Chapter 110: I Will Build a High Tower Here

Led by the golden giant ship, countless players swarmed in from the surrounding seas like ants. Under the power of the Star-Bearers, a makeshift pier and related structures would soon be erected.

They had to race against time, for it would not be long before the Chaos Demons of the Antarctic realized this was a shameful betrayal; the demons would quickly recover their strength and launch a war to attempt to retake the beachhead. Although there was defensive support from ship cannons, the situation remained far from optimistic.

With the help of Gold Coins and Performance Points, the players began enthusiastically stacking all kinds of materials, leaving them for the Star-Bearers to manipulate and transform.

Having mastered the ways of magical transformation and distortion, the Star-Bearers were almost all genius architects and laborers, capable of melting and decomposing those basic materials in no time. This caused the players' enthusiasm to soar even higher, and it looked like the first phase of construction would be completed soon.

"The first section of the city wall and living facilities can be completed in about forty-eight hours. By then, we can hold a ceremony in the center of the site to summon psychic support from the Antarctic. Although I personally think this power might not be very strong, it is still much better than being exposed to the wind and snow. Besides, the demons are also a problem; we will need to assemble some city defense facilities and related rune mechanisms by then."

In the temporarily erected conference hall, Li Ang did not bring his two Elf maiden servants who attracted so much hatred; instead, he wore a gorgeous golden outfit and methodically explained the current situation.

It was true that he attracted hatred, and he had to ensure the players remained fixed here without issue, but Li Ang could not appear too foolish.

If he did, the players would question the abilities of the Star-Bearers and might even develop a sense of contrarian psychology.

Only by combining a certain degree of greed and stupidity with a certain degree of capability and initiative could the unwillingness in the players' hearts be magnified. They would think that if only they were a little more outstanding, perhaps they too could be favored. This was also a part of the plan.

Of course, the table in Li Ang's hand was also real. Because the current leaders of the players were all in the conference room, calculating their respective interests while listening to Li Ang's voice.

"The Star-Bearers have sufficient hatred and hostility toward the demons, so you can trust the Star-Bearers during battle. But at the same time, although they are equally powerful in exploration, they are far inferior to us players in absolute numbers. This is also a certain advantage I have fought for.

The subsequent action plan is mainly for players to begin transferring all resources into the area, then start preparing a commercial environment, and help build some basic facilities and buildings.

The vast majority of players will begin to explore outward, striving to find some Performance Points."

Holding the file in his hand, Li Ang looked at the players with their varied expressions before him and said in a steady tone.

"I don't think we can play any role in the defensive campaign, because we all know very well that the recent victory was actually due to special reasons. The sharpness of a weapon does not mean we are very useful. When standing on the city wall, we will hinder the Star-Bearers' performance most of the time.

So I personally recommend that the vast majority of players start shifting to an exploration state; we don't need to waste time at the base. If you say you want some real estate, I will recommend it to you.

But in terms of construction and population, I think we should take action now."

"I refuse. Players didn't come all this way just to eat sand; at the very least, logistics and defensive positions should be guaranteed. Otherwise, if this place is breached, then so many players will have to fight guerrilla warfare here in the Antarctic. Can you afford the cost?"

A player who looked to have a face full of jowls tapped the thick, long cigar in his hand and looked at Li Ang with some dissatisfaction.

The factions of the tens of thousands of players were as numerous as the stars, and the player leaders present were from organizations of at least a thousand people. Just like this jowly player, he represented the interests of players who were once members of the dockworkers' union in Altdorf.

After being expelled by the Empire, these players were desperate to find an environment that could support them. And clearly, the Star-Bearers were a relatively good choice. So they did not want to leave here directly, but chose to prove their own abilities in their own way. If they left, they would have no advantages at all.

"The gathering place is definitely the most important priority; you can run off with the Star-Bearers, but we can't."

"Yeah, yeah, base construction must definitely be the priority."

"How could we run off before the base is secure..."

The players spoke all at once, rejecting Li Ang's suggestion. And Li Ang, as the player leader of the Star-Bearers, could only reluctantly reject his own proposal.

At this moment, almost everyone turned their gaze toward a certain great hero. The hero who directly led the player fleet to crush the demons at the Landing Site. Edward was looking at the tabletop in a daze, until the person next to her tentatively shook her shoulder, at which point she blinked as if waking from a dream.

"Wait, what's wrong? Did something specific happen?"

"We just hope you can make a choice, Edward."

Looking at the dazed and confused Edward, the player facing the maiden explained patiently.

In fact, Li Ang's opinion was not the first one proposed; previous, more radical proposals for demon hunting had also been rejected. It was a consensus that players must pull together, because the strength of a single player in this world was too weak.

But the current situation was that although everyone knew they had to pull together, how exactly to do it, and who would lead it, remained a matter of endless dispute. Li Ang was the communication point for the Star-Bearers, and many player guilds had their own interests and directions; now, only the hero who led everyone to the Landing Site had not expressed a stance.

However, for some reason, the hero who led the players to the Antarctic Continent seemed completely drained, looking dazed and staring at the crowd in a blank manner.

It was only after being prompted multiple times that she blinked awkwardly and coughed.

"Sorry, I was thinking about something just now. If it's the plan I proposed, I agree more with everyone's judgment. After all, I am just a fierce general who charges into battle, not a leader of a player guild. Everyone in our guild also hopes to go to the end with me, so I abstain."

"……Huh?"

The tone rising from low to high, Li Ang, who had been playing devil's advocate, immediately raised his eyebrows and let out a huge sound of questioning.

"Now everyone needs you to stand up and propose your own ideas, and you stand up and say you have no ideas?? Then everyone listen to me now, how about we just forget about the defense mission and go out to make some extra money?"

"Is your brain filled only with your own wealth and glory? Don't forget, you are a person living in reality!"

"So what if I live in reality? I used to be a loser, can't I be a lackey now? Isn't it better to find things early and go back early? Why must you toss and turn here with this and that; look at how capable you are over a few Performance Points. Anyway, if you can't come up with an idea, I'm going to—wait a minute."

Seeing that an argument was about to break out, Li Ang's expression suddenly changed; he pressed a metal pendant on his ear and looked at the surrounding players with a serious expression.

"Wait a minute, news from the Star-Bearers, I have some intelligence here..."

Seeing the surrounding players suddenly quiet down, Li Ang nodded and listened very seriously to the mission requirements coming into his ear.

"Mm, mm, I see, is it because our numbers are too high, leading to calculation errors? Is that not it? I understand, I will explain it clearly to these players. Mm. Yes, my lord, I guarantee the mission will be completed."

Following a series of nods and bows that the players found extremely disdainful, or even envious and jealous, Li Ang sighed and sat down on the chair with some melancholy.

"News has come from the Star-Bearers that because the Star-Bearers are short-handed and the consideration for the Winds of Magic in the Chaos Wasteland was insufficient, the strength of the barrier currently being built is inadequate, so we need to mobilize players to carry out the construction and assembly."

"What? We need to be mobilized to assemble it?"

"Yes, and it would be best if it's done within twenty-four to forty-eight hours."

Li Ang nodded, looking at the players around him with surprised expressions, and said unwillingly in a low voice: "Players can also carry out the mission. Everyone can connect to the Star-Bearer Psychic Network and let the Star-Bearers arrange some tasks and guidance for you. They need to build a structure called the Mind Spire as soon as possible, so that Psychic Power can travel from the Antarctic to the Arctic via Quantum Effect for protection. This is the most important thing; other matters can be delayed, but the construction requirements must be met. We must draw at least tens of thousands of players to complete the mission. And as for how to build it and how to do it, the Star-Bearers said they will debug their network to see if they can connect to the player side.

However, from my state, there shouldn't be any issues; it's nothing more than a question of how many people participate."

"Wait a minute, does that mean the current base actually has no defensive measures?"

"There are some basic defensive measures, but don't even think about barriers and other things. The current requirement is to strive to build the so-called Mind Spire in the shortest possible time. At the very least, build the first stage of the Mind Spire."

Looking at Edward, who had begun to lose focus in her eyes and had entered a dazed state once again, Li Ang nodded to the players.

"It seems everyone already has some ideas, so I won't disturb you any further. Next, there will be Star-Bearers to interface with you; I am going to other areas to supervise and maintain a certain level of Runes. Don't think I just eat and drink all day; my understanding of Runes is probably far superior to any of you."

After Li Ang dropped these words, he turned and left without hesitation. Because if he kept insisting like this, he suspected there was a high probability he wouldn't be able to hold back his expression.

Because as the Landing Site in the Arctic continued to capture and slaughter demons, another new technology and characteristic of Subspace was revealed, giving Li Ang some new ideas. For example, being able to make the Antarctic his own strategic stronghold, or perhaps a plan that could expose some of the true circumstances of this world.

Simply put, if this world was truly shrouded by some powerful force, then attacking the sky would often either be diffused and swallowed, or receive a certain degree of counterattack.

And as long as one used the power of the counterattack and the corresponding calculation methods, one could obtain the power needed to break the sky.

Coupled with the further expansion of Psychic Power, some external psychic links had become possible, which made Li Ang start to think about using players to create a Wonder in the Antarctic.

He had already used a few hundred people to create a World Scar in the snowfield on the spot; there was no reason why, with over a hundred thousand players now, he couldn't use the Star-Bearers and the supplies brought along to build the Mind Spire he wanted.

【You have built the third city, Dengludian!】

"You may choose to construct the Wonder Mahabodhi Temple (Mind Spire)!"

"Consumption: Magic to be determined by yourself, construction time to be determined by yourself, required minerals to be determined by yourself."

"Introduction: A marvelous theory proposed by Li Ang, a Star-Bearer, through his research into the essence of Magic and Subspace creatures, which is gradually becoming reality. If thoughts and ideas can forge demons and manifest them all over the world, then there is no reason why the essence of Psionics cannot do the same.

And what is more, if one goes a step further and gathers all the floating emotions and Souls of this world to be refined and purified within this tower, perhaps one could aim the spire at the sky...?"

"City Trait: Soul Connection treats all sentient beings within the tower's range of influence as influenceable individuals and draws Magic from them. Every one thousand people can recover an additional ten points of Magic. This city is considered connected to the capital.

More functions are currently under research."

It was not much of a Wonder, but for Li Ang, it was the first step toward entering a higher level.

Yes, Psionics can resonate across distance and time.

As long as there is the existence of thought, resonance and vibration can occur. With an anchor to fix cognition and thoughts to resonate, Psionics can be transmitted along the thoughts themselves.

Just as the gods of the Subspace begin to bestow blessings, it is because your thoughts have begun to act that the phenomenon of blessing appears. As long as the thoughts are aligned, power will appear. Does this mean that this is actually a beacon, a marvelous guide that allows everyone to strengthen themselves along the path of their own thinking?

This is a very meaningful thing, and also a thing very much worth trying.

Because if this is the case, Li Ang can not only build his own safe zone at the Antarctica point, but can even, to a certain extent, explain the marvelous traits possessed by the players.

After all, if this matter makes sense, then the very concept of the player is a form of protection in terms of Magic and concepts. They insist on believing that they are players, and thus they will automatically believe that they have absolutely no problems. And in this situation, how could they accept that their Souls have been corrupted? Their cognitive premise is first that they are players, and only then something else. If so, everything is explained.

But there are still some things that need to be proven, such as what kind of great power allows players to descend here, and whether certain ugly things can truly be transmitted to another world without barriers in this way.

Returning to the cabin, Li Ang was still bowing his head in deep thought, pondering the pros and cons of such an action for himself. Theoretically, now is the process of searching for Wonder components, and he should not extend his power and thoughts once again. But with such a tempting answer right before his eyes, how could Li Ang possibly turn a blind eye?

"My lord, what are your next plans?"

Oliver appeared from the shadows once again, bowing respectfully to Li Ang.

Sitting inside the resplendent cabin, the youth nodded thoughtfully, looked at Oliver, and said in a low voice as if talking to himself: "Integrate these players and build a tower together. We are going to build the first Mind Spire on the outskirts of Antarctica, and then continuously spread toward the interior. These spires can collect Magic in all directions through resonance, and in this way, the burden of using Magic will be greatly reduced."

"But my lord, if we do this, outside factions will very likely develop a certain degree of hostility and hatred toward us. Currently, according to our progress, it is very difficult for us to confront the whole world."

"Yes, we currently have no way to confront the whole world. Even if the answer is very likely to appear, it is the same..."

Perhaps building more Psychic Towers could pierce through that cage covering the sky, but the current situation is that as long as the Psychic Towers are built and begin to absorb, the surrounding world will definitely react violently. It is impossible for everyone to sit by and watch their Souls be controlled by another existence.

The first stage like the current one, just absorbing scattered emotions and Magic, is nothing; after all, the whole world has similar devices and institutions, but the subsequent things are the core.

Looking at the design of the Mind Spire in his hand, Li Ang felt somewhat unwilling.

However, this unwillingness was only temporary, and Li Ang himself was very clear about that.

His ambition was too vast, causing reality to often fail to keep up with his rhythm. This was his own shortcoming, and also his strength.

There were too many things he wanted to do: kill those monsters in the Subspace that blocked his scientific research, find the secrets hidden in this world, and research the player singularities as well as certain special units that might exist in reality.

Li Ang had ideas for all these things, and even had the ability to execute them.

But there was simply no way to do them all at the same time.

"You continue to execute my plan; I will go see how things are on the other side first."

At the very least, he had to determine what was going on with that strange Chaos pollution.

Edward, this guy who had long since entered the dead list in Li Ang's heart, seemed to be about to take his final step in reality.

Watching Oliver bow his head respectfully, Li Ang sighed and closed his eyes once again. That marvelous sense of immersion appeared again, allowing him to return to his original world.

(End of this chapter)