Chapter 408: Reconnaissance

In chaotic darkness, nine faintly glowing figures descended slowly.

Around them floated countless black, fluffy snowflakes; these black snows weakened and blocked light, drastically reducing visibility, while simultaneously shielding electromagnetic communications.

Upon landing, the player belonging to the Whale Song Organization, level 28, ID 【Binary Tree】, immediately blurred his hands into the ground, releasing green data streams that swept across the entire space to scan the surroundings.

But strangely, a scanning skill theoretically capable of detecting distances of over ten kilometers shrank and dissipated after spreading only a few hundred meters.

The surrounding black snows were gathering and taking shape—slowly yet swiftly—building complex, massive structures from nothing.

The structures rapidly gained color; seconds later, the nine stood squarely inside a boiler room. Metal pipes crisscrossed the ceiling and walls.

"As predicted. The core of this realm is an amorphous space that automatically reshapes upon the observer's arrival."

Binary Tree spoke solemnly; he wore a plaid shirt, jeans, and a backpack—the standard programmer attire. The only unusual features were the oversized VR goggles on his head and the massive electronic wristwatch on his wrist.

"Similar to the Room of Requirement from *Harry Potter*, except without the 'request-fulfilling' property."

The one who picked up the thread was a refined-bearded, trench-coat-wearing, cane-carrying English gentleman.

He was a high-level mage of the Clock Tower, ID 【Nicola】, level 27.

Beside Nicola, the vice-chairman of the Mech War Lei Ting Guild, 【Blood Xue Shi Paoxiao】, level 29—a red-haired, bearded giant—turned and asked: "Young Lady Sanriyue, what's the result of your prophecy? Any changes?"

The one he addressed was a frail girl with white hair and purple eyes.

She belonged to the Navigator's Guild, ID 【Sanriyue】, level 25, possessing powerful prophetic, word-spirit, and divination abilities.

A slit slowly split open vertically at Sanriyue's brow, from which an eyeball emerged, rotating to survey the surroundings.

After a moment, she shook her head softly and said: "The prophecy's risk coefficient hasn't changed."

"If the risk coefficient hasn't changed, that's enough. Which way do we go next?"

【Red Spider】, level 27 of the Suit Tyrant Guild, spoke coldly; he bore a striking resemblance to Keanu Reeves, dressed in a sharp suit, wearing sunglasses, with long hair, his left hand replaced by a metal prosthesis, each hand gripping a pistol.

It was impossible to tell whether he was cosplaying Neo from *The Matrix*, John Wick from *John Wick*, or Johnny Silverhand from *Cyberpunk*.

"Give me a moment."

Sanriyue pulled out a stack of ancient Tarot cards from her backpack slot and squatted on the ground, beginning her divination with deliberate slowness.

The core of this realm was likely an active hidden space; no amount of caution was excessive. A divination to predict fortune or misfortune was essential first.

The prophecy process was time-consuming and dull; an attractive young man with a flamboyant, flowing hairstyle suddenly thought of something and asked: "By the way, have you all seen the new *Harry Potter* movie?"

The speaker was a transcendent from the 【Crown Casino】 Guild, ID 【Card Emperor】, level 27—powerful in ability, but with a terrible reputation on player forums.

Nicola, being British himself, looked bewildered: "What? When did *Harry Potter* get a new movie?"

Card Emperor replied as if it were obvious: "The Asylum Company Product—*Harry Potter Da*."

Is that even a real movie?! Isn't that just some low-budget trash film where Harry Potter turns into Harriet Potter and has a melodramatic romance with Snape and Ron?

Nicola's eye twitched; The Asylum Film Studio was infamous for its knockoff blockbusters, having produced *Atlantic Rim*, *Transforming Steel*, *Malibou Pirates*, and other cheap imitation films—its few remaining moderately respected original works were the *Sharknado* series.

As for *Harry Potter Da*, it was thanks to Whale Song Guild—their AI video creation platform had been too useful, spawning countless low-budget knockoff films like mushrooms after rain.

Amid the dung, a few films and TV shows actually turned out decent.

At this, Card Emperor lit up: "I love *Let the Cannon Fly*, *Xia Mu's Vengeance List*, *Medieval Evangelion*, *Spring Dream Space*, *Hello, Li Lianying*."

Everyone present except Sanriyue sighed and rubbed their temples.

No wonder nearly every player who had ever teamed up temporarily with Card Emperor had a poor impression of him—this guy talked too much.

'Scattered like stars across the sky, gathered they may not become a flame. Too many people, and the team becomes impossible to lead.'

Binary Tree rubbed his throbbing temple; the nine present had an average level of around 27—all core members of their respective guilds.

If their hearts were united, they could destroy the entire military force of a small European nation in moments. Yet, mutual trust was lacking, and their personalities clashed.

Thinking of this, Binary Tree glanced toward the three in the corner:

Andre of the Knights Templar, Changsun Yao of the World Nuclear Peace Bureau, and Bai Ma Mubei, the lone wolf.

These three, plus Binary Tree himself, Blood Xue Shi Paoxiao, Nicola, Sanriyue, Red Spider, and Card Emperor.

According to Sanriyue's earlier prophecy, these ten were theoretically the optimal combination for the first reconnaissance team.

Entering the realm's core to locate the hidden space would significantly increase the survival probability for all players—including themselves.

Wait!

Amid Card Emperor's incessant chatter, Binary Tree suddenly looked up, staring at the nine figures besides himself.

Only nine players descended—when did a tenth person appear?!

His VR goggles scanned rapidly, but to his horror, neither the goggles' scan results, nor video logs, nor his own memory could identify the extra person.

Card Emperor, Sanriyue, Red Spider.

Red Spider, Nicola, Bai Ma Mubei.

Binary Tree's mind raced, performing tens of thousands of calculations in his head—ten people were clearly present, yet his brain could not pinpoint the extra one.

Undoubtedly, he was suffering from cognitive harm and memetic contamination—intense, extreme memetic contamination.

The others, even the highest-level Blood Xue Shi Paoxiao and Bai Ma Mubei, hadn't noticed anything amiss.

Binary Tree made no further hesitation; his arms dissolved into green data, instantly spreading to form barriers trapping the other nine, excluding himself.

"What are you doing?!"

Changsun Yao jumped back, shouting angrily—this act could be considered an attack on a teammate.

"Don't resist. One of us is extra. I'm forcing them out."

Binary Tree shouted as the green data barriers gradually compressed, molding to each player's body contours.

From Changsun Yao and the other players' perspectives, a dense, repetitive system alert echoed in their ears:

【You have a new friend request】

【You have a new friend request】

The system alerts piled up, the word "You" merging into a continuous line, like the buzz of a crashed computer.

This skill was Whale Song's secret technique, named 【Cyber Secret Scroll: Denial of Service】—its essence was forcibly accelerating the user's—Binary Tree's—brain processing speed to flood other players with massive friend requests in a short time.

Before the opponent could block him, induce a brief mental disruption—among experts, half a second of distraction is enough to be fatal.

All players showed expressions of discomfort, except for a tall, slender woman in black, whose face remained impassive.

Found it!

Binary Tree's pupils contracted, locking onto that figure; he clasped his palms together and compressed the green data barrier, aiming to crush the figure into oblivion.

"Hmm…"

The tall woman sighed lightly, then shattered the green barrier with a single hand and flashed before Binary Tree.

Looking down from above, she pressed her pale palm onto Binary Tree's head and whispered softly: "You shouldn't have come."

Binary Tree's eyes rolled back; his finger, ready to activate his wrist device, could no longer press down.

He couldn't even trigger self-destruction or exit the battlefield.

The other players instantly realized what had happened, shattered the green data barrier, and launched their attacks at the tall woman in black.

Red Spider fired her twin pistols in rapid succession, the Card King hurled a stack of playing cards, Blood Lion roared and pulled a long, thick rocket launcher from behind his back, and Three-Day Moon's third eye widened to its limit, bleeding tears.

Eight players, averaging Level 27, attacked simultaneously—but the woman in black merely waved her hand.

The pistol bullets turned to smoke, the playing cards became butterflies, and the missile transformed into thousands of roses.

All attacks vanished; the players fell one by one, their consciousness gradually fading and severing.

The strongest among them, Blood Xue Shi Paoxiao and Bai Ma Mu Bei, held out the longest; before their consciousness vanished, they heard Binary Tree, under the tall woman's control, pick up the radio.

In a tone utterly unlike his vacant expression, he said to his companions outside the secret realm: "We've reached the secret realm. It's still safe here. Send in the second reconnaissance team."

(End of Chapter)