[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-player-reboot":3,"chapter-player-reboot-player-reboot-chapter-578":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},2272543,4438,"Chapter 578: Angel (4K)","player-reboot-chapter-578",578,"\u003Cp>The Shape-Shifting Demon absorbed Buddy’s player essence, gaining advantages. On one hand, it acquired a physical form, enabling it to interfere with the real world more efficiently. On the other, it transformed from its original massive, featureless potato shape into a short, humanoid form.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A humanoid form means its movements must obey physical laws; every punch and kick becomes predictable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For instance, now facing the ant—half a head shorter than itself—the Shape-Shifting Demon opened its left hand, condensing an energy cannon in its palm, while its right hand morphed into a blade and slashed downward at an angle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The 【Barrage Spectacle】 skill has no cooldown; the two attacks were instantly replicated dozens of times.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the left, a dense cluster of bright spots, each as luminous as a 200,000-lumen flashlight, far exceeding the blinding glare of a computer screen during a CS2 flashbang in a college dormitory’s bottom bunk at midnight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the right, an impenetrable wall of palm-blade afterimages, coated with black smoke particles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At such close range, there was nowhere to dodge. Li Cheng swung his fist and struck—the quantum-superposed afterimages of the Shape-Shifting Demon’s arm instantly collapsed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fist met fist. Li Cheng’s radius and ulna cracked audibly; the shattered armor on his forearm spontaneously popped off, shedding the clinging black smoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Shape-Shifting Demon’s right arm bent backward, all bones shattered, held together only by a thin layer of skin and flesh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Worse still, this punch carried a condensed qi implosion. As the qi detonated, the Shape-Shifting Demon’s torso involuntarily twisted sideways.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the last instant, it activated the rotational joint of the waist prosthetic on Buddy’s body, spinning 90 degrees instantly, redirecting the still-charging energy cannon in its left palm—and its copies—toward the ant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zing—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind Li Cheng, the scorpion tail whipped forward, its sharp blade slicing upward through the Shape-Shifting Demon’s shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In zero-gravity, the Shape-Shifting Demon’s right hand, propelled by inertia, spun outward and fired the energy cannon—barely missing Li Cheng, hurtling toward Earth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dozens of plasma beams cut uniformly through the atmosphere, vanishing into the dark side of the terminator, like a meteor shower descending from the heavens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Shape-Shifting Demon showed no expression; black smoke erupted from its wound edges, and all injuries healed rapidly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was not afraid of a war of attrition. The ant’s regenerative ability, derived from the Insect Lord’s divine corruption gene, was strong—but cell regeneration consumed energy. It could not possibly match the Shape-Shifting Demon, an advanced artificial weapon from another world, inherently self-sustaining.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What it cared about was time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Humanity’s nuclear strike capability—including underground silos, ground mobile units, nuclear submarines—ignoring deployment and system testing, could launch ICBMs directly: from rocket ignition, acceleration, atmospheric transit, to reaching a 400-kilometer low Earth orbit, roughly three to five minutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If a transcendent above Level 35 acted, the time could be compressed further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Shape-Shifting Demon now had a tangible form, vulnerable to external attacks. The ant could afford to drag this out; it could not.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without hesitation, the Shape-Shifting Demon raised both palms, touching the tips of its pinky to index finger, thumbs pointing down, forming a triangular outline.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through the triangular frame, it locked onto Li Cheng and roared, “Hah!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Intense light instantly engulfed Li Cheng. The beam itself wasn’t devastating, but the kinetic energy within flung him over ten kilometers away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This technique was called 【New Qi Cannon】, originating from a self-created skill of the three-eyed martial artist Tien Shinhan in the Dragon Ball manga, converting all destructive power into control effects, locking and suppressing targets far stronger than itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its only flaw was that repeated use drained its own life force and shortened its expected lifespan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For players, this wasn’t a flaw at all. Across any main universe, the average lifespan of the player population didn’t exceed two and a half years—less than bodybuilders or trans women.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To gain immediate combat power, generations of players took perverse paths: swallowing pills, injecting bio-viruses, wearing gargoyle masks, sacrificing their own kidneys to dark deities, implanting vengeful spirits and demons into their bodies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Expected lifespan? What’s that? Can you eat it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hah! Hah! Hah!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Shape-Shifting Demon unleashed continuous Qi Cannons, relentlessly pushing Li Cheng back. This time, it didn’t need the 【Barrage Spectacle】 skill to replicate attacks—so long as the target remained within the triangular frame, the Qi Cannon arrived instantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The distance between them widened again. Simultaneously, the Shape-Shifting Demon’s lower body rapidly melted, coalescing into a net-like structure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something strange was afoot. No time to wait for support. Li Cheng snapped his fingers and activated his familiar’s teleportation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A certain unnamed Obama had already turned into countless ice shards, scattered across low Earth orbit—no longer a viable target for familiar teleportation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Li Cheng chose the Shadow Peregrine, long since released and hidden in the edge fighter’s cockpit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thirty-kilometer teleportation drained most of Li Cheng’s hard-won spiritual energy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Shape-Shifting Demon lost its target, snapped its head up, and saw the edge fighter diving toward it. It hastily raised its arm and roared, “Hah!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fighter was slammed backward by the Qi Cannon, but Li Cheng had already jumped from the cockpit. Twin mantis-arm bone blades, fueled by the fighter’s dive momentum, slashed straight into the Shape-Shifting Demon’s thoracic and abdominal cavity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dragon’s Breath · Black Dragon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A colossal dragon silhouette appeared above Li Cheng’s head, spewing a stream of corrosive acid comparable to a high-pressure water jet, flooding entirely into the abdominal cavity torn open by the mantis-arm blades.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Filled from within by the Black Dragon’s acid, even the Shape-Shifting Demon’s regenerative ability could not heal such damage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Black smoke dispersed and reformed, dispersed again, unable to maintain Buddy’s form, regressing to its original potato shape.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Higher up, the edge fighter had regained stability and opened fire with its underbelly-mounted cannon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Li Cheng’s peripheral vision caught something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A satellite, hurtling at 7.5 kilometers per second from the ten o’clock direction. Its surface coating bore no mark of the Realm Earth Project—but...Starlink.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng’s pupils contracted sharply. He saw the Shape-Shifting Demon fully extend its net-like lower body, precisely catching the Starlink satellite like a space station docking, then vanishing with it into the distance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The battle between Li Cheng and the Shape-Shifting Demon had occurred in low Earth equatorial orbit, rotating with Earth, maintaining relative spatial stability.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this Starlink satellite approached from a tilted orbit at ten o’clock. As the Shape-Shifting Demon rode it away, it abruptly pulled dozens of kilometers from Li Cheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Shape-Shifting Demon had planned this opportunity for so long. It cut off its own limb, completely abandoning the portion contaminated by acid, melting its remaining body entirely and seeping into the satellite’s interior.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Realm Earth Project’s satellites were co-developed by GOC and the Whale Song Guild, already equipped with anti-transcendent-force shielding. Starlink had none.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Shape-Shifting Demon’s infiltration and assimilation proceeded unimpeded, connecting to the satellite’s internal cable panels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, an invisible force radiated from this satellite at light speed, spreading across low Earth orbit (LEO), and continued unabated, reaching medium Earth orbit (MEO) over 2,000 kilometers above ground, and geostationary orbit (GEO) over 35,000 kilometers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A total of ten thousand Starlink satellites simultaneously began ejecting their stored propellant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In low Earth orbit between 200 and 2,000 kilometers, trace atmospheric gases still exist. Satellites flying at high speed collide with these particles, creating drag that consumes kinetic energy, slowing speed and lowering orbit. Thus, low Earth orbit satellites carry propellant, firing it every few weeks or months to maintain altitude.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Satellites above 2,000 kilometers also carry propulsion systems to adjust orientation, avoid space debris, and deorbit after mission completion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Shape-Shifting Demon burned itself, transferring all its transcendent biological essence and power via network connection to every Starlink satellite, forcing all propulsion systems to accelerate beyond their theoretical maximum thrust.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>7.5 km\u002Fs, 8.9 km\u002Fs, 10.1 km\u002Fs—finally, the first Starlink satellite in low Earth orbit broke past 11 km\u002Fs, reaching the second cosmic velocity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second cosmic velocity meant the satellite could escape Earth’s gravity and enter deep space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Satellites in geostationary orbit needed only 4.3 km\u002Fs escape velocity to enter deep space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the Shape-Shifting Demon’s plan: after failing to hack Cloudflare, it infiltrated Starlink, assimilated the satellites, and cast them out of Earth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ten thousand artificial satellites, launched into deep space along divergent trajectories, could not possibly be recovered by human civilization within a short time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These satellites would become the Shape-Shifting Demon’s “beacons,” guiding its hidden forces to Earth’s location.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng instantly understood the entire scheme. Instinctively, he drew a deep breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shape-Shifting Demon, you’re a ruthless bastard. You’ve hidden deeper than anyone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng summoned the partially mechanized Daqun. After its last battle with the Alpha Giant Serpent, Daqun’s damage hadn’t been repaired—it had worsened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, it didn’t need to fight to the death now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Daqun’s mechanical frame silently lifted Li Cheng. Its chimney-like vector nozzles on the back erupted flame, spinning it in place and accelerating continuously, then hurled Li Cheng toward higher orbit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As altitude increased, the Shape-Shifting Demon, now far along the orbital curve, became visible again. Li Cheng summoned his Alchemical Magic Cannon, eyes resolute.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The power of the Eight Trigrams Magic Cannon depended on the transcendent materials invested. Ordinary materials couldn’t kill the Shape-Shifting Demon—so only...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mantis-arm bone blades slashed down, severing Li Cheng’s left arm, both legs, and scorpion tail, casting them into the crucible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hum—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Eight Trigrams Crucible shuddered violently. Scalding steam erupted from every perforated structure. Vast air currents, drawn by invisible force, spiraled wildly, condensing at the crucible’s top, solidifying into a five-meter-long crimson beetle horn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The horn glowed crimson, its rough surface bristling with spines and barbs. Even beneath the bright sunlight at the terminator’s edge, it radiated a ferocious aura.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Multi-Brain Domain Method activated fully. His brain, operating on the Six Jade Genetic System, rapidly calculated orbital parameters, then fired.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too fast to trace any afterimage—the crimson beetle horn vanished from the cannon’s mouth, becoming a tiny speck, chasing the Starlink satellites.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Boom!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The satellite exploded mid-air. The fireball was so magnificent that even ordinary people on Earth’s surface could clearly see it with the naked eye.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng slowly lowered the Alchemical Magic Cannon. The Insect Lord’s divine corruption regenerative ability had already activated, sealing blood vessels, regenerating cells.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tiny droplets of blood exposed to vacuum boiled violently due to lowered boiling points, then froze into glittering ice crystals, floating around Li Cheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Did it... work?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tension and doubt gripped the hearts of high-ranking officials at Special Affairs Bureau, Whale Song Guild, GOC headquarters, and every guild capable of observing the low Earth orbit battle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone stared anxiously at the explosion’s glow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Smoke slowly cleared. What emerged in view was a heavily damaged satellite fragment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Shape-Shifting Demon, once the size of a small mountain, had shrunk to the size of a basketball, easily lifted by hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It lay helplessly on the fragment’s surface, its lower body flattened into a thin sheet, shielding 30% of the satellite’s core components.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Success—and failure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nearly eight thousand Starlink satellites, deprived of the Shape-Shifting Demon’s remote energy supply, ceased accelerating and were recaptured by Earth’s gravity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But two thousand satellites had reached their respective orbital escape velocities, turning their backs on Earth, carrying the Shape-Shifting Demon’s dispersed transcendent essence, hurtling in all directions into space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s over. All over.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At Whale Song Guild headquarters, a programmer in a plaid shirt slumped backward into his ergonomic chair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This high-ranking Level 30 Whale Song member, known as 【Black Trojan】, knew well: players were strong, capable of reclaiming land from oceans without effort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But against the vast scale of the universe, players were weak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jupiter’s Great Red Spot storm system stretched 25,000 kilometers long, 12,000 kilometers high, releasing energy per second equivalent to six simultaneous detonations of Tsar Bomba—the most powerful hydrogen bomb in human history.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And a satellite’s 11.2 km\u002Fs escape velocity equaled 32 Mach—far exceeding the terminal speed of hypersonic missiles. Ordinary players couldn’t catch up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only transcendent beings riding multi-stage rockets, accelerating incrementally in space, might catch them—but even then, they’d be racing against the Shape-Shifting Demon’s hidden forces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Shape-Shifting Demon knew this perfectly. If it possessed individual will, its face would now wear a satisfied smile, murmuring softly, “My mission is complete.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ding—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A faint light suddenly flared in the dark void of space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Shape-Shifting Demon straightened up. Li Cheng turned his head, gazing far into the distance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A second light. A third. Points of light flickered like fireflies, glowing, then extinguishing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each speck of light was the explosion of a satellite.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How is this possible?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The senior members of Whale Song, Special Affairs Bureau Guild, all cried out in unison, for Starlink, as a commercial project, had satellites distributed across Earth’s orbits at varying altitudes and inclinations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the Phase Demon providing additional thrust, these Starlink satellites broke from their original orbits, now separated by hundreds or even thousands of kilometers, scattered through three-dimensional space, and moving farther apart every second.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ding ding ding ding ding—the frequency of the flashing specks grew ever faster; recall that when the first Starlink satellites were launched, the Arena Game had not yet descended. There could not possibly have been any remote-triggered self-destruct devices installed on them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That meant a transcendent had acted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One by one, the explosion lights flared like stars shining; as the final satellite, destroyed at 35,000 kilometers above Earth’s surface in geostationary orbit, vanished, the night sky returned to silence and peace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Step.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A foot clad in silvery metallic armor stepped onto the wreckage of the satellite where the Phase Demon had been.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Michael has descended here.\u003C\u002Fp>",2283,"2026-06-19T22:31:26.010Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","e53d479b8a074579c1a0805e499f439f7fba19783ee39004981693918f6a61ef","player-reboot-chapter-579","player-reboot-chapter-577",612,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fplayer-reboot-cover.jpg"]