A Greater Crisis, Questioning Gao Linzhi

On the forum, people were eagerly commenting.

Because the Game Forum was built by Gao Linzhi based on the core code of the Skyfall Game system, it is something that cannot be controlled by the local authorities on Earth.

This is also one of the very few places where information is released completely arbitrarily.

Of course, there are still basic restrictions. It's impossible to post vulgar or fraudulent messages. Once confirmed, the account will be permanently banned immediately.

This kind of deterrence is very powerful.

After all, the God's Domain Game is a source of superpowers and making money.

Moreover, it's a one-person-one-account system, linked to the individual.

This greatly limits the space and time that scammers can operate.

So when people found it difficult to express their opinions elsewhere, they flocked to forums to do so.

"I am from Xuancheng, and I can confirm that."

"The whole city has been gripped by panic these past two days. If it weren't for the battlefield missions, I wouldn't even bother logging into the game."

"If you ask me, this is the time to level up as fast as possible and try to awaken your superpowers as soon as possible."

"At least we have the ability to protect ourselves, so we won't be at the mercy of others."

"Let's encourage each other, my friend upstairs."

"Are you stupid? Hurry up and run to the countryside! What are you doing staying in the city?"

"How could I possibly run? There are far more monsters in the countryside!"

"Yes, there are countless stray dogs, cats, snakes, rats, birds, turtles... in the countryside..."

"I've quit my job and plan to dedicate myself full-time to gaming."

"I heard that a neighborhood was infested with rats, and only a few able-bodied residents survived."

"For the sake of our families, we must give it our all."

"Damn it, anyone want to team up to grind in the wilderness? Let's level up all night, I'm going all out!"

"This is terrifying... Should I consider moving, or even going abroad to avoid this?"

"Never go abroad!"

"I have friends in the Ying Kingdom and Mai Kingdom, where all sorts of strange events have occurred, and they're even more terrifying. They have more wild animals there."

"Yes, pythons, crocodiles, Gray Wolf, and Brown Bear are all rare here, but they're very common where they're from!"

"Most importantly, foreign authorities offer virtually no protection for outsiders."

"If others don't care about you and you're in an unfamiliar place, it's actually more dangerous."

"Why don't we stay in the country and protect our home together?"

"Yes, I'd recommend that everyone join the 'Thorn Bramble' organization with me."

"They promised to protect all players who joined the organization."

Soon, some people who saw the opportunity immediately started advertising on the forum and recruiting others.

At this time, sticking together is in our nature.

Although many people trust those above them, they also worry that those above them are taking care of too many people, and that they, without connections or status, will find it difficult to receive such care.

So they chose to form a group privately.

"For my family, I will join them once my abilities awaken."

"Sorry, I have to take care of my own family first."

"I've also received invitations from some player groups."

"They all advocate that players should unite to protect themselves, because as long as they become capable, they can protect others in reality."

"Now, once you reach around level 20, you can start to show real-world abilities, and everyone in our region has a chance to go even further."

"You must be a player from the third tier upstairs, right? I heard your tier's average level is two levels higher than other tiers, I'm so envious."

There are many strong people, and the environment is good; it's good to have a big tree to lean on for shade.

"What's going on? Why are groups like 'Thorn Bramble' popping up again?"

"We must..." The upper echelons of Dragon Han were now finding themselves in a difficult situation.

Some civilian organizations have taken advantage of the monster invasion to become active again, and some have even expanded recklessly.

Is it really going to turn into a scenario straight out of apocalyptic novels?

Order is nonexistent; civil society groups are scattered and fragmented.

That would have been an absolute disaster.

Moreover, it is a disaster for ordinary people, a point that needs no further refutation.

While order does bring constraints, it at least prevents wrongdoers from acting with impunity.

Currently, similar unusual events are occurring in many cities around the world.

To reassure the public, Dragon Han took several measures: dispatching emergency response teams composed of people with superpowers to various regions and implementing a duty roster system.

All available resources were mobilized, and they were urgently deployed.

At the same time, a comprehensive survey and stockpiling of essential supplies such as food, medicine, and fuel began...

However, despite so many measures, the monstrous rat swarms remain rampant.

Their origins remain a mystery.

They seem to be able to sense human movements in advance, rarely staying in one place during the day, and their whereabouts are mysterious and unpredictable.

Therefore, several large-scale ambushes failed to eliminate them.

That very night.

A residential area in Xuancheng has once again been attacked by a large swarm of rats.

The team of superpowered individuals on duty nearby rushed to the scene immediately, but by the time they arrived, nearly half of the residents in the community had already been injured or killed.

Among the survivors, some had set up defensive traps in their homes beforehand.

In some cases, multiple individuals within a family possess superpowers, and it was through their combined efforts that they managed to withstand the attack.

"Please give us some weapons! If we have weapons, even ordinary people can fight back!" a community organizer pleaded.

"We will report this to our superiors."

It is worth noting that since the rat infestation began, many high-level players living nearby have spontaneously contacted each other and chosen to live together in one place.

When the accident occurred, they actually formed a considerable resistance by Watch for each other and fighting together.

Because their battles in the game are all based on real-world situations.

After all, it's a simulated VR game, not a simple keyboard and mouse game.

Furthermore, they discovered that these monster rats were actually quite similar to the monsters in the game.

The playing style is similar.

In response to this incident, the higher-ups began issuing new guidelines through television news and the in-game world channel.

The plan encourages players, especially those from the same faction, to live together as close as possible and support each other.

These players already possess a certain level of teamwork and coordination, often enabling them to achieve greater defensive effectiveness at a relatively low cost.

The advantage of doing this is that it can fully utilize the resistance forces of the people and reduce the need for armed force.

Otherwise, they simply wouldn't have enough manpower to keep an eye on everything.

How many people do you need to handle this?

Currently, there are two main types of players in a rather awkward situation: one is those who are still at a low level and have not yet been able to bring their abilities into reality; the other is the Priest class.

Compared to other classes, Priest have limited attack methods and relatively low damage output.

What's more problematic is that they are currently unable to use their healing or rescue skills in reality, seemingly returning to the somewhat powerless position they had in the early days of the game.

The upper echelons of Dragon Han sent someone to contact "Chongxing" specifically to test whether he could use healing skills in the real world.

Zhang Mingzhen did not respond directly.

This only means that once a character's strength reaches a certain level, most actions in the game can be performed.

In fact, he has been able to bring all the skills in the game—including "wing summoning, pet control, and even equipment and items"—to life.

When he acquired the Mistshadow Set not long ago, he realized that the equipment could manifest in reality, with the same attribute bonuses as in the game.

To ensure his safety, he specifically returned to Fragrant Cloud City in the game to find the Weapon Shop craftsman to refine Spirit Stone.

It is worth mentioning that the special Spirit Stone brought back from the ancient battlefield has been identified as a high-energy variant.

Its effects are equivalent to an enhanced version of a regular Spirit Stone; it not only has the same function but also has a longer duration of energy.

Zhang Mingzhen then used this to verify his claim: he brought 130 Spirit Stone refined from Mystic Spirit Stone into reality and set up Protective Formation within the boundaries of his detached villa.

Based on energy consumption estimates, ordinary Spirit Stone can only sustain the operation of the magic array for about six months, while using high-energy Spirit Stone is estimated to sustain it for more than ten years.

The fact that he could carry items out of the game made him believe it was a real world.

He naturally didn't know that this was actually Game System code, using the physical rules of the real world to regenerate a high-energy crystal.

This is actually still a technological product.

He still has more than ten high-energy Spirit Stone in his possession, so his safety should not be a concern in the short term.

After reserving some high-energy Spirit Stone for emergency use, he embedded ordinary Spirit Stone into the array's core, and a pale golden light screen instantly enveloped a three-kilometer radius around the villa.

With security arrangements in place in the real world, Zhang Mingzhen finally felt at ease returning to the God's Domain.

Unexpectedly, the outside world has undergone a complete transformation in just a few days.

But he never considered himself a savior.

The turmoil in the world will be dealt with by the official forces; he doesn't need to worry about it too much.

Besides, his goal was to save his parents.

In his view, the most valuable aspect of the Priest profession in reality is its Healing Ability, especially group Healing spells, which will undoubtedly play a key role in future changes.

However, if one wants to fully translate game abilities into reality, Priest's combat power needs to exceed the threshold of 10,000—and there are probably very few who can reach this level in the short term.

During his previous conversations with higher-ups, he clearly sensed that they had repeatedly tested him.

Those people seemed to be trying to figure out his temperament, to see if he would show compassion or indignation at the suffering of others.

Real people aren't the fools in novels.

They won't be so direct, those straightforward commands that would create resentment.

Instead, they will have prolonged contact.

Determine the Zhang Mingzhen before taking any action.

The system here is different from that of Blue Star Company; the higher-ups have many considerations.

Unfortunately, they were destined to be disappointed— Zhang Mingzhen was not particularly affected by the life and death of others.

Lately, he has often sensed the restlessness permeating the city.

This commotion comes not only from humans, but also from animals, insects, and even plants.

The moment when these beings are completely corrupted and awakened by demonic forces is probably not far off.

What's happening now is just the prelude; if we can't even get through this hurdle, humanity will eventually perish.

At this very moment.

The higher-ups are indeed testing Chongxing's stance.

They hoped that this Wind and Cloud in the game could step forward to reassure the people—if he could appear in real life, at least the order in his city would be greatly improved.

Unfortunately, he had no desire to step into the limelight.

However, the leaders and senior members of the major guilds on each server made a public appearance one after another, announcing to the anxious public that they would lead their guild members to fight against the enemy of humanity until the very last moment.

This is mainly to attract new talent and expand influence.

This statement temporarily eased the unrest.

However, this fragile peace lasted only a few days before being shattered by a piece of terrible news.

Xuancheng has been attacked by a large swarm of rats again!

In a short time, it could become a dead zone.

News of Shenying spread like wildfire across the country.

A large force rushed to Xuancheng overnight to deal with the situation, and it was initially determined that the rat population had re-emerged.

However, the scale and intensity of this disaster are far beyond anything seen before!

This time, even many local superpowered individuals from Xuancheng perished in the rat swarm.

Looking around the city, many places were devoid of life, with only piles of white bones in the corners of the streets and alleys, a shocking sight.

This was an unprecedentedly horrific scene!

Meanwhile, similar situations are occurring in other overseas locations.

Some people have begun to despair about the future of humanity.

Meanwhile, many high-ranking figures quickly made contact with Gao Linzhi.

"Your Excellency, are those monsters truly controllable?"

"Or is it that you think the game isn't exciting enough? You want to play a real-life hunting game? Like when colonists hunted natives during the Age of Grand Voyage?" Someone had already started to speak vehemently.

It was simply because the scene was so horrific.

"That's part of evolution, not my will, nor my control; the game content manifested in reality."

"It's just because you yourselves are evolving too slowly. You spend a lot of time oppressing and exploiting your own people, which has resulted in your power evolving too slowly." Gao Linzhi directly used a tai chi hand.

What he said was actually the truth.

If he made a mistake, it was introducing the game into the Earth world.

However, that also presented the Earth with a tremendous opportunity.

Opportunity is always accompanied by danger.

The higher-ups didn't dare to question it too much and could only endure it.

Their only consolation was that the other party did not become enraged or deliberately create these dangers.

And at this time...

The Game Forum have been completely engulfed by fear and shock.

A sense of dread about the unknown permeates the lines.

"Who dares to say their city is absolutely safe?"

"Tens of thousands of people died overnight... I have so many friends in Xuancheng."

"Is this war? This is war!"

"Fortunately, my whole family moved away from Xuancheng a few days ago."

"I acted purely on instinct at the time, and looking back now, I realize I was lucky to escape with my life."

"But where is truly safe now? The capital is the most heavily guarded, isn't it? Even if it means going bankrupt, I'll move there with my family."

Too late.

"The capital city is already under complete lockdown. Rents and prices are skyrocketing, unemployment is surging, and before, many people relied on games to make a living. Now, real-world resources are scarce, and even if you earn money in the game, you can't buy anything!"

"Even if they managed to squeeze in, they'd probably starve to death on the streets."

Faced with the crisis, many people sought ways to protect themselves amidst the chaos. "How can I survive? I just want to stay alive, I don't care about anything else!"

At this point, an organization called "Thorn Bramble" extended an invitation to many people. "We welcome individuals with abilities in various professions to join us."

"Only by pooling the strength of everyone can we build a truly secure defense."

"Relying on others for protection is not a long-term solution; only by becoming strong yourself can you truly succeed!"

The call from Thorn Bramble continues, "Players who cherish life and yearn for peace, please join us! More and more people have already made their choice, don't hesitate any longer!"

"We will build a new home in the wilderness!"

Immediately, someone angrily rebuked. "Get out of here, you shills upstairs! All you do is play tricks."

"What we ordinary people need most right now is stability! Don't be fooled by sweet talk—only by uniting as one can we unleash our full potential."