HPDBC Chapter 196 : Chapter 196
Chapter 196 : Chapter 196
"Do you think his act of sharing the hidden quest with us was out of good will or malice?""So far, Anonymous hasn't shown much hostility toward us. His main goal seems to be guiding us to further understand the background of the world. Even if he didn't do this, our future goals would have focused on this aspect anyway. It's just that because of him, we're a bit ahead of schedule, and thanks to this treasure hunt quest, we have a new channel to explore that world."
"It probably... can't be considered malice, right?"
Regarding the identity of that anonymous player, they had long held several internal speculations. Now, with Anonymous 'walking right into the trap', certain speculations could already be considered conclusive.
The purpose of gathering all their researchers, analysts, and persons in charge in this conference room was solely for a quest shared by Anonymous.
If Yan Yunqing knew that a casual probing move of his could make a group of people sit here and analyze his motives, he would probably be caught between laughter and tears.
"Since that's the case, we will follow his lead and dig into the more hidden stories of that world." The old man made the final decision. "Dispatch the three strongest squads to complete this quest. Analyze the intelligence they bring back piece by piece. Also, have other squads excavate hidden quests in that world as much as possible. These will be shared by the squad leader who added Anonymous as a friend this time, to observe the other party's reaction."
"The closed beta has already reached version 2.0. Looking at the situation, the open beta will launch very soon. At that time, our world will definitely experience some unavoidable turmoil. Report this information upwards and request the central government to continue increasing defense measures in all regions across the country. We must ensure the safety of the people when the turmoil begins."
"Soldiers will block the enemy, and earth will cover the water. In the face of absolute strength, any schemes and intrigues are paper tigers."
A seemingly absurd meeting came to a close.
Everyone who received the latest tasks scattered, dispersing to various departments to urgently break down, distribute, and implement the content of the meeting.
One and a half months into the game's closed beta, a video suddenly appeared on a certain video app on Blue Star.
The video was a street shot from a passerby's perspective. Initially, it might have been a vlog recording daily life, but halfway through filming, a knife-wielding thug suddenly appeared behind the blogger, charging at a mother holding a child. He stabbed at her twice in succession.
The first strike hit, but by the second strike, the husband beside her reacted. He swung the baby stroller at the thug in an attempt to protect his wife. However, this action enraged the thug, who waved the knife in his hand even more frantically, causing the surrounding crowd to scream and run away.
Just as the thug snatched the child from the injured woman's hands and was about to stab the knife into the child's neck, a young man dressed like a university student standing nearby uprooted a guardrail from the roadside.
WHOOSH, he smashed it onto the back of the thug's head. The thug's head exploded like a tomato smashed by a rock, and the confined child in his hands was snatched away by that young man.
The end of the video was filled with the repeated "Holy sh*t" of the person filming. Finally, it froze on the injured couple looking with shock and horror at the young man, who was covered in blood, holding the child in one hand and the railing in the other.
Once the video was released, it caused a small commotion.
Some thought it was exaggerated, like filming a TV drama or movie; after all, no one could pull up a railing welded to the ground and then smash a person's head into a rotten tomato.
Some said this young man was actually a Daoist recluse who had just come down from the mountain, seeing injustice and drawing a railing to help, only failing to control his strength and hitting the guy's head a bit too hard. Others said this was purely special effects made by the uploader to gain traffic...
Opinions varied. The video received over a hundred thousand comments and likes within an hour of being posted, and the views broke a million. However, in the third hour after its release, the video was taken down by the website for being bloody and violent.
All social media platforms set screenshots and reposts of the video to be prohibited from sending, and even keywords were blocked.
Not long after, accounts with official media badges came out to clarify that it was just a special effects video...
Another social media platform broke news about a secret romance of a popular young idol, diverting netizens' attention and starting a new round of public opinion carnival.
Only the parties involved in that accident knew how incredible it all was.
"What is your name?"
"XXX."
"Why were you able to pull up the railing from the ground? Have you trained before?"
"No, officer, I'm a law-abiding citizen! I don't know why that guy's head exploded after I hit him with the railing. I'm innocent! I didn't even pass the 800-meter run in my PE final exam, how could I have trained?!"
"I just reached the online time limit for the game, logged off to find food, saw the thug and got too scared, so I subconsciously swung the railing!"
"Game? What game?"
"Huh? It's that holographic game that's been really popular lately. I won a slot for the closed beta..."
...
Yan Yunqing was completely unaware of what had happened in the real world. After sharing the quest, he casually went to visit the dungeon [Ying Yi] had invited him to. It was a small field dungeon that was somewhat useful for players under level 10, but anyone over level 15 would gain almost no experience.
Not to mention Yan Yunqing, a big shot who was level 19 on the surface but actually level 75.
He ran through it once and then found an excuse to leave. Getting close to the official people required a gradual approach; rushing too much would make his intentions look bad.
Yan Yunqing rubbed his chin. Was he mistaken? He felt the squad leader's attitude toward him was quite intriguing, and there were even a few probing remarks...
Thinking of the first impression [Big Brother A] and [He Kou Wang] had of him, Yan Yunqing hesitated. Did the official people also mistake him for a GM?
Forget it. Regardless of what his image had become on the official side, he would stick to the original plan and let them explore the world background deeply. Then, he would spur them to level up, and once their levels were higher, he would have them confront the Eternal Divine Sect.
When it came to slave labor, what could be better cattle and horses than players who wouldn't die and would fight monsters desperately for a little reward?
Yes, there was: the well-trained, somewhat justice-minded official black... no, official players.
He would hand over stage-based mini-bosses like the Eternal Divine Sect and the Augreer family to the players. He would use people from 'Flame' to guide the players not to do whatever they wanted in this world, and that would be enough. Interfering too much would trigger the players' rebellious psychology, and it would not be worth the loss if all the players joined the villain faction.
As for Yan Yunqing himself, he still needed to continue leveling up, striving to possess the strength to protect himself sooner rather than later, find Theodore to ask clearly what Sylvia's prophecy actually was... and why he had crossed over to this world.
Regarding the latter question, Yan Yunqing didn't think Theodore would know much. Although Theodore could be considered the strongest combat power on the Ailman Continent currently, he shouldn't have the power to pluck him from another world to this one.
Unless Theodore had already become a god...
Obviously impossible. Having already reviewed most of the existing historical data, Yan Yunqing could deduce that Theodore was still missing that one step to becoming a god—the Divine Spark.
This was no longer the era when groups of gods stood side by side. Something unknown had happened to the Ailman Continent; filth had spawned on the bones of fallen gods, giving birth to demonic beasts. Divine Sparks had long since dissipated into the world, and re-condensing a Divine Spark was by no means an easy task.
The simplest way to become a god was still to kill a god and strip the original god's Divine Spark for oneself. However, the God of Earth, the sole survivor of the War of the Gods, adhered to the contract once made with the Demon King and hadn't left the divine temple for over a thousand years. Yan Yunqing could confirm that that god hadn't fallen yet, but he didn't know anything more.
Theodore obviously didn't have the opportunity to rush into the divine temple, kill the god on His own turf, and seize the Divine Spark.
To sum up, Theodore was probably not the 'main culprit' behind his transmigration.
As for that God of Earth... Yan Yunqing felt that He shouldn't be doing such thankless tasks either. After all, it was the Demon King's contract that had trapped Him in the divine temple for over a thousand years, preventing Him from appearing in the world. He should wish the Demon King never returned, right?
So who on earth was it? It couldn't be that the collective longing of his retainers gathered together and plucked him back, right?
Yan Yunqing crossed out the last possibility. Because it was too absurd, he felt that thinking of such a possibility meant he was probably confused from staying up late.
Yan Yunqing rubbed his temples, twirling a quill in his hand, and rested his chin on his hand in deep thought.
A slight noise in the room caught Yan Yunqing's attention. He turned his head sideways. "Why did you come over?"
A figure gradually emerged from the shadows. Despite wearing boots, his steps on the ground were soundless, like the paw pads of certain felines, yet what appeared was a wolf pup of the canine family.
"My King."
Yuchir... no, the handsome man who should be called Berlos at this moment walked in front of Yan Yunqing. He knelt on one knee very practicedly, lowering his body while slightly raising his head, looking up at Yan Yunqing with narrow, sharp black-blue eyes.
Yan Yunqing's gaze went downward, and he couldn't help raising an eyebrow.
This half-revealing white shirt, the leather straps on his body originally used for securing weapons outlining his sturdy figure, the slightly tight combat trousers...
Should this outfit really appear in an infrastructure building game?
Could it be some kind of love simulation eroge masquerading as an infrastructure game?
Yan Yunqing felt that this young fellow Berlos was starting to act slu... no, starting to seduce him again.
He calmly averted his gaze. This test of cadres was useless because he had passively participated in several inexplicable seduction Shurabas during his time as the Demon King. He was now calm as still water.
As the saying goes, a wise man does not fall in love. How could he fall into the abyss for mere male beauty?
"What is it?" Yan Yunqing resumed writing and drawing on the paper.
Berlos rested his chin on Yan Yunqing's knee. This was a habit formed when he was in his wolf form. As a wolf, this action only felt like intimacy between a master and pet, but doing it in human form was a bit strange.
Paired with Berlos's outfit...
Hiss.
Yan Yunqing gasped in his heart and lamented that Berlos didn't age two thousand years for nothing—his rank had also increased!
In comparison, the innocent little dragon was no longer a match.
He really missed the times when the dragon cub and wolf cub fought each other, with wolf fur and dragon scales flying everywhere.
At least then he didn't have to be tested by male beauty.
"My King, I have something to report to you."
Berlos's black-blue eyes stared intently at Yan Yunqing, as if unwilling to look away for even a second. Yan Yunqing adopted a posture of listening attentively, but his leg moved slightly without a trace, causing Berlos's chin to land on empty air.
"Speak."
A dark glint flashed in Berlos's eyes, but he adjusted his expression in time before Yan Yunqing, revealing no trace of unusual emotion.
He spoke softly, "News of Fitch's death has already reached Bartovita. That Queen didn't have much of a reaction after learning the news, but the next day she summoned the nobles into the palace."
"To discuss the matter of Bartovita declaring war on Romunik, using the excuse that Romunik murdered the Sixth Prince of Bartovita."
Yan Yunqing was surprised. "What?"
Bartovita is going to declare war on Romunik?
No, how does Bartovita dare? Although they are ranked together as the Two Great Empires, due to certain special reasons, Romunik's overall strength has been a few notches higher than Bartovita's in recent years. Once the two countries go to war, it should definitely be Bartovita that suffers.
So that's why Queen Augreer initially wanted Fitch to secretly enter Romunik's territory, wanting to create a whole city of undead to disintegrate Romunik from the inside and weaken Romunik's strength.