Chapter 308

Aurora's defenses were completely shattered this time; she uttered 'uh uh ah ah' repeatedly, until she spat a mouthful while aiming sideways, finally regaining her ability to speak.

Ji Ming, you… you you… I take back everything I just said, you byd, you totally deserve my disgust! This is all what you deserve!

Don't get excited, don't get excited; once exposed, just admit it—being open and honest is the premise of effective communication.

He took the double‑barreled shotgun that Aurora had formed with two fingers off his forehead, then Ji Ming pressed her back onto the chair.

Alright, I know your worries—just toss them aside, there's nothing to worry about, so what's your plan? I'll support you as much as I can.

Well…

Aurora heard this, fell silent for a moment, then lifted her eyelids.

Because of this illness, I've been a burden since I was eight; although my family's wealth makes the medical costs just a drop in the bucket, my existence is ultimately just dragging everyone down—these ten‑plus years of life are essentially meaningless, I'm just a money‑burning machine lying in bed who occasionally needs visitors, so when I see everyone in the group complaining about how busy work is today or how tiring study is, I actually feel a bit envious.

At that time I thought, 'If I could also create some value and give my life meaning, how great would that be?' So when I saw you form a special team, I immediately decided to join; I want to make some contribution in the little time I have left, so at least my funeral will have a few more colleagues and won't be too bleak. That's my plan—from now on, I'll cover all your weapons.

…It sounds rather tragic, if we ignore that Aurora is currently the biggest explosives supplier in Yangyue World, letting players recklessly blast from the underground city all the way to Sunlight City, and possibly even blast the whole world thereafter.

And speaking of this, she suddenly let out an exaggerated long sigh, her words full of resentment.

Ah, what a pity—I originally thought, with our previous progress, we could at least get to play with a Maxim before the closed beta ended, but when the project actually started we discovered the technical barrier blocking us isn't material strength at all; it's that even with magic and dwarven craftsmanship bonuses, we still can't meet the required precision in parts processing!

Saying this, she stole a glance at Ji Ming.

Hey hey, actually don't even mention heavy machine guns—many of the parts in that box cannon of yours are high‑price outsourced to the dwarf masters of the Forge Workshop to hand‑forge, and even so, the scrapped parts still make up a large share; it's clear they've taken a mass‑producible ordinary firearm and made it as unique as a protagonist's mech.

Fiddling with the hand‑crafted bullets on the table, Aurora noticed Ji Ming still had no reaction, and she clenched her back teeth.

Ah ah ah…

Ji Ming, who had long known this guy couldn't be sympathized with, couldn't listen any longer and slammed the table with a bang.

Damn! If you utter another 'ah', I'll plug your mouth—just let out any gas you have!

My fart… no, I mean, I know your game production team isn't simple; there's definitely some hidden truth behind the scenes, but one thing is clear: you want to guide players to be good, you want them to develop healthily, so…

Aurora lowered her voice, a hint of mischief flashing in her eyes.

Help me out—after the open beta, let those skilled in industrial development enter the game first; right now this technical level is really hindering everyone's output capacity.

Before Ji Ming could speak, she added another sentence.

Don't play dumb—there are only over a thousand closed‑beta testers, yet several hundred of them can bring their real‑world abilities into the game; even at this level they could found a frontier state, so you dare say you haven't been pulling strings behind the scenes or fixing accounts? I'm just offering suggestions.

Ji Ming snorted, didn't answer her, but instead touched the handgun engraved with his name, pulled out the magazine and took a look.

How can you be so sure the next game launch will be an open beta and still be limited‑sign‑up? Isn't that contradictory?

Because I've already figured out your plans!

Aurora answered with decisive certainty, then gave a smug smile.

If the closed beta ended after Andrew's death, I'd surely think there was a second test, but there isn't—the game's goal shifted directly from dominating the Underground World to dominating Sunlight City. What does that show? It shows that no matter what you previously planned, you're now preparing for a seamless transition, and incidentally you're testing the topic of 'how players will react when they encounter Yangyue civilization' all at once.

As for why the open beta is still limited‑sign‑up… the last time the team released a statistical document, global VR headset sales surged hundreds of times in two months, and the electronics factories in Broad Prefecture, in order to hire and expand output, were offering wages nearly five times higher—so I think you guys shouldn't have gone crazy enough to dump tens of millions of players into Yangyue World all at once, right?

"As for why the public test still limits numbers……When the team released the statistical document last time, global VR headset sales surged by hundreds of times in two months, and the electronics factories in Guangfu, in order to recruit and expand production, offered wages nearly five times higher, so I think you shouldn't have gone crazy enough to dump tens of millions of players into Yangyue World all at once, right? No way?"

Even setting aside Lao Yang Tou's multiple generous contributions and Ge Rui Sen's wood‑component repair technology, the morgue currently holds fewer than a million corpses; even if stockpiles could pile up into a vast sea of bones enough for all players to descend at once, Ji Ming, who had thought this through crystal clear, would absolutely not open that loophole.

After all, although playing 'Code Name: Yangyue' has a 'helmet expense' as a threshold, there are far too many people worldwide who can grit their teeth and come up with that money; even if the boss adds an 'account activation fee' as a second barrier, a huge number of players will still enter the underground city together, and that number keeps growing every second.

These players aren't afraid of death and all crave glory and chaos; adding the real‑world conflicts and ideological differences that already exist, they will inevitably clash with Yangyue's local forces and with each other, snowballing until the player order Ji Ming painstakingly shaped—its tendency toward goodness—is reduced to nothing, turning into a genuine fourth calamity that creates countless terrible disasters.

—This isn't a game launch at all; it's trying to burn Yangyue World to ashes before Machine Month even makes a move!

Even saying, could the events inside 'Code Name: Yangyue' possibly feedback into reality, making the already tense world situation even tenser, turning the already easing contradictions into irreconcilable ones, outputting doom in reverse, plunging Earth into a civilization‑on‑the‑brink‑of‑destruction S3 season, rushing straight toward an S4 where only wooden sticks can be used?

By that time Ji Ming would become the sinner of both worlds; Machine Month would see him and have to respectfully offer a cup of tea, call him 'brother', and have Ji Ming, this high‑ranking demon, learn well how to be an excellent civilization terminator—just a slight move and he could embody a multiversal‑scale disaster.

So the result of Ji Ming's discussion with the boss was a slow‑and‑steady approach: keep some water, add more noodles, add more water to the noodles—operational space—each day draw a portion of the paid‑reservation players into the game, taking a year or even longer to 'digest' all players, don't rush, maintain the stability and controllability of the mainstream player mindset, at least make them look somewhat human.

"So after Ji Ming discussed with the small boss, the result was to take things slow, leaving some water and adding more noodles, adding more water to the noodles, creating operational space; each day drawing a portion from the paid reservation players into the game, using a year or even longer to have all players 'digested completely', don't rush, maintain stability and controllability of the mainstream thought of the player base, at least make them seem somewhat human."

I understand this, but my say doesn't count—I can only report it through the staff channel; by then you should prepare early and apply as soon as possible to increase your odds, got it?

"Regarding this, I can understand, but my say doesn't count; I can only go through the staff channel to report it. When the time comes, you should prepare early and apply as soon as possible to increase the chances, got it?"

Aurora now has a job too; not knowing how much Yangyue time will pass between the closed and open betas, after receiving Ji Ming's affirmative reply, she hurried back to the Forge Workshop to direct the NPCs on the next step of their production plan.

But as she walked to the door with light steps, Ji Ming behind her suddenly asked a question.

Um, may I ask—how's the situation lately?

Aurora didn't stop, just left a sentence.

Better than before, about the same as before.

"Better than before, about the same as before."

Ji Ming said nothing more, instead leaning back in his chair in silence for a while, then teleported back to the Holy Hall, taking advantage of the fact that players are now busy in Sunlight City to finish the final preparations for the open beta.

After setting the time to send the promotional PV, he brought a incense‑wood plant grown in a large tub, cut it off at the roots, stood it upright in the cauldron holding the five grains, lit it, and counted it as offering a great stick of incense in advance for all beings in this world.

'Boss, that's probably all I can do; from now on it's up to the players whether they choose to be good or bad, and whether Yangyue World will improve or deteriorate—it's entirely up to their fate.'

【You also don't need to be anxious, savior; the worst outcome is merely destruction, but even without this plan, Yangyue will sooner or later be destroyed by Machine Month, so having a chance to struggle is already enough to satisfy me.】

【You don't need to be anxious, Savior; the worst outcome is merely destruction, but even without this plan, Yangyue will eventually be destroyed by the Machine Moon, so having a chance to struggle is already enough to satisfy me.】

At eight o'clock that evening, when 'Code Name: Yangyue' officially announced the end of the closed beta and the reluctant players were all kicked out of the game, they found a new message on their phones.

【Your special attention·Double Moon Struggle·updated】

'Double… double what thing?'

'When did I start following this?'

'Wait, this damned‑to‑hell dynamic count… this is actually the official account of 'Code Name: Yangyue'!'

Wait, this damn dynamic count… this fucking is the official title of "Code Name: Yangyue"!

Even with the previous experience, all video sites worldwide were on high alert now, but the influx of users like a swarm of locusts still paralyzed the vast majority, and those who luckily escaped the first wave of impact were defeated in the frenzied influx of users from other sites.

【Very sorry, the website server has crashed, the technical department is undergoing emergency repairs, please try again later.】

Trash! I'll fuck your horse!

"Usually everyone collecting membership fees is quite diligent, but now they've all turned into potato cultivation bases?"

"The big bun finally made it to the table, yet I still found myself queuing in that endless line; netizens, frantic over the words 'public test PV' in the title, were scratching their heads and posting the hot search 【You guys are totally fucking crazy】, while also turning their gaze to the strangely formal title 《Double Moon Struggle》."

"Weird, even if it were, it should be 《Yang Moon Contention》, right? So what the heck is this 《Double Moon Struggle》?"

"The small boss had asked Ji Ming the same question, and Ji Ming's answer was."

"You've been choked by the Machine Moon, struggling to break free; and the Machine Moon has had its retreat cut off by you, struggling to survive—isn't this a 【Double Moon Struggle】?"

"Besides, 'contention' includes righteous struggle as well as evil war, but 'strive' is different—even earning money requires labor, so any words it forms should be positive, right? It's my good wish for you."

"And following this line of thought, at midnight, someone finally leaked the video resource through internal channels and spread it via various means across the internet; when netizens opened it, the first line they saw was."

"——105,312 years ago, the outer atmosphere of Yang Moon Star."

"Ji Ming frankly told the players the greatest truth about Yang Moon Star, which is also the ultimate goal of the 《Fourth Heavenly Disaster》 plan—though its origin is unknown, but now they intend to burn the entire surface of Yang Moon Star to achieve the extinction craft that will annihilate civilization."

"Then, using text and a few precious historical records, they quickly described the total war between the Extinction Fleet and the Yang Moon Ancient Civilization; in the end both sides suffered heavy losses, one parasitic moon became the Machine Moon, and an awakened consciousness decided to save itself, thus beginning a drawn-out tug-of-war lasting tens of thousands of years, spanning generations, nearly exhausting both sides."

"——The painful reality made the planet's will feel that salvation was hopeless, so it decided to summon from other universes those bearing the mandate of heaven to be saviors."

"【Could it be us?】"

"【No way, the timing doesn't match.】"

"And amid the netizens' heightened anticipation, the scene shifted—from the brutal battlefield where half the sky was ablaze to a peaceful forest village; a bespectacled youth in noble school uniform speaking with an EastJapan accent was summoned by a group of impoverished, ragged elves each with eight-pack abs to another world, becoming the savior of their race."

""Soraga, I will surely shoulder the responsibility of savior, using my strengths to help Minna Sang save the species from its crisis of continuation—Alright, I'll take care of all this!""

"At this moment the viewers were dumbfounded, angrily pounding their keyboards, and loudly cursing the friend who sent them this resource."

"【What the hell did you give me? It's not even midnight yet—don't think I'll forgive you just because you slipped in some clips!】"