A Cruel Decision, Players' Panic

Fortunately, they had consulted with their superiors beforehand, which narrowly prevented their activities from being exposed.

If a conflict arises, it's uncertain whether it will anger the other party.

He immediately issued a notice designating the villa as a high-priority area, prohibiting any official personnel from visiting or disturbing it.

Meanwhile, the registration team, waiting for instructions at Zheng Guohua's home, quickly received clear orders from their superiors. "Do not disturb the residents of that villa without permission!"

"No entry to the villa area!"

"The residents of this villa require special treatment."

The registration staff, having received the stern order, exchanged bewildered glances, unable to hide their astonishment: the family had actually been right!

The people in that villa were indeed extraordinary.

Even those above them made an exception for this matter, which made them even more curious about the identity of the villa's owner—even those in higher positions had never been so mysterious.

The registrar, looking puzzled, asked the Zheng family, "Do you know the identity of the person inside?"

"Why did the higher-ups specifically instruct us not to disturb them?"

"Just follow the instructions. Don't ask too many questions. Knowing too much isn't a good thing," Zheng Guohua said, shaking his head.

These words made them even more convinced that it must be that important person.

After completing the initial screening of players in various cities, the relevant departments immediately placed the demonized individuals into separate detention centers.

No one can predict whether these people will be able to return to normal after 24 hours.

For all players, those twenty-four hours felt exceptionally long.

The moment the countdown reaches zero signifies the end of the natural disaster.

This brought a collective sigh of relief to people both inside and outside the game, who then eagerly inquired about the current situation of the Mutation Tier.

The personnel in charge of supervision were stationed outside the isolation room where Sunshine and several high-ranking Legion players were located.

As the time limit for the natural disaster passed, those twisted, inhuman bodies gradually lost their abnormality and slowly revealed human outlines again.

The tension eased slightly, but no one dared to say whether the transformation was complete or if there was a possibility of another sudden change.

The door to the isolation room was not opened immediately.

Through the bulletproof glass, one could see the awakened players gradually regaining consciousness, seemingly having completely forgotten what had happened to them.

After learning of their own Mutation Tier through the window, a shadow fell over everyone's face.

No one wants to become a monster, and what's even more unsettling is the possibility of unknown hidden dangers lingering within their body.

They were notified. "You may not leave the quarantine area until your safety in the real world is confirmed, but you are allowed to log in to the game."

So all those in quarantine logged into the game interface to try and see if they could still use their skills and level up as usual.

At this moment, new bad news arrived from the outside world.

Only a minority of players were able to regain their human form and awaken; most players, punished by the natural disaster, remained in their monster form and were even unable to regain their sanity.

What is the reason?

Following an emergency meeting and analysis of the report, the experts concluded that:

Those who failed to awaken had all taken the lives of others or other demons of their own kind.

They have likely fallen completely into demonic ways and can no longer return to the human race.

At this very moment.

Similar situations have occurred in countries around the world.

After international consultation, a joint decision was made to completely eliminate these players who had become corrupted.

Since they have lost their humanity, they no longer have the right to live, and their respective countries have also decisively chosen to abandon them.

After all, keeping them would only pose a greater risk. Apart from a few samples kept for testing, most of them should be disposed of.

Otherwise, it would require too much military manpower.

Upon learning of this proposed solution, the other players immediately erupted in uproar.

"Damn it, this is the fault of the bastard who planned this, why should we pay for it?"

"Today is the tenth district being punished by natural disaster, but what about the next time?"

"That's right, we're 11th from the bottom, just one place short!"

"Damn it, can't we try to save them?"

"The game planners, come out here! We're all quitting!"

"Damn it, I want to delete my account and quit the game!"

However, most players, while feeling a sense of unease, accepted the reality.

After all, even if you don't play the game, there's Warcraft in real life.

Quitting the game is just a threat.

The threat of the monsters had kept them from logging into the game for an entire day.

If hidden dangers are not completely eliminated, even if one is in Safe Zone, it is hard to guarantee that one will not be living on the edge of danger at all times.

Some more extreme individuals even advocate that players who have reverted to human form should also be dealt with, in order to ensure absolute safety.

Who can guarantee their absolute safety?

"The thought that monsters might be lurking in my city's Safe Zone makes me anxious even when I log on!"

"Isn't this kind of thinking inhumane? The fact that they recovered means they didn't harm anyone; they are also victims of this disaster."

"Should we deprive them of their right to live just to ensure our own safety?"

"Yeah, what will we do next time it's our turn?"

"Shut up, you sanctimonious types! If your neighbor was a corrupted player, would you still feel safe playing the game? Don't just stand there and talk like you know what's going on!"

"The higher-ups haven't confirmed whether they pose a threat yet, so we shouldn't generalize."

"That's called prevention!"

"I suggest that players from the last ten lines be gathered in one place for unified management!"

"What if someone is hiding the truth?"

"If family members help cover it up, it will be very difficult to detect."

"It would be more thorough to eliminate them all!"

The terrifying suggestion to "completely eliminate all players in the tenth-line area" was naturally not adopted, as it was far too brutal.

Other factions, similarly, have not yet clarified their stance.

Ultimately, a compromise was reached: these players were relocated to the ruins of Xuancheng and placed under unified supervision.

There's nothing we can do about it.

This natural disaster has only just come to a temporary end.

The most far-reaching impact of this event was not only on the heavily damaged rear tenth-line area, where the sharp decrease in the number of players led to a significant weakening of overall strength, but also dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the survivors.

On the other hand, the most significant beneficiaries are undoubtedly the "top ten regions".

They not only repeatedly received triple experience boosts, but also enjoyed unexpected rewards.

Players in these regions generally saw a significant leap in level, with the entire District 3 breaking through the level 50 mark.

Ranking List:

"Chongxing (72)"

Qin Xiao Youhui (61)

Dragon Diagram Frenzy (60)

Hero War Sky (60)

Imperial Dynasty Defies Heaven (60)

Wushuang Zhiyu (60)

Dragon Diagram Jinghe (60)

Lives by the Sea Wave (59)

Dishitian (59)

Death Scythe (59)

The overall strength of Region 3 has seen a significant improvement.

According to statistics from the player community, the average player level in this region is more than ten levels higher than that in other regions, making it the undisputed number one in the entire server.

This advantage gave members of War Zone 3 a lot of confidence when speaking in the discussion forum.

At this very moment.

"Maintain formation! Don't scatter!"

"Healers, keep an eye on the team's health! Shield Guard, raise your shields! The archers in the back are already taking damage!"

The main force of the Dragon Diagram Guild is currently conducting a cleanup operation on the outskirts of the Wolf Barbarians settlement.

The hostile units in this area are not only numerous, but what's even more troublesome is that they are a mix of monsters from three different classes.

Their skill combinations are unpredictable, which puts considerable pressure on this well-trained team.

Since the guild leader and commander of the Dragon Diagram Guild both broke through to the level 60 threshold, the system has opened two team Secret Realm entrances for them: "Exterminate the Wolf Barbarian Tribe" and "Wolf Barbarian Protector".

However, both of them knew very well that the guild's current overall combat strength was not enough to overcome the obstacle, and their purpose in coming here was more to explore the way for future exploration.

Therefore, they specially gathered the top combat power members of the guild to form an advance team to familiarize themselves with the environment.

However, the density of monster groups in the wild exceeded expectations, and the complex inter-class relationships of mutual restraint made it unsuitable to mobilize a large-scale team at this stage.

Not only is it easy to attract too much hatred, but the number of high-level players is also temporarily insufficient to support a full-scale raid.

Fortunately, they weren't the only team in this area.

The three guilds, Hero Alliance, Century Imperial City, and Unparalleled, also dispatched elite teams to operate here.

These guild leaders had all reached level 60, and they clearly had similar plans—to test the waters of the Secret Realm first.

During a lull in the fighting, the guild leaders gathered together for a brief discussion.

The four decided to team up and venture into the Secret Realm to explore it, as looking out for each other was always safer than acting alone.

"It's a pity that Qin Xiao is too busy with other matters lately, otherwise we could have a team of five."

"With the Berserker present, they can barely shoulder some of the defensive responsibilities."

"The key issue is our lack of dedicated healers, which likely limits our progress. This time, we'll probably only be able to familiarize ourselves with the terrain of the initial area."

"I consulted with Chongxing, and the difficulty of 'Exterminate the Wolf Barbarian Tribe' is too high for us. This time, we can probably only conduct preliminary reconnaissance."

"The second 'Wolf Barbarian Protector' Secret Realm might be worth trying. It's said that the overall difficulty of that Secret Realm is relatively low, and there aren't any particularly troublesome bosses."

"But that person also explicitly warned that it's absolutely impossible to pass the second Secret Realm without a healing class."

"Why is Seaside Wave stuck at level 59? Jing He, how much experience do you have compared to him?"

"I only leveled up today after completing all my daily tasks. He'll probably have to wait until tomorrow at the earliest."

"Why don't our four guilds coordinate a raid on this map today? That way, we can support each other."

I have no objection.

"The most important thing now is to help him level up."

"Did you emphasize the importance of this operation to him?"

"He understands. But he says that in addition to his daily tasks, he also needs to clear the Monster Altar one more time today."

"This is the last chance for level 59 to enter this Secret Realm. Once you reach level 60, you will no longer be able to enter."

"It would be a waste of time to get distracted by other Secret Realm at this point!"

War Sky said helplessly, "There's nothing we can do. Didn't we seize the last opportunity to go when we were level 59? He said he's going to go with Dishitian's team today."

"Then we'll have to prepare for another day."

"It would be best to ask Chongxing again about the combat mechanics of the main bosses in these two Secret Realm. We can't use challenge tokens to familiarize ourselves with them beforehand, so we know nothing about the situation inside right now."

Dragon Diagram Frenzy said helplessly, "I've been put on his blacklist for asking too many questions."

"We'll have to rely on you to find out."

These words left everyone looking at each other in bewilderment.

Everyone looked at Dragon Diagram Frenzy with pity, and no one dared to contact that expert again, for fear of following in his footsteps.

After all, the opponent's strength is already at a cheat-like level.

They also had hanging ornaments, but they were too small.

We'll talk about these things later.

Meanwhile, the "Seaside Wave" they were talking about had already organized a team to step into the Teleportation Array of the Monster Altar.

This team consisted almost entirely of level 59 players, and this would be their last entry into this Secret Realm this week.

The team composition is as follows. "Berserker Dishitian, Assassin Death Scythe, Assassin Yes Yes Yes??, Priest Lives by the Sea Wave, Priest Xuanyuan Yi."

"Our team's setup is quite extreme."

Dishitian looked slightly worried, "Two assassins and two Priest, all of whom are physical melee attackers, will there be any problems with damage output?"

"With the two of us treating the first two stages, we're absolutely safe."

"This isn't the first time any of you have challenged this secret realm; you all know how to avoid the Basic Skills mechanics." The user "Lives by the Sea Wave" analyzed, "This isn't the first time anyone has challenged this Secret Realm; everyone knows how to avoid the basic skill mechanics."

"If you don't even have this much ability, you don't deserve to be called a high-level player in the Third War Zone."

"Although it's hard mode, the only real pressure for us comes from the final boss."

Xuanyuan Yi was also confident about this attempt. "Apart from me, everyone else is a top-tier player at level 59, and their combat strength is beyond doubt."

"Especially since both assassins have high burst damage, we two will focus on healing you, the main attacker, so don't worry."

"That's right, it's not like this is my first time taking on hard mode. I'm not going to give up so easily."

"Yes Yes Yes??" He waved his hand decisively. "Let's start the battle as soon as we're ready!"

All five were elite members of their respective guilds and knew every corner of the Monster Altar like the back of their hand.

The boss guarding the first level is not difficult to deal with. As long as the team's damage output is sufficient and no one falls, it can be defeated sooner or later. The two healers are not under too much pressure.

Upon entering the second stage, due to the lack of a damage dealer, the team failed to interrupt the summoning ritual in the first phase, and the BOSS directly entered the second phase.

Fortunately, the entire team was quite strong, and with the two Priest taking turns healing them, they succeeded on their second attempt after only one failure.

With the introduction of the achievement system and gacha mechanics, flying wings are no longer rare, and the price of feathers has dropped significantly as a result.

All the fallen feathers were purchased by "Yes Yes Yes??"

"Do you still need feathers? I remember you already have wings." "Seaside Wave" recalled that there were at least a dozen people with wings in their guild.

"It's a task assigned by the guild leader, collected on behalf of the guild. It's really troublesome." "Yes Yes Yes??" she said with some dissatisfaction. "If it weren't for the guild, who would be willing to do this kind of thing?"

"Yes, that's always how it is when you're in guild management."

"However, our guild isn't that obsessed with character appearance."

"Get ready to engage the final boss," Xuanyuan Yi reminded him, taking the initiative to draw the enemy's attention.

"Our damage output isn't high to begin with, so let's not get distracted by dealing with the mobs. I'll take care of pulling all the smaller monsters."

Death Scythe hesitated slightly. "The enemies in Hard Mode are more numerous and deal more damage. Can you handle them alone?"

"I'm Priest, why would I be afraid of not being able to take care of myself?"

"I can heal myself, and my talent is 'Swift Shadowstride,' which greatly increases my movement speed, so pulling monsters shouldn't be a problem!"

The others then understood why Seaside Wave had invited Xuanyuan Yi to join them.

Indeed, Priest with high-speed movement ability is the best candidate to attract mobs.

"Do you really think I can just randomly pick people? I've already said our lineup is fine! Let's begin!"

Once the smaller monsters are lured away, the remaining four players can focus on dealing with the boss, only needing to dodge area-of-effect attacks.