Chapter 29: Manipulating the Main City NPCs, the Heavenly Temple's Siege Leads to Bankruptcy

The protection fee package at the Commoner Supermarket had been a hit for three days. Fatty Wang was so busy he barely had time to touch the ground, and the smile on his face never faded. The income from just these three days was equivalent to a year's wages for an average grinding player.

But Lin Ye knew that Qin Wentian would not sit idly by.

Sure enough, early on the fourth day, Fatty Wang ran upstairs in a panic: "Brother! It's bad! The entrance to the Main City is blocked again!"

Lin Ye put down the virtual melon seeds in his hand and walked to the window to take a look—the gates of Dawn City were packed with a sea of people. There were at least two or three hundred of them, all elite players from the Heavenly Temple. The leader wasn't Ling Tian or Ying Ren, but a warrior with the ID "Heavenly Temple·Pojun," level 25, wearing full purple gear, and the weapon in his hand shimmered with a golden glow—it was Epic grade.

"They're playing for real this time." Su Qinghan walked over, frowning as she looked at the city gate. "Pojun is one of the three great guardians of the Heavenly Temple and is ranked in the top thirty of the entire server. The fact that Qin Wentian sent even him out shows that he's truly desperate."

Fatty Wang's legs went weak: "Brother, should we go back to the Novice Village and hide for a few days?"

Lin Ye laughed: "Hide? Why would we hide?" He turned and went downstairs, "Come on, let's go meet them."

The three of them walked to the city gate. Pojun was standing right in the middle, arms crossed, looking impatient. Behind him stood over two hundred Heavenly Temple members, blocking the gate completely. On both sides of the gate, there were dozens of archers and mages standing on rooftops and the battlements of the city wall, providing a complete, blind-spot-free blockade.

"Ye, you actually dared to come." Pojun looked Lin Ye up and down, his eyes full of disdain. "I heard you're a good fighter? Today, I'd like to see how many you can take down."

Lin Ye looked around, a wicked smile curling his lips: "Over two hundred people? Did Qin Wentian empty out his entire treasury for this?"

Pojun sneered: "That's not all. Look inside the city."

Lin Ye looked back—in the Main City Square, at the entrance to the Trading House, and at the dungeon entrances, Heavenly Temple members were everywhere. A rough count showed at least another three hundred people. Added to those at the city gate, that was at least five hundred in total.

"Five thousand gold coins per head. The Guild Leader said whoever kills you gets a reward of five hundred thousand gold coins." Pojun took a step forward, his tone arrogant. "Ye, you won't be able to fly away today."

Lin Ye ignored him and turned to walk toward the NPC guards beside the city gate.

Standing at the Main City gate were four NPC guards, level 35, wearing golden armor and holding long halberds. Under normal circumstances, guards would not actively attack players unless the players started a fight in the city. However, after Lin Ye had cast a debuff on the guards last time, Qin Wentian had spent a fortune to grind up the guards' "Favorability." Now, the guards only recognized people from the Heavenly Temple, not Lin Ye.

"Qin Wentian thinks he can win just by buying off the NPCs?" Lin Ye laughed. "How naive."

He raised his hand and cast a debuff on each of the four guards— "Favorability Reset" and "Targeted Hostility."

[System Prompt: Target [Main City Guard] has been afflicted with [Favorability Reset]. The target's favorability toward the Heavenly Temple guild has dropped to 0.]

[System Prompt: Target [Main City Guard] has been afflicted with [Targeted Hostility]. All players wearing the Heavenly Temple guild emblem are automatically judged as hostile targets, and the highest level of attack will be initiated.]

The guards' eyes instantly turned red, and killing intent radiated from their bodies. They turned around, brandished their long halberds, and strode toward the crowd of Heavenly Temple members.

Before Pojun could react, a guard had already rushed in front of him and slashed down with a halberd.

"Damn it!" Pojun hurriedly raised his sword to block, but the attack power of a level 35 NPC was not something he could withstand. With one strike, his shield shattered, and his health dropped by more than half.

"What's going on?! Why are the guards attacking again?!"

The lackeys behind him panicked too—the four guards were acting like they'd gone mad, chasing down the Heavenly Temple members and hacking at them. One slash, one kill; one slash, one kill. Dozens of warriors in the front row were instantly cut down to the ground.

"Run! The guards have gone crazy again!"

"It's not crazy! It's that Ye playing tricks again!"

"Run! We can't take it!"

The two hundred-plus Heavenly Temple members scrambled to flee, but the guards moved too fast, catching and cutting down one after another. In just five minutes, all two hundred-plus people at the city gate had been cut down. Corpses littered the ground, and gear was scattered all over the street.

Pojun was the last to die. He watched helplessly as his health bar hit zero, his level dropped from 25 to 20, and he almost lost his Epic weapon.

"Ding! Player [Heavenly Temple·Pojun] has died. Level drop: 25 → 20."

He stood up at the respawn point, his face ashen. He looked at his level, then at the corpses covering the ground, trembling all over.

"This... how is this possible..."

Lin Ye ignored him and turned to walk toward the Main City Square. There were still over three hundred Heavenly Temple members on the square, surrounding the Commoner Supermarket, intending to smash the shop.

He walked to the center of the square and raised his hand to cast a debuff on each of the NPC merchants in the square— "Trading Restriction."

[System Prompt: Target [Blacksmith Old Zhang] has been afflicted with [Trading Restriction]. Refuses to provide any services to Heavenly Temple guild members.]

[System Prompt: Target [Pharmacist Old Wang] has been afflicted with [Trading Restriction]. Refuses to provide any services to Heavenly Temple guild members.]

[System Prompt: Target [Grocer Old Li] has been afflicted with [Trading Restriction]. Refuses to provide any services to Heavenly Temple guild members.]

The NPC merchants in the square simultaneously stopped their work and turned to look at the Heavenly Temple members. Blacksmith Old Zhang put away his hammer and said coldly: "People from the Heavenly Temple, I'm not selling."

Pharmacist Old Wang put his potion bottles into the counter, expressionless: "People from the Heavenly Temple, I'm not selling."

Grocer Old Li shut his shop door directly and shouted at the Heavenly Temple people: "Get lost! Don't dirty my shop!"

The three hundred-plus Heavenly Temple members were stunned. They wanted to buy health potions, but couldn't. They wanted to repair their gear, but couldn't. They wanted to buy materials, but had nowhere to buy them. The durability of several warriors' gear was bottoming out; if they kept fighting, it would shatter.

"Guild Leader, what do we do? The NPCs won't sell us anything!"

Qin Wentian saw this message in the guild channel, his face ashen. He hadn't expected that Lin Ye could even control NPCs.

"Retreat!" he said, gritting his teeth. "Retreat back first!"

The three hundred-plus Heavenly Temple members acted as if they had been granted amnesty and scrambled to retreat from the square. They were truly terrified—without NPC services, they couldn't even get the most basic supplies.

Fatty Wang watched this scene, jumping up in excitement: "Brother! You won again! The Heavenly Temple people all ran away!"

Lin Ye laughed: "It's not winning, it's teaching them a lesson."

Su Qinghan looked at him with a complex expression: "You really are... even NPCs can be utilized by you. Qin Wentian spent so much money grinding favorability, and you reset it with a single debuff."

Lin Ye shrugged: "Good Talent, can't help it."

The three returned to the Commoner Supermarket, and Fatty Wang was pacing around excitedly: "Brother, you're too awesome! Even the NPCs listen to you! From now on, the Heavenly Temple people can't even buy health potions in the Main City; how can they fight us?"

Lin Ye shook his head: "Don't be happy too soon. Qin Wentian won't give up."

"Then what else can he do?"

Lin Ye pointed out the window: "Look."

Fatty Wang looked out the window—at the entrance to the Main City Trading House, there were dozens more Heavenly Temple people. They weren't there to fight; they were there to monopolize materials. Dungeon entrances, mine entrances, herb garden entrances—all were blocked by Heavenly Temple people. Solo players wanting to enter a dungeon had to pay first. Wanting to mine? Pay first. Wanting to gather herbs? Also had to pay first.

Su Qinghan frowned: "Qin Wentian is trying to force all the solo players into a corner. Without dungeons, without materials, solo players can't even level up."

Lin Ye nodded: "He is forcing solo players to choose a side. Either join the Heavenly Temple or quit the game."

Fatty Wang was anxious: "Then what do we do?"

Lin Ye thought for a moment, a wicked smile curling his lips: "Isn't he trying to monopolize? Then let him monopolize. I'd like to see how long he can hold out."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it, how much money does he need to monopolize materials? Just collecting materials from dungeon hunting teams every day costs millions of gold coins. He has money, but it's not infinite. Once his money burns out, the price of materials will naturally drop."

Fatty Wang suddenly realized: "You mean, let him burn himself to death?"

Lin Ye laughed: "Something like that. However, we can't just sit and wait." He stood up, "Come on, let's go to the wild. It's time to restock."

"Where to?"

Lin Ye opened the map and pointed to an area north of the Main City: "Frost Canyon. There are level 40 wild monsters there, and the materials they drop are valuable. Plus—there's a hidden mine there that the Heavenly Temple people can't find."

The three walked out of the Commoner Supermarket and headed toward the North Gate. This time, the Heavenly Temple people had learned to be smart; they didn't dare block the gate and just followed from a distance. Lin Ye didn't pay them any mind and led Su Qinghan and Fatty Wang into the Frost Canyon.

Frost Canyon was full of level 40 wild monsters—Ice Wolves, Yetis, Frost Giants—all thick-skinned and fleshy with terrifyingly high attack power. Even parties of ordinary players didn't dare come here, but Lin Ye wasn't afraid. He cast debuffs on the monsters, starting at 100 stacks, instantly killing them. Experience points and materials dropped in droves.

Fatty Wang shouted while picking up loot: "Brother! Another piece of purple gear! And a Frost Crystal! This stuff is worth several thousand gold coins!"

Su Qinghan couldn't help but exclaim: "Your monster-grinding speed is ten times faster than those professional grinding teams."

Lin Ye shrugged: "Good Talent, can't help it."

The three grinded for an entire day, from Frost Canyon to the Peak of Eternal Frost, and from the Peak of Eternal Frost to the Frozen Throne. Their levels rose from 32 to 38, and their backpacks were stuffed with materials and equipment. Lin Ye's attack power increased by several hundred points again, and the stack limit for his debuffs also broke through 2000 stacks.

In the evening, the three sat on the summit of the Frozen Throne, watching the aurora in the distance. Fatty Wang held a full armful of equipment, grinning foolishly: "Brother, how much money did we make today?"

Lin Ye calculated: "Materials and equipment combined are worth at least two million gold coins."

Fatty Wang's eyes went wide: "Two million?! Doesn't that mean... four million in real-world currency?"

Lin Ye nodded: "Something like that."

Fatty Wang was so excited his hands were shaking: "Brother, I never thought that playing a game could earn so much money."

Su Qinghan also smiled: "I've never seen this kind of money-making speed either. Your Talent is practically a money-printing machine."

Lin Ye stood up and brushed the dust off his body: "Let's go, back to the city. It's time to send Qin Wentian a big gift."

"What big gift?"

Lin Ye pulled a golden token from his backpack and weighed it in his hand: "Main City Core Token. It dropped while grinding the Frozen Throne just now. With this, we can unlock the hidden functions of the Main City."

"What hidden functions?"

Lin Ye's lips curled into a wicked smile: "For example—controlling the Main City's teleportation system."

Fatty Wang's eyes lit up: "You mean, we can teleport Heavenly Temple people into the lair of a wild BOSS?"

Lin Ye laughed: "Not just that. We can also teleport them into the territory of a hostile guild, or into the Abyss Rift. We can teleport them anywhere we want."

Su Qinghan shook her head, speechless: "You really are... wicked to the bone."

The three, carrying a backpack full of equipment and materials, walked back to the Main City in a grand procession. The Heavenly Temple members along the way watched from afar, not daring to approach, nor daring to make a move. They were truly terrified.

Meanwhile, at the Heavenly Temple headquarters, Qin Wentian was staring at the Frost Canyon marker on the map, his eyes cold and gloomy. A lackey behind him reported: "Guild Leader, that Ye has been grinding in the Frost Canyon for a whole day, and his level is already 38. He also got the Main City Core Token."

Qin Wentian's expression changed: "What? The Main City Core Token?!"

"Yes. The one that can control the Main City's teleportation system."

Qin Wentian clenched his fists, veins bulging. He certainly knew what the Main City Core Token was—it was the top-tier item of the Main City, and there was only one on the entire server. With it, one could control the Main City's teleportation arrays, guards, NPC merchants, and could even teleport hostile players anywhere.

"We cannot let him keep that token." Qin Wentian said through gritted teeth, "Send people to seize it. At all costs."

The lackey hesitated: "But... the brothers don't dare to go anymore. That Ye is too ominous; no matter how many go, they just die."

Qin Wentian was silent for a long time, and finally said: "Then spend a heavy sum to hire outside help. Contact the Black Market and find mercenaries in the top ten of the entire server. Any price is fine."

The lackey acknowledged and turned to leave.

Qin Wentian walked to the window, looking in the direction of the Commoner Supermarket in the distance, his eyes cold and gloomy.

"Ye, do you think you've won just by getting the Core Token? No, this is just the beginning."

Meanwhile, Lin Ye was standing on the third floor of the Commoner Supermarket, weighing that golden token in his hand, a wicked smile curling his lips.

"Qin Wentian, aren't you trying to blacklist me? Then I'll let you see who the real master of this Main City is."