A sudden voice made Li Xin startle.
She turned to find Bai Lian standing right behind her, a mocking expression on his face.
“You…” She thought she’d misheard and glanced back at the base gate, her face registering astonishnt as if she’d seen a ghost. “How did you get here?”
She hadn’t noticed his approach at all. Moreover, the others in the camp continued chatting without any reaction, aning none of them had sensed Bai Lian’s presence either.
How had he appeared so stealthily?
“Just a title ability, nothing special,” Bai Lian shrugged, pulling over a chair and sitting down. “Who would’ve thought you enjoy gossiping behind people’s backs?”
Li Xin rolled her eyes.
“Did I say anything untrue? You’re a miser who wouldn’t give away a single strand of hair.”
Bai Lian didn’t respond, rely extending his hand in front of her face and saying:
“Transfer the Rule Points.”
“Captain, is this cute guy our new recruit?” The girl with heavy makeup and twin pigtails eyed Bai Lian curiously as she addressed Li Xin.
Li Xin, opening her stats panel to transfer points, pursed her lips:
“He’s a big shot—sothing our guild wouldn’t dare dream of.”
Receiving the transfer of 30,000 Rule Points, Bai Lian bead. Hearing Li Xin’s remark, he corrected her with a serious expression:
“Now that’s just wrong! What makes you think I look down on you? It’s just that your guild can’t offer a competitive salary. If you paid properly, I’d not only join but do whatever you wanted.”
Who could even et your demands?!
Li Xin was speechless.
The pigtailed girl, watching their exchange, narrowed her eyes slyly and asked with a smile:
“Xin-jie, are you two… y’know, that kind of involved?”
“What kind?” Li Xin shot her a cold glare.
The girl clapped her hands in front of Li Xin’s face and lowered her voice:
“You know… that kind? Xin-jie, you get what I an, right?”
“Absolutely not! Anyone who gets involved with him ends up unlucky. If I got tangled with him, I’d probably get sold off while counting his money for him,” Li Xin imdiately cut off her dangerous train of thought. She glanced at Bai Lian, leaned closer to the girl, and whispered:
“This guy’s dangerous. He swindles other players—especially naive, trusting ones like you. Don’t get too close, or one day he’ll con you out of everything.”
“Captain, did he already con you out of everything?” The girl completely ignored Li Xin’s warning, zeroing in on the odd detail instead.
Li Xin flicked her forehead:
“Focus on your work at your age, not spouting nonsense. One more joke like that, and I’m assigning you to intel duty!”
“Intel duty” in their organization ant gathering information—grunt work usually reserved for rookie mbers.
“I’m not a kid anymore!” the girl puffed out her chest, trying to assert her maturity.
“Seems your family’s well-off. Rich girl, huh?” Bai Lian eyed her with interest.
The girl’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Bai Lian:
“How’d you know? Did you hear about ?”
“Silly, he’s teasing you,” Li Xin tapped her forehead, already weary of the girl’s bizarre logic.
Ignoring her naivete, Li Xin turned to Bai Lian and introduced:
“This is Wu Fanfan. She’s a bit… eccentric. Don’t you dare scam her.”
“Not interested,” Bai Lian glanced at Wu Fanfan, who clearly hadn’t reached adulthood, and shook his head.
Li Xin looked skeptical but didn’t want to dwell—she was more curious about which dungeon Bai Lian had entered this ti:
“Which dungeon did you get this ti?”
“Genetic Tower,” Bai Lian replied calmly. It wasn’t worth hiding—news of the Professionals’ Association’s failure there would spread soon anyway. Better to be upfront.
“Genetic Tower?” Li Xin was slightly surprised. The dungeon’s notorious difficulty was well-known—arguably the hardest among D-rank dungeons. Moreover, no one had ever cleared it above a B-rating. Players knew very little about it; the only known strategy was to survive 15 days. That’s why Genetic Tower intel and guides sold for astronomical sums on public channels.
“Did you clear it?” A thought flashed in Li Xin’s mind, and she added: “I an, did you get another top rating?”
Bai Lian leaned back, feigning annoyance:
“Tsk, is this how you treat guests? Not even offering tea?”
Hearing this while full of anticipation, Li Xin’s mouth twitched. She turned to Wu Fanfan beside her:
“Go pour our ‘New King’ a cup of cappuccino.”
A mont later, Wu Fanfan returned with two cups of coffee. She handed one to Bai Lian and kept the other for herself.
...
Li Xin sat alone on her chair, watching the two with their coffees, utterly baffled.
But it didn’t matter—the guide was what mattered!
“Got your drink. Will you talk now?” Li Xin pressed impatiently.
Bai Lian took a small sip of coffee, then said flatly:
“No.”
“Believe it or not, I’ll dump this coffee on your head right now!” Li Xin clenched her fists, teeth gritted, glaring daggers at him. Her fist hovered, ready to strike.
“Kidding, kidding! Don’t take it seriously,” Bai Lian laughed, waving a hand. Clearing his throat, he continued seriously:
“You guessed right. I got the top rating again.”
“So you have a full Genetic Tower guide?” A spark lit in Li Xin’s eyes. Securing this guide would solidify her position in the organization.
“I do,” Bai Lian nodded.
“I have a C-rank dungeon guide. Trade?” Li Xin began bargaining. Such valuable intel naturally required equal exchange.
“A C-rank guide?” Bai Lian pondered, then shook his head:
“Doubt it’ll be useful to . Keep it.”
Li Xin froze. She hadn’t expected such a firm refusal. A C-rank guide for a D-rank Genetic Tower guide seed like a fair trade to her.
“Alright. If you ever want to sell your guide, contact first,” Li Xin nodded, not pushing further. After all, it was just a guide—not critical.
“Next ti for sure!” Bai Lian winked.
anwhile, Wu Fanfan listened intently to every word. As Bai Lian finished, she asked excitedly:
“Big Bro, are you the one who got an S-rank in the beginner dungeon?”
“Yeah. Unless there’s soone else, probably ,” Bai Lian nodded calmly.
“Wow!” Wu Fanfan nearly jumped with excitent, gazing at him in admiration. “Big Bro, you’re amazing! How’d you do it? I only got a B in my beginner dungeon!”
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