Chapter 151: A Horse Cannot Grow Fat Without Night Grass

Human greed is amplified infinitely within a game. Without the constraints of morality or the threat of death, almost any player will lunge forward without hesitation the moment they see profit. After all, on the internet, even if you are a dog, no one would know, and dying in the game simply requires clicking the resurrection button once more.

By the time Lin Jia and the others rushed over, a massive pile of players already lay dead on the ground. Roughly a dozen active players were frantically looting items from the earth. However, due to the level disparity, these active players would collapse almost instantly the moment they crossed paths with the frenzied "Crazy Tire" (referring to the mutated Black Evil Maggot). Furthermore, their moving figures drew the attention of the mutated Black Evil Maggots far more than the stationary players idling in the safe zone.

Pick it up, drop it upon death, resurrect and log back in, pick it up again, drop it again—these players continuously repeated this cycle. Despite dying repeatedly until their equipped gear was practically stripped clean, they showed not the slightest intention of giving up. This was because the gear dropped by chance upon each death was far less than the unexpected harvest remaining in their inventory. These low-level players likely shared a single mentality: as long as they managed to pick up a single top-tier item, it would completely make up for all their losses!

Those players who had already managed to grab a minor top-tier item sprinted desperately toward the Biche warehouse. The warehouse! As long as items were safely stored inside the warehouse, whatever was in their inventory truly belonged to them!

The first thing Lin Jia did upon arrival was cast the Banishment spell (Light of Temptation) in an attempt to recall those mutated Black Evil Maggots that had turned traitor. However, Lao Si next to him roared, "Don't charm them! Let them slaughter!"

Lin Jia was momentarily stunned, but he reacted immediately when he saw Lao Si and Lao Da already charging into the safe zone, frantically scooping up the items scattered across the ground. Lao Da in particular made absolute, flawless use of her Invisibility spell; moving and casting stealth step by step, she managed to remain largely unnoticed by the Black Evil Maggots. Having just repaired their gear and lacking the time to purchase potions, Lao Da and Lao Si possessed a staggering amount of free inventory space. Whether it was potions or equipment dropped on the ground, wherever they passed was cleaner than a dog having licked the floor.

Turning his head, Lin Jia spotted Mei Mei rushing toward the safe zone as well, presumably intending to snatch some spoils of war. Lin Jia hurriedly yelled, "Mei Mei! Don't come over! The safe zone isn't safe! Go hide inside a building! Better yet, run to the warehouse and store your gear before coming back!"

"Are you kidding?!" Mei Mei currently had several top-tier pieces of equipment on her; if those dropped upon death, the loss would literally kill her! Lin Jia didn't believe those players, whose average level didn't even reach 20, could possibly possess any genuinely good premium gear, and losing even one piece in exchange for trash wasn't worth it.

The number of players in the safe zone was dwindling, while the messy pile of items on the ground grew larger and larger. Lao Da and Lao Si had already started madly chugging the potions they picked up from their own inventories just to clear up grid space. After considering the situation, Lin Jia decided that his fragile little mage physique shouldn't go in to muddy the waters. With Lao Da and Lao Si acting as professional scavengers, they were more than capable of snatching whatever they wanted. He could just watch from the sidelines and stand ready to rescue them at a moment's notice.

Watching the two brothers looting the safe zone with absolute glee, Lin Jia could only curse why mages were so fragile, unable to participate whenever such exhilaratingly wicked things happened. Even if there weren't many good items, reaping ill-gotten gains was still immensely satisfying. Wasn't there a saying: "A person cannot grow rich without windfall wealth, and a horse cannot fatten without night grass"? And these fellows who refused to log off even when sleeping in the middle of the night were precisely that lush, fertile "night grass"!

Just as Lin Jia was standing by watching with drool dripping, the timer on his very last pet likely expired as it turned traitor. In the blink of an eye, it vanished, and Lin Jia's name suffix joined the ranks of the slaughter. The remaining players in the safe zone had dropped to less than half of what they were when he first arrived. A few chivalrous little mages, Taoists, and warriors stepped forward to attack the Black Evil Maggots, but a mob of item-hungry looters nearby immediately began shouting abuse: "What the hell!! You idiots!! Don't kill them!! Wait until they drop their gear so we can loot it!!"

Those players labeled as "idiots" likely realized by then that playing the hero was not a job for ordinary mortals. The warriors under level 7 who charged the mutated Black Evil Maggots were instantly suppressed by the aggro-driven monsters. For warrior players below level 20, even fighting a regular Black Evil Maggot was a painful ordeal. The high attack speed of the Black Evil Maggots forced them into a twitching dance while chanting, "I am conquered by you~~," only to finish with a high tenor note as they obediently collapsed onto the ground. And that was before considering the mutated Black Evil Maggots that had gained seven levels—their speed was far beyond what normal Black Evil Maggots could ever hope to match.

"Life is like a rape; if you lack the strength to resist, just close your eyes and enjoy it!!" Some time-traveling, illiterate writer muttered this classic quote, which would likely only circulate across the internet years later.

After that batch of chivalrous volunteers was "raped" by the Black Evil Maggots, everyone else left standing felt utterly powerless to resist, choosing instead to close their eyes and enjoy the climax. Among the remaining players in the safe zone were over a dozen high-level individuals who, from the very beginning until now, had remained completely indifferent to the chaos unfolding around them, treating their virtual lives with utter apathy. They were clearly asleep. Meanwhile, the players beginning to "enjoy the climax" lewdly lured the wandering Black Evil Maggots—which had been chasing scattered fleeing players—back through sheer, reckless devotion.

A select few clever players even coordinated perfectly with their Taoist friends. First, they sent the Taoist team member to select an AFK player they had their eyes on and stand right beside them. Then, they dispatched a swift runner to lure a Black Evil Maggot charging straight at the sleeping target. Fearlessly waiting for the Black Evil Maggot to finish them off, the AFK player standing closest to the monster naturally became its primary target. The outcome was entirely predictable: the gear dropped by the slaughtered player was snatched up and stuffed into the Taoist's inventory in the blink of an eye by someone who had been hiding nearby using Invisibility all along.

Before long, the "night grass" in the safe zone had been completely grazed clean. The corpses carpeting the ground lay piled thick, layer upon layer. Perhaps when those "night grass" players woke up the next day to find themselves lying dead on the floor with missing equipment, it would remain an unsolved mystery in their hearts for quite some time.

The four perpetrators who had slaughtered virtually all the players in the Biche Imperial City were eventually led away by surviving players to an unknown destination. As long as they remained alive, lurking in some corner of Biche Imperial City, they might just deliver a few unpleasant surprises to unsuspecting players before finally meeting their end.

Just a short distance above the safe zone stood the two Great Sword Guards guarding the Biche City river. A blind Black Evil Maggot, in its pursuit of a player, actually charged straight toward a Great Sword Guard. After two flashes of sword light, it was finally executed. In Legend, monster pets brought by mage players and skeletons raised by Taoist players were seemingly treated by the system as monster entities, prompting the city-guarding swordmen to actively attack them. If not for this specific mechanic, Lao Da's "Summon Skeleton" skill wouldn't have been leveled up so rapidly.

Retreating into the Biche warehouse, the four of them opened their inventories with hysterical laughter to split the loot. Aside from a vast quantity of low-level junk gear that could be sold off, Lin Jia and the others had picked up quite a few minor top-tier items. Though the Lin Jia brothers had no use for them, they managed to completely equip Mei Mei, while the rest could easily be handed over to Gu Feng Yizhen, that profiteer, to be put up for consignment sales.

Mei Mei cheered happily, "We're rich! We're rich! Those players must be heartbroken!"

Lao Si cackled darkly, "Rich? Come look at what I picked up!" With that, he swiveled his monitor toward Lin Jia and the others. Resting gleamingly inside his inventory were three bars of pure gold.

"What the hell! Are you kidding me? You even picked up gold bars? How is that even possible?!" Lin Jia said in disbelief, "Isn't this a bit too exaggerated?!" There was no need to discuss how useful three million gold coins would be to current players. What Lin Jia couldn't understand was why any player would carry such a massive fortune while standing around sleeping in the safe zone.

"I've decided! From now on, every single night I'm going to tame six Black Evil Maggots and leave them in the safe zone. Picking up gear this way feels so damn exhilarating!" Lin Jia was practically dying of excitement. This accidental windfall sparked another lucrative money-making scheme in Lin Jia's nimble brain, while also instilling a great habit among Guangmang's players for a long time to come: logging off before going to sleep. It even gave rise to a spreading urban legend about the "Mysterious Safe Zone Assassin."

"Hey~~ Did you know?! There's a player who can kill people inside the safe zone! Recently, they've been specializing in dropping gear in the safe zone! You better be careful when hanging AFK at night!"

"Tsk~~! What do you even know?! A buddy of mine secretly told me! It's the GM doing the killing!! The Legend GM probably has nothing better to do at night and goes around slaughtering people in the safe zone for fun! I'm only telling you, alright? Don't tell anyone I said it, or the GM might ban your account!"

"Huh? Really?! I had no idea! They ban accounts too?! That's terrifying~~ Why is the Legend GM so trashy?! This game is unplayable! I'm going to delete my character tomorrow to protest!"

"Right on! Bro, I spiritually support you!"

Meanwhile, the trio-brother squad and Mei Mei were roaming deep within the Biche mines, searching for the secrets of the hidden map known as the Corpse King Tomb. Compared to causing mischief and farming victims with rogue pets in the safe zone, the rewards waiting in the Corpse King Tomb held far more allure for Lin Jia and his crew. As for the "night grass" harvesting activities, they simply treated it as a bit of casual entertainment upon returning from their leveling grinds!