The Appearance of the Iron-Eating Beast Anomaly, Reality Invaded!

Lin Qing was also very frustrated at this moment.

I never expected the other person to have Pay-to-Win Talent. If I had known, I would have turned them into a devoted follower.

But times have changed, and it's impossible now.

Fortunately, she no longer needs to worry about the other party coveting her talent.

After all, it's Safe Zone now, and she even managed to get her hands on Revival Stone.

They already have sufficient capabilities to maintain their own safety.

She wants to become stronger and take control of her own destiny!

At the same time.

Gao Linzhi once again successfully topped the event leaderboard.

"Sigh, being invincible is truly lonely."

"No wonder those big spenders who spend a lot of money on games often play a game for no more than six months."

"Turning an online game into a single-player game, spending money on in-game purchases is cheating. Who can play Single Player Game long-term if they cheat?"

"It doesn't exist."

Gao Linzhi then received another 40 Free Attribute Points, but he didn't use them; he saved them.

Including what I saved before, I now have 80 points.

Constitution: 1347 points.

Spirit: 597 points.

Free attribute points: 80.

Gao Linzhi thought about it and felt that the fog that had just appeared was a bit strange.

In fact, other players also found it strange.

Since the Safe Zone was expanded, and Gao Linzhi had been using Oddity Stories Tickets to regularly have people clean up the strange things in the village.

There haven't been any strange signs in the village for a long time.

Just before that, a storm struck.

And to come again today is clearly not normal.

Sure enough, at this moment, some players were muttering to themselves:

Why did the strange creatures suddenly attack the shrine?

"Damn it, how many of us would have died if there were no Safe Zone?"

"No wonder he came out."

"Could it be the problem with that Longevity Water?"

"That's possible. It seems like that Longevity Water was specifically designed to scam us players."

"That's right. If there were no respawn chances, more than half of our players would have died this time."

Gao Linzhi thought about it and consulted with several people.

He summoned several village elders to the Council Hall.

"This fog is coming rather strangely."

"Great Elder, it seems to be related to that Longevity Water. This thing seems to have some special power that can attract strange things," the Third Elder said with certainty.

Gao Linzhi nodded.

It seems the players' predictions came true.

Otherwise, why would this Faceless Man monster suddenly reappear?

In fact, Gao Linzhi had already eliminated it several times.

But it appeared again.

Clearly, the supernatural will revive.

The bizarre never truly disappears; it constantly resurfaces.

Otherwise, if new monsters couldn't be created, and each one that was defeated was completely killed, then monsters couldn't possibly continue to exist in this world.

Thinking about this, Gao Linzhi had a feeling that it must have been done by people from the imperial court.

They added something to the Longevity Water.

The game couldn't identify this item either.

Fortunately, I brought him into the Safe Zone immediately; otherwise, I don't know what would have happened to him if he had been left outside.

He sighed and then went back offline.

Gao Linzhi thought for a moment and decided to go online for a while and check the news on the forum Archipelago.

He controlled his pet Corpse Vine, and went to a family's computer to go online.

After logging into the Archipelago Forum website, he saw the site's trending news.

The shocking message was. "The Longevity Water is in hand, but a strange phenomenon strikes!"

It turns out that strange invasions have occurred not only on Wolf Snake Island, but in almost every place!

Moreover, they all appeared on the island where the Longevity Water had been obtained.

"Damn it! We finally got the Longevity Water, and we were distributing it in the village when a wolf-like monster showed up and snatched it away!"

"We're even more unlucky than you. We just arrived in the village, and before we even entered the ancestral hall, we were stopped by a stone statue."

"Several of our people have died."

Upon seeing this, Gao Linzhi knew his guess was correct; it was indeed the imperial court that was behind it.

The imperial court had a motive to do this.

They naturally don't want the players to grow stronger.

Players are inherently at odds with the feudal dynasty.

The players refused to kneel before the imperial court or offer tribute.

While tasks can be used to motivate players, the rewards may be insufficient, or players may discover that killing the task giver yields even greater rewards.

Then they would decisively switch sides.

Given these various issues, the imperial court had a strong incentive to eliminate the players.

This is similar to how feudal dynasties tried to eliminate separatist Feudal Lords and prohibit people from going to sea, thus losing control.

On the Archipelago Forum, many players are discussing this matter.

"That Canxue powerhouse is really something else; he's topped the leaderboard again this time!"

"Yeah, that's awesome, they got 40 free attributes for free."

"His Wolf Snake Village suffered no damage. I was there and saw a woman drive away the monster."

Just as players were discussing it, a new message suddenly dominated the charts!

"The bizarre has become reality, and there's real evidence!"

"Hey, what are you talking about, some kind of weird attack on the island? You guys don't know yet? The real weirdness has already appeared in reality!"

"What? How is this possible?"

"Impossible! The offline world is a world of materialism and science; there can't be anything strange there!"

"Yes, that's our safe escape route. Now that even that place is haunted, how can we safely log off and avoid the monsters anymore?"

"It's true, I'm not kidding. In Dragon City in the Northwest, after a player died, a strange place was formed in the area."

"That strange place seems to be able to devour iron elements."

"The head of the Long family in Dragon City, a dragon among men, Long Hezai, is recruiting top players to eliminate this monster."

Upon seeing this, Gao Linzhi felt a chill run down his spine.

He had heard rumors about it long ago.

Some Company Executive Players, in order to curb Rogue Players, considered bringing the supernatural into reality.

However, as far as he knew, this matter was met with fierce opposition from others.

This matter has not yet been finalized.

The reason is simple: the offline profits are simply too great.

The offline world is a place of highly developed economy and thriving industrial culture.

Economics and culture abhor panic.

The appearance of strange occurrences can trigger widespread panic.

The economy is bound to experience huge fluctuations. If people's safety is compromised, how can they possibly have the mind to consume?

Without consumption, where does economic prosperity come from?

Compared to the threat posed by the lone humans, the losses they themselves would suffer if the supernatural were to invade reality.

Furthermore, since they could later locate wandering people using various mystical spells, the matter of actively introducing strange phenomena was left unresolved.

However, the bizarre has now invaded reality.

In fact, Gao Linzhi wasn't too surprised by this.

When the game invades the Skyfall World, the Skyfall World can in turn invade the real world.

This is normal.

This is similar to one force attacking another; if the other force can withstand the attack, it will retaliate.

There are far too many things like this in real life.

That makes sense.

Gao Linzhi shook his head.

From today onwards, the option for players to use reality as a safe escape route no longer exists.

Once it happens, it will happen again.

Moreover, there are many grievances in reality, which can easily breed strange occurrences.

Now it seems that's how things are.

He then saw on the forum that the matter had been confirmed.

Because Long Hezai, the head of the Long family, actually appeared.

A video appeared.

A man in ancient costume wearing a crown appeared in the video.

He addressed the crowd, saying, "Our Long family is currently in dire straits, and we sincerely invite all experts to come and help us."

"Our Long family will definitely guarantee everyone's safety."

"Whether you are a skilled individual or a distinguished member of a prestigious family, we treat everyone equally."

"The reward we will provide includes a top-tier Talent Stone, at least a purple-grade one."

"There's also a Skill Stone. This Skill Stone can upgrade any skill by one level, up to the Expert Level."

These two things are exactly what Gao Linzhi needs right now.

In this vast world, there are always some lucky people.

This is precisely where the company and the family's advantage lie.

Some items have an extremely low drop rate, but even so, people all over the world will eventually find them.

It's like those lotteries worth hundreds of millions.

He has many skills that need to be upgraded from intermediate to advanced, and from advanced to Expert Level.

Gao Linzhi nodded; he needed this Skill Stone.

So he decided to send his Substitute Puppet over.

He then took the Substitute Puppet offline via his Game Backpack.

Then control the other party to travel at high speed.

We walked directly into the wilderness.

They are active at night and hide during the day, allowing for rapid passage.

He did not use any modern means of transportation.

It's not that I'm worried about leaving any traces.

Nowadays, any means of transportation leaves a trace.

Simply because this mode of transportation isn't as fast as he can run.

Just two days later, he arrived in Longcheng in the Northwest.

With his current physique and walking speed, he's practically supersonic.

However, sometimes he didn't use supersonic speed.

If you take a plane, it will take more than 30 hours.

The direct flight takes 18 hours, but there are transfers and checks along the way, which is a lot of trouble and wastes a lot of time.

It would be better to remotely control the Substitute Puppet and travel under the cover of night.

This is much faster than regular transportation.

After Gao Linzhi arrived in Longcheng, he did not go to the Long family immediately.

He stood atop a tall building, surveying the entire city of Longcheng.

The defining characteristic of Longcheng is that it is a very large industrial city.

Don't assume that the Northwest is an inland region or a closed-off mountainous area.

This is not the planet we used to live on.

This is a very large seaside city.

That's right, Dragon City is a coastal city.

It is located near the estuary where two major rivers meet.

Transportation is very convenient.

There are also large plains nearby.

Agriculture is highly developed, and there is an abundant labor force.

With its convenient transportation, it is known for its agriculture and heavy industries such as steel and shipbuilding.

The Long family thus held a pivotal position.

Of course, funding issues frequently arise.

After all, heavy industry is already a sunset industry.

The main reason was overproduction, coupled with the fact that companies dominated cities and rarely waged war.

Only war provides a place for heavy industry to flourish.

Heavy industry easily exceeds its production capacity to meet the daily needs of people.

Therefore, it is said that Longcheng has been in decline.

However, the Long family still has a strong foundation.

There were at least a lot of people.

From his vantage point, Gao Linzhi could see that the city was filled with skyscrapers.

They are densely packed, with most buildings having 28 floors or more.

It's fair to say that this is a city made entirely of steel.

Most of them are reinforced concrete structures.

Gao Linzhi then opened the Archipelago Forum.

In the video Long Hezai said, "Any player who registers will receive a welcome gift."

"The Long family will remember your kindness."

Then, he told him where to go to register.

It is an office building belonging to the Long family.

You'll be interviewed here, and if you pass the interview, you can participate in resolving the issue.

This is necessary.

After all, this is a strange occurrence, and if someone without the ability goes there, it will only bring greater harm.

Long Hezai then added that one of their important factories had been invaded by that strange entity.

What exactly is this strange phenomenon?

This anomaly has a peculiar rule: within its own territory, it relentlessly gnaws at steel.

It's essentially about absorbing iron.

It devoured all the surrounding steel.

Its presence would make steel disappear.

Therefore, the Long family temporarily named it "Iron-Eating Beast".

What kind of nonsense is this?

Gao Linzhi was speechless after seeing it.

Isn't that a giant panda?

He knew that there were many kinds of strange things, and some of them did not target people.

Not all strange occurrences are murderous.

This is precisely why many people want to exploit the bizarre.

The strangeness of this iron-eating beast suggests that it poses a significant threat.

If their territory is allowed to expand unchecked, it could potentially destroy the world.

"It consumes large amounts of steel every day, and its territory expands as it consumes more."

"Therefore, we dispatched unmanned vehicles to clean up the steel in the area."

"But doing this is very dangerous."

"And driverless cars are also made of steel."

"It is almost impossible to find a modern industrial product that does not contain steel."

"Even plastic products often contain steel components in their electromechanical parts."

Gao Linzhi nodded; that was normal.

Steel is the mother of industry.

The vast majority of industrial products contain steel.

Of course, if it is deliberately manufactured, the use of steel can be avoided.

For example, using other alloys, plastics, copper (which is too low-grade), or even wood...

If left unchecked, it will eventually devour all the iron in the city, and once that's gone, the city will be finished.

Then it will expand to other places, and even the entire planet.

The planet is an iron-core planet.

Iron makes up a large proportion of it.

If the planet's iron is depleted, then all of humanity will be doomed.

Gao Linzhi took a deep breath.

After reading Long Hezai's introduction, he also felt very troubled.

Although he wasn't a saint, he didn't want to see the world destroyed.

After all, the world was doomed, and his plan for Immortality was ruined.

However, he had one question.

How did the Skyfall World survive?

By the way, there are many strange things in the Skyfall World.

It must be a clash of rules.

For example, there is another strange creature standing next to this iron-eating beast, which can clear away the surrounding iron or prevent the beast from absorbing iron.

When rules conflict, a balance is naturally achieved.

Having thought this through, Gao Linzhi already had a plan in mind.

He immediately went to the designated office building for the interview.

This is a somewhat old building.

Gao Linzhi saw that there were only a dozen or so people who had come.

He had expected a large and enthusiastic turnout.

Surprisingly, not many people came.

Obviously, everyone is very busy.

Secondly, who knows if this is fishing?

Thirdly, if the sky were to fall, there would always be tall people to hold it up, so nobody wants to stand out.