Chapter 45: Chapter45-Surveillance in Reality, the Chairman of Overlord Group
In other words, it was not that the other party did not want to move against him.
They simply wanted to keep the matter offline.
"They want to deal with me in reality?"
John immediately realized that someone in the real world had probably already started watching him.
Just then, his phone vibrated again.
John opened it and saw that it was a message from his landlord.
"John, you moved out too hastily before, and there are still some things you haven’t taken with you.
"An old phone and a portable hard drive. I left them with the security guard.
"If you don’t come today, I’ll just throw them away as junk."
John frowned.
In truth, he did not want to go back.
However, when he saw the words "old phone" and "portable hard drive," he hesitated.
There were no truly core secrets inside those two items.
But the old phone had once been linked to several of his early social media accounts, and the portable hard drive contained a large amount of game-related information he had organized in the past, as well as some personal records.
Leaving those things unattended would not necessarily create a fatal risk, but they were still a potential hidden danger.
More importantly, John wanted to use this opportunity to confirm one thing.
Was his former residence already under watch?
...
After thinking for a moment, John decided it was necessary to go back and take a look.
He did not act immediately.
Instead, he changed into a set of inconspicuous clothes, put on a cap and a mask, and left the hotel through a side entrance.
...
Along the way, John acted with extreme caution.
He was not sure whether it was because he had just obtained True Sight, or because the nearly hundred years of combat experience inside the Trial of the First Seat had affected his Spirit.
But he clearly felt that his observational ability had become far sharper than before.
For example, the amount of time a passerby’s gaze lingered on him, the abnormal slowing of vehicles by the roadside, and the reflections in the glass at street corners...
Even the subtle abnormalities in the way some people deliberately pretended to stand casually had become much easier for him to notice.
He did not feel as if he had obtained all of his abilities from the game.
But at the very least, his judgment, attention, and sensitivity toward abnormalities had indeed improved by a large margin.
...
Before long, John arrived near his former residence.
However, as soon as he approached the apartment complex where he used to rent a room, he almost immediately sensed that something was wrong.
That was because he noticed several suspicious strangers near the building.
One person was dressed casually, standing to one side of the apartment entrance and looking around, as if waiting for someone.
Another person sat by the window outside the convenience store in the complex, head lowered as he played with his phone.
Across the street, in a gray-green van parked in a parking space, a vague figure could be seen leaning against the vehicle and smoking.
Three people.
Three positions.
Their lines of sight almost perfectly covered the apartment entrance, the stairwell door, and the direction of the floor where John had once lived.
Everything seemed normal at a glance.
But the positions of those three people were far too coincidental.
Their states did not resemble those of ordinary idle passersby either.
John could clearly sense that although their movements appeared relaxed, their eyes remained constantly alert.
Maintaining his original pace, John passed by the distant intersection like an ordinary pedestrian, his gaze casually sweeping over the three of them.
At that moment, he already had his answer.
Those three were definitely waiting for him to show up.
John turned around decisively and did not continue approaching.
The old phone and portable hard drive were indeed somewhat valuable, but they were not worth exposing his current whereabouts over.
Moreover, since the other party had already placed the apartment under surveillance, it meant those items had likely been inspected long ago, or were at least already under their control.
Perhaps even the landlord’s message had been deliberately sent by those people.
Going up to retrieve the items now would be nothing less than walking straight into a trap.
John had no intention of staying nearby for too long.
He circled around once, confirmed the number and positions of the watchers, and then naturally left through a nearby commercial street.
...
One hour later, John returned to his hotel room.
He locked the door, removed his mask, and sat down by the bed.
There were at least three people watching the apartment.
The entrance of the complex, the convenience store, and the parking space.
A standard triangular surveillance setup.
This was not something that could be accomplished by casually sending two people to keep watch.
This was professional-level surveillance.
Could Overlord Guild mobilize this kind of resource?
Possibly.
But it was more likely that more than one party was looking for him.
As for who they were...
John did not dwell on that question for too long.
At the very least, he was absolutely safe inside this hotel for now.
He turned over, lay down inside the game pod, and re-entered the game to continue progressing through his tasks.
...
At the same time.
The clock turned back several hours.
Inside the game world, the moment the Edge of the World quest ended, the ID "Outlander" rushed onto the trending lists across the entire internet at a terrifying speed.
At the top floor of Overlord Group’s headquarters tower.
Inside the Chairman’s office, the atmosphere was unbearably oppressive.
The door opened, and Nix was helped inside.
His face was deathly pale, and he walked with a limp.
Although the pain of being crippled in the game would not fully synchronize with reality, the trauma at the Spirit level made him look as if all the bones had been pulled out of his body.
Nix’s eyes were filled with resentment and unwillingness.
His hatred toward John had reached its peak.
Following behind him was Overlord Guild’s guild master, Overlord_Dawn.
After entering the room, Overlord_Dawn said nothing.
He walked to the side, pulled out a chair, and sat down.
Then he took a cigar from his coat, lit it unhurriedly, and remained calm, as if he had already known what would happen next.
The moment Nix saw the man sitting behind the desk, tears immediately fell from his eyes.
"Dad, you have to avenge me!"
He spoke extremely quickly, as if afraid someone would interrupt him.
"That Outlander is a complete madman. I was clearly just doing quests normally in the Starter Village, but he relied on the hidden rewards he had obtained and targeted me again and again. He even humiliated me!
"I only wanted to reason with him, but he attacked me directly and crippled me.
"Dad, I worked so hard to build up that account, but now my equipment, skills, and levels are all gone.
"He clearly doesn’t take our Overlord Guild seriously at all. He is deliberately targeting Overlord Guild!"
The Chairman sat behind the desk and listened calmly until Nix finished.
Then, he asked only one question.
"So, who made the first move this time?"
His voice was not loud, and his tone carried no obvious emotion.
Nix’s expression instantly froze.
The office fell silent for a moment.
His eyes flickered as he said, "It was that Outlander who provoked us first. We only fought back normally.
"Just by looking at him, you could tell he had long been dissatisfied with Overlord Guild, so he..."
However, the Chairman’s expression grew darker and darker.
"I asked you, who made the first move?"
Nix opened his mouth.
He still wanted to argue, but in the end, he lowered his voice and admitted, "It... it was me. I only wanted to teach him a small lesson and make him return the quest rewards he stole from us."
