Just as he was about to make his move, Zhou Ning had already noticed two additional people behind a nearby rock.

These two had probably just come online, and even Zhou Ning was initially startled by them, thinking he had encountered two elusive superhumans.

Then, hearing their deliberately suppressed exclamations from behind the rock, and the opening line, “Audience members, look who we’ve met! the legendary golden thigh!” he narrowed his eyes, realizing that the hidden individuals were two players, and even streamers.

However, Zhou Ning didn't specifically drag them out, but allowed them to observe the entire process.

Popularity was crucial at the beginning of the game, and having streamers film his entire battle from a 'candid' perspective would give the audience an unparalleled sense of immersion, which would be very helpful for his popularity.

Therefore, Zhou Ning deliberately avoided any unnecessary talk with the Gloomy Man from beginning to end, and chose to kill the Gloomy Man in the most crushing manner, striving to demonstrate his strength to the players.

This, oh, this is a win-win.

As soon as Zhou Ning finished speaking, rustling sounds came from behind the rock, and a male and female player walked out.

The male player's ID above his head read'Shifeng,' and the female player's read 'Axia,' both wearing the standard beginner's three-piece set.

Zhou Ning:...Don't think I don't understand! You're being lewd, aren't you?

It was truly unexpected; he never thought that even as an NPC, he could be fed a dog food moment!

The male player Shifeng walked over, a smile plastered on his face: “Boss, we weren’t intentionally peeking, you see... is there anything we can help you with?”

“Hmm.”

Zhou Ning finished searching Wright Phillips’s corpse and stood up.

The haul was quite good; Wright actually had nearly 1000 Victa and 4 special talismans on him. According to Jasmine, they were well-made, each costing between 300 and 400 Victa. They were Thorns, Imprisonment, Waves, and Flames. The activation method was to recite the corresponding ancient farik language and communicate with them using mental power.

In addition, Zhou Ning also found a manor pass and an identification tag similar to an ID card.

His residence was at 49 Levia Street, a standard wealthy area.

Including the superhuman potion money, this robbery brought in over 10,000 Victa. This Wright Phillips was truly a money-delivering child. Zhou Ning expressed his satisfaction.

Even when looking at the two silly players, a smile appeared on his face. He sized them up and down, then edited and sent them a quest.

Shifeng paused slightly, seeing a prompt pop up on his panel:

“You have triggered an E-rank quest 【Handle the Scene】. Due to an accident, you witnessed the protagonist Wayne Sterwell killing an enemy. Help him handle the scene and keep this secret, and you will gain Wayne Sterwell’s favor.”

The quest reward was 2000 experience points and 10 Groschen.

“Husband, should we accept?” Axia whispered into Shifeng’s ear.

“Is that even a question? Of course, we have to accept!” Shifeng was already ecstatic and said without hesitation.

Next, Zhou Ning held his umbrella, leisurely watching them busily clean up the scene. They somehow got a cloth bag, put the corpse into it, and quickly carried it away. After more than ten minutes, they finally completed the quest and happily returned.

Looking at their expectant gazes, Zhou Ning settled the quest and said indifferently: “Well done, adventurers, you have earned my basic trust. For a while, I will often stay at the Starlight Alchemy Shop at 17 Academy Street. If you have any news about the Cult of the Cursed God, you can come and tell me. Also, if you need anything, I can provide some goods.”

As he spoke, he brought up the item selling window, opening it to the two players. Of course, more importantly, it was for their live stream audience. Compared to when he opened it to XB over a month ago, Zhou Ning had added many more things, such as Alchemy potions, ordinary superhuman potions, the Wandering Gunslinger’s class change book, and most of its skills, various ordinary firearms and a large amount of ammunition exchanged with reputation from the Sun Keepers, and so on.

He also displayed a finished Devil Fruit there, setting its price at 800 Victa. Compared to merely drawing a pie last time, he was now prepared to sell Devil Fruits in large quantities, but he wasn’t going to sell them at a loss.

At this moment, Shifeng’s live stream chat was in a frenzy.

Although XB had previously live-streamed Zhou Ning’s personal shop, the many new items now available drove the audience even crazier.

“Holy crap...”

“Holy crap, so many cheap firearms! The cheapest pistol is now less than 3 Victa! Is this charity?”

“The price for using the stone mask has also dropped. Now it only costs 50 Victa for one use. I calculated it, according to the current exchange rate of 1 Victa for 400 yuan on the trading platform, I only need to invest 20,000 yuan to become a Vampire. I'll be soaring in minutes...”

“You upstairs are dreaming; do you dare to buy currency from the trading platform? Most currency sellers are all over the continent, and there are pitifully few near Daklan. Are you going to fly over to trade?”

“Everyone, move aside, my pee is yellow, I’ll splash him awake... Oh no! Stop! Ah! Stop it!”

“23333, you’ve had enough, upstairs.”

“You guys know nothing about the power of money! As far as I know, it’s only the second day of the open beta, and no less than 10 players have deposits exceeding 50 Victa...”

“Wait, am I the only one who noticed that the class change price also dropped? Now it only costs 12 Victa to change to a Wandering Gunslinger!”

“Holy crap, charge, charge, I’m going to learn everything!”

Shifeng and Axia whispered to each other for a while, pooled their money, and then Shifeng paid for a cheap revolver and chose a skill to learn.

【Your Sun Keepers' standard-issue revolver has been sold! You gained 3 Victa and 7 Groschen】

【Your general skill 【Shooting Mastery】 has been learned! You gained 2000 experience and 10 Groschen】

【Your general skill 【Evasion】 has been learned! You gained 3000 experience and 15 Groschen】

He didn't expect these two to be quite wealthy. After watching them reluctantly leave, Zhou Ning narrowed his eyes. All the bait had been cast; now it was up to the players to bite.

And tomorrow would be the moment to see the results.

Zhou Ning exhaled, his spirits lifted. He knew the players' personalities well; being an NPC was actually like a relationship between a man and a woman—the more one side invested, the deeper their obsession. Whether he could entice players to invest more depended on his own skill... Zhou Ning walked with his umbrella through the heavy mud, took out his pocket watch with his left hand, and checked the time. It was not yet 10 PM. According to his intelligence, the Rivers Family had a manor nearby. Should he... go and take a look?

The Rivers Family's manor was not far from here, less than 20 minutes away. It was a very spacious manor with vast lawns, hills, ponds, and extremely wide gardens.

Through the iron fence, Zhou Ning saw a large number of patrolling guards inside the gate. The security was quite tight.

Zhou Ning stood in the shadows, thought for a moment, then mixed one of Wright’s hairs into a transformation potion, tilted his head back, and drank it.

The effect was excellent. In an instant, Zhou Ning transformed into the Gloomy Man, even his clothes and the wrinkles on his face were identical to the Gloomy Man's. It was simply unscientific.

This transformation effect would automatically disappear after one hour.

Zhou Ning put away his umbrella and walked calmly towards the manor.