The Soul Anomaly and the Joint Committee's Response

The expressions on everyone's faces immediately turned grim.

The most dramatic change in expression was seen in the face of Long Hezai, the head of the Long family.

Because besides being the head of the household, he was also a businessman.

Whose city harbors a monster, and yet they can expect the economy to improve?

That's impossible.

Money is most afraid of risk; wealthy people, capable people, and elites will definitely run away quickly.

Sure enough, people immediately began to whisper among themselves.

"It seems we can't stay in Dragon City anymore."

"Yes, we'll have to figure out how to transfer the funds when we get back."

"Quickly contact Liang City and Xu City. There's a big-shot player there; I think we can start planning our investment in advance."

"Yes, that's what I think too."

"From now on, the world belongs to the strongest players."

"We must win them over, arrange marriages, and bribe them as soon as possible; if that fails, we'll have to kneel down and act like dogs."

These people spoke without any regard for the Long family's reputation.

Clearly, they really intended to leave.

This was also a way to put pressure on Long Hezai: deal with the anomaly quickly, or they would leave.

Long Hezai also understood this principle.

He turned to Gao Linzhi: "Mr. Xinteng, is it possible to transfer this anomaly back to the Skyfall World?"

"You said it can't be eliminated, but it should be able to be moved, right?"

"After all, it came from the Skyfall World."

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up.

Gao Linzhi pondered for a moment.

That's one way to go; it's a way to shift the blame.

"This needs further investigation."

"No problem, no problem. The Long family will cover all expenses. Please let us know if you need anything." Long Hezai immediately saw hope.

Gao Linzhi smiled and nodded.

The others also joined in the enthusiasm.

They all have their own businesses, so who wouldn't worry about some strange entity taking over their territory tomorrow?

Today it's a weirdo who eats iron; what if tomorrow it's a weirdo who eats meat and drinks blood?

Are they moving?

Those industries can't be moved.

Especially those farmers, mine owners, and retired scholars...

They were all much more enthusiastic than before.

They finally understood the key point and one by one stepped forward to try and establish a connection with Gao Linzhi.

"May I ask where the new gentleman is from, and whether he is married?"

"Young and promising, sir. I have shares in a company that I would like to offer you."

"I have a few friends who are working on a new project—mining for gold in the Black Continent. They can offer you some shares..."

"Hantian University is currently awarding honorary professorships. I have connections and can recommend you for the position..."

For a time, he gave women, money, face, titles, academic qualifications... but gave nothing.

Gao Linzhi smiled.

This is more realistic.

Those who are quick to criticize others truly don't understand aristocratic families.

Old aristocratic families always try to win people over first. Only if that fails do they consider forming alliances or remaining neutral. As a last resort, they consider hostility and destruction.

This is the norm.

Of course, you must first be strong, not weak.

Previously, those powerful families also treated the strong players this way, while completely wiping out the weaker, independent players.

Therefore, he was not misled.

Those scions of prominent families also found themselves in a somewhat precarious situation.

Gao Linzhi seems to be impervious to both soft and hard approaches.

This rendered their usual methods ineffective.

At this moment, Long Hezai actually breathed a sigh of relief.

He made an excuse that he had to deal with other matters and hurriedly ended the banquet.

They then invited Gao Linzhi to an office to discuss the transfer of the strange phenomenon.

The party ended abruptly, but the ripples it created quickly spread.

At this very moment.

A chat room.

The members of the United Association are discussing what just happened.

"Do you have a way to deal with that strange thing?"

"Yes, it's the same method as for the one with Canxue."

They clearly recognized the "Shindo" from before as Gao Linzhi himself.

However, they did not take any action to obstruct Gao Linzhi.

After all, Gao Linzhi was resolving the issue normally before.

If they use this opportunity to target or attack Gao Linzhi, once the matter is exposed, they will be standing against the majority of companies.

Because Gao Linzhi said that he was doing this in order to maintain order.

The United Association's mission is to maintain order.

Although they have various drawbacks, they will not violate this fundamental principle when doing things.

If this is violated, the United Association will not be far from disbanding.

"So, you also use psychic abilities to shape personalities and then exert bizarre control?" someone asked.

"That's right, we can do it too, and even better than him."

"But since he's willing to do it, we'll just watch. That way, we can directly integrate him into our existing order."

"Yes, as long as he can benefit from this order, he won't disrupt it."

"That's right. Those who disrupt order often benefit from it, and since they can benefit from it, they will spontaneously maintain the order."

This shows that the people in the United Association are indeed very capable.

They are all a group of elites.

At first, I was thinking of taking down Gao Linzhi, this unpredictable Rogue Players.

But later, they realized they couldn't easily deal with Gao Linzhi, so they thought of other ways to restrain him.

In addition, the existence of Pay-to-Win Talent and game items puts Gao Linzhi in a very delicate position on the United Association's list.

We must neither target attacks nor be wary of surveillance.

"However, this incident has also served as a reminder that the current situation is extremely dangerous."

"Yes, if there's one anomaly, there will be a second. We need to start tightening restrictions now. We must register all players and prohibit them from touching the anomalies."

"Players must undergo a check before logging off."

"Well said, but it's a pity that many players will definitely be unwilling to register just for this registration process."

"They don't want to reveal their real identities, and it's impossible for them to undergo testing every time they log off."

"Then we should publicize the testing methods widely and give them away for free."

"And tell them that staying in the Skyfall World is the best course of action after being infected and parasitized by the monsters."

"Because here, there is still a possibility of treatment; returning to the real world will only result in instant death and the monster's resurrection."

"Yes, that's the only way we can keep it a secret for them."

"Once they register, they worry that their real address and identity will be exposed, and then someone might threaten them with the lives of their family members."

Everyone chimed in, and each opinion was quite insightful.

"Even so, we must immediately get to work on this and give it prominent publicity."

"Have you obtained all the recordings from the Long family?" someone asked.

"I already got it."

"Okay, then let's edit the original video and show everyone how bizarre and terrifying it is."

"Tell them that if the bizarre continues, humanity will inevitably perish!"

Everyone nodded.

"We need to use public opinion and moral blackmail; I believe not many people will be able to withstand this."

"And the remaining small group can be targeted."

Everyone agreed.

I have to say, their method was quite effective.

After all, registering players can be justified from the perspective of "preventing strange occurrences."

In this way, many people will find it difficult to refute.

They can then bind each player individually and defeat them one by one.

Bring them under the control of the United Association.

"Well, this strange event has temporarily subsided. If another strange event occurs, we'll probably have to prepare for the worst."

At this point, someone said, "The worst-case scenario is, of course, to replicate the Safe Zone in the game."

"That's right, the village's ancestral hall is Safe Zone. I've heard that it can protect one-tenth of the villagers. If one-tenth of them survive, their descendants and the village can continue."

"But how do we replicate this ancestral hall Safe Zone?" someone else asked, puzzled.

"It's difficult. We can't simply replicate the surface structure; we've already tested it," a researcher replied.

"Oh, how's the Safe Zone project progressing now?"

"Oh, regarding the ancestral hall Safe Zone project, we've already analyzed it and identified the key factors," the researcher replied.

"Based on our analysis, we discovered that the ancestral hall contains the souls of our ancestors."

"And the souls of ancestors inherently possess a strong desire to continue the family line."

"This is the very foundation of their very being."

"According to our findings, the reason why so-called ancestral halls can resist these strange things and prevent them from entering is because the souls of these ancestors have actually mutated."

"Driven by their obsession with survival, they have become bizarre entities and even the new rules."

"That's the rule of carrying on the family line."

"To carry on the family line?" someone asked doubtfully.

"In other words, you, this monster, can kill my villagers, but you must ensure that my village continues to thrive."

"This is equivalent to a compromise between the two parties. It's like an animal that, when it encounters a wild beast that it can't defeat, will throw one of its offspring to the other beast to eat, and then take the opportunity to escape."

"Now it seems that the ancestral hall did the same thing."

"Therefore, if we want to do this, we must build a similar ancestral hall and replicate it 1:1."

"But the most crucial thing is to give the ancestral hall a soul."

"This is why a village, in order to establish itself, must have ancestral tablets; in other words, the ancestral hall must be haunted by spirits and monsters that live by absorbing people's offerings."

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

This method is well explained.

"In that case, let's put the ancestral hall matter aside for now. We'll promote player registration in various locations and conduct simulations on that forum."

Then someone else asked, "What about the ordinary people?"

"While ordinary people are aware of the players' existence, they are unaware of the anomaly invasion."

"They would be very panicked if they knew about the strange invasion."

"What's there to be afraid of in a panic? Even if they are panicked, they still need to eat and wear clothes every day."

"As long as we can maintain this basic supply and demand order, we don't need to worry about their panic."

"At most, it will just be a period of economic downturn."

"Everyone can do other work."

Someone suggested, "Our economic focus should now be on mining gold."

"Gold should have many more uses."

"Our research has found that gold may have the potential to isolate the supernatural."

"That means it can't fight against anomalies, but it can affect the scope of anomaly rules."

"For example, you could use gold to seal away the strange creature."

"Actually, when we were dealing with that Iron-Eating Beast Anomaly, we thought about using a lot of gold to create a golden shell to cover it up."

"However, after calculating, they found that the amount of gold required for this was far too much."

"After all, the area affected by the iron block is too large."

"So we didn't succeed, what a waste of a good opportunity."

"If the anomaly's radiation range is relatively small when it first appears, then gold can be used to seal it off."

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded again.

"That's well said, those are some good points."

"In that case, we should hurry up and get our hands on the gold."

"We must now vigorously collect gold, and even begin to use various coercive measures, such as requiring a certain amount of gold to pay medical bills."

Someone angrily retorted, "Hey, isn't this a bit too barbaric?"

"There's nothing we can do about it now," someone from the United Association said angrily.

"So, when danger arose, we were expected to rely on others to handle it?"

"Don't forget, we are the core."

Soon, a group of players uploaded the new information to the Archipelago Forum.

After Gao Linzhi returned, he handed over the transferred project to Hai Zida again.

He continued to investigate the relevant matters.

It must be said that the United Association is quite efficient in its actions.

New hot topics are emerging on the Archipelago Forum, concerning strange and unusual issues.

"Shocking! A nobody actually solved this bizarre problem!"

"However, the Long family was not entirely satisfied. They hoped to completely eradicate the strange phenomenon, making it disappear entirely and returning everything to what it was before."

"This should be the first time our players have officially dealt with a monster offline."

"That anomaly has now lost its anomaly rules."

"But the anomaly hasn't been completely resolved yet; it still lingers in Dragon City."

"If this continues, there may be other hidden dangers."

"For example, someone might deliberately feed them larger ones."

"But this time it won't spread again."

They are now figuring out how to safely bring the anomaly back to the Skyfall World.

Clearly, the person who posted the message was present at the time and may have even overheard Gao Linzhi and Long Hezai's conversation.

There were so many people attending the party.

Moreover, many people responded with their own criticisms.

However, now that the bizarre has become a reality, they have no safe way to retreat.

"Damn it, which bastard brought this weirdness into reality?"

"I know, it's said to be someone's revenge against the world."

"Sigh, we must pay attention to people like this immediately; we can't afford to have a second case like this."