Liu Hao’s Open Conspiracy, Empty-Handed Wolf Taming

Skewers were roasting over the fire, their tantalizing aroma making mouths water. Yet, the three people at the dining table had different thoughts.

Chen Guo had a lovestruck look on her face, her eyes full of admiration as she gazed at Liu Hao grilling the meat. She thought Liu Hao was incredibly handsome—humorous, charming, and gentle. He was even skilled at grilling meat, and crucially, he was a professional Glory player. He was like a prince charming straight out of a fantasy...

Previously, she had found the idea of teenage crushes ridiculous, believing that a true heroine should be as strong as a man, if not stronger, relying on her strength. But now she realized that having a man to depend on might be nice—someone who could save her from danger, cook her delicious food, and chat with her...

Whether it was due to the aroma of the grilled meat or Liu Hao's attractiveness, a bit of drool unconsciously appeared at the corner of Chen Guo's mouth.

Ye Qiu's expression was more playful as he watched Liu Hao, pondering why Liu Hao wasn't surprised by his identity at all. It was as if knowing his real name was Ye Xiu was perfectly normal.

He had introduced himself as Ye Xiu, and his ID card said the same. Why wasn't Liu Hao puzzled, instead acting like he had known all along? A normal person would doubt if the great Glory player Ye Qiu's real name was Ye Xiu, right? Why didn't Liu Hao show a hint of surprise or curiosity?

Ye Qiu couldn't figure it out. The only logical conclusion was that Liu Hao had long guessed his real identity.

The Ye Group was well-known in China. A little investigation would reveal that the head of the Ye family had two sons and twins, one named Ye Xiu and the other Ye Qiu. Coincidentally, one of the sons had run away from home for years.

Thinking of this, Ye Qiu got goosebumps. He found Liu Hao terrifying—knowing his true identity from the start yet pretending to be clueless, only revealing a slip accidentally.

According to the professional Glory League rules, players using fake identities in competitions would face suspension if discovered—at least a year, and in severe cases, they could be disqualified from participating altogether.

Was Liu Hao purposely doing this, planning to use this secret to blackmail him? Ye Qiu tried to think the worst of Liu Hao, knowing that although Liu Hao appeared gentle and elegant, he was calculating.

"What exactly is Liu Hao plotting?" Ye Qiu hid his doubts. He felt he couldn't understand Liu Hao's intentions for the past week. What was Liu Hao planning?

Liu Hao wasn't as malicious as Ye Qiu thought. He didn't harbour much hostility towards Ye Qiu; as long as Ye Qiu didn't block his path, he wouldn't oppose him. Silently grilling the meat, Liu Hao was contemplating ways to make money.

The system reward for killing Desert Dust was a silver blueprint, a specialized weapon for Magic Swordsmen—a short sword: Bellflower. Its attributes were exceptionally excellent, much better than the current silver weapon [Chain Tooth Short Sword].

Better equipment meant higher output and more terrifying dominance on the field. Every player wanted to use powerful equipment to win matches more easily. Liu Hao naturally wanted to craft the Bellflower, but creating a max-level silver weapon required vast materials. Despite having the blueprint and saving much on research costs, the materials needed were still beyond his means.

Perhaps he could ask for help from the Excellent Era Club's affiliated guild. The Excellent Era Guild specialized in collecting silver equipment materials for the club in the online game and had a lot in stock. However, if Liu Hao asked the Excellent Era for help, the silver weapon data would be leaked to the Excellent Era Club, which he didn't want.

Should he secretly ask Chen Yehui for help? Chen Yehui was the head of the Excellent Era Guild and Liu Hao's subordinate. He probably wouldn't have refused if Liu Hao had asked Chen Yehui for some materials. But this wouldn't withstand scrutiny. If discovered, Chen Yehui might be dismissed and investigated... Liu Hao prided himself on being ruthless but didn't plan to betray his subordinates.

So, to craft the silver weapon, he needed to collect the materials himself. Should he buy materials from a workshop? That wouldn't work; workshop materials were exorbitantly priced, and he didn't have much money left in his account...

Unintentionally, Liu Hao glanced at Ye Qiu, suddenly getting an idea! He could learn from Ye Qiu and get materials from others for free!

Silver weapons were extremely scarce. In the market, truly excellent silver weapons could sell for tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, and were often priceless. However, top-tier silver weapon data was tightly held by major clubs, never leaked, and most silver weapons circulating in the market were trash. This left most high-level players in Glory relying on in-game orange weapons.

But since he had the detailed design of Bellflower, he could design a semi-finished Bellflower, renaming it to something like "Evil King Short Sword" or another catchy name. The semi-finished silver weapon only needed slightly better attributes than top-tier orange weapons.

Glory had countless big spenders. Among them was the president of the Justice Slash Team, Lou Guanning, a well-known spender, who was also eyeing professional competitions. He wouldn't miss this great opportunity to acquire silver weapons...

Liu Hao couldn't help but smile. He decided to make Lou Guanning his target.

Liu Hao remembered a scene from Uncle Long's movie Chinese Zodiac: a wealthy person spends seven million dollars to buy four rare stamps, only to tear up three immediately.

In the eyes of the wealthy, good things must be unique to represent higher value.

If he mimicked those capitalist sales tactics, claiming scarcity and announcing he would only sell three, with materials provided by the buyers, on a first-come-first-served basis... It was foreseeable that Lou Guanning would take the bait, buying all three silver weapons in one go... By then, Liu Hao could earn a large sum and get Lou Guanning's materials to make his silver weapon.

This was an open conspiracy, but Lou Guanning had to accept it. He had to buy silver weapons to enter the Glory Pro League. But club-owned silver weapons couldn't circulate in the online game. Lou Guanning had to buy them all to ensure uniqueness, which meant high prices!

...

After finishing the barbecue, it was already 10:30 PM.

Chen Guo didn't have the habit of staying up late. Despite being reluctant to part with Liu Hao, her feminine modesty made her wave goodbye and take a taxi back to her hotel to sleep.

Chen Guo wasn't worried about losing contact with Liu Hao since she had already added him on WeChat. Moreover, Liu Hao's backup teammate had promised to get her Ye Qiu and Su Mucheng's autographs. She could use that as an excuse to meet Liu Hao again.

Seeing Chen Guo leave, Ye Qiu had no intention of staying with Liu Hao and turned to leave.

"There's no hotel that way," Liu Hao reminded.

"I'm going to an internet café. I can sleep there after playing games," Ye Qiu said.

Liu Hao thought for a moment, decided to go to the internet café to contact Lou Guanning, and quickly caught up with Ye Qiu.

(End of Chapter)