Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

Even if the suspect asked for it, they would not oblige.

This led to Wu Di having no chance to use his miraculous skill.

But today, he was determined to perform the technique [Heavenly Gang Sixteen: Resurrection]!

These people had no choice but to watch!

Even though the game was still under development and Wu Di could not receive support from the [Virtual Chang’an] world, miraculously, he could obtain the power to resist from “outside the world.”

It came from the [First Generation Player Commemorative Badge]!

He had already verified at Dream Spring Building that the [Palm Extreme Sports] skill from the [First Generation Player Commemorative Badge] could still work in this developing world.

Not only did he try it while playing with the girls, but later when his lack of money was exposed, he had to stir up trouble and fly a kite for the henchmen. He also took the opportunity to retrieve a tael of silver coins he had thrown at the welcoming young servant.

It was an extremely smooth process, like a skilled thief.

The more Wu Di discovered, the more he realized that this [First Generation Player Commemorative Badge] was just too powerful!

Like now, without the escorting soldiers realizing at all, the key to the shackles around his waist silently arrived in Wu Di’s hand. By the time they noticed, he had already unsheathed the waist knife.

He collided with the soldiers and rolled out of the encirclement.

As he stood up again, Wu Di’s hands were already tightly gripping the knife handle, and the handcuffs fell to the ground with a jingling sound.

In addition to the skills in the game, Wu Di also had his own skills in reality: he practiced not only full armor combat but also martial arts!

Of course, fighting four enemies in full armor alone was almost like seeking death…

But it didn’t matter. With the [Heavenly Gang Sixteen: Resurrection], he didn’t have just one life, and he could trade it with theirs!

The only problem was that he didn’t know where the nearest respawn point was.

The four soldiers opposite him quickly retreated, while the other three drew their knives and rushed forward.

Wu Di fearlessly charged forward, not using any skills, not even dodging. He took two fatal injuries and a heavy cut to his right thigh in exchange for a slash to one soldier’s neck.

Two seconds later, Wu Di vanished in a flash of light.

As he opened his eyes again, he found himself on the bustling East Market Street.

The [Resurrection] had worked successfully.

Previously, the “Escape from Lockdown” function failed because the original intention of its creation was to prevent players from being restricted by others. The game itself was designed not to trap players in such a predicament.

So when Wu Di shouted the “incantation” before, the system checked and found that he was doing a task, so there was no need for the function to work, and it didn’t even bother to give an explanation.

“My position.” Wu Di glanced at the familiar surroundings, “East Market Center, not far from the entrance of Health Square, I’ll give them a surprise!”

“Pushing me, huh? Treating me like a fool? Your retribution has come!”

As Wu Di muttered and walked, he noticed a serious problem after two steps: he had been resurrected, but the stolen knife did not come with him.

In other words, the knife still belonged to the NPC; after his death, it was left in its original place.

“Ah, this…” Wu Di stopped, empty-handed and unarmored, challenging armed and armored enemies in a one-versus-three battle…

That’s just asking for death.

There wouldn’t even be a chance to trade lives!

“Maybe I should forget it.” Wu Di reasoned with himself, “There’s no need to hold a grudge since they were just following orders and we have no animosity. Plus, I still have a task to do…”

“Forget it, let’s not be petty and do the task instead.”

Wu Di stopped a passer-by and asked for directions to West Market.

But the passer-by looked at him in horror and subconsciously turned to look at the three officials not far away, one of whom was holding a painting.

Wu Di followed the passer-by’s gaze.

The three officials who had been questioning the passer-by felt the stares and looked over.

Seeing Wu Di, the official with the painting looked at it for a while, then glanced at Wu Di and raised the painting next to him, comparing them back and forth.

Wu Di had a bad feeling and turned to run.

“Stop!!!”

The three officials finally reacted and rushed up, intending to arrest Wu Di. They were all carrying weapons, and Wu Di didn’t want any more bad luck, so he ran without looking back.

The sun began to set, and he had to hurry to West Market.

As for how to get to West Market…

During his day offline, Wu Di didn’t waste his time and had searched for a map of Chang’an City on the internet.

Although he couldn’t remember much, he did recall that Zhuque Street was the central axis of Chang’an City, with the East and West Markets symmetrically placed. He remembered these details very clearly.

He had just asked for directions, intending to get more detailed information on the distance.

But it was fine that he didn’t get that information; he would just run!

He would stop when he saw West Market!

As he sprinted past a pancake stand, Wu Di casually threw a few copper coins, grabbing a half-meter-long iron clamp from the familiar vendor’s hand.

The vendor had prepared cooked pancakes on one side of the stall and was still baking them in the oven on the other side. The iron tongs were used to reach into the oven and flip the pancakes.

It could be used as a makeshift weapon in an emergency situation.

“Stop him!”

The officers behind shouted loudly. Still, the people in front paid no attention and avoided the chaos, making way for Wu Di.

Until Wu Di reached the south exit of the East Market, a team of guards appeared in front of him.

“What the hell! Why are there soldiers everywhere?” Wu Di expressed his dissatisfaction with the high concentration of security forces in Chang’an City.

Nevertheless, he had no choice but to charge forward, gripping the tongs.

The fight was still without any real technique: he stabbed one to death, while being killed by random knife slashes.

Upon opening his eyes again, Wu Di was once more resurrected in the center of the East Market.

Interestingly, this time, the tongs were still tightly gripped in his hand after his revival.

Wu Di looked at the tongs in his hand, uncertainly saying, “Is this… a successful transaction?”

He couldn’t be sure but had no time to think as he rushed towards the south gate again—where the initial three armored soldiers and the northern sentries of the East Market seemed to be rushing over from the north.

Before Wu Di got too far, he saw the confused NPC at the south exit again, yelling “Surprise!” as he charged towards him.

Unsurprisingly, the chaotic battle resumed and ended quickly within seconds.

This time, Wu Di stabbed an officer to death while being slashed by random knives. In his final moments, he snatched the fallen officer’s knife and threw a few copper coins over.

After completing this process, Wu Di died, holding the fire tongs in one hand and the knife in the other.

Revived once again.

Wu Di raised both hands, only to find that the tongs were still there, but the knife was gone.

“What’s the matter? Did I not give enough money? Or did the owner not agree? Or was the holding time too short?” Wu Di was puzzled.

However, time wouldn’t allow him to think. He had to act immediately.

But this time, he chose to run to the northern exit.

The northern guards were now following the initial three higher-ranking soldiers and had gone to the south gate to catch Wu Di.

Although Wu Di wasn’t yet aware that the soldiers escorting him initially were from the Golden Guard, he could sense their higher status just by looking at their armor and weapons.

Wu Di quickly rushed to the north gate, hoping to slip through an opening.

But when he reached the north gate, he saw two columns of soldiers with spears rushing over, taking full control of the East Market’s defenses.

“Goddamn it!” Wu Di halted immediately.

He finally realized that he must have been approaching the task the wrong way!

He alone could never confront the entire security system of Chang’an City.

The key to this task should be to escape and hide, not bravely face the enemy.

His previous method was completely in the wrong direction!

The more resistance he offered, the more intensely the city’s defenses would react, deploying even more reinforcements.

He was like a virus, and each time he made an aggressive move, Chang’an City would dispatch more “white blood cells” to counter the threat he posed.

At this moment, Wu Di realized that the cost of causing chaos in this ancient city as a player might be much higher than in the two modern cities of Metropolis and Night City!

The prior thought of “stealing a wife” seemed a bit difficult now!

This was just the security of an ordinary market; the defenses of the palace would be at least ten times more stringent, right?

It’d be a tough battle!

Even bringing in many players and using a sea of people strategy might not work.

Not to mention the issue of how to divide the ten princesses and hundreds of imperial concubines among several hundred eager players…

The palace’s defense was designed to resist “rebellion.”

Could a group of disorganized players without discipline really fight head-on against the well-trained and orderly Feathered Forest Army in the cold weapon era?

They’d probably be slaughtered!

You can’t mobilize tens of thousands of people just to break into the palace and steal women, right?

If it were to happen, imagine the emperor’s reaction—

“What? You’re here to steal my wives? Oh, you should have said so earlier, you scared me! I thought you were rebelling!”

The thought of such a scene made Wu Di feel both absurd and amused.

But soon, he lowered his head with a heavy heart.

Far-off matters were not what he needed to think about now. How to escape the siege, rush to the West Market, that was the key issue at hand.

He found a stall selling hats and bought a turban—the hat worn during the Tang Dynasty—to cover his own hairstyle.

When he logged into this world, he found that his buzzcut had transformed into a hairstyle that fit the era perfectly.

Wu Di then blended into the crowd, hiding his tracks while searching for a barber shop.

He planned to change his hairstyle, change clothes, and see if he could blend in and slip out of the market.