Chapter 559

Nearly three weeks had passed since the [Zero Restart] mission, and now the system broadcast sounded—meaning a player had been stranded somewhere in the Killing Ground entity for twenty days; what a unlucky soul.

Guilds could confirm member deaths by checking whether corpses were teleported back from teleportation points, or whether avatars in their friend lists had turned gray.

But in rare cases, players remained alive, merely trapped somewhere in the Killing Ground entity, having lost consciousness and control over their bodies.

The Killing Ground system forbade players from hiding indefinitely in the Slums for refuge; it forcibly ejected any transcendent who had not returned to Earth for too long—this threshold was fourteen days.

If a player failed to appear for more than fourteen days, they were listed as MIA (Missing in Action), and funeral arrangements, family compensation, and insurance claims would begin.

If someone suddenly reappeared after their funeral had already ended, it might turn into a Hollywood-style dark comedy: an American soldier rushes home ecstatically, only to find his family believed him dead—his wife had met a new lover at a grief support group, and his children had already started calling him “Dad.”

Li Cheng was curious about the system update, but the Special Affairs Bureau staff wore grim expressions and swiftly packed away all custom gear.

Xing Hechou said, “Little Ant, we’re heading back to the Bureau. We’ll send the next batch of cultural relics in a few days. Stay in touch.”

“Leaving already? Won’t you stay for a meal? I made too much anyway.”

Li Cheng politely said, then casually pulled out from the fridge a tray of suspiciously cleaned pig intestines, a two-meter-long femur bone, and pork belly with skin still on.

The young agents of the Special Affairs Bureau internally screamed in horror: ‘Holy shit, bro, why does this pork belly have tattoos?!’

“Don’t worry, it’s just the meat of a cultivated pig demon.”

Li Cheng smiled faintly, rubbing his chin with slight confusion. “According to the customer who sold me this cut, that pig demon had cultivated for centuries, achieved enlightenment, and taken human form—immensely difficult.”

“But I can’t figure out why tests on the pork detected over a hundred muscle-enhancing veterinary drugs—clenbuterol, ephedrine, and others. Even a mosquito that drank a drop of this blood could instantly mutate into a Carboniferous giant mosquito.”

Why? Hard to guess.

The Special Affairs Bureau staff awkwardly forced smiles and filed out of the office, hastily slamming the door shut.

Shua.

Hearing the door close, Hui Yu removed her headphones, puzzled. “What was that? Did a thief break in?”

???

You didn’t see all those Special Affairs Bureau agents just now, did you? Did you use your entire brain to predict lottery results?

Li Cheng’s eye twitched; he flicked Hui Yu on the forehead with a crisp snap.

The first order from the Special Affairs Bureau had granted him a large sum of game currency, but now wasn’t the time to tally accounts. Li Cheng sat at his desk and quickly scrolled through the forum.

All players had heard the recent Killing Ground broadcast; each player’s inbox clearly displayed the notification email.

The last so-called version update occurred at the transition point between the first and second waves of pioneers, directly establishing the current landscape where major guilds dominate territories and stand in opposition to one another.

Now, with another version update, forum traffic surged, websites lagged, and repeated refreshes still showed the same old popular threads.

【100 Tips for Newbies #55: After killing someone, leave a bowl of Luosifen by the door to mask the stench of corpses】

【Formal report: Thousand Throats Beast Guild’s 4S store is hiding corruption—they forcibly evolved my Green Worm into a Sky Splitter】

【Clicks please, follow please! Personal Mission Log #23: A Series with Full-Time Hero and Reincarnation of a No-Role—Corruption Reincarnation: After Being Fired and Arrested, I Continue My Corruption Journey in Another World】Corruption Reincarnation seems wildly off the rails,

but players can opt into the incentive program, earning money from advertisers based on click counts—so these posts still had plenty of talking points.

Li Cheng held back from clicking, frantically pressing F5 until the page finally loaded.

As expected, new posts exploded into existence—all discussing the recent system notification.

“Version updated?! Will this raise the level cap?”

“Maybe raise the level cap, but that’s unlikely. There are fewer than twenty Earth players at Lv40 now—no need to raise the cap. My guess? This update will likely overhaul the shop system, reducing the spawn rate of meaningless items.”

The forum buzzed with speculation: some thought the system would expand player numbers, others predicted new potion types,

and someone even speculated the Killing Ground would abandon its simulation entirely, converting all billions of Earth humans into players—predicting skyrocketing prices for firearms and ammunition, and subtly urging everyone to bulk-buy from his arms shop.

Li Cheng skimmed the posts at lightning speed, sifting through the flood of information for fragments of clues.

Major guilds across the real world simultaneously summoned mid- and high-level personnel for online meetings—they clearly knew something in advance, based on past patterns.

The five permanent UN Security Council members had entered full military readiness: aircraft carriers sailed, fighter jets took off, and internet censorship spread widely.

Ordinary people on Earth went to work and school as usual, scrolling on their phones, unaware that just beyond their walls, the transcendent world was thick with oppressive tension.

Finally, after endless speculation and doubt, the system broadcast sounded again.

【In world ZXVCT10041, i.e., “Earth,” the number and quality of the Chosen have met requirements. The Killing Ground game is now advancing to Phase Three.】

【This update focuses on system performance optimization, interface interaction upgrades, and changes to mission distribution methods. Further details can be found in the player panel under “About the Killing Ground Game and Help.”】

【A large-scale event, “Lament of the Kings,” will be introduced soon. Stay tuned.】

【All content above is subject to final interpretation rights by the Killing Ground Game.】

Classic “final interpretation rights.”

Li Cheng sat in his office chair, lost in thought, chin propped on his hands, his glasses reflecting the glow of the ceiling lamp.

The fewer the words, the bigger the matter. This update notice, barely over a hundred characters, contained immense information.

First, the Killing Ground’s description of Earth—using the same designation ZXVCT10041 as players—indirectly confirmed the wheelchair scientist’s prophecy to Li Cheng: Earth was not special.

Second, the update details—dozens of minor and major changes—had actually been guessed correctly by many forum veterans.

For example: slightly shortening the daily refresh time for each player’s personal shop, reducing the spawn rate of damaged and common-quality items, increasing potion spawn rates,

slightly expanding the selection pool for the Chosen, balancing the selection frequency for those without native souls—the term “without native souls” was telling; bio-engineered humans produced en masse by Prometheus and other guilds via cloning technology could hardly be said to possess souls.

Li Cheng rapidly scanned the update details, his gaze suddenly locking onto the section labeled 【Mission Distribution Methods】.

【In Phase Three, opponents matched in Death Duel missions will no longer be restricted to the same crystal dimension. This update will be gradually applied to scripted missions, routine missions, and punishment missions.】

No longer restricted to the same crystal dimension—meaning future matches would frequently pair players with transcendent beings from other worlds, even non-human players?!