Gu Yu’s expression was a bit hard to describe. After a moment she said, "I’ll be honest with you, Zone 014 isn’t really a livable place for Players like us whose strength isn’t that great."

"You help the Special Defense Department deal with those murderers, and I understand you want the Players entering Ting City to follow the rules, so that ordinary people can have it a little easier."

"But in fact, Players’ lives aren’t easy either. The really strong Players, no need to say anything; those who move around in groups, nothing to say about them either. But for people like us, life is actually not that smooth. We’re a bit stronger than ordinary people, but we’re also more likely to be targeted by stronger Players, especially with my identity..."

"There are a lot of Players who come to harass me, and even my family has been repeatedly harassed. Even with the Special Defense Department stepping in to investigate and protect my family, those people still seep in through every crack. Last time, my mom almost got killed."

She sighed as she spoke. "Sometimes I don’t understand either. Is the identity of ’celebrity’ really that important to them? Important enough for them to keep doing this over and over... When I first entered the game, I even wanted to rely on my own ability to build a fair Player Organization. But now, my Player Organization has been sniped again and again, and for the few people left I had no choice but to let them join other big Player Organizations to protect themselves."

"But it’s very hard for me to pull out. The fewer people around me, the greater the danger."

"Only after moving to a district with good public security did people stop caring about my identity and my looks."

"Actually, when Tan Yang and the others came to you, they were definitely also looking for help." Gu Yu said, "Too many Players and elites have sprung up in Zone 014. That’s a good thing for the district’s future development, but for people like us inside it, it may not be a good thing. For an ordinary Player like me, if I’m not careful, I’ll get dragged in and be smashed to pieces."

"I came today to deal with my assets. Once I sell them, I’m planning to settle down in a Rank-B district."

"If you’re short of money, I can lend you some," Xu Huo said. "The price of moving into a Rank-B district definitely won’t be low."

Gu Yu gave him a grateful smile. "Even though our money isn’t as valuable as White Notes, I’ve saved up quite a bit these past years. It’s enough to exchange for a long-term residency permit. Life might not be as comfortable as before, but at least from now on, even if I die in an instance, my family won’t be kicked out onto the street. That’s enough."

Xu Huo fell silent for a moment, then said, "You can keep your house in Ting City. You can always come live here in the future."

Gu Yu’s smile deepened. "With you here, Ting City will definitely become the safest city."

Her phone rang. After saying a quick goodbye, she left the room.

"Even a big star like Gu Yu is living like this. I really didn’t expect that," Yuan Yao suddenly leaned over and said.

"You were eavesdropping?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow.

"How can that count as eavesdropping? It’s not like you were using a Prop. I just accidentally overheard..." Yuan Yao hurriedly changed the subject. "Gu Yu’s family is in Jing City, and she’s always had a good relationship with the Special Defense Department. They invite her to some of their promotional events; she basically acts as a sort of image ambassador. Yet in private she’s still targeted like this. The Special Defense Department is really just eating for nothing."

"Good thing the people from the Special Defense Department already left, or you would definitely get the crap beaten out of you," Xu Huo took a sip of tea.

"You can’t really blame the Special Defense Department for this," Liu Jia couldn’t help saying. "There are just too many Players. The Special Defense Department has so few people, and so many things they have to do—how could they possibly take care of everything? Besides, whenever there’s any sign of trouble, those people just flee into the game. The Special Defense Department doesn’t have the manpower to set up long-term control everywhere... We can only pin our hopes on the future, when Advanced instruments are widely available."

"I forgot you’re with the Special Defense Department too, one of the fish that slipped through the net." Yuan Yao grinned.

Liu Jia glared at him. "I’m just telling the truth."

"Okay, okay, I misspoke." Yuan Yao poured her some tea. "Let’s not argue about this. But I think Gu Yu’s plan isn’t wrong. It’s inconvenient when you’re dragging your whole family along. We can’t get into the classified safe zones inside our country anyway, so moving to a more stable place is pretty good too."

Liu Jia was also helpless. "If everyone leaves, what will we do in the future?"

"We’ll talk about the future when it comes. For now, we’ve got to survive first, right?" Yuan Yao didn’t feel the slightest psychological burden. "Don’t forget, Gu Yu is one of the rich people who can actually leave. Most people can’t even scrape together that kind of money, okay?"

Liu Jia was rather depressed and muttered, "I just feel like it shouldn’t be like this..."

"This is how the world is. Even those Rank-A and Rank-B Wormhole Points whose technology and culture are hundreds of years ahead of ours are more or less the same," Zhou Ning said. "A foreign land isn’t a paradise, and your homeland isn’t a purgatory. Everyone just makes different choices, that’s all."

Liu Jia couldn’t help but hug her.

Then she added, "Ting City will definitely become better in the future."

"No question about it." Yuan Yao gave a thumbs up. "With my Brother Xu acting as the Seastabilizing Needle, what short-sighted Player would dare stir up trouble?"

"Look, the Special Defense Department just posted a notice." Tan Yang and Huang Junjie walked over from a distance. "They directly made public the crimes of those Players who were killed, and they also released photos and everything. They didn’t explicitly say Mr. Xu dealt with them, but it’s already implied that today’s the day this wanted list got refreshed."

"These people from the Special Defense Department are really sly. They don’t say outright that the credit goes to my Brother Xu, and you’d think some incredible big shot had shown up at their branch!" Yuan Yao also opened it to look. "Ting City isn’t that big, but I didn’t expect it to be hiding over a hundred murderers like that. The most killed over a hundred people, the least killed a dozen or so. They’ve sure got guts. They’re pretty quick when it comes to killing ordinary people, but I’ve never seen them make a name for themselves in the game..."

"Speaking of reputation," he suddenly looked up, "with Brother Xu’s strength, you should have a ranking on the United Wormhole Point list, right?"

Xu Huo had never paid attention to it. For a typical Rank-C Player, the single Wormhole Point ranking carried more weight. Once you reached Rank-B, what you looked at was the United Wormhole Point ranking, and what you followed on the single Wormhole Point list expanded, at Rank-B, to the united rankings of Level Wormhole Points from your home Wormhole Point of the same level.

The population of a single district could reach tens of billions, and a Wormhole Point was often composed of dozens of districts, so a Player who could make it onto a single Wormhole Point ranking was absolutely an elite among elites.

And the united rankings of a dozen or even dozens of Wormhole Points required even more strength. On this fifty-thousand-person list, even the one in last place was definitely a powerhouse among Players of the same level in all the same-level Wormhole Points.

Of course, the list took into account instance clear ratings, but what you saw on this list wasn’t just instance ratings, it also reflected personal ability. Like Shi Sanjiu mentioned before, he could use this list to pick out people who had undergone Super Evolution. Presumably once someone made it onto the list, they would inevitably reveal some of their personal abilities while interacting with other Players, and naturally other Players would continuously add to the information on the list.

Xu Huo didn’t really think he’d made it onto the Rank-B list, because the last Rank-B instance had disappeared and he’d failed that clear, which would definitely drag down his overall score.