Zhou Dalei immediately jumped up: "Because they took my stuff! My purple weapon, that's my courage and faith!"

The police signaled him to stop: "Ziwu? And stealing things?"

Ethan Young was getting a headache; he felt that what was coming next was really a bit embarrassing.

Sure enough, he heard Ray Jones say very seriously, "It's a treasured blade used by Pangu to create the world, with 999 defense and attack points. With it, I can rule the world, and I can sell it for money. The main thing is selling it for money."

"We didn't steal it," the other group protested, all saying, "How can you call that stealing? That Titan Blade was just lying on the ground, and there was no name on it."

The police suspected they had caught a group of lunatics.

To restore the most accurate motive for the fight and to better understand the ins and outs of the matter, several police officers downloaded the online game "Genesis Corp".

The whole story was just laughable.

They said it was a group fight, but no one was really hurt, and by the time the police arrived, they had already stopped, so there was nothing dramatic to see.

"Who has the Titan Blade?"

Someone raised their hand: "Me, I have it."

The police now had a standard for sentencing: "Log into your account."

"I'm logged in, it's in my backpack, the purple one, yeah, that's it."

Then the police took the mouse and clicked on the right-click properties.

"I want to tell you, in a harmonious society, the Titan Blade is nothing at all." The police turned around righteously, facing a group of "juvenile delinquents" on the verge of tears, and said with deep emotion, "No matter how valuable it is, can it be more valuable than the peace of our country?"

Ray Jones: "!?"

Ethan Young: ""

Henry Howard: ""

------------

8. Chapter Eight

The symbol of kingship fought over by the whole server, the "Titan Blade", was just left at the foot of Wild Boar Mountain.

Ray Jones felt as if his heart had been stabbed through, the kind that goes all the way through—commonly known as heartbroken.

A group of game-addicted teenagers almost rushed to grab the police officer's mouse, but their remaining rationality kept pulling them back: No, it's not appropriate, we can't win, don't look for trouble. Hold it in, no matter what.

The police pointed at the computer screen again. On the screen, a wild boar was running around the glowing Titan Blade: "It's just a virtual item. I don't object to you young people playing games, but you have to play in moderation and have the right values. Let's get back to the topic of a harmonious society, harmonious society..."

After half an hour of ideological education, all they could think about was the phrase "harmonious society," spinning around in their minds.

Ethan Young was tired of squatting, so when no one was looking, he just sat down on the ground.

Ray Jones caught this small movement out of the corner of his eye: "Old Young, you're slacking off."

Ethan Young patted the ground next to him and said, "You sit too."

"" Ray Jones hesitated for two seconds, chickened out, and said, "I don't dare. I'm afraid he'll make me log into my game account and throw away all the other gear I worked so hard for. My fragile heart can't take that kind of blow."

Ethan Young: "Useless."

When the lecture was almost over, the police wanted to check the results of their education. He coughed twice in front, cleared his throat, and then, in the manner of a military instructor, loudly questioned, "I'll ask a question and everyone answers together: What is a harmonious society?"

No one could answer.

They'd just listened to a whole bunch about harmonious society, but no one said there would be a test, so who could remember? Just being able to squat through it was already impressive.

"It's, it's...?"

The word "is" was echoed back and forth, with rising and falling tones and lots of emotion, but no one continued.

The police glanced at the group and called on someone: "That pacifist from earlier, do you know?"

Henry Howard was getting a bit sleepy, his eyes half-closed. When his name was called, he finally looked up: "Me?"

The police said, "Yes, you, answer."

Henry Howard had no idea what the question was. He looked around, but no one was going to help him, so he thought for a moment and answered, "I choose C."

""

Because of Henry Howard's answer, everyone's self-reflection essay went from two thousand words to three thousand.

The environment for writing the essays was especially bad—no desks, just write on the ground. Ethan Young put the paper on his knee, and if he pressed a little too hard, the pen would poke a hole in the paper.

Every few lines, there was a hole. By the time Ethan Young got to the second page, he finally lost patience and frowned: "Damn."

"Don't get worked up, friend, keep your cool." Henry Howard was sitting across from Ethan Young, writing his essay in a wild, almost flying script, but speaking calmly, "That's life, full of unexpected challenges, but we can overcome them! Overcome my ass, this paper is so fragile, it tears without even pulling on it."

Ethan Young looked up and saw that the A4 paper Henry Howard was holding down had split more than halfway, and the writing on it was so wild it made you wonder if you'd ever learned Chinese. Judging by the way he was writing, he wished he could connect every word in one stroke.

Henry Howard pulled out another sheet and put it on the ground. A little brother nearby was clearly impressed by his "amazing handwriting," and after staring at it for a long time, he clicked his tongue in wonder: "No wonder you write so fast, what the heck is this?"

Henry Howard said, "Isn't it awesome?"

Ethan Young: "It's rare to see you so confident."

Ray Jones was bored with writing and joined the chat: "Hey, Mr. Awesome, I heard you're their boss?"

Henry Howard stopped, looked up, his collar open wide, a red string around his neck pulling out a jade pendant with a simple round design: "Boss? Not really. We met at the internet cafe, sometimes play games together."

Now that the purple weapon was gone, everyone had fought and made up, and were sitting here sharing hardship, so you could say they were fated. But Ray Jones still couldn't help asking, "So you were in on grabbing the purple weapon too?"

"I'm not that bored, staying up for three days at the hidden boss respawn point," Henry Howard said, "But honestly, bro, it was my idea. I was just joking at the time, didn't think they'd actually go for it."

When those guys said they wanted the Titan Blade but couldn't beat the hidden boss, he just casually said: Go steal it.

He didn't expect to actually give them a new idea.

Ray Jones didn't really get it: "—Then why did you come out and provoke us before the fight?"

Henry Howard said, "Since you were going to fight, you might as well do it properly, right? The vibe was off from the start. I just came out to mediate, man, I really didn't mean anything else."

Ray Jones: "" Why does that sound so weird?

Ethan Young: "Well, thanks a lot then."

Henry Howard: "You're welcome."

By the time they handed in their essays, it was almost evening. Because one person was especially slow, they all had to wait until everyone finished before they could leave, so those who finished early just waited on the side.

"Just three thousand words and you're beaten? Are you even a man?" Henry Howard tried to coach him at first, but later admitted the guy was hopeless. "You can't even write a self-reflection? 'I was wrong, I deeply understand my mistake, I promise not to do it again, and then talk about your future'—write, I said write."

Ethan Young stood by coldly watching. While others finished three thousand words, this guy had only written the beginning. He didn't have as much to say as Henry Howard, just said one thing that almost made the guy cry: "Tell me, did you really finish nine years of compulsory education?"

""

"All done?" The police officer who had left to take a call came back, holding the thick stack of essays, flipped through them casually, and said, "Alright, that's it. Since this is your first offense, the organization has decided to give you a chance to turn over a new leaf. I hope this kind of thing doesn't happen again. Whether you're a minor or not, you all have to take responsibility for your actions."

Everyone chimed in: "Yes, yes, thank you, officer."

"It won't happen again."

"We'll always remember the four core elements and eight basic points of a harmonious society."

"Alright, line up in two rows like when you came in," the police said.

Ray Jones thought, are they going to have everyone leave in an orderly fashion? Truly a place that values order.