Spy Family

(Thanks to every reader who tipped, and thanks to the following eight alliance leaders: Hailanzhu, Hello Ansheng, Weibingdashou, lenei, Crab Monkey, Xiangriyue, Bird Juanfeifreedom, and nocrykyle.)

"Spies and chefs have one thing in common." The third uncle raised two fingers of his right hand. The index finger was obviously shorter than the middle finger. To him, this did not represent a number, but an emphasizing movement. It was a bit of a deterrent, and he probably thought that instead of hiding the disability, it would be better to use it to scare the students.

“No matter what ingredients are put on the table, the chef has to use a few knives to cut, slice, dice, shred...at least a few cuts. Even if it is a top-quality steak, he has to use the knife in every corner. , cut off the fascia. The same goes for spies. When faced with the information you get, the first thing you have to do is to 'cut' it into several pieces to prepare for emergencies."

Mei Qianzhong was a loyal enforcer of this rule, and he cut the knife even more severely, cutting it beyond recognition.

"You two will start playing a game today, and you will reach level ninety-nine within seven days. There are no other requirements for the time being. I wish you a good time. I have brought a microcomputer that can be used by two people at the same time."

The microcomputer is a small rectangular box, stacked on the sofa with several peripheral devices. It looks very old.

Mei Qianzhong stood up and suddenly laughed, "I forgot to mention that the game is called "Home Star Territory". You should have heard of it. You may have played it when you were young."

"That's an extremely old game." Lu Yezhou had an impression.

Mei Qianzhong walked out, "Keep playing, it's quite interesting."

"Then what?"

"Wait for my next order." Mei Qianzhong had already put away his smile, but specifically nodded to Lu Linbei. Although they were the same team member, he gave him a completely different attitude.

Lu Yezhou didn't care about this, and didn't dare to ask about the game anymore, but there was one thing he had to figure out, "Well...should we have an entry procedure or something?"

"Don't worry, we'll talk about it later. Anyway, just look for me."

As Mei Qianzhong walked out, Lu Yezhou kept winking, hoping that Lu Linbei would say something, but when he didn't get a response, he had to bravely shout: "We are about to run out of money to eat..."

Mei Qianzhong had already walked down the stairs.

"We really have no money, how about we eat instant meals every day from now on?" Lu Yezhou couldn't hide his dissatisfaction.

The two closed the door and looked at the things on the sofa. Lu Yezhou was confused, "We are really asked to play a game. What kind of mission is this?"

Lu Linbei sat down, put on his glasses, put the control panel on his knees, turned on the microcomputer, and asked, "What kind of game is this?"

Lu Yezhou had no choice but to sit on the other side, "It's a very ordinary game. The highest level is ninety-nine. You can recruit one more subordinate for each level. There are two types of subordinates: farmers and warriors. Then you can lead the warriors to fight monsters. You can also Join a gang or something. It’s a boring game. The only feature is its longevity. It is said that it was developed decades ago. Even the company is gone, but the game is still there.”

It sounds like nothing special, but the tasks assigned by Mei Qianzhong must be taken seriously. Although Lu Yezhou was dissatisfied, he only paid lip service to it.

The games in the microcomputer are ready-made and can be run by multiple people at the same time. Lu Linbei has never been exposed to them, so Lu Yezhou taught him. It was not difficult, and the new account was quickly established.

The account Lu Yezhou played with is still there, "Should we use our real identities?"

"Since the old man didn't say anything, there's no need to hide it." Lu Linbei had already entered the game and was in a daze, not knowing what to do.

"Wait a minute, I invite you to establish a territory near me, and we can help each other."

There are simple tutorials in the game, and with Lu Yezhou's guidance, Lu Linbei roughly understood how to play.

Every time a new account is created, a small piece of land will be added to the game. You can choose a random location or accept invitations from others. Each player has up to eight neighbors, four of which are randomly assigned by the system. Allow player invitations.

The only neighbor Lu Yezhou invited was Lu Linbei. He said that he had invited other neighbors before, but because he had not been online for too long, the neighbors had been "annexed" by the system. He occasionally came up to take a look, so he could keep this small piece of territory.

Like many players, Lu Yezhou's name in the game arrogantly calls himself "Farm Boy to Rule the World". He said that he originally only wanted to be called "To Rule the World", but unfortunately it had already been taken, so he had to add a four-character prefix.

"You can let the system choose up to eight characters for you."

Lu Linbei asked the system to choose, and got a strange name "Ben and Hua Shi Tong Er Shi". The system thoughtfully reminded the player that he had one chance to change his name.

The game started, showing a large grassland, a forest not far away, and a wooden village in the distance that was the territory of the neighbors. The system showed that Lu Linbei could invite three neighbors.

The player's image is a warrior, wearing simple leather armor and holding a sword and shield. Opposite him stands a dull figure, waiting for orders.

The first subordinate can only be a farmer, and has many options such as logging, farming, mining, construction, etc. The player can choose by himself or let the system arrange it.

Players themselves go to fight and increase experience points. There are also two options. Operate by yourself, and the experience points will increase faster. The system will control the experience points, and the experience points will decrease, and there will be time penalties. After a certain period of time, the account will be deleted directly, and "annexation" "territory.

Lu Linbei only played for a while before choosing to train through the system. The upgrade was not slow. It only took about ten minutes to reach the second level. One more subordinate became a warrior and followed the player to fight monsters.

As Lu Yezhou said, this is a very boring game. If it were not for the mission, Lu Linbei would not be able to persist for long.

In just one afternoon, Lu Linbei's character reached level ten, and his territory began to take shape. It was no longer just a piece of grass, and he had ten subordinates. According to the system recommendation, there were two farmers and eight warriors.

This setting made Lu Linbei feel funny, because he knew that in reality, the ratio of producers to fighters was exactly the opposite, and the gap was much wider.

The experience points for upgrades are easy to obtain. The trouble is how to control the warriors. They have another upgrade system called tactical points, which increases with the number of monsters defeated. Only after upgrading can more complex fighting styles be unlocked. Otherwise, it will be a group fight. , usually a few warriors fight monsters, while a few others circle around outside.

The greater the number of warriors, the higher the tactical requirements.

Lu Linbei was playing the game while searching for relevant information. When he quit the game, he really wanted to throw the microcomputer out of the window, so he asked tiredly: "Are there really any living people playing this game?"

Lu Yezhou also quit and stretched, "It's free, what else can you ask for? I've only reached level 50, and the most annoying thing is that I have to join a gang."

"I didn't join."

"Ha, you have already joined. If you accept my invitation, you will join my faction. I will join other gangs, and the gangs will join dozens of levels higher. Have you not noticed? Your output is Five percent is the tax paid to me. From now on, if you send troops to fight with me, you will be tax-free, and if you win, there will be rewards."

"Let's go fight monsters together?"

"Fighting monsters is not interesting. Fighting against other gangs, players versus players, is interesting. We are not of a high level, so we can only watch the battle, not participate in it. Do you want to watch?"

Lu Linbei shook his head, feeling really uninterested. He stood up and said, "I'm going to cook."

Two quick meals, harder to swallow than the first.

"Why is the game called "Mother Star Territory"?" Lu Linbei asked while eating.

"It is based on the terrain of the earth. Do you think it looks like it after studying the history of the earth?"

"You can't tell. All I know is that the earth cannot support so many warriors in any era."

"Hey, games are all about production, how boring."

After dinner, it was still Lu Linbei who went to wash the dishes. Lu Yezhou stretched again and said, "If we just upgrade the character, we can reach level ninety-nine in three days at most. The con man gives us a week, which is quite generous. Otherwise Let’s go out for a walk, it’s hard to stay here.”

The old town is more lively at night than during the day, and the streets are full of pedestrians out for fun. Right in front of the barber shop opposite, there are actually several groups of young men and women taking selfies, each occupying a position without disturbing each other.

A strangely dressed young man had the loudest voice, "Here he is! The heir to the eighth planet! This is his barber shop! Everyone, follow my fingers! There is still blood inside!"

The coming and going of people has no effect on them.

Lu Yezhou said in surprise: "That's nonsense. Even I know that the barber didn't die here at all. Where did the blood come from?"

Lu Linbei shook his head.

The two of them wandered along the street, not daring to go too far, and they didn't dare to walk into the shops casually. Whether it was because of the night or the bright lights, these shops seemed to be more expensive than during the day.

They bought two drinks and drank them while walking.

"We shouldn't be like this." Lu Yezhou said suddenly.

"What kind?"

"Like two tramps, we should be like them -" Lu Yezhou looked at several young people passing by, "Wear the best clothes, go to the most expensive bars, drink with the most beautiful women, find fights with the cruelest bullies... …”

Lu Linbei laughed out loud, "That's a movie, it's not real at all."

"This is the kind of life a con man lives." Lu Yezhou's eyes shone with envy, even though he had never seen what Mei Qianzhong's real spy life was like.

"Work hard, there is still a chance." Lu Linbei said with a smile, stretched out the drink cup, and the two of them touched it lightly, and their mood improved a little.

"Is the game related to that barber? Maybe he has played it too, and there are secrets hidden in the account." Lu Yezhou always wanted to guess the purpose of the organization, and the only person he could ask was Lu Linbei beside him.

"I don't know this, but I think I can guess a use of the game."

"Really? What is it?"

"Send message."

"Um?"

The two turned into a quieter street and stood across from each other. Lu Linbei continued to explain: "This is a distributed game. There is no central server. According to you, even the company that originally developed it is gone. So. This is a game with a high degree of freedom and lack of supervision, which is perfect for conveying information.”

Lu Yezhou suddenly realized, "This is really the case. It is much safer to communicate your schedule in the game than to show up directly. I have been playing for several years and never thought that there would be such a function in the game. You actually did it on the first day... How did you do it? Thought-of?"

"Third uncle taught me."

"He mentioned this game?"

"He said that sometimes it is more difficult to deliver information than to obtain it, and every channel is worth cherishing."

"With just one sentence, how can you think so much?"

"I searched for some game backgrounds." Lu Linbei pointed to his head. Even an interstellar orphan has a chip in his body, which is not enough to run the game. It is more than enough to read the text.

"No wonder you're slow to level up. I thought you were just a hand player and couldn't play." Lu Yezhou said sarcastically. He picked up the cup and was about to drink the last bit of the drink when his body suddenly stiffened and his expression changed.

Lu Linbei's first impulse was to turn around to check the situation, but years of training came into play at the last moment. He rushed forward, hugged Lu Yezhou and threw him down on the street, without even having time to throw away the cup in his hand.