Chapter 35: Supermarket equipped with anti-scam buff, Heavenly Temple smashes store but gets scammed instead.

The Commoner Supermarket had been open for a week, and business was so booming that the entire server was green with envy. From morning till night, the line of players at the door never ended. Fatty Wang was so busy his feet barely touched the ground, Su Qinghan was exhausted, and even Qin Wentian had been roped in to serve as customer service.

But Lin Ye knew that a tall tree catches the wind. The more popular the Commoner Supermarket became, the more people would have their eyes on it.

Sure enough, early on the eighth day, Fatty Wang ran upstairs in a panic: "Brother! It's bad! A bunch of people have arrived outside, and they say they're going to smash the shop!"

Lin Ye walked to the window and looked—outside the Commoner Supermarket stood a massive crowd, at least fifty or sixty people. They weren't wearing guild emblems, but their equipment was all uniform purple gear, and a few even had a faint golden glow. The leader's ID was "Badao," a level 30 warrior carrying a large golden sword; he looked like a classic pay-to-win whale.

"They aren't from the Heavenly Temple." Su Qinghan walked over, frowning as she looked out the window, "With equipment that good and no guild emblems, they must be mercenaries."

Qin Wentian also leaned in to take a look, his expression changing slightly: "Badao? A solo player ranked in the top fifty of the entire server, famous for doing jobs for money. Who hired him?"

Lin Ye smiled: "Who else? I wrecked the materials market, and those who used to make money from monopolies definitely aren't happy about it."

"What do you plan to do?" Su Qinghan asked.

Lin Ye turned and headed downstairs: "Let's go meet them."

The three of them walked out of the supermarket. Badao was standing at the entrance with his arms crossed, looking impatient. When his lackeys saw Lin Ye, they immediately swarmed forward, blocking the supermarket entrance completely.

"You're Ye?" Badao looked Lin Ye up and down, his eyes filled with disdain, "This is it? I thought you were supposed to be so awesome."

Lin Ye smiled: "What do you want with me?"

Badao sneered: "Someone paid me to smash your shop. Be smart and close it yourself, so I don't have to do it for you."

"Who paid you?"

"That's none of your business." Badao stepped forward, his tone arrogant, "I'll give you three seconds to think about it. After three seconds, you won't be opening your shop ever again."

His lackeys joined in, chanting: "Three! Two! One!"

Badao waved his hand: "Boys, smash it up!"

Over fifty people swarmed forward and rushed into the Commoner Supermarket. But the moment they stepped through the door, they triggered the trap Lin Ye had long since set—

[System Prompt: You have entered the [Decay Domain]. All malicious actions within the domain will automatically trigger a Decay Debuff.]

Over fifty people were instantly hit with 100 stacks of the Decay Debuff. Their health bars plummeted, their skills were completely disabled, and their equipment stats were slashed again and again.

"Holy crap! My health is dropping too fast!" "Healer! Heal me!" "I can't! The Healing spell isn't working!" "What kind of hellhole is this?!"

Badao was also hit by the Decay Debuff. His health bar dropped by more than half, and the attack power of his golden sword was reduced to 1 point—it didn't even leave a scratch on the counter when he hacked at it.

"You... you're pulling some trick?!" He pointed at Lin Ye, his face pale with rage.

Lin Ye smiled: "A trick? You were the one who started it. I'm just acting in self-defense."

He raised his hand and added another 100 stacks of the Decay Debuff to each of the fifty-plus people. 200 stacks meant losing 200% of their maximum health per second—they would be dead in five seconds.

"Ding! Player [Badao] has died. Level dropped: 30 → 25." "Ding! Player [Badao's Lackey 1] has died. Level dropped: 28 → 23." "Ding! Player [Badao's Lackey 2] has died. Level dropped: 27 → 22."

In just ten seconds, all fifty-plus people were dead. Corpses littered the floor, and equipment was scattered all over the street. Badao stood up at the respawn point, his face ashen as he looked at his level, which had dropped by 5.

"This... this is impossible..."

Lin Ye walked up to him, crouched down, and patted his face: "Go back and tell whoever hired you that if they want to smash my shop, they need to bring more people. Fifty isn't even enough to fill the gaps in my teeth."

Badao gritted his teeth, unable to say a word. He took his group of defeated stragglers and slunk away.

Fatty Wang poked his head out of the supermarket and his eyes lit up when he saw the equipment covering the ground: "Brother! They dropped so much gear!"

Lin Ye smiled: "Pick it up. Pick it all up. We'll list it for sale tomorrow."

Fatty Wang rushed out excitedly and started picking up the equipment. Su Qinghan stood at the entrance, watching the scene, and couldn't help but laugh: "You really are... you don't even let the people who come to smash your shop off the hook."

Lin Ye shrugged: "If they deliver gear to my doorstep, it would be a waste not to take it."

Qin Wentian stood to the side, watching Lin Ye's actions, and secretly felt relieved—it was fortunate he had picked the right side. If he were still opposing him, he would be the one lying on the ground.

"Do you know who hired them?" Qin Wentian asked.

Lin Ye thought about it: "To be able to afford a top fifty solo player, they certainly aren't an average person. Do you know Badao?"

Qin Wentian nodded: "I do. We've worked together before. He's a pure mercenary; he does jobs for whoever pays. To hire him, you'd need to spend at least a few million gold coins."

"A few million?" Lin Ye smiled, "It seems the person who wants to mess with me is quite wealthy."

"How do you plan to investigate?"

Lin Ye thought for a moment, a wicked smile curling his lips: "No need to investigate. I'll let them come to me."

"How will you make them come?"

"Spread the word that the Commoner Supermarket is holding an anniversary sale, with all materials at half price. Those who are jealous won't be able to sit still. The more anxious they are, the easier it will be for them to slip up."

Qin Wentian looked at him, unable to help but exclaim: "You really... you've calculated everything."

Lin Ye shrugged: "It's professional, after all."

That afternoon, the Commoner Supermarket posted an event announcement— "Anniversary Sale: All materials half price, for three days only."

The news spread, and the entire server went wild again. Independent players surged toward the Commoner Supermarket like crazy, and there were even more people in line than on the opening day. Fatty Wang was so busy his feet barely touched the ground, Su Qinghan came down to help with the register, and even Qin Wentian was roped in to act as a porter.

As for Lin Ye, he sat by the third-floor window, snacking on virtual melon seeds, staring at the street outside. He was waiting.

Sure enough, the next afternoon, another group arrived to smash the shop. This time it wasn't fifty people, but a hundred. The leader's ID was "Xueren," a level 32 assassin ranked in the top thirty of the entire server, even fiercer than Badao.

"You're Ye?" Xueren stood at the supermarket entrance, holding two daggers that glinted with a bloody light, his eyes cold and gloomy.

Lin Ye smiled: "Another one here to smash the shop? Who hired you this time?"

Xueren sneered: "That's none of your business. Be smart and close the shop yourself. Otherwise—"

"Otherwise what?"

Xueren didn't speak; he waved his hand, and over a hundred people rushed into the supermarket simultaneously. The result was the same as last time—the moment they stepped through the door, they were hit with the Decay Debuff, their health bars plummeted, and their skills were completely disabled.

"Ding! Player [Xueren] has died. Level dropped: 32 → 27."

Over a hundred people, wiped out in ten seconds. Equipment covered the floor, and corpses piled up like a mountain.

Xueren stood up at the respawn point, his face ashen. He looked at his level, which had dropped by 5, then looked at the sea of corpses, trembling all over.

"You... you just wait!" He threw out this threat and ran off.

Lin Ye watched his retreating figure, a wicked smile curling his lips: "Another one here to deliver equipment."

Fatty Wang rushed out excitedly to pick up the equipment, and Su Qinghan helped count it on the side. Qin Wentian stood beside Lin Ye and whispered: "Xueren is from the black market. The person who could hire him isn't just an ordinary materials merchant."

"The black market?" Lin Ye raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. There is an underground trading market in the main city, specializing in shady business. Contract killing, account reselling, power-leveling with cheats—they do it all. Xueren is their gold-medal enforcer; his appearance fee is at least five million gold coins."

Lin Ye smiled: "Five million? That person behind the scenes is quite wealthy."

"What do you plan to do?"

Lin Ye thought for a moment, pulled the [Eye of the Undead] from his bag, and weighed it in his hand: "Have you heard of the Abyss Dungeon?"

Qin Wentian paused: "You want to run the Abyss Dungeon?"

"Not run it, but scout it. The Abyss Dungeon is about to open, and all the top players on the server will go. The person behind the scenes will definitely go too. Instead of waiting for him to come to me, I might as well go find him."

Qin Wentian was silent for a few seconds, then said: "The Abyss Dungeon is very dangerous. The monsters inside can corrode equipment and stats, and dying will cause a level drop. Very few people on the entire server can clear it."

Lin Ye smiled: "Dangerous? Isn't that perfect? The more dangerous the place, the easier it is for people to slip up."

He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the lights of the main city in the distance, a wicked smile curling his lips.

"Besides—I just happen to need an opportunity to test the new effect of my Talent."

"A new effect?" Qin Wentian paused.

Lin Ye opened his Talent panel, where a new prompt had appeared— [System Prompt: Detected that the host has successfully thwarted three malicious attacks in a row. Talent advancement effect unlocked: Abyss Decay—Deals an additional 200% damage to Abyss Monsters and can absorb Abyss energy, converting it into personal stats. Duration: Permanent.]

Qin Wentian looked at the effect and gasped: "Deals an additional 200% damage to Abyss Monsters? And can absorb Abyss energy? Isn't this Talent a bit too ridiculous?"

Lin Ye smiled: "It's not ridiculous, it's professional. Let's go, call Fatty Wang and Qinghan. Tomorrow, we're going to the Abyss Dungeon."

Qin Wentian hesitated and asked: "I'm going too?"

"Of course. Weren't you the guild leader of the number one guild on the server? You must have run quite a few dungeons, right?"

Qin Wentian smiled bitterly: "I have, but never an Abyss-level one."

Lin Ye patted his shoulder: "Then consider it an eye-opener."

That night, Lin Ye called Fatty Wang and Su Qinghan together and announced the plan to run the Abyss Dungeon tomorrow.

Fatty Wang's legs went soft: "Brother, the Abyss Dungeon? That's a top-tier dungeon for level 40 and above! I'm only level 30; isn't going in there just suicide?"

Lin Ye smiled: "Don't worry, with me around, you won't die."

Su Qinghan also frowned: "The monsters in the Abyss Dungeon will corrode equipment and stats. Even though our equipment is good, it can't withstand the corrosion."

Lin Ye pulled a few pieces of equipment that shimmered with a silver light from his bag and handed them to the three: "Put these on."

Su Qinghan took them and looked, stunned: "This is... Abyss resistance equipment? When did you get these?"

"I farmed a few while running the Hidden Mine last time. Although the quality isn't high, it's enough to resist the Abyss corrosion."

Qin Wentian also took a piece and looked at the stats, unable to help but exclaim: "You even prepared this?"

Lin Ye shrugged: "It's professional, after all."

Early the next morning, the four of them formed a party and arrived at the entrance of the Abyss Dungeon on the northernmost side of the main city. It was a massive black vortex, exuding an unsettling aura. A stone tablet stood at the entrance, with a few lines of text carved into it—

[Abyss Dungeon · Corrosive Cave] Level Requirement: 40. Suggested Party Size: 10. Current Clear Rate: 0%. Warning: Monsters within the dungeon have corrosive properties; death will result in a permanent level drop.

Fatty Wang looked at the stone tablet, his legs going soft: "Brother, are we really going in?"

Lin Ye smiled: "What are you afraid of? I'm here."

He stepped into the black vortex. Su Qinghan, Fatty Wang, and Qin Wentian exchanged a glance and followed him inside.