Chapter 424: The Countermeasures of the Gods

"Alliance Leader, what has happened?" Alei Ya asked.

A Magpie Bridge spread across, and Xu Longyun arrived at Lin Bai's side. Her face bore a look of panic: "Husband, something has gone wrong."

"I know. Don't panic. Soldiers come, block with generals; water comes, cover with earth. It's nothing major," Lin Bai comforted her. "Since they want to play, then we shall play along with them."

"Mm." Xu Longyun nodded, her panicked heart settling down for no reason.

"Xiaoyun, go contact the Number One Paparazzi. In my name, issue a new order in *Justice Weekly*. You set the terms; the stricter, the better," Lin Bai said. "Open all Magpie Bridges in every major town, connecting to the Real World. Both continents must prepare for migration..."

"Lin Bai, the Game Company has made its move, hasn't it!" Jin Tianwang heard the two's conversation and, as if forgetting his own predicament, said with a beaming smile, "You have no idea how powerful the Game Company is. Do you know how many worlds they have toyed with? How could you possibly fight them with your own strength? In the end, you are nothing more than one of their toys. The Game Company is the true master that views all living beings as ants. If the Justice Alliance behind you could go head-to-head with the Game Company, why send only you here to stir up trouble?"

"Everything you say is correct, but so what? This game has nothing to do with you anymore," Lin Bai glanced at him, used the Extraction Skill on him, and mocked, "Come to think of it, you Heavenly Kings are just players abandoned by the Game Company and tossed into an outdated server to fend for yourselves, aren't you!"

"..." Jin Tianwang's expression suddenly dimmed.

"To be precise, you should be called tools," Lin Bai passed Jin Tianwang from his left hand to his right, counting as having caught him once more, and continued to use the Extraction Skill. "Without my interference, wouldn't you just be bosses waiting to be toppled by players in the end? An ant that cannot even master its own fate—I don't know where you get your sense of superiority. You're happy to see me get frustrated? Then you may be as happy as you like; I allow you to maintain such pitiful self-esteem."

"..." Jin Tianwang's face flushed red. Lin Bai's words were like knives, stabbing into his heart one by one.

He wanted to retort, but he couldn't even find a suitable point. Regarding the matter of opposing Lin Bai, he had truly achieved nothing. He had only met Lin Bai three times in total, and by the fourth time, he was already being toyed with in the palm of his hand.

It was a true toying in the palm of his hand. Lin Bai's six arms moved like a windmill, passing him back and forth, and the skills he had painstakingly practiced turned gray and disappeared one by one.

He really couldn't show off any sense of superiority in front of Lin Bai.

The most terrifying thing was that after his skills disappeared, he was of no use to Lin Bai at all. He couldn't even surrender to the Justice Alliance like those other gods.

Lin Bai would not want someone who had no use...

At the thought of this, a trace of desolation welled up in Jin Tianwang's heart for no reason.

Lin Bai was right; he was just a poor wretch trying to find comfort by watching Lin Bai get frustrated. He was a dignified Heavenly King, after all; how could he have the mindset of a small fry!

Sensing Jin Tianwang's emotional shift, Lin Bai timely used the Dihua Skill, coaxing him step by step: "Jin Tianwang, who caused your current situation? It was the Game Company! Even now, do you still insist on guarding the secrets in your heart? Tell me. Tell me, and you can break the God of Curses' curse. That way, when you rise again in the future, you can seek revenge on me, instead of being left to my mercy like this..."

"Pah!" Jin Tianwang spat and gritted his teeth: "Lin Bai, I almost fell for your trick. It was the Game Company that gave me my status today; it is you who harmed me to this state. I just want to watch with my own eyes as you are eventually defeated by the Game Company. I just cannot attack you; once you are defeated, my level will remain, and I can still slaughter your wife and children to avenge today's humiliation."

Xu Longyun's sharp gaze suddenly turned toward Jin Tianwang.

"Level? It won't be there for long," Lin Bai chuckled. "Jin Tianwang, now you only have a stiff mouth left. Slaughter my wife and children? You aren't worthy. In a few days, you won't even be able to beat a dog by my side."

"Let's wait and see," Jin Tianwang said. "Lin Bai, I don't know what countermeasures the Game Company has made against you, but since you've even proposed a plan to swap homes, you must be finding it difficult to deal with the coming predicament. After all, we were the elites originally chosen by the Game Company. If the company can give benefits to new players, it can give benefits to us old players. So what if you've stripped all my skills? As long as you dare to let me go back, one day I will surely make a comeback. The fact that players are Undying and Indestructible dictates that you can never cut the weeds and dig up the roots."

"Oh my! So scary."

Lin Bai chuckled, spinning the Jin Tianwang in his hand like a windmill, accelerating the speed at which he defeated him.

Skill after skill was extracted, enriching his arsenal.

It had to be said, Jin Tianwang's Holy Sword was indeed powerful. Just the ability to control metal was enough to suppress most cultivators in the Mortal World; even for players, their Magic Tools were mostly constructed of metal.

To forge iron, one must be strong oneself. No matter how difficult the situation, it could not hinder him from improving his strength.

"Husband, the population of the Xianxia World and the Shenmo Dalu is over hundreds of millions. Large-scale migration, even with the Magpie Bridge, cannot be completed in a short time. And players only need to slip into their Game Capsules to arrive in our world. The map is fully open, and teleportation points have appeared between towns; we cannot even use the Magpie Bridges to block them."

Xu Longyun said, "Once players start killing and get a taste of the sweetness, the two worlds will likely turn into a hell within a few days. The population of the Real World is almost the sum of the Shenmo Dalu and the Xianxia World. Even if one percent of them are keen on killing, we cannot bear it. The Game Company launched so many benefits simply to incite players to cause trouble in our world."

"Alliance Leader's wife, has the number of players increased?" Alei Ya asked, unable to suppress the curiosity in her heart.

"Everyone in the Real World became a player within three days. Moreover, the Game Company gave them more benefits, making it easier for them to level up. Our world might face tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of madmen who cannot die. It is very likely that they could level up just by killing a chicken on the road."

Xu Longyun looked at Alei Ya and patiently explained the reason to her.

One more person means one more line of thought; what if she had a solution?

Truly good news. Jin Tianwang felt great joy in his heart, but he was so dizzy from being spun by Lin Bai that he couldn't even laugh.

The Forest Goddess's eyes widened suddenly, and she said indignantly: "Is the Game Company crazy? What exactly do they want to do? Are we just their playthings?"

Alei Ya's expression was solemn: "Alliance Leader, you are right. The Game Company is indeed the greatest tumor; we should do our utmost to eradicate them."

Xu Longyun was speechless: "Do you understand the point? Currently, the problem we need to solve is the large number of players about to arrive, not the Game Company. Can't you think of one or two solutions?"

"We can go to the Real World and destroy them," the Mountain God said.

"The Game Capsule provides them with protection; we cannot harm their bodies," Xu Longyun said.

"In three days, there will always be some who don't make it into the Game Capsule in time!" the Mountain God said. "Kill one batch, and that's one batch less."

"Most of the players are good people. If we go to the Real World and kill indiscriminately, how are we any different from the Game Company? For the sake of a small handful of thugs, you would strike at those unarmed people? Do you have the heart? Are you still gods of the righteous side?" Xu Longyun frowned and said, "The more you kill, the more ruthless they will be when they strike at us in the future, and they will have no sense of guilt. You are simply intensifying the conflict."

"Alliance Leader's wife, what else can we do? When war begins, we must prioritize the people of our world, not those players who are Undying and Indestructible and being used by the Game Company," the Forest Goddess said. "If one side must be destroyed, I would rather it be them."

"Correct. We cannot bring ourselves to do it. There are also Abyss creatures and the Undead Legion; they are a group of emotionless creatures. Let them do the killing; we will not bear any guilt," the Mountain God said. "Everyone must bear the consequences of their own actions. Since they chose the identity of a player, they should have the awareness that they might be killed."

"There are many players in the Justice Alliance as well, and many of the people in the Real World are their relatives. Furthermore, there are many people in the Real World who worship my husband. If you kill indiscriminately without conditions, you will hurt their hearts. To be precise, the Real World is also my husband's territory," Xu Longyun said sternly. "There has never been a monarch who personally wiped out the people in one-third of his territory because of a portion of rioters. You are my husband's helpers; you should prioritize the big picture and not use such a simple and crude way to solve the problem..."

"So, can we only respond passively?" the Forest Goddess asked. "Why can the Game Company do this? Isn't it because they have no humanity? When dealing with such an enemy, if you show even a little bit of weakness, you will be eaten alive by them."

"Daisi is right. Sacrificing the people of one world is better than sacrificing two worlds," the Mountain God said. "If we make the players feel afraid, they will naturally behave."

"The Alliance Leader once said that the end of his cultivation is the Heavenly Dao. The Heavenly Dao is ruthless; isn't it the same as the Game Company?" the Forest Goddess said. "I think killing is the best method right now. Kill everyone in their world, then move our people over. In less than thirty years, the other world will be vibrant again, and their civilization won't even disappear..."

"Yes, we possess long lives and can completely create civilization," Alei Ya said. "Once, the Death Monarch stirred up an undead disaster on the land. I don't know how many people died in that battle, but in the end, it recovered. We can even develop our believers among the new population, popularize our Faith, and let them be loyal to us from birth. No, loyal to the Justice Alliance, loyal to the Alliance Leader."

"Alliance Leader's wife, I think your idea of preserving everyone is the wrong one. We are gods, leaders; we should stand at a higher perspective to look at problems. If sacrifice is needed, then sacrifice," the Forest Goddess looked at Lin Bai and said. "A wise leader should at least not have a soft heart."

Xu Longyun was speechless.

At this moment, she actually felt that what the few gods said was not without reason. She subconsciously looked at Lin Bai, wanting to seek support.

But Lin Bai only smiled at her and did not speak.

The argument between the few was broadcasted to all players. The players, who were originally overjoyed because of the Game Company's benefits, were all dumbfounded. In an instant, the screen was flooded with bullet comments:

"Crazy, these gods are crazy. They actually want to commit genocide against us. Do they have any humanity left?"

"They are gods, of course they have no humanity. They aren't even the gods of our world."

"Lin Bai didn't even stop them."

"I thought swapping homes was already extreme enough, but I didn't expect them to want to kill us all. Too ruthless, and we didn't even provoke them."

"Actually, we did provoke them. According to the benefits launched by the Game Company, if they don't strike first, what awaits them is total destruction. The new patch terms launched by the Game Company are meant to force the worlds into a state of mutual hatred."

"And yet some people still think this is a benefit. Now that the slaughter is about to fall upon your own heads, do you still think this is a game?"

"If he kills, he kills. The Game Company's benefits are so good, and the Game Capsule has added safety protocols; at worst, we just never leave the game."

"In the end, Lin Bai will swap bases. Who are we going to play with? Ourselves?"

"Killing ourselves is also a game. It's just swapping bases; trading an ordinary body for an Undying Body is a profit no matter how you look at it."

"If only it were that simple. Once he has no worries, Lin Bai will take those gods and go into the game world to harvest a round whenever he feels like it. What will you do then?"

"At that point, it won't be us playing the game, but Lin Bai and the gods playing the game. We will turn from players into NPCs, and the kind that respawns, at that."

"Damn, players turning into NPCs, a brilliant cycle, just like the Nine Heavenly Kings, turning from top-tier players into top-tier bosses."

"An unsolvable proposition."

"Let's go to the forums and call for peaceful gaming; peace is good for everyone."

"Players of the Justice Alliance, you should go persuade Lin Bai too. Tell him to restrain his subordinates and stop the slaughter for now; perhaps we can find a way for both sides to coexist peacefully through negotiation."

"It's useless. The Game Company's benefits are bait, and they are also a trap. There are too many people in our world; how could we possibly unify our thinking? There will always be people with wishful thinking. Even if only one percent of people have wishful thinking, that's one hundred million people. How could one hundred million people be controlled?"

"Right, everyone has a Game Capsule. The state has even lost its power to restrain; who would listen to us?"

"Is it truly inevitable that we are heading toward disaster?"

"The Game Company has opened all maps; how do you know the company won't open the Real World? As long as the Real World is opened, the idea of swapping bases doesn't hold up at all, does it?"

"If swapping bases doesn't hold up, it means the slaughter will. People in the Real World are all fragile; it wouldn't take three days. If those gods go all out, half the people in our world could die in a single day."

"Not necessarily. Our world has no Spirit Qi, so the gods will also be suppressed. Most of us will survive!"

"The gods will be suppressed, but what about Lin Bai? Not to mention anything else, with just his sonic attacks, he could slaughter an entire city in three minutes..."

"Lin Bai is soft-hearted; he has never attacked ordinary people."

"That was before. Just now, when those gods were discussing, Lin Bai didn't even speak up. Can you guarantee he wasn't tempted? If I were in his position, I wouldn't like having a bunch of unstable factors among my subjects either. If I could stabilize the situation, I would kill people more efficiently than he does..."

(End of this chapter)