Chapter 983: The Possibility of Smuggling (3/2, Requesting Moon Tickets)

Fang Yue calmed his trembling hand, his mind racing as he spoke as steadily as he could.

"Parchment, right now we have two paths: the first is to kill the anomalies in reality and extend our yang lifespan."

Times are no longer what they were.

As the Anomaly Line surges sharply, anomalies are sprouting everywhere; though Huaguo's Alliance suppresses the news, the fact that anomaly numbers keep rising cannot be changed.

But this method only treats the symptoms, not the root cause.

My current situation is that I use the Parchment's rewind power to suppress its side effects—but using the Parchment's rewind power only intensifies the side effects!

This is a process of escalating backlash, ultimately a dead loop!

The only way to break this cycle lies not in reality at all!

"The second path is… we go back to the game! In the game, raise our strength to… Rain Level! Surpass your power, suppress your backlash, and truly break the cycle!"

In reality, while anomaly numbers have risen, finding suitable anomalies to kill is far too time-consuming—the efficiency is nothing compared to the situation in Jingcheng within the game.

Jingcheng right now… is littered with anomalies!

To break the cycle in the shortest time, only the game remains—and the longer we wait, the stronger the backlash becomes.

He didn't believe his remaining pitiful yang lifespan could sustain the cost of rewind.

【That's what you say, but the problem is we can't go back…】

Everything seemed to have returned to square one.

But Fang Yue had a new idea.

Picking up the Leng Yue blade in the room, Fang Yue opened the door and stepped out, glancing at the guard at the entrance: "Where is Qiu Dugu?"

"Mr. Qiu just returned from his mission and should be resting in his room."

Without pausing, Fang Yue headed straight for Qiu Dugu's room.

He knocked on the door; Qiu Dugu opened it, his face startled.

"Aren't you off to Hai Yu City yet? I thought you'd already left."

This was an ordinary remark, but Fang Yue sensed something unusual in it.

He frowned slightly.

"Has something happened in Hai Yu City? Are Yingjie and the others safe?"

"You don't know? Hai Yu City suddenly sprouted many anomalies—several major districts have already fallen, and the Shadow is stirring in the shadows. Chairman Qian has begun recruiting civilians, but no one's heard of casualties among them."

"That serious?!"

Fang Yue's heart jolted.

But Qiu Dugu let out a bitter laugh.

"Actually, everywhere's about the same. Chairman Qian has begged me repeatedly to go to Hai Yu City, but I've been pinned down by headquarters—couldn't leave. You, though, have been stuck at headquarters the whole time—how come the chairmen never assigned you to handle anomalies?"

Fang Yue shook his head slightly. He'd been in the game for days straight, barely leaving except to eat; no one had informed him of anything—it seemed… they'd blocked all news from him.

Fang Yue frowned again. The Alliance's actions felt like they were watching him, even guarding against him.

He'd previously mentioned taking Yuan Jie back to Hai Yu City, but nothing followed up—if not for being utterly consumed by the game, he'd have confronted those chairmen long ago.

Qiu Dugu then told Fang Yue more about the outside situation.

"The situation is worsening rapidly, and most importantly… the Anomaly Line is still rising!"

The Anomaly Line…

Looking at the Anomaly Line watch Qiu Dugu showed him, Fang Yue's pupils contracted.

The Anomaly Line had already reached 91.25%.

And every few moments, the decimal point climbed by 0.01—as if something was accelerating.

At this rate, the Anomaly Line might hit 100% in just a few days!

It's even possible the Anomaly Line could suddenly spike and reach 100% tonight!

"According to the Research Division, the synchronization speed between casualties in the game and reality has become increasingly uniform. Previously, casualties in the game took at least minutes—or even longer—to reflect in reality. Now, feedback occurs within seconds."

Qiu Dugu gazed at the night sky and said gravely: "That world is drawing near!"

In the night sky, the blood-red moon hung high, fully round—just one step away from the final full moon!

"The 【Heavenly Devourer】 is coming soon!"

Fang Yue's heart sank.

Since the release of the Lan Hai World game, barely three months had passed.

Such a short time—and the 【Heavenly Devourer】 is already about to Advent. The preparation window is far too narrow.

Sensing the mood had grown heavy, Qiu Dugu paused, then asked:

"By the way, why did you come to see me?"

"I have something to ask: what do you do if your game account becomes abnormal and you can't log in?"

"…Account abnormal?"

Qiu Dugu blinked, then shook his head slightly: "You know Tengli Group is owned by cheaters—all their data is just public facade. The real connection is the Anomaly Line linking to the Lan Hai World, so banning accounts isn't something Tengli can even do. They can only do external observation and logging—like website maintenance, forum moderation, recording player data, and so on."

Fang Yue knew this already—he'd only asked out of curiosity.

So, to return to the game, the only option was…

"Qiu Dugu, I want to sneak through the passage into the game world. Do you think it's possible?"

"What?!"

Qiu Dugu's eyes widened.

"You're insane. Don't you know the Alliance has already tried this experiment? Even when the Anomaly Line was still low, we tried sending insects, grasshoppers, white mice—all kinds of animals through the passage into that world."

But it failed! Every animal that entered the passage was instantly crushed to dust—not one survived!

Now, with the Anomaly Line this high, we've even experimented with death row inmates—and the result was the same. Nothing but anomalies can emerge from the passage!

Except for that world, no being can smuggle itself from our world into that world. All these channels, these loopholes, without exception, are one-way only! They are like tiny leaks that appeared as that world devours ours—reverse operation never existed from the start.

Indeed, the Alliance had tried it.

But one thing Qiu Dugu got wrong.

That is... in a certain sense, Fang Yue is not simply human.

His Strange Spirit Root grants him at least half his power as Strange energy.

If Strange energy were to cover the body, there is a chance to deceive the channel and complete smuggling!

But if one's judgment falters, or even the slightest error occurs, one will surely die.

This is almost a gamble!

And assuming one succeeds in smuggling through the channel, another problem awaits.

That is, where in the Lan Hai World the channel leads.

If the geographical location is wildly off, even if one succeeds in smuggling, there will be no time to save everyone in Jingcheng.

(End of Chapter)