: Player 'Little Mushroom Chicken Stew' maliciously colluded with seventeen penalized guilds in an attempt to put Diarrhea Potion into the public warehouse food at Luofeng Village to disrupt the order of the Harvest Festival. The evidence is conclusive.]

[Penalties are as follows:]

[1: Player 'Little Mushroom Chicken Stew' is permanently stripped of entry permissions for all Novice Areas across the continent.]

[2: All members of the seventeen guilds, including the Black Rock Society, Broken Blade Alliance, Red Snake Group, and Grey Eagle Society, are permanently stripped of entry permissions for all Novice Areas across the continent.]

[3: The evil deeds of the involved guilds are recorded and displayed server-wide.]

The announcement caused an uproar across the entire server!

The world channel was instantly flooded with messages.

"Permanently blacklisted from all Novice Areas?"

"This is more ruthless than killing them!"

"They deserve it! Poisoning the public warehouse—they wouldn't be wronged even if they died!"

"Those seventeen guilds are truly finished this time!"

Meanwhile, the members of those seventeen guilds almost simultaneously saw a crimson notification on their own panels.

[You have been permanently banned from entering any Novice Area on the continent.]

"No—!"

"On what basis am I banned when I didn't even participate!"

"The guild leader has doomed us!"

Unfortunately, no one paid them any mind.

After the news spread, members of these seventeen guilds were cursed at wherever they went.

Want to go to another Novice Area to carry newbies? They couldn't enter.

Want to recruit new members? They were flamed as soon as people saw the guild name.

Want to clear their names? Someone on the world channel would immediately slap the poisoning announcement in their faces.

"Get lost, the poison guild is here."

"Who would dare party with you? Will you put poison in your teammates' food next time?"

"I'll curse you every time I see you!"

In just a few short days, the guilds collapsed from within.

"I'm quitting!"

"I can't play if I stay with you guys!"

"I wouldn't want to be associated with you even on a new account!"

The Black Rock Society disbanded.

The Broken Blade Alliance disbanded.

The Red Snake Group, the Grey Eagle Society, and the other dozen or so guilds all fell apart.

In less than a week, that group of troublemaking small and medium guilds had completely become a joke.

Back at Luofeng Village, the solo players became even more enthusiastic.

"The warehouse belongs to everyone. Whoever dares to touch it, we'll give it to them hard!"

"Count me in for patrolling from now on!"

"I'm signing up too, specifically to watch for suspicious people!"

Many solo players took the initiative to join warehouse patrols and supply inspections.

Those giving gifts gave even more.

Those helping out helped even more.

The entrance to the public warehouse not only didn't fall into chaos but became even more orderly.

Xing Jianwan looked at the once again tidy queue and said softly, "This ban has actually made the solo players' hearts even more settled."

Ling Xi also nodded gently.

"They truly treat this place as home now."

Lin Zhe leaned against the maple tree, his expression calm.

Lin Chen swung his small feet and gave a huff in his childish voice.

"Trying to cause destruction in my home."

"Then don't play anymore."

Not far away, the long queue at the public warehouse continued to move forward slowly.

Several patrolling players had already begun to inspect suspicious new arrivals.

And at the edge of the woods further outside the village, beneath the green light screen of the Harvest Festival, a few new presences seemed to have quietly come to a halt.