Ultimate Verification: The Mysterious Source (5,000 Words)

Here we go?

Noticing a dazzling light streak across the sky above the city, Xiao Xiao looked up in surprise.

In his plan, this was a very important step, but it was also a step he was not very confident about.

It was easy to order Little Four around, and it was also easy for him to do whatever he wanted. But when it came to needing the Dante Organization, Xiao Xiao was unsure whether they would cooperate with him. Unexpectedly, although they didn't understand his plan, they cooperated very hard.

"Buzz..."

From the perspective of the indigenous people, or rather, from a realistic perspective.

The appearance of that beam of light was unusually eerie. Logically speaking, unless the power was so great that it gathered the strength of the entire city, it would be difficult for a beam of light to penetrate the entire city and reach the eyes of every native. But Dante Organization's False Light did just that. It was like a tangible sword, piercing through buildings and towers, and through the gazes of individuals.

Sometimes, seeing a beam of light is just seeing it.

Sometimes, this beam of light seems to possess a special meaning, evoking a resonance in people's spiritual world.

Just like the green light in Gatsby's eyes.

Throughout the entire Night's End City, amidst the chaos and panic at the Guard Hall building, everyone caught sight of that False Light. Their hearts skipped a beat, and a long-suppressed excitement welled up within them.

The False Light is only at the Class D; the lower the level, the more similar it appears to both outsiders and natives.

Those who saw the False Light were instantly influenced by this strange element, becoming positive, motivated, and hardworking. It was as if their sense of responsibility and mission had been amplified several times over. Those who had been feeling fear because of Xiao Xiao's mysterious and incomprehensible aura, and who had been deliberately slacking off, forming several defensive lines in the distance and not daring to take the initiative, all had red eyes.

"Kill him..."

"We cannot allow such monsters to run rampant in our city..."

"Kill him before he harms ordinary people!"

"..."

This thought crossed the minds of every armed soldier, who roared and charged forward.

"Wait, something's not right..."

When the news of this change reached the ears of the strangers in Night's End City, they were all stunned. They had already quickly packed up various weapons and other equipment, preparing to come and stop Xiao Xiao, but unexpectedly, with the appearance of that light, the entire city's armed forces were suddenly greatly encouraged and rushed towards Xiao Xiao. They were also overjoyed. "... Don't rush to kneel!"

"What's wrong with that guy?"

"I thought he was going to do something to our Night's End City's defenses, but how did it backfire so quickly?"

"..."

While these strangers in the Night's End City were bewildered and at a loss, real change was taking place in unseen places.

The true rulers of Night's End City knew the purpose and nature of this chaos shortly after it began. Xiao Xiao's declaration in front of the camera was tantamount to revealing his true intentions to them. However, even knowing Xiao Xiao's purpose and that he was there to deal with the "Matrix," these rulers still dared not show themselves. No one was willing to gamble on such a stranger.

But as the situation unfolds, they realize that Xiao Xiao may not be entirely crazy, and they are beginning to have doubts.

At the very least, retract the "kill without mercy" order and try to find someone to contact and negotiate with him?

But precisely at this moment, the False Light appeared. Those corrupted high-ranking officials, who already possessed only one primary will—to carry out the orders of their superiors and kill the intruder—had this thought amplified when the False Light appeared. While other leaders prepared to slow their offensive, they became exceptionally resolute and domineering.

"Send all troops over there, and bring all the most powerful weapons!"

"That guy must be killed..."

"You must..."

"..."

Before they could finish speaking, they suddenly fell silent and looked around in alarm.

At that moment, no matter which office you were in or what the context was, countless eyes were staring blankly at you.

While everyone else hesitated, their assertiveness made them stand out from the crowd. It was as if everyone else was taking a step back, but they suddenly took a big step forward. Their actions became clear and extremely conspicuous. The people around them seemed to suddenly realize something, and their gazes became filled with vigilance and panic.

The pollution of native people by outsiders occurs in several levels.

One type is the lower-level layer with fewer points, where they can pollute several more and place them in important positions.

Of course, the number of people at the bottom is large, so only a very small portion of them will be corrupted by them.

It becomes even more obvious at higher levels.

Each point is ridiculously expensive. Buying one of them is almost equivalent to buying a Class B or even Class A special item. Therefore, they are destined to buy very few. Not only do they buy very few, but they also tend to keep them hidden and never use them until the most critical moment. Otherwise, once these contaminated people are discovered by the natives, they will automatically reject them or even eliminate them.

The reason why the leader of the Strangers Night's End City refused to use these people just now was also because of this.

However, with the appearance of the False Light, these people suddenly exposed themselves due to their abnormal reactions.

"What should we do?"

For a moment, both the person who was discovered and the person who discovered the other looked somewhat bewildered.

The indigenous people, in particular, felt a sudden surge of panic as they looked at them: It wasn't time to discover you yet...

For the indigenous people, it wasn't a matter of immediately eliminating a person who had been contaminated. They believed that the legendary mysterious mother body's contamination of those around them was impossible to guard against. Even if one was eliminated, another might appear at any time. There was even a possibility that if they themselves eliminated the contaminated ones, they would be the next to be contaminated...

Therefore, even if they discover some clues, they often do nothing but quietly marginalize them.

But now...

... You've made it too obvious, bro. How am I supposed to play dumb?

Normally, it's not impossible for both sides to stare at each other blankly and then pretend nothing happened. But now, the False Light is still at work, and the sense of responsibility and mission in my heart has influenced my judgment.

"Take it down!"

Someone roared and ordered his men, "Detain them immediately, no matter who they are!"

"Anyone who dares to resist will be killed without exception!"

"..."

"..."

Unseen by Xiao Xiao, a purge was underway among the upper echelons of Night's End City. Even in cases where the purge was not immediately launched due to special circumstances, seeds of mutual suspicion had already been sown. The initial situation in Night's End City, where everything was completely controlled and all armed forces were pressing towards Xiao Xiao, was instantly wiped out by an invisible hand, and the situation underwent an unexpected change.

Even the armed forces surrounding Xiao Xiao received new orders:

"Regarding the mysterious person who appeared at the Guard Hall building, focus on contact and observation; cancel the kill order!"

"..."

"It's working?"

Xiao Xiao could sense the change in the attitude of the people around him, and he felt a little more relaxed.

"Verification 3: The Matrix's control over the city is far less powerful than the outsiders realize. In fact, it can be confirmed that the Matrix's control over the city is actually extremely weak, and it can only play a certain role through some special logic!"

"..."

At this moment, he found it difficult to describe the tension and complex emotions he felt.

Earlier, in the Old Chairman's small building in Black Gate City, he had seen a lot of relevant research and speculation. At that time, he was more interested in understanding and memorizing them. But now, by sheer coincidence, he was verifying them one by one, which gave rise to a tremendous sense of tension, especially regarding the verification to come...

Ultimate Verification: The Mysterious Source!

"President Xiao, you've got some cunning..."

Just as this question arose in Xiao Xiao's mind, a cold laugh suddenly rang out not far away.

Xiao Xiao frowned and turned his head to look. He saw that behind the armed forces who had set up roadblocks and were pointing their guns at each other, a tall and thin figure appeared. He walked slowly among the natives like a ghost, but they seemed to be completely unaware of him. They let him pass through the crowd and even took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from their pockets.

He stood less than five meters away from Xiao Xiao and sighed softly.

Immediately afterwards, a second, a third, or they climbed down from the surrounding buildings, or suddenly emerged from the shadows, or drove straight to the street corner. In total, more than a dozen figures appeared around him and surrounded him.

The moment they appeared, those around them, who had been in a state of extreme tension and vigilance, fell silent.

From the perspective of the indigenous people, Xiao Xiao could see that these people were initially looking at him nervously, but as these figures appeared, their eyes suddenly became dull, as if their brains had been shut down, turning them into dull puppets. Their eyes were still open, but without any expression, and their guns were still raised, but their fingers had turned into wood, losing the ability to pull the trigger.

An unexpected confirmation: the control that outsiders exert over the spiritual power of the indigenous people.

The strangers are a group of chaotic madmen, but they are also a group of madmen with abnormal mental power. This mental power can affect the natives at close range, stopping their brains from functioning or distorting the instructions in their brains.

For the indigenous people, strangers are ultimately frightening.

However, Xiao Xiao's ability to perceive also allowed him to sense that chaos still existed outside this street corner, where people were still shouting and moving forward anxiously. In other words, the brain was only shut down at this street corner; everything else was normal. This also shows that the scope of the stranger's mental power was limited.

Xiao Xiao let out a soft breath, not letting his thoughts affect his reaction, and simply raised his head slightly.

A friendly smile appeared on his face as he looked at the person who had first appeared, and he said with a smile:

"The leader of the Strangers Night's End City?"

"..."

"My surname is Cui."

The thin old man spoke in a low voice, then glanced around with a gloomy expression, especially noticing the incessant beeping of messages on an old-fashioned pager at his waist. He saw the messages, and his naturally somber face became even more etched with worry:

"Surely not, Chairman Xiao?"

As soon as he opened his mouth, he immediately looked pitiful, stretching out his arms wide. "We were just joking with you..."

"But you, are you really going to destroy all our defense systems?"

"..."

Hearing him say that out of the blue, Xiao Xiao was taken aback for a moment. "Huh?"

"They're almost all dead..."

The Night's End City leader's voice carried a genuine sense of pain, and once he started speaking, he couldn't stop. "Of those we bought, most of the lower-level members are dead, many of the middle-level members have been killed by you, and almost all of the upper-level members have been exposed. Guild Leader Xiao, we are all from other places, forced to live in this bizarre world, and we only live comfortably because of these people we bought..."

"But that move of yours was too ruthless!"

"Do you know how many points we spent to buy these people? Do you know how many years of hard work we put into creating this perfect defense system? But how could you be so ruthless? Years of painstaking effort, destroyed in one night..."

"..."

Hearing him say that, Xiao Xiao felt a little embarrassed and shook his head, saying, "I really don't know..."

"Actually, I'm just a newcomer..."

He paused, then looked up into the other person's eyes. "All I know is that you were the ones who acted unfairly first."

"I came here to trade with you in the first place, but you cheated me out of my points."

"..."

A look of frustration flashed across the face of the Black Gate City guild leader. "It's just a few tens of thousands of points, is it really necessary?"

Xiao Xiao stared at him for a moment without offering any explanation.

"Okay, we were wrong..."

The guild leader of Night's End City suddenly raised his hands. "We dare not be so greedy. We should not have provoked someone like you in the first place. Now we have learned our lesson well. We will give you the Unquenched Heart. How about we part ways?"

Xiao Xiao frowned and shook his head.

The president's voice sounded pained as he said, "Let's show some sincerity..."

"You can take the Unquenched Heart at the original price, and we'll refund all the extra points. We'll waive the brokerage fee. How about that?"

"..."

Xiao Xiao smiled, but still shook his head.

The other party stomped his foot angrily, as if he were about to die, and growled, "Fine, fine, I'll just take this loss!"

"President Xiao, things have come to this point, we really don't want to play this game anymore..."

He suddenly looked up at Xiao Xiao: "We'll give you the Unquenched Heart for free, and you can leave now, how about it?"

"Ah?"

Xiao Xiao was genuinely taken aback.

According to Lin Bo and others, Night's End City was notoriously stingy.

Even the Dante Organization suffered losses when trading with them. Although they didn't know exactly what the losses were, the fact that such a loyal group of people in the Dante Organization could remember them for so many years suggests that the losses must have been substantial. And now, before even starting his final verification, these people actually thought of giving him Enhancement Element worth 30,000 points for free.

That's really sincere...

He thought to himself, then shook his head again.

The pleading, pitiful expression on Chairman Cui's face in the Night's End City vanished instantly, replaced by a cold, sinister look as he stared at Xiao Xiao:

What do you want?

"..."

"I know you want to settle this peacefully..."

Xiao Xiao was a little nervous at his sudden change of expression, but he only smiled faintly and said:

"But where am I supposed to find such suitable targets as you?"

"..."

"Really..."

Xiao Xiao's ambiguous smile and nonchalant demeanor increased the pressure on Chairman Cui and those around him.

"This legendary Black Gate City guild leader, who supposedly defeated the Hell Organization and is known for his twisted and terrifying aura, is indeed not so easy to deal with. The guild leader was hoping to get rid of him while minimizing losses, but that's unlikely to be the case anymore. We'll have to take action..."

"Only..."

The thought of taking action intensified the murderous intent on everyone's faces, yet they couldn't help feeling a sense of tension.

"... This guy is capable of wiping out hundreds of members of the Hell Group in one go!"

"Do we, the Night's End City, have a chance of winning against him?"

"..."

"..."

In terms of sheer strength, Night's End City is naturally inferior to the Hell Organization, and even to Black Gate City before the Old Chairman's death. However, they have spent their points very effectively, using a perfect defense system to exclude people who do not belong to their city. Therefore, due to geographical reasons, the Hell Organization has difficulty in influencing them. Dante Organization has many experts, but they can only suffer from this disadvantage.

But now that their perfect defense system has been largely destroyed, they are not afraid of a real fight.

"President Xiao, please don't be so arrogant..."

Chairman Cui of Night's End City gritted his teeth. "We've heard of your reputation, but this is Night's End City after all..."

"Even if we are no match for you, we can still destroy the Unquenched Heart!"

"..."

He seemed genuinely unsure of himself, and his threats were so weak that he quickly shifted to another angle.

He stared intently at Xiao Xiao: "If we destroy it, let's see who you trade with next..."

"They seem to be afraid of me?"

Xiao Xiao, being an insightful person, naturally sensed the unease of these people, and his mood improved day by day.

They're afraid of me, so I have no reason to be afraid of them...

Facing a dozen or so strangers in Night's End City all by himself, he was initially quite unsure of himself...

His smile grew even more gentle as he looked at Chairman Cui and said, "But who said I wanted to make a deal with you?"

As he spoke, he slowly raised his head, looking down at the deep night of the city, his voice low. "From the moment I stepped off the train, I knew my transaction partner wasn't you. You might as well call me a hostage..."

At this point, his pupils contracted slightly, and his voice suddenly rose:

"Night's End City, come out!"

"I want to discuss a deal with you!"