Chapter 99 – Deputy Commander Decrypted

A guilty conscience is a restless one, tossing and turning until dawn.

The faint morning light seeped through the curtains, bringing a touch of dawn’s vitality to the quiet bedroom. Unfortunately, the two occupants—one dead asleep like a log, the other groggy—were in no state to appreciate this bright scene.

Xiong Yun wasn’t picky about beds. His life of constant travel and moving around didn’t allow him the luxury of such a finicky habit. Thus, his first night at his business partner’s place had been blissful. In his dream, he wasn’t some broke guy sharing a bed with another man but a wealthy globetrotter touring the world. Currently, he was in Greece, embracing and kissing a golden-haired, blue-eyed beauty by the Aegean Sea. As they savored the moment, he asked the girl, “Will you be my girlfriend?” The girl gazed at him shyly, her lips parting slightly…

“You’re so toxic, so toxic, so toxic, wuwuwu~~~~”

Yanked violently out of his dream, Little Bear felt a lump of blood rise in his chest, his eyes nearly popping out of his skull with murderous rage: “What the hell is this?!!”

Before he could finish his outburst, his bedmate scrambled up in a panic, frantically searching around until he finally dug out the culprit from under his pillow. Without even bothering with slippers, he bolted out of the bedroom in a frenzy.

Diamond was completely baffled. What kind of madness was this? Some Chinese version of One Missed Call¹Refers to the Japanese horror film with that title.?

Had Fang Zheng known Diamond’s thoughts, he would have corrected him—ghosts weren’t scary; what was scary was having a guilty conscience. =_=

But right now, the guilty-ridden Legion Leader had no time to deal with Diamond. From the first note of “You’re So Toxic,” his sleep-deprived, muddled brain had instantly switched to high alert. By the time Diamond started yelling, his body had reacted before his brain could even process it—I need to take this call somewhere private!

Alas, as he burst out of the bedroom, he was greeted by Fifth Brother’s earnest smile from the couch, where he was watching the morning news: “Yo, up early?”

Not as early as you! TAT

Neither the living room nor the bedroom would work. The kitchen was semi-open, leaving only one room with a door…

“Hey, good morning, ha, ha, ha…”

“Mm,” Birdy responded. He had initially planned to ask why it took so long to answer, but he quickly realized there was a more pressing question. “What are you doing? Why are so out of breath?”

“Uh… jogging!” In critical moments, it all came down to quick thinking!

Birdy glanced at the time in the bottom right corner of his screen, half-convinced: “This early?”

“Haven’t been keeping up with my workouts the past couple of days. Did some soul-searching last night and decided to turn over a new leaf.”

“Oh…”

“Mm-hmm!”

“I didn’t doubt you. No need to emphasize.”

“……”

“You brought a radio while jogging?”

“Huh?”

“I heard the morning news.”

Damn, that flimsy bathroom door isn’t soundproof at all!! TAT

“That wasn’t me! Some old folks had theirs on. I’m in the park.”

“Oh…”

Fang Zheng resisted the urge to double down with another “Mm-hmm” and decided to wrap things up before he dug himself deeper: “Anyway, gotta go. Lots to do today. Still need to set up the Wi-Fi later. We’ll chat in-game.”

A brief silence on the other end, followed by a slow reply: “You have a desktop. Why do you need Wi-Fi?”

Digging his own grave was an art form, and the Ghost Server Legion Leader had mastered it to perfection. =_=

“I… bought a laptop!”

Fang Zheng resolved that if Birdy asked why he’d suddenly bought a laptop, he’d shut it down with a classic “Are you the census bureau? Mind your own business!”—a tactic as effective as a woman throwing a tantrum.

But Birdy didn’t press further. After a long pause, he simply said, “Oh…”

The Deputy Commander’s enigmatic response left the Legion Leader gripping his phone in the bathroom for several minutes after hanging up. Then it suddenly struck him—he never asked about the text.

He had time to reflect on slacking off his diet but not to reply to my text?

At the Overwinter Internet Cafe, Second Boss was unsettled by this question. Combined with the guy’s recent odd behavior, Second Boss sensed trouble. No—judging by the signs, trouble had already arrived.

Emotional cheating?

Physical cheating?

Planning to break up?

Suddenly realizing he actually preferred women?

“Your train of thought is a bit… jumpy,” Lu Yue remarked. He’d come to drag his childhood friend to the gym but had instead become an impromptu late-night radio love counselor. “If he really wanted to break up, why hide it? A simple ‘we’re not compatible’ is foolproof anywhere.”

Meng Chudong raised an eyebrow skeptically. “‘Not compatible’—that’s the universal cure?”

“No,” Lu Yue patted his friend’s shoulder. “It’s just especially fitting for you.”

“Just say I have a bad personality and be done with it.”

“That’d be too harsh. I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

“……”

Lu Yue knew his childhood friend wasn’t actually speechless—he was just deep in thought.

Sure enough, after a moment, Meng Chudong wore a look of introspection. “I guess I am particularly harsh with him.”

Lu Yue spread his hands with a “See? Told you so” look. “So you can’t blame him for keeping things from you. Maybe he’s just afraid of being verbally annihilated.”

“But I can’t help it. What do I do?” Meng Chudong was genuinely troubled. Right now, all he could do was tease from afar—what would happen when they met in person?

An image of the Legion Leader surfaced in his mind. The Deputy Commander was absolutely certain that face-to-face, he’d be pinching those cheeks. =_=

Unaware of his friend’s mental image, Lu Yue only felt unnerved by the oddly eager expression and offered his honest advice: “Buddy, this is a sickness. You need help.”

After a full day of chaos, the Wi-Fi was finally set up just before sunset. The two laptop-wielding gentlemen, having detected the wireless signal, immediately forgot about the existence of their free landlord, Fang Zheng the chubby guy, and dove headfirst back into their lifelong gaming careers. Not to be outdone, the chubby landlord, armed with the stability of a wired connection, managed to log into Huaxia on his desktop before they did.

[Legion] Crossplayer’s Blessing: What do I see?? The Legion Leader is online!!!

[Legion] 2B Fighter Jet: Damn!

[Legion] Little Lucky Charm: Ahhh!

[Legion] Refined Into a Demon 715: [Shocked]

[Legion] Milk is Mom: Are you guys sure this reaction is for the Legion Leader logging in and not Final Destination?

[Legion] Blood Bulls Don’t Graze: This is the people’s deep longing for you.

[Legion] Milk is Mom: I’ve only been gone a day.

[Legion] Drink Your Sister 3X: A day in the mortal world, a millennium in the game.

[Legion] Polly: Time flies, seas turn to fields.

[Legion] Milk is Mom: Did we rebrand as the Ghost Server Poetry Club? =_=

Once in the YY channel and bombarded with updates from his teammates, Fang Zheng finally learned what the big deal was—the key level 70 map had been leaked!

The story traced back to yesterday, late afternoon to be precise.

In the Dragon Soars Tiger Roars server, a random party, like all Huaxia players, was stuck at level 69, scouring heaven and earth for a breakthrough. They employed a meticulous grid search, spending days combing through every inch of the map—every NPC, elite mob, oddly shaped plant, or suspicious-looking object—even scoring first kills on a few world bosses. Finally, as the sun set yesterday, they unlocked the door to the mystery. Of course, they didn’t complete it, as the max-level bounty post made clear: once someone hit level 70, a system-wide announcement would go out across all servers.

In theory, such valuable intel should’ve been guarded as tightly as when Fang Zheng’s crew cracked level 66. But this was a pickup group—these players had barely known each other a few days, and one of them happened to belong to an established guild. Why would someone with a guild join a pickup group? Because his actual guild was in the neighboring Wandering the Four Seas server, and this was just an alt in Dragon Soars Tiger Roars. Thus, a certain guild in Wandering the Four Seas also got wind of the secret. Within that guild was a show-off—no one knew who—who used an alt to post a screenshot of the quest location’s scenery on the forums under the flashy title Level 70 Is Within Reach! The intent was merely to flaunt their knowledge of the level 70 quest location. The image showed no NPCs or clues and had been Photoshopped, making it hard to identify at first glance. But Huaxia players were resourceful—if you could edit it, they could reverse-engineer it. Eventually, a unique plant in the screenshot led to the answer: the Central Plains!

The Central Plains was a region in Huaxia so thoroughly trampled by players it might as well have been paved. Whether heading out for quests or dungeons, eight out of ten trips passed through here. Sometimes it was just a teleport hub; other times, players stuck around—the main city of Xi’an was vast, its commerce thriving, with nearby attractions like the Terracotta Warriors dungeon, the Huaqing Pool dating hotspot, and Mount Li’s gathering paradise. For 150 Huaxia Coins, you could even ascend the Bell and Drum Towers for a panoramic view and a lucky draw.

Precisely because of its accessibility—and the many obscure new maps added in recent updates—no one expected the max-level key to be hidden here. The answer was shared by a kind soul in some later forum post, and once it spread, the entire Huaxia universe erupted. Every server, new or old, god-tier or ghost, as long as it had living players, poured into the Central Plains. But the region spanned cities, suburbs, monster-filled open-world maps, and desolate wilderness. The screenshot only confirmed it wasn’t in the city—beyond that, players had to dig deeper.

As of now, whether anyone else had unlocked the quest remained unknown, but it was certain no one had cleared it yet—the system-wide announcements were still silent on any congratulations for reaching level 70.

After hearing the team’s report, Fang Zheng couldn’t sit still. He immediately mobilized the entire Ghost Server Legion for the Central Plains.

Only during the teleport did he notice something amiss—one comrade was missing. Over YY, he asked, “Where’s Mad Lad?”

Crossplayer: “Said he had some business trip for a couple days. Didn’t log in yesterday.”

Fang Zheng’s heart skipped a beat. “So if we find the quest now, do we wait for him? It’d suck if he came back to find everyone maxed out except him.”

Refined Into a Demon: “Legion Leader, I think you’re overthinking it.”

Fang Zheng thought about it. “True. He doesn’t care about reward packages anyway. He’d just throw money at top-tier gear.”

Your Uncle: “Legion Leader, I think 438 meant the odds of us finding the level 70 quest aren’t great, and even if we do, clearing it is even less likely. So don’t worry about Mad Lad catching up—just go for it…”

Legion Leader: “……”

Diamond: “If you’re mad, just yell. Don’t hold it in. You’re already balloon-like as it is. Hahaha…”

Legion Leader: “Piss off!”

Diamond: “There, there…”

Legion Leader: “PISS OFF ALREADY!!!”

The others could only listen, but Fifth Brother had a front-row seat to Diamond poking the bear and getting swatted down, granting him a rare sense of superiority and amusement.

As expected, the Central Plains were packed. Some hotspots, like the Qinling Mountains, were so laggy players had to toggle off everyone outside their party, leaving only floating names to keep the game running smoothly. Along the way, the Ghost Server crew crossed paths with Huaxia Dominion, Meteor Blitz, War Banner, and even their in-laws at Five Peaks Pavilion. Countless smaller legions and solo players scurried about, leaving no stone unturned from the highest heavens to the deepest seas.

By the end of the night, the Ghost Server had come up empty-handed. Perhaps as consolation, the game gods spawned a never-before-seen world boss, which the dejected Fang Zheng and his crew stumbled upon just as they were about to call it quits.

No time to hesitate—if you can’t catch fish, shrimp will do. Charge!

Exploring uncharted territory required caution, but ten level 69s ganging up on a level 65 world boss, even an unfamiliar one, was child’s play. The team quickly formed an encirclement, chatting away in YY while dishing out damage.

But they’d forgotten an old saying: Better safe than sorry.

Distracted by the banter, the Legion Leader hesitated for half a second during a critical heal, and Fighter Jet went down. Blood Bull quickly used an aggro-pulling skill, redirecting the boss’s attention to the Berserker. Fang Zheng hurried to revive Fighter Jet, but at the same moment, the boss landed a critical hit, instantly killing Blood Bull! The freshly resurrected Fighter Jet, still weak, dared not draw aggro again—that’d be suicide. So after downing Blood Bull, the boss turned to the next highest aggro target: the highest DPS, Refined Into a Demon. Poor 438 was innocent—originally, the boss had aimed for his pet, but since the fight had been going smoothly, he hadn’t paid much attention to positioning. Now, standing in a straight line with his pet and too close, the boss unleashed a flame attack that looked like the jalapeño from Plants vs. Zombies. The pet lost half its HP, but the squishy caster 438 was reduced to ashes.

Fang Zheng had just revived Blood Bull. Even with a short cooldown, resurrection skills still had cooldowns. So while spamming heals on Fighter Jet, he directed the secondary healer: “Fifth Brother, revive 438!”

Fifth Brother didn’t need to be told—he’d already fulfilled his backup healer duties.

Fang Zheng exhaled in relief and reminded the other casters, Lucky Charm and 2nd to No1: “You two are squishy too. Watch yourselves.”

Your Uncle declared confidently: “Don’t worry, Legion Leader! I’m attacking from range. The boss can’t—damn it!”

Another soul ascended to the heavens.

No one pitied him. Nope, no one.

So the only one left to worry about was 2nd to No… Wait. Fang Zheng glanced at the party status bar. Out of ten, only nine portraits remained. At least Your Uncle’s grayed-out icon was still there—where the hell was 2nd to No1? =_=

Fang Zheng: “Diamond, what’s going on?”

Another look at the party list—Fifth Brother… gone.

“What the hell?!!” Fang Zheng wanted to cry.

Diamond was equally frustrated: “No idea. The game just disconnected out of nowhere.”

2B was baffled: “Then how are you still in YY?”

Diamond: “The game crashed, not the internet.”

Blood Bull: “Usually, that means an unstable connection. Games are more sensitive than other programs.”

Diamond had an epiphany: “Legion Leader, your crappy internet!”

Fang Zheng was speechless. He was about to retort that Diamond, who hadn’t paid a cent and was freeloading, had no right to complain, but 438 beat him to it: “What does Fifth Brother’s disconnection have to do with the Legion Leader’s internet?”

2B: “Damn it, heal me quick!”

Your Uncle: “Legion Leader, save me~~~5555~~~~”

In all his years of gaming, Fang Zheng had never been so grateful to a boss. If not for its timely aggression, 438’s earlier comment would’ve been the equivalent of the child in The Emperor’s New Clothes pointing out the obvious. TAT

“Chill, I got you!” After tossing out an AoE heal, he followed up with a resurrection. “Your Uncle, pop a health pot first.”

2B: “Raaah, I’m going back in!”

Your Uncle: “Legion Leader, I’m out of pots…”

Diamond exhaled deeply, switching his YY mic to push-to-talk (F2) and not daring to move recklessly.

The daggers shooting from the eyes beside him were practically flaying him alive. Fifth Brother’s smirk seemed to say, Intelligence is your fatal flaw. Ugh, it wasn’t like they were doing anything shady—why was the damn fatty lying left and right, dragging him into this mess?!

Finally reconnecting to the game, Diamond found the boss down to 20% HP. He was debating whether to let his teammates finish it off or ask Fang Zheng to reinvite him so he could still get loot when the boss died, but then a line of text popped up in the bottom-left corner—

[Whisper] Polly: You’re with Fang Zheng.

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  Refers to the Japanese horror film with that title.