Chapter 213 Zootopia

"Down with the boss! Down with Wu Ma!"

"Today you play 007, tomorrow you and your box will become soul coins in the boss's bag!"

"The players in Wu Ma's guild are the running dogs of capital and the running dogs of the game!"

"Give me back my vacation time! Give me back my soul coins!"

The crowd was excited, but there was also a bit of resentment about working in real life.

It's fine to work hard when you're alive, but after you die and come to this weird world, you still have to work. It's simply unfair!

What’s more, the capitalists in this underworld are even more excessive. They can make you work 24 hours a day without you even knowing it.

If it weren't for Boss Cai who created the game out of his own selfish desires, and if it weren't for Qiao Song's 24-hour alliance contract, these players would have only one ending left: working until they die.

All Qiao Song has to do is give these players some room to play freely. Except for a small number of cowards who choose to sneak to other areas during this time, most of the players who are free because of the contract are ready to stay and teach the boss a lesson before the 24-hour validity period expires.

"Brothers, those who work in copywriting should come to my side! I'm going to burn their database!"

"Greedy girls and greedy boys in the food industry, come to my side, let's go to their warehouse and eat and take away!"

The fact that wages have never been paid is a sore spot for the players.

Fighting the boss is fake. Many of these players are actually preparing to get some benefits for themselves before leaving.

Luo Liang, Shi Yuemiao and beekeeper Pan Yishan would have joined the team if they had not been following Qiao Song.

But as bystanders, they feel that these players seem a little too crazy.

"Aren't they afraid that Wu Ma will change the rules of the game? Why are they so bold to rush into the warehouse to grab the props?"

Luo Liang looked at a group of players who seemed to be from the food company and had already formed a team and went upstairs.

After they climbed to the top shelf, they crawled out from underground and arrived at the underground parking lot.

Somehow, this side street seemed to share the same giant underground parking lot, and all the players who were accidentally swept away appeared here.

The underground parking lot is very large, with many road signs pointing directly to Building A, Building B, Building C, and various different trading companies.

Qiao Song was among the chaotic crowd who had regained their freedom, and she didn't care whether others knew that most of this freedom was provided by her.

She looked at the contents of the road signs carefully, as if she was looking for something.

Shi Yuemiao has been dialing and taking notes, looking like a secretary: "Sister Qiao, several players who greeted me and contacted each other before have returned to the building. They reported that the office area on the top floor is the same as before and is still operating according to the company's original business model."

Qiao Song hummed: "Collect information from everyone and see if there are any factories that are engaged in industry and can actually see a large number of goods production lines."

When she turned into a dog, she heard a system prompt that each zodiac sign has a production line, business chain, etc. in its own field.

It seems that Wu Ma is mostly engaged in commercial chains, that is, it is more like an e-commerce and platform rather than producing goods itself.

Qiao Song thought that Wu Ma himself was either hiding in the most important factory or at the headquarters of the largest platform company.

Or, is there something more important?

Luo Liang was typing frantically on the keyboard, importing unique road signs and various information into the computer to create a map.

Secretary Shi Yuemiao took out her cell phone and started making various calls very efficiently.

Even beekeeper Pan Yishan held the beehive box in her arms and, as Qiao Song said, broadcast the countdown of the contract in time for the crazy social animal players:

"Please note that all players who have signed a 24-hour temporary contract will return to normal after the 24 hours. Please pay attention to the time and avoid being chased by the game in time. The rules will reappear."

This is actually a reminder to players not to be too crazy.

Xin Yue and Wen Haoqian, brother and sister, were stunned by what was happening nearby.

They are not local residents and have just arrived in Wuma. They have not done the kind of short-term missions like Qiao Song and are not familiar with the environment here.

I was really shocked by the mental state of the local players.

The two even saw a few real players crawling in the dark on the ground in the underground parking garage. They turned into a group of cockroaches and rushed up the elevator, saying that they would definitely bankrupt the company and make it lose money.

For the moment, I don’t know who is more terrifying, the crazy office worker or the dungeon NPC.

Luo Liang has sorted out the information sent by other players.

"Boss Qiao, all the information you want is here."

Players in the Wu Ma field, after regaining consciousness, can basically tell what their previous companies did. Qiao Song asked Shi Yuemiao to summarize all the data, and Luo Liang directly generated a 3D map on the computer.

"These companies really focus on just a few similar projects—"

"Canned food, beverages, and sausages."

"There are only a few categories of daily necessities, such as shoes, umbrellas, knives and weapons."

Luo Liang swallowed her saliva: "Besides this..."

The secretary Shi Yuemiao, who had just hung up the phone, finished the last message and added the following:

"The number of players in high-tech, especially programmer-related positions, is as high as 60%."

In a Wu Ma area, in addition to working part-time on Taobao and Pinxixi, why do they have so many programmers?

Even Wen Haoqian, who is as stupid as he is, knows that something is not normal.

Xin Yue was holding a fairy tale book in her hand, and she felt that the temperature in the basement garage was getting lower and lower.

"Everyone, why don't we go somewhere else? It's not convenient to stand in the garage and talk about things."

There are too many crazy office workers here, and they just climbed out of a flooded shelf with great difficulty, so they still feel that they are not completely safe.

Qiao Song nodded: "The river will burst again in an hour, so move upstream first."

Xin Yue was startled: "No, Qiao Qiao, how do you know it will explode again in an hour?"

She and her useless brother were indirectly brought to this area because of the river water problem. She felt scared when she thought about it.

Qiao Song paused and did not answer the question directly.

"Luo Jing, are all your colleagues concentrated in this area?"

She pointed to another building not far from the food building.

Luo Liang nodded. "Based on the relevant clues provided by other players, I have comprehensively ruled out several areas where coffee shops usually deliver takeout. The other buildings are full, leaving only this one. So they should be all programmers."

Qiao Song only worked in the coffee shop for a few hours. Looking back now, it seemed that all the orders in the store had a fixed takeout area.

Just like the canteen distributes meals at set times, coffee will be delivered to those designated areas once the horses and cows are tired.

But she hardly saw any orders from the programmers.

When Luo Liang heard this, she seemed to understand.

"Yes, Yue Miao and the others often drink a cup of coffee in the morning, afternoon and evening. This is a mandatory requirement of the company, including for meals. But in my position, I only drink once every two days. Of course, I don't think it's too little. The taste of coffee is something I never want to try again after trying it once."

But if Qiao Song asked what they did at work after drinking coffee, Luo Liang couldn't give a clear answer.

She scratched her short hair, which was not very thick.

"It feels a bit like what I did before with you and Yue Miao. Rather than doing any specific work, it's more like we are connecting our minds in the online world. Maybe we are assisting a player's skills, or maintaining something."

Qiao Song slowly closed his eyes and exhaled.

So programmers order coffee less frequently?

We must maintain stability and not consume all the programmers at once.

Every player in Wu Ma is a consumable.

"You and your colleagues need to plug in a USB or connect to the network cable when using skills, right? In other words, you can't be too far away."

Qiao Song looked at the electronic screen in Luo Jing's hand again and pointed to a place: "I'm going here next. You don't have to follow me anymore. You can take some props in this area or go to other zodiac areas in advance. Just do whatever you want. Don't wait for the so-called 24 hours. After an hour, the river water will spread directly to this area."

Luo Liang exclaimed, with the same stunned expression as Xin Yue before: "Can the river water also rush onto the street and into the Wu Ma area?"

Qiao Song nodded, didn't explain anything, patted a few girls on the head and walked upstairs.

Shi Yuemiao was planning to chase after him, but was stopped by Xin Yue instead.

The brother and sister, who seemed to have known Qiao Song before, said earnestly: "She is going to do something big. If she succeeds, you may change the chief in Wuma area."

Wen Haoqian quietly poked Xin Yue:

"Sister, is Sister Qiao not in a good condition? I feel like she doesn't look very happy. Can we contact the captain?"

Xin Yue's face fell:

"That plague crow has been out of contact for a long time. It's probably still making preparations in the Weiyang area. This guy asked us to help look after Sister Qiao, but he was so busy that he couldn't even see her."

"Qiao Qiao should be fine as long as he can still move on his own."

Li Yuan had already told the siblings at the Blind Box Mall when the vest was intact that if Qiao Song showed any sudden mood changes in Zootopia and began to actively stay away from people, they should always be cautious of changes in the river water.

Li Yuan, who was wearing a plague doctor's uniform at the time, had several bubbles rising around him and looked extremely serious.

[Her emotions are closely related to the river. Once she remembers something or realizes something, the river will resonate with her emotions. She may even realize the next activity pattern of the River of Life and Death in advance.]

[This is not necessarily a good thing. Hyenas will smell the blood of power struggles faster than hunters, and then deceive her trust and promise some illusory future. You must watch her carefully. ]

Wen Haoqian asked quickly, what if he couldn't catch up.

As a result, Li Yuan said:

[You can catch up with her before her good luck runs out. She doesn't like to walk alone, so there will always be players near her. ]

【As long as her wish remains, we still have a chance to cross the river. 】

[I will continue to collect the materials for crossing the river, as well as the players and various forces needed to cross the river. I will leave her in your hands.]

At that time, Xin Yue felt that the captain's tone was like that of an old father who was afraid that his daughter would be deceived.

But looking at the captain's behavior, Xin Yue always felt that he looked cowardly, and was afraid that Qiao Song would know that he was secretly letting his team members follow Qiao Song's activities.

What would happen if she knew? Would Sister Qiao Song beat up the captain?

Think about that scene, the hypocritical captain was beaten up by Sister Qiao. It’s quite exciting to think about it.

Wen Haoqian thought his sister's sudden smile was a little perverted: "Since Sister Qiao said we can move freely, it doesn't matter if we just wait nearby."

As a result, not only the two of them, but three other girls also expressed their desire to go together.

Luo Jing held the computer and said, "Let's go too. Sister Qiao Song asked me to help contact colleagues."

Pan Yisan holds a beehive in her arms.

"I don't have the need to steal anything in Wu Ma's territory. I'll go back to Chou Niu after 24 hours. It's just right for me to accompany you."

Finally, the few of them went to Qiao Song’s destination—the CBD area, a brightly lit building with glass exterior walls.

They were not impulsive enough to rush directly into the building. The rules of the Wu Ma area were not to be ignored. Although there were no employee contracts for the time being and they had to work hard in the office, as long as they stepped into that area, at least Luo Liang would be greatly affected.

"Huh, don't you think this area is a little weird?"

Several girls squeezed together in the place where employees usually took the night bus. Although they worked 24 hours a day, at least the half hour on the bus could be considered a short break for their brains to reboot.

In 24 hours a day, employees are only allowed to rest for half an hour, which is used to brainwash players to continue going to work. The underworld capitalists deserve to die.

I didn’t feel it when I was being controlled before, but now I feel like vomiting when I look at this station.

Shi Yuemiao resisted the urge to smash the train station, raised an eyebrow and looked at Luo Liang: "Why, you want to smash the train station too?"

Luo Jing shook her head, looked at the building that Qiao Song had entered before, and rubbed her eyes: "I seem to be dazzled. I saw a lot of program codes appearing on that building. Did I operate the computer too much these two days?"

The others looked up in the direction she pointed, but saw nothing.

The beekeeper silently took out a box of royal jelly from the beehive: "Would you like to eat some of this to relieve your fatigue?"

[Wild royal jelly soothes emotions and relieves fatigue. If you are lucky, you can drink special syrup with the same communication ability as the queen bee and share the vision with other bees.]

This ability was explained, successfully distracting the others: "Wow, can you see the vision of the little bee?"

Pan Yishan: "Except for me, I can only drink it if I'm lucky. Most of the time, I just drink it as a little sugar water."

Before leaving, Qiao Song exchanged a small can of royal jelly from her.

Pan Yisan was forced to get a lot of soul coins from Qiao Song, which was one of the reasons why she stayed. Of course, she was too embarrassed to talk about it, for fear that the other girls and Honey Water would also give her money.

Pan Yisan used tools she got out from somewhere to quickly make several cups of hot honey water.

Since they came to the ground, they didn’t know if it was because of what Qiao Song said, but the girls also felt like there was water gurgling beneath the ground, and it was very cold.

Each of them held a cup of honey water and drank it. They were waiting for Qiao Song to come back. At the same time, they also wanted to connect the five senses of the bees and see what the situation was like in other places in this area.

Qiao Song himself was doing the same thing as them while on his way.

However, she drank the royal jelly in a wild way, without adding water, but drinking it directly. She didn't know whether it was because her way of drinking was too heroic, or because her ethereal luck had not been completely consumed, she heard a system prompt coming from her ear.

[Congratulations on unlocking the bee shared vision! Soul power is being blessed. Within 24 hours, all bees in the entire area can share the five senses with you. 】

Qiao Song had originally planned to use this ability to speed up patrols of the entire area, but now it seems that this is no longer necessary.

After entering the marked building, she soon saw the colleagues that Luo Liang mentioned.

The factory and other buildings needed to be checked, but Qiao Song knew that he had come to the right place. This lifeless building was the core of the entire Wu Ma area.

She saw countless blue and white wires connecting the entire company like blood vessels.

The electric current flowing like blue spots shows that various information is constantly being transmitted and interacted in these lines.

Qiao Song also saw the people at the workstations. Compared with Luo Liang, they looked much more haggard, like mummies tied to their seats.

Even though Qiao Song had come in, no one in the office even looked at her. All of them seemed to have their hands glued to the keyboard, typing away at the code frantically.

These people also wore glasses like goggles on their heads, and there was a wire as thick as a forearm connected to the ceiling at the back of their heads, which seemed like their extracorporeal blood vessels.

The blue light flooded, carrying streams of information from their brains to the ceiling, and then occasionally pumping back a little red liquid, as if it was a little reward for their dedication to mental labor, and at the same time sustaining their lives, so that they would not be like other office workers, who would have their energy depleted and eventually turn into a plate of black mud.

Qiao Song didn't see any traces of food, nor did he smell any coffee.

The programmers in Wu Ma's field, or rather the programmers in this building, have never been forced to eat or drink coffee.

They are an important asset to the Wuma District.

Qiao Song continued to walk upstairs. She did not press the elevator button, but went up one floor at a time. The higher the floor, the larger the space in the office, and the more densely packed wires there were.

When Qiao Song arrived at the eighth floor, only the faces of this group of programmers were exposed. They were as skinny as mummies. If it weren't for the red substance that was occasionally transmitted back from the wires to maintain their vital signs, these guys would have died long ago.

Wu Ma was reluctant to let them die, but he was also reluctant to consume them with food and coffee.

In the office, which was completely devoid of any noise except for the sound of typing on the keyboard and the operation of the computer, an old and tired voice suddenly rang out:

“Isn’t it spectacular?”

Qiao Song looked at a door that suddenly appeared on the wall. An old man with a horse face and heavy dark circles under his eyes was looking at her.

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Dog. I am the manager of Horse, Zhu Dingshan."

Qiao Song stared at his face for a while, and a kind of heat with the power of the Rooster radiated out. Zhu Dingshan couldn't hold on for long. His face quickly twisted and turned back into the shape of a horse.

"Wuma? What do you mean by taking the initiative to greet me?"

Qiao Song's head tilted slightly, and the skin on his face began to deform. A head that looked like a dog and a wolf, with fur color that had some characteristics of other zodiac signs, slowly appeared.

Actively transforming into a beast in other zodiac areas is not a good sign.

In those sharp eyes, the pupils with a slight hint of blood in the golden color shrank, as if it was a sign that some carnivore was preparing to hunt.

Perhaps Zhu Dingshan was aware of the murderous intent that was already overflowing in Qiao Song, so he took the initiative to open the door wider and bent down to make a gesture of invitation.

"I have no ill intentions, ma'am. In the Zodiac War, Zodiacs of the same level can surrender to each other. This has happened before. We don't have to fight to the death to survive."

Qiao Song narrowed her eyes slightly. Although she didn't bring the rule card, she could feel that there were no strange game rules or restrictions in this office.

There was no system prompt sound in her ears.

Qiao Song walked into the door.

Behind her was a dark place, and the office space full of electrical wires was completely isolated. She appeared in a fairly ordinary office.

There was a huge pile of documents on the desk, almost reaching the ceiling, and behind it were all kinds of refreshing tea, coffee, and sparkling drinks, which were much richer than what the players in the field had.

"Hello, although it's not appropriate for me to mention it directly, I am willing to transfer the Wu Ma domain to you at any time."

Qiao Song had just sat down when he heard these words from the respectful Zhu Dingshan across from him.

"Oh? I've been looking for you for so long, and was tricked by the display screen in your field. Now that I've found your base camp, you're suddenly saying this."

"I've wanted to visit you before, but never had the chance."

Zhu Dingshan lowered his head, bent his waist and stood beside him, clasping his hands together and expressing his attitude respectfully:

"Boss Cai and I just had a small deal. There have always been some transactions between Zootopia and other area administrators. This was not decided by us, but was part of the task assigned to us by the main system."

Qiao Song stretched out his tone, not just mocking but also sarcastic: "You mean, you let those players be your social animals, working hard for you 24 hours a day without stopping, and this is also the requirement of the main system?"

Zhu Dingshan didn't raise his head, but there was some sweat on his forehead: "Partly."

Before Qiao Song expressed his opinion, he quickly added:

"The Wu Ma area only provides 30% of the computing power for Cyber, while the Rat side accounts for a larger share, up to 50%. As Cyber's brain nutrition, we have to make sacrifices for the entire game area. If we don't do it, more players will die in Zootopia and Infinite Highway."

"You should know how big the difference is between a game with a system explaining the rules and calculating the prizes and a game without a system prompt, right?"

Cyber.

Qiao Song had thought about this many times before, where exactly is the Cyberworld? Finally, she had a strange association.

This speculation has now been confirmed.

Cyber ​​is not a separate game world, it is a huge network that covers the entire Infinite Highway. The system is its blood and branches, and Zootopia is its brain.

It is rooted in every player's mind.

Qiao Song's murderous intent towards Zhu Dingshan finally eased a little. Although Gu Zuoyan had told him a small part of his stuff, most of what Wu Ma said was true.

"I didn't ask you, but you took the initiative to tell me all this?"

Zhu Dingshan finally had the courage to look up and look into her eyes: "Because Zootopia originally belonged to you, right? The first-generation manager."

Qiao Song frowned again: "Don't call me that."

No longer aware of that sharp murderous intent, the old horse finally let go of a stone in his heart, and he lowered his head again:

"In fact, when you first started working in our area, I noticed a subtle difference in you because of the nature of our contract workers."

At that time, he had just met Boss Cai and almost dropped a teacup.

Qiao Song heard him talk about the details of the cooperation with the display screen and raised his eyebrows: "You were ready to break up the cooperation with him at that time."

Wu Ma showed a self-righteous smile: "Horses are hardworking animals, so of course they only serve the winners."

"As an apology, I can tell you all the replica nodes that the display screen cooperated with. That guy has been unlucky recently. His warehouse has been bursting again and again. He is trying hard to make up for the shortfall. If you want to know anything, you can ask me."

Qiao Song did not plan to cooperate with Lao Ma immediately, but that did not affect her. She wanted to bite off a piece of meat from the display screen.

"I need to know the location of his loading panel, even the approximate location will do."

Apart from the river, the convenience store on Infinite Highway is the only game copy that covers most areas.

Qiao Song had no urgency to occupy Zootopia, but she wanted to know how the convenience store she had seen before came into being was actually going on.

Is the significance of the river that grows like a tree and the shops that grow like seeds appearing on the road really just as novice copies?

If she really had been the manager of a convenience store, the manager of Zootopia, or to put it more exaggeratedly, the manager of even more copies.

She didn't think she would use a lie to trap so many players on the Infinite Highway. She firmly believed that even if there were problems with crossing the river or the escape door, there must be a way to get to the human world.

Qiao Song closed his eyes and heard faint laughter in his ears, which sounded like the roar of a dragon or a tiger.

She couldn't help but wonder whether the realities of the human world that she had caught a glimpse of in the Hell Community were also lies?

Which of her life memories are true and which are false.