Within one day, the human defense line suffered an unprecedented total collapse.
Zhuang Yu's office was visited by many high-ranking members of the alliance. He finally couldn't stand it anymore and called Vice Captain Nie, who had promised to stand with him at all times.
Two seconds after Zhuang Yu's phone call was connected, Vice Captain Nie put him on the blacklist out of loyalty.
…
Pu Ying came to inform the task force of the latest developments. Looking at Captain Zhuang who was frozen in front of the blacklist, a hint of smile appeared in his usually calm eyes.
"Hello, Vice Captain Nie."
Pu Ying put the report on the table and said, "This way, even if the Alliance Headquarters investigates, you will not be implicated."
After all, even in the game, it is extremely risky to arbitrarily control the Zerg to launch a general attack on humans.
Not everyone can recover from a setback; some people will blame others, some will never recover. Once pessimism spreads, it will become extremely difficult to curb it.
The top brass at the Alliance headquarters have always been concerned about what kind of impact simulating a war in advance will have on humanity as a whole.
If the Zerg invasion in reality was not imminent and the military urgently needed to adjust its status to prepare for the battle, the Alliance's top brass might have forced the termination of this simulation plan named after the game long ago.
Zhuang Yu understood this, but after hearing the reminder from the other side to block him, he immediately understood Dean Nie's feelings: "I just want to ask them if they will have dinner tonight!"
Pu Ying coughed lightly and lowered the corner of his mouth: "I don't think he will eat it."
Pu Ying had just contacted Zhan Chen and relayed, "Mr. Zhan just told me that in the last three days, he will be responsible for the physical data of Vice Captain Nie and Team Leader Shi."
Zhuang Yu paused for a moment, said nothing, and reached out to take the report on the table.
Before this, Nie Chi had also reminded people of this matter.
…Yu Tang and Zhan Chen came here to carry out a mission.
Once the mission is completed, they can no longer stay and must leave within three days.
"The rest depends on us."
Pu Ying said: "Mr. Zhan didn't say it explicitly, but I guess that Mr. Yu's next mission is probably also dangerous."
Zhuang Yu frowned: "Can we help in any way?"
Pu Ying had already asked this question, and she nodded and relayed Zhan Chen's answer: "We have to find a way to win this war."
Zhuang Yu was slightly stunned.
"There's still a lot we haven't figured out."
Pu Ying said: "The Zerg should not have such high-level intelligence. Who is it that made the deal with the conservative forces? If there is a third party in this deal, what is its position?"
"In the game, the Zerg can win such a battle because the team leader is always in charge of the command at the headquarters."
"According to the confidential information we just seized, in past wars to annihilate other star systems, the Zerg also possessed similar combat capabilities."
"Who is behind the Zerg?"
"Is the force that directs the Zerg's war the third party in the transaction?"
Pu Ying: "Besides this, I have another outrageous guess."
Zhuang Yu: “What?”
Pu Ying: "Our new reform now uses observers as the command core and mecha swarms as the main combat force. Facts have proved that this combat mode is far more effective than in the past."
Zhuang Yu nodded his head. He didn't understand what was so outrageous about this. Just as he was about to say something, his expression suddenly changed.
… He understood what Pu Ying meant.
This is the mode that is most convenient for fully exerting combat effectiveness.
Keep the complete command core, use the mecha group as the main combat force, divide the mecha into different categories, each with its own functions, and form a complete combat system.
…
Just like what Shi Ji was doing to the Zerg.
Zhuang Yu walked to the monitor and looked at the swarm of insects on the virtual battlefield, which were attacking the human defense line in an orderly manner and performing their respective duties.
Pu Ying: "Is it possible that the Zerg we are fighting are actually 'mechas' driven by some kind of intelligent being from a higher dimension?"
Zhuang Yu felt a heavy feeling in his chest as he met his gaze.
Pu Ying: "The Zerg's home planet must be hiding some secrets that we don't know about."
Pu Ying said: "So we will also fully cooperate with Shi's command and assist him in capturing the Zerg home planet."
Zhuang Yu's head was still weighed down by this assumption. He lowered his head and suddenly realized, "Capture what?"
Pu Ying: "The Zerg home planet."
Zhuang Yu: "... When did he say that?"
Pu Ying didn't know either. He just saw this small goal in Shi Ji's work notes and thought it made sense: "This is the most effective way to completely solve the problem at its root."
Pu Ying: "Sui Qi is also interested, we can go together."
Zhuang Yu felt that the entire Storm team was calm, rational, steady and steady two days ago: "When did he say that?"
"Before I came here," Pu Ying said, "he and his wingman AI had a quarrel."
The game account was originally just a virtual mecha without independent thinking. After being forcibly transformed into the best wingman intelligent AI, Zhan Chen introduced several sets of program templates to it, giving it a strong self-learning ability.
The new intelligent AI was given by Yu Tang to the system and Dolphin.
After receiving education from the system and the Dolphin, the wingman intelligent AI has a high enthusiasm for fighting bugs.
Before Sui Qi had finished studying the book “Learn to Fly a Wingman in Three Days”, he was taken into the sky by the most outstanding diamond-studded wingman.
The wingman's intelligent AI stored all the relevant information left to them by Yu Tang, and quickly learned the tricks of fighting the Zerg. It soared brightly in the Zerg tide, and always wanted to find the legendary first observer Shi Ji to become his apprentice.
Sui Qi suffered from severe motion sickness. The temporary person in charge of game maintenance expressed his deep apologies and sent him a box of super-strong and invincible motion sickness medicine through the game backend.
…
"Sui Qi has been arguing with the wingman AI since he took the medicine."
Pu Ying said: "When I came over, he was telling the AI that we should fly up to the sky together and stand shoulder to shoulder with the Zerg mother planet."
Zhuang Yu: “…”
Section Chief Pu, who is in working state, is calm, clear-headed and insightful. Except that he still rarely smiles and his speech is still flat, one almost forgets that he is an emotionally deficient patient who came out of an electronic storm.
Zhuang Yu had almost forgotten about this matter: "How is Mr. Pu?"
Pu Ying didn't know why he suddenly asked this, so she nodded and answered, "Very good."
Zhuang Yu: "Give my regards to Mr. Pu and remind him of something."
"Okay." Pu Ying took out his notebook. "What's the matter?"
Zhuang Yu: "It's about time to start the second phase of your fraud and anti-fraud training."
…
On the third day of the Zerg's general offensive in the game, the entire human defense line had completely collapsed.
Countless virtual cities were devoured by the Zerg tide. The military's resistance was vulnerable to the Zerg. Casualties accumulated in the tens of thousands, finally becoming an incomprehensible number.
Many people cannot accept this fact and want to deceive themselves and force themselves to quit, but they find that they are temporarily locked in the game.
The resistance from the alliance's top leaders was growing, so Nie Chi quit the game and joined Zhuang Yu in stopping those old antiques.
In the sea of consciousness, Yu Tang completed the final maintenance of the entire game.
"Mr. Nie said that the Alliance had similar holographic simulation games before, but later it was discovered that many people had mental breakdowns in the game, leading to their real-life deaths, so it was completely banned."
Zhan Chen finished the talk and came over: "So this time the alliance is particularly cautious, worried that a similar situation will happen again."
Yu Tang didn't feel uncomfortable, he leaned back and stretched his wrist: "Shi Ji can handle it."
Zhan Chen smiled and said, "Are you ready to leave this place?"
Yu Tang did not answer immediately.
During these three days, Zhan Chen has been focusing on transforming his sea of consciousness.
All those good things that Zhan Chen had saved up, which might not be available even during the limited-time sale in the mall, were patiently placed in every corner of his sea of consciousness. Those that he really couldn't put down were temporarily stored in the eye of the storm.
The sea of consciousness that used to be empty and deserted, where one could only lie on the ground to sleep, now looks like a hole.
Yu Tang could roughly guess why Zhan Chen was so anxious: "Senior Zhan, when will you go back?"
Zhan Chen was slightly stunned.
A helpless and gentle smile appeared in his eyes. He placed his palm on the back of Yu Tang's neck and gently pressed it comfortingly: "If you leave this book, I will go with you."
The terminal was blocked by the monitoring program and could no longer interfere with the world, so naturally, he could not be allowed to stay.
As for the theory, when the terminal issues a recall order, the workers in the lower world must return to the Book Bureau and wait for orders.
"I'll find another chance to come back."
Zhan Chen said in a gentle voice: "Don't worry, I can always find a way."
Yu Tang closed his eyes.
He skillfully changed the backrest of the swivel chair and wanted to lean over, but the entire swivel chair quietly turned into a data stream.
Zhan Chen bent down, stretched out his arms to wrap around Yu Tang, and gently picked him up.
Yu Tang has a hot feeling at the ear roots and a clear feeling in the throat.
"Don't move, little ball of light." Zhan Chen put his hand close to his forehead, "Wait a moment."
Yu Tang wanted to change back to the initial data state, but as soon as he moved, Zhan Chen grabbed his back and gently pressed it.
…The sound of Zhan Chen’s heartbeat could be heard through his chest.
Yu Tang was silent for a few seconds, his body relaxed in the breath and warmth of Zhan Chen, and he leaned on his shoulder.
"The terminal has been blocked, and I was able to get more relaxed permissions."
Zhan Chen said: "Is there anything you want to ask?"
Yu Tang asked, "Can you ask anything?"
Zhan Chen nodded: "You can ask anything."
The terminal is temporarily unable to continue monitoring the lower world, and the program's control over him is also reduced accordingly, allowing Zhan Chen to give some more direct and accurate answers.
Yu Tang: "Senior Zhan, how many little stars do you want?"
Zhan Chen was speechless.
He sat down cross-legged, let Yu Tang lean on him, and slowly massaged Yu Tang's shoulders and neck.
… He actually guessed that Yu Tang would ask this question, but he didn’t expect it to be so direct.
To turn back time, one needs as much experience as a small planet.
Yu Tang was smart enough. When he saw the Dolphin, he should have guessed what was going on.
The Dolphin was originally the intelligent program of Shi Ji's wingman. Because it could not accept the consciousness of its fusion with that of its observer, it requested an exchange from the mall manager to return all the violin music in the world to its owner whose consciousness had disappeared.
The only possibility that he was able to preserve the Dolphin's AI was that he had experienced the ending of this story once.
Zhan Chen has been resetting the world.
All the "original endings" obtained by the system are everything that really happened in the timeline before Zhan Chen reset it.
Zhan Chen said: "One, but exchanged many times."
Yu Tang: “?”
Zhan Chen met Yu Tang's gaze, and finally couldn't help laughing softly: "... There is a bug here."
When the redeemer, the mall manager, and the reversed timeline are all in the same world, the timeline is reversed, the world is forcibly reset, and the little star will return to its unredeemed state.
The system once said that a host took advantage of the mall manager's leave to exchange for an ownerless small planet on the edge of the interstellar space.
The supervisory department has been hunting down this daring host, but has never found anything, because in the current timeline, this small planet is still ownerless.
By exchanging a small planet, you can reverse time and go back to the time when this small planet has not been exchanged yet.
You can exchange it for another small star.
Yu Tang: “…”
As the separation was imminent, despite feeling sad, Yu Tang couldn't help but want to applaud the mall manager who was very good at accounting.
He raised his head and wanted to say something, but met Zhan Chen's unusually quiet eyes, and put the phone in his mouth again.
… Zhan Chen has been guarding this world where they met.
"From another perspective, my insistence on staying here has actually caused you some trouble."
Zhan Chen seemed to know what he was going to say. He smiled helplessly and said slowly, "Five years ago, I finally detected fluctuations in your data... I found out that you took over Shi Ji."
Zhan Chen knows better than anyone what will happen to Shi Ji if the plot develops.
He knew that there must be deliberate guidance from the terminal, and because of the principle of confidentiality, he could not have private contact with the host and could only make plans in secret.
Before Yu Tang could do so, he exposed the evil bionic laboratory and forced Sheng Tiancheng to let Shi Ji go, and then he safely sent Shi Ji and his wingman out of the insect swarm.
But these actions undoubtedly alarmed the terminal.
Yu Tang: "… So I was transferred to the second bookstore to work overtime."
Zhan Chen said apologetically: "Yes."
He had been trying hard to find the new role that Yu Tang had received after being transferred, but every time he found it, Yu Tang would be transferred again.
Discovering that Xiao Guangtuan had taken on the responsibility of publishing four books alone, the person in charge of the mall finally realized that this could not go on.
"So I asked Dean Nie for help." Zhan Chen sighed, "But Dean Nie is not very reliable..."
Yu Tang coughed lightly and suppressed the smile on his lips.
... He now also understood Nie Chi's happiness in working overtime for free.
Yu Tang was relieved and moved to the arms of the culprit who caused him to work overtime, and asked directly for the answer: "Senior Zhan, Senior Zhan, what is the plot of my last novel?"
Zhan Chen was attracted by him and raised the corner of his mouth. He muttered to himself, "I don't know this one thing."
Yu Tang was slightly startled.
Zhan Chen: "I only know that I can find a little star in this book."
Only the host can redeem the little star. Zhan Chen uses the host's identity to enter this story, which is equivalent to introducing himself into this dimension.
After the timeline is reversed, everything in this dimension will be reset, and only the relevant memories of the person in charge of the higher dimension and the mall can be preserved.
This turned out to be a trap.
Even if the host resets the time and goes through great pains to accumulate enough experience, he would never have thought that the reset content would also include himself.
The terminal does not allow anyone and anything to escape its control.
Turning back time, starting over again, making up for the original regrets, and correcting the original mistakes, this kind of thing will never be allowed to happen.
…
Zhan Chen sat up straighter to let Yu Tang lean against him more comfortably. Just as he was about to say something, his expression suddenly changed.
Yu Tang asked: "Is it time?"
"Almost." Zhan Chen said, "There are still a few minutes. I will take you to the next book first."
Yu Tang stood up and shook his head: "Shi Ji and I agreed to give the game an ending."
"Okay." Zhan Chen hesitated for a moment and said softly, "Please let me know. I will find you as soon as possible."
Yu Tang responded with a sound, his eyes still fixed on him.
Zhan Chen's smile showed some helplessness: "... Don't look, little light ball."
If he wanted to return to the higher-dimensional Book Bureau, he would inevitably have to switch back to data mode, and he didn't want Yu Tang to see this.
He wanted Yu Tang to remember that he was Zhan Chen.
Not the mecha, not the data, just the way he looked when they first met.
Unfortunately, Xiao Guangtuan didn't give him any face and continued to stare at him: "It doesn't matter, I'll just remember it."
Zhan Chen was speechless. He was running out of time. His body had already begun to transform into data irresistibly: "… What to remember?"
"Your data." Yu Tang said without thinking, "I'll memorize a few. What if the next book is a game world? Be prepared in advance..."
Some thoughts suddenly flashed through Zhan Chen's mind. He took a step forward and was about to speak, but was stopped by an invisible force.
…With the addition of the recall order, the program has restored control of the ban.
Light began to emanate from Zhan Chen's body.
Yu Tang silently clenched his palms, then slowly loosened them, still looking at him steadily.
…
The last time, when those mechas that once belonged to Zhan Chen turned into light like this, he was only concerned with trying to grab them in a panic.
For the first time, the electron storm encountered something it could not retain.
The wreckage of the mecha that once belonged to Zhan Chen, which he built into a small nest and hid in every day, gradually turned into tiny pieces of light and dissipated in the cracks of the wind.
He reached out in vain, trying to hold on to even a tiny bit of it.
… Zhan Chen disappeared before his eyes.
The scene before him matched the silence in his memory. Yu Tang swayed slightly, came back to his senses from the fragments of memory, and reached out to touch the air in front of him.
The system floated to Yu Tang's side and whispered: "Host..."
Yu Tang withdrew his hand and quickly returned to the game monitor.
He watched Shi Ji's operation on the screen, typed a few commands on the keyboard, and asked the system one by one: "Is the plot of the next book ready?"
The system quickly called up the backend: "Here we go."
Yu Tang nodded: "Read it for me."
This was the last book he had to solve. According to the timeline of accepting the task, it was the third one he had accepted.
The plot line of the third book is really too simple.
His name is "No. 13" and he is a commodity kept in a 300-square-meter, four-story villa with a basement.
The person who bought him is an emotionless, sexually cold and overbearing CEO. Otherwise, he will be sent away soon and traded to a cruel and perverted villain at a high price.
… This will definitely not be the full storyline.
Yu Tang had already figured out the tricks of the bookstore, so he asked directly about the hidden plot: "What is my real name?"
"Feng Qing." The system flipped through the files quickly. "The story of this book also takes place in this interstellar star, but not on the main star we are on. It's on a small star on the edge."
"It's a chaotic fringe area. Although it's under the jurisdiction of the Alliance, it's unlikely that the Alliance can truly manage it and gradually form a law-abiding place in the true sense."
"It is rumored that this area is controlled by senior members of the Alliance, especially key conservative figures."
"The holographic simulation game that was banned by the Alliance because it caused multiple deaths still has an open entrance there."
"This is a level-breaking battle royale game, full of dangers and a very high mortality rate, but because of this tension and excitement, there are still unimaginable amounts of viewers and rewards on the dark web."
"In order to make huge profits, many space pirates would even kidnap slaves and sell them. When they have enough, they would sail across the ocean to the port of the interstellar ferry..."
The system didn't expect that there would actually be a plot about a slave ship. It raised the camera, but was suddenly stunned: "Host?"
Yu Tang came back to his senses: "What is my real name?"
system:"… "
It was a little worried about its host, so it turned it back and looked at it carefully before saying, "Feng Qing... Host, do you know this person?"
"I know him." Yu Tang said, "This person should have been dead for a long time."
system:"??"
Yu Tang looked at the battle situation in the virtual world on the screen and worked with Shi Ji to make the final modifications to the game.
… This name corresponds to a piece of memory that he has never been able to successfully repair.
He once tried to join the Book Club.
Watching the wreckage of the mecha turn into fragments of light and completely disappear before his eyes made him forget what Zhan Chen had told him.
He searched everywhere frantically, trying to find the human being he had lost.
Until one day, a person in charge from some unknown dimension found him and told him that Zhan Chen was now in a place called Chuanshuju.
He accepted the internship opportunity offered by Chuanshu Bookstore without hesitation.
During the internship period, the employees of Chuanshuju will be temporarily deprived of their original memories and receive comprehensive immersive training.
This was his first attempt at being a real human being. His name was Feng Qing. He was adopted at the age of seven and abandoned at the age of thirteen. He had ten younger brothers and sisters who lived in an orphanage and needed money.
He failed the internship.
His adoptive parents are researchers at a private technology company. They cannot accept a child who cannot settle down, is endlessly curious about everything, only thinks about milk, biscuits and games all day long, and cannot even recognize all the words.
His adoptive parents sent him to a research institute for reform, but later they were still not satisfied with him and sent him back home.
At the age of seventeen, he died from complications caused by the transformation.
…
"There is no such plot in this book..."
The system searched every corner of the book, stuck to Yu Tang's hand, and whispered: "This book started when Feng Qing was bought two years ago... He will soon be traded as a commodity and given to that cruel villain to join the game."
This situation is not uncommon.
In this battle royale game, these modified shell products have always been popular because they are not subject to legal jurisdiction and death is not a big deal.
The game is a survival of the fittest, with no restrictions on any rules. The one who survives and wins in the end will own the little planet.
Yu Tang was looking down.
He still hasn't received the complete plot - he doesn't even know how he appears as a spare tire in this book, and all the related character information.
Only by entering the next book can the specific plot be truly unlocked. Before that, he must first help Shi Ji get the final ending of the game.
In the virtual world, most of the federation has been destroyed by the Zerg attack.
The overwhelming swarm of insects had already been fragmented by humans' desperate resistance, and could no longer organize a truly crushing attack.
All the active soldiers and cadets who have not yet sacrificed form the last line of defense. The wounded human soldiers face the wounded Zerg, and the final decisive battle is about to begin.
…
The virtual picture stopped abruptly at this moment.
Everyone was ejected from the game. In the real world, the announcement from the alliance headquarters was heard simultaneously on every TV station, every radio station, and every communication channel.
"This is the end of the game."
"The insect swarm is coming. The final outcome requires us to give an answer in reality."
"There is already sufficient evidence to prove that the electron storm has self-awareness and high-dimensional intelligence. In the face of the crisis of the entire interstellar, the electron storm provided us with unprecedented help."
"The Alliance Headquarters will continue to apply for help from Electronic Storm. In the meantime, we already know what to do."
…
"We are not alone in this universe."
Yu Tang imported the backup data of Sui Qi's mecha into the backend and passed it to Shi Ji.
Next, the Alliance will use this large-scale Zerg swarm simulation system as the core to carry out the most thorough and irreversible military reforms.
Everything should be based on actual combat and survival.
Yu Tang looked at the coordinates sent by Pu Ying, recorded the data, and put it in his work notes.
The only problem that the task force failed to solve was the suspected existence of a high-ranking traitor in the Alliance who was trading the entire galaxy with the Zerg.
It is speculated that the coordinates of the energy are exactly in the small star belt on the edge of that area.
Yu Tang was still not used to saying goodbye to anyone, so he did not go to the agreed place for delivery. Instead, he opened the backend control panel and directly chose to accept the delivery.
"Host!" The system suddenly remembered, "In the fourth book, Yu Tang's life story is also like this?"
It always felt that it had heard of this setting before, and after searching through all the plot records, it finally came across this paragraph.
—Yu Tang was born in an orphanage, was adopted at the age of seven, and was abandoned at the age of thirteen. He could no longer return to the orphanage.
He wandered for many years, hiding and doing odd jobs, until he was discovered by investigators from the Union Police Department and was forced to be sent to learn to read.
…
Yu Tang said: "Because I didn't pass the internship assessment."
The system was stunned.
Yu Tang walked into the transmission light band.
… He failed the internship assessment because he wanted to see the human he had lost so much.
He did not listen to Zhan Chen's teachings and believed in the bookstore.
Chuanshuju said that Zhan Chen was in their story, but the dimension of the electronic storm was too high. If the host could not enter, they would need to separate a low-dimensional human individual and generate a new character in order to find Zhan Chen.
Yu Tang said: "You once thought I looked like Pu Ying."
The system argued quietly: "The host is not like that. The host has feelings..."
"Pu Ying also has feelings." Yu Tang said, "Your feelings at that time were correct. When you saw me, I was not complete."
It's like Pu Ying sent out the most cherished and important part of herself into the electronic storm and turned into Luo Ran.
Hearing that there was still a chance to meet Zhan Chen in the story, Yu Tang carefully went through all his particles.
He separated out the part of himself that was the most obedient, the most obedient, the most sensible, the least fearless of hard work and the most helpful, and created the seventeen-year-old "Yu Tang".
He handed Yu Tang over to those people.
He was happy and excited to see Zhan Chen.
…
He found nothing.
He only knew that in that uncorrected timeline, in the eighth year after entering the book, Yu Tang lost all vital signs and fell into an electronic storm.
Yu Tang put away the memory fragments and said, "Let's go."
The system stopped on his shoulder and approached him cautiously: "Host..."
"It doesn't matter." Yu Tang said, "I'm in a hurry, I'll go to the next book as soon as possible."
He was still very happy that he could see Zhan Chen again in the next book.
He has memorized Zhan Chen's data, and this time, he will definitely not be fooled again.