134
The farewell came hastily.
Tao Sai didn't do anything in particular, or leave any traces of herself intentionally, or write down the next task plan for Guo Pei and the others on paper, because she knew that no matter what she did now, no matter what she left behind, it would all be erased by the system in the near future, leaving no trace.
Hailou and the vast majority of players from District 3 had gathered together, essentially forming a united force. With a common goal, her presence or absence made little difference. Shen Yi had heard that Paradise Island was implementing a so-called "pig farming plan" to garner more resources, so it was certain they wouldn't deploy a large force against the players from District 3 for the time being.
The players in Zone 3 were a single entity. Attacking one person was attacking them all. If Liu He wanted to fatten up his "pig," he wouldn't have been sharpening knives and boiling water before the Lunar New Year. Liu He was arrogant enough to want his prey to grow even fatter.
Even if Liu He wanted to take action in advance, she had prepared a way out, which was the defense system of the "Deep Sea Fish" refuge ship, "invisibility."
In a truly dire situation, a thousand players could seek temporary refuge aboard the Level 5 refuge ship, the Deep Sea Fish. With "Invisibility" activated, it could completely shield them from attacks from the current plane. While invisibility was expensive, it offered maximum safety.
In addition, Tao Sai also left the illusion skills to one of her tool crew members, who opened the illusion and provided a training ground for players.
She can't use this skill for the time being.
Back on the Deep Sea Fish, Towsey slowly made her way inside from the deck. She noticed that as she passed by, everyone was going about their business as usual, and her presence had become very low. In the past, they might have greeted her enthusiastically, but now, even if they saw her, she was no longer the focus of attention.
She ignored all that and, as she reached the kitchen, she first hugged Aunt Li, who was chopping peppers. It was a bit harsh, but she had adapted perfectly. She hugged Lan Xiaojia, who was meticulously tending to the crops; Lin Yan, who was discussing medical matters with Dr. Liang; and An Nan, who was practicing martial arts. She gently pinched An Peng's cheek, but because she was so strong, she had to be very careful not to make the baby cry. She went to the newly opened study room and found Zhou Ning, who was absorbed in studying and forgot to eat or sleep. She held him for a while longer, and Zhou Ning was completely bewildered by Tao Sai's behavior.
She patted Cheng Cong's head as he attended his first day of school after summer vacation. He was truly a smart and sensible child. Normally, siblings had always been unhappy with each other. But the amazing thing was, when it came to her and Cheng Cong, she didn't find him annoying, not even feeling like he was being blamed for his parents' misfortune. She supposed Cheng Cong treated her the same way, because every time they ate, he paid close attention to the amount of rice in her bowl. Once it ran out, he would run over to help Tao Sai refill it, no matter where he was sitting.
Tao Sai took the initiative to greet everyone. They might have noticed something unusual, but it didn't matter, because soon they would all forget it completely, just like the countless players whose data was erased by the system after being killed.
Once the data is deleted, no trace of its existence can be found, and even the message records on the world channel will be completely erased.
Tao Sai wasn't sure if her memory traces could be restored after being erased. If she ever returned to the Deep Sea Fish, she might have to get to know everyone all over again. She might be able to get to know the people again, but it would be difficult for her relationships to return to the way they were.
After taking a cold shower and changing into a smart outfit, Tao Sai walked to the platform of the bridge and reluctantly said goodbye to the "Deep Sea Fish".
She jumped into the black vortex of space warp and began to do something she had dreamed of countless times but never put into practice: traveling around the world.
According to Shen Yi, with the exception of East Asia's third zone and Northern Europe's fifth zone, Paradise Island has nearly achieved control over all servers. They've eliminated the toughest nuts to crack, leaving only the "New Year pigs" waiting to grow. These players are, in fact, quite safe.
But it is difficult to gather them together like the third district.
The players being killed have caused them serious psychological trauma. They are paranoid and worried about everything. However, her and Hailou's influence only exists in the third area and does not radiate to other areas and servers.
Although it is called a round-the-world trip, in fact, all Tao Sai can see is the world that has been severely damaged by the insect swarm.
She observed the world along the way, observing the various aspects of human life in the game world under the doomsday disaster.
If she encountered a special situation, she would do what she could. For example, she encountered a cruise ship full of survivors in the Strait of Malacca. Due to running out of fuel and engine failure, it was inevitably crashing into the insect-strewn shore, driven by ocean currents and winds. Tao Sai used [Space Warp] to create a super-large space vortex in the direction of the ship's movement, sending the hundreds of thousands of tons of cruise ship into the calm waters of the Indian Ocean.
Deep in the ocean, she encountered many large ships, including aircraft carriers. Expensive aircraft had been pushed into the sea to buy space for the survivors. On the aircraft carrier decks were stacked various containers, like a honeycomb, densely packed with people, the survivors who had narrowly escaped.
However, these large ships are not refugee ships. With so many refugees aboard and no supplies, their future is uncertain. Unless they receive assistance from players, they can earn gold by killing bugs and purchase [Nutrients] to maintain their basic survival needs. Killing bugs also earns experience, increasing their tanks' ability to fight the bugs, or using experience to upgrade their refugee ships and gain more living space.
However, due to the gaming behavior of Paradise Island, most of the players are hiding in the shadows, shivering and unable to take care of themselves.
Tao Sai went to Antarctica. She felt freezing at first, but her body quickly adapted to the environment. She saw a large group of penguins in this pure white world.
The entire Antarctica is basically a partition, but there are only two players here. They should be staff members of the Antarctic scientific research station. They downloaded the game "Insect Tide" in their spare time.
Antarctica had also experienced earthquakes, cracking the ice cap and releasing a swarm of insects onto the exposed surface. However, the swarms did not spread because the surrounding ice and snow repelled water and other forms of water, converging instead on them. This created a natural spawning pool for gamers. The two players had settled down in Antarctica, bringing their families with them and living a secluded existence. Their world channel was occupied by only the two of them, oblivious to the bloodbath unfolding in other servers, treating it as a relaxing post-apocalyptic farming game. Naturally, Liu He wouldn't embarrass them; these two players were natural "pigs."
Tao Sai deliberately searched for the various light points along the way. The light point she had previously discovered near the Jiange base had given her a refreshing feeling the moment she approached it. She briefly suspected it was the node server set up by the game in each zone.
As Tao Sai visited more and more places, her guess was gradually confirmed.
Each zone has exactly one point of light, and the closer you get to it, the more inexplicable the feeling becomes. Tao Sai opened the map and further confirmed that the point of light is located exactly in the center of each zone, and the distances between each point of light are exactly the same. This pattern allowed her to discover other points of light. The points of light are like pillars, collectively supporting this game world.
As for more mysteries, she couldn't figure them out for the time being, so she marked the location of the light spot and left.
With the help of [Space Folding], the round-the-world trip came to an end in less than a month.
The last stop of the Taosai is the five Nordic regions.
This is another zone that has not been conquered by Paradise Island. It is said that the players here have formed a whole, more than two months earlier than the third zone.
Based on the distance calculation, Tao Sai found the server light spot of Area 5, which is located in a sea area in the northern Atlantic Ocean.
But the headquarters of the players in the fifth zone is not here.
Equipped with the [Energy Perception] skill, Taosai began searching like a mobile radar, starting from the southern coastline of Norway, and moving north along the fjords of the Scandinavian Peninsula until he passed Murmansk.
This place is already within the Arctic Circle, but because of the existence of the North Atlantic Current, this ice-free port city has become a pearl within the Arctic Circle.
Of course, the pearl is now covered in dust, and all Tao Sai saw along the way were scenes of devastation. The insect swarms ruthlessly drove humans and human civilization into the sea.
Ten days later, near a piece of ice in the Arctic Circle, Tao Sai finally captured a trace of energy disturbance.
She sneaked closer and used the [Gravity Adaptation] skill to slowly lower her body and hide behind the iceberg.
Finally, Tao Sai saw a large ship on the sea not far away, and the outline of the ship was clear to her.
This was a Level 5 refuge ship, identical in appearance to her sister ship, the "Deep Sea Fish." The difference was that the "Deep Sea Fish"'s deck was filled with life, with clothes drying and crops planted in various forms, while this ship was equipped with offensive weaponry, including main and secondary guns, and even vertical missile launch units. On the deck of this Level 5 refuge ship, soulless "death warriors" wielded various weapons, their muzzles pointed in the same direction. Clearly, they were from Paradise Island.
According to Shen Yi, Paradise Island and District 5 were in a prolonged standoff. District 5's player leader used an S-level skill to create a small world. However, with the help of an insider, Paradise Island learned the coordinates of this small world. They were guarding the coordinates, and their visual direction must have been the coordinates of the small world. Frequent fighting broke out between the two sides, with District 5 attempting to break out, but each attempt was unsuccessful, forcing them to retreat back to the small world for shelter.
This armed refuge ship is obviously just the tip of the iceberg of Paradise Island, but it blocks the door to the entire fifth zone players, which shows the disparity in strength between the two sides.
Tao Sai's purpose for this trip was clear: to explore the possibility of cooperation with District 5. Fighting alone would be very difficult for both sides, just like Liu He and Paradise Island arrogantly raising pigs. Only by forming a joint force could they break through the pigpen wall.
The situation inside the small world is unknown, but Tao Sai heard from Shen Yi that Paradise Island is inside the small world, and no one else can enter unless the owner of the small world takes the initiative to "open the door".
The space within the small world is limited, capable of only simulating a ten-square-kilometer area of the real world. With limited space, resources are naturally limited as well, which is probably why players in Area 5 keep trying to break out.
The entrance to District Five was blocked by Paradise Island. If Tao Sai wanted to communicate and negotiate with District Five, the first step was to drive away the vicious dog guarding the entrance.
Because of her "death", everyone on Paradise Island, including Liu He, had forgotten her existence. If Liu He was planning some chess game, then she would definitely be the one that was missed.
There may be masters hiding on this refugee ship on Paradise Island, and there may be more than one of them. With fewer people against more, they will eventually be at a disadvantage, especially since they don’t know the strength of the other party.
If, during their battle with this group, the small world of District 5 opened its doors and offered assistance, victory would have tipped the scales in their favor. However, this possibility was extremely slim. Even if the players of District 5 within their small world could see what was happening outside, they would most likely not intervene, and would likely sit back and watch the fight unfold. Human nature was one factor, but they also had no way of guaranteeing that this wasn't another conspiracy on Paradise Island.
Tao Sai chose a more gentle approach.
She sank her body into the Arctic Ocean. With the help of the skill [Omni-Adaptability], she transformed into a fish that lived in the polar ocean and swam towards the refugee ship.
If the Paradise Island experts on the refugee ship had skills like [Energy Perception], they would be able to detect her approach, but just because Tao Sai had just hidden behind the iceberg for half an hour without being discovered, it was basically certain that the other party did not have this skill or was not equipped with it.
Although the players in the fifth area tried to break out many times, they obviously spent more time staying in the small world and enduring humiliation. They did not come out and were in a truce for a long time, which inevitably led to the people of Paradise Island becoming lazy.
It is more likely to be arrogance because the strength is so far ahead.
Tao Sai successfully swam to the bottom of the refuge ship. She slowly rose, getting closer and closer to the red bottom of the ship. Once she was in the right position, she activated the skill [Collapse], freezing the singularity in the middle of the bottom of the ship.
She said silently in her heart: Son, let's go have a big meal.
[Collapse] seemed to sense Tao Sai's thoughts and it made an excited sound. Tao Sai seemed to be able to sense its excitement.
Then, the collapse of matter occurred.
[Collapse] After the frenzied eating during the final days of [Season 2], I've grown even stronger, my appetite even greater, and my gravity even stronger. Collapse is a movement that treats everyone equally. The sturdy metal bottom of the ship is as soft as seawater, easily and irresistibly pulled into the center of the singularity, collapsing into a point of zero mass.
The bottom of the ship rapidly twisted and deformed. Initially, a small, almost invisible hole formed, but it grew ever larger. In just a minute, the radius of the hole expanded from ten centimeters to several meters. The seawater that initially poured into the cabin was condensed by the singularity's collapse, but as the hole grew larger, the icy water at the edge of the hole, along with slushies and ice cubes, madly poured into the cabin.
At the same time, in the middle of the cabin, the air conditioner in the safe room made of high-density alloy was turned to the most comfortable temperature. Suddenly, a violent vibration broke the comfortable atmosphere.
Yan Feng, who was enjoying a comfortable upper body massage, shuddered and rolled over to his feet. "What the hell?"
The other three people next to him with different skin colors, Roma, Enzo and Romeo, were much calmer than him. They just raised their heads lazily because of the noise.
Enzo said in English, "Don't worry, those guys have been scared out of their wits and don't dare to come out."
"Hit the iceberg, don't worry, my boat is very strong." Rama guessed in agreement, and then impatiently urged the master behind him to stop, "Don't stop, use more force."
Another violent tremor struck, and Yan Feng could no longer lie down. He stood up cautiously, put on thick clothes, and went to check. Just after he took two steps, another violent tremor struck, and he almost fell down. He held on to the wall to support himself.
Enzo, who was lying on the bed and not very stable, rolled over and fell heavily to the ground.
Rama then realized the seriousness of the situation. He quickly opened the system and clicked on [Refuge Ship] with his eyes focused. A red flashing window popped up on the screen in front of him.
[The refugee ship is 12% damaged. Please repair it immediately!]
This number continued to grow. Two seconds later, it jumped to 13%, and two seconds later, it jumped to 14%.
Rama quickly asked the death squad on the ship through the communication system: "What happened!" He also clicked the [Repair] option.
The gold coins and materials in the account began to be consumed. After Rama's shelter ship was upgraded to level five, there were still more than 120,000 universal materials, which were enough to build two level five shelter ships.
Seeing the damage figures finally stop and begin to slowly decline, Rama breathed a sigh of relief. But he was in no mood to relax any longer and put on a thick coat and went out.
Someone replied to him on the communication system: "The bottom cabin is flooded, and the amount of water is very large."
Yan Feng, who came out first, looked at him to confirm the situation.
"It's taking on water, but it's a minor problem, fixable..." Rama offered soothing words. Before he could finish, the ship tilted, the angle becoming increasingly severe, and the process of righting itself was very slow. A Class 5 refuge vessel displaced nearly 20,000 tons, and it was very difficult for it to tilt at this angle, unless there were extremely strong winds and waves. However, the weather outside was apparently calm.
He had already clicked [Confirm] and was spending a large amount of gold coins and universal materials to repair the damaged parts of the hull. However, the light screen showed that the damage ratio had dropped by less than two or three percentage points, and then began to rise again, and now it had exceeded 20%.
This indicates that the hull is being continuously damaged, and the rate of destruction is much greater than the rate of repair.
Rama was completely shocked. He used his skill [Frequency Perception] to detect the situation at the bottom of the ship: it was severely twisted and deformed, and was being swallowed by an unknown object.
Run!
To get rid of it first, Rama quickly shouted on the communicator: "Start the engine, and increase the horsepower to the maximum!"
When the message arrived, the crew in the cockpit started the engine immediately. The engine hummed and began to work. The coaxial bidirectional propellers at the stern and on both sides rotated wildly, creating huge thrust in an instant through friction with the sea water.
However, the huge hull was firmly sucked in, just like a kitten or puppy being picked up by the scruff of the neck by fate, and no matter how hard it flapped, it was of no use.
The hull's tilt angle exceeds 40 degrees. Theoretically, the hull cannot be straightened at this tilt angle.
Then he sensed suction, a huge suction coming from under the sea, which was the reason for the deformation of the refuge boat.
The seawater and the repaired hull were equally drawn into the center of gravity. As the seawater in one area was instantly drawn away, the surrounding water squeezed in under the pressure, forming a massive, increasingly intense vortex. The hull began to spin due to the vortex's rotation.
If you were in the center of a vortex and wanted to escape, you had to reach the vortex's escape velocity. Obviously, this refugee ship, with its propellers spinning at full power and reaching its maximum speed, had already lost its initial velocity, making it impossible to escape.
"Abandon ship!" Rama roared.
"Run!" Enzo and Romeo also escaped from the safe house in a panic, putting on their clothes as they ran.
"Fuck! My level 5 ship!"
Rama cursed angrily and felt a pain in his flesh. This was the warship he had carefully assembled, and he even had extremely strong alloy armor installed on the hull.
However, they had no choice but to abandon the refuge ship and retreat to a safe location with the help of Yan Feng's skill [Position Replacement].
Just one minute after Rama and others evacuated the iceberg one nautical mile away, the huge refuge ship sank at an extremely fast speed and was then completely swallowed by the underwater black hole. The ripples generated by the remaining vortex even disturbed the iceberg with a radius of two or three nautical miles.
Throughout this process, Tao Sai closely observed the vastly different power dynamics between the collapse movement and the refugee ship from the depths of the ocean, and she was fully prepared. If she were discovered, she would immediately escape through a wormhole to avoid exposing her presence. She would continue to remain invisible, lurking in the bushes.
However, she still underestimated the power of [Collapse]. The impact it caused underwater was so strong that the opponent was exhausted and did not notice her existence at all, and launched a counterattack against her.
Just as Tao Sai was about to shut down the [collapse] singularity, a sound suddenly reached his ears. The sound was transmitted through the medium of water, and it felt strange to the ears.
"You have [collapse] too?"
As the sound rang out, a shadow appeared in front of Tao Sai. She was certain it was a shadow. Although light could not penetrate it and would reflect off the shadow, the shadow swayed with the current. It was very similar to the projection skill Liu He had used before.
The figure was of standard Nordic Germanic race, with a gray beard, obvious facial wrinkles, heavy bags under the eyes, and was approximately fifty years old.
Tao Sai immediately became alert and prepared for battle because he could not tell whether the other party was a friend or foe.
"I mean no harm, son. I'm Shay Simon."
He didn't speak Chinese. Judging from his lip movements, he was probably speaking some Latin language, but Tao Sai could understand what he meant. She guessed it might be some kind of translator.
For the first time, Tao Sai entered the small world created by the players in the fifth area.
The interior of the small world simulates the ocean environment of the Arctic Ocean, with extremely cold temperatures, floating icebergs, and heavy snowfall.
This ten square kilometer sea area was filled with refuge ships, numbering several hundred. These ships were all at least level four. There were also quite a few level five ships, around ten or so. The flagship was a behemoth as massive as a mountain, making even level five refuge ships seem dwarfed by it. It still possessed the characteristics of a refuge ship.
Tao Sai estimated that the displacement of this ship may be more than 100,000 tons, or even 200,000 tons, which means it is at least a level 6 shelter ship.
This caused Tao Sai to have a deep doubt: if all the players in the fifth zone were locked in this small world, how did they level up?
While the small world can simulate a real world, bugs cannot spawn. If players want to progress normally, there's pretty much only one way: kill bugs. Of course, this doesn't apply to games like Paradise Island, where players are killed to gain resources.
A mysterious force guided Tao Sai forward, and she used the gravity slingshot created by [Gravity Adaptation] and [Tempering] to fly until she stepped onto the deck of the flagship.
Walking into the cabin, what comes into view is a room decorated in a quaint style. The sun shines obliquely, charcoal is burning in the fireplace, emitting a faint fragrance of fruit wood, and a warm and quiet atmosphere is everywhere.
The middle-aged man in the projection was sitting on a sofa chair in the middle. The light now was much better than in the sea, and Tao Sai could see his appearance more clearly.
He was wearing only a suit vest, a brown woolen coat beside him. His eyes were ocean blue, deep, and his face was serious, but not too aggressive.
"Welcome, kid." He extended his hand and motioned Tao Sai to come closer and take a seat.
Tao Sai nodded and stepped forward.
“I’m a game maker.”
Hearing this, Tao Sai stopped and his eyes moved slightly, "Did you create this game?"
Simon frowned, then understood what she meant. He shook his head and smiled softly, "How is that possible? I don't have that much ability. Game maker was my previous job."
Tao Sai understood and sat down.
At this time, another middle-aged man came from the other side of the room, holding two cups of hot coffee, and placed one in front of Tao Sai. Tao Sai glanced at her shiny Mediterranean scalp when he lowered his head.
Simon introduced: "This is my friend, von Ledermann, he is an excellent astrophysicist."
Tao Sai nodded and smiled politely. It seems severe hair loss is a common trait among leading scientists.
"I sense your kindness. You're harmless to me. You possess the S-rank divine skill [Collapse] and have cultivated it to such perfection. I believe you're qualified." Shay Simon's voice was deep, his expression solemn. "Child, next, I'm going to tell you a truth I've discovered."
Tao Sai listened attentively.
"I started playing games since my teenage years, and later formed my own game company and team, developing and producing countless games, including RPGs, FPSs, and MOBAs. I have rich gaming experience and can quickly get started with any game. Including "Insect Tide" and the game we are experiencing now. So far, according to you, I have graduated from this game." Simon narrated calmly.
"About a month ago, a violent earthquake struck the seabed. I led the players of Zone 5 deep underground. We already had the ability to do so. We tried to search for bugs. No matter what game, there's always a big boss. Rules and experience tell us that the deeper you dive, the higher the level of the bug blood, and the stronger the Queen's regeneration ability. We kept diving, almost reaching the Gutenberg Horizon. Further down, we reached the outer core, covered in a dense layer of black crystals. This is where the Queen was born, forming the bug swarm that spread upwards. For a moment, I thought we had reached the edge of the game, that we only needed to dive deeper to completely block the Queen and the bugs' regeneration. However, at this moment, we discovered that all our equipped skills had failed, including the S-level skills. A violent surge of geothermal heat erupted, and we retreated in dismay."
"Do you know what this means?"
Simon's question brought Tao Sai back to reality from her thoughts. She wanted to ask if someone had activated a skill similar to [Diffuse Mist], but he mentioned that S-level skills would also become ineffective at the same time. You know, [Diffuse Mist] cannot block S-level skills.
Tao Sai shook his head in confusion.
"We were really pushing the boundaries of the game, but the bug spawns were outside of that boundary."
Tao Sai was shocked for a moment and was speechless.
"Our world has been digitized by the game, and we cannot reach areas outside the game. This also shows a fact: the game and the bugs are two different things. The bugs are not game data because they are not generated in the game world. We will never be able to completely eliminate the bugs. At least in this dimension, the bugs cannot be defeated." Simon's tone was calm. In the past month, he had obviously accepted this fact.
Tao Sai was shocked by his words and couldn't recover for a long time.
In her previous thinking, there would always be a day when the game would be completed. Even online games would have servers shut down. As long as "Zombie Online" was completed, all players would develop, first ensure survival, and then work together. Sooner or later, the last queen worm would be eliminated, and the broken civilization would surely come ashore again.
But Simon told her that the bugs could not be defeated and they would never be able to reach the source of their creation. What a terrible truth.
With the help of human technology, the deepest drilling depth below the ground is only 12,000 meters, or 12 kilometers. Simon and others used their skills to lower the Gutenberg interface to an average depth of about 2,900 kilometers. The skills are ineffective here. If the skills are not used, then humans or human creations need to overcome a high temperature of 3,500 degrees and a pressure of 1 million atmospheres, and this is just the threshold to reach the source of the insects.
"If bugs have nothing to do with games, then what exactly are bugs?" Tao Sai asked.
Taosai looked at Simon, and Simon looked at von Lederman who was sitting on the other side.
"I believe bugs are the filter of the universe," Lederman said. "Have you heard of the 'filter theory'? When a civilization reaches a certain stage of evolution, it must face the screening of the filter. Civilizations that fail the filter will disappear forever. This is why civilizations are so rare in the 93 billion light-years of observable space. Bugs are hidden in the cores of planets, erupting once every certain period of time. Bugs are not living things, at least not in a form that we can understand. They may be the underlying program of the universe's computer to prevent any civilization from exploring its ultimate secrets."
This is the scientist's imagination, inference, and thought experiment. There is no experiment, and perhaps there never will be one, to prove it. The individual human being is a drop in the ocean, a mere breath in the geological timeline, a brief breath in a deep, dark sleep.
But Tao Sai pondered these words over and over again. While insects may appear similar to other insects, their reproduction rate and destructive power far surpass imagination. If the Mediterranean scientist's theory holds true, then Earth's biological evolution has likely been marked by numerous insect swarms, wiping out countless civilizations. During each wave of destruction, only marine life could survive. This is why biological evolution originated in the ancient ocean environment.
Neither Simon nor Lederman interrupted Towser's thoughts as he slowly digested and understood. About half an hour later, Towser's thoughts returned to the starting point and he asked, "So what about the game?"
Simon's eyes flashed, "Cosmology is Lederman's specialty, and gaming is my area."
"I think this game is a tool created by creatures from another dimension to save humanity, to help it escape the suffering of the insect swarm and avoid destruction."
"It could also be that humans in the future use a time machine to redeem their past selves," Lederman added.
Tao Sai was puzzled. "Then why games? Wouldn't other forms of explicit communication be more useful?"
Simon shook his head helplessly. "I guess the other dimension can't directly affect us here, so they can only use the game as a platform to select people to help them, that is, players."
"Is that the standalone game 'Insect Tide' in the arcade the medium?"
Simon nodded. "That's right. I'm trying to get in touch with the game's creators."
"Are there any results?"
“Not yet.”
"I find this illogical," Tao Sai said, expressing her lingering suspicions. "If the game's purpose is to save humanity, why does it subtly encourage players to kill each other? There are a ton of damaging skills in the game, and there's no immunity to inter-player damage. If this were a disaster-themed game focused on surviving the apocalypse, skills would only be for player convenience, and perhaps even skills that protect against damage to others, like those lightning-powered weapons sold in shopping malls that only work against bugs."
"Based on my decades of experience making games, I can tell you that someone is deliberately sabotaging the game," Simon explained. "At the beginning, including the stand-alone version of Insect Tide, the game was gentle, with a powerful punishment system. Even when conflicts inevitably broke out among players, there was an invisible, law-like sword of Damocles hanging over every player's head. One of these was the Sin Value. In the very beginning, killing a single ordinary NPC would instantly fill the Sin Value, exposing the player's location, rendering their skills useless, and making them a target of public criticism. This prevented any player from daring to commit unjust acts. However, the conditions for triggering the Sin Value have been modified, and those who sabotage the game can't remove the Sin Value mechanism; they can only modify its value."
Tao Sai had a memory. Back in the early days of the game, when she was still exploring it, the player "Wei Ai Qu Wu Yi" created panic in Zone 3 by killing other players, prompting the "Hunting" quest. By then, his sin count had barely reached the threshold required to trigger the quest, even though he had already killed multiple players and characters. It turned out the value had been artificially altered, rendering the game's punishment mechanism practically useless.
"Did Paradise Island modify the game?" Tao Sai asked tentatively.
Who benefits most from the revised punishment mechanism? The answer is self-evident.
"Probably not, they don't have that ability, but I think Paradise Island may have contacted the game maker." When talking about Paradise Island, Simon's eyes were as sharp as knives.
"If we don't do something, the game mechanics might continue to be tampered with, and by then it will be impossible to undo it."
"We have to stop it." Tao Sai blurted out without thinking, almost subconsciously.
Games are something that transcends the world. Games are rules. Once the rules are established, there is no possibility for the characters in the game to break the rules.
"The sooner the better." Simon nodded and gave Tao Sai an affirmative look.
Tao Sai rested for the night on Simon's Level 6 refuge ship. They all agreed on a quick attack on Paradise Island. She also learned from their conversation that the small world was merely a decoy left by the fifth zone for Paradise Island to confuse the enemy. Their players had been grinding tirelessly in the underwater world day and night, and now it was time for a counterattack.
As for Paradise Island's full strength, it remained unknown. Tao Sai had only sparred with one opponent at most, and those four players were the only ones blocking the entrance to the fifth zone's small world. Paradise Island's minions, lackeys, and lackeys were spread across all zones and servers, plundering countless resources and enslaving soulless humans to work tirelessly for them. They were a terrifying existence, even more terrifying than insects.
But Tao Sai knew very well that they had no way out and now was the best time.
On the second day, Tao Sai left the small world of the fifth district after waking up.
Simon placed a wireless range sound tag on her so that they could communicate in real time.
Tao Sai took advantage of the fact that he was deleted from the game system and once again used [Space Warp] to travel back and forth around the world.
She went straight to the light points in each major zone. Simon told her one of the functions of the light points, which was to hold the light point and speak on the world channel of the local zone. This was the only way to speak across channels and servers.
The content of her speech at each zone light point was the same paragraph, which was the message for Simon:
"Dear players, my name is Shay Simon. You may not be familiar with this name, but game enthusiasts should know "Zero," "2121," and "Infiltration," all of which are the work of me and my team. Like you, I was chosen by "Zero Tide," and we've endured the most thrilling months. During this period, drawing on my gaming experience, I judged Zerg Tide to be a way for a higher-dimensional civilization to save humanity. However, the game has been artificially sabotaged, spiraling towards evil, and we now tremble under the shadow of murder. This situation is caused by a common enemy: Paradise Island, located at (3°14'45"N; 179°42'2"). This enemy is unprecedentedly powerful, just like the final boss in every game. So, dear players, I sincerely hope that we can unite, bravely face, and defeat our enemy. Just like the ending of the game, we must forge ahead and fulfill our mission—that is the player's mission."
When the message appeared on the world channel, countless trapped players were awakened. At this moment, countless thoughts flashed through the minds of players of different skin colors, races, and gaming skills. The thoughts began to converge until they became a single idea, which grew stronger and stronger.
For players, there is nothing more exciting than a fight to the death with the BOSS.
After the announcement was sent, Tao Sai went to Paradise Island first. She is still a marginal person now, and even if her whereabouts are exposed, it will not arouse suspicion. She can serve as an outpost and scout.
A miniature space vortex opened, and Tao Sai landed on a reef twenty nautical miles away from the exact coordinates of Paradise Island.
At this moment, the system frame suddenly flashed. She opened the panel and a line of light screens appeared in front of her.
[Season 3 is about to start, please stay tuned. ]
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