Chapter 192: A Premeditated Attack

The violent shaking lasted nearly half an hour. Not only the ground of the public area and the stalls the players had set up, but even the buildings generated by the Crimson Courtyard system swayed under the tremors.

The clock tower at the center of the public area clanged as it swayed, as if it had spotted a disaster approaching and was sounding a warning to the people.

Wu Chang looked up at the countdown atop the clock tower: 57.

57 days remained until the world instance began and the Abyss Game's landscape underwent a dramatic upheaval.

With the world instance imminent, the demons and monsters could no longer hold back — they were about to come out for a Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.

He went to the bar in the public area. Inside was a mess. The players who had drunk too much hadn't expected to encounter a natural disaster in the Crimson Courtyard, and most of them were caught off guard.

As the players inside the bar tidied up the tables and chairs, they shared intelligence about this anomaly. Wu Chang had just been about to lend a hand when he heard a player say:

"Did you know? Right before the earthquake just now, there was a huge explosion in Red Wave Space. I heard the Free Coast over at Bai Ta had a similar explosion too. I wonder if it's connected to the earthquake."

Another player chimed in:

"I've been in the Crimson Courtyard for seven years and I've never seen anything like what just happened. You say it's unrelated? Like hell anyone believes that!"

Another person said: "I wonder if the Four Major Organizations will issue a notice in a while to tell everyone what happened."

One person scoffed: "What daydream are you having? When have those bigwigs of the Four Major Organizations ever needed to report to some small-fry like you?"

Another person egged on: "That's right. In recent years, those big organizations have grown more and more overbearing. They're single-mindedly pursuing racial evolution, becoming gods and cultivating immortality — when would they ever look up to ordinary players like you and me?"

Once those words were spoken, the mood in the bar was set, and everyone began making snide remarks one after another.

Wu Chang furrowed his brow. He hadn't realized before that ordinary players held such deep resentment toward the big organizations, especially the Four Major Organizations.

But he didn't pay much attention to the Four Major Organizations' public image. His attention was entirely focused on what that first player had said.

An explosion had occurred in Red Wave Space.

He didn't bother with drinking. He left the bar, went to the teleportation point in the public area, and directly chose to head to Red Wave Space.

"Teleportation failed. The target you selected has severed external entry channels. Please try again later."

The faction spaces of the Four Major Organizations are open to friendly players. Players who possess entry qualifications can teleport directly in from the public area.

Red Wave Space had now severed its connection with the public area — had something really big happened?

He hurriedly left the Crimson Courtyard, returned to his residence, said hello to Eileen, then drove straight to the Wanghai branch bureau.

Red Wave Space had cut off direct teleportation entry, but the channel for entering from reality had not been sealed. He entered the elevator, pressed the button for basement level three, and by the time the elevator doors opened, he had already entered Red Wave Space.

The moment he entered Red Wave Space, a large wave of smoke mixed with sparks came rushing at him. Wu Chang frowned and looked around. He could see fire spreading through the space, with members of the Management Bureau rushing about putting out flames.

About one-fifth of the various buildings in Red Wave Space had been swallowed by the sea of fire. The futuristic neon lights and projections were mostly damaged, exposing the black screens beneath the bright images, as well as the wires sparking in the holes of the screens.

The massive central research institute had half of its main building collapsed by the blast. Among the building complex of the Red Wave trading district, thick smoke was also billowing.

Those damages were secondary. What truly looked shocking was the Hongmeng Divine Temple — part Taoist temple, part Buddhist monastery — which now had a huge hole blown into its wall, and the entire structure was visibly tilting.

The entire Red Wave Space looked as though it had been through a war.

But the problem was that although Red Wave Space was the faction's independent space, it was also part of the Crimson Courtyard — a safe zone. Whether to buildings or to players, it should have been impossible to cause harm.

Furthermore, the Management Bureau was one of the Four Major Organizations. Who had the ability to overrun Red Wave Space?

Could it be that believers of evil gods had ganged up and attacked?

Wu Chang tried to approach the Hongmeng Divine Temple, but found it was still far away — a cordon had already been set up around the temple.

He casually grabbed a few firefighting members and asked what had happened, only to learn they had also just arrived and hadn't had time to find out before being assigned to put out fires everywhere.

As they spoke, the leading Management Bureau member was about to drag Wu Chang along to act together. Wu Chang hurriedly activated Social Anxiety Disorder and Elite Stealth to slip away.

He had no time to play firefighter.

After asking three or four groups of people in a row, he still couldn't get any intelligence that satisfied him.

At any other time, he could only leave first and inquire about the situation from the bureau's higher-ups later.

But now it was different. He happened to know who in Red Wave Space might roughly understand what had happened.

He made his way to the instance waiting hall, and just happened to bump into Xiang Jianxing and the Negotiation Master walking out, both with solemn expressions.

Xiang Jianxing was startled to see Wu Chang appear. He said to the Negotiation Master: "He's here to find me. You go on ahead, we'll get in touch later."

After parting from the Negotiation Master, Xiang Jianxing strode quickly over to Wu Chang and said in surprise:

"How did you get here? The teleportation points out of Red Wave Space should all be closed."

Wu Chang replied with a textbook-honest, simple-and-honest smile: "I was drinking in the public area just now, and heard people say something had gone wrong over at Red Wave Space. I found the teleportation point was disabled, so I came straight in through the branch bureau's elevator."

"What exactly happened to Red Wave Space? How did it end up like this?"

Xiang Jianxing frowned and said: "This matter is of great significance. The confidentiality level is very high."

Wu Chang: "Don't worry, I can keep a secret."

Xiang Jianxing: "It's not about keeping a secret. Your clearance level isn't high enough — I shouldn't be telling you."

Wu Chang put on an expression that said "I understand your difficulty." "That's fine, then I'll just go investigate on my own."

"Wait!"

Xiang Jianxing grabbed Wu Chang. He had seen Wu Chang's Social Anxiety Disorder in action. If he really let Wu Chang investigate freely, he worried something would go wrong.

It would be a minor matter if Wu Chang uncovered the truth, but if he accidentally wandered into some important facility and got seized as a suspicious person, then Wu Chang would be in trouble.

The two had cleared the Quiet Town and the Erosion instance together, so they were acquainted. Xiang Jianxing naturally couldn't just stand by and watch Wu Chang make a mistake.

He hesitated for a moment, sighed, and said: "You have to promise you absolutely won't leak this to anyone."

Wu Chang said immediately: "I promise!"

"Come with me."

Xiang Jianxing brought Wu Chang to a secluded rest area, then said: "From now on, everything I say is my own self-talk. I'm just puzzling over what just happened, thinking and analyzing alone."

Wu Chang took the hint and immediately entered his Social Anxiety Disorder state, staying beside Xiang Jianxing.

Following Xiang Jianxing's self-talk, Wu Chang roughly understood what had happened in Red Wave Space.

The cause of this chain of massive explosions was a group of "tourists" whose identities were hidden.

Because the Crimson Courtyard was a safe zone, and Red Wave Space wasn't a high-level classified area, the outer regions of Red Wave Space weren't particularly difficult to enter — one only needed a recommendation from an Investigator-level member to gain entry qualifications to Red Wave Space.

This group of tourists who had obtained entry qualifications initially toured the outer perimeter of the Crimson Wave Space, then they produced an ancient stone stele inscribed with complex runes, hoping to have the Central Research Institute of Crimson Wave Space appraise it.

Testing and appraising foreign samples was already within the business scope of the Central Research Institute — it could collect all manner of data while earning some extra money on the side, and if something valuable turned up, they could even negotiate a purchase.

In theory, the business of external testing and appraisal was all benefit and no harm.

As luck would have it, today they ran into exactly that harm.

After leaving the stone stele behind, the group of tourists toured several more districts.

Next, violent explosions began at the outer perimeter of Crimson Wave Space.

The explosions blasted from the outside in, all the way to the Central Research Institute. Since Crimson Wave Space was a system-recognized safe zone, the Administration Bureau members fortunately suffered no casualties, but buildings, data, and various resources sustained massive damage.

Just as the Administration Bureau members were running themselves ragged amid the explosions, they never imagined that the fiercest — and final — explosion would occur inside the Primordial Divine Temple.

Xiang Jianxing described the general course of events, but many of the details were beyond Wu Chang's comprehension, so he condensed energy into six characters in the air.

"Why did it explode?"

Crimson Wave Space was a safe zone; the buildings within a safe zone, like the players inside it, should all be protected by the system.

Seeing Wu Chang's question, Xiang Jianxing's expression darkened, as though something unpleasant had occurred to him.

"Crimson Wave Space is a faction territory. The territory's managers — and to a certain extent, the zone's managers — have the authority to adjust a building's properties, to make it destructible."

"In other words, the most fundamental cause of this incident is that there's a mole inside the Administration Bureau, and a high-ranking one at that — high enough to modify building properties." No wonder Xiang Jianxing's face was grim; a traitor within the organization was hard to accept, especially when the traitor was in the upper echelons.

Wu Chang frowned upon hearing this. Generally speaking, the reasons for betrayal were either profit or hatred.

Hatred seemed unlikely. Xia Nation placed enormous importance on the Administration Bureau; anyone who wanted to become a high-ranking member — especially one with authority over Crimson Wave Space — would have their entire lineage investigated back eight generations, making hatred nearly impossible.

For profit, it didn't quite add up either.

High-ranking members of the Four Great Organizations who had climbed that far already had resources, wealth — what kind of profit could possibly buy them off?

After hearing Xiang Jianxing's answer, Wu Chang became even more puzzled, but he set the question aside for now and continued asking:

"Does the tremor in the Wasteland Realm have anything to do with the explosions in Crimson Wave Space?"

Xiang Jianxing's expression grew even uglier — not only because of the answer to the question, but because of the one asking it.

How could every question he posed be so piercing, so hard to answer?

Fearing Xiang Jianxing would brush him off, Wu Chang condensed another line of text.

"I heard players in a bar say that Bai Ta and the Western Union both experienced similar explosions."

!

Xiang Jianxing: …

Those big mouths in the public-zone bar — is this the kind of information you just go around sharing?

Xiang Jianxing took a deep breath, massaging his temple with his thumb and middle finger, and said:

"Yes, the tremor in the Wasteland Realm is related to this attack. This was a premeditated assault. The Administration Bureau, Bai Ta, the Western Union, and the Evolution Committee were all attacked — the nerve centers of each faction were breached."

After receiving Xiang Jianxing's confirmation, Wu Chang narrowed his eyes.

This was getting interesting. If it were merely an attack targeting the Administration Bureau, there could be many possibilities — the mastermind could be Bai Ta, or it could be the Believer Circle.

But all four great organizations attacked simultaneously, and each suffered damage to its nerve center in the Wasteland Realm — severe enough to trigger upheaval in the Wasteland Realm — that far exceeded the Believer Circle's capabilities.

A flash of inspiration struck Wu Chang, and he thought of the mysterious organization that had hired Lei Hu.

In terms of strength, the mysterious organization had at least one member approaching the peak of Abyss Layer Two — someone Eileen had said was nearly her equal.

In terms of influence, the mysterious organization could command the Iron Armor Regiment and bind its actions with special contracts.

As for purpose, although Wu Chang couldn't guess what they wanted, judging from their large-scale efforts to send instances out of control, whatever the goal, the result on display was plunging the Wasteland Realm into chaos.

Among all the organizations Wu Chang had encountered, only the mysterious organization had the ability and means to accomplish all of this.

Xiang Jianxing had said earlier that the attack on Crimson Wave Space was aided by a high-ranking mole from within; the attacks on the other three great powers presumably used similar methods.

In other words, the mysterious organization's influence was far greater than Wu Chang had previously thought. Hiring a second-rate outfit like the Iron Armor Regiment might not have been because that was all they could find — perhaps they simply used them and discarded them, convenient and disposable.

In truth, their power was spread everywhere; even among the upper echelons of the four great organizations, many were their people.

There was another possibility — perhaps it wasn't that the upper echelons of the four great organizations were their people, but that the upper echelons of the four great organizations had built that mysterious power.

At this thought, Wu Chang's breathing began to quicken.

He was grateful he had always hidden himself well, never revealing the slightest trace. If he had displayed even a little more of his abilities, making him conspicuous enough within the Administration Bureau —

Then on the second day after triggering Lei Hu's confidentiality agreement at the Midnight Graveyard, he would have woken up to find his bedside lined with high-level players of Abyss Layer Two.

By then, if they gave him the chance to be a dog rather than silencing him outright, it would count as his potential being exceptional enough.

He shook his head sharply, pulling his thoughts back from the mysterious organization, and continued condensing text to ask:

"What did they destroy that caused even the Wasteland Realm to tremble?"

This time, Xiang Jianxing didn't answer, but muttered to himself:

"My train of thought seems to have straightened out. Continuing to think won't help; even if I investigate, I won't find results. Let's call it a day."

Having said that, Xiang Jianxing acted as though he couldn't see the constantly flashing "Wait, let me change the question" before him, and stood up to leave.

Watching Xiang Jianxing's retreating back, Wu Chang fell to thinking.

Even explosive intelligence like moles in the Administration Bureau's upper echelons and simultaneous attacks on the four great organizations — Xiang Jianxing had told him all of it, yet alone failed to answer that final question.

It probably wasn't that Xiang Jianxing wanted to play riddles; rather, that last question was either truly unspeakable, or something even he didn't know.

He sighed — his clearance was still too low.

He lingered in Crimson Wave Space for a while, and after confirming he couldn't dig up any more intelligence, he left.

After obtaining intelligence from Xiang Jianxing, he felt a tremendous sense of crisis.

Humanity's greatest fear stems from the unknown.

Clearly, whether it was driving instances out of control or attacking the four great organizations, it was all just part of the mysterious organization's plan.

Even the small fraction of the plan that had been exposed, he couldn't see in full — so how terrifying must their true plan be?

Recently, everything had been developing in a good direction: Eileen had successfully constructed an Earthly Divine Kingdom; he had transferred to a unique class and drawn authority from Leman's main body — the future looked promising; and with the help of Cui Chengze and the Evil God Remnant, he had further activated his bloodline.

He had originally believed that in the Wasteland Realm he had almost no opponents — truly invincible under heaven.

He hadn't expected that before even a single day had passed, enemies would immediately come raining down from the sky.

His current configuration was luxurious; even the Painter, who had left the four great organizations and the Faithful utterly helpless, might not necessarily be stronger than him in raw strength. But compared to the mysterious organization lurking in the shadows, his power was still far too thin.

Whether in strength or in connections.

He had to grow stronger as fast as possible.

Wu Chang patted his own cheeks with his hands and looked at the attribute panel after completing the instance.

Player Nickname: No Beef.

Player Level: 24 (3210/9900)

(50810/6500) — (44310/7100) — (37210/7800) — (29410/8500) — (20910/8500) — (12410/9200) — (3210/9900)

Titles: Perfectionist, Game-Breaker, True Wanderer, Blasphemer.

Class: Strife Knight

HP: 41

Strength: 58

Agility: 33

Endurance: 30

Energy: 106

Inspiration: 131

Will: 123

Free Attribute Points: 30

Rotten Silver Coins: 100250.

Skills: Mamba Iron Elbow, Firearms (Proficient), Social Anxiety, Elite Stealth, Iaido, Basic Combat (E).

Techniques: Thunder Art Remnant Scroll (B), Advanced Spatial Magic (C).

Items: Dawn's Weight Hammer, Favor of the Goddess of Fortune, Whisperer's Echo ×1, Mortal's Poison, Soul-Purifying Command Banner, Four Directions Year-Fire Lamp, Sage's Remnant Mask, False Divine Relic, Golden Throne, Research Report on Divine Relics and Wish Power (1/3), Wuqu Star Lord Wood Carving, Unrestricted Portable Livestream Room, Healing Type I ×3, Small Recovery Potion ×2, Energy Activation Potion ×2.

Talents: Transmigration, Calamity, Sea Clan Transformation, Divine Relic Guide.

The enhancements gained from this Silent Voyage run far exceeded his expectations — not only had he jumped 6 levels in one go, but his strength had undergone a qualitative leap compared to before entering the Silent Voyage.

He had to digest these powers as quickly as possible and further improve himself.

Now, although he had already surpassed the limits of the vast majority of players in the Wasteland Realm, he was still far from his own limit.

If he reached level 30 and maxed out every enhancement available to him, even if the mysterious organization sent people to the Wasteland Realm, the other side would be suppressed by the planar rules — and he might not be without a fighting chance.

Grow stronger!

To have the confidence to stand up to the mysterious organization, he had to keep growing stronger.

Growing stronger would start with upgrading the Thunder Art Remnant Scroll to A.

(End of this chapter)