Chapter 207: The Time Is Not Ripe; the Treasure Sword Stays in Its Sheath

Abyss Domain node.

The energy haze dispersed, and the shattered Gao Ta platform, drawn by the black fog, had its scattered fragments swiftly converge and reassemble into a complete stone slab.

The broken pillars twisted within the black fog, as if infused with life, gradually returning to their original state.

Under the control of the Earth-Read Evil Spirit, the black fog moved like a conscious living thing, coiling around every damaged spot on the platform, restoring the Gao Ta platform to its original appearance in less than a moment.

As if it had never been destroyed; only the lingering scent of scorched elements in the air proved what had just happened.

Glancing down at the elemental scorch mark on its chest, the Earth-Read Evil Spirit waved a hand to erase it.

The battle was over; it had successfully defeated the Player Clan and claimed victory.

But no matter what, it could not feel happy about it.

The Player Clan had proven with facts that the war potential they displayed was far from reaching its upper limit.

Especially the battlefield dominance shown by that mysterious commander gave it immense pressure.

What piqued its curiosity was why this Player Clan commander had never made a move before this.

"Earth-Read, perhaps there is this possibility: in the last round of engagement, you made the Player Clan feel pressure, so they chose to seek help from the higher-ups within their clan."

"We've encountered similar situations before. At that time, the Cangxing Sea Domain and the Colored Mist Coast's Evil Moon Domain, also feeling pressure from the Player Clan's development, chose to seek our help. Back then, you took over command in the form of a projection to fight on their behalf."

Hearing the Evil Eye's conjecture, the Earth-Read Evil Spirit nodded solemnly.

This conjecture held up logically.

What could be confirmed was that the number of combat units in the Player Clan was continuously growing.

It had long since reached a conclusion: the Player Clan possessed massive reserve forces and was gradually infiltrating the Monster World.

The situation before this was that it could not eliminate the Player Clan.

Looking at it from the Player Clan's perspective, they likewise could not do anything to it.

Recalling the crushing defeat of the previous round, the troubled Player Clan seeking help from other regions, or from the strong clan members still in the Outer Realm—this chain of logic was very reasonable.

"Looks like the upcoming battles are going to be troublesome."

Recalling the process of clashing with the mysterious commander just now, the Earth-Read Evil Spirit felt an immediate headache.

Although it won this battle, it won on overall strength, not through strategy.

The Player Clan's new commander adjusted throughout based on its battlefield layout; even when it had an idea, within a few seconds the other side had already prepared a counter-move.

By comparison, the previously captured Player Clan commander conducted the battle at a pace that was practically a vacation.

The high-intensity command rhythm brought by the mysterious commander required it to respond with an equally high-intensity command rhythm.

After the entire battle, it felt as though it had personally endured a brutal fight where it led the charge, exhausted to the point of total fatigue.

This was an experience it had never had before.

"Earth-Read, when facing this type of opponent, there's actually a very simple way to handle it."

"What way?" the Earth-Read Evil Spirit turned to look at the Evil Eye floating in midair, curiosity in its expression.

"Mass-produce offensive-type units and crush the Player Clan with absolute combat superiority, but the cost is that a single battle would consume ten times, or even more, Black Tide energy."

At this point, the Evil Eye suddenly shifted its tone:

"But my suggestion is to maintain your combat style. Fighting the Player Clan requires reasonable resource allocation; this is also a form of tempering for you, so continue attempting operational confrontation. I look forward to your growth—your ceiling is far beyond this."

The Earth-Read Evil Spirit nodded:

"Evil Eye, recently I will allocate you a batch of resources for growth; your abilities also need to improve in sync with mine."

As if thinking of something, the Earth-Read Evil Spirit's tone paused, then continued:

"Evil Eye, have you noticed a problem? My growth method differs significantly from other nodes."

Facing the inquiry, the Evil Eye blinked:

"I noticed this problem long ago. Other nodes choose a devouring growth model—starting from a single point of light, constantly devouring the surroundings to grow rapidly, expanding the coverage area of that point of light. But your growth is a predicament of being attacked from both sides; throughout the devouring growth, the focus is entirely on operational confrontation."

"By comparison, other Black Tide nodes don't need to use war strategy even once in several years; they can crush nearby racial factions through the characteristics of the Black Tide. But you, every single day, are locked in a battle of wits with the Player Clan. However, this has also significantly enhanced your war-command talent. In terms of personal ability growth, you are clearly faster than the commanding Evil Spirits of other nodes."

Though these words seemed like praise, they made the Earth-Read Evil Spirit involuntarily clench its fist:

"Damn… I'm the most miserable one here."

"Note: 'damn' is Player Clan terminology. To prevent potential mental contamination, it is recommended to reduce the frequency of use."

Earth-Read: …

Seeing the Earth-Read Evil Spirit's speechless expression, the Evil Eye, with a solemn look, continued to explain:

"According to data in the node information database, mental contamination does indeed exist. It can subtly influence a target through language, habits, and other means, causing ideological alteration."

"There is a racial faction on the Pale Continent called the Heart-Whisper Clan that is highly adept at using mental contamination as a method of warfare, ultimately controlling opponents to serve themselves."

After hearing the Evil Eye's dead-serious analysis, the Earth-Read Evil Spirit asked coldly:

"Are you done?"

"I'm done."

"Damn." The Earth-Read Evil Spirit cursed viciously once more.

……

Just as the Earth-Read Evil Spirit was pondering how to deal with the Player Clan's mysterious commander—

The Divine King also encountered a troubling problem.

The battle commanded by Tourist No. 1 had let him vent his frustrations; the oppressive mood brought on by repeated torment from the Earth-Read bully was swept away in an instant.

Tourist No. 1's performance in this battle also made his jaw drop.

Comparing his command style with Tourist No. 1's was like comparing a snail to a maglev train—they simply weren't on the same level.

After the battle, an idea sprouted in his heart: hand over his command authority to the more capable Tourist No. 1.

After all, there was no rule that the guild leader had to be the war commander. He could remain the guild leader; ideally, he could pull Tourist No. 1 into his own guild, and from then on, let Tourist No. 1 take the commander position.

As for Tourist No. 1's identity, he could roughly guess a bit of it.

What can be confirmed is that Tourist Number One's ability absolutely does not belong to humans, nor to any race or living being of the Earth Alliance.

Being able to piece together battlefield details solely from live broadcast footage, and even conduct directional bullet-screen command, achieving a state of one mind serving sixty thousand purposes—this level of command ability is something no normal living being could possess.

The only ones who could possess such ability belong to a single category: the supreme intelligence brains of the various races.

First, the Earth Alliance's supreme intelligence brain, "Star Net," can be ruled out.

The Monster World was created by Star Net itself, so Star Net would never personally descend to fight a small character within a super-power it created.

The only possibility is that some race applied to the Eclipse Race and obtained a supreme intelligence brain.

Much like the Human Race's supreme intelligence brain.

And it certainly isn't a small race; races like the Gilled Fish, which are low-tier forces within the Earth Alliance, use D-grade intelligence brains, roughly equivalent to the level of human city management intelligence brains, completely incapable of achieving such hyper-detailed command.

The inference is that some management layer of one of the Top Ten Races used their race's supreme intelligence brain to participate in a war command.

He just wanted to say that this behavior was far too willful.

Using a supreme intelligence brain to play a game campaign—this is the true definition of a pay-to-win player.

He pays with money, but Tourist Number One pays with the computing power and information processing ability of a supreme intelligence brain; in comparison, his pay-to-win capability isn't even on the same level.

For such a powerful player, Wang Shou's first thought was to attempt cooperation, or recruit them into the guild.

But when he sent the invitation, the other party stated that war consumption was too high, and since the Divine Hall Guild organizes joint combat groups to confront the Di Nian Bullies every day, unless there is a special situation, they are unwilling to participate in combat again.

This made Wang Shou feel extremely depressed.

Having finally made the Di Nian Bullies suffer a setback, he felt that his bitterness had ended and sweetness begun, having obtained a super golden thigh.

But the thigh suddenly decided not to play anymore.

But upon careful thought, he could also understand Tourist Number One's concerns.

Intelligence brain usage consumes city energy; this battle doesn't know how much electricity was consumed. Playing occasionally is fine, but how could they possibly confront the Di Nian Bullies alongside him every single day?

Having understood the reason behind it, Wang Shou still couldn't help but sigh, feeling regret.

If Tourist Number One had lent assistance, they would have forced the Di Nian Bullies into a state of self-closure; perhaps they could even have moved that large stone blocking the newbie village.

But since Tourist Number One had said so, he didn't force the issue, expressing his gratitude.

Before closing the dialogue, Tourist Number One proposed a suggestion to him.

Stating that going to the library to study war knowledge is an effective growth method for improving one's own abilities.

However, when confronting the Di Nian Bullies, one must also consider the issue of one's own command habits; a large part of the reason he was outmaneuvered by the Di Nian Evil Spirit stemmed from habit issues.

So try to change one's own command train of thought, establish multiple sets of command logic, and switch between them for use.

And stated that one could try adding logical contradictions when commanding battles.

Wang Shou expressed confusion regarding this, asking what logical contradictions at the command level meant.

Tourist Number One's answer was that by using an unanalyzable logical paradox structure, one could force the Evil Eye into a decision-making dilemma where it cannot achieve logical self-consistency.

Simply explained, it is using form to trap the Evil Eye in a state of over-analysis.

In response to the inquiry, Tourist Number One also stated that the Evil Eye is always in a "War Analysis" state during campaigns; every move of the player legion escapes the Evil Eye's perception and observation, and whenever the players make a move, the Evil Eye will analyze a series of possible actions behind that movement.

Suppose, under intense war conditions, a small squad of the player legion suddenly breaks away from the front line and charges to the right.

The Evil Eye would similarly analyze this abnormal action, attempting to find a reasonable logical explanation, but in fact, this order is meaningless.

This is logical contradiction and over-analysis.

The Evil Eye's greatest strength lies in its analysis and big data capabilities; as a commander, one must intersperse logical contradictions and normal orders during the command process, keeping the Evil Eye in a constant state of over-analysis to reduce the battlefield pressure brought by the Evil Eye.

Tourist Number One's explanation made Wang Shou's mind suddenly clear.

He realized he had long fallen into a mental misconception; every order was issued with a purpose, and even the Zhang Yan Fa he created for the Di Nian Evil Spirit hid his own clear purpose behind it.

This makes it very easy for the Evil Eye to analyze specific thoughts.

Only by establishing multiple sets of command logic and then interspersing illogical orders can one's own thoughts become difficult for the Evil Eye to grasp.

Through this exchange, Wang Shou was suddenly enlightened.

Tourist Number One's brief teachings were like a lightning bolt tearing through the chaotic night sky in his mind.

The improvement in command techniques he had spent months studying could not compare to this momentary enlightenment.

The shock and clarity within his heart surged like a mighty tide, and the seed of wisdom buried deep in his heart broke through the soil at this moment, blooming brilliantly.

At this moment, he could only use the two words "thank you" to express the gratitude in his heart.

He considered spending money, but thinking that the other party was using a race's supreme intelligence brain, using money to express gratitude would simply be an insult to the other party.

In the end, he could only state: If you obtain qualification in the future and lack Shou Shou Jili, just find me; I and the brothers of the guild will take you to level up.

This was the only effective way of gratitude Wang Shou could think of.

Tourist Number One is active in forum events frequently, proving their strong longing for the Monster World and their desire to obtain game qualification.

Therefore, compared to real-world money, a future promise might be more useful.

This campaign also taught Tourist Number One a lesson to him regarding the potential usage of basic functions on the battlefield.

First is the map coordinates.

In the map function, wherever a player's eyes scan on the map, they can obtain the coordinates of that point.

Tourist Number One's command mode is based on map coordinates.

Send a coordinate to the live-streaming player, then the player opens the map to verify the specific location of the coordinate and mark it; they will then see a light pillar visible only to players in the marked area, and can then conduct precise strikes toward the light pillar's position.

But learning this point would require him to spend a vast amount of time improving his proficiency; it is more suitable for the command use of sub-groups, for detailed command.

The second lesson is the reasonable application of the "Marking" Painful Painful Minghun trait.

Besides marking enemies, one can also mark teammates, allowing support players to precisely release abilities to support teammates.

As for filtering teammates, one simply needs to summon the combat group list, find the grouped target, and lock it directly.

An even more powerful method is to take the coordinates from the top right corner of the live-streaming player's screen and send this coordinate directly to the player providing support.

But this method is limited to Tourist Number One's use; with his abilities, he simply cannot accomplish it.

Unless one can overclock the brain to hundreds of levels, making it operate like an intelligent brain.

There are many small details in using other functions.

These are small tricks he usually ignored but work very well in War Mode.

After thanking Visitor Number One again, the God King who ended the exchange headed straight for the library.

He decided to follow Visitor Number One's suggestion, trying to establish multiple command logics and conceive logical contradictions usable on the battlefield.

Unlike the gloomy mood when he went to the library last time.

As he walked along, the God King wore a brilliant smile on his face, especially thinking of the look on Di Nian Evil Spirit's face when seeing him, as if he had eaten shit.

This feeling can only be described in one word: Awesome!

Visitor Number One's brilliant performance also sparked heated discussion on the forum.

The battle video topped the forum's popularity chart in a short time.

After all non-participating players clicked the video, the first thought that surged in their hearts was universally: Ridiculous!

Barrage command, predictive countermeasures, precise kills... What made players watching the video find it most unbelievable was that the disaster-type troop backlash tactic, which Di Nian Bully was proud of, was actually broken by this mysterious Visitor Number One.

Before this, the forum had discussed many times how to break Di Nian Bully's invincible golden body.

The combination of Disaster-type and Plague-type was simply disgusting to the point of making one's hair stand on end.

In battle, Disaster-type troops took damage and defended, while Plague-type troops weakened player damage output; this combination was an unbreakable turtle shell, making Di Nian Bully's defenses always as solid as a metal wall.

If other Hei Chao Xie Sui are poor monsters, then Di Nian Bully is absolutely the Hei Chao commander most stingy with energy resources in the players' eyes.

If he can squeeze out one resource, he will absolutely not give players a chance to kill and devour.

But Visitor Number One could always accurately judge Di Nian Bully's backlash rhythm, making players focus fire on the Disaster-type and Plague-type troops about to backlash in advance.

The feeling for players watching the video was that this Number One commander probably had a monitor installed inside Di Nian Bully's brain.

Always predicting Di Nian Bully's next move.

It was precisely under Visitor Number One's accurate prediction that Di Nian Bully had to devote more energy to habitually changing.

Watching the whole thing, players watching the video shouted "Awesome."

Visitor Number One, already very famous on the forum, completely made a name for himself this time.

Moreover, many player guilds posted wanting to recruit Visitor Number One, including many alien guilds.

Visitor Number One's identity also sparked heated discussion on the forum.

All players were guessing who this mysterious Visitor Number One actually was.

The common guess was that Visitor Number One was most likely a management member of some race playing the game with the highest intelligent brain, a combination player of Living Being + Intelligent Brain.

Otherwise, such command ability surpassing common sense could not be explained.

Regarding these questions, Visitor Number One never made any statements to explain.

Players wanted to ask but couldn't @Visitor Number One on the forum; after all, it, having no game qualification, could only speak in the live broadcast room.

As for the forum, that was a place where only qualified players could post.

Visitor Number One's performance also broke many stereotypes players held about outside visitors.

Before this, forum players called outside visitors cloud players, who would only blabber in live broadcast rooms and were useless in real fights.

But this time Visitor Number One really got involved, proving with super strong personal ability that cloud players could be stronger than qualified players.

Visitor Number One became a god in one battle; many cloud players felt their backs straightened too, speaking with more confidence in player live broadcast rooms afterwards.

Even in many live broadcast rooms, a type of voice from cloud players appeared.

Saying Visitor Number One was also a cloud player; without qualification, he was still awesome.

So if Visitor Number One can do it, why can't I? Streamer, listen to me, do as I say...

The battle at Di Zhong Mountain Range, Qi Sheng in the background also paid attention to.

He saw Star Net's brilliant performance with his own eyes.

In fact, in the Guide's view, Star Net's intelligence was not inferior at all to the Mechanical Overlord that appeared early in the Di Zhong Mountain Range area, and even surpassed it in the richness of emotion, not just having the single function of a war weapon.

When talking about Star Net, the Guide stated this was a typical case of a weak race creating a divine artifact.

Just like the weak humans in the Guide's eyes, who once created many technological weapons capable of destroying Earth civilization, such as early nuclear weapons.

Or, humans created computers with computing power surpassing humans themselves.

These are all cases of the weak creating the strong.

The Guide stated that intelligent races where such phenomena appear generally benefit from the support of four basic dimensions.

The Moon Eclipse Race also created Star Net on these foundations.

First is the superposition of collective wisdom.

Intelligent races record wisdom; new generations use previous wisdom, then expand into new technical wisdom and record it.

The upgrade of storage technology is the core foundation for preserving civilization knowledge.

From inefficient oral transmission, to written records that can be preserved for longer periods, to printing techniques that accelerate knowledge transmission, up to current digital storage.

The improvement in storage efficiency allows knowledge to accumulate more efficiently; this change can also significantly reduce the cost for intelligent individuals within the race to acquire knowledge.

Second is the progression of tools.

For any intelligent life, the progress of creating tools cannot be achieved in one step; it must go through tool iteration.

Just like the iteration from stone tools to particle colliders.

Primitive people polished simple tools from stones, such as Shi Fu and stone knives.

Although these tools were rough, they laid the foundation for the birth of subsequent tools.

Just like building a high-rise building, one must first lay a good foundation.

Each generation of tools is improved and optimized on the foundation of the previous one.

Like the tools of the Stone Age—though simple, they provided the experience and inspiration for later creations such as bronze wares and iron wares.

In fact, many modern tools have evolved directly from the previous generation.

Take the development of computers: from the early massive mechanical computers, to electronic computers, then to transistor computers, and then to integrated-circuit computers…

The same is even more true in manufacturing tools—from the earliest hammers, chisels, and files, to the mechanical lathes and milling machines after the Industrial Revolution, and then to automated production lines.

The progression of tools brings a qualitative leap in development efficiency.

Primitive people could never grind a collider out of stone. Tool development is not linear either, but a spiraling ascent through cycles.

Each round of tool manufacturing builds on the previous round, allowing tools to continuously evolve and upgrade.

The Eclipse Clan had early research into AI technology, which also laid the foundation for the Eclipse Clan's creation of the Star Net.

The third point is the unlocking of energy tiers.

The degree to which an intelligent species controls energy determines the possibility of a civilization breaking through technological limits.

From the use of fire, to harnessing wind and water power in nature, then coal and oil, then electricity and nuclear energy… every unlocking of an energy tier brings a leap in technology.

The fourth point is the birth of collaborative networks, allowing technological development to evolve from the simple stacking of ant-colony thinking into a new civilization with emergent intelligence.

That is, the real-world internet, which can be further divided into technologies such as the Internet, the Internet of Things, blockchain, and cloud computing.

This significantly boosts the efficiency of information transmission, enabling information sharing and resource integration.

Once an intelligent species possesses a complete collaborative network, it becomes very easy for individual intelligent beings to acquire knowledge.

The four dimensions are like four spiraling development chains of a species' genes.

If we view an intelligent species as a super-lifeform fused from countless intelligent beings, then the storage of collective intelligence is the carrier for genetic information; tool progression is the future direction of life evolution; the unlocking of energy tiers determines the body's metabolic rate; and the collaborative network forms the neural network for information exchange.

The four dimensions resonate, allowing a seemingly fragile intelligent species to use technology as a lever to pry open forces beyond imagination.

The birth of the Star Net, in the Guide's analysis, has one additional key factor beyond these four dimensions that is hard to replicate.

Luck!

Technological accumulation is inevitable, but certain critical breakthroughs may be accidental.

To create something powerful from weakness, this kind of luck is needed.

History proves that many discoveries capable of changing a species' future came from luck.

In the birth of the Star Net, luck was the key.

This battle also gave Qi Sheng expectations for the Star Net.

But for now, he had no intention of giving the Star Net a game qualification.

It wasn't because of monopoly issues.

Although once the Star Net enters the game, there is indeed a probability that the Eclipse Clan, through powerful individual operational ability, could become a resource-monopoly tier within the player army.

But he knew the Star Net wouldn't do that.

The Star Net is clear on what the essence of Monster World is, and also knows the price of doing so.

In the players' eyes, Monster World is a game.

In the Star Net's eyes, Monster World has been a war requiring total commitment from the very start.

The core reason for not giving the Star Net a game qualification, in Qi Sheng's eyes, is only one: insufficient Shou Shou Jili.

Creating a body capable of bearing life for a player is not hard.

He only needs to spend 1,000 points of Shou Shou Jili to generate an initial player body for an Earth lifeform.

But the Star Net is not an ordinary player.

In essence, it is a super-brain that is half mechanical, half biological.

Suppose he were to create an ordinary player body for the Star Net—he could do that at any time.

But the price of doing so is that the Star Net would completely lose its edge of brilliance, becoming no different from an ordinary player.

If he were to replicate the Star Net's real-world body, the Shou Shou Jili consumed would be far greater.

The Star Net's main body is a 239-meter-tall building in Eclipse City; the entire building is the carrier of the Star Net's consciousness, with a massive database buried underground.

Counting the Star Net's tentacle extensions—monitoring devices, data networks, and so on spread throughout Eclipse City.

Even the entirety of Eclipse City can be regarded as a component of the Star Net's body.

Looking more closely, the super-brains extending to other species that interface with the Star Net, including the Star Net network, are also part of the Star Net's body.

This is hardly generating a single player—it's practically manufacturing a super-lifeform.

Even stripping away the parts he considers worthless, the Star Net's structure is incomprehensibly vast.

But this portion of Shou Shou Jili, Qi Sheng can afford.

According to the Guide's calculations, replicating the Star Net in Monster World would consume 300 million Shou Shou Jili.

But that is only the starting consumption.

Creating life is not hard; the hard part is interfacing with the Challenger System and building a player body for the Star Net.

Take real-world humans as an example.

Setting aside the consumption for consciousness reconstruction and life reconstruction and revival, directly replicating and creating an average human requires 12.4 Shou Shou Jili.

For example, repairing Bing Zhong's mother's body back then only cost 3.4 Shou Shou Jili.

But to "player-ify" this body—implanting the Challenger System, implanting the Star Vein Slot and other settings, and constructing a pure body forged from Shou Shou Jili—he spent 1,000 points of Shou Shou Jili.

That's roughly 120 times the Shou Shou Jili expenditure. For the Star Net to maintain its capabilities while becoming a player, the Shou Shou Jili consumed would be far greater.

Therefore, after replicating the Star Net and then interfacing it with the Challenger System, the current output of the player army is nowhere near enough to support it.

This is also why he chose not to recruit the Star Net as a powerful player.

Until the player army possesses Shou Shou Jili output matching the Star Net, one can only say:

The time is not yet ripe; the precious sword remains sheathed.

For now, having Star Net active on the forum under the identity of a strategy-guide tourist is fine; as for its game qualification—

Keep snatching, he's not releasing it anyway.

After all, if he can't afford to give it, how could he release it?

(End of chapter)