51: Chapter 51 Global Manhunt? No, it's a Buffet!

Boom!!! Just 0.01 seconds after Qin Ji's figure completely etherealized and vanished, the overwhelming torrent of skills finally lost its last restraint and smashed heavily onto the empty altar.

This wasn't an ordinary explosion, but the concrete manifestation of the greedy desires of hundreds of thousands of players.

The hard white stone floor disintegrated in an instant, as if crushed by an invisible giant hand. The dazzling elemental brilliance intertwined into a chaotic dead zone. Immediately after, the ground began to shake violently, debris flew up, fell, and was ground into powder by the violent airflow in mid-air.

The white marble pillars supporting the perimeter corridor of the respawn point suddenly sank, and the surrounding space emitted a teeth-gritting distortion sound. As the first wave of skill carpet-bombing ended, before the smoke could clear, a second wave of predictive coverage strikes followed.

The originally flat square floor cracked with countless pitch-black crevices like spider webs. The cracks widened abruptly, and the magical veins buried deep underground were violently severed.

"Boom!!!"

This was a man-made natural disaster.

Fireballs, ice spears, and lightning storms that had lost their targets plowed through the entire respawn point over and over again. Wherever the scorching energy residue passed, even the air seemed to be ignited. A few Thief players who charged too far forward didn't even have time to brake before they were covered by the friendly fire from behind. Without even letting out a scream, they turned into white light in this destructive energy storm.

"Damn it! He ran?!"

"That brat logged off!!"

"Despicable! Shameless! If you have the guts, don't run! Spit out my stat points!"

A thunderous roar erupted from the crowd. The feeling was like a beggar who had been starving for three days and nights, watching a delicious roasted chicken being handed to his mouth, only to break a front tooth when he bit down—he had bitten into a stone.

...

Real world, Blue Star, Jiang City.

The door of the Supreme-grade gaming pod slid open slowly, accompanied by a gush of cold white mist.

Qin Ji sat up from the pod, took off the neural connection helmet, and tossed it aside. His bare upper body was covered in a layer of fine cold sweat, but an extremely wicked smile hung on the corners of his mouth.

"Want to treat me as an ATM? You'd better check if you can afford the transaction fees first."

He stretched his somewhat stiff neck, which emitted cracking sounds.

As long as he wasn't online, even if those people tore Starlight City apart, they couldn't do anything to him. This was the highest Profound Truth of the gaming world—pulling the network cable.

Outside the window, the sky was just turning light; it was still a bit too early for breakfast.

Qin Ji casually grabbed the tablet on the table and expertly logged into the global deep web forum for "God's Domain".

Sure enough, the entire forum had exploded.

The pinned red post had a terrifyingly large title:

[Global Wanted! That man single-handedly caused hundreds of thousands of people to have a mental breakdown!]

Qin Ji raised an eyebrow and clicked on the Dragon Country Server Region section.

The liveliness here was comparable to the New Year. The original tech posts about "How a Level 1 player survives in the main city" had been completely submerged, replaced by the words "Qin Ji" filling the screen.

One of the fastest-trending posts made him laugh out of anger:

Dragon Country Server Region reveals a [Peerless Philanthropist]! Killing him once rewards a random Bronze-grade equipment + 10 free stat points! Coordinates included!》

The poster was a Thief with the ID "Wind Chasing Wind". This guy not only posted a screenshot of the Star Kingdom bounty order but also maliciously attached a video.

In the video, Qin Ji stood at the respawn point like a helpless little rabbit, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people bombing him, dying again and again.

The comment section below was full of envy, jealousy, and hatred:

"Holy shit, is this real? Killing him once gives ten stat points? This is faster than leveling up!"

"Is that guy named Qin Ji stupid? He dares to log in at a time like this?"

"The guy above doesn't understand. This is called self-sacrifice, burning oneself to light up others. Great God Qin Ji, please accept my bow (by the way, ask when he's coming online, I've sharpened my knife)."

Qin Ji's mouth twitched.

Peerless Philanthropist, my ass.

These people were simply inhuman. Using him to farm equipment and stats, and they actually dared to post it to show off?

Which Rebirth protagonist has ever been wronged like this?

He exited this post and glanced at the international section.

This matter had caused such a stir that even foreign players were alarmed.

"Aishiba, this isn't fair! Why doesn't our Great Stick Empire have such a welfare monster?"

"Nani?! I highly suspect the Dragon Country Server Region players are hacking. At this stage, how could a player with ten million Sin Value appear? This isn't scientific!"

"Oh God, please bless us. Please let a player with ten million Sin Value descend on our Great Rice Empire too. I'm willing to trade my roommate's ten years of celibacy for it!"

Players from all major servers were red-eyed.

At this stage, even a Black Iron weapon could be sold for an exorbitant price, let alone Bronze-grade equipment and those precious free stat points. Even just tagging an assist would create a huge gap compared to ordinary players.

"Want stat points, huh?"

Qin Ji closed the forum, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. "Fine, when I go back, I'll give you enough."

Since the whole world thought he was prey, he didn't mind letting these people know what it means for a high-end hunter to often appear in the form of prey.

But before that, there was one more thing to do.

Qin Ji got up, changed his clothes, grabbed his car keys, and went out.

...

Jiang City First People's Hospital, special care ward.

The morning sunlight spilled onto the hospital bed through the blinds. A delicate-looking girl lay there quietly, her body covered in tubes maintaining her vital signs.

Qin Ji stood by the bed, looking at his sister Qin Qing's pale, almost transparent face. His originally cynical eyes softened instantly.

"Doctor, how is my sister's condition now?"

The attending physician pushed up his Glasses and flipped through the latest EEG spectrum: "All vital signs are stable. Although consciousness hasn't recovered, brain activity is much higher than last week. As long as the status quo is maintained, there is no life-threatening danger."

"When will she wake up?"

"This... it's hard to say. She has severe brain damage, and it's highly likely she will remain in a vegetative state for a long time. However, since there is brain wave activity, theoretically, her subconscious is awake."

Qin Ji nodded.

A vegetative state.

In this era of holographic online games, being a vegetable isn't actually a terminal illness. Because the connection technology of "God's Domain" acts directly on the brain nerves. As long as the brain is alive, one can log into the game.

Some medical experts even asserted that receiving strong mental stimulation in the game helps to awaken the consciousness of a vegetative patient.

"In another half a month, when her cerebral edema is completely absorbed, I will connect her to a gaming pod." Qin Ji calculated silently in his heart.

But immediately after, a very tricky problem faced him.

Vegetative patients cannot communicate offline!

After Qin Qing enters the game, what will her ID be? Which Newbie Village will she be born in? What class will she choose?

Qin Ji knew none of these!

The map of "God's Domain" is boundless. Hundreds of millions of players scattered inside wouldn't even cause a ripple. If he didn't know the ID, finding one person in the vast sea of people would be harder than ascending to heaven.

"Global broadcast..."

A thought flashed through Qin Ji's mind.

This was the only way.

As long as he does well enough and becomes famous enough—so famous that every ant on the server knows the name "Qin Ji"—then he can just use a global broadcast to call out. He didn't believe he wouldn't be able to find her!

Half a month left.

He must establish absolute dominance within these half a month.

...

Returning from the hospital, passing by the breakfast shop downstairs, Qin Ji bought two baskets of steamed buns.

Returning to the rented apartment, he pushed open the door to the next room.

A chubby man was wearing a gaming helmet, his fat trembling rhythmically with his breathing, clearly still fighting in the game.

"Fatty, log off and eat." Qin Ji kicked the fatty's gaming chair.

The fatty didn't react, seemingly in the middle of some intense operation.

Qin Ji wasn't in a hurry. He tossed the buns on the table and sat down to eat by himself.

After about ten minutes, the fatty suddenly took off his helmet, his face flushed, looking as if he had just won five million in the lottery.

"Holy shit! Hao... no, wait, Brother Ji! You're finally back!"

The fatty couldn't even bother to wipe the drool from his mouth. He grabbed Qin Ji's arm, incoherent with excitement: "Welfare bureau! Super welfare bureau! Are you in Starlight City? Hurry to the respawn point! It's super awesome!"

Qin Ji calmly took a bite of a bun: "What welfare bureau?"

"That red-named player! The one called Qin Ji... uh?"

The fatty paused, staring at Qin Ji with a blank expression, then looked at Qin Ji's rarely used username ID.

The air suddenly went quiet for a few seconds.

"Ji... Brother Ji, that unlucky bastard who's being blocked and killed by tens of thousands of people... it wouldn't be you, would it?"

Qin Ji swallowed the bun in his mouth and looked at him with a half-smile: "If I said it was me, what would you do? Cut me with a knife?"

The fatty shuddered, shaking his head like a rattle: "How could that be! We're brothers! We're brothers and close friends... but you'll have to pay extra!"

Seeing Qin Ji's increasingly dangerous gaze, the fatty shrank his neck and laughed dryly: "Just kidding, just kidding. But Brother Ji, what exactly did you do? How did you get ten million Sin Value? Did you cuckold the King?"

"Something like that."

Qin Ji didn't explain about the Drought Demon; that was a world-class secret. "How's the situation over there now?"

"Don't ask."

The fatty grabbed a bun and stuffed it into his mouth, saying indistinctly: "After you logged off, those people still wouldn't give up. Now the perimeter of the respawn point has been occupied by several major guilds. The Imperial Dynasty, the Su Group, and that thing called the War God Temple, they're all sly as foxes, saving their ultimate moves for when you come online."

"They even set up shifts, three shifts, twenty-four-hour surveillance without blind spots. As soon as you show your head, it's an instant kill."

After listening, Qin Ji wasn't panicked; instead, he laughed softly.

"Three shifts? Quite dedicated."

He wiped his mouth with a tissue, stood up, and walked to his gaming pod.

"Brother Ji, you're still going on?" The fatty widened his eyes, "Going up now is just sending yourself to death! Why not wait a few days until the heat dies down?"

"Wait? Why wait?"

Qin Ji looked back, his eyes flashing with the excitement of a hunter seeing prey caught in a trap.

"Since they so enthusiastically prepared a welcome ceremony for me, if I don't go and reap it, wouldn't I be letting down their hard-earned all-nighters?"

Hesitating slightly, Qin Ji didn't lie down immediately.

He picked up the tablet again, clicked on that popular bounty post, and replied with his alt account:

[To be honest, this red-named player is actually a victim too. We're all playing games, no need to kill him off, right? That's enough, let him go and accumulate some virtue.]

After sending this post full of "saintly" vibes, Qin Ji looked with satisfaction at the hundreds of replies scolding him that instantly flooded in, a mocking arc curling on his lips.

The timing was just right.

This wave of hatred was maxed out. It was estimated that the number of people at the Starlight City respawn point had already broken through the charts.

"Fatty."

Qin Ji lay into the gaming pod. As the door slowly closed, his voice came out faintly from the gap.

"Remember to record later."

"Record what?" The fatty was confused.

"Record a... miracle."

...

[System prompt: Connecting neurons...]

[Identity verification passed.]

[Welcome back to God's Domain.]

Starlight City, respawn altar.

Although it was late night in the game, it was still brightly lit and bustling with noise.

Tens of thousands of players surrounded the altar tightly, and the outer perimeter was even more crowded. All the mages were holding their staves, Archers had pulled their bowstrings taut, and the air was filled with a murderous and irritable atmosphere.

"Why hasn't that brat logged on yet?"

"Could he be scared shitless and not dare to come?"

"Wait five more minutes, if he doesn't come, I'm going to sleep."

Just as the crowd's patience was about to run out.

Hum—

In the center of the respawn altar, in the void that had already been bombed into pits and bumps, a strange ripple suddenly appeared.

Immediately following, a slender figure slowly condensed.

"He's here!!!"

"He's online!!"

"Do it! Don't let him move!!"

Almost as a subconscious reaction, thousands of skill lights that had been prepared long ago instantly illuminated the night sky, pouring down towards the figure that had just appeared like a breached flood.

However.

The anticipated instant kill did not happen.

The moment all skills were about to touch that figure, a faint, almost transparent golden light shield appeared out of thin air.

[System prompt: Player is in login protection state (Invincible), remaining time: 3 seconds.]

3 seconds.

For ordinary players, these 3 seconds can only be used to confirm whether they have died back again.

But for Qin Ji, who possessed millions of Agility points.

3 seconds, is eternity.

Qin Ji stood amidst the sky full of fire and thunder, not in a hurry to run away. He even had the leisure to raise his head and take a look at the gorgeous fireworks-like skill rain above his head.

Then, he slowly lowered his head, his gaze sweeping over the faces around him that were twisted with excessive excitement.

In his hand, he didn't know when he had produced a rusty longsword.

This was the [Tetanus Blade] given by the Newbie Village blacksmith, Attack Power +5.

But at this very moment, under the blessing of millions of Strength points, the pressure exuded by this broken sword exceeded even that of a legendary Divine Artifact.

"Everyone, good evening."

Qin Ji whispered softly. Although the voice was small, it clearly drilled into everyone's ears.

"Now, buffet time is over."

"It's time to pay the bill."

The moment the words fell, the invincible shield shattered.

At the same time, Qin Ji moved.

No one saw how he moved.

People only saw a black lightning bolt instantly tear through space, and immediately after, with the altar as the center, a terrifying shockwave that could not be described in words, like a nuclear bomb detonating...

Exploded violently!