Chapter 25: Eldest Brother, You Know Me Well

Yang Jiao’s gaze fell upon Yang Jian.

"Second brother, give me an explanation."

"Big brother, you know me; I have always valued your words," Yang Jian replied with a calm expression. "Becoming a player was not my own desire, but rather I was actively chosen by the Evolution Game. Since I have already become a player, I naturally have to look after our little sister."

Yang Jiao then turned his attention to the third sibling.

The third sibling, Su Yuhuan, was a woman of exquisite beauty, a seductive figure, and a charming temperament. Her eyes rippled like autumn water, and her every glance seemed to possess a thousand facets of allure, captivating the hearts of all who beheld her.

Among the seven siblings, excluding the fourth who worked in finance, she was the most capable earner, and her donations to the Meishan Orphanage consistently ranked second among them.

Incidentally, her primary profession was that of an internet influencer, a career path Yang Jiao had set for her when he first began grooming her.

It was because she was indeed exceptionally beautiful.

That face alone was enough to make many people pay up.

Yang Jiao had always wanted to open a factory, sell products, and expand his business. If he could have a major influencer help promote his goods, it would undoubtedly make things much easier.

Su Yuhuan parted her red lips slightly and said:

"Big brother, you know me. I am so beautiful that I’ve been harassed since I was a child; I lack any sense of security. Now that there are more and more players and society is becoming increasingly chaotic, and with my fame being so great, what if I were targeted by some lecherous player? I have to have some means of self-preservation, don't I? I had long decided to become a player; helping the little sister was just a side benefit."

Yang Jiao then looked toward Cao Yu.

"Big brother, you know me," Cao Yu began. "I—"

"Forget it, Sixth Brother, I won't ask too much about your affairs," Yang Jiao interrupted, cautioning him. "I only hope that you will restrain yourself a bit more in the future. I'm not asking you to be a saint, but at the very least, don't become a scourge to others."

"Pffft..." Su Yuhuan covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

Cao Yu: "?"

Wait, why does the questioning turn into consolation when it gets to me? What is the meaning of this... Cao Yu said with a strong sense of grievance:

"Big brother, do you have some kind of misunderstanding about me? If this is about the scene of the killing tonight... please let me explain. My item allows me to transform into a zombie, and after transforming, I am subtly influenced by the item, feeling an extra sense of bloodthirsty, violent intent... In short, I am a very kind person myself, Big Brother, please don't misunderstand."

"You don't need to explain," Yang Jiao said. "I understand everything."

Cao Yu: "..."

*I think you don't understand at all!*

Concerned about his reputation and public image, Cao Yu did not give up on explaining:

"Big brother..."

"Enough, Sixth Brother," Yang Jiao said. "You have always had your own mind, and you are smart. I actually don't have any objections to you becoming a player; at least I'm not worried about you getting into trouble in the dungeons."

He had watched Cao Yu grow up.

For all these years, he had a persistent intuition that "Cao Yu is a dangerous individual."

Take tonight, for instance: his plan was merely to take out He Kang, but in the middle of the operation, he heard that several shops belonging to the Zuoshan Association had been smashed, forcing the leader of the Zuoshan Association to urgently convene a meeting of his lieutenants... This was highly likely the work of Cao Yu.

His sixth brother had been aiming to kill everyone from the very start.

Was this the kind of thought a "model student" who had collected certificates since childhood should have?

Yang Jiao skipped over Cao Yu and looked at Yang Chan.

Yang Chan shrank her neck, having no choice but to bite the bullet and say:

"Big brother, you know me..."

"Enough!" Yang Jiao glared at Yang Chan. "Little sister, the reasons those three gave are valid, and they are capable, so I won't say anything more. But you... I don't know you at all! You should be focusing on your studies, yet you run off to join in on this mess! Becoming a player brings a lifetime of danger; do you think you can handle that?"

"This is indeed the little sister's fault." Seizing the opportunity to shift the heat, Yang Jian immediately threw her under the bus: "Big brother, you really need to educate her properly."

"That's right," Su Yuhuan nodded slightly. "The seventh sister has been getting more and more out of line lately."

"But," Yang Chan explained, "I was actively chosen by the Evolution Game."

"Little sister, setting that fact aside, don't you have even a little bit of fault?" Cao Yu started his assault with a critical blow.

Yang Chan: "?"

Is it a mistake to be actively chosen?

She listened as Cao Yu continued:

"No wonder you had such heavy dark circles when I saw you this morning; it turns out it was because you were sneaking into dungeons at night? Big brother already said he would handle your affairs, yet you acted on your own... You really don't respect Big Brother enough."

On the other side, after hearing these words, Yang Jiao immediately took the step down:

"They are right, little sister, you have been too out of line lately! Come over here."

He pulled Yang Chan aside and launched into a stern lecture, scolding her until she shivered like a quail, unable to speak, and could only endure it in silence.

With this, the meeting of accountability finally came to an end.

Yang Jiao maintained his dignity as the eldest brother.

The transgressions of Cao Yu, Yang Jian, and Su Yuhuan were glossed over.

The little sister bore all the blame alone, achieving a world where only one person was hurt.

...

After Yang Chan's trouble was resolved, the stone that had been hanging in Cao Yu's heart finally fell.

*Big brother and the others all have strong personal capabilities. People who can succeed in various industries don't need me to worry about them even after becoming players; I'm sure they can all thrive. Besides, they became players months ago, and their evolution levels are all higher than mine. I was worried they might be acting a bit recklessly.*

*As for the little sister... a quiet and kind girl, yet she dared to go kill people tonight. I underestimated her.*

Cao Yu analyzed the situation of his siblings and found that there were no major issues.

If Yang Chan were a defenseless rabbit, he would indeed have to worry.

But now... Yang Chan had already cleared five dungeons. Although her dungeon ratings weren't top-tier, they were excellent, and her evolution level was far higher than his. He felt as if he had re-evaluated his little sister.

At the same time, a rather whimsical thought crossed his mind... Could this little sister actually be the Third Virgin Goddess?

If he had just pushed her out to take the blame to give his big brother a way out, would she get angry, drop the act, reveal her true power, and smash his head in?

*Uh...* Cao Yu dismissed the absurd thought.

Big brother Yang Jiao and third sister Su Yuhuan had already left the boxing gym; both had their own places to stay.

Second brother Yang Jian had returned to his bedroom on the second floor.

The little sister had gone to wash up.

Cao Yu was left alone on the first floor.

Once he calmed down, Cao Yu couldn't help but ponder his own future.

He had three goals for becoming a player: first, for his little sister; second, to return home to see his family; and third, to protect himself in an increasingly dangerous world.

Now, the first goal was accomplished. As for the third, he just needed to keep growing stronger; there was no need to rush.

But as for the second... how was he supposed to travel to an otherworldly dimension outside the Federation?

*Judging from the snippets of information in the system store's descriptions of cultivation techniques and genetic bloodlines, there are three transcendent forces in the Evolution Game, all of which are ultimate behemoths.*

*One is the Game Company, the second is the Spirit Realm, and the third is Tianyan Star.*

*These three transcendent forces rule and guide countless numbered world sectors, and these sectors can interact with each other... Why does it feel like the Federation has its doors blocked, completely unable to make contact with the outside world?*

Players in the Federation knew that an outside world existed.

But no one had ever come into contact with it.

Cao Yu fell into deep thought, but soon felt that such matters were far too removed from his current self.

He adjusted his mindset, summoned the system panel, opened the store interface, and his gaze landed on the sixth slot of the super-ability items.

[No. 6: Universe Narrative Book]

[Description: A space-type supreme super-ability. The mind acts as the pen, the universe as the book. With a stroke, the cosmos is set; with a thought, the void is overwritten.]

[Price: 1 Billion Achievement Points]

[Warning: Possesses uniqueness. Without divine permission, to purchase is to die.]

Cao Yu quickly withdrew his gaze.

If he could buy this super-ability and raise his evolution level, traveling to other worlds would probably be just a matter of a thought.

The key was that he had no money to buy it.

And if he did have the money... he wouldn't dare buy it anyway.

So he just drooled over it for a moment before adjusting the store to show only item-class goods.

Using the search function, he began looking for items with space-time and world-traversing attributes.

Since becoming a player, he had been busy with one thing after another and hadn't been able to settle down to properly look at these items—mainly because there were so many that they were dizzying to look at.

At this moment, after a purposeful search, he actually found items that could traverse worlds.

And not just one, but many!

However, they were basically all A-grade items.

There were only 3 items among the B-grade goods that possessed a "world-traversing" function.

The cheapest one, named "Gate of Two Worlds," sold for only 90,000 achievement points.

Its function was simple—it could open a space portal between two adjacent world sectors, allowing people to pass through.

*90,000 achievement points... I definitely can't afford it now, but once my player level goes up and I clear high-level dungeons, the evolution points and achievement points I earn should be quite substantial. Saving up 90,000... it doesn't seem too difficult, does it?*

Having found a goal to strive for, Cao Yu's mood suddenly lightened.

He had originally thought that traveling to other worlds would be an incredibly difficult task.

As it turned out, one search of the system store revealed so many world-traversing items that it could blind him.

His worries hadn't even begun before they were over.

Cao Yu could only sigh... as expected of the system.

After settling his emotions, he left the first floor and headed to the third.

The gym was an old four-story building in the old city district; the first floor was commercial, while the second, third, and fourth floors were for living. His room was on the third floor.

Cao Yu prepared to wash up briefly before going to sleep, but as soon as he reached the stairwell, he bumped into Yang Chan.

Yang Chan, having finished washing up, was wearing a nightgown and holding a large orange cat. She stood there, quietly watching Cao Yu with watery eyes, a look of grievance appearing on her face, looking as if she were about to cry.

"..."

Cao Yu pretended not to see her, bypassed her, went to the bathroom, and began to wash up.

Yang Chan followed behind him, stood at the doorway, and watched him wash up with a pitiful expression.

Cao Yu still ignored her, bypassed her again, and returned to his room.

Yang Chan continued to follow, entered his room, and stood by the desk, gazing at Cao Yu who was sitting on the bed.

She held the cat, saying nothing, just standing there motionless, staring at Cao Yu, the grievance in her eyes persisting, embodying the posture of "I want to cry, but I must be strong."