[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-player-reboot":3,"chapter-player-reboot-player-reboot-chapter-566":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},2272531,4438,"Chapter 566: Veteran (4K)","player-reboot-chapter-566",566,"\u003Cp>A member of the Mobile Task Force in a black suit pulled out a thick, long pen from his coat, removed the cap, revealing a hidden micro-light inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pressed the button; the bulb instantly blazed with a deep blue light, illuminating the entire internet cafe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Customers caught in the light—including the network administrator and netizens sleeping on the sofa—all removed their headphones with dazed expressions, stood up, and gathered around the Mobile Task Force agent to listen to him speak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Now, you suddenly remember something important—like leaving the gas on at home, forgetting to finish homework, or neglecting to water your houseplants.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This strobe light is standard issue for the Mobile Task Force, similar to the memory eraser from the movie *Men in Black*, combining memory deletion with false memory implantation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Paired with a timed detonation device, it can mask most anomalies as natural gas explosions or biogas pond blasts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The internet cafe was now empty; Fu Ding Hualong gestured, and the remaining agents immediately took control of the computers, putting on headphones. He himself sat in Jia Wei’s seat—the screen sharing with the streamer had been cut, and the streaming platform had tagged the streamer’s video as AI-generated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, AI programs for online public opinion monitoring had been deployed to patrol various platforms; if they detected related images or text, they would perform cold deletion—meaning only the original poster could see the content, while everyone else on the network could not.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hey, Pi Fu, this is Fu Ding Hualong.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, Brother Long, where’ve you been making money lately?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’d better just call me Xiao Fu.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fu Ding Hualong’s eye twitched—thankfully this guy hadn’t joined the Mobile Task Force, or working alongside him would’ve caused severe neurasthenia.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, in the game screen, the Imperial Guard tank continued its bombardment; the phase demon shaped like an old woman was suspended in midair by a gravity field, repeatedly destroyed and reborn, reborn and destroyed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the black smoke continuously spewing from its body accumulated, coalescing into a black sphere that subtly weakened the explosive power of the shells.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So what the hell is this thing?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng rubbed his chin. The rolling black smoke never ceased, struggling and writhing, trying to break through the gravity field and touch the game’s environmental structures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It exists between a conceptual entity and an energy-based being. It likely has no self-awareness—merely follows preprogrammed behaviors.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since everyone present was trusted, Fu Ding Hualong spoke frankly, having just received detailed intelligence from his superiors:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The phase demon’s ability is to erode and assimilate any matter, along with the consciousness, thoughts, personality, and soul attached to it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to our strategists’ simulations, if a Level 10 phase demon landed on a modern Earth devoid of supernatural power, it would first possess a living human, then contaminate the water supply of a local settlement to assimilate an entire village or town.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then it would control all residents, using vehicles to spread toward surrounding cities, using key figures like mayors or governors as stepping stones to seize secular power, manipulate public opinion to create an illusion of peace, and finally, via ferries and airplanes, expand globally.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire process would take roughly three to four months.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A Level 20 phase demon could assimilate a modern planet without supernatural power in as little as one month.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such a being could not possibly evolve naturally—unless…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Artificially created.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng, himself an expert in weapons of mass destruction, instantly understood: “It would take at least a Level 40 top-tier transcendent to engineer something this advanced.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The phase demon is man-made?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hui Yu blinked in confusion. “That doesn’t make sense—what’s the point of making such a thing? It only threatens low- and mid-tier players; any strong transcendent could just crush it outright.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And how did it even survive to Level 33? A scripted mission alone should’ve killed it if it had no self-awareness.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng shook his head. “The question of its purpose and the question of its longevity are fundamentally the same.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The creator or faction behind the phase demon never intended to make it strong—on the contrary, their plan was likely this:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First, a Level 10 transcendent carries the phase demon’s source material into a Death Duel mission to fight a player of equal level from another world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If lucky, the Level 10 defeats and knocks out the opponent without killing them, then implants the source material into the opponent’s body. Afterwards, the team uses an emergency escape item to forcibly withdraw from the match.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the Death Duel ends and the opponent wasn’t killed by the phase demon, the opponent returns to their world carrying the source material, triggering the infection process.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If unlucky, the phase demon is quickly detected and purged by a strong transcendent in that world—the loss is merely one emergency escape item.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If lucky, the world is in its early stage and utterly incapable of suppressing the phase demon’s spread, allowing it to wipe out all transcendent beings on an entire planet.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng’s tone carried no small measure of admiration. Fu Ding Hualong’s eyelids twitched violently—he knew this theory had been deduced and debated by dozens of experts at the General Bureau. Yet Pi Fu had guessed it nearly perfectly in mere moments, based on just a few hints.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If this were an anime, he’d be shouting, “This kid is terrifying—his future is boundless!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“As for its survival, there’s no need to worry.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng paused. The mighty Level 33 phase demon seemed utterly powerless against the anti-gravity field, passively enduring bombardment. “If I’m not mistaken, the phase demon is like the philosophical ‘Chinese Room’ thought experiment—it has no self-awareness, but can simulate the intelligence level required to solve problems based on environmental changes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When a puzzle arises, it solves puzzles. When combat arises, it fights.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as now, since I haven’t deployed higher-tier methods, it continues resisting pressure, releasing black smoke, pushing toward the Frog God’s ability limit.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he spoke, the black smoke surrounding the phase demon had expanded to over a hundred meters in diameter, extending sharp tendrils in every direction, attempting to touch the game’s environmental materials.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, the gravity field maintained by the Frog God grew increasingly unstable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“All this makes the phase demon a near-perfect invasion weapon—one entity capable of infecting an entire planet, assimilating all its population and low-tier transcendent beings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It can even drive these transcendent beings to keep leveling up, spreading the ‘plague’ further through Death Duel missions against players from other worlds.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng mused: “The entire process resembles…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It resembles Dr. Noah’s original method.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the communication channel, Baize from the Special Affairs Bureau’s General Headquarters spoke gravely: “Dr. Noah managed to ‘smuggle’ himself to Earth because he previously used the player from the Whale Song Guild, followed by countless ordinary people and transcendent beings, as anchors to continuously strengthen his connection to Earth,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eventually using a space-jump device to descend upon our world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If a mere mortal like Noah could cross worlds, the faction behind the phase demon might well have done the same.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They likely used the phase demon as a pioneer and lockpick to open doors to other worlds teeming with player slots.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Baize’s tone was calm, but the faces of the Mobile Task Force agents in the internet cafe tightened in response.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A Level 34 transcendent being—merely an artificially created, insignificant lockpick.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Worse, we don’t even know where the phase demon originated—between killing fields, time has no meaning; this phase demon could be the creation of an interdimensional player from thousands or tens of thousands of years ago, from a previous or pre-previous generation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If our killing field’s game version far surpasses Earth’s, we might soon face entire armies of Level 30, 40, or even 50 phase demons…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If we don’t want to one day abandon Earth entirely and flee humanity into the killing field as exiles, we must intercept and kill it here and now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng nodded: “I’ll do my best to hold the phase demon, but I can’t guarantee it won’t self-destruct and escape.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the previous *Shanghai Fortress* scenario, he’d triggered a teleport by smashing the scene with a light-speed elbow strike. There was no guarantee the enemy wouldn’t copy the tactic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s enough,”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fu Ding Hualong said grimly. “The special nature of the killing field mission prevents external control of this computer—it’s effectively write-protected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But since all computers in this cafe are networked, data from other machines can be shared. Everyone—AMD reverse plug-in!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At his command, the Mobile Task Force agents seated at the computers each pulled out their issued DMA plugins and inserted them into the computer slots.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>DMA devices can forcibly read memory; combined with cables infused with transcendent power, all computers in the cafe now formed a localized network.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Host 001 status normal—data transmission in progress. 3, 2, 1.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the corner, an agent raised his hand. “Joined the battle!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instantly, a faint light appeared above the aerospace city; a sharp-edged figure composed of colored blocks descended from the sky—it was Steve, the protagonist of the video game *Minecraft*.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To ensure smooth data intrusion, the Special Affairs Bureau didn’t alter the state of any computers—whatever game was running was used as-is for resources.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, the Sichuan Special Affairs Bureau had many young staff who played games, so matching machines were easily found.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The blocky Steve plummeted rapidly; before the Frog God could spare attention to lift him, Steve himself pulled a bucket of water from his rear end in 0.1 seconds and poured it downward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The shallow layer of water provided immense buoyancy, perfectly supporting Steve without a single scratch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Water landing, kid.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young agent seated at Host 001’s computer beamed, controlling his character to nod distantly at Li Cheng, then swung his cubic arms to chop trees and gather blocks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Host 002 has joined the battle.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second computer ran *War Thunder*. As a sonic boom echoed across the sky, an SU-39 fighter jet streaked in and fired a wind-powered anti-tank missile—codenamed *Giant Vortex*—at the black smoke mass from afar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>BOOM!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Flames erupted skyward; the SU-39 pilot gave Li Cheng a thumbs-up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Host 003 has joined the battle. Those who invade the Great Wu territory shall be crushed without mercy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the shadows stepped a tall general clad in a green cloak, smiling brightly, wielding a long blade, and unleashing a long-range slash toward the phase demon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Host 004 has joined the battle. Double energy, echo form, cognitive deviation, electrodynamics…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind the general, a seemingly outdated robot trudged forward, its head bristling with lightning orbs, firing bolts of electricity at the phase demon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hui Yu couldn’t help but whistle. “Even a broken robot? You guys really have talent here—come to the internet cafe to play single-player games?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is nothing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng rubbed his temples, gripping Hui Yu’s head, and looked toward the corner—where a blocky, mullet-haired chibi character was dancing to Korean pop music, accompanied by ↑↓←→ symbols.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>*Audition*, from 2005, was older than Li Cheng himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But wait—this game has no combat effects at all! Are you guys just here for atmosphere?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under Li Cheng’s exasperated gaze, one game character after another descended from the sky:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gold Miner, Ogre General, Tachi Hero, girl band, horse girl, Harlan Superman, V-Tian.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m not sure if this is a gathering of heroes or a meeting of vegetables.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hui Yu hesitated. “These characters aren’t strong—few can actually fight. Don’t you have any computers running strategy games like *Red Alert* or *StarCraft*?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We do—but we can’t bring them in.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fu Ding Hualong sighed helplessly. A single Yamato battleship from *StarCraft* was larger than the entire aerospace city map; transmitting its data would instantly overload and collapse the map.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Good news: the pile of game characters were all using their unique abilities to overwhelm the phase demon, leaving it no chance to retaliate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bad news: the black smoke continued accumulating, its diameter now reaching two hundred meters, nearing the edge of the game map.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bombs, blade slashes, laser-guided bombs, thunderstorms—all methods could only slow the black mass’s expansion, not stop it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fu Ding Hualong and his team were preparing to press on, but Baize, watching via remote video, clenched his teeth. “Everyone—prepare to withdraw.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without higher-tier forces available, we cannot trap the phase demon—only execute the backup plan: destroy the map and trigger another teleport.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We hope to exploit the phase demon’s “stronger when faced with strength, weaker when faced with weakness” trait, randomly sending it to a scenario where it cannot unleash its power, then strike decisively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Understood.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fu Ding Hualong’s heart burned with resentment, but he obeyed the order, preparing to withdraw.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I can’t log out of my game character?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Me too!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the internet cafe, Mobile Task Force agents startled violently as the top of the black smoke mass had already begun to exceed the map’s boundaries, its thin tendrils spreading like a lid over the Space City.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Being unable to log out of their game characters meant the Phase Demon could erode and assimilate them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The malfunctioning robot from “Kill It with Fire” was the first to fall; thick smoke poured from the gaps in its mechanical joints, and correspondingly, the same computer in the real-world internet cafe plunged into a blue screen of death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The frozen death screen, like Sadako crawling out of the television, bloomed with black lines.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Mobile Task Force agent seated before the computer acted instantly—not teleporting to the battlefield to save himself, but reaching out to shove the entire computer into his backpack slot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He then drew the serpent’s bizarre pistol and pulled the trigger against his own throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Medusa’s Gun] temporarily petrifies the target, freezing all buffs and debuffs on its body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The agent dared not gamble whether he had touched the Phase Demon during that brief contact—he chose to petrify himself, freezing any potential corruption.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Steve was only the beginning; one by one, every computer in the internet cafe crashed, and in the digital world, the Phase Demon, being neither alive nor dead nor mortal, held a natural advantage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng took a deep breath and exhaled a dragon’s breath, incinerating a group of frozen game characters—but even so, he could not halt the Phase Demon’s slow, insidious erosion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire Space City was silent except for the whispering hiss of spreading black smoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Until\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dum, dum-dum-dum, dum, dum-dum-dum—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A stirring melody blared as a mysterious man, wearing a crude helmet and mask, clad in camouflage, descended from the sky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His graphics were abysmal, nowhere near the quality of modern game characters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The smiley face badge on his chest looked childish and absurd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet his aura caused the Phase Demon to freeze mid-motion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gray Rain hesitated: “That’s…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The highest mountain and longest river in the global hacking community.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng said grimly: “Three hundred million mouse-clicking war dreams—the smiling veteran from CrossFire.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before he finished speaking, hundreds of thousands of enlarged guns rose behind the veteran, restoring him to the realm of terrestrial immortals.\u003C\u002Fp>",2504,"2026-06-19T22:31:26.010Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","6dc363108f0916e468c6b4176ac4a36aff246734daf4f8c0bc830ccbaa42afc3","player-reboot-chapter-567","player-reboot-chapter-565",612,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fplayer-reboot-cover.jpg"]