by <unknown>
Wuying Lan smiled. "It appears that the 'king of competition' that the specialists and professions looked forward to two hundred years ago has been born without anybody knowing it."
"Yes," Luo Tiansheng said. "When they studied the super artificial intelligence, the specialists and professors resorted to anything possible, even including the most extreme approaches. A lot of the super tiny crystal chips excavated from the primeval relics of the Pangu Clan and the Nuwa Clan were directly duplicated and embedded in our crystal processors. It must be noted that countless complicated rune arrays and circuits are within the super tiny chips. We do not even know their functioning mechanisms, only the input and the output. They are essentially 'black boxes' for us.
"After the crystal processors that were embedded with countless super tiny black-box chips were sent to the ever-changing, chaotic battlefield, what kind of amazing changes could happen in two hundred years? I can only say that anything is possible!"
"So, this can be counted as a pleasant surprise?" Wuying Lan mumbled. "Look at it. How strong, how magnificent, and how intimidating! Tell me about it. Does it have a real self-consciousness? Is it a life of a brand-new life form?"
Chapter 2017: Eyeballs Are Everything! |
"It is not accurate to call it a 'life'," Luo Tiansheng said. "The most remarkable specialists in the field of artificial intelligence reached the conclusion more than two hundred years ago that it is impractical to make the artificial intelligence generate self-awareness and evolve into a new life form in the next thousand years without the interference of the civilization of a higher-level.
"However, 'Fist King' Lei Zonglie is indeed a very advanced super intelligence that is probably even more powerful than the artificial intelligences applied to the main crystal processors of the transportation hubs and the super warships in the Imperium. It is certainly worth studying.
"It is a shame that we did not focus surveillance on it until it returned from the city ruins and distinguished itself in the Land of Sins. We paid close attention to its development and growth, but we do not know the first thing about its experiences decades ago.
"Therefore, we still have to bring it back to Manjusaka in order to dissect and dismantle it. That's the only way to find the answers.
"Do we need to terminate the golden quest 'Battle of Liberty City', my lord?"
Wuying Lan narrowed his eyes. "Huh?"
"The unexpected mutations of the Fist King have made the situation somewhat out of our control. Please take a look. Our estimated comprehensive death rate of the players is 11.5%, and the highest death rate should be no greater than 18%. But the floating death rate has now been increased to 15.4%, and the estimated highest death rate may surpass 30%.
"Those rookies are no match for the Fist King. Chances are that they will all be butchered by the Fist King. Should we terminate the trial and the game and bring the Fist King under control first?"
"That's impossible." Wuying Lan stared at the light beam, with a multitude of emotions beaming out of his eyes.
On the light beam, the iron giant shot out spiritual energy that consumed countless sinners and players of Immortal Cultivators like a destructive storm.
The three members of the Red Viper Squad who used to be arrogant were mired in the swirl, too. Like broken canoes, they shuddered in fear among the surging tides.
Taking a deep breath, Wuying Lan sent a voice to Luo Tiansheng with a very special frequency of private talk that only the two of them could hear. "Dr. Luo, do you know our audience rating on all the terminals of the Spiritual Nexus in the entire Imperium? Do you know how many trillions in capital is waiting for the final result of the soul-stirring epic quest like ravenous beasts? Do you know that the Li family, the Yuwen family, the Sky Holding Group, and many big shots from the military are paying close attention to Manjusaka and us?
"A hundred years. For a hundred years, we have been fighting bloodily through thorns and finally made it this far. We have also pushed ourselves to the tip of the tide. Before us is a path of glory, but below our feet is a bottomless abyss.
"We cannot quit or turn around now. I have already wagered all my belongings on the magnificent, mind-boggling epic quest. No unexpected factor is to disrupt it!
"Look…"
Wuying Lan smiled confidently and showed the translucent data on his mini crystal processor to Luo Tiansheng. "Our audience rating on all terminals has surpassed the limits. No media outlets or platforms can compete with us. Even the real-life 'war stream' between the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance has been eclipsed by us!
"Don't you see? After a hundred years of 'slaughter streaming', the audience is already tired of control. They do not want to see everything that is carefully manipulated. They like chaos, they like accidents, and they like 'Fist King' Lei Zonglie!"
"But…" Luo Tiansheng thought for a moment. "Just for the audience rating?"
"This is a gamble as well as an ultimate competition between me and the scumbags in the court in the Empyreal Terminus Sector." Wuying Lan's voice suddenly turned extremely hoarse and cold. "Such is the cruelty of this world. When the place was a dying, desolate land, the scumbags kicked me here and simply let me live on my own. They even wanted me to take the blame for the shutdown of the laboratory of the Land of Sins.
"After we worked hard for a hundred years and made the place thrive again after arduous efforts, the scumbags have come back again, extending their long, furry claws in the hope of reaching for the fruit of our effort. They want to occupy the place for themselves and kick us back to where we came from.
"Those scumbags include our most brilliant and invincible emperor!
"A few years ago, the war between the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance was still too intense, and the emperor did not have the time to deal with us.
"But right now, the army of the Imperium has secured continuous victories on the frontline and recovered all the territory that has been lost in the past thousand years. His Majesty's head is getting larger and more feverish each day. He is trying to become a second magnificent monarch, as incredible as Blackstar the Great. Our 'Heavenly Eye Group' has become his target, too.
"Hehe… But am I someone who will just wait to be killed? Nobody can steal the Land of Sins and the City in the Sky from me. Not even the emperor!
"It is the age of information now, and audience ratings are everything! Whoever attracts the eyeballs controls the mind, whoever controls the mind manipulates the behavior, and whoever manipulates the behavior will have the entire world!
"Dr. Luo, we've known each other in our most devastated times. In the past hundred years, no matter how insane your ideas, projects, and experiments were, I have always supported you to accomplish them without any reserve. However many resources you need, you will have them. When you need a thousand living test subjects, I will get you five thousand without batting an eye! The two of us are the best partners. I keep no secrets from you and always tell you the truth, no matter how serious the issue is. You will certainly support me to the end, too, won't you?"
Luo Tiansheng nodded without any hesitation. "Of course."
"Excellent." Wuying Lan smiled. "With the support of so many big shots from the military, political, and business worlds, and even Li Lingfeng, the promising next leader of the Li family, on my side, now that a surprise as pleasant as the Fist King has been found by you, even the emperor will not be able to do anything about us as long as we control the situation well and arrange the whole play perfectly!"
Luo Tiansheng was not surprised at Wuying Lan's lack of respect for the emperor at all. He asked calmly, "Then, what do we do now?"
After pondering for a moment, Wuying Lan clapped his hands and said, "Firstly, increase the difficulty of the quest from 'golden' to 'platinum', and project a batch of powerful magical equipment and weapons in that direction. Make sure that only players can open and make use of them.
"Then, open the secret shelters that we buried deep below the earth a
nd send the coordinates to all the players in the quest area. If the players cannot take it anymore and decide to quit the trial, they are free to hide themselves in the shelters. Of course, the points and accomplishments they have achieved will all be cleared.
"Thirdly, ask the 'Heavenly Eye Legion' to establish a defense line outside of Liberty City. The Fist King or any sinner in the Land of Sins is not to run free.
"Those sinners have seen too many things that they shouldn't have. Including Xiahou Wuxin, the leader of Liberty City, none of them are to be spared. After most of them have killed each other and the trial quest is over, clear the field.
"Right. Let me see. I'm told that your laboratory has recently produced a new batch of monsters, right?"
"Yes." When his experiment results were mentioned, Luo Tiansheng smiled proudly. "I guarantee that they will be real 'nightmare monsters'!"
"Very good. Then, after the Battle of Liberty City is over, just test the power of the 'nightmare monsters' in front of the big shots here with the broken city ruins as the test field. Chances are that some of them will place a large order on the spot!
"As for the control of 'Fist King' Lei Zonglie, lock onto it with our railguns first and make sure that it will be blown to pieces if it shows any anomaly. But do not use the railgun just yet and ask the 'Madmen Squad' to try to weaken it so that it will not go completely out of control. I want to know how much potential can be dug out of the spiritual puppets that can automatically learn and upgrade!"
"Got it." Luo Tiansheng nodded. "I'll go and prepare the 'nightmare monsters'."
"Wait."
Wuying Lan suddenly stopped him, pointing at an obscure picture that was a replay of the battle yesterday. In the overwhelming smoke, Li Yao's clumsy body flashed before the picture was blocked by intense fire and smoke.
Wuying Lan pointed at Li Yao and asked, "There's still a minor issue. What's that? It seems to have been absorbed by the Fist King into the body."
"It should be another spiritual puppet that boasts automatic learning and upgrading functions," Luo Tiansheng said. "We don't know the specific model yet, but the Fist King has always been enthusiastic about collecting spiritual puppets of all kinds of models, especially those that can automatically learn and upgrade. In the past, we did not understand the reason and thought that it was only an unimportant hobby. But now, we have finally understood 'its' intention. It was probably finding ways to strengthen itself continuously by dismantling and studying other spiritual puppets, wasn't it?"
"Okay," Wuying Lan said emotionlessly. "Therefore, this is a pile of insignificant garbage?"
"Probably." After thinking for a moment, Luo Tiansheng said, "However, if you are interested, we can spare some of the computational ability, monitors, and analysts to figure out the backstory of the spiritual puppet and see where it originated."
Glancing at the super crystal processors that were all functioning at full efficiency and the analysts whose heads were about to explode, Wuying Lan shook his head after pondering for a moment. "Forget it. An epic quest is about to begin. There is no need to waste time on such trivia. Let's just move on!"
Manjusaka extended its limbs like a glamorous, poisonous spider, and the overwhelming net in the sky was weaved even denser than before.
The nightmare monsters and countless elite warriors were all set to go.
The people in the Land of Sins did not have the faintest idea about their upcoming doom and were still dwelling in the bloodiest battles.
Chapter 2018: Into the Sky! |
The entire Liberty City had been cast into a complete mess.
Out of everyone's expectations, 'Fist King' Lei Zonglie turned into an iron giant almost a hundred meters tall, increasing the combat ability of 'Great Iron City' by magnitudes.
The spiritual shield around itself was as brilliant and dazzling as a supernova outbreak!
Under the eight enormous limbs that were waving crazily, the crystal tanks became the most vulnerable matchboxes. Both the bandits and the Immortal Cultivator players fled in panic.
Whoever stood in his way would immediately learn the feeling of desperation when the twenty-meter-long saber was slashed at them!
The defense line inside and outside of Liberty City had completely collapsed.
The Fist King moved to the center of Liberty City unwaveringly, where the tower to the sky was located!
Even the bandits and players on his own side were appalled by his toughness and dominance, and they did not approach with a thousand meters from him, fearing that they might be bashed into smithereens by his hammer while he was on a killing spree, which seemed to have already happened several times.
All in all, the battlefield became an utter mess everywhere. Both the attackers and the defenders looked at the iron monster in bewilderment.
'Fist King' Lei Zonglie became the only protagonist of the war game!
Right then…
The City in the Sky emanated weird redness. Countless stars broke into the atmosphere at an unbelievable speed, raising a storm of fire inside and outside of Liberty City immediately and leaving thousands of craters on the ground.
Blasts spread out everywhere at the same time. A lot of sinners and Immortal Cultivator players were blown into the air. Some of the less fortunate ones who happened to be standing on the landing points of the 'shooting stars' were immediately blown up and vaporized.
Those 'shooting stars' turned out to be silver weapon boxes from the sky. They were an advanced model that the sinners had never seen before with a scary mark of skeleton engraved on the surface. The sinners who dared to approach them would immediately be struck by electric arcs without any mercy, which made it impossible for them to open the cases.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The Immortal Cultivator players, on the other hand, received the latest instructions from Manjusaka.
The Battle of Liberty City had risen from a golden quest to a platinum quest, and they were about to be aided by reinforcements and new weapons.
Also, the goal for the players who had been randomly distributed to the Fist King's side before changed.
All the Immortal Cultivator players now shared the same goal, which was to suppress the Fist King!
"A platinum quest! One that is only under a legendary quest!"
"My goodness! What kind of monster is this? How can it be a target for all of us?"
"The paradise of sins is truly exciting. Fighting such a behemoth is even more gratifying than fighting the Covenant Alliance on the frontlines!"
"Hooo. New magical equipment and new gear. Awesome!"
With the aid of the virtual guidance arrowheads, the players soon located tremendous airdrops. After opening them with special passwords, the players found brand-new, even more powerful crystal suits in them, as well as abundant cutting-edge magical equipment that could be installed on the crystal suits. They were entirely renewed after they put on the new weapons!
Like hot-air balloons that had been filled up again, they were brimming with confidence.
"Fist King? Die!"
The players roared and soared into the sky. With their high momentum and agile movements, they hovered around Great Iron City rapidly and rained their firepower upon the Fist King.
Even if the Fist King was truly not a human being but an artificial intelligence of a super high performance, it must abide by the law of the Land of Sins. All the materials that it used to build 'Great Iron City' were either charity from the Heavenly Rails or garbage collected from the city ruins. Some had even been given by Wuying Lan on purpose after discovering its potential.
Its database and logic circuits could turn 'become the strongest' into an ineffaceable belief.
But its jumbled body was incomparable to the most advanced crystal suits of the Imperium of True Human Beings.
The Immortal Cultivator players, whose gear had been completely upgraded, were utterly different from the panic and desperation players a moment ago.
E
ven if the Fist King could still kill some of them, they could land a blow on the Fist King.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Fist King's outer plate armor was finally blown up by the players, revealing the vulnerable and messy components inside. Countless small spiritual puppets were blown out of the holes and fell to the ground in pieces.
The Fist King's unstoppable momentum was disrupted, and even more players saw its weakness. They attacked the joints of its eight mechanical arms and its body hard and chopped off two of the mechanical tentacles, which cramped on the ground hard like dying serpents.
"Who are you exactly?" The Fist King was not supposed to have the feeling of pain, yet he was roaring in agony. "Why do you have weapons and ammunition from the sky? Why are you all stopping me from occupying the Elysian World? Why are your techniques and gear so weird?
"You are not sinners! You are not the assassins and mercenaries from the Valley of Thorns!
"You are from the sky. You have come here through the Heavenly Rails to my battlefield. What do you want exactly?"
The Fist King waved his remaining six arms as if he had gone mad, raising endless tornadoes around him, while he crashed at the tower to the sky without caring about anything, as if he wanted to blow up the tower with his gargantuan body and make Manjusaka collapse.
It was a shame that nothing was of any use.
The Heavenly Rails and the City in the Sky did not stand based on the support of the tower, which was nothing more than a tube to transmit resources. There were more than a hundred such tubes throughout the entire Land of Sins.
Besides, the Fist King could not make it to the tower.
Among the 'shooting stars' from the sky just now, there were more than ten special assault cabins besides the weapon boxes.
After they crashed heavily, they exploded like flowers. More than ten Exos wearing colorful, glamorous crystal suits in the form of insects flew out of them.