Chapter 6: Zhao Kai Angered the Show-Off Henchman in the Safe Zone

Lin Ye finished listing his equipment in the Trading House. Just as he stepped out, he saw another crowd gathered in the square.

This time, the display was even larger than before.

Brother Kai's Underling was blocking the center of the square with over thirty people, but he didn't dare to make a move this time. He just stared fiercely at Lin Ye, as if waiting for someone.

"Is this the kid?" a deep voice came from behind the crowd.

The crowd automatically parted as a warrior wearing a blue set walked out. His ID was "Master Kai," his level was shown as Level 9, and his equipment glowed with a blue light. He held a shimmering blue greatsword; one look and you could tell he had spent a lot of money.

Zhao Kai, Vice President of Heavenly Temple, a pay-to-win big shot ranked in the top hundred server-wide.

He walked up to Lin Ye, sized him up, and his eyes were full of disdain: "Just you? A penniless wretch with no gear, and you dare to touch my people?"

Lin Ye didn't speak, quietly watching him perform.

An underling behind Zhao Kai immediately jumped out and pointed at Lin Ye, cursing: "Master Kai is asking you a question! Are you mute? Do you know who our Master Kai is? A pay-to-win big shot ranked in the top hundred server-wide, the Vice President of Heavenly Temple! If you offend our Master Kai, don't even think about surviving in this game!"

Another underling joined in: "Exactly! Be sensible and hand over all the equipment the Wolf King dropped earlier, then kowtow three times to Master Kai to admit your mistake. If Master Kai is in a good mood, he might even spare you once."

Zhao Kai raised his hand, signaling the underlings to be quiet. He stared at Lin Ye, his tone arrogant: "I heard your Talent is pretty good? SSS-grade? Indeed rare. But no matter how good the Talent is, you still need money to make it work. How about this, I'll give you a chance—join Heavenly Temple and follow me from now on. I'll pay you a monthly salary of five thousand yuan. I won't take your equipment for nothing either; 100 gold coins will be your meeting gift."

As he spoke, he casually tossed over a trade request, with "100" filled in the amount column.

100 gold coins?

Lin Ye looked at the trade box, then at Zhao Kai's charitable expression, and couldn't help but laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" Zhao Kai frowned.

"Laughing at how poor you are," Lin Ye said flatly. "You want to buy the equipment in my inventory for 100 gold coins? Do you know how much stock I have?"

Zhao Kai's face darkened: "What do you mean?"

Lin Ye opened his inventory and displayed the items inside—three pieces of purple equipment, over a dozen pieces of blue equipment, and a pile of rare materials. The total value was at least five thousand gold coins to start.

When the onlookers saw this, they all exploded—

"Holy crap! Purple equipment? Three pieces? How much is that worth!"

"He spent an hour harvesting the Wolf King just now, and he got this much?"

"Five thousand gold coins at minimum. Based on current gold prices, that's worth at least ten thousand real-world yuan!"

Zhao Kai's expression became increasingly ugly. He hadn't expected a gearless newbie to have so many good things in his inventory. More importantly, this kid actually rejected him in front of so many people, leaving him with no way to save face.

"Kid, don't be ungrateful." Zhao Kai's voice turned cold. "I'm giving you face by letting you join Heavenly Temple. If you don't wise up, believe it or not, I'll make it so you can't stay in the Novice Village?"

The thirty-plus underlings behind him immediately took a step forward, looking aggressive.

Lin Ye looked around, a wicked smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Make it so I can't stay? Just with you guys?"

"You're fucking looking for death!" Zhao Kai was furious and raised his hand to swing his sword.

But an underling beside him stopped him: "Master Kai, don't be impulsive! This is a Safe Zone. If you attack, you'll get a red name."

Zhao Kai gritted his teeth and forced himself to hold back. He pointed at Lin Ye, his voice sinister: "Fine, you've got guts. I want to see how long you can stay in the Safe Zone. Brothers, guard this place! Kill him the moment he comes out. Today, I'm going to kill him back to level zero!"

The thirty-plus underlings immediately spread out, blocking the square's exits tightly.

Seeing this, Lin Ye didn't panic; instead, he laughed even more happily.

"Are you sure you want to block me?"

Zhao Kai sneered: "Scared? It's too late!"

"Scared?" Lin Ye shook his head. "I just wanted to confirm if you guys were really going to make a move."

He raised his hand and applied a layer of debuff to the foremost Brother Kai's Underling.

"Ding! Target [Brother Kai's Underling] has been applied with the [Decay] debuff. Current stacks: 1."

Brother Kai's Underling's health bar instantly dropped by 10 points. His face changed: "Master Kai! He put a debuff on me again!"

Zhao Kai's face was ashen: "Kill him! Kill him even in the Safe Zone! I'll take responsibility for whatever happens!"

Over thirty underlings swarmed forward, rushing toward Lin Ye.

But they forgot—this was a Safe Zone, where players couldn't attack each other. Just as they raised their weapons, a system prompt popped up—

[System Prompt: Attacking other players is prohibited within the Safe Zone.]

The group was dumbfounded.

"Master Kai, we can't attack! The Safe Zone won't let us!"

Zhao Kai's face turned green with rage: "Then surround him! I don't believe he can stay in the Safe Zone forever!"

But Lin Ye had no intention of leaving.

He stood where he was, unhurriedly continuing to stack debuffs on Brother Kai's Underling.

5 stacks. 10 stacks. 20 stacks.

Brother Kai's Underling's health bar began to plummet, losing 20 HP per second. As a Level 8 warrior, he only had 800 HP total; he would die in forty seconds.

"Priest! Hurry, heal me!" Brother Kai's Underling panicked.

Several priests quickly cast Healing on him, but the debuff damage was True Damage. At 20 points per second, the priests' Healing couldn't keep up. Brother Kai's Underling's health bar continued to drop, making him break out in a cold sweat.

"Master Kai! I can't hold on much longer!"

Zhao Kai gritted his teeth: "Use the best health potions on him! Hold out!"

Brother Kai's Underling quickly gulped down a high-grade health potion, and his health barely stabilized. But Lin Ye stacked another 10 layers of debuff; losing 30 HP per second, the health potions couldn't hold up anymore.

"Master Kai! I can't do it! I'm out of potions!"

Zhao Kai's face was livid. He turned to the priests behind him and shouted: "All of you, go! Heal him!"

Over a dozen priests cast Healing on Brother Kai's Underling together, finally managing to stabilize his health. But Lin Ye remained calm and continued to stack the debuff.

50 stacks. 80 stacks. 100 stacks.

100 HP lost per second!

Even with the combined Healing of over a dozen priests, they couldn't withstand this damage. Brother Kai's Underling's health bar was instantly emptied, and he died on the spot!

"Ding! Player [Brother Kai's Underling] has died. Level dropped: Level 8 → Level 3."

Brother Kai's Underling respawned at the square's entrance. Seeing his level drop by 5, he was so angry he almost smashed his keyboard.

"Anyone else want to try?" Lin Ye looked around, his gaze calm.

The thirty-plus underlings looked at each other, none of them daring to move.

Zhao Kai trembled with rage: "All of you, go! He's just one person; can he kill all of us?"

The underlings exchanged glances, gritted their teeth, and rushed forward.

Lin Ye raised his hand, applied debuffs to the first few, and then activated [Contagion Spread]—

Dozens of stacks of debuffs instantly spread to everyone!

All thirty-plus people were affected, their health bars plummeting!

"Holy shit! I'm hit too!"

"It won't go away! This debuff won't go away at all!"

"Master Kai, save me!"

In just ten seconds, all thirty-plus people died and respawned collectively at the square's entrance. Their levels had dropped by three to five levels.

The onlookers were completely stunned—

"All thirty-plus people... all dead?"

"Not a single one left? This is too brutal!"

"You can kill people in the Safe Zone? This Talent is too heaven-defying!"

"It's not killing; it's applying debuffs! These debuffs take effect even in the Safe Zone; there's no way to dodge them!"

Zhao Kai looked at his level, which had dropped to Level 6, his face ashen. He hadn't expected that with over thirty people, they would be wiped out by a gearless newbie.

"You... you just wait!" Zhao Kai pointed at Lin Ye, his voice trembling. "This isn't over!"

Lin Ye scoffed: "Wait for you? Sure, I'm right here. You're welcome to come and die anytime."

Zhao Kai was so angry he almost spat blood, but he didn't dare to make another move. In that wave just now, he had dropped 3 levels. If he dropped a few more, he'd have to restart in the Novice Village.

"Let's go!" Zhao Kai gritted his teeth and led his group of defeated soldiers away in disgrace.

The onlookers burst into cheers at the sight—

"Brother Ye is awesome!"

"Over thirty people were flattened. So fierce!"

"Who would dare provoke Brother Ye now? Isn't that just looking for death?"

Lin Ye ignored the cheers and turned toward the Trading House. All he could think about was how much the equipment in his inventory could sell for.

Just as he reached the Trading House entrance, his phone suddenly vibrated.

[Private Message] Master Kai: You just wait! I've already called for backup! Elite players ranked in the top fifty server-wide will be at the Novice Village soon! If I don't kill you back to level zero today, my last name isn't Zhao!

Lin Ye glanced at the private message, a wicked smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

He sent a reply—

[Private Message] Ye: Welcome. Bring more people, it'll save me the trouble of finding them one by one.

The other side was silent for over ten seconds, then sent a string of curses, all of which were censored.

Lin Ye didn't bother looking further, closed the private message, and started listing the equipment.

He listed the three pieces of purple equipment at high prices—[Wolf King Necklace] for 800 gold coins, [Wolf King's Warboots] for 600 gold coins, and [Wolf King's Ring] for 700 gold coins. The dozen or so blue items were listed from 100 to 300 gold coins each. All the materials were bundled and listed for 500 gold coins.

As soon as the items were listed, the Trading House instantly exploded—

[world channel]

[Player "Solo Player Old Li": Holy crap! Three pieces of purple equipment! How much is that worth!]

[Player "Little Prince of Pay-to-Win": 800 gold coins? So expensive? I can't afford it!]

[Player "Brick-Moving Expert": If you can't afford it, don't buy it. He got them with his own skills; he can sell them for however much he wants.]

[Player "Milk Tea Without Sugar": Brother Ye, can it be a bit cheaper? We solo players really can't afford it...]

Lin Ye looked at the discussion on the world channel, thought for a moment, and lowered the prices—all purple equipment was 50% off, blue equipment was 70% off, and materials were free.

[world channel]

[Player "Ye": All equipment is 50% off, materials are free. First come, first served.]

As soon as the message was sent, the Trading House was instantly swamped.

"Holy crap! 50% off! Brother Ye is awesome!"

"Materials are free? Is that for real?"

"Hurry and grab them! They'll be gone if you're slow!"

In just three minutes, all equipment and materials were sold out.

[System Prompt: All your listed items have been sold. Gold coins obtained: 2450.]

Adding the previous 2000 gold coins, Lin Ye's total gold count had now surpassed 4000.

Based on current market prices, it was worth at least ten thousand real-world yuan.

Lin Ye took a deep breath, his fingers trembling slightly. It had been three months, and he finally saw money again. And this time it wasn't just a few hundred; it was ten thousand!

Just as he was about to withdraw the cash, his phone vibrated again.

[System Prompt: You have a party invitation from player [Master Kai].]

[Master Kai]: Kid, do you dare to come to Black Wind Ridge? I've brought fifty people; I'm going to settle this with you today!

Lin Ye looked at the message, a wicked smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

Fifty people?

Perfect, a delivery of experience packs. Might as well take them.

He accepted the party invitation and then walked leisurely toward Black Wind Ridge.

Seeing him head toward Black Wind Ridge, the onlookers all followed—

"Where is Brother Ye going?"

"Black Wind Ridge! Zhao Kai is waiting for him there!"

"Quick, start a livestream! There's going to be a good show today!"

When Lin Ye reached the entrance of Black Wind Ridge, he saw Zhao Kai with over fifty people, blocking the entrance with a full display of force.

Seeing him, Zhao Kai sneered: "You actually dared to come?"

Lin Ye shrugged: "Why wouldn't I come for experience delivered to my door?"

"Stubborn!" Zhao Kai waved his hand. "Brothers, get him! Today, we're definitely killing this kid back to level zero!"

Over fifty people swarmed forward, rushing toward Lin Ye.

Lin Ye remained unhurried, raised his hand to apply debuffs to the first few, and then ran into the ridge.

"Don't let him run! Chase!"

Over fifty people chased Lin Ye into Black Wind Ridge.

But Lin Ye wasn't running aimlessly; he was intentionally leading these people toward the Wolf King's Lair.

As he ran, he applied debuffs to the mobs along the way. Dozens of wild wolves were stacked with debuffs and chased wildly behind him.

When Zhao Kai led his people to the entrance of the lair, Lin Ye suddenly stopped and turned to look at them.

"Do you know what place this is?"

Zhao Kai was stunned for a moment, then looked up—Wolf King's Lair.

His face changed: "What the fuck do you want to do?"

Lin Ye didn't speak, but simply shouted into the lair: "Wolf King, come out to greet the guests!"

The next second, a black giant wolf as sturdy as a bull calf rushed out of the lair—it was the Black Wind Wolf King.

But its current state was completely different from before.

Attack 1, Defense 1, Movement Speed 1, Attack Speed 1, and all skills disabled—it was just a target dummy with a health bar.

Seeing the Wolf King rush out, Zhao Kai was startled at first, then laughed: "That's it? A crippled BOSS, what threat could it be?"

But as soon as he finished speaking, he saw dozens of debuffed wild wolves following behind the Wolf King, each with dozens of stacks of Decay, their health bars plummeting but not yet dead.

"This is..."

Lin Ye raised his hand and activated [Directional Contagion] on the Wolf King and the pack of wild wolves—

Hundreds of stacks of debuffs instantly spread to Zhao Kai and his fifty-plus underlings!

"Holy shit! Why is my health dropping so fast?!"

"Me too! Losing hundreds of HP per second! I can't take it!"

"Priest! Hurry and heal!"

"Heal my ass! The priests can't even save themselves!"

In just ten seconds, all fifty-plus people died!

Zhao Kai was among them. He watched helplessly as his health bar emptied and his level dropped from Level 6 to Level 1, returning directly to the Novice Village!

"Ding! Player [Master Kai] has died. Level dropped: Level 6 → Level 1."

Zhao Kai stood up at the respawn point in the Novice Village. Looking at his Level 1 status, he trembled with rage.

The equipment he had spent tens of thousands on was all gone. The fifty-plus people he had brought were all wiped out. He had been killed back to level zero by a gearless newbie.

"Ah—!" Zhao Kai let out a roar and immediately went offline.

The onlookers watching through the livestream were all laughing like crazy—

"Hahaha! Over fifty people, all wiped out!"

"Zhao Kai dropped straight back to Level 1, I'm dying of laughter!"

"Brother Ye is awesome! I give this play a perfect score!"

"Serves him right! Let him act all high and mighty! Now he's really embarrassed himself!"

Seeing the equipment and materials all over the ground, Lin Ye was in a great mood. The items dropped by these fifty-plus people were worth at least several thousand gold coins.

He picked up the items, opened his private messages and sent one to Zhao Kai—

[Private Message] Ye: Master Kai, bring more people next time. Fifty isn't enough for me to fight.

After sending it, he closed the private message and began to leisurely pick up the equipment.

Meanwhile, in another main city, a player with the ID "Qin Wentian" was looking at the forum posts with a solemn expression.

He was the President of Heavenly Temple, a top-tier big shot ranked in the top ten server-wide.

"A gearless newbie, relying on an SSS-grade Talent, wiped out over fifty of Zhao Kai's people?" Qin Wentian said in a low voice, "Interesting."

The underling behind him immediately asked: "President, should we go meet him?"

Qin Wentian shook his head: "No rush. Let's observe first and see just how much this Ye is worth."

He looked at Lin Ye's character model on the screen, a meaningful smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Ye the Wicked? Interesting. I'd like to see how far you can go in this game."