[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-player-reboot":3,"chapter-player-reboot-player-reboot-chapter-563":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Player Reboot",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2272528,4438,"Chapter 563: Assimilation","player-reboot-chapter-563",563,"\u003Cp>Bai Ze’s tone was serious and sincere, not joking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dense, noisy hum of voices in the background of the headset confirmed this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter how much doubt remained, they had to win first. Li Cheng stared at the alien mothership continuously spewing black smoke and said into the headset: “How do we fight this thing? Any suggestions?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“According to existing intelligence, the [Phase Demon] can freely alter its composition and form—solid, liquid, plasma, even electricity, data, and memetic concepts.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai Ze spoke rapidly, “Thus, it possesses extreme resistance to nearly all forms of physical and energy attacks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To inflict effective damage, you must use ultra-high-spec attacks to first destroy its form, then strike during the brief interval when it shifts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or employ high-mystery-level conceptual strikes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mentioning conceptual strikes naturally brought to mind the Farmhand, undefeated since his debut, wielding a revolver in his left hand and a whip in his right—even divine abominations would be whipped raw.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the Farmhand only attacks souls, causing no actual physical damage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng’s mind raced as the black column had already pierced the energy barrier and touched the high-rises along the Huangpu River.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Central Tower, Shanghai World Financial Center, Jin Mao Tower, Oriental Pearl Tower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wherever the black smoke passed, building glass shattered explosively; NPCs who accidentally inhaled even trace amounts of the mist staggered and collapsed, convulsing for seconds on the spot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When they rose again, their eyes were crisscrossed with black veins, tendons bulging around their eye sockets, and they lunged at nearby uninfected humans at sprinter speed, tackling them and spewing black smoke mouth-to-mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The scene resembled a zombie apocalypse, but far stranger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The infected and assimilated NPCs retained partial intelligence, coordinating to corner untransformed NPCs, forcibly prying open jaws to inject black smoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What the hell are you all doing?! Gulp gulp gulp.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng’s eyelid twitched again. Just this ability to corrupt and transform was beyond the capability of any ordinary Level 33 human player on Earth. He immediately asked: “Which player’s main universe does this [Phase Demon] come from?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Unknown. Earth’s players have never encountered it before.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other end of the line, Bai Ze said: “Mr. Pi Fu, you encountered the otherworldly players led by Mian Yue during your previous Tremor mission, right?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That world, like Earth, hosts over two hundred thousand transcendentals and its ‘version’ is slightly higher than Earth’s. They’ve had more contact with otherworldly players.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Information on the [Phase Demon] came from that world’s Order faction—they once repelled the [Phase Demon]’s invasion.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In other words, the Special Affairs Bureau only had secondhand intelligence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng clenched his lips, thought once, and every Imperial Guard tank hovering above the energy barrier rotated their spiked turrets, firing high-explosive shells at the mothership.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>BOOM!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Multiple sections of the mothership’s hull exploded; hundreds or thousands of tons of its outer shell collapsed like a landslide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the black gas seemed endless, swiftly filling the gaps, adhering to the hull and core components, preventing the mothership from breaking apart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Does this thing even have a physical body?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng closed the distance, aimed at the smoke, and pulled the trigger of the Ape Regression Gun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The regression bullet struck the highly corruptive black smoke, instantly converting a warehouse-sized volume into toxic fumes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, compared to the mothership’s total mass, it was negligible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He kept pulling the trigger; the regression affected only this “small clump” of gas—turning toxic fumes into sulfur dioxide and coal smoke,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>then into traditional cigarette secondhand smoke, then into e-cigarette secondhand smoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the real world, the smartphone camera lens followed Pi Fu’s viewpoint, switching constantly between wide, medium, and close shots; everyone watched clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One of the Neptune Task Force operatives whispered: “If I remember right, that gun’s effect is regression—going from traditional cigarette smoke to e-cigarette smoke proves it favors the traditionalist camp.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Colleagues in the vehicle turned silently toward him. The Neptune operative himself realized—he wasn’t on a normal duty call.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The officers back at headquarters were watching the live stream.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not at all.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This topic touched Gray Rain’s specialty. She explained seriously: “Look closely—it’s traditional cigarette secondhand smoke regressing to e-cigarette secondhand smoke. This proves that, in the Regression Gun’s framework, e-cigarette smoke is less harmful. So it’s actually a reformist supporter of e-cigarettes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oh, so that’s how it is. Jing A, you’re a real piece of work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The situation is critical—can you take this seriously?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, the streets were filled with infected and assimilated NPC pedestrians, surging toward Gray Rain in a dense wave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rare chance to beat up kids—Gray Rain perked up, channeling the might of mountains and the spirit of giants, swinging her Skull-Shattering Power Hammer in a wide arc.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each swing sent dozens of zombies flying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the black smoke and zombies were endless, while the players’ stamina and spiritual energy drained continuously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Phase Demon wasn't primarily targeting Li Cheng or Gray Rain—it was channeling all its power into corrupting everything in the movie world, turning this place into its domain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As its corruption spread, even supporting characters in the film weren’t spared; the already unstable energy barrier collapsed faster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shhh—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng landed on the ground after recalling all Imperial Guard tanks. Gray Rain swept away a wave of zombies with one hammer blow and asked quickly: “What now? Use that item?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their minds were in sync—the item referred to was Li Cheng’s most mysterious offensive artifact: the [Eight Trigrams Alchemical Cannon].\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they dared to insert a perfect—or even higher-quality—item into it and forge it into a shell…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even the original Frog God might not survive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not yet.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng shook his head. The [Phase Demon]’s form was even stranger than the Formless Wombing Abomination he’d faced before—the Eight Trigrams Cannon might not kill it outright.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If so—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He dove into the riverbed nearby, slammed his [Compassionate Soul-Infusing Melody] gloves onto the giant cannon submerged in the water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Creak creak creak—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to the film’s promotional material, this cannon was humanity’s self-developed ultimate offensive weapon, symbolizing Chinese characteristics and technological independence, with special emphasis on AI integration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Never mind how advanced it was—it was big enough. Under the [Compassionate Soul-Infusing] effect, the riverbed cannon rose on its own, slowly emerging from the water, rotating its barrel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>High above, the mothership seemed to sense Li Cheng’s intent—it accelerated, slamming into the energy barrier, its underside charging a high-energy beam.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Countless predator robots and corrupted NPCs rushed forward like madmen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the critical moment, Li Cheng swiped an NFC card lightly across the surface of the Heat Death Corridor, summoning the Frog God.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Frog God, as massive as a roll-on\u002Froll-off ship, slammed its palms onto the river surface; tens of thousands of tons of water surged upward, levitating above the cannon in a structure resembling the Eiffel Tower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mothership’s high-energy beam struck the tens of thousands of tons of water—most heat dissipated as steam, while the remainder was deflected, scattered, and exhausted through repeated refraction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the diving robots and corrupted NPCs, they weren’t even foot soldiers before the Frog God—they were crushed under sevenfold gravity, embedded into the concrete pavement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And this bought the riverbed cannon enough time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hss!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The barrel fired a blinding white beam; the few remaining glass walls of the riverside high-rises reflected the dazzling light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The beam wasn’t aimed at the mothership—that would be meaningless, merely destroying a temporary host controlled by the Phase Demon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng aimed at the spatial rift he’d accidentally created with his light-speed elbow strike.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>BOOM!!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The spatial rift was violently torn open; the previous Category 8 hurricane instantly became a Mars- or Jupiter-level superstorm, accompanied by spatial distortion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Skyscrapers collapsed, bricks and stones floated, river water reversed flow—all matter in the city, including the mothership and Li Cheng and Gray Rain, were sucked into the rift.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the subway car, the Neptune operative cried out: “Traffic spike detected on the phone! Data packets can’t be intercepted!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then trace their destination! Hurry!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Jie jolted, manipulated the instruments, and saw the massive data packet—dozens of gigabytes—jumping at 0.1-second intervals across China Telecom and China Unicom’s backbone networks, shuttling endlessly between nodes, then suddenly stopping.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the Yingshi Special Affairs Bureau command center, a senior official beside Xing Hechou asked anxiously: “Where did the data packet stop?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Jie read the IP address, scratched his head, “Panzhihua, Sichuan Province. Some internet cafe.”\u003C\u002Fp>",1403,"2026-06-19T22:31:26.010Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","b125b2be09afbb2e95e2e9859eb77395b5069414ed8c33cb99ee06ab00bae8fc","player-reboot-chapter-564","player-reboot-chapter-562",612,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fplayer-reboot-cover.jpg"]