Chapter 292: Civilizational Downgrade — This Doesn't Make Sense!

Meng Yuan Chu Altar.

Just as the God King was beginning the live-fire test of the new war mode, Qi Sheng noticed an anomaly appearing in the Earth Roar Continent region.

A massive-scale descending force was crossing through space.

It wasn't strange for racial forces to descend upon Monster World — at this stage, enormous numbers of groups were arriving every second of every minute.

What was strange was that this descending force had an extremely clear objective.

The chosen descent point was right near the Mechanical Legion's territory, and they had already prepared themselves to fight the Mechanical Legion before descending.

Even stranger, the analysis information provided by the Guidance showed that this force's civilizational structure perfectly countered every advantage the Mechanical Legion possessed.

Such a strange phenomenon let Qi Sheng be almost certain that this force had come specifically for the Mechanical Legion.

Gathering intelligence on outside forces had always been a key priority for Qi Sheng. He decisively spent Shou Shou Jili to launch a detailed analytical investigation of this force.

Using time-retrospection, he pushed the viewpoint backward from the ongoing descent process.

Soon the image jumped to the small world where the descending force was located, and time continued pushing forward…

……

Fallen Star World.

Star Bay.

The queue of people snaked out for two blocks like a game of Snake.

Every one of them clutched a pre-order voucher tightly, fanaticism glinting in their eyes.

At the front of the line, Kong Jie used his reddening-from-the-cold fingers to check the time once more, confirming that *Civilization War* was still 37 minutes from release.

For this day, he had been looking forward for three years.

Now, his wish was about to come true.

Nervousness and anticipation wove together in his heart.

He tilted his head, casting his gaze forward.

Ahead of him in line was a middle-aged man wearing a Star Warrior uniform, showing off to those around him his collection of limited editions from every past release.

Further ahead was a pair of twins, taking turns holding the spot — the other was currently curled up in a sleeping bag catching some sleep.

Anyone who could stand at the front had arrived two days early, bringing along dry rations and water.

Otherwise, there was no way to get the game the moment it went on sale.

As his thoughts churned, the "secondary optical computer" rang.

He took the secondary optical computer from his pocket to check; the screen displayed: Dad.

Kong Jie bit his lower lip, then finally pressed the answer key.

"Kong Jie, you're already seventeen. It's time to consider joining the Star Development Program instead of pulling all-nighters to line up for some game."

"This is my favorite strategy game — the new twentieth-anniversary edition. The limited collector's version has…"

"Enough. If your mother were still alive and saw you like this…"

Kong Jie abruptly cut the call and stuffed the secondary optical computer back into his pocket.

His eyes reddened, while his knuckles turned white from gripping too tightly.

Five years now, and his father was still the same — every argument ended with him dragging out his dead mother.

Eight years ago, his father had joined the Star Development Program and never returned, only occasionally speaking with him through the optical computer.

He hadn't even come to his mother's funeral.

Clearly not by his side, yet always wanting to lecture him about life in that preachy tone — he hated that feeling.

"They're opening!"

Right at that moment, the crowd suddenly stirred.

Kong Jie turned his head to look. The game store's glass doors slid open to both sides like a curtain of water, revealing an interior piled high with game boxes.

Kong Jie's breath stalled for a second, then he decisively stood firm.

He was seventh in line, and soon arrived at the store entrance.

The robot standing inside the store smiled and nodded at him in a gentle synthesized voice:

"Please show your pre-order code."

Kong Jie took the pre-order voucher from his pocket and aligned it with the green beam emitted by his optical computer.

"Verification passed. Buyer No. 7, here is your *Civilization War: Pioneer Special Edition*."

Taking the game box containing the disc, the dissatisfaction in Kong Jie's heart was instantly swept away by excitement.

He immediately turned and walked briskly toward home.

He had only taken a few steps when he suddenly felt as if the colors of the world in his eyes had changed.

He snapped his head up to look at the sky and saw an eerie orange-red glowing through the clouds, as if something were burning.

The nearby crowd suddenly stirred.

Someone pointed at the sky and shouted:

"Look, what is that?"

Kong Jie followed the direction of the pointing finger, and his pupils contracted sharply.

A fireball was tearing through the clouds into view, trailing over a dozen scattered streaks behind it.

He could clearly see it disintegrating in the air, fragments scattering outward layer by layer, rapidly growing larger in his eyes.

"A meteor shower is coming, run!" someone screamed, and the nearby crowd erupted into chaos.

Boom!

The first fragment struck a towering shopping center three blocks away, and the shockwave flipped Kong Jie onto the ground like an invisible giant hand.

The back of his head slammed hard against the sidewalk, and black spots bloomed at the edges of his vision.

In the final second before losing consciousness, he saw at the center of the meteor shower a fist-sized black stone spinning as it fell toward the roof of the game shop.

Boom!

After the tremendous roar, Kong Jie fell completely unconscious.

On the other side, the black stone that had smashed into the game shop decomposed layer by layer amid the rubble, ultimately transforming into a golden orb of light that rose up.

After hovering briefly in the air, the orb of light suddenly shot toward Kong Jie's location.

More precisely, toward the game box in his hand.

Finally, after making contact with the game box, it vanished without a trace.

He did not know how long had passed, but as his consciousness gradually revived, the first thing Kong Jie smelled was the pungent scent of disinfectant.

Wrinkling his nose, he slowly opened his eyes.

The hospital's pale blue ceiling came into view, and beside his ears was the steady "beep, beep" of a heart monitor.

"You're awake?"

Turning his head, he saw a nurse adjusting the IV drip rate:

"Mild concussion. You're very lucky—outside is already a total mess. The area you're in was hit by a meteor shower…"

Listening to the nurse's explanation, Kong Jie tried to sit up, his temples throbbing:

"Was it an invasion by the Mofa Clan?"

"Based on publicly available investigation information, it has nothing to do with the Mofa Clan. Although the front lines have collapsed, it hasn't reached the point of them attacking Star Bay."

Kong Jie nodded, then suddenly realized something and looked at the nurse in alarm:

"Where's my stuff!"

The nurse pulled out a storage cabinet from under the bed:

"It's all here."

Seeing the game box was still there, Kong Jie let out a long sigh of relief.

If the game box had been lost, the days ahead would have been hard to endure.

This time he had pre-ordered the Pioneer Edition; the official release wouldn't be for another half year.

The worry in his heart dissipated, replaced by the joy of having survived a disaster.

After the nurse finished going over the precautions, he couldn't wait to complete the discharge procedures.

The streets outside were a scene of devastation—shattered glass and rubble scattered everywhere, the shouts of rescue workers interwoven with the wail of sirens—but none of this could distract Kong Jie. He just wanted to get home as quickly as possible and start the game he had been looking forward to.

If tomorrow were the end of the world, then so be it—at least today he could play the game.

Returning home and pushing open the door, the room was still in the same state as when he had left.

He entered the study and came to stand before the gaming desk.

In the corner where the desk met the wall sat three things: a bottle of antidepressants that had been discontinued for half a year, a dust-covered Sim Commander glove, and an ad22 model game console with a cracked screen.

These three items perfectly summed up his eighteen years of life: the happiness he had lost, the expectations he had failed to fulfill, and the digital utopia that had ultimately taken him in.

Ever since his mother passed away, gaming had shifted from a hobby to oxygen.

With his father absent and no company by his side, the only feedback reality offered was endless loneliness, so he chose to dive into one magnificent game world after another, experiencing life under a different identity.

There, death was merely a reload, losses could be retrieved, and every problem had a solution.

Unlike reality, where his mother's illness had no hidden level to unlock a special cure.

Kong Jie carefully placed the game box on the desk, took a deep breath, and slowly opened the packaging.

Inside, besides the golden game disc, there was an exquisite art book and a badge printed with the game's logo.

He gently took out the disc, peeled off the plastic film, inserted it into the optical computer game console, then picked up the optical computer helmet and strapped it onto his head.

A few seconds later, a line of text emerged in the darkness:

【Civilization War: Connecting, loading. Initial load may take a long time: 1%……3%…….】

The progress bar pulsed across his retina, the dark red percentage slowly loading.

As time passed, Kong Jie finally waited for the loading progress to reach 100%.

The next second, countless mosaic-colored blocks swept in like a blizzard, and the picture began to flicker.

Kong Jie felt his head buzz, then a stabbing pain surged through him.

But the pain came quickly and left just as quickly.

An unfamiliar electronic synthesized voice emerged in his mind:

【Civilization Diagnostic Report】:

【Civilization Designation: Virtual Rune】

【Duration of Existence: Data lost, unable to determine】

【Degree of Extinction: 99.999……%】

【Final Spark Carrier Confirmed: Fused with "Civilization War" Entertainment Data Terminal】

【Remaining Revivable Individuals: 1 (Illusion - Spark Source)】

【Civilization Revival Protocol Initiated: ……】

As the prompt sounded in his ears, the torn picture healed, and Kong Jie's vision plunged from darkness into a dazzling white light.

When his pupils refocused, he found himself suspended above a vast starry sky.

Beneath his feet was a planet wrapped in a pale purple atmosphere, its land contours like a shattered mirror, with seven floating continents connected by glowing bands of light.

The game's background—Kong Jie was already very familiar with it.

This game's gameplay was the same as its predecessor: the player would be placed in a super battlefield composed of seven floating continents.

Each continent had its own unique features and produced different types of resources.

As the ruler of a newborn civilization, after selecting the initial civilization, the player needed to accompany the civilization on its long journey from wilderness to glory.

The starting phase begins with gathering basic resources, then climbing the tech tree step by step, establishing buildings like the Runic Workshop, and unlocking civilization technologies.

The game's gameplay mainly divides into diplomacy, warfare, trade, intrigue, and so on.

But the He Xin Wan Fa is still warfare — in the early phase there are plenty of resource tiles for safe development, while in the late phase resources can only be obtained through war mode.

【Initial Civilization Loading Complete】

When the cold prompt tone sounded, a row of familiar game interfaces popped up before Kong Jie's eyes.

Above were the familiar seven civilization options… no, eight.

Beyond the established Natural Magic, Biotech, Mechanical Tech, Alchemy Civilization, Elemental Civilization, Shadow Civilization, and Undead Civilization, there was unexpectedly an additional civilization system called "Virtual Runes."

As a veteran player, he had followed all game-related information.

Before this, he had never heard of the game introducing a brand-new civilization system.

Out of curiosity, he tapped forward with his right hand wearing the optical-computer glove.

Instantly, the introduction information related to "Virtual Rune Civilization" appeared:

【Virtual Runes were originally a two-dimensional digital civilization, with data streams as their life carriers… through long ages of development they successfully broke through the three-dimensional limit and completed a dimensional ascension of civilization, but the brutal wars of the Greater World utterly destroyed their civilization, leaving only the most primitive spark of civilization to flee the Greater World… and now they are about to begin a renewed development of their civilization.】

The introduction information made Kong Jie feel it didn't add up at all, seemingly completely inconsistent with the game's background.

The openings of the other seven civilizations were all stories between the Seven Continents — only this Virtual Runes was something about a two-dimensional civilization ascending to three dimensions.

The story background also didn't mention any background line connecting with the other seven races.

Thinking that what he was experiencing was the "Pioneer Edition," there must be differences, he decided to choose this never-before-experienced new civilization as his pioneering civilization.

After completing the selection, the screen changed to a God's-eye view.

After the clouds dispersed, he overlooked the earth below.

What appeared in his field of vision was a valley embraced by mountains, with a golden altar standing in the middle of the scene.

Next, the resource bar, tech tree, unit list… faintly appeared in his line of sight — it looked like a standard SLG interface.

Reaching out to swipe forward, his viewpoint immediately moved along, with accelerated time flowing in the upper-right corner.

【Accept the Spark Protocol? Yes/No】

Just then, a prompt popped up in his mind.

Kong Jie instinctively chose: Yes.

Instantly the altar below trembled, and after a short while it spat out a flame cluster resembling an elemental lifeform.

After Kong Jie's gaze focused, the information of the initial unit appeared:

【Flint (Initial Unit)】:

Ability Introduction

Gathering: Can rapidly analyze matter, decomposing it into pure data streams — resource gathering speed +1500%.

Construction: Can rapidly build already-unlocked civilization buildings — speed +5000%.

……

After reading Flint's introduction, Kong Jie was startled.

An initial unit with 15× gathering speed and 50× construction speed — what kind of divine unit is this?

"Looks like this is a civilization that's strong in the early phase, but the opening is way too overpowered."

After clarifying the positioning of the Virtual Rune Civilization, Kong Jie reached out and clicked the Flint unit resembling a flame cluster, dragging it toward the nearest Magic Crystal mining area in the God's-eye view, and began gathering the civilization's initial development resources.

Under the God's-eye view, Flint moved at tremendous speed; after entering the nearby Level-1 Magic Crystal mining area, the resource bar began refreshing Magic Crystals.

He swiped forward with both hands, zooming in the viewpoint.

He could see the Flint in the mining area pressed against the crystal clusters to extract them — the clusters seemed to melt and rapidly dissipate, transforming into streams of data-flow code that entered Flint's body.

With the accelerated time flow in the game, half an hour in reality equals one month in-game.

While letting Flint gather resources, Kong Jie himself used the God's-eye view to observe what resources were near the randomly assigned starting location.

Day 25 — Kong Jie had the altar consume resources to gestate three Flint units; two of them went lumbering, while the remaining two continued mining Magic Crystals.

Month 2 — a brand-new building rose from the ground beside the altar.

This building was called the "Data Transmission Center."

The strength of the new building was honestly overpowered.

With this new building, Flint workers no longer needed to shuttle back and forth transporting resources.

No matter where they were, the low-grade crystal ore resources they gathered could be linked to the Data Transmission Center via data transmission, then relayed to the altar.

As for timber, and high-purity crystal ore, they couldn't be transmitted for now — the building level of the Data Transmission Center needed to be raised.

The overpowered opening made him feel this civilization was far too overpowered.

But thinking this was the Pioneer Edition, it could be explained — perhaps after the official version launched, it would be nerfed.

The current overpowered state could be understood as an experience mode, accelerating the civilization's development speed so more of the setting's content could be experienced.

Month 3 — the first batch of combat units, "Hash Hunters," were born.

Their ability was to decompose and seal enemies, and draw part of the slain lifeforms' power to enhance their own strength.

The very first combat unit was actually a growth-type unit — Kong Jie was surprised, and at the same time felt a strong curiosity about the future direction of this eighth civilization.

With such overpowered settings, how are the other seven civilizations supposed to play?

Month 8 — the guardian beast swarm of the second Magic Crystal mining area was wiped out, and the Hash Hunters returned with the spoils.

Among the spoils were 12 bundles of crystallized beast horns, several high-purity Magic Crystal cores, and a new resource-gathering channel.

On this day, Kong Jie also used the God's-eye view to direct Flint workers to build the first Smelting Workshop — the crystallized beast horns were smelted here into energy crystal blocks, then transported to the altar to provide fuel for the next batch of units' birth.

Month 11 — the first Lumber Camp was also completed.

The sturdy hemlock timber gathered nearby was processed into lumber, then converted into data-flow lumber for building defensive structures.

At dusk, a scout team composed of five Hash Hunters set out toward the coordinate position marked to the northwest — Kong Jie's mission for them was to explore the fog-covered areas of the map and search for potential threats or resource points.

Month 20, the first batch of formal combat troops, the Rune Guardians, are born.

Shaped like headless warriors, clad in armor inlaid with magic crystals, wielding war-spears capable of unleashing energy blasts, they are better suited to frontal combat than Hash Hunters.

Kong Jie chose not to rush an offensive, opting instead to consolidate territory first.

East side: two Rune watchtowers were built along the river, monitoring nearby activity to prevent attacks from outside forces.

South side: mining began on the newly discovered open-air magic crystal deposit, with efficiency higher than that of underground veins.

West side: logging crews pushed deep into the jungle, searching for the previously spotted Spirit-Rune Wood, which could be used to craft higher-grade rune equipment.

Scout teams continuously sent back updated intelligence during this period.

Month 32, the Virtual Rune Civilization under Kong Jie's control officially encountered its first native civilization in the game, the "Forge Clan."

This was a minor civilization outside the seven great civilization systems, having already established a small empire that occupied multiple resource sites.

Should he establish an alliance through diplomacy and open trade, or launch a war?

Kong Jie De Xiang Fa was to keep developing, and once his strength was sufficient, launch a war directly to plunder the Forge Civilization's resources and territory.

Having played continuously for sixteen hours, a ravenously hungry Kong Jie chose to log off at this point.

Looking up at the optical-brain display screen, a scene unfolded that struck him as unbelievable.

Although he had already logged off, the virtual rune civilization in the game was actually still developing.

It wasn't that continued development was a problem in itself.

In past Civilization War editions, there had also been an auto-develop mode, but it was limited to continuing to mine the resources the player had designated before logging off.

Yet the virtual rune civilization on the screen had actually begun constructing new buildings as well.

This unusual scene left Kong Jie somewhat puzzled.

"New game mode?"

He guessed this was a Xin Wan Fa introduced by the game's officials, granting the civilization's development a higher degree of freedom.

When the player intervenes, he is the sovereign and decision-maker of the civilization.

When he logs off and lets go, the civilization will also optimize its development according to its own characteristics.

"Interesting."

Placing the optical-brain helmet on the desk, he got up and went to the fridge, busying himself with dinner.

During this time, he took out a secondary optical brain from his pocket, skillfully opened the software, and began browsing the latest game news.

But he found the news list densely packed with reports about meteorite falls.

Next came frontline news: the Mo Fa Clan had already launched a full-scale war against the Interstellar Alliance, and the frontlines were showing signs of collapse.

According to the experts cited in the news, this war might be the turning point leading to the Interstellar Alliance's destruction.

The world was about to end.

Kong Jie didn't care about this in the slightest.

A nobody like him was powerless to stop the course of the future.

The only thing he worried about was his father, whom he hadn't seen in many years — his father was in a frontline starfield and might be affected by this war.

"Forget it."

Shaking his head and no longer dwelling on the trivial matters of reality, Kong Jie picked up his plate, went to the dining table, ate heartily, and had already begun planning the civilization's next direction of development in his mind.

He logged into the player exchange area through the secondary optical brain.

He browsed the information related to the eighth civilization, the "Virtual Rune Civilization."

But he found that no players in the exchange area were discussing this civilization, whose early-game strength was absurdly overpowered; the most-discussed topic was still the previous edition's strongest, the "Shadow Civilization."

After searching for a long time, Kong Jie fell into thought.

The players who got the game this time had all activated the Pioneer Edition, so logically they should have encountered the eighth civilization as well.

Veteran players generally chose to play the new civilization for the experience, yet not a single person in the exchange area mentioned it — which seemed rather unusual.

At this moment, he recalled the explanation given at the game's pre-launch press conference.

The official spokesperson had said at the time that many hidden easter eggs had been embedded in the Pioneer Edition, some of which were extremely rare and would be randomly placed inside pre-ordered game boxes.

His understanding of those words at the time had been that the easter eggs were extras like a settings collection inside the game box.

Thinking about it now, it was very likely priority access to the eighth civilization.

"What luck." After figuring out the reason, Kong Jie immediately felt his mood lift.

Wolfing down the food on his plate, he returned to his room, put on the optical-brain helmet, and re-entered the game.

Civilization War, activate!

But the moment he entered the game, Kong Jie froze — in the time it took to eat a meal, two new buildings had already risen from the ground.

After checking the introduction of the two new functional buildings, Kong Jie decisively dismantled them for resources and continued the game according to Ji De Xiang Fa.

Month 39.

The Virtual Rune Civilization under Kong Jie's control launched a war against the Forge Clan.

In this battle, the special unit "Firewall" first showed its might — an absolute defense; the Forge Clan's troops simply could not break through the defensive line formed by the Firewalls.

And the newly developed "Rune Virus" unit displayed terrifying destructive power.

The Rune Virus, like a blob of light, resembled a real-world worm virus: once it infiltrated the Forge Clan's war machines, it would tamper with the operating logic of their troops, or even take direct control of them in combat.

Before the flood formed by the data legion, the Forge Clan had no power to resist; their lava walls were blasted into ruins.

The Forge Clan's heavy-armored warriors fell in swathes under the data storm unleashed by "Apocalypse," and the legendary weapons forged by the Forge Clan were broken down by the data warriors before they could even be used.

The war was a one-sided rout; in just two months, the Forge Clan's three fortresses fell one after another.

Directing the campaign, Kong Jie felt as if he had cheats on — pure slaughter the whole way through.

When the banner of the Virtual Rune Empire was planted atop the highest point of Forge Fortress, the forging civilization that had long dominated the northern region of the map was extinguished.

Month 40, the news of the Forge Empire's destruction spread throughout the region.

Multiple civilized factions near the territory sent alliance applications, but Kong Jie chose to reject them all.

The early stage is the perfect time for development; forming an alliance with native tribes is completely unnecessary. If he does not accelerate development now, the future will bring threats from other players.

Amidst day-after-day gameplay, the scale of the Rune Empire controlled by Kong Jie grew increasingly massive.

Finally, they encountered a civilized empire controlled by players within the game.

The opponent was playing the most popular civilization from the previous generation: the "Shadow Civilization."

After dispatching scout units to each other to clear the fog of war in their respective regions, the opponent sent multiple question marks.

Shadow Roar: Brother, what is the situation with your civilization? A Virtual Rune Empire? Does this civilization even exist in the game?

Kong Jie: A hidden easter egg. You can choose the eighth civilization, "Virtual Rune."

Shadow Roar: Holy crap, that's awesome. I'm so envious. Tell me more about how this civilization works?

Kong Jie: Its strength is overpowered. It will definitely be nerfed after the official release, but the development speed of this early access version is invincible.

Shadow Roar: Interesting. Want to clash?

Kong Jie: Come!

After some casual chat, the first round of confrontation between the players began.

Although the game started at roughly the same time, the gap between the Virtual Rune Empire and the Shadow Empire could be described as night and day.

As soon as the war began, the "Shadow Striker" units of the Shadow Empire attempted to launch guerrilla warfare using their high mobility.

However, as soon as they approached the Rune Empire controlled by Kong Jie, they were intercepted by the "Firewall Matrix." All assassins infiltrating the shadows were instantly data-locked upon revealing themselves, completely losing the ability to resist.

When the "Abyssal Behemoth," the pride of the Shadow Civilization, made its appearance, it was greeted by Kong Jie's newly unlocked weapon: the "Blue Screen Bomb."

This monster composed of dark energy, while charging, came into contact with the Blue Screen Bomb. Countless error codes suddenly floated within its body, wrapping around its form like chains. Subsequently, its body turned into pixel blocks and disintegrated amidst the sound effect of a system crash.

The entire war presented a one-sided crushing momentum.

The core units summoned by the Shadow Empire were wiped out in waves on the main battlefield by "Antivirus Program" tanks, their data formatted.

When the data torrent of the Rune Empire engulfed the Shadow Empire's main city, battlefield statistics showed the casualty ratio between the two sides reached a staggering 32,000 to 3,879,000.

Before the civilization was annihilated, Shadow Roar left only one sentence:

"This isn't just overpowered; isn't this basically cheating?"

Shortly after, the Shadow Empire disappeared from the map.

However, what puzzled Kong Jie was that in this war, he had actually absorbed all of the Shadow Empire's resources.

This did not conform to the game settings.

In the settings of previous game generations, when a player-controlled civilization clashed with an enemy civilization, even if completely wiped out, they would only lose one-tenth of their resources and then respawn at a random location on one of the seven continents.

This setting ensured that players did not need to start over from scratch every time they failed.

The only thing lost in war was resources.

Secondly, functional buildings damaged by destruction could be repaired by investing resources; they did not need to be rebuilt.

But in this round of confrontation, he had actually absorbed all of the Shadow Empire's resources. After glancing again at the numerical value displayed on the resource bar, Kong Jie was completely stunned.

What Kong Jie did not know was that after logging out of the game, "Shadow Roar" had also fallen into a state of confusion.

After re-entering the game, a text message popped up on his optical brain display:

【Game data corrupted, all lost. Please create a new civilization to start the game.】

He had thought that after re-entering the game, he would restart at a random location.

He never expected that all the data he had grinded for most of the day was completely lost. This battle had shattered his mentality.

"What a lousy game! Such a serious bug right after launch!"

The more Shadow Roar thought about it, the angrier he became. He began to furiously slam and smash his desk, then helplessly chose to restart the game. However, the only selectable options were still the original seven civilizations; the option for the Virtual Rune Empire did not exist at all.

On the other side, after the war ended, the Rune Empire controlled by Kong Jie entered a period of frantic expansion.

In the days that followed.

The digitized "Civilization Trait Advantage" caused the empire to spread like a virus. Wherever a assimilation beacon was planted, the land there automatically transformed into Rune Territory.

Forests reorganized into Rune Timber Factories within the data streams; mountain ranges were parsed into modular mines; even rivers were encoded into energy transmission networks.

In just 12 months, the empire's territory exploded fourfold, pushing the border line to the "Ash Rift" in the northwest corner of the continent.

Just as the digitized expansion reached the ancient ruins deep within the rift, Kong Jie triggered a hidden quest in "Civilization War."

An option prompt floated in his retina:

【The ancient Demon Clan "Rockheart Clan" is sealed within the Ash Rift. Do you wish to continue exploring this area? Continuing exploration carries a probability of releasing the Rockheart Clan, posing a risk of civilization annihilation. Yes/No.】

Facing the option, the supremely confident Kong Jie chose to continue exploration, instantly triggering the hidden condition.

【The seal of the Ash Rift is broken. The Rockheart Clan has revived. The Rune Empire is about to suffer an invasion by the Demon Clan.】

Facing this sudden hidden easter egg crisis, Kong Jie chose to engage in a direct confrontation.

However, he discovered that the advantages of data units in war could not be utilized at all. Facing the Rockheart Demons, the firewall was ineffective, viruses were ineffective. In various war judgments, the ability priority of the Rockheart Demons was higher than the data units under his control.

When the Rockheart Demons activated the civilization special skill "Leyline Cataclysm," the data structure of the entire vanguard army directly collapsed and was wiped out in waves.

Kong Jie helplessly watched as more than half of the territory expanded over 12 months was lost within half a month.

At this moment, he had two choices: abandon the war and flee via migration, which could save resources lost due to civilization annihilation.

How much loss could be specifically recovered depended on whether the Rockheart Demon Clan would pursue them during the migration.

Or negotiate and surrender, but the outcome was unknown.

Surrender could involve proposing conditions, such as submitting a portion of resources. If agreed upon, a certain period of ceasefire could be obtained.

If the other party did not agree, the war would continue, and the likely final result would be civilization annihilation, followed by respawning at a random location.

Just as Kong Jie hesitated on how to decide, a dialog box suddenly popped up in his retina.

Illusion (Spark Source): Administrator, hello. I need your help.

The sudden dialogue box left Kong Jie momentarily stunned.

Illusion is the name of the altar in the Rune Empire, and the only spark preserved in the Rune Empire's opening background introduction.

What he hadn't expected was that Illusion could initiate a conversation with him.

"Does this game even have an AI dialogue function?"

Filled with curiosity, he typed a line of text:

"Illusion, what help do you need me to provide?"

Illusion: Archon, the device you are using is outdated; its information processing capacity can no longer meet the growing demands of the Empire's development. We hope you will upgrade the configuration.

Illusion's reply left Kong Jie utterly baffled.

"What does that mean? Did I fail to construct an important functional building?"

Illusion: This has nothing to do with the content within the virtual scene. We hope you will upgrade the processing capacity of your real-world device; preferably, replace it with a new device of superior performance.

Illusion's response left Kong Jie completely dumbfounded.

When he first saw the request sent by Illusion,

he had thought the civilization's allocation of points had gone astray, so the game was using Illusion to converse with him as a reminder.

But he never expected... that he was being looked down upon by the civilization he created in the game for his real-world light brain's configuration being too low.

This is unreasonable!

(End of this chapter)