Cheng Shaofeng still has to ask Zero about this question.
"Zero, after a player goes offline, under what circumstances will his clone act on its own?"
Zero: "Master, the clones produced by the Scourge Base are essentially soulless bodies. When the player is offline, the clones are like vegetative people, no longer responding to the outside world, and only have the body's instincts. All kinds of passive skills representing muscle memory can be triggered, but as long as the players don't wear helmets, they won't take any action, but..."
Zero: "But a body without a soul is very fragile mentally and can hardly resist mental attacks. If it encounters some evil spells that control the body, it will be easily affected."
Cheng Shaofeng seemed to be thinking about something, and then asked, "We can't control the signals of the players over there. Is it possible that other players are connecting to these offline clones through unknown means?"
Zero: "It's basically impossible, because the players' souls are bound to the clones. Every upgrade and evolution of the clones is synchronized with the soul. Even if you want two players to swap bodies... it's impossible. They will have limb confusion due to memory and muscle mismatch, or even direct physical collapse."
"Well, okay, I understand..."
Since the possibility of player operation has been ruled out, the only monsters left in the Eastern Battlefield are... ...the Void Spirits!
Shadow Guard 2 was stationed in the central city. After completing the basic formation defense, he would go to the central city library to read books when he had nothing to do. He even joined an organization called the Truth Association, and by paying a certain fee, he could read many treasured books collected by mankind.
These classics that require payment to read are the essence of humanity!
Not only does it contain some important information before the Wasteland Era, but it also contains some major news and achievements over the past 400 years.
Cheng Shaofeng also learned a lot of knowledge about the world from the literature.
Among them, a book titled "The Dilemma of Man" elaborates in detail the current situation and enemy characteristics of the four major battlefields.
Among them, some information about the Eastern battlefield emerged in Cheng Shaofeng's mind.
"The Void Spirit is just a general term for all the incorporeal enemies faced on the Eastern battlefield. If we break it down, they can be divided into many types, and new types of incorporeal monsters have continued to appear in recent years..."
"Most of them are invisible to the naked eye. They mainly attack through virtuality, causing humans to fall into illusions and die of insanity. The dead often face great torture, and their appearance after death is extremely terrifying!"
“And the way to defend against these incorporeal monsters is completely different from the zombies in the northern battlefield and the Zerg in the southern battlefield. It is impossible to form a unified defense line. We can only focus on cities and strongholds and use the divine blessing and prayer techniques inherited from the Oath Keepers to protect our cities from attacks by the void spirits. Except for human strongholds... everywhere outside is a dangerous place!”
"Soldiers fighting on the Eastern battlefield may not have outstanding martial arts skills, but they must have firm beliefs and iron wills. Otherwise, they will be assimilated and polluted in that environment, and eventually die or... become monsters."
"If that's the case, then the players were most likely invaded by the Hollows while they were offline, their bodies lost control and were manipulated, and then they were identified as 'monsters' by the defenders. No matter what form they maintain, they are enemies of humans, so the Peak Squad was attacked by both the Hollows and humans at the same time."
After Cheng Shaofeng finished his reasoning, he also had a headache.
"This... maybe the players can guess that this is normal in the Eastern battlefield, but the players think this is a game, so... it's unreasonable that the body can move on its own after logging off."
Soon, the Human Alliance received Cheng Shaofeng's request and sent someone to pass the message to the city on the Eastern battlefield, using special equipment to test the 10 members of the Peak Team.
"San value is normal..."
"Normal body functions..."
"No hidden spirit aura..."
"Testing completed, welcome back to Soul-Suppressing City."
The captain of the city's defense is a curly-haired, gray-eyed man. He is a fourth-order professional with a strong heritage of oath-keeping. Everyone calls him Nangong Divine Envoy.
Xigou shook his hand and said, "We are very sorry for what happened yesterday. We were invaded by the spirits while we were sleeping. We are willing to pay a sum of money from private sources to the families of the soldiers who died because of us so that they can be buried properly."
Nangong Divine Envoy patted his shoulder.
"The Human Alliance will compensate their families. If you're willing to give more, go to the logistics department to register. Also... don't put too much psychological pressure on yourself. This kind of thing happens all the time... But you can break free from the control of the Hollow Spirits. This is the first time I've seen 10 people find their true selves together."
"I made these ten amulets. Keep them with you and be careful. Since the Void Spirits were able to invade you the first time, they will definitely come again."
The Peak Team took 10 yellow talismans from the God's Envoy Nangong. There were some incomprehensible symbols drawn on them, emitting a faint and soft energy.
"I'm going to pray today, do you want to go?"
"Let's not go for now. We need to discuss defense measures." Xigou politely refused.
Envoy Nangong nodded, left here, and went to the Three Witches Temple in the city center, where a large number of believers were praying.
The stationed soldiers do not need to patrol the city walls with other human cities on other lines of defense. Their daily task is to pray, and they take turns to pray.
In the sky above the Soul-Suppressing City, there was a faint fire-gold shield looming, with ripples constantly appearing. If you look closely, you can see that there are hideous faces colliding outside the shield... ...
It looked like even the spirits couldn't get in, but there was still a faint green mist floating in the city, which made it feel eerie, as if it was some kind of special force field.
Only in the Three Witch Temple there is no fog.
The top team distributed a talisman to each person.
Fox Demon: "This thing is a consumable. It can probably help us block a virtual spirit invasion, which is a one-time error tolerance..."
Lin Tang rolled his eyes. "The map design of the Eastern Battlefield is really a bit sick. People can still be attacked even if they are offline in the city? Fortunately, the virtual spirit didn't control us to commit suicide, otherwise we would have died as soon as we arrived..."
At that time, Cheng Shaofeng explained to them what might have happened on QQ, and the Peak Team was sure that this was not a bug.
If you really go offline, you will die!
French Fries: "Luckily we only had a meal before going online. If we were later, the city would be torn down... We wouldn't be able to survive then. Isn't it said that those who are haunted by the spirits will die miserably in the end?"
Polar Bear: "Can't we log off from now on? Or should we take turns to log off? Everyone else should pay attention to the situation and protect the teammates. Damn, that... is too much."
Lao Ao: "Don't worry, since the planner said it's a game mechanic, there are ways to control it."
They actually had some guesses about this situation, and after confirming with the planner that it was not a bug, it was time to solve the problem...
The 'Legendary Borer' who just joined the Peak Team raised his hand.
"Um... Brother Tang, I think the Three Witches Temple is quite clean inside. Could it be that it is an absolutely safe area? We can just log off from there?"
At this moment, a huge energy rushed up from the temple into the sky, shining with golden light. The protective shield of the entire city became thicker, and the green mist covering the city also dissipated a little.
"It should be the power of Nangong Divine Envoy's prayers... The guardians of the Eastern Battlefield, their fourth-level abilities are the most effective against the Void Spirits."
Oath-keeping inheritance, fourth-level talent: divine communication.
It is said that every oath-keeping fourth-level professional can communicate with the three witch gods of their inherited faith and obtain a lot of information. At the same time, they can also use part of the power of the gods, making them flexible and powerful.
The Oathkeepers, who are good at praying, are most suitable for defending against the invasion of void spirits.
Therefore, their legacy has always been stationed on the Eastern battlefield.
"Let's go and take a look!"
The 10 members of the Peak Team ran directly to the Three Witches Temple, where many soldiers in robes and metal helmets were praying. Wisps of fiery golden energy condensed above each person's head, rose, and drifted into the air, protecting the city.
After entering the Temple of the Three Witches.
The 10 people felt visibly more relaxed, and the eerie, icy aura disappeared.
The fox demon and French fries were on guard, and the others went offline to rest for an hour, and there was no more phenomenon of being controlled.
"It seems that this is the absolute safe zone reserved by the planners... There is a possibility that the city will be invaded by the spirits, and the mind will be disordered and attack friendly forces. The places outside the city are all dangerous. I estimate that as long as I log off, my body will be seamlessly taken over by the spirits..."
The dog heaved a sigh of relief: "Fortunately there is a safe spot... otherwise it would be really troublesome."
The fox demon looked around the Three Witch Temple and frowned.
"You see a problem, don't you? It's small here, everyone is praying, there's not a lot of free space."
French Fries: "Yeah... It's okay for the 10 of us to be here, but if other players come, there won't be room for more people... And this is a prayer place for the NPCs to keep their oaths, so they probably won't want a bunch of us to lie down and sleep here."
Lao Ao: "The little dog loves to snore..."
Xigou: "What are you talking about! What are you talking about! Is this because I like to snore? This is a passive skill that comes with my clone! I can't control it!"
While others were praying, a group of players were lying on the ground, snoring...
It’s outrageous just to think about it.
Demon Fox: "It seems that before we find a good way to fight against the invasion of the Void Spirits... a city in the Eastern Battlefield cannot accommodate too many players."
Xi Gou said hurriedly: "I have to post a message to remind other players. Recently, many people from the southern battlefield want to come here... It's better to go to the western battlefield to have a look. I heard that there is a shortage of people there."
At this time, Lin Tang stamped his feet.
"Okay, let's go!"
Everyone: "Where are you going?"
"Fighting monsters! We didn't come here to chant with them. Defending the city... is too boring. It's better to take the initiative to attack. And the most important thing is... there is a theorem that you seem to have forgotten."
Lao Bai asked stupidly, "What theorem?"
Lin Tang smiled evilly.
"The antidote to a highly toxic substance is often found next to it. The key item to fight against the invasion of the Void Spirits... must also be on the Void Spirits. We must find it!"
The fox demon gave Lin Tang an approving look: "Indeed, Lin Tang is right. We have to find this unlocking tool quickly, otherwise we can't leave the city at all and can only rely on the Three Witch Temple. Moreover... the sub-base that the lord asked us to build will become a decoration and not a safe base at all. I'm afraid that after we die, the clones will just be made and we haven't resurrected yet, and the spirits will get in first..."
"Hiss~"
Everyone gasped; this scene was too weird.
"I'll post a message when I'm offline..."
The thin dog fell to the ground with its body tilted.
The green mist outside seemed to sense the empty soul in Xigou's powerful body and rushed over here.
A colorful ball of energy condensed in the hands of French Fries, ready to disperse the dark fog.
But the golden holy light from the Three Witches Temple shone out, and the fog was directly melted away, and it couldn't advance even a bit.
This also puts the players at ease.
Lin Tang: "This is indeed a safe place... We must come back before night falls."
At night, the void spirits riot and their abilities are greatly enhanced. The human cities in the Eastern battlefield will close themselves off and will never go out.
"Okay, let's go!"
Xigou is back online, and 10 people are fully equipped and walk out of the city.
Affected by debuff: Possessed by Yin Qi, health recovery rate reduced by 20%, defense ability -50, and 3 points of virtual damage per second.
The players' watches vibrated in unison.
This is a long-standing debuff outside the city that reduces everyone's sixth sense and makes it easy to ignore attacks from the fog.
The reduction in health doesn't matter. Now high-level players have a guaranteed health recovery of dozens of points per second, and a 20% reduction is enough to resist continuous virtual damage.
For melee players like Xigou and Laobai, their health recovery is hundreds per second.
Not to mention the two people in the rebound flow, the legendary Boring Man and Wei Kunchen, whose life recovery is even more abnormal.
"Sacrifice!"
"Sacrifice!"
The two walked in front of the team, and simultaneously activated their continuous range attack skills, with flames illuminating the surroundings.
Ahhh~
There was a hissing sound in the air, and as the air twisted, some phantom spirits of various shapes appeared, and they were burned by the flames!
Legendary Borer: "With our repelling equipment and high physical resistance, we were completely silenced on the Eastern battlefield... We can only serve as meat torches."
Wei Kunchen: "Indeed... The monsters here are targeting us! It's so frustrating! The bastard planner is deliberately trying to disgust us and rebound!"
The Void is immune to physical damage, so most of the rebound damage they deal cannot be dealt.
Fortunately, the universal skill Sacrifice's range magic damage + lighting effect is quite useful, and the two of them are responsible for clearing the way for the team.
Fries: "Arcane Missiles!"
He raised his staff, and diamond-shaped missiles were reflected from it, hitting the burned spirits around him.
A large amount of black smoke appeared in the air, accompanied by the screams of the spirits.
Kill the 'Ghost' together, experience +16
Kill the 'Hanged Man' together, experience +17
Join forces to kill...
There were some small phantom spirits all around the city, and they were cleared out by the peak team with just a few skills.
Wisps of gray powder fell in the air.
"Gathering Technique!"
Lao Ao opened one hand, sucked all the powder in the air into his right hand, and then put it into the glass bottle in his left hand.
The grey powder sparkles with tiny cyan lights.
"Haha~ You know what, some of the general skills that the fangirl found may seem useless, but sometimes... they are really useful."
"These should be the drops of the Void Spirits. I'll disassemble them when I get back and see if I can find anything good..."
They gradually walked towards the gloomy jungle, and the level of the void spirits became higher and higher.
In the shadows of the jungle, several men wearing Human Alliance uniforms, with green mist in their eyes, turned their heads and looked towards the location of the Peak Team.