The Price of Victory
[Firmament Notification: This Instance battle has ended! All spectators will be teleported out of the temporary Instance in one minute.]
[Due to Lin Ye's victory in the Challengers Instance, according to the rules of the Universe Instance Duel, the sub-planet Azure Star has broken free from the control of its mother planet Kazi Star. All basic resources of Azure Star that were seized before the Instance duel will be returned to everyone after you leave the Instance!]
[Due to Lin Ye's successful challenge, the Firmament, as the control program of Azure Star, will automatically enter self-destruct mode! After everyone is teleported out of the temporary battlefield, the Firmament will be automatically destroyed!]
[In his final moments, Firmament kindly reminded everyone on Azure Star that victory is not always a good thing; the price of victory may be an even greater crisis...]
After uttering that last ambiguous sentence, Firmament's voice abruptly ceased.
It was as if the power to a machine had suddenly been cut off, leaving behind a series of crackling echoes of electricity.
[Instance countdown begins:]
[00:59!]
[00:58!]
[00:57!]
[00:56!]
[00:03!]
[00:02!]
[00:01!]
The one-minute countdown quickly ended, and everyone's vision was suddenly illuminated, followed by a familiar scene of skyscrapers.
The Azure Star, which had been forcibly reverted to its primitive, prehistoric state by the Firmament, has now returned to its previous appearance.
Cheers erupted throughout the entire planet.
"They're all back! They're all back!"
"Our planet is back."
"Firmament has returned all the basic resources to us, that's wonderful!"
In an instant, all the gathering places were immersed in an atmosphere of joy.
Lin Ye was also teleported back to the living room of his familiar Cliffside Villa.
"Call."
Lin Ye let out a long breath and looked around at the familiar yet unfamiliar environment before him.
Everything was exactly the same as before the Battle.
Same furnishings, same smell.
Lin Ye walked to the door as quickly as possible and looked around at the world outside.
In an instant, the dazzling sunlight, almost blinding, shone like a blazing arrow directly onto his slightly pale face. For Lin Ye, who had lived in a world of darkness for so long, this sudden burst of light was undoubtedly extremely uncomfortable.
Sunshine! This was a sight never seen on that planet called Azure Star. Lin Ye subconsciously looked up, and as far as his eyes could see, a vast, clear blue sky spread out like a huge, soft piece of silk.
Pure white clouds, like cotton candy, dot the landscape, drifting gently in the breeze.
Just then, a gentle breeze swept by, bringing with it a warm scent unique to those exposed to the scorching sun. This scent seemed to possess a magical power, softly caressing Lin Ye's face.
It gave him the feeling of returning to his past life.
This was something I took for granted in my past life, but now it seems exceptionally precious, because this is the first time that Azure Star has seen sunlight and blue sky!
It was precisely because of seeing these things that Lin Ye became more clearly aware of one thing.
He won!
He really won!!
The Firmament that once ruled the Azure Star is truly gone. The great Dome that once enveloped the entire planet has now been unveiled and utterly disintegrated.
All leaderboards, Hero Rankings, and Instance broadcast data were also completely cleared.
"But... is that all?"
Looking at the long-lost sky, Lin Ye suddenly felt a sense of inexplicable doubt.
Is this the end?
Does the absence of the Firmament mean that all Instance of this planet have also disappeared?
Does this mean that Azure Star can then exist freely in the Universe as an independent planet, just like Blue Star in its previous life?
But if that's all there is to it, it seems rather boring, and even leaves Lin Ye feeling somewhat lost.
Because there was absolutely no reward mechanism.
You have to understand that Azure Star hasn't developed its own technology for thousands of years. Are we going to have to build this planet up bit by bit from now on?
The humans in this world don't even know how to utilize resources, let alone build a planet.
As a pioneer of this world, Lin Ye relied on his Five Permanent Members Instance and his Earth Online map to reach the pinnacle of this world at a speed almost comparable to that of a god.
But now, everything seems to have come to an abrupt end.
He returned to a state similar to that of an ordinary person.
What will he do next?
Will you use your knowledge to gradually build up the planet's own technology and civilization?
Given the conditions on this planet, forget about Controlled Nuclear Fusion or interstellar warships. Just surviving the steam age would be a major hurdle.
Even if Lin Ye could use his pioneering knowledge to propel this planet forward once again, it would be an incredibly long process!
It was something Lin Ye couldn't accomplish in his limited lifespan.
"Wrong!"
Lin Ye tentatively entered his Instance statistics backend and found that although the Firmament had disappeared, the data in the Instance Backend was still there.
[Name: Lin Ye!]
[Level: LV5!]
[Points total: 100 million!]
[Instance: Earth Online: The Five Permanent Members - the Great Wall Watch, Earth Online: The Five Permanent Members - Winter Is Coming, Earth Online: The Five Permanent Members’ Raging Waves, Earth Online: The Interstellar Age]
This really puzzled Lin Ye. Since the Firmament was gone, why did these Instance and points still exist?
Without the framework that the Firmament set for Azure Star, what meaning do points Instance ultimately hold?
Moreover, my level has increased, and it feels as if the Firmament is still there.
Or is it...?
Just then, a booming sound came from the sky.
It wasn't thunder, nor the sound of a bomb exploding, but rather a sound similar to gears turning.
Lin Ye looked up again.
Just as people looked up, the Azure sky, which had been revealed for less than a minute, suddenly dimmed again as if swiftly covered by an invisible hand. Then, an astonishing scene unfolded—a dazzling phantom of a starry sky slowly emerged!
This star chart is like a mysterious painting from the depths of the Universe, with countless stars twinkling like diamonds. Various planets are like jewels inlaid on it, intertwining and arranged in a well-ordered manner to form a vast and boundless Sea of Stars. These planets vary in size and shape, some displaying a magnificent blue, some radiating a fiery red light, and others shrouded in a hazy purple halo.
This Sea of Stars is not static, but rather slowly and gracefully revolves around its center.
At that moment, Lin Ye felt his heart tremble involuntarily.
Picture!
They look so alike!
The layout and operation of this Sea of Stars are very similar to what I saw on the big screen in the Long Yuan Visualization Observatory.
The difference is that each of these planets has a line of small text labeled below it.
For example, Crow Star, Oro Kari Home Star, Machine God Star, Warg Star, Xiahai Star, Cursed Stars...
The sheer volume of information left Lin Ye dazzled.
The feeling of gazing at the stars is even more complex than in my previous life! If I really had to compare, this Universe feels much more crowded than in my previous life.
As this vast starry sky was illuminated, another muffled sound came from the horizon.
[To all the Dungeon Designers on Azure Star!]
Please allow me to introduce myself!
[I am the Instance Administrator of the War Zone 102, Level One Civilization 1 civilization. You may call me Divine Firmament! Due to Challengers's victory over the home planet Kazi Star on Azure Star has successfully upgraded to Level One Civilization Planet, while the original Kazi Star will automatically be downgraded to Primitive Planet!! From now on, I will be in charge of your Instance affairs!]
[First of all, congratulations to all Azure Star people for entering a higher-level Instance Arena! This is a giant leap forward for your Instance civilization!]