Conjectures About the 124 Paths

After the cutscene ended, the players gathered together and began discussing the story.

The first to speak was a female professional player Cumin Powder ": "Let's all lay our cards on the table."

"What are you going to reveal?" The cunning old fox Yu Tianxiao immediately began to play dumb.

"What else could it be? You don't really think everyone skipped training to take on this long-term space mission just to enjoy a game, do you?"

She casually tossed her short, green-pink gradient hair, revealing the shocking prosthetic interface on her forehead, and said bluntly, "We were all sent by the higher-ups to scout ahead. We probably won't be on the field for a long time, so let's get to know each other and look out for each other. How about we exchange our thoughts on the games?"

"I'm not here to watch the water cooler," Ye Zhangjian muttered immediately. Of the four professional players who came, he was the only one currently in the main battle seat; the other three were substitute players.

"So it seems the [Endless Pioneers] team wants you to take a different path?" Old Godfather's Garryton asked curiously while grilling chicken wings.

Ye Zhangjian chuckled twice, "You guys don't understand, do you? Let me tell you some inside information: The four member countries of the Terra Federation, plus the alien Colonies region, will have at least 32 teams competing for the final professional tournament. In order to accommodate the netizens in the alien Colonies, the tournament will not start until the next version, which is version 2.0."

"Then why don't you stay at the base on Azure Planet and practice your training matches?" Cumin Powder gave him a disdainful look. "With such a long preparation time, instead of building equipment and honing your skills, you're just slacking off. Be careful you don't make it into the entire league."

"Not at all." Ye Zhangjian shook his index finger. "You think there are no spies in the Terra Federation's competition zones?"

"Oh?"

This matter immediately caught Yu Tianxiao's attention. Since Vault of Heaven's focus had not yet shifted, his ability to gather information was far inferior to that of everyone present.

"What are you saying? Are you implying there are spies within the Colonies?"

"Of course." Ye Zhangjian pointed to Li Aoz not far away and said, "You don't know yet, do you? Li Aoz has successfully broken out of the circle and become a well-known figure in the Colonies. Many fans have come to the home planet to form a support group just to see him in person."

The Cumin Powder waved his hand. "There doesn't seem to be any necessary connection, right? It's just a fan club that does things out of love."

Do you really think an embassy is just a diplomatic building?

Ye Zhangjian rolled his eyes at the cyberpunk girl. "Why are the people from Fragrant Chicken always so straightforward? The more foreigners gather in a place, the more likely it is to become a spy's hideout. According to a big club owner, the members of these Li Aoz Fan Club—abbreviated as ' Zitong' —have already purchased equipment and training grounds, and registered studios. One of them is right here in Yanxia. If nothing unexpected happens, they will definitely be active on Azure Planet in the future."

"I understand. They're using the guise of being like-minded people, but they're actually here to spy on our Azure Planet." Yu Tianxiao realized. "This doesn't count as spying on trade secrets. It's just normal gaming behavior, which is reasonable and legal."

"Ugh! These rich alien guys are so wealthy, yet they can't stand losing?" Garryton said disdainfully. "How shameful. If you can't handle the game, don't play."

"It's precisely because they have money that they don't care about this. But we can't. We're professional players. If we don't play well, we'll lose our jobs."

Ye Zhangjian sat down and began to speak eloquently:

"Training can't be delayed, of course, but we need to have some trump cards. These aliens can only glimpse our Azure Planet's professional style and equipment, but once we're in space, they'll know nothing about us."

"Good strategy, but with one of your key players in space, won't it affect training?"

"No way, I'm a veteran professional player. As long as we maintain our mystery, we'll definitely catch those alien guys off guard and leave them completely bewildered."

Upon hearing Ye Zhangjian's confident words, Li Aoz's expression suddenly turned strange.

According to his memory, Ye Zhangjian did not participate in the first season of the competition because he ate a bowl of spicy beef noodles, which caused him to have diarrhea and feel unwell.

There's no news about the match yet, and he's already saying he'll definitely play well... I've seen Li Aoz open champagne at halftime before, but this is the first time I've seen someone open champagne at the start of the game.

[I hope the spicy beef noodle shop will go easy on the noodles.]

Li Aoz silently prayed for the poor child.

Players also have their own opinions about the storyline.

"If what Li Aoz said is true, then the existence of GTB is a complete hoax. I don't understand, if the Four Nations knew this, they shouldn't have fought each other at all. Why didn't they just focus their fire on GTB and wipe it out, and share their knowledge of the universe?"

Garryton stroked his chin, unable to grasp the logic.

"You idiot—when the entire Azure Planet is filled with Beta-rank powerhouses, which country could manage such a massive force? If everyone is a superhuman, how could the existing resources and civilization possibly accommodate them?"

The Cumin Powder rolled its eyes, speechless.

"At that time, people will have greatly increased military power and will be unwilling to be ruled. Society will fall into chaos and regress to the era of the law of the jungle, like wild beasts."

"You're being too one-sided. It's like when artificial intelligence was just starting out, a creator who had studied painting for ten years couldn't keep up with the speed of AI's output, so a lot of people lost their jobs as a result."

Yu Tianxiao shook his head:

"However, later, with the further development of AI and the establishment of industry rules, AI became a tool for creators to assist in creation, greatly saving time and training costs."

"That's what they say, but Azure Planet has no future—look at the sky, there's not even a sun, so where is there time for development? Rather, we should fight for the existing resources, maintain the status quo, and slowly wear down the population through war so that resources can be sustained."

"Thinking about it this way, isn't the situation on Azure Planet a little too hopeless...?"

"So we're just letting the GTB monopolize knowledge like this? In fact, doing so can maintain the existing order—ugh, how disgusting! We're being choked by them, yet we have to thank them. What kind of logic is that!"

"In the end, it's still Entropy's fault, but Azure Planet really has its own reasons for things developing like this."

Although it's still a long way off for players to work in GTB, many have already benefited greatly from it, with 40% of mission requests coming from GTB.

Now that the truth about GTB has been revealed, players' Favorability towards GTB has plummeted.

Fortunately, everyone here is a pragmatist, and after a moment of awkwardness, they continued the discussion.

"But more importantly than that, did you notice that Li Aoz said something quite subtle?" Ye Zhangjian reminded him.

Which sentence?

'Everything you've accepted—the [Mechanic], the [Martial Artist], the [Biochemist], and our finest [Mutant]—these inheritances are all Path to Divinity in the universe.'

Ye Zhangjian repeated, "This sentence is very interesting. If you connect it with the original promotional video dialogue, you will find a subtle coincidence."

"Explain in detail." Yu Tianxiao narrowed his eyes and began watching the original promotional video.

Ye Zhangjian opens the promotional video and fast-forwards to the part he wants:

"The promotional video mentioned, ' Star Abyss Child, refusing to be annihilated. They ascended from mortals to become noble and valiant gods, engaging in a beast-like battle against the Destroyers with unparalleled courage.'"

"And this passage connects to the previous one: The three Destroyers came from the outside world. They were insatiably greedy and only repeated killing and destruction. After devouring the outside world that gave birth to them, they turned their attention to the Star Abyss."

"This sentence is very interesting... The background of the story is that the three Destroyers, Leviathan Dahl the Jewel Dragon King, Gerbross the Dark Titan, and the Eye of Discernment the God of Insight, invaded Star Abyss from the outside world. The native life of Star Abyss was unwilling to be destroyed and ascended from mortals to become gods to fight against these monsters."

"So, Li Aoz also means that gods seem to be quite common in the universe," Cumin Powder said, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"The following description is also quite intriguing."

Ye Zhangjian simply described it. "Facing the three Destroyers are six main gods."

"[God of Destruction] Doomfist, challenged the Dragon King, and died in battle."

"[Artisan Pioneer] Yazaloffi, torn apart by Titans, died in battle."

"[Bizarre Origin] Specter, let the Eye of Discernment break it down into three parts, its whereabouts unknown."

"[Redemption Fairy] Her real name is unknown, but I found her name in the official website's setting book— Lai Anding. However, it seems that she has already sacrificed herself and her whereabouts are unknown."

"[The Plunder Soul] Red King, he's a traitor, probably not very useful or powerful."

"[The Overlord Willpower] Morphedria did not die at the hands of the Destroyer, but was devoured by Society, along with its agent, the God of Reality. Combining this with what Li Aoz just said, Society can basically be confirmed as one of the game's major villains."

"Haven't you noticed yet?"

By now, the players have naturally realized what was going on in the Ye Zhangjian.

"[Destruction], [Craftsmanship], [Mystery], [Redemption], [Plunder], [Domination]." Yu Tianxiao pondered, "Each god is exactly like one of our six professional factions. Li Aoz also said this is a Path to Divinity. Could this be a coincidence?"

"I think it might not be that simple." Garryton took a bite of a chicken wing, chewing as he analyzed, "If this is a path to godhood, then why share it and let everyone walk it?"

"Think about it, if I had a path to godhood, why wouldn't I monopolize it? Why would I share it with others? Isn't that nonsense?"

"Well said. Mathematics, physics, and chemistry are all fundamental disciplines that can reveal the truths of the universe. Why share them so that everyone can learn them?" Cumin Powder chuckled and teased.

"Isn't that obvious! If you only learn these theories without studying professional knowledge, without the cooperation of a group of people, without organized division of labor, it's useless—"

Garryton suddenly realized. "So becoming a god must have very strict conditions... Just like building a warship, if only one person does it, it is impossible to complete, or even if it is built by hand, one person cannot exert its power."

"I think it should be like this." Yu Tianxiao thought for a moment, "Since the Cosmic Civilization is willing to help the entire Azure Planet advance to the Gamma-rank, it means two things: First, the Gamma-rank does not pose a threat to them; second, only by reaching the Gamma-rank can they complete certain tasks."

The logic is easy to understand: in the agricultural era, people did not need much education to produce goods, so rulers had to keep the people ignorant and weak.

However, in the Industrial Era, factories needed literate workers, precision instrument factories needed skilled technicians and senior engineers, and enterprises could not do without designers and research and development personnel, otherwise they would be eliminated. Therefore, rulers would pay attention to the education and quality improvement of the people.

If we apply this logic to the goal of becoming a god, it seems to make sense.

Superhumans have longer lifespans to experience life, stronger physiques to fight, and more intelligent minds to learn—all of this is actually to satisfy a certain need of civilization for 'gods'.

Only highly qualified individuals can meet the requirements for candidates seeking godhood. One could even argue that the extraordinary and the ordinary worker are essentially the same thing.

"Perhaps the aliens don't just want the locational advantage of Azure Planet, but also want the people of Azure Planet to provide them with real gods?"

Yu Tianxiao put forward a point of view. "Think about it, if there are more workers, the factory can reduce the cost of hiring. When there are fewer workers, the factory must raise wages in order to attract workers... If the people of Azure Planet, no, I mean, as long as an individual embarks on a certain career path, they have the qualifications to become gods, then for a civilization, the more extraordinary people the better, and the lower the production cost of gods will be."

"That remains to be seen... but isn't this plot a bit too audacious?"

Ye Zhangjian complained:

"If that's the case, wouldn't those advanced civilizations be able to enslave and mass-produce gods... No, perhaps gods in the universe are a kind of advanced war unit, or even a supercomputer or production machine."

"It's not impossible. Look, just by fighting against three Destroyers, all six factions of gods were wiped out. The gods might just be high-level scroll kings like postdoctoral fellows."

"You mean: these high-ranking Gamma-rank superhumans on Azure Planet are actually just like students who graduate from vocational school and go to work in factories tightening screws - damn, I don't want that kind of thing."

Li Aoz listened to these people's remarks and smiled slightly.

Although there weren't many hints, the players weren't stupid and quickly understood the logical relationship.

In fact, for players of that era, it was a little too late to realize this—the stronger an individual was when they first descended into the Star Abyss, the more curses they suffered. In the end, the strongest player was trapped in the Second Floor the Star Abyss for an entire version. By the time he descended again, he was already 40 levels behind everyone else.

If it's a monster like society, then there's no need to say more. An individual can never defeat a society. Kill its leader, and at worst, just replace him with another one.

Society is benchmarked against civilization. If there is truly an 'individual' who can defy society, then there must be another society.

Fortunately, Li Aoz doesn't need to confront society directly.

He turned to look at the freezer, reached out and touched the transparent glass, gazing at the bio-engineered body inside.

Months ago, he fought against Nethermark Professor's bio-engineered body and suffered the consequences. Now, it's his turn to teach the White Knight and the Heavenly Ring People a lesson.

"By the way, Ms. N4."

"What's wrong? Are you not satisfied with the product?"

"That's not the reason." Li Aoz pointed at the 'Pioneer' and said, "Could you add a power limiter to me?"

"What do you need that for?"

"It's nothing, the stats are too high, it's no fun to crush them."

Li Aoz rubbed his neck and gave a kind smile:

"Suppress the data to the Beta-rank level. I want that guy to know that without the Poison Blood, he's nothing!"