Chapter 72 Xiaozhou Port (1)
Gu Qiufeng decided to speak out about this because he truly felt that in this game, Yu Chiang was one of the few trustworthy friends.
He has no intention of doing it alone, and having one more person would provide more help.
"Looking for someone?" Yu Chi'ang hesitated, "Is it the doctor you met when you were a child?"
Gu Qiufeng nodded.
Although he couldn't remember what the other person looked like, he could still vaguely recall some moments of their time together.
"Although the laboratory was illegally shut down," Gu Qiufeng said, "I don't think he is a bad person."
Yu Chi'ang nodded: "I will help you pay attention to the latest files."
Gu Qiufeng said again: "Xiaoyu, do you want to go out?"
"Why do you ask?" Yu Chi'ang asked in confusion, "Any human player would want to get out. Living in a game is always scary."
Gu Qiufeng said: "I want to go out too."
He wanted to go out and find out what Xie Xin was thinking.
The two chatted for a few more sentences, and Gu Qiufeng asked Yu Chi'ang about some things he had forgotten, and then Yu Chi'ang left because he needed to deal with something.
Before leaving, Yu Chi'ang specifically reminded him: "If you feel bored, go up the escalator. The top floor is the information room of Changyu Tavern. I have already told you that I will let you look up information."
"I have entered the senior's information into the system. You just need to scan your face."
Gu Qiufeng agreed.
He first lay on the bed and browsed the forum.
Because of the recent major update, the third guild temporarily disabled the speaking function for fear of someone leading the trend, so everyone can only look through some other posts.
Gu Qiufeng saw the popular post about voting suggestions. He thought about it carefully and it seemed feasible.
Moreover, this mechanism looked so familiar that Gu Qiufeng, whose main job was to be a broker, suddenly had his eyelids twitched.
Why does it feel like he organized a 101-point talent show for dungeon NPCs?
However, this aspect still needs to be considered, mainly because Gu Qiufeng now has a lot of points. After the player's qualifications reach B level, the upgrade will not be based on points. A-level players living in City B, to be more precise, should be called quasi-A-level players. They need to pass the A-level dungeon and obtain the title before they can get the qualification certification.
Therefore, A-level players are rare.
Now Gu Qiufeng has only seen the Xie siblings, Duan Chouyu and Xiaoyu.
As for the conditions for entering City A, Gu Qiufeng searched and found a real upgrade post. The post said that one needs to complete an A-level copy perfectly before entering City A.
So far, none of the famous quasi-A-level players in City B has been able to successfully and perfectly clear the A-level copy, so no one knows what City A looks like and whether there are any players.
It seems that these players who have reached the ceiling of combat power are not qualified, but the poster went on to explain that in fact, there is a quasi-A-level player who should be strong enough to enter City A.
That person is Xie Songlan, the sister of puppeteer Xie Songjin.
The rest of the post turned into the poster's personal fanatical admiration for Xie Songlan, saying that she was the number one player, a genius girl, etc. Gu Qiufeng took a look and found it was all nonsense with no nutritional value, so he quickly closed the post.
Then Gu Qiufeng tried to search for posts about the World BOSS in City B. Most of the players were lamenting that it was a "nine deaths and one escape". There was basically no way to pass the level, and staying alive depended entirely on luck.
Mermaid Tears can only make the BOSS have a certain basic favorability towards them. They can help them survive a little at the beginning, but in the later stages they still have to rely on themselves to survive.
After looking around, Gu Qiufeng summed up a pattern.
People with high combat power rely on brute force to pass the level, those who spend money rely on props to survive, and ordinary players who have nothing can only gamble every time whether they can survive to the end, and basically they have to burn incense once a week.
There is no general way to pass the level.
Moreover, there are no live broadcast screenshots circulating regarding this world boss.
Gu Qiufeng also saw the corresponding explanation, saying that this BOSS specializes in mental attacks, and even his pictures will have extremely strong mental pollution, which is like a deadly poison to mental players, so the forum prohibits the spread of all pictures and videos related to this copy.
This BOSS only has a code name.
Dr. Mermaid.
Gu Qiufeng pinched his brows and realized that it was already late. Anyway, the game was undergoing a major update this week, so he could just go to the data room tomorrow.
*
Xie Xin opened his eyes.
He had a not-so-pleasant dream. When he woke up, he felt cold all over and his throat was very dry.
The person who was monitoring him, Duan Jiangli, got into trouble and had been missing for a long time. At that time, a guy even grabbed him by the collar and questioned him.
As a result, the transaction between Xie Xin and Duan Jiangli was stopped.
He returned to his normal life of filming and acting, without any waves. After Gu Qiufeng passed away, Xie Xin did not look for another agent, so he handled all the work by himself, like a spinning top every day.
After Xie Xin got up, he poured himself a glass of water and drank it. Only then did he feel the discomfort in his throat slightly ease.
He turned on his phone and an important official notification was pushed to him.
As time goes by, the phenomenon of Origin invading reality becomes more and more serious, so the official can only gradually infiltrate this news to everyone, so that ordinary people can be vigilant in their daily lives and respond in time.
This push is the official announcement about the banned game "Fatal Fall".
It seems like... it can make anyone who comes into contact with this game disappear?
Xie Xin was stunned for a moment, and then he quickly found an installation package on the Internet.
Although there are crackdowns on it, for some reason, this installation package has become like an all-pervasive virus, contaminating every aspect of human life.
Could it be that Gu Qiufeng has entered this game?
Xie Xin owes something to his younger brother.
He wanted to find Gu Qiufeng in person to apologize.
The game installation package turned on his phone for a while, and finally turned into a red exclamation mark.
Game download failed.
Xie Xin's face suddenly darkened.
But before he tried again, his locker suddenly made a slight noise.
Xie Xin walked over.
In the office of the Center for Protection.
Zheng Yuan was drinking coffee with a tired look on his face, staring at the surveillance camera in front of him until his eyes were almost blinded.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes wide, quickly paused a frame of the picture, and then hurriedly called out: "Xiao Liu, come and take a look, is this the installation package of "Fatal Fall"?"
After the young man named Xiao Liu ran over to confirm, he wondered, "If Xie Xin is really a monster, why did he download the installation package of this game? Doesn't he know the relationship between Origin and the game?"
Zheng Yuan's expression was complicated: "Maybe he did it on purpose for us to see."
"What? They can find out that he is..." Xiao Liu was halfway shocked when he suddenly realized that Xie Xin was indeed a monster. He couldn't help but shudder, "Then, deputy captain, should we continue investigating?"
"We have been discovered. Will it be dangerous to continue investigating?"
Zheng Yuan gritted his teeth and said cruelly: "Investigate! If we don't investigate, will we let the monsters mix in with the crowd? Besides..."
This was Captain Duan’s only wish before he disappeared.
The Duan brothers and sisters paid an extremely heavy price for the origin. Zheng Yuan was determined to complete Duan Jiangli's last wish even at the cost of his life.
At this moment, Xie Xin in the surveillance video suddenly moved.
Zheng Yuan held his breath and watched Xie Xin's every move intently.
Xie Xin walked towards a simple wardrobe in the dim bedroom.
Xiao Liu exclaimed, "Brother Zheng Yuan, that cabinet is moving!"
"I saw it." Zheng Yuan said, and hurriedly adjusted the focus of the surveillance camera to zoom in on Xie Xin and the cabinet.
Xie Xin stopped in front of the cabinet for a while, until the noise became more and more intense, then he reached out to open the cabinet door.
Zheng Yuan swallowed nervously.
What's in Xie Xin's cabinet that moves for no reason?
Is it a monster, or...?
Suddenly, Xie Xin on the screen raised his eyes and looked directly at Zheng Yuan in front of the screen with a nonchalant smile.
Xiao Liu patted his chest and said, "I was so scared. I felt like he was going to smile at the camera in the next second."
Zheng Yuan looked grim: "He is indeed looking at us."
Xiao Liu: “Ah?”
However, Xie Xin quickly looked away. He grabbed the handle of the cabinet with one hand and slowly pulled it open.
A big star like Xie Xin should have a special room to hang clothes, so his closet is very clean and empty.
The blood-red "X" behind the cabinet was suddenly eye-catching.
Xie Xin stared silently for a while, then took out his cell phone.
The next second, a call request popped up on Zheng Yuan’s phone.
His heart skipped a beat. Zheng Yuan took a few deep breaths to calm himself down before answering Xie Xin's call. "What's the matter?"
"Stop pretending." Xie Xin's indifferent voice came through the phone, "I'm an actor, and the most sensitive thing in my life is the camera. I guess Deputy Captain Zheng must have seen the situation in my room, right?"
"I've been targeted by the origin you mentioned, and I need protection."
Zheng Yuan hung up the phone with a shaking hand.
He turned on the speakerphone, so Xiao Liu also heard it, and said incredulously: "Have we been blaming him wrongly? Brother Zheng, you see, he has also encountered the origin abnormality."
"Impossible." Zheng Yuan said irritably, "This guy is directing and acting on his own, provoking us."
Sometimes, what you see is not necessarily the truth. At such moments, Zheng Yuan prefers to trust his intuition.
But even if they saw through Xie Xin's methods, what should they do next?
Ordinary humans cannot kill Xie Xin.
unless……
Suddenly, another team member ran over in a hurry: "Deputy Captain, the captain applied to support Province Y, and now it has been approved!"
As if he had suddenly gotten a breath of oxygen while drowning, Zheng Yuan raised his head and asked, "All of us in the first team are going, right?"
"Ah, yes." said the team member.
Zheng Yuan hurriedly asked, "Where is the temporary worker from outside the team that the team hired before?"
*
The first day of game update, nothing unusual.
The next day, a severe earthquake occurred in City B. Countless people looked out of the windows of their rooms and were surprised to see a hospital appear opposite the Central Power Station in the center of the city.
"What is that?" Gu Qiufeng asked.
"Never before." Yu Chi'ang said.
The third guild took pictures with a drone and posted them on the forum.
The hospital looked old and eerie, as if it was a place that could swallow people.
For a moment, countless players in City B became uneasy, fearing that another BOSS as powerful as Dr. Mermaid had arrived.
However, because the forum still did not allow the speech function, even if everyone was afraid, it did not spread widespread panic among the player community.
Guilds of all sizes have tried to detect this suddenly appeared building, but perhaps because it has not been updated yet, the hospital seems to have its own barriers and nothing can get in.
The next day nothing happened.
On the third day, City B began to shake violently again.
The Third Guild once again released new photos on the forum.
I saw an abandoned "port" next to the copy login hall.
The login hall of City B was at the edge of the city. Unlike the lush jungle outside City D, and the tentacle monsters with life entangled in layers outside City C, the edge of City B was an endless sea, and the sea surface was shrouded in layers of fog. However, most of the B-level players were trained by death, and no one really believed that the sea was really calm, so no one rushed to get close to the sea.
But suddenly, an abandoned port appeared. What is the game update doing?
Yu Chi'ang became even busier, discussing countermeasures with guild players every day.
He learned from guild members in other cities that only City B had experienced such a strange change.
At the same time, Duan Chouyu, who had finally recovered his memory, walked out of the room and saw Xie Songlan squatting at the door holding a video conference with guild members.
The atmosphere was very solemn.
Duan Chouyu guessed that something had happened almost instantly, and she hurriedly asked, "Miss Xie, what's wrong with the game update?"
When Duan Chouyu entered the camera, Xie Songlan quickly closed the meeting. In this serious situation, exposing Duan Chouyu's position would not be a good thing. She stood up, kicked her numb legs, and said, "To be precise, only our B city has an update."
She showed Duan Chouyu some photos taken by the guild.
When Duan Chouyu saw the abandoned port, he was stunned for a moment and said, "Is this Xiaozhou Port?"
Xie Songlan looked at Duan Chouyu in shock: "Do you know what this is?"
"How could I not know? My parents support Province Y, and my sister supports Province Y. One of their important missions is Xiaozhou Port." After receiving several photos from Gu Qiufeng, Duan Jiangli in City C quickly called over via video. "You said this building appeared in the update of City B?"
Gu Qiufeng hummed, "Do you have any opinion?"
Duan Jiangli put away his smile and suddenly whispered, "Gu Qiufeng, are we really in a game?"
"What's the meaning?"
Duan Jiangli said word by word: "You walked all the way from City D to City B. Did you find that there were obstacles set up outside each city? Can any player successfully walk out?"
"What exactly do these monsters want to prevent humans from seeing by deliberately preventing people from leaving the city?"
“Is there something more terrifying outside, or is it reality?”
Duan Jiangli's words were like a stone, hitting Gu Qiufeng's heart hard and creating ripples.
Indeed, what kind of game can have such a great influence, carrying countless human beings, with all kinds of order, and can also affect reality.
But Gu Qiufeng added: "If we were in reality, then why didn't anyone notice us for such a long time even though we made such a big noise?"
Duan Jiangli was silent for a while, then said: "Actually, Lu Jinghong made a guess back then."
Lu Jinghong, Shenlei, captain of the first team of the protection center, and later the number one player in the game.
"Since her death, our Protection Center has had this idea that the space where the monsters are located might also be reality, but we just can't see it normally. There is some kind of restrictive barrier. The fact that the Origin keeps infecting our real life means that this barrier has been broken invisibly. When we enter the game, we are entering the dimension where the Origin is. At this time, people in reality can't see us, and we can't see them." Duan Jiangli said.
Gu Qiufeng said: "You think it is the inner and outer world."
"Almost. Reality is like the outer world, and we are in the inner world now." Duan Jiangli said, "The inner and outer worlds must have been built by some kind of bridge artificially. If certain conditions are met, they can penetrate and influence each other."
Therefore, the copy monsters can affect some realities. At the same time, Gu Qiufeng can eliminate their influence in reality by solving the copy monsters.
Gu Qiufeng was silent for a while and said, "Your guess may be correct."
There are countless copies in the game that are based on reality. They may not be the originals, but the bridges that connect the origins to the reality of the players. The origins can penetrate the reality through the copies, and the players can also eliminate the influence on the origins through the copies.
As for the current changes in City B, if the abandoned port is really the small island port in Province Y, in some ways, the mutual penetration between games and reality is becoming more and more serious.
No one is sure what the next major update will look like.
This time only real buildings appeared, will it be possible that next time an entire area will be swallowed up directly?
"I will hurry to City B as soon as possible." Duan Jiangli said, "We don't have another ten years."
After Gu Qiufeng finished his call with Duan Jiangli, he walked to the window.
Xiaozhou Port cannot be seen from here, only the abandoned hospital not far away. Gu Qiufeng doesn't know if it is an illusion, but he feels that a little light is coming out of one of the windows inside.
But he soon confirmed that it was not an illusion!
Yu Chi'ang soon knocked on the door and came in: "Senior, the hospital has updated its content again. There are suspected biological activities inside now."
In the following days, all major guilds carefully observed the status of the two areas to confirm the game's update content.
Fortunately, no other updates were added after that.
On the last day, a new building appeared near the login hall of each copy and at the entrance of City D.
The name is "World Server Linkage Center".
It happened that the forum post got in touch, and countless players were posting questions in the forum.
[??? I don't understand, is this world server the one I was thinking of?]
[I'm funny. Now that I think about it, I really haven't seen any foreigners. I thought the base was too small. So it turns out that there are regional servers? ]
[When I think about it, it turns out that the whole world is unlucky. I don’t know why, but I feel guilty for a moment]
[But what is this world server? Does this mean we will have to play dungeons with foreigners in the future? ]
[It could also be pvp... that's even scarier... anyone who has played the game knows that each server has its own ecosystem, and who knows what the strength of players in other regions is like]
[I went to the door and found that it was locked. When will it open? ]
[In the sky! There is a countdown! ]
Gu Qiufeng came to the window and saw a code-style countdown in the sky, with a string of small comments next to it:
"Countdown to world server: 5 days".
At the same time, Gu Qiufeng received news from Xie Songjin.
He said that he wanted to invite Gu Qiufeng to explore Xiaozhou Port with them, because Gu Qiufeng's ability was convenient and could be used just in case.
Gu Qiufeng was also very curious about the differences between this small island port and the real Y Province.
It’s a pity that Duan Jiangli hasn’t arrived yet, and Duan Chouyu is temporarily unable to explore the copy due to health reasons.
As for Yu Chiang, Gu Qiufeng thought about it and decided that he couldn't continue to drag the other party into trouble just for his own selfish reasons.
So after telling Yu Chi'ang where he was going, he agreed to the Xie brothers and sisters.
When they arrived at the deserted old port, Xie Songlan and Xie Songjin were talking about something.
Gu Qiufeng listened carefully and found that they were talking about the world server center.
Seeing Gu Qiufeng coming, Xie Songjin waved to him.
Xie Songlan had offered a bounty on Gu Qiufeng before, so he felt embarrassed and guilty when he saw him now.
She had indeed misjudged him at that time. She didn't expect Gu Qiufeng to be so successful.
"Mr. Gu," Xie Songlan cleared his throat, "I'm very happy that Mr. Gu is willing to help."
Gu Qiufeng said: "It's not a big deal. I also want to see what is inside this port."
Xie Songlan breathed a sigh of relief. She was actually quite afraid of those polite words. Seeing Gu Qiufeng speaking directly, she relaxed instead. She pointed a finger at Gu Qiufeng with a serious expression: "First, I want to tell Mr. Gu some things to note."
"First, no one has ever been to this place. The fact that it appeared in City B after the update means that the difficulty is above Level A. Adding to the unknown and the difficulty, Xie Songjin and I may not be able to protect ourselves."
When Xie Songlan said this, he paused slightly, and a smile actually appeared on his face.
"If that time really comes, Mr. Gu, please don't worry about us. You have the ability to survive to the end, so don't worry about our lives... I only ask you to help tell Chou Yu about the situation in the dungeon after that."
Gu Qiufeng laughed and said, "The number one player in the game is praising me like this. I'm really going to shorten my lifespan."
Xie Songjin added: "There is a second one."
"No matter what you saw, Mr. Gu, don't be disturbed by the copy. You should trust the human players, not some fictional things created by the game that you don't know whether they are true or false."
Xie Songjin had a forbearing expression, and he was obviously thinking about what happened to the previous generation of players.
Gu Qiufeng said: "I understand."
Xie Songjin then smiled and said, "After we finish our work, I will tell you everything I remember."
Xie Songlan was confused: "What are you two doing?"
"Oh, how unlucky." Xie Songlan said silently, "We just set a lot of flags. Please, the three of us should not be so pessimistic."
"Everyone will be safe."
At the last moment of entering the unmanned port, Xie Songjin suddenly looked up and said to Gu Qiufeng: "Mr. Gu, sometimes you don't act like a human player."
“Like an observer.”
Gu Qiufeng was stunned, but before he could figure out what Xie Songjin meant, the scene around them had changed.
The port, which should have been desolate, was completely new. Countless ships were parked on the shore, and fishermen were walking out from time to time carrying what they had salvaged. There was even a salt field in the distance.
"So this is a fishing port." Xie Songlan murmured, "Looking at the appearance of this ship, it's quite old. It shouldn't be a modern port."
"It's probably a background from the past." Xie Songjin said, "There's a wooden sign here."
Gu Qiufeng took a look and found that it was written with the rules of the game.
[Players go out to sea at 8 am every day and come back at 5 pm. The fish they catch can be sold to surrounding villages]
[When the funds reach 10,000 yuan, you can pass the level]
Gu Qiufeng: "Isn't it a bit too simple?"
As soon as he finished speaking, an inhuman scream suddenly came from behind him.
Gu Qiufeng and the other two quickly turned around.
I saw a man carrying a cloth bag of fish lying on the ground, twitching and foaming at the mouth. However, when the people around him saw this, no one came forward to help him. An indescribable look of fear appeared on their faces.
So the three of them didn't take the initiative to do anything, but quietly hid in the crowd and watched what happened.
Because he fell suddenly, the fish in the bag were scattered all over the ground, jumping non-stop, with eyes wide open, which was somewhat similar to the wide-open eyes of the person struggling on the ground.
“It’s coming out!”
I don't know who said something without a beginning or an end.
Gu Qiufeng looked up and saw a faint red mark from the top of the man's head to his chin. As the red mark became heavier, the man's face split to the sides.
There was almost a bursting sound, like a mature flower blooming, revealing the fish head inside.
The fish head struggled on the ground for a while, but died straight away because it had no water.
A woman threw herself beside the corpse of the man with a fish face and wailed.
"I've told you to go out to sea less often. The money you earn is already enough for us to spend! But you won't listen and insist on dreaming that you can earn more money so that we can leave here one day... You're so confused!!! How can anyone who goes out to sea not turn into a monster?!"
Xie Songlan murmured, "How can I pass this?"
Gu Qiufeng: "...going out to sea."
↘
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
