"A Volley of Arrows"

8 a.m.

One kilometer south of Sprawling Metropolis, outside the rocket launch site.

Xia State players packed the broad launch site three layers deep inside and out, sealing it off completely.

Normally, at this time of day, Xia State players would be rushing through their morning commute, with no time to linger in the game.

But today was different.

The entire country was on holiday. With no work to do and nothing much else going on, everyone had come to join the excitement.

The advantage of having the largest population in the Virtual World was on full display.

With such an overwhelming numerical advantage, users from other countries—whether they were here to cause trouble or simply watch the launch—could not squeeze their way into the inner circle at all.

And that was not all. Behind two rings of hastily erected barriers stood another two layers of player security.

Beyond those two layers of security, a small bunker with a mounted heavy machine gun stood every fifteen meters.

Behind the bunkers were players clad in armor and armed with Dragon Arms.

Further inside were Nen Ability experts and Peregrine Battle Armor Assault Soldiers.

Further still were renowned top-tier experts such as Flying General of Longcheng, Xun Fei, Chen Zhenjiang, Fang Shuo, Yan Luo...

—During the earlier small-scale clashes, these top experts had slaughtered the players who charged in to make trouble as easily as killing chickens.

And beyond all that, outside the crowd, countless players had formed another invisible line of defense to prevent anyone from using sniper rifles or other long-range weapons to interfere with the launch.

At the edge of Sprawling Metropolis's South District, hovercars hovered silently in the sky, arranged into a square, massive net facing the city, ready to defend against threats from above.

In such a