Chapter 2021

b-card level monster grinding?

After Lin An reacted, this sentence instantly flashed through his mind.

Theoretically feasible, but are the returns really proportional?

Calculating with his existing ten thousand points, this amount of points would drive countless Fifth Stage beings mad with envy. But upon careful calculation, it could at most increase his strength by 1-3%. Even if advancing equipment added a basic rule, the maximum increase would not exceed 10%.

This strength increase is insufficient to cause a qualitative change, unless...

(Unless it's to break through the critical point! In a complex scenario with multiple missions, some missions don't need me to complete. And since I am already stronger than peers, relying on this 10% increase, I can forcibly complete!)

The train of thought is clear.

However, after thinking about this, Lin An still felt it was wrong.

Even if No. 77 could truly find such a mission to let him enter, how great would the final profit need to be to cover the cost? Also, we must ensure the next cycle.

The hammer's consumption is too great! Using it to strengthen itself is simply a mistake!

(Ten thousand points plus ten thousand points, plus the gains from not using this method! Calculated this way, we can barely avoid a loss!)

(A mission with profits nearing twenty thousand points?)

Lin An thought of this, and his scalp tingled, his head felt twice as big! The skull reward being this high is purely too special! According to the difficulty of the Stellar Battlefield, even if Lin An exploited this loophole, the difficulty he'd face would be outrageously high!

Upon careful thought, it would be better to honestly use these points to strengthen himself; at least he could familiarize himself with his power before battle!

Taking shortcuts comes at a cost!

Not only that...

"Overseer, I think I understand what you mean."

"But I have a question. If using this method lowers difficulty, then I could directly exchange for a Death Star-level weapon, or something like a spirit-energy fruit. As long as I put it in my ring before entering, it could still count as leveling up, right? Even directly exchanging props would be better, wouldn't it?"

Lin An lowered his head to glance at the Star-Forging Hammer in his hand; if the effect of cheating by other means is 10, then this hammer is at most 0.1.

At most, it's just a bit safer; the added rules could be considered paving the way for the future. But even thinking that way, it's still too much of a stretch.

"Lin An, do you think among so many civilizations, nobody has thought of the methods you mentioned?"

Unexpectedly to Lin An, No. 77 gave a light laugh and directly rejected his idea.

"Useless. As long as you bring these things in, the system will automatically count them as your strength. Don't underestimate the system; although loophole methods seem many, most are just ignored by the system. Calling them loopholes, they're really just clever tricks. The system will still punish you later!"

"If there truly were a loophole with huge profits, the system would eliminate you right away! This, I think you should be very clear about!"

As an Overseer, No. 77 has naturally seen all kinds of civilizations exploiting loopholes, whatever bizarre, heaven-defying methods—has he not seen them? Yet the outcomes are one worse than another!

"If it doesn't work? Then what about my earlier...?"

Before Lin An could finish speaking, No. 77, as if anticipating, shook his tentacles:

"Are you referring to the Eye of Creation? Or are you talking about exchanging rewards in the Stellar Battlefield to increase combat power?"

"The Eye of Creation is what I gave you; you also paid a huge price to 'exchange' for it. Moreover, this thing is extremely special, which is why it wasn't counted by the system."

"Strictly speaking, you merely used part of your combat power to exchange for the Eye of Creation. And you obtain points by killing enemies; under normal circumstances, you simply cannot increase your strength this way."

"In the system, any resources you obtain through it are recorded. Don't think you can fool it that easily!"

"What about the Crimson Blazing Star Dragon?"

Lin An, unwilling to give up, asked—not because he wanted to argue with the big-eyed one, but because he wanted to clarify the system's mechanics; this opportunity to have an Overseer directly answer is something even a fool knows is precious.

"Overseer! I've seen Fifth Stage beings bringing higher-level power as a trump card; this seems also not counted toward combat power."

"Not the same."

"In the Stellar Battlefield, what's contested is the civilization's foundation. Bringing such a trump card in is effective only in civilization wars. If you let it enter other mission types, it will only die faster."

"However, speaking of these, I actually have something to remind you."

Having shifted the topic, after Overseer No. 77 patiently answered, his voice suddenly turned solemn:

"Lin An, do you know why most civilizations fail to complete missions and head toward destruction?"

"Obviously, in the Apocalypse, civilizations that survive the first round give birth to many elites and strong individuals; the whole civilization can be said to have undergone a baptism."

"Logically, each mission should offer a sliver of hope; although difficulty increases, each civilization's coping experience grows richer, and their strength rises. Theoretically, they could maintain a fragile balance, struggling to survive."

"Is it due to lack of ambition? Limited potential? Or perhaps their civilization's strongest made a wrong choice, clinging to life, fearing death, and daring not to fight further?"

Faced with Overseer No. 77's sudden question, Lin An answered instinctively.

He and his team members have discussed this question many times, including himself, and he often wondered about it.

The answer seems to be only one: the system is too cruel, so cruel that a single misstep means extinction. Also, one cannot retreat; fearing death only leads to a quicker demise.

"Half right."

Overseer No. 77 lightly nodded:

"Besides the problems you mentioned, there is another important point."

"That is points, or rather the consumption of resources."

"You should have noticed that the Fifth Stage civilizations you've encountered, after obtaining points, use them for only two things."

"1: Accumulate points to provide resources for their strongest, to assault higher levels."

"2: Consume points to exchange for a brief safety period, thereby buying time for the civilization to develop."

"These two approaches seem correct and are what most civilizations choose. But I must tell you, this is actually a trap, especially the second one, which is almost certainly a deadly trap!"

As the words fell, Lin An's face suddenly turned solemn, looking at No. 77 with some incomprehension.

In fact, he has always wanted to do this; last time, if it weren't for the points being exchanged by the big-eyed one, he would have very much wanted to exchange for safety time.

He is exhausted, the pressure truly immense, not just for a brief respite. Lin An also realizes that if he undertakes another non-solo mission, he will likely become a lone survivor! Even if he pulls through, the gap between him and his teammates, and everyone on Earth, will only widen, making him completely redundant!

"Why is the second approach wrong?"

"According to the Rule System's path, isn't it necessary for civilization to drive the strongest's cognition? Exchanging time to strive for development—isn't that a virtuous cycle?"

"The strong complete the mission, bring back rewards. The rewards then help the whole civilization progress, feeding back to the civilization's strong. If one relies solely on solo combat, the Rule System, in the later stage—no, from the mid-stage onward, isn't there no path left?"

"Even back in the Alien Species world, Lin An had seriously considered how to take different paths."

Every route has its own advantages and disadvantages; the Rule System and the Faith System are the same, both belonging to the civilization collective route. If there is no civilization feedback, then isn't only the Body System correct?

Besides that, for the Faith System to develop, it's impossible to let its own civilization constantly suffer disasters! If everyone is dead, what is there to coalesce?!

"I said, this is a trap. It is a trap discovered only after countless civilizations paid the price in blood."

"The tasks released by the system are actually calculated based on the system rewards obtained by the entire civilization! Even if you don't spend the points, or even if they aren't spent on yourself, the difficulty you face remains the same level!"

"Especially for the civilization's strongest, he obtains the most rewards, and thus the difficulty is the greatest!"

"It's like you earn a hundred dollars outside, then come back wanting to use that hundred units of food; perhaps in the long run, the final profit will be higher than spending it directly."

"But you can't hold out until that time! The civilization itself will go wrong! The usage rate of resources between the weak and the strong is worlds apart! If you consume those hundred points, your combat power increase would be a hundred, but when spread across the entire civilization, in a short time it's only ten, or even one!"

"With this gain and that loss, most civilizations will desperately discover that they not only cannot enter a virtuous cycle, but they can't even keep up with the resources needed for the strongest!"

"Especially who isn't afraid of death? Who doesn't want to keep exchanging for safety time?!"

"In the end, their strongest dies from insufficient strength, and the civilization perishes along with him."

Lin An's heart shuddered upon hearing this; he never imagined that the system's rules contained such a perverse clause for judging strength!

No wonder the Hei Di and others he encountered were stuck at the Star-Destroying Level, dead or alive; no wonder they craved permission so much!

At this moment, Lin An also thought of himself! Each time he broke through limits, he essentially utilized resources to the extreme! Indeed, he consumed global resources, drawing the enmity of countless people.

Yet it is precisely this that led him, by a twist of fate, to where he stands today!

"Then isn't the Rule System wrong?!"

"If all resources must be given to the strongest, what is the meaning of a civilization's existence? How do those alliances survive?"

Lin An couldn't help but ask: if that's really the case, why are the civilizations he encountered all Rule and Technology sides? According to selection theory, after iteration they should all be Body System!

Besides that, the Creator civilization seems to have existed for a long time. Relying on the Rule System that is fed back by civilization, it hasn't died out quickly.

"It's simple: after these civilizations realize this, although they cannot reverse it, they are not fools."

Subject 77 spoke calmly, giving Lin An a quick crash course on Fifth Stage knowledge before leaving.

"Lin An, you should have noticed that most civilizations form alliances, with the strongest civilization as the leader. Like the Creator civilization you encountered, they are happy to absorb other weak civilizations and help them grow quickly."

"This looks good on the surface, but in reality it's malicious!"

"The hegemonic civilization will ostensibly offer some cheap assistance, letting subordinate civilizations complete tasks and then take their points."

"Thus, the subordinate civilizations' ratings rise, but the rewards that could truly strengthen them are gone. Meanwhile, the hegemonic civilization completes tasks at extremely low cost, its rating doesn't rise, yet it gains a large amount of rewards out of thin air."

"Because the points aren't theirs; the system only adds difficulty for those who complete the tasks."

"In this endless cycle, the subordinate civilizations' situation becomes ever more difficult, forced to give more rewards to the hegemonic civilization; with such a disparity in strength, they can't even resist."

"It's like vampirism; most of the advanced civilizations and so-called alliances you can see survive in this way!"

"Under the feet of these high-level civilizations, there is nothing but piles of bones—the corpses of countless civilizations with potential! Moreover, these high-level civilizations not only have lost any potential, they are greedy for life, fearful of death, wasting resources! They drag the entire star field, even star clusters, into hell!"

As he spoke, a flash of icy killing intent flickered in the depths of Subject 77's eyes!

Lin An has experienced too little! He has never yet seen the myriad vile, utterly despicable civilizations in the Apocalypse!

It's no exaggeration to say that these civilizations will even strangle hope with their own hands, dragging everyone to die together!

Apocalypse! What is the Apocalypse?!

The situation will evolve to today, causing countless lives to struggle in pain and despair, heading toward destruction! Essentially, it's because too many civilizations have already become part of the Apocalypse!

Feeling that rare anger in Subject 77's heart, Lin An momentarily felt as if infected, faintly guessing that the large eyeball had probably undergone something similar.

(Was the big eyeball actually also full of potential? He is clearly an Overseer, yet he wants to rebel against the system. Who knows what happened to him...)

Suppressing distracting thoughts, Lin An's expression grew complex:

"Overseer, if you say so, isn't the Rule System wrong?!"

"I can't spend the points on Earth; then what are my people supposed to do? Just watch them die? Or should I also learn to control subordinate civilizations like those alliances?"

Confused, heavy.

Success because of him, failure because of him.

To be frank, in the eyes of those unfamiliar with him, Lin An perhaps seems like a demon—cold-blooded and selfish.

But Zhang Tie and others who have gotten along with him for a long time know well that deep down he is filled with "heroism", always shouldering all pressure himself, wanting to protect everyone.

Dead people? Nonstop dead people?

The faith he has condensed isn't too afraid of this either; in fact, it will accelerate the screening of those who share his beliefs.

"Pretty much."

"Kid, the cruelty of the system lies right here. As long as you dare to evade, no matter the method, the so-called safety time is nothing but the deadliest trap."

"Only by constantly fighting, constantly struggling on the edge of life and death, can you and the Earth behind you have a sliver of hope to make it to the end."

"However, you don't actually need to be too pessimistic; have you forgotten that you changed tasks?"

"Although I can't keep helping you change tasks, the Earth will inevitably face disaster crises, but it won't come down to only a few people left."

"Most of those extinct civilizations piled up the difficulty themselves. Like a bomb, they escaped to the end only to blow themselves to pieces."

Like a consolation, Subject 77 finished speaking and said no more; his tentacles pointed straight at the Universal Repair Eye, and in an instant, the exchange space that had been covered in flesh and blood returned to its original state.

"All right, kid."

"First go handle the affairs of the other participants, especially those Creator people."

"Tell them you will participate in the Star Brilliance War!"

"This matter is very important! Once confirmed, I will tell you what you need to do next!"

As he spoke, Subject 77 gave Lin An a deep look, as if filled with some expectation and a hint of desolation.

"Lin An, my time is not much."

"Your time isn't much either..."

"I'm about to leave; before I go, I'll tell you exactly how to use this hammer. Believe me, it will be a hundred, even a thousand times stronger than you imagine!"

"Relying on it, I hope that when I return, you will have reached that point..."

Hearing 77's somewhat heavy tone, Lin An was taken aback; he still had many questions he wanted to ask.

But for some reason, seeing that No. 77 seemed to have something to attend to suddenly, he could only nod, utter a thanks, and then stepped into the transmission light gate.

However, after Lin An left, No. 77 did nothing, merely silently gazing at the distant stars.

A long silence.

"I really..."

「Can you come back... 」

A sigh.