Chapter 102 triggers the event; they are like helpless fledglings.

The amusement park in the desolate mountains had outdated facilities. Their most profound impression of the journey was the scene along the way that resembled a scrap metal recycling station.

Even the most basic mountain fences were dilapidated, yet now, these modernly designed streetlights have appeared—

If Liang Jun's guess was correct, the lampposts were made of high-strength acrylic material, making them almost completely transparent. This meant that the players present didn't pay much attention to this feature before the streetlights were fully illuminated.

The night light's luminous part features an exquisite design: two obsidian black bulbs, one above the other, hang suspended on a dark gray light frame, perfectly concealed by the enveloping night. Only when the streetlights are simultaneously illuminated does a bright yet somewhat somber light linger around the bulbs, forming a soft halo.

The crowd, who were used to the light gradually dimming, felt panicked and uneasy the moment the lights suddenly burst into their field of vision.

They all instinctively and uncontrollably closed their eyes and lowered their heads, trying to use the brief darkness to buffer and adapt.

The same applies to Liang Zhen.

However, her reaction time was noticeably shorter than others; it seemed that for her, the action was just a normal blink.

Less than a second later, Liang Jun tentatively opened her eyes.

The entire mountaintop was illuminated by streetlights erected along the edge, as if it were daytime again.

The light was still vying to rush into her pupils, and Liang Jun reflexively frowned, quickly scanning her surroundings—

Fortunately, not much has changed around us.

Just as she was thinking this, a faint clicking sound reached her ears.

Since her mental energy was contaminated, Liang Jun had a vague feeling that her hearing seemed to be more sensitive than before.

She seemed to possess the keen senses of a feline, decisively focusing her gaze on the source of the sound.

The next second, the Ferris wheel, hidden in the darkness, lit up with its unique lights.

The twelve gondolas, suspended from the Ferris wheel's frame, resemble a slowly unfolding feather fan, lighting up sequentially from low to high according to a certain pattern.

But it wasn't a warm, inviting yellow; rather, it was a cool light somewhere between fluorescent green and livid blue, which adorned the already metallic-sounding carriage.

A chilling, oppressive feeling washed over me.

As the Ferris wheel lights came on, Liang Jun noticed some details she had never paid attention to before.

The Ferris wheel's frame seemed to be entwined with some decaying vines. These nearly withered vines seemed to possess a strange vitality, slowly wriggling and climbing on the silver-white steel frame.

These vines are tiny, and when cold light penetrates their translucent bodies, it reflects an even more eerie fluorescence.

The Ferris wheel was nearly 200 meters high. Gu Keke looked up at the top with longing eyes until her neck ached.

Her expression was a mixture of surprise and fear. "Has the project started?"

Not only Gu Keke, but all the players present realized this as well.

The "army of strong men" in the very center of the project took the lead in surrounding it, and the few scattered teams in the far corner also quickly moved towards this side. Even Tang Cailei, who had been standing aside, became interested and walked forward with Jiang Chunhua.

However, the launch of the project does not mean that players can freely experience it.

The formidable barrier is still there, and since no one has found a gate-like passage, they can only stand there helplessly, stuck in place with no other options.

"Where are the staff? Aren't there any staff here?"

In the crowd, someone asked a question timidly, which immediately caused a great stir, and the voices trying to find the staff grew louder and louder.

Seeing that the commotion among the players was getting stronger and stronger and was about to get out of control, the "army of strong men" immediately dispersed the crowd, leaving Gang Ge to stay in the very center of the Ferris wheel.

His gaze swept over the uneasy players before him, his voice still rough, "This project has no staff."

"How is that possible?"

"Do you believe me? I certainly don't..."

“Every project has staff, and we’re not stupid. Are you kidding us?”

Gang's words did not calm the crowd down; instead, they added fuel to the fire.

Players who already lacked a sense of security became even more agitated, and some even lost control of their emotions, bursting into tears on the spot.

"It's the last day...this really is the last day..."

A heart-wrenching voice drifted over, "I really don't want to stay here any longer... All my teammates are dead, I'm the only one left. God knows how I've managed to survive until now... Stop lying to me, please let me end all this..."

Looking at the player covered in wounds, Gang turned his head away, only to meet Liang Jun's clear eyes.

Gang seemed to hesitate for a few seconds before looking away.

"I'm not lying to you, get up first."

He explained to the players who were lying on the ground, weeping, "Our team has been here for many days—far longer than the time spent in the instance—and the information that there are no staff here was something we found out a long time ago; it was not meant to deceive you."

Upon hearing his words, the team that had been holding back in the corner began to discuss quietly.

Xin Sang covered his mouth with his hand and said in a low voice, "This guy called Gang is probably similar to me, he's been in this dungeon for several rounds too."

She leaned back slightly, her brows gradually relaxing. "I knew it. I always felt he was too calm at this crucial moment. Turns out this wasn't the first time."

Qi Zhixia's gaze remained fixed on the restless crowd. "Sister Xin, have you seen them?"

"No... I don't really remember it."

Ge Lin shrank back, only half of his head showing. "We've been staying within the camp area the whole time. They've probably been on the mountaintop the whole time and haven't run into us."

Qi Zhixia nodded knowingly and didn't ask any more questions.

Even with Gang Ge's explanation, ordinary players still couldn't understand him in a short time and could only continue to teeter on the brink of collapse.

"Then how do we get into the Ferris wheel—you've been here for so long, you must have gotten this crucial information by now, right?!"

Faced with the players' eager eyes, Gang could only shake his head.

"Sorry, I don't know either."

The Ferris wheel in front of me, emitting a cold, shimmering light, is like the skyscraper that players would desperately try to climb to the top of in their hearts.

But now, this fantastical edifice has collapsed before their eyes, the heavy rubble burying every player who still held onto hope, ultimately suffocating them at the very end of their goal.

The sounds of arguing and desperate cries rose and fell.

Seeing that she couldn't gather any more useful information, Liang Jun supported herself with her hands on the ground and stood up.

When the crowd gathered earlier, she was the one who told her teammates to stay put and analyze the situation as quickly as possible.

After all, the area is densely populated, and if an accidental physical conflict were to occur, their "old, weak, sick, and disabled" team would inevitably be the first to be affected.

Now is the best time for them to start exploring the jungle.

The corner was empty, except for a rather large isolation fence and a black support structure that almost blended into the tree branches.

Liang Jun could see the whole picture at a glance; there was really nothing she could do.

But if what Gang Ge said is true, and there are no staff to manage the Ferris wheel, then if players want to enter the area, they will inevitably have to pass through this barrier.

The absence of a visible gate suggests that there is a high probability of a mechanism that could trigger a hidden player passage.

So where is this mechanism located...?

Liang Jun moved her feet as slightly as possible, gripping the cold isolation railing with both hands, hoping that in this way she could touch the hidden mechanism that they were unaware of.

But obviously, it's impossible to succeed using this clumsy method.

Undeterred by the closed door, Liang Jun quickly returned to her original position, calmed down, and began a new round of inventory.

She let out a long sigh and regulated her breathing.

"Luo Chuange, do you game developers ever add useless little items to your games?"

Luo Chuange was originally trying to figure it out with his back to her, but when he heard Liang Xun suddenly ask a question, he turned around abruptly, his eyes still filled with doubt and confusion.

"No...it won't..."

He thought for a while, then quickly replied, "The more useless things there are, the more work we'll have to do with the textures, and the more cumbersome the project of writing new programs will be—so it's basically all about streamlining. Most of the items you see in the game have corresponding functions."

It seemed like a science education session, but after Luo Chuange finished speaking, he realized something was amiss.

He scratched his head. "Captain, why are you asking this?"

"It's nothing, thanks."

Liang Xuan waved her hand at him without giving a direct reason.

The items in the game basically all have a certain function.

In that instance, what is the purpose of this almost invisible black support?

Thinking of this, Liang Xun quickly walked towards the dense, sprawling branches and grabbed the black support hidden among them.

The leaves overhead blocked most of the light, so Liang Xun could only roughly survey the conspicuous support in front of her with the poor visibility.

Unlike the acrylic material of the lamppost, this bracket appeared to be made of the cheapest plastic. The moment Liang Jun placed her hand on it, it began to wobble unsteadily.

The base of the black support was buried deep in the soil, and Liang Jun was unable to pull it out. Her hands then groped upwards along the stick until they touched the flat cut at the top.

Based solely on tactile sensation, the cut surface is roughly 2 by 2 in size. The surface is smooth and flawless, perfectly integrated with the stick, leaving no room for criticism.

But just as her fingers brushed against the underside of the cut surface, Liang Jun suddenly sensed something was wrong.

The slight gap gave Liang Xuan some ideas.

Her fingertips locked onto that narrow gap, and she dug it up forcefully with her nails—

This invisible black barrier was thus lifted by Liang Yan.

Her index finger instinctively reached towards the space below the barrier, but just as her fingertip touched the two-by-two plane, a mechanical sound, like metal scraping, echoed across the mountaintop—

Name: Liang Yan

Current progress: 6/7.

"Project activation conditions met, trigger successful—"

Fear, doubt, indifference.

The moment the mechanical voice rang out, a variety of emotions flashed across the player's face.

Like helpless fledglings, they could only huddle together in vain, trembling, when their predators came.

Just as the electronic announcement ended, the Ferris wheel, which had been stationary, suddenly began to spin.

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Author's Note: Leave lots of comments, and we'll randomly give out little red envelopes!