Chapter 164 Game Closed "How are they?" Xia Country...
"How are they?" In the development base of the game "Dragon and Phoenix Continent" in Xia Kingdom, the Xia Kingdom leader frowned slightly and looked at the person in charge of the base.
The person in charge was a very beautiful woman. She had her hair tied in a high ponytail and wore a well-tailored black suit. Her bright red lips added a touch of domineering power to her face, while her gold-rimmed glasses softened her features, giving her a touch of refinement amidst her domineering presence.
"He was taken to the hospital, but the doctors couldn't find the problem." The person in charge sighed softly. "Boss, the only thing we're sure of now is that the game is definitely malfunctioning."
The Xia Kingdom leader closed his eyes briefly and subconsciously rubbed his temples: "Professor Zhang, the Dragon and Phoenix Continent is the culmination of our many years of hard work, and it also involves the future plans of the nation. We cannot afford any mistakes."
Professor Zhang, the person in charge, looked helpless: "We haven't found the specific problem yet, and there's nothing I can do about it."
The Xia Kingdom leader couldn't help but pinch his fingertips: "Isn't there even a single clue?"
Professor Zhang paused for a moment, and after a long hesitation, he finally said, "There is one."
"What?!" The Xia Kingdom leader's eyes lit up.
Since the first game programmer suddenly went berserk and collapsed at his workstation seven days ago, more than twenty people have been hospitalized. They have not only changed drastically in temperament, but have also lost some of their previous habits and become bloodthirsty.
One employee fell ill while resting at home and stabbed his youngest son with a knife. If the son's grandfather hadn't happened to come over, the child would probably have died at his hands.
You should know that this employee loves this child the most; he cherishes him like a precious gem.
Professor Zhang turned around, picked up a stack of documents from the side, and handed them to him.
The Xia Kingdom leader looked at the documents in his hand, and his expression shifted from doubt to fear in just a moment.
His hands trembled slightly as he held the documents, and his voice trembled as he said, "This... how is this possible?"
"Isn't it said that the equipment we're using now is already world-class? Why is there such a system bug?"
Professor Zhang took off his glasses, wiped them, pinched his brow, and said with a deep sense of confusion, "I don't know. It's like a set of code that was suddenly inserted into the program. You can't kill it or isolate it. It even infects other data like a plague."
"Is there really no way out?" The Xia Kingdom leader felt a sharp pain in his heart at the thought that so many years of hard work were about to be destroyed.
Professor Zhang sighed heavily and shook his head: "There's nothing we can do."
The Xia Kingdom leader was pale. He clutched his chest and took a few deep breaths: "Notify the people in the game to be careful and avoid this code source."
Professor Zhang opened his mouth: "Should we... reconsider? If we launch it simultaneously, it will be a major blow to both us and the game."
The Xia Kingdom leader shook his head: "Do you know how many people are on the Dragon Phoenix Continent right now? If it is truly polluted, we will be sinners against the world. I would rather lose so many years of hard work than let the Xia Kingdom bear such a debt of lives."
"Perhaps there won't be any life-threatening danger, after all, those infected people are still lying in the hospital..."
"Ring ring~" Just as Professor Zhang uttered those words, a rapid ringing sounded, and she immediately felt a bad premonition.
"Hello...what!" Her eyes widened, her phoenix eyes turning into almond eyes.
Professor Zhang, his hands trembling, swallowed hard several times before speaking in a trembling voice to the Xia Kingdom leader: "Just now, the monitoring team's bell... passed away..."
The veins on the Xia Kingdom leader's forehead bulged. He took a few deep breaths and urged sharply, "Immediately, pass the word down!"
Seeing this, Professor Zhang said nothing more and quickly went to notify the engineering department.
Watching her leave, the Xia Kingdom leader covered his face and collapsed into his chair. He knew how many people would curse him after he made this decision, and some might even want to put him in jail.
But he had no choice. If there were a large-scale infection and death, could Xia Kingdom really bear the blame from the whole world? Or even the attacks from other countries around the world?
He knew he couldn't gamble, and of course he didn't dare to.
He covered his face for a long, long time before finally standing up with bloodshot eyes and a resolute expression. He straightened his clothes, regained his usual composure, opened the door, and walked out.
“Leader…” His confidential secretary looked at him with a worried expression, and hesitated for a long time before finally voicing her concerns.
After waving his hand helplessly, the Xia Kingdom leader walked straight ahead. Seeing this, the secretary said nothing more and followed him away with endless worry.
The sunlight cast shadows on the shoulders of the Xia Kingdom's leader, making his once upright figure appear much more hunched.
The secretary silently sent a message in the work group: "The Dragon and Phoenix Continent Project is suspended."
In the game, everyone was leveling up, fighting monsters, and doing business as usual. Occasionally, a few people were going astray and walking happily. Even the Bean siblings had received their third quest and were figuring out how to enter the leveling area of the Li Kingdom without being noticed.
"The latest dragon scale armor, fifteen gold pieces!"
"Level 4 Healing Gem, a rare gem, bid now!"
"A vintage-style dress, complete with a lace umbrella and little leather shoes—the latest look! Customization is available!"
"Selling steamed buns! Selling steamed buns! Steamed buns that restore health and mana!"
"Brother, is this okay?" Douzi asked with worry as she followed her brother through the free market.
Dou Ge glanced around, replying nonchalantly to his sister, "It's nothing. We're just middlemen, doing good deeds by delivering information. What they do has nothing to do with us."
Douzi pursed her lips, about to continue speaking, when she saw the Japanese not far away. She paused for a moment, then silently fell two steps behind.
"So you're the one who said you sold us information about our missing citizens?" The Japanese man was short, with a pointed mouth and monkey-like face, and a sinister expression.
Dou Ge put on an innocent look and scratched his head: "We've seen it in the mountains and plains of Liguo, where we level up."
"They're in the mountains and plains?!" The Japanese man glared at the two of them with a fierce look.
Dou Ge seemed startled and took a few steps back: "Yes...yes, we saw it with our own eyes."
"Is it still there?" The Japanese man closed his eyes and withdrew his murderous gaze.
Dou Ge's eyes were full of fear: "They...they were taken to the depths of the plains by the Li people, we can't get in."
The Japanese man nodded, and because of what Brother Dou said, he was even more convinced that what Brother Dou said was true.
After all, the people of Liguo have always been very domineering. They like to openly support everyone to go to the mountains and plains to level up and promote their country's kindness, but in the interior, they only allow foreigners to level up in the areas they have designated. It is more realistic that Dou Ge and his companion cannot see what happens next.
"Then...the bounty..." Brother Dou twirled his fingers, looking like a greedy little man.
A look of disdain flashed in the Japanese man's eyes, and he casually pulled a bag of money from his backpack and threw it at him.
Brother Dou quickly took the money and bowed repeatedly to express his gratitude.
The Japanese watched with amusement as he expressed his gratitude for a long time, until they had seen enough of the Xia people's gestures of thanks, and only then did their hearts, which had been filled with both inferiority and arrogance, finally find satisfaction.
After watching the Japanese leave, Dou Ge's eyes were filled with undisguised disgust and murderous intent.
“Brother.” Douzi tugged at his clothes.
Dou Ge immediately adjusted his expression: "Let's go, we still have a few more people to meet."
The two of them did nothing but meet people all afternoon, from Japanese to Koreans, Xiong people, and other people from all over the world. After earning more than a dozen bags of silver coins, they pulled their sister toward a tailor stall they passed by and said, "Come on, brother will order you a little dress today."
"One pink outfit, one light blue outfit, two pairs of boots, two pairs of little leather shoes, rhinestone hair clips, a little crown, all to match." Dou Ge looked at the product catalog in his hand, and after choosing for a long time, he was about to place an order when a system message notification sounded.
Before he could even look, the system voice from the tailor across the way kept ringing out.
After a short while, only the system's voice remained at the surrounding stalls.
Some people raised their hands to look after hearing this, only to hear a system broadcast.
"Dear players, the system is reminding you that the main system of Dragon and Phoenix Continent has been infected by an unknown source. Several programmers have been affected by the contamination attack. For your safety, please log off as soon as possible."
This broadcast was played over and over again.
Dou Ge and Dou Zi simultaneously opened their system notifications.
"Hello Xia Kingdom player, the source of the pollution has been identified as a girl named Zhen. She can disguise herself as a player or NPC. If you see her, please log off immediately."
"Brother, this really can't be...?" Douzi looked at her brother with fear.
Dou Ge's face was unusually grim. He immediately sent a message to Anya, but before he could send it, Anya's message arrived: "The news is true. I need to handle these matters in the game. You and Douzi should log off first. The country will suspend your mission time. We'll talk about it after we've dealt with it."
"What if we can't handle it?" Brother Dou replied subconsciously.
Anya's message kept showing as "typing in progress," but no message came for a long time.
Only after the stall owners in the surrounding market gradually logged off, leaving only a few, did they send a message: "Welcome to visit me at the Martyrs' Cemetery."
Dou Ge suddenly clenched his fist tightly at his side.
“Brother.” Douzi looked at him with worry in her eyes.
Dou Ge opened his mouth, but after a long while, he sighed helplessly and said, "Forget it, let's go."
Douzi obediently agreed and opened the panel to exit the game, only to be surprised to find that the button was grayed out.
"Brother!!" Douzi suddenly looked at Douge, only to see him frowning and staring at the control panel in mid-air.
Soon Anya sent a message: "Everyone who went to Youyue Forest last time couldn't log off. I think you should be the same. Come and gather here."
Dou Ge showed the message to Dou Zi. At this point, only the two of them remained in the free market, so they didn't delay any longer and used the scroll to teleport directly to Anya Wine House.
"That's how it is. We don't know why we're trapped here. We have two choices: one is to stay here and wait for the passage to open, and the other is to find Zhen like me and see if we can be isolated to another space."
Once everyone had arrived, Anya sighed and began to explain her thoughts, making sure to mention the advantages and disadvantages of each option.
Many of the other people at Anya Wine House are former soldiers, so they naturally chose to be loyal to their country.
The only ones who need to make a choice are Dou Ge and his sister.
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