After AFK for five years, I returned to be number one in the entire server.

Jingzhou.

Tian Shu Headquarters.

In a vast greenhouse, some rare plants that have long since disappeared from the outside world are grown.

A man dressed in a handmade, custom-made casual outfit is sitting in a rosewood chair, holding a small pair of brass scissors, intently pruning a priceless ancient pine bonsai.

His movements were very light, and his gaze was as focused as that of a craftsman studying a work of art.

Outside the greenhouse stood a middle-aged man in a sharp black suit.

This commander-in-chief, who oversees the northern region of Tian Shu, is a genuine Yao-level player. Whenever he travels to any first-tier city, the mayor personally greets him at the airport.

At this moment, this important figure stood respectfully outside the door, his hands clasped together, like a student awaiting a teacher's judgment, as if afraid of disturbing the person inside who was pruning the branches.

The Xia and Shang dynasties had a population of over a billion, and more than three hundred cities operated day and night under the immense computing power of the Queen Mother of the West. It was a superpower so vast that an ordinary person could not possibly see its entirety in a lifetime.

Among the hundreds of thousands of players chosen by Xingyuan, the vast majority will only be a faint firefly in their entire lives.

Only after crossing the threshold called "Moon" can one truly make a name for themselves in the player's world.

If one can reach the Yao level, it will be enough for a city with a population of ten million to regard them as top combat power, occupy the top position of the branch, hold great power, and look down on the mortal world.

But there is ultimately a pinnacle in this world, and above those Yao-level beings who guard their respective regions, there are a few unspeakable existences.

They have no fixed jurisdiction and are not bound by conventional laws, because they themselves are the ballast used by this great power.

The man sitting in the expensive wooden chair right now, fiddling with pine needles, is one of them.

Three years ago, thirteen illegal overseas guilds joined forces to cross the border in an attempt to establish a lawless special zone on an island at the southern tip of Canglu. Upon receiving the news, he crossed the strait alone without a single soldier.

That night, the original landscape within a two-kilometer radius was abruptly flattened by an incomprehensible mass.

Two civilian players at the Chen level, five at the Yao level, and over four hundred high-level players, along with their ambitions, were all crushed into deep red soil by his terrifying magnetic field.

The man put down the brass scissors in his hand and picked up a warm, damp towel to wipe his hands.

"Come in."

Only then did the man in the suit outside dare to push open the door, walk to a spot three steps away from the rosewood table, and stop, bowing his head slightly.

"Mr. Xie."

Xie Chen tossed the damp towel onto the tray: "Did you find it?"

Feng Yuan looked ashamed: "There's no news. The intelligence department has sent out informants all over the country, and we've also contacted all the prominent guilds in the community, but we can't find a single trace of that person. It's like he just appeared out of thin air."

A few months ago, an earthquake occurred on the public leaderboard of Xia Shang's players.

An ID named "Muye" suddenly appeared at the top of the list without warning.

Before that, no one had ever heard of this name. His appearance was so sudden that it not only broke the ranking pattern that had lasted for two years, but also forced the Abyss Overlord, who had always held the number one position, to the second place.

That day, the whole world was in an uproar. All kinds of forces, financial groups, illegal organizations, and even top institutions from other continents, both domestic and foreign, were caught up in a frenzy of intelligence gathering.

All factions wanted to know who this Mu Ye was, what level of destructive power he possessed, and what his next move would be.

As the core supernatural power control organization of the Xia and Shang dynasties, Tian Shu was naturally eager to find out where this uncontrollable time bomb was hidden.

Unfortunately, the underlying code of the Queen Mother of the West contains a player privacy agreement with the highest priority.

As long as the player does not engage in any obviously illegal, disorderly, or nationally dangerous behavior, the Queen Mother of the West will not reveal the player's true identity and real-world coordinates to the human government.

This agreement is related to the early players and the birth of the Queen Mother of the West. Even Tian Shu has no right to bypass the highest government to forcibly break through the Queen Mother of the West's firewall.

Therefore, faced with this top spot that suddenly appeared out of nowhere, even with its vast resources, Tian Shu could only rely on its offline intelligence network to conduct the most basic investigation, like searching for a needle in a haystack.

……

……

The night wind howled over the nameless island.

A strong sense of jealousy mixed with contempt rose from the bottom of Luo Xiao's heart. How could this novice who didn't even know the basics of fighting possess such power?

However, in the player ecosystem, the balance of power never tilts solely towards the magnetic field; ability is also a crucial factor in determining life and death.

There are many examples of those whose magnetic fields are inferior, yet who use their powerful abilities to kill stronger enemies.

Luo Xiao flipped his wrist, and a dark gray, specially made military dagger appeared in his hand.

His ability is the Blade of the Void, which gives his attacks extremely strong cutting power.

This is a pure and extreme sharpness. When the ability is attached to a physical weapon, the destructive power increases exponentially. It can even cut through materialized gravity and high-concentration magnetic fields at the same time.

A faint, strange halo appeared on the edge of the dagger as Luo Xiao held it horizontally in front of him.

Despite Luo Xiao's strenuous resistance, Lin Ye's magnetic field still made his body feel incredibly heavy.

However, for a top assassin who constantly walks the line between life and death, this level of interference is not enough to be fatal, and he can maintain his normal rhythm of action and attack.

The balance of power shifted subtly at that moment.

Luo Xiao's pupils reflected a cruel excitement. As Lin Ye teleported close, Luo Xiao suddenly exerted force in his arm, and the dagger drew a sharp crescent-shaped arc in the air.

Just as Lin Ye's fingers were about to touch Luo Xiao, he instinctively sensed that deadly sharpness.

His figure suddenly became ethereal, vanishing from the spot half a second before the blade was about to pierce his flesh.

boom!

Luo Xiao's dagger missed its mark, the sharp blade creating a piercing sonic boom as it sliced ​​through the air.

A few dozen meters away, Lin Ye's figure reappeared.

He lowered his head, and a cut appeared silently on his collar.

Upon seeing this scene, Luo Xiao's lips curled into a wide smile, his eyes filled with bloodthirsty fervor.

If you can break through their defenses and dodge, it proves that they are also flesh and blood beings who can be injured.

Luo Xiao was no longer in a passive defensive posture. He shot out like a rocket and took the initiative to attack Lin Ye.

He had already rehearsed dozens of close-quarters combat moves in his mind. As long as the distance closed, he was confident that with the "Broken Blade of the Void," he could disembowel this novice who only had strength within three moves.

However, Lin didn't even glance at him. Faced with the rapidly approaching deadly threat, he had no intention of parrying or fighting back.

Just as Luo Xiao's blade tip entered a five-meter radius around Lin Ye, Lin Ye's figure vanished without warning once again.

This time, Lin didn't appear dozens of meters away. Instead, he teleported directly to a high altitude hundreds of meters away, quietly looking down at Luo Xiao, who had missed his target.