Chapter 42: Can Game Equipment Be Made Real?

Upon seeing the information, Lin Yi felt that the name Zhao Yilong was rather familiar. After giving it a brief, careful thought, he recalled that this Zhao Yilong was a relatively young and inspirational billionaire nationwide, having once ranked around the fiftieth place on the domestic rich list.

Half a year ago, numerous media outlets frequently featured this self-made tycoon, but in recent months, related reports seemed to have vanished.

He never expected Zhao Yilong to be the founder of the Black Card Alliance, which came as quite a surprise to Lin Yi.

(Note: Liu Hong had mentioned the Black Card Alliance in his diary but did not name Zhao Yilong. Therefore, Lin Yi only knew of the organization's existence, remaining unaware of its founder.)

Shortly after, Lin Yi hurried to the restaurant where he had arranged to meet Liu Bo.

It was a private booth, and Liu Bo had already ordered plenty of skewers while waiting for Lin Yi.

At the table, Liu Bo ate as he detailed his recent encounter with the Black Card Alliance.

"...After I got the recording, I asked a friend I met during the Beijing training. He said that although the Black Card Alliance isn't an official organization, all its members are registered with the authorities. The one called Number 16 used to be Zhao Yilong's bodyguard and is a veteran; his name is Song Rende..."

"...After I gave you the information this afternoon, I tracked down Song Rende based on the registry records. He wasn't surprised at all when he saw I had exposed him, and directly asked if I wanted to join the Black Card Alliance..."

"Join them my foot! I've managed to secure an official government-backed position now, so why on earth would I join them? Then I questioned him about my father's affair. Song Rende claimed he knew nothing, saying he was just a hired hand, and right in front of me, he dialed his boss's phone—which belonged to Zhao Yilong."

Hearing this, Lin Yi asked, "Zhao Yilong? Does that mean he was the one who sent people to tail you, and later to my place?"

"Right. Zhao Yilong claimed over the phone that he and my dad used to be good friends. The reason he had us followed was because he had once lent a precious artifact to my dad, and when my dad died unexpectedly, the item went missing. That's why he sent people to track us down in search of that object..."

Frowning, Lin Yi asked, "An artifact? What specific item is it? Your father's diary doesn't seem to mention this, does it?"

"Exactly. When I asked Zhao Yilong what the exact item was, he said it was a spiritual weapon brought out from the Apocalypse World."

A spiritual weapon brought out from the Apocalypse World!!

This revelation shocked Lin Yi quite a bit. He had already tested it himself; it was simply impossible to bring anything into or out of the Apocalypse World in reality.

Could Zhao Yilong possess some special method to extract items from the Apocalypse World?

Lin Yi quickly asked, "Xiao Bo, during your training in Beijing, did you ever hear any rumors about being able to bring items out of the Apocalypse World?"

Liu Bo shook his head. "No. Although the content of our training was valuable, to the authorities, it's just basic information. Even more precious intelligence is regarded as a resource by the government and wouldn't be casually disclosed to us."

"Still, I don't think Zhao Yilong was lying to me. This matter is likely true."

"Alright, and what happened next?"

Liu Bo continued, "Later, Zhao Yilong told me how he and my dad got to know each other. It turned out that Zhao Yilong had originally spawned in Dayu Village, where my dad lived. He said my dad possessed exceptional talent, capable of forging spiritual weapons even at a low level. He and my dad initially met through trading spiritual weapons, and they gradually became acquainted..."

"Anyway, everything that guy said carried a sense of hypocrisy; he seemed very eager to establish a connection with me. I just scoffed inwardly—if my dad's relationship with him was truly that good, my dad wouldn't have left it unmentioned in his diary."

Lin Yi asked, "Did Zhao Yilong say anything about how your father died?"

"He did. He said that right before the incident, he happened to be away from the village, exploring the wilderness. Besides, Zhao Yilong mentioned that the power dynamics in Dayu Village are extremely complicated. Aside from the indigenous NPCs, there are several player factions, and a good number of them come from overseas. After my dad died, he investigated it as well, but turned up nothing."

Finally, Liu Bo added, "However, he suggested that my dad was very likely schemed against and killed by the indigenous NPCs in the village, because my dad had taken the village chief of Dayu Village as his master, which infringed upon the interests of certain factions within the village."

After hearing this, Lin Yi couldn't help but feel a sense of strangeness. Are the NPCs in Dayu Village really that chaotic?

To the extent that they could actually kill off a reincarnated player?

Compared to Dayu Village, their Gutan Village was far better. He had interacted with the four militia captains and the two village elders, all of whom had decent character.

Moreover, the player community in Gutan Village as a whole was not large, resulting in relatively few conflicts of interest.

After pondering for a moment, Lin Yi said, "Xiao Bo, I reckon Zhao Yilong's words are eight parts true and one part false. Still, he doesn't seem like the murderer who killed your father. If you want to uncover the truth behind your dad's death, you'll probably have to reach the Professional Tier and go to Dayu Village to investigate personally."

Liu Bo sighed and said, "Yeah, but reaching the Professional Tier is too difficult. Brother Yi, to be honest with you, I'm currently relying on the official bigwigs in our village, hanging out in the militia to grind for experience. Even so, my experience points are growing far too slowly. To actually advance to the Professional Tier, it'll probably take another half a year."

"By that time, everything would have already turned cold."

Lin Yi was also well aware that ordinary people leveling up in the Apocalypse World was exceedingly difficult. After all, most village militias set the starting recruitment requirement at Level 5.

However, average players struggled even to advance from Level 1 to Level 2, let alone raise themselves independently to Level 5.

Therefore, the best way to develop in the Apocalypse World was to join an organization and let high-level players carry you so that newcomers could grow.

He had to admit that both he and Liu Bo were relatively lucky.

One was fortunately selected by the authorities and secured a government-backed rice bowl, while the other encountered Gu Yongqiang and, thanks to him, was recommended into the Second Militia Squad...

Thinking of this, Lin Yi casually mentioned the corpse-monsters outside Gutan Village to Liu Bo. He noted that corpse-monsters were much easier to deal with than demonic beasts of the same level, and that he was able to reach Level 3 within a week or two largely thanks to the experience provided by those corpse-monsters.

Upon hearing this, Liu Bo immediately said with envy, "Corpse-monsters? The Gutan Village you spawned in is truly a treasure land! Not only did you join the militia at Level 1, but you also have clustered monsters like corpse-monsters providing experience points. Unlike us, if we want experience, we have to venture into the wilderness to hunt down demonic beasts. To be honest, every time I log into the Apocalypse World, I'm terrified..."

Lin Yi nodded and said, "Yeah, our captain is also a good person who takes care of me a lot. He even let slip some information regarding the Professional Tier."

Liu Bo immediately asked in surprise, "Information on the Professional Tier? Brother Yi, tell me about it, will you? I still have no idea what the Professional Tier is..."

Currently, players capable of reaching the Professional Tier were basically those who had entered the Apocalypse World during the first or second batches. For most factions, information related to the Professional Tier was extremely precious and would never be casually disclosed.

Liu Bo only knew that the Professional Tier consisted of four classes, with one being a martial artist, while the remaining three were completely unknown to him.

Faced with Liu Bo's curiosity, Lin Yi smiled and shared most of the Professional Tier information he had gathered.

In truth, Lin Yi intentionally wanted to pass on some of the precious intelligence he possessed to Liu Bo.

After all, this kid held nothing back from him, so he ought to reciprocate in kind.