Fight with Your Back to the River
Yun Cangyuan stood before the giant observation window of a Deep-Space Command Mothership, outside which lay a silent fleet.
His fingers unconsciously brushed across the cold synthetic glass, but a thick Mist filled his mind. Even now, he still couldn't understand how this [Yuncang World] had been created.
Over the past three years, only a few tens of thousands of highly qualified human leaders, top Legendary players, and researchers have been able to enter this "test server" after rigorous screening.
Even when he was occasionally invited to meetings as a senior commander, what he saw was limited to some meeting spaces and training grounds. He had never seen any large-scale infrastructure projects, let alone witnessed the process of this world "growing".
This world is eerily similar to the real-world Yuncang Star System. The positions of the Fixed Stars, the orbits of the major planets, and even the satellite constellations of some gas giants are almost identical. If it weren't for the significant differences in weaponry and habitable areas, Yun Cangyuan would have suspected that this was a one-to-one replica of the real world...
"It's starting." The advisor beside him nodded as he looked at the panel. He had been following Yuncang Hai ever since the meeting ended, learning about everything concerning the fleet.
As it happened, Yuncang Hai was sent to the fleet's command ship, waiting for the Player Legion to arrive before taking command. He also learned a lot from this experience.
"Buzz--Clang!"
A deafening roar, defying conventional physical laws, shattered the world's silence without warning.
It doesn't propagate through the air or ship vibrations, but rather explodes directly deep within every Consciousness Entity, at the level of "perception" of every being!
The sound was ethereal and uncertain, seemingly coming from afar, yet it was as heavy and solid as the head-on collision of two sumo wrestlers. Vacuum could not block it, and distance lost its meaning. Whether it was civilians huddled in underground bunkers on a planet or soldiers floating on outposts on the edge, they all "heard" this bell that heralded a turning point in their Fates at the same instant.
Then, a change occurred.
Countless players were shocked to discover that the "Logout" option on their personal panel, which symbolized safety and an escape route, had its icon turned gray and became unresponsive no matter how they clicked it.
"Holy crap! Game invasion... it's real!"
A player, unaware of what was happening, exclaimed in surprise. The player next to him immediately opened [Ten Thousand Worlds] to check and saw other information.
The "Final Showdown" has officially begun! Give it your all!
[The final world ranking will be determined by overall performance.]
[The world begins to merge...]
[Current entry level for [Yuncang World]: Lv.1-Lv.95]
[Blessed by the World Master, all units gain a temporary buff: Fight with Your Back to the River!]
[Fight with Your Back to the River: Your overall Attribute effects are temporarily increased by 100% (based on base Attributes and permanent buffs)!]
"[World Master]? What is that? Who is he? The chief of the Yuncang Union?"
"The Final Showdown? What's that? Is this why all those top players disappeared?"
"What is world integration? I've never heard of it!"
Doubts, fear, confusion, and a fleeting, illusory sense of power brought about by the surge in Attributes collided and fermented wildly among more than 30 billion people.
For the vast majority of ordinary players, they are still like actors who have been blindfolded and pushed onto the stage, completely unaware of the script, their opponents, or even the true purpose of this performance.
A massive, sleek, and imposing Warship is slowly emerging from its concealed state at a higher orbit, like Giant Whale rising from the Deep Sea, descending towards the ground, preparing to unleash sixteen strikes per second...
Almost at the same moment, in another world, Su Luo's [Ten Thousand Worlds] panel also began to flicker violently.
The "Final Showdown" has officially begun! Give it your all!
[Give all attacking players 20 Source Points]
[War Shop Now Open]
An unprecedented virtual store Plane, decorated with blood-red and dark gold patterns, unfolded before him. The product list was dazzling, yet it exuded an air of naked luxury.
[World Buffs]
[Small Favor: All Attributes increased by 10% (lasts until the end of the war)]
[Price: Source x 1000]
[Morale Like a Rainbow: Increases friendly unit damage by 5%]
[Price: Source x 1500]
[Steel Stronghold: Slightly increases the durability and recovery speed of defensive structures]
[Price: Source x 1800]
[...]
Looking at the shop that had suddenly opened before her, Su Luo fell silent.
Damn it, how come I can't afford even one?
Scroll down to see [Special Items], [War Cards]...
[Core Resources]
[Resurrection Chance: Retain your player account once to avoid complete deletion]
[Source: 28756]
Looking at the "440" points of "Source" reserves on her panel, Su Luo gained a clear understanding of how poor this thing was for the first time.
It turns out that in the War Shop of [Ten Thousand Worlds], my meager savings couldn't even buy half a decent "Small Favor".
He closed the shop Plane expressionlessly. Almost simultaneously, the main quest description updated.
Main Quest Two: Help [Yuncang World] join [Ten Thousand Worlds]
[Current Mission Description: Destruction!]
[Attacking players can now freely travel between their bound world (such as [ Under the Under the Starry Sky]) and [Yuncang World] without paying "Source". Please make good use of this rule.]
[Teleportation rules details... Click to expand]
[All attacking players have one account retention opportunity]
[Entering world node: Yuncang World (Official)... Loading...]
"[Yuncang World] has even become official..."
The next second, the feeling of being grounded turned into a weightless Ethereal, and the surrounding light, sound, and texture underwent a dramatic transformation.
Cold. Profound. Vast.
He appeared in the boundless Vacuum of space. Before him was a black velvet curtain adorned with diamond-like Stars. In the distance, a beautiful blue-white planet was slowly rotating, surrounded by a giant, exquisitely structured, silver-white orbital ring.
Further away, several planets of different colors are faintly visible. There is no air, no up or down, only eternal microgravity and ubiquitous high-energy radiation from Fixed Stars and the cosmic background.
It looks beautiful, but it's actually quite ugly. Ordinary people are only dazzled by the bright Fixed Stars. Deep space is really not beautiful, as anyone who has been there knows.
Beside him, the small body of Yuncang No. 29 was hovering by its weak posture adjustment nozzles, its sensors pointed at Su Luo, seemingly observing his reaction.
In an instant, the three strategic core members were teleported back.
Not far away, ripples spread through the space, and one figure after another appeared out of thin air—[Kuangxuan Dabaji], [Xiao Kou Chang Kai], Goushi, Barton, [Pineapple Candy], [Xingkong Wuyu]... The remaining ninety-eight Survivors of [Under the Starry Sky] descended here one after another.
There were only ninety-nine in total, and one died recently.