Chapter 988: The Special Term (2/2, Requesting Monthly Tickets)

Stay calm, Fang Yue did not act rashly but lowered his head slightly and asked, "Senior Meiyu, I don't understand your words—what is a Breaker?"

Meiyu Xianzi did not answer directly but smiled lightly and asked, "Little one, if you can appear here, you must know something about us Cheaters, right?"

"Not much—I only know for sure that Cheaters were all the beta testers of the last Blue Sea game."

"Correct. All of us Cheaters were beta testers of Blue Sea; when the beta ended, we all became 【Cheaters】 and gained Cheater power."

As she spoke, Meiyu Xianzi suddenly extended her index finger and lightly tapped the air.

Drip-dong.

The next moment, concentric ripples spread outward from her fingertip, enveloping the entire Cheater Base.

Everything around them was instantly covered by a pale blue, jelly-like film, forming a special isolation barrier—yet none of the people nearby noticed.

"The next topic is private between us 'players.'"

Seeing Fang Yue's confused expression, Meiyu Xianzi playfully closed one eye and opened the other, her index finger pressed against her crimson lips as she smiled.

"After becoming Cheaters, we gained the 【Cheating Heavenly Secret】. Explaining it fully might be complicated, but simply put—we can make certain entities unable to perceive us. The method is…"

"Sleep."

Fang Yue picked up the sentence, earning Meiyu Xianzi's slightly approving glance.

"Correct—it's sleep. Through sleep, the Cheating Heavenly Secret renders those entities unable to perceive us, buying humanity the time it desperately needs."

This is a total war concerning the survival or extinction of all humanity. Though we Cheaters are strong, our power alone is far from enough against such a scenario.

Moreover, our very existence creates too much disturbance—every move we make rapidly raises the 【Deception Line】, pushing the day of 【Advent】 infinitely closer. Thus, sleep is mandatory, but we must also prepare countermeasures against 【Advent】.

That countermeasure is to delay time—to hold out until Blue Sea's official launch.

A global, nationwide open beta will bring in more people, cultivating the next generation of players, enabling them to defend their own world with their own strength and jointly resist this cataclysm threatening all humanity.

And those open-beta players are called 【Breakers】. At the moment the open beta ends, you players will gain the 【Breaker】 power—and as the first among players, you will naturally become… the King of Breakers!"

Cheating Heavenly Secret… King of Breakers…

The information overload made Fang Yue pause for a long while before he slowly asked, "So what is the Breakers' ability? Just like yours—merely gaining power from the game?"

Meiyu Xianzi smiled faintly.

"Well, I don't know either. Although Blue Sea is operated by Tengli Group, our Cheater organization's shell company, we're merely agents—we just use existing technology to build a convincing facade. The true force connecting the two worlds and granting us power is…"

"The System!"

"The System!"

Fang Yue and Meiyu Xianzi spoke almost simultaneously.

She then looked at Fang Yue in surprise.

"It seems you know more than I thought."

"I just had a vague feeling…"

Fang Yue clenched his fist: "Then what is the System's purpose? Merely to save humanity? What is the System's true form? And what exactly are you Cheaters hiding from with your Cheating Heavenly Secret?"

Meiyu Xianzi covered her mouth and laughed softly: "You're in a hurry—asking so many questions at once. But some of these, even I can't answer. If you want to know information at this level, first you must answer one question of mine."

"Go ahead."

Meiyu Xianzi's expression turned serious, her gaze fixed intently on Fang Yue as she asked slowly: "Have you become an Immortal?"

"…"

Fang Yue's body stiffened, his face flushing with embarrassment.

"So you haven't… If you're the game's first player, does that mean others have also…"

"... Yes."

"Sigh…" Meiyu Xianzi sighed: "We were too hasty, gave you too little time. But this is already the last stretch we Cheaters could secure—【Advent】 is advancing every second, and we never noticed until it was too late. By the time we realized, everything had already passed the point of stopping—we could only keep delaying. Now, we've reached our limit… We are about to face this cataclysm threatening humanity's survival!"

Through their conversation, Fang Yue understood: Meiyu Xianzi was truly striving for humanity's survival—every strategy she devised was for the sake of human existence.

Unfortunately, if even an Immortal like her couldn't solve such a monumental problem, he was powerless too.

As if disappointed, Meiyu Xianzi's mood dipped slightly.

"Since even you, the King of Breakers, haven't attained Immortal status, there's no point discussing many things with you—the more you know, the less safe you become."

This stung, but it was the truth.

Though Fang Yue had worked hard to strengthen himself, he hadn't even reached the Rain Realm, let alone Immortal rank.

Seeing Meiyu Xianzi about to dismiss the barrier in disappointment, Fang Yue hurriedly said: "Wait! Senior Meiyu, I still have some questions for you."

Meiyu Xianzi's raised hand gently lowered.

"Speak."

Fang Yue had many questions he wanted to ask Meiyu Xianzi.

Near-term: how to cross the 【Otherworld Passage】 with one's physical body; long-term: how to save the desperate Jingcheng.

But what he most wanted to ask right now was…

"Senior Meiyu, I want to know… what is the 【Heavenly Chain】?"

"What?!"

The instant Fang Yue finished speaking, Meiyu Xianzi froze—as if an unimaginable word had just sprung from his mouth, leaving her momentarily stunned.

"How do you know about the 【Heavenly Chain】?"

"I happened to hear about it—and when I spoke those three words, the System flagged my account as abnormal and blocked me from logging in."

Fang Yue didn't mention he had once used 【Time Rewind】 to erase the 【Heavenly Chain】's effect, nor did he mention Wanfa Xianren.

After all, all known Cheaters belonged to Meiyu Xianzi's faction—who knew what relationship she had with Wanfa Xianren?

If they were enemies, he'd be caught in the crossfire.

"Happened to hear…?"

Meiyu Xianzi had now regained her composure, her expression calm, her gaze deep and meaningful as she studied Fang Yue.

"If anyone else asked about this, I wouldn't bother responding at all. But since you're the next Leader of Players, the King of Breakers, you truly have the right to know this. Very well, I might as well tell you now—after 【Heaven Devourer】, it's uncertain whether we cheaters will even survive. Some things really ought to be passed on to the next generation."

(End of Chapter)