Chapter 564

Putting down the mouse, Li Cheng called out to Hui Yu and went to Lousjie.

Today, the dome's artificial weather system switched to overcast rain; fine strands of pure water drifted down, pattering against the colorful surfaces of umbrellas.

The street teemed with vehicles and pedestrians; dim golden lights glowed inside leisure bars, where a goblin pianist, wearing glasses and a bowtie, sat upright, playing elegant melodies for the full clientele.

Just beyond a single wall lay a bloody arena, where two players, their helmets plugged into the backs of their skulls, used their thoughts to control grotesque bio-engineered monsters, forcing them to fight to the death in a cramped space. Flying flesh and blood sparked wave after wave of roaring cheers from the surrounding gamblers.

"Kind sir, madam, have pity on me—I haven't eaten in three days..."

A short, purple-skinned subhuman, seated by the roadside, seemingly paralyzed and wrapped in tattered rags, with four eyes, whispered a feeble plea, shaking a metal bowl containing a few coins toward Hui Yu.

Before Hui Yu could react, two steel golem guards, each two and a half meters tall, blew a sharp whistle and stormed over, batons in hand.

The purple-skinned subhuman's face twisted in panic; it pushed itself up with both hands and fled on legs absurdly long for its squat frame.

It was clearly not a player, but one of the groups the Lousjie Neighborhood Committee now found deeply troublesome: illegal immigrants.

Players, on average, were billionaires; ten thousand game coins equaled over a hundred million in the real world—anywhere, they were high-net-worth individuals.

To earn money, primarily to recoup game coins, multinational conglomerates from Europe and America had, from the very founding of Lousjie, used living-space containers to bring in a large group of ordinary people, hiring them as basic workers: casino dealers, hotel and restaurant staff, financial accountants, lawyers, chauffeurs.

All had signed long-term contracts with the company, undergone professional training, and were theoretically meant to be uniformly managed and strictly controlled, like Korean laborers sent to the U. S.

But unable to resist watching players' glamorous lives, they came to believe transcendental power could alter fate, elevate them to the pinnacle of society, or found ways to evade corporate control—some secretly stayed in Lousjie, others seduced players for financial support, or, with grim resolve, formed small gangs, armed and driving off-road vehicles, venturing deep into the Killing Fields to scavenge trash in hopes of overnight riches.

This was the first source of illegal immigration; the second came from the bio-engineered lifeforms created by major guilds.

The service bio-androids launched by Prometheus in collaboration with GS Biotech—approved by the GOC Ethics Committee—had no gender, no pain, no fear, and a lifespan of only one year.

Due to their comprehensive basic functions and moderate price, many new players around Lv5 bought one as a personal assistant.

After downloading and installing paid update packages, they could serve as part-time butlers, fitness coaches, chefs, nutritionists, physiotherapists, and more.

Many players, before gaining qualifications, had been ordinary workers who'd never experienced such attentive, meticulous service. Some socially anxious loners developed strong emotional attachments to the bio-androids.

Prometheus seized the opportunity to launch a series of upgrade packages, installing more nuanced emotional modules, more lifelike eyeballs, skin, and internal organs, even full reproductive systems.

Pricing: Plus upgrade pack 500 game coins, Pro upgrade pack 700, ProMa upgrade pack 1500, Ultra upgrade pack starting at 3000—up to and including artificial souls granted by the Evil Science Alliance.

Besides bio-androids, there were the Evil Science Alliance's signature goblins.

These goblins were commonly modified into handsome men and beautiful women, employed in bars, nightclubs, and KTVs under the Evil Science Alliance.

Originally, this treatment of non-human beings as mere objects drew widespread criticism from forum do-gooders, cited as proof of the Evil Science Alliance's cruelty, comparable to the Laughing Troupe.

Yet survey results revealed the goblins were quite content with their current lives—if they were in another world, they'd be treated like stray dogs and kicked to death by heroes, but here, working in Evil Science Alliance KTVs, they could sneakily snack on customers' fruit platters, even earn wages and enjoy full medical insurance covering teeth and eyes.

Compared to bio-androids and goblins with little awakened free will and loose supervision, the more troublesome group were familiars.

Led by the Thousand-Throated Beast, many guilds actively bred and reproduced transcendental creatures: land birds, bipedal dragons, ailu cats, ogres, shape-shifters, and more.

When a player died unexpectedly, their familiar had nowhere to go; those familiars with subhuman stature and self-awareness would remain in Lousjie, becoming illegal immigrants without player qualifications.

Like the purple-skinned short subhuman just now.

Theoretically, the Lousjie Neighborhood Committee owed responsibility only to players; it could enforce curfews, destroy all unclaimed transcendental creatures, or round them up and dump them in some desolate corner of the Killing Fields for "humane release"—just as American middle-class parents told their children their sick pet was sent to a countryside farm to recover (when in truth, it was crushed into 2D by passing vehicles).

But on one hand, the committee didn't want to be too ruthless; on the other, there were cases where players vanished for weeks, declared dead, only to return alive after enduring great hardship, trapped in some obscure corner of the Killing Fields.

Those who could afford to rent an apartment in Lousjie and keep one or several familiars were undoubtedly mid- to high-tier players. Handling their familiars without consent was simply inappropriate.

Also, the strange creature Li Cheng once rescued from a Dark Biological Theme Park counted as a successful case of illegal immigration.

Fortunately, the Killing Fields were vast beyond measure; the high-intelligence Killing Field biological settlements lay far from Lousjie. Ordinary humans on Earth could not sneak into the Killing Fields without a player's escort, so the Lousjie Neighborhood Committee had no fear of waking up one day to find millions of illegal immigrants, families in tow, banging at the gates.

The fine rain continued; Li Cheng held his umbrella, his thoughts drifting.

Passersby recognized him and Hui Yu, dared not point or whisper loudly, only murmured quietly or secretly pulled out their phones—the forum's rumors spread fast; everyone knew the past 24 hours had seen global network fluctuations, a blackout in San Francisco, thousands of satellites destroyed, all seemingly tied to Master Pi Fu.

"Sigh, it's hard being a person, harder being a woman, hardest being a famous woman."

Pedestrians along the way recognized him and Grey Rain, but no one dared point or stare openly; they only whispered among themselves or quietly pulled out their phones—forum gossip spread fast, and everyone already knew that over the past twenty-four hours there had been network fluctuations worldwide, a major power outage in San Francisco, and the destruction of thousands of satellites, all suspected to involve Master Pi Fu once again.

Li Cheng frowned slightly; he was unused to being photographed and stared at. He immediately pulled out his phone, opened the music player, and played "The Circle of Life" from The Lion King.

This move left many passersby exchanging glances; one hesitated and whispered, "What's he doing?"

Another passerby, wearing a cucumber head cover, shrugged. "The Lion King is a Disney movie—any video with Disney's original soundtrack can't be uploaded to video sites, or the site will forcibly take it down, probably. But if you mute the video, you can bypass it..."

Before he finished speaking, Li Cheng casually pulled two homemade down jackets from thin air, each adorned with Mickey and Minnie ears, covered entirely in labels from "Visual China"—prompting everyone nearby with knowledge of the situation to feel a sharp, cringing pain in their gut—

Brother, now that you're wearing that outfit, you really can't upload the footage to any site.

The two oddballs walked toward Zhu Xing Zhen Tai, and before reaching the entrance, they saw a blue-and-white armored vehicle, dual-axle four-wheel drive, emblazoned with the GOC logo, slowly come to a halt.

By player standards, this armored vehicle, made of special steel, with windows thick enough to withstand rocket-propelled grenades and armor-piercing rounds, was unquestionably a top-tier luxury car.

Thud—the door opened, and eight handsome men and beautiful women in suits stepped out (the armored vehicle clearly had built-in space-folding tech), each wearing white silk gloves, polished leather shoes, expressions solemn. Zhao Zijing walked at the front, cradling an antique rosewood box.

The two extraordinary figures walked toward Zhu Xing Zhen Tai under the watching eyes, and before they even reached the entrance, they spotted a vehicle painted in blue and white,

Hui Yu stared, dumbfounded; had Li Cheng not stood beside her, she'd have thought he'd sacrificed himself heroically against the Phase Demon, and GOC had sent a representative with his ashes.

By a gamer's standards, an armored vehicle like this—built from specialty steel plates, with enormously thick window glass, capable of withstanding rocket and armor-piercing rounds—was unquestionably a top-tier luxury ride.

Li Cheng's eye twitched—JD. com had more than just self-pickup and JD Express; it also offered Jing Zun Da, a service where, for a 49-coin fee, a courier in a suit and gloves, driving an electric luxury car, would deliver a solemn, elegant black box to your door.

"Master Pi Fu, thank you for your tremendous support of our Global Occult Coalition's work..."

Zhao Zijing's tone was grave; since the forum already knew Master Pi Fu was behind the global network disturbance, they might as well make it public, showcasing it as a model of cooperation between GOC and civilian forces, saving netizens from wild speculation.

Flowery speeches followed one after another, effectively calling it quits.

Since the Global Occult Coalition had generously gifted an epic item, Li Cheng couldn't fall short—he took a deep breath and said, "Shoulders bear the Dao, swords cut down evil. GOC has always stood on the front line against threats to human civilization; it is because of your courage in forging ahead, carving out new paths, that we civilian players can safely chase winds and waves, racing toward the horizon..."

"Mr. Pi Fu, thank you for your tremendous support of our Global Paranormal Alliance's work..."

Zhao Zijing's tone was grave; in any case, the forums already knew Master Pi Fu's shadow lurked behind this global network fluctuation incident, so she might as well make the situation public and present it as a fine example of cooperation between the Global Paranormal Alliance and civilian forces, sparing netizens from wild speculation.

Zhao Zijing struggled to keep his expression composed, and solemnly handed the box to Li Cheng, deliberately slowing his movements so his colleagues could film it for promotional material.

The Global Occult Coalition had even gifted an epic prop out of friendship, so Li Cheng naturally couldn't fall short. He drew a deep breath, considered for a moment, and said: "Iron shoulders bear the burden of righteousness, a sharp blade cuts down the wicked. The GOC has always stood on the front line against threats to human civilization — it is precisely because you have blazed trails and carved out new paths ahead that we civilian players can pursue the wind and waves with peace of mind, racing toward the distant horizon..."

??

Are you trying to take the graduate school entrance exams, kid?

Zhao Zijing struggled to keep a straight face, then solemnly handed the box to Li Cheng, deliberately slowing her movements so her colleagues could film the scene for promotional material.

In this respect, GOC still has some integrity—the promotional material is basically all genuine stuff, so you won't get any absurdly abstract copy like "Seven-year-old Maomao: I Thought I'd Never Eat Xibei Again," which makes one wonder what on earth they put in their kids' meals to give the children withdrawal symptoms.

Once the box delivery was complete, Zhao Zijing lowered her voice and said to Li Cheng, "The Special Affairs Bureau also thanks you for your support."

"Don't mention it—we're all brothers here."

Li Cheng waved his hand and struck a grateful pose to match.

Sigh, back then Zhao Zijing had just met Master Pi Fu in an 【Electricity Retrospection】 mission, and the latter's level was still lower than hers; now, although the level gap between them isn't large, their actual strength has already diverged by an order of magnitude.

Zhao Zijing felt a touch of emotion in her heart. Before the GOC crowd had finished taking photos, she heard an intense shout from inside the Zhu Xing Zhen Tai shop: "Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

A blond-haired, blue-eyed, handsome-faced Transcendent with a pair of wings on his back stood before the Zhu Xing Zhen Tai vending machine, his features savage, his eyes bloodshot, as if he had suffered a tremendous insult.

Li Cheng paused his steps, used his Bluetooth receiver to pull up the shop's surveillance footage, and understood what was going on.

This player, named 【Heistein】, Level 20, belonged to the European Heavy Industries Guild, and possessed a mutant superpower identical to 【Angel】 from the X-Men—

that is, flying with the wings on his back, firing steel-feather throwing knives, and curing diseases with his blood.

Heistein had just gone with his guildmates to a script world with a medieval multi-species fantasy setting, and through his own strength, the religious propaganda brought by his blood's ability to cure basic diseases, and deft political maneuvering, had successfully ended decades of continuous warfare among the various duchies (though the total area was really only the size of the British Isles), and was revered as an angel descended to earth.

Heistein knew that Zhu Xing Zhen Tai offered an item-forging service—as long as artifacts imbued with historical significance were provided, perfect-quality props and skill scrolls could be mass-produced.

So he went all out, deliberately stalling on completing the mission objective, and instead seized the time to personally "sleep into submission" the queens, princesses, and empresses of every fantasy-creature kingdom on the island.

Under the pretext of "God loves the world," he had the rulers of those kingdoms (including lizardfolk, yaksha, ghouls,

harpies, and mole-people) all bear offspring carrying his bloodline, to demonstrate that the bloodline of God was spread across the world and to put an end to earthly wars.

The whole process was absolutely no pleasure, and even required tremendous courage—he had to down dozens of bottles of hard liquor just to face a lizardfolk princess weighing two or three hundred kilograms.

After completing the "sleeping into submission," Heistein returned to Skid Row, and in a rather tragic-heroic manner, removed his own vas deferens and testicles, soaked them in formalin, and brought them to Zhu Xing Zhen Tai.

These two eggs were no ordinary eggs—they were eggs that had made outstanding contributions to the great peace of the medieval fantasy world; one was the Egg of Benevolence, and the other was the Egg of Righteousness.

By Zhu Xing Zhen Tai's standards for accepting artifacts, they absolutely should have been able to forge perfect, or even higher, quality items.

"On what grounds are you saying these two eggs have no value?"

Heistein's expression was nearly contorted. With a bang, he slammed his action camera heavily onto the counter. "There's video inside—do you want me to play it?"

The onlookers instinctively stepped back half a pace; apart from the Indian-descent players whose expressions were excited and who were secretly clenching their fists and nodding, everyone else's pupils were trembling violently.

Although a player's first law of survival is to be ruthless to enemies and even more ruthless to oneself, this Heistein was truly a wolf among wolves.

The watching crowd couldn't help whispering among themselves, quite puzzled as to why Zhu Xing Zhen Tai wouldn't accept the formalin glass jar—they'd even dared to take in some unnamed corpse from a basement in Berlin.

"Sir, please calm down. This shop has always dealt fairly with young and old alike, with equity and integrity."

The AI program in the vending machine said calmly, "There is only one reason for refusal: the contents of this formalin glass jar do not contain any significant historical value."