Chapter 91 [Fishing Ceremony] [VIP]
"How long has she been sitting there?" the soldiers and policemen cautiously surrounding the Crystal Sea whispered to each other.
"It's been forty-five hours." The companion lowered his voice, and it was hard to tell whether the tone was one of fear or admiration.
For forty-five hours, without sleep, food, or drink, the "Player," seemingly just an ordinary girl, sat quietly on the seashore embankment. With an almost cold and steady rhythm, every ten seconds, she would fish out a strangely shimmering "item" from the eerie crystal sea.
The psychic in charge of observation, Shimazaki Toson, had his brows furrowed tighter and tighter behind his glasses.
His special ability [Spring and Autumn] allows him to clearly sense the flow and rise and fall of any energy, such as life force, mana, etc.
From the moment the player began "fishing", the terrifyingly huge amount of life energy in her body, like a water bag with countless small holes punctured in it, continued to drain away at an astonishing rate of 99% with each "sacrifice".
At first, the fire of life was as bright as the sun. Even if only 1% remained, it was still far beyond that of ordinary people.
But as time passed, the flame dimmed visibly, from brilliant gold to a flickering orange-red. Now, only a faint, pale halo, seemingly ready to go out, lingered around her.
She exuded an indescribable sense of weakness, as if she would turn into dust and be blown away by the wind in the next second.
However, her movements were still precise, and there was no trace of pain or fatigue on her face, only an almost mechanical concentration.
In sync with the decline of her vitality, the crystal sea that originally covered several kilometers of sea area was shrinking at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The originally bright light gradually dimmed, and tiny spider-web-like cracks appeared on the solidified sea.
The edges of the crystal structure that was once solid and shining with colorful light began to become transparent and thin, gradually melting away, revealing the deep blue sea water below.
The huge crystal creature swimming in it also became blurred, like an image with poor signal.
The guide NPC, who had been leaning against the embankment the entire time with a decadent look on his face, as if he had lost interest in everything in the world, turned a blind eye to all of this.
She occasionally changed her posture and continued to smoke silently, as if the Player and this gradually disappearing miracle had nothing to do with her.
She was a man of few words, and responded to the military and police's inquiries with only the briefest of words, as if her existence was only to hand the fishing rod to every "tourist" who wanted to come fishing, and then she would become the most silent background board in this spectacle.
"Commander," Shimazaki Toson's voice came through the communicator, with a barely perceptible tremor, "Player's life force field has fallen below 5% of the safe threshold. The coverage of the Crystal Sea has also shrunk to one-third of its original size. If this continues, I'm afraid..."
"Neon cannot afford the complete disappearance of this 'sea,'" he whispered. "While it's dangerous, it also offers unprecedented research value and...potential 'benefits.' Our mission is to control and study it, not allow it to be completely absorbed by a single entity!"
The temporary military and police commander, Da Mu, a middle-aged woman with a face as resolute as a rock, slammed her fist down on the metal table of the makeshift command vehicle. "We can't wait any longer! The 'Crystal Sea' is a national strategic resource. We can't let her 'fish' it out like this! Order all units to prepare for intervention!"
"But, her condition..."
"Precisely because she's extremely weak right now, she's our only chance!" the commander interrupted. "Control her, or at least, stop her from destroying the Crystal Sea!"
The order was given and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.
Yamazaki Toyoko, a psychic in the special operations force, whose psychic ability is [Chains of Love] Take a deep breath.
Her white fingertips glowed with golden light, and several golden chains composed of high-density energy appeared out of thin air, shooting towards Player like spirit snakes, trying to imprison her.
At the same time, the first-level sorcerer Kenji Higurashi has also completed the construction of the technique.
"Boundary Binding Magic Array - Open!" A dark purple magic array flashing with ominous spells quickly unfolded under the feet and around the Player. The air seemed to be stagnant, and a heavy pressure tried to suppress the Player in place.
Several elite military and police officers raised their guns at the same time, aiming not at Player herself, but at the "phase-shift fishing rod" in her body, trying to interrupt her "fishing" behavior through physical means.
However, just as all the attacks were about to reach Player, her eyes, which had been focused on the crystal sea, lifted up slightly for the first and only time and glanced at them.
The shield surrounded her like flowing water.
However, Zuo Yu and You Yu still held the fishing rod.
There was no anger, no surprise, not even a trace of emotional fluctuation, just like a person brushing away a disturbing fly.
All those who tried to stop her - the military and police, Yamazaki Toyoko, Higurashi Kenji, along with their supernatural powers, spells, and bullets - lost all kinetic energy in an instant, as if they had hit an invisible, infinitely extending wall.
Then, a gentle yet undeniable force enveloped them, lifting them and the ground beneath them. With an almost graceful gesture, it gently and distantly "placed" them on a hill several kilometers away. The entire process was so swift that it left no room for reaction, let alone resistance.
When they came back to their senses from the brief feeling of weightlessness and spatial dislocation, they could only see Player still sitting in the same place and casting his fishing rod again.
Their eyes were filled with astonishment, as if their all-out efforts to stop it were nothing more than a trivial farce.
She was just disturbed from time to time, so she didn't want to fight, she just threw them away.
"Don't provoke her again." The head of the Special Ability Agent Department, who was remotely monitoring them, sighed and reminded them gently, "Don't forget, she's carrying a nuclear bomb..."
For a moment, the commander was silent.
"Then slowly approach... surround her, but don't move." The commander waved Yu.
Time passed by minute by minute. Player's life light grew dimmer and dimmer, almost inaudible, but the frequency of her catching "items" did not decrease at all.
The crystal sea was shrinking and dissipating at an even faster rate. Finally, the once dazzling crystal ocean completely collapsed and evaporated in a dazzling yet silent light, leaving behind only an empty sea that had returned to its calm state.
There was no earth-shattering explosion, no devastating energy impact, it just disappeared quietly, as if it had never existed.
A thin card appeared in the Player's heart. The card depicted two intertwined hearts, the left heart ablaze with flames, and the right heart holding a piece of pure crystal.
The two are intertwined, forming a strange balance.
After doing all this, Player seemed finally satisfied. She put away her fishing rod and cards and slowly stood up.
At this moment, the military police, psychics and sorcerers who were thrown far away by her suddenly felt an inexplicable chill rising from the bottom of their hearts.
Shimazaki Toson felt as if he was facing a formidable enemy. He watched helplessly as the Player's life fire suddenly grew stronger and reached its peak.
He could sense that the indifferent aura that Player had originally exuded while focusing on "fishing" had quietly shifted after he put away the cards, taking on a cold, emotionless scrutiny.
The next second, Player moved.
Her figure moved through the crowd like a ghost, and was even less clear in the blurry surveillance footage, but every time she moved, she was precise and efficient.
There was no earth-shattering explosion, no gorgeous and dazzling light effects, the player just picked up the sword.
This wasn't a massacre, but more of a thorough "cleansing." She precisely controlled each person's life to the point of their last breath, leaving them with no ability to resist, yet clinging to a glimmer of hope.
The section chief had already left the monitoring room without a care in the world, while Zhongtian Shantouhuo was still standing in front of the screen, watching silently.
When the last person falls, the player begins to "plunder" in an orderly manner.
Those instruments and weapons that were officially considered important strategic materials, the communication devices scattered on the ground, and even any items worn by those who had lost consciousness that she considered "valuable" - from specially made supernatural amplifiers to sorcerers' spell tools, and even the standard pistols on the waists of military and police officers and a few remaining energy bars - were all picked up by her one by one and disappeared into thin air.
Finally, she brushed off the non-existent dust, glanced at the devastated coastline, and the "official personnel" lying in disarray, breathing weakly, with a satisfied smile on her face.
"Thank you for your hard work." Player wiped his forehead pretentiously.
——
Lin Chen hummed a little tune and prepared to leave this place which was no longer of any use, until her communicator suddenly rang.
She took it out and saw hundreds of words saying "Chatty NPC".
"Hello." She answered the phone happily.
"Ms. Player." The chatty NPC's voice was still so gentle, "I'd like to ask you to come to our laboratory. Your clone is too powerful and is wreaking havoc. We can't control it."
Clone: ​​Do you remember the scientist who put you through so many extreme tests? It's okay if you don't. Through some unscientific methods, she created a clone of you. Now, this clone is restless. Send it to sleep, so it knows that a fake is a fake.
"Yeah." The player responded perfunctorily.
Players have already encountered most of the clones and such, so there is really nothing new about them.
It would be more interesting to tease the squinty-eyed cat that goes to school.
How long have you been fishing here? I have no idea. I lose track of time when I start fishing. Hmm... I guess I didn't miss the squinty-eyed cat's first day of school, did I?
The player subconsciously filtered out the NPC's words and thought aimlessly: It's not a time-limited task anyway, I'll go after I have time to entertain the squinty-eyed cat.
Although players may have new things they want to do after having fun, who cares?
The NPC will definitely hold out until the players arrive!
The chatty NPC on the other end of the line had clearly sensed the player's perfunctory attitude. She calmly said, "I hope you can get here within ten minutes. Otherwise, this place will be demolished by your clones in ten minutes."
The next second, a ten-minute countdown was put on the top 100 of the [Clone] mission.
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