At Fang Yue's words, his spirits lifted, and he pricked up his ears.
"Little guy, you should know that players are called wanderers in the game. But do you know how wanderers' bodies come into being?"
"I've seen it happen. They appeared out of nowhere, between reality and illusion."
"Out of nowhere..."
Fairy Meiyu gave a bitter smile and shook her head slightly.
"That's not right. Wanderers' bodies really exist. They're... plundered from another world."
Fang Yue froze on the spot.
"Plundered from another world...? What exactly does that mean?"
"To be precise, they're controlled. All wanderers are controlled by the Heavenly Lock and sent into the Blue Sea World."
Controlled?
Fang Yue's expression changed. He touched his back. "Could it be that we..."
"That's right. We're the same—or rather..." Fairy Meiyu's tone grew heavier. "We're about to become just like them!"
This time, before Fang Yue could speak, Fairy Meiyu continued.
"From the moment they're born, all wanderers are connected to the Heavenly Lock. At the far end of the lock is an unknown Transcendence-grade Anomaly of the ninth rank. We call it the Lock Master. Those controlled by the Heavenly Lock are called Lock People. The Lock Master controls the Lock People and sends them to wage war from one world to another. After conquering a world, it turns everyone in that world into Lock People. Then it sends all the Lock People to occupy the next world, endlessly, generation after generation."
"The world we live in is called the Lock Country by people from other worlds. Our real world, Blue Star, lies on the outskirts of the Lock Country, in a very small region. The crisis only spread to us when the Lock Country began expanding. It wasn't even enough to draw the Lock Master's attention. We