Chapter 193 (Extra)
"Lao Feng, stop crying." Perhaps because he looked so embarrassed, several brothers from the planning team came to comfort him, saying, "Everyone makes mistakes, and we brothers don't blame you."
Lao Feng exclaimed and hugged the person in front of him: "I declare that this is the most heartwarming thing I have heard this year!"
The person being hugged coughed twice. "Well... now we're working overtime to finish the storyline after the Fallen Angel. Lao Feng, can you ask the boss for a performance bonus?"
I was just touched the moment before, and the next second the person let go of his arms and looked up: "So you wanted to push me out to talk to the boss!!! How can you, with your 36 degree mouth, say such cold words!"
He is blind! He is too naive!
Several colleagues laughed and said, "Everyone knows that the boss likes you the most, Lao Feng. If you go and ask him, he will definitely agree. But if it's us guys who are in his place, the result is hard to say~"
Although Lao Feng's nickname contains the word "old", he is actually the youngest guy in their planning team. Because he has been wandering in the world of games for many years, he has the face of a 40-year-old middle-aged man in his early 20s, and he looks "mature" no matter how you look at him.
But although he is young, he is very capable.
With just a slight turn of the brain, the gameplay, plot, levels, and story background are all here!
It can be said that half of the achievements of the "Protoss" planning team can be attributed to him.
That's why the boss likes him so much. As long as the conditions are not too excessive, the boss will definitely agree if he asks for them.
How could Lao Feng not know what these animals were thinking?
He gritted his teeth in feigned hatred, then turned his head, stood up, and walked straight towards the boss's single office.
Fifteen minutes later, he walked out of the room dejectedly amid everyone's expectant gazes.
When everyone saw it, their hearts skipped a beat.
"What's wrong, Lao Feng? Does the boss not agree to a performance bonus?"
"Not really. Even though our game doesn't support pay-to-win, which means a significant portion of revenue is lost, the government is backing it up, so the boss shouldn't need this little bit of money, right?"
"Lao Feng, please speak up, what's going on?"
Lao Feng, who was surrounded by people, kept shaking his head but said nothing.
Now everyone panicked even more, looking at him anxiously like ants on a hot pan.
Lao Feng suddenly raised his head and grinned: "Hey, the boss agreed!"
What?
The people who realized they were fooled by him immediately started screaming "Ahhhh".
"Damn Old Feng, how dare you lie to us!"
"Beat him, this scumbag who cheated on me, I must beat him to death today!"
Lao Feng, however, slipped away and ran away: "Come on, come and chase me if you can~"
Despite all the noise, this group of planners are very decisive in doing their work.
As night falls, the 200-square-meter open-plan floor is still brightly lit and quiet. Everyone is typing and writing on the big screen in front of them, with none of the laughter and joking in the evening.
A few hours later, it was already late at night outside the window. A group of people stretched and yawned and said, "Is it almost time?"
Lao Feng pushed the black glasses on his nose and said, "If you are tired, you can go first."
Everyone: "What the hell? You still want to work overtime?"
"Well, the background story after the Fallen Angel is almost done. I'll finish it before I leave work."
"So awesome? Let me see what you wrote."
A group of people crowded around Lao Feng's workstation, curiously looking at the words on his vertical screen.
"Expansion Pack 'Old Gods' Capital': The fallen angel Millers, who attempted to enslave humanity once again, has been slain, but a new evil force seems to be emerging... Challenge the Old Gods' Capital and promptly contain the Protoss Archangels surrounded by evil forces to prevent their further degeneration... All players who participate in this challenge and meet the daily average online time of 3 hours or more will receive the limited title of 'Gods' Capital Warrior'."
"Wow, this is great, a limited title. Players will challenge it just for this." Someone praised.
"Indeed, and since this event is related to the Fallen Angel, it won't feel out of place after it goes online. Instead, it will arouse players' desire to continue challenging it."
They are all planners. After watching the expansion pack designed by Lao Feng, everyone immediately understood his intention.
but.
"The prerequisite for this expansion pack to be released is that players can defeat the Fallen Angels... but with the current player level, that's difficult."
Originally, the Fallen Angel storyline was scheduled to be unlocked when the player reached level 80, but now because of that ink color, it has been advanced to level 40.
There's a huge difference between 40 and 80. This battle can't be fought at all.
"Shall we adjust the numbers and formulas?" someone suggested.
Everyone nodded silently.
But Lao Feng shook his head with a stern face: "No, it can't be adjusted."
Everyone stared at him with dark circles under their eyes: "How can we fight without adjusting the players? The Fallen Angels' combat power completely crushes the players!"
"Yeah, Lao Feng, if we don't tell the players, they won't know we've adjusted the data. If we just update the character cards and patch it later, how will the players know the true combat power of the Fallen Angels?"
"I said no."
On some issues, Lao Feng is terribly stubborn.
He raised his eyes and scanned his colleagues on the planning team one by one. "The Fallen Angel's combat power is set at level 90. This cannot be changed, and there's no way to alter it. It's clearly written on the character sheet. He single-handedly beheaded the leader of the Protoss and resisted the Archangel's crusade. His combat power is set at this level. If it's adjusted down, do you really think the players won't notice?"
Especially for those high-level players on the battle power list, they can tell whether the boss’s damage is high or low, and whether the defense level is reasonable as soon as they make a move. Who can they fool?
There was silence all around.
Someone then sighed, "Then what do you say we should do... If we can't defeat the Fallen Angels, player morale will inevitably suffer. Then, the Old Gods expansion you worked so hard on won't even be released. Isn't that a dead end?"
"No, it's not a dead end."
Lao Feng pushed his glasses open, and an unfathomable light reflected on the lenses.
"Since she was able to unlock the Fallen Angel storyline early, she must have gone to that place. There are quest items I left there. If she gets them and uses them well, the player will have a chance to turn the tide."
"What props?" everyone was surprised.
Lao Feng smiled and his gaze returned to his vertical screen.
"You'll know when the time comes."
In the game, more than 5 hours have passed since the release of the Fallen Angel mission, and there is not much time left for players on the continent of Pergas.
However, it was already late at night, and the wild map was pitch black. Whether or not one could see the road depended entirely on the moon in the sky. How could one even think about looking for a fallen angel?
Damn angel! I’m going blind looking for you!
In the Litor Canyon, a group of people were holding torches and searching patiently.
"Boss, why did you ask us to come here to look for it?"
"Yeah, everyone else chose the high plains, but we're running into these dark valleys. It's so tiring."
The player called Boss turned around, hands on his hips. "What do you know? A boss like the Fallen Angel wouldn't be on the plains. He's too conspicuous. Players would spot him the moment they get there. Only terrains like canyons and deep forests could hide him!"
"Oh, that's true." Several team members scratched their heads. "Okay, let's keep looking."
Not far from this group of people, on Finnat Heights, there was also a group of people lying on the grass with kerosene lamps, searching carefully.
However, they had stripped all the grass here bare and found no trace of anything.
"Boss, why do I feel that the fallen angel can't be here?" A team member was tired of pulling the grass and sat down on the ground.
His words were recognized by other team members.
The boss stopped when he heard the sound.
Could it possibly be on the high ground? Was he wrong from the start? The saying "the light is darkest under the lamp" didn't exist. Could the giant be hiding somewhere in a valley, a cliff, or some other unusual formation?
So I had to change my words: "Okay, let's search for another 10 minutes. If there is still no clue, we will change places."
But how easy is it to find? Despite the players' initial excitement, as time goes by, their energy gradually depletes, their bodies grow increasingly tired, and their initial enthusiasm is almost completely extinguished.
On the world channel, players were wailing and saying they had no clue. Xia Mo took a look and didn't react.
She didn't expect the players to find the fallen angel Millers. The latter didn't have any clues and had to rely on guesswork to find him. The continent of Pergas was vast. According to their guesswork, when would it end?
Therefore, we still have to start from the clues she got.
Xia Mo reined in the little black horse and stopped temporarily in a corner of the forest.
Expand the map, and the continents of Vazetilan and Pergas occupy all vision.
It is known that Archangel Sawyer gave her the coordinates of five clones, which correspond to A, B, C on the continent of Vazetilan...
Xia Mo touched the map with her finger, and the places she touched were immediately marked with small red dots. The five coordinates turned into five red dots. At first glance, these five points had no pattern at all, and looked as if they were randomly distributed on the continent.
But is it really like that?
Could it be that these random coordinates are just to convey the location of the fallen angel's clone, with no other hidden clues?
"Protoss" is not a puzzle game, but some missions still require players to do some reasoning and analysis.
The fallen angel is a very important part of the game's plot. Xia Mo always believes that the coordinates given by Sawyer cannot be meaningless.
Try to connect five points on the map.
But an irregular pattern was obtained.
If it's not a connecting line, could it be that the coordinate numbers have meaning?
Five coordinates, a total of 15 strings of numbers. Xia Mo copied and pasted them and placed them separately on the blank drawing board.
He glanced at them one by one, and suddenly, his expression froze!
Found it!
Her heartbeat suddenly accelerated with excitement. She picked out three strings of numbers that had obvious patterns and arranged them into 6 coordinates.
These are the 6!
Just confirm them one by one!
Xia Mo let out a sigh of relief, the dawn of victory was just around the corner.
As she was racing against time, she didn't have time to run to these 6 coordinates, so she simply sent it to the guild and asked the person closest to the coordinates to go and check it first.
The guild was instantly in an uproar.
[Ripe Tomato: Holy shit, how did you find that? (Shocked)]
[Latiao Xiaohuahua: Hey, the numbers on these coordinates seem to be a combination of permutations?]
Xia Mo said bluntly: [Well, I found three key numbers. I think the fallen angel should be one of them.]
[Laughing till my face is paralyzed! Frog fun! I'm right near the third coordinate!]
[Ripe Tomato: Wait, Mr. Paralysis, I'm with you too!]
[He Ye Xiaoxiao: I'm on the map next to the second coordinate. I can get there immediately.]
After looking around, Xia Mo discovered that only Laughing Face Paralysis and He Ye Xiao Xiao were closest to two of the coordinates. He continued to ask: "Where are the others? Are they not here?"
Several people stood up.
[Yun Yao: Sister Mo Se, I'm here... but I'm too far away from these coordinates, and... my mount has been sick these past few days, and the system tells me it's not suitable for riding... Woo woo woo, I'm sorry!]
[Salad: ...I'm here too, but I'm in a solo instance right now and can't get out for half an hour, so, alas... sorry.]
[Carrot Lover: Ahhhh Master! I'm still refining that damn medicine and can't get away for now! Bursting into tears!]
[Ride a Donkey to Watch a Turtle: ...Uh, I'm also making medicine, along with carrots...]
Sui Bai has been busy with military duty recently and has not been online for several days. Most of the other people are also busy, so Xia Mo has no choice but to ask for help from people outside the guild.
The first guild she thought of was the Allied Guild, the Black Domain Kingdom.
It had been a while since she contacted them, but she didn't bother to exchange pleasantries. She simply explained the situation in a few words and then asked, "Can you send someone?"
Black Domain Qingtian replied quickly: [Yes, we have people near coordinates 4, 5, and 6]
Xia Mo: [Okay, then I’ll go.]
It just so happens that coordinate 1 is the one closest to her. It takes about an hour and a half to teleport and ride on the mount.
Some people may ask, isn't there a small wing? Wouldn't it be faster to use it to travel by air than by land?
Theoretically, it is possible, but don't forget that Xiaoyi's category is always a combat pet, not a mount.
Short-distance flights are indeed no problem. For example, when flying across the city of Noto, a 10-minute flight was very safe. But if the time is longer, Xiaoyi will not be able to hold her firmly and she will fall automatically.
Probably to prevent players from using their battle pets to exploit this loophole, in addition to the 10-minute limit, the system also restricts players from commanding their battle pets as mounts within 24 hours.
So the idea of using Xiaoyi to shorten the time is not feasible, and I can only ride the horse honestly.
After sending a message to Heiyu Qingtian, Xia Mo was about to kick his horse's belly and set off when the chat box shook.
Where are you now? I'm also on my way to coordinate 1.
Xia Mo sent a real-time location.
[Black Domain Sky: We should be able to meet halfway.]
After sending the message, Heiyu Qingtian thought she would reply with questions like "Where are you?" or "Where shall we meet?", but she only replied calmly with "OK, got it," without any other words.
For some reason, Heiyu Qingtian felt as if his heart was empty, as if a gust of wind was blowing through his body.
He stared at the dialog box again, and confirmed that the other party had no intention of replying. He closed the conversation, kicked the horse's belly, and the Ferghana horse galloped towards the destination as if on nimble hooves.
Under the moonlight, Xia Mo's little black horse was also nimbly running through the forest. Half an hour later, she ran out of the forest and really bumped into Heiyu Qingtian outside.
"haven't seen you for a long time."
Hearing a movement in the forest, he pulled on the reins and turned towards her.
Xia Mo: "Long time no see."
Even though I'm online almost every day, I'm so busy with my own tasks that I have no time to communicate with others.
Speaking of the last time I met Heiyu Qingtian face to face, it seemed to be in the snowman grabbing competition at the end of last year. Because Qingyao's luck was slightly inferior, their people eventually won the first place in the event.
Later, during the war on the mainland, she was the commander-in-chief and did not go to the scene in person. She only communicated with Black Domain Qingtian and White-Faced Ghost through dialog boxes. One side gave orders and the other obeyed. There was no time to say anything else.
So, this is actually the first time this year.
"How have you been lately?" Heiyu Qingtian asked under the pretext of greeting.
Xia Mo shrugged: "As you can see, it's still the same."
After saying that, he pedaled the horse and it started running again. Seeing this, Heiyu Qingtian followed closely behind.
The night wind blew on his face, his long hair fluttered in front of him. He looked at her fearless back, and many images flashed through his mind.
A military academy student, winner of a mecha competition, whose parents were once capable generals in the military, he grew up as an orphan on the planet of Alman. He swiftly eliminated the threat, united others to redress his parents' innocence, and ultimately brought down Han Rantai and his group...
Any one of these things would be enough to make an ordinary person extraordinary, let alone her, Xia Mo, who has all of these things in one person.
As the only son and heir of the Alman Star Mining Company, Hei Yu was shocked when he learned the truth.
He had guessed her identity, most likely a military academy student, but he didn't expect that "student" was just the most inconspicuous of her thousands of labels.
Also, if she was only labeled as a student, how could she shine in the dual worlds of games and reality at the same time?
Facing the wind, Hei Yu smiled, then he retracted his gaze and looked into the distance.
Two horses, two figures, galloping in the wild.
On the way to the first coordinate, Xia Mo and Heiyu Qingtian received news from guild members one after another.
"4, 5, 6 didn't find any fallen angels." said Heiyu Qingtian.
Xia Mo nodded on horseback: "Yeah, me too."
"Then all that remains is..."
"Um."
The air grew alert.
Ten minutes later, they arrived at the coordinates - Luwalu County.
"Why is it here?"
Heiyu Qingtian pulled the reins and the Ferghana horse stopped outside the small city gate.
Xia Mo also stopped his horse and thought.
She thought of countless possibilities, such as hiding herself in an uninhabited wasteland like the Archangel Sawyer, or hiding at the bottom of a lake like his clone... But she never expected that Millers would hide his real body in a bustling town.
It is darker than the darkness under the lamp. If you don’t have any clues, ordinary people will never think of it.
"Let's go. Since this is the only coordinate left, it must be inside."
Xia Mo dismounted and stared at the city gate with a fierce gaze.
There are still 17 hours left until the end of the mission.
The author is not good at writing romance, so I have written the emotional arrows of both the protagonist and the supporting characters in a very obscure way... Just let everyone get the idea~ (Chicken Dance)
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