Chapter 104

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Chapter 104: Private Transactions

After the meeting ended, Xue Quan deliberately lingered in the conference room for a quarter of an hour. Only when everyone else had left did he mentally call out to Chaoyang, “Mr. Host, can we talk alone for a moment?”

The new player’s performance at the meeting had left a strong impression on Chaoyang, so he appeared as a holographic figure. “If you have questions about the Paradise game, I can answer them for you.”

“Although I have many questions about the Paradise, I doubt you’ll tell us the true answers to the core issues.” Xue Quan sat down again, his tone brisk. “Let me get straight to the point. I learned from Zhou Zhi that the main weapons currently in Glorious Fortress are old flintlocks and steam guns, firing mostly round-nose bullets. But what you’ve distributed to everyone are export products like the CQ-B. Although they have a crushing advantage in firepower, they’re very limited in variety, and I haven’t seen any exchange options for armor-piercing weapons yet. This means when the enemy uses armored weapons, the players are left quite vulnerable.”

He spoke rapidly, as if he had been considering this issue for a long time.

“Also, Zhou Zhi mentioned that during the last evacuation, you provided an vintage car for the mission, but its level of technology isn’t suitable as the sole means of escape. So I’ve been wondering, when the Paradise creates objects, could there be some kind of limitation factor, and might this restriction be originating from Earth?”

This time, It was Chaoyang’s turn to be surprised.

How could this man have such clear ideas without even experiencing a single round of the game? He had only heard Zhou Zhi describe the experiences from previous iterations. And he was able to piece together this much?

Watching the host remained silent, Xue Quan waved dismissively, his smile returning. “I’m not here to uncover any mysteries. It’s just that my previous line of work made me pay close attention to these kinds of things. Sometimes a piece of advanced technology—even if it was smuggled—could completely change the outcome of a small battle.”

“You mean your work in Iraq?” Chaoyang decided to take control of the conversation.

Xue Quan looked a little surprised befo sighing. “…I didn’t realize you knew about that.”

“Background checks on Players are a fundamental part of the Paradise’s operations.”

During the two days since he’d returned to Earth, aside from sending that rock to Zhang Zhiyuan, the other thing he’d done was watch remotely as the Sentinel Department was set up. To be honest, not having surveillance or electronic devices at the meetings caused him some trouble. Most areas of the new department were dead zones for the internet, so he couldn’t find out what exactly everyone had discussed.

But this didn’t mean Chaoyang was helpless in the situation. After all, people eventually have to leave those premises.

Every one of the cameras on the street was his eye.

The sentinel department had done well—so much so that, to secretly deliver the letter for selecting individuals, they hadn’t even sent it through the postal system, but had someone personally hand-deliver it.

The problem was, all personnel leaving the Sentinel Department were marked by the system. Any time any of those people connected back to the system, whether it was by carrying a cell phone, using a vehicle’s navigation system, or getting being captured by cameras, they became his surveillance target.

The courier delivering Xue’s recruitment letter led him straight to Xue Quan.

Chaoyang didn’t know what was in that letter, but that hardly mattered now. He checked the local police station’s system for the residents’ names in that building, then used those names to search through the big data center. Xue Quan’s basic background was soon laid out in front of him. He was a former private military contractor, specialized in arms procurement.

“I have to admit that Paradise’s reach keeps surprising me. But there are some things you’re probably having trouble getting.” Xue Quan picked up his tea cup and took a sip as if he had completely forgotten the pause in his speech from earlier. “Automated firearms from abroad? If you have the right connections, you can always find a weapon or two. But heavy weapons and explosives are different; no matter where you are, they’re strictly controlled worldwide. What I mean is, perhaps there’s a way for us to help Paradise in this aspect—as what Zhang Zhiyuan wouldn’t be able to acquire, I might.”

At that moment, Chaoyang finally understood what the man was trying to say.

It must be said, this proposal was truly quite appealing to him!

Replicating weapons required actual physical objects. Small arms like spears and grenades were manageable, but larger weapons like RPGs and cannons were much harder to come by.

The most infuriating issue was that Modern targeting weapons were typically electrically powered. Whether through optical targeting or electronic firing mechanisms, replicating such weapons would be useless for this world.

Ideally, having someone create custom weapons for the Paradise, which are tailored to the unique environment of this world, would be the best solution.

After all, if the players had more powerful tools, it would directly enhance the overall strength of the Paradise himself.

“I see, your vision is certainly impressive,” Chaoyang said, deliberately adopting an ambivalent tone. “If we could support customization, I don’t think the Paradise would refuse. However, any compensation would have to be in the form of credits. Naturally, your rewards list would be adjusted accordingly.”

“That’s not a problem. We’re quite willing to give it a try,” Xue Quan replied with a smile.

***

Luo Di pushed open the warehouse’s heavy iron door and whistled sharply.

Her companions, who had been waiting in the warehouse, instantly perked up and rushed over.

“Miss Angel’s back! Shouldn’t we line up to welcome her?” Manager Qing said with an intention of teasing.

“We’re lining up, we’re lining up! I’ll be first!” Hill smiled as he spoke.

“Alright, alright,” Luo Di pushed away her boisterous friends. “It’s not like this is the first time I’ve come back. How many times do you want to play the same joke on me?”

Back then, after Chaoyang had robbed the train, he returned to the modern world for two days. There was no point in Luo Di staying alone in the other world, so she also returned to Earth. Due to the time difference, to everyone it seemed like she had disappeared for less than a day. To the team, she’d simply said she was meditating in her room.

“Back? Weren’t you locked in your room, meditating?” Qing tilted his head.

“Oh, same thing,” Luo Di laughed. “Enough joking around. Frey, how’s the task we assigned you going?”

The girl with braided pigtails opened her tablet. “I’ve been keeping an eye on the bandit’s inbox, so we have a good idea of his whereabouts. But as you know, online information can be unreliable, so even I have a 1% margin for error!”

Everyone knew that the guy Frey was talking about was Lucy, the boss of the Skull Jaw Gang. As the biggest gang in L City, Lucy’s name was famous in the underground world. His empire spanned drug-fueled clubs and “legitimate” front companies, protected by layers of proxies and high-priced lawyers. He controlled all the bars, clubs, and private rooms in the Lower City and made huge profits from selling addictive drugs. Wayne Jenkins, whom the Skull’s Hand had targeted before, was one of his partners—or to be more exact, the supplier of his materials.

But despite being such an notorious figure, the police had never caught him. Lucy hardly ever did things himself; he had plenty of underlings willing to do his dirty work, along with expensive lawyers to keep him out of trouble. On the surface, he was a proper businessman who even paid taxes to the government.

“The supply to the bars has recently decreased,” bran pointed out. “That’s our doing, but without Wayne, Lucy will definitely look for a new supplier.”

“So he should be our next target,” Luo Di said without hesitation.

“He’s not easy to deal with,” Qing cautioned him. “Wayne wasn’t from around here, so he had no connections in L City. But Lucy is different.” His Voice softened “Although I know too… that he was the one who was responsible for murdering Coalball’s family.”