Online Meetup

High-Dimensional Space: Chaotic Void.

Time has no meaning here—only endless silence and darkness. Gu Yuan's Titan Divine Body, vast enough to define star regions, floated quietly in the void.

At this moment, he was conducting a long-overdue "internal inspection."

In his vision, his body was no longer flesh and blood, but a shattered, yet brilliant, starry cosmos.

The once-dim [Right Lung Star Region] now glowed with a faint but steadfast gold-red light at its edge. That was the A7 District Bronchus, opened by players—like a dried-up river surging back to life with vitality.

Deeper within, the [Liver Nebula] presented a more complex situation.

In Gu Yuan's perception, at least five tiny points of light flickered stubbornly through the toxic mist from different directions.

"The Dawn Guild has taken H-103, the Dragon War Guild has H-109, and a few loose alliances have built 'Mushroom Village' on the fringe..."

Gu Yuan watched those tiny, busy specks of light within his body, a strange feeling stirring in his heart.

To his body, light-years tall, these hundred thousand players were less than a billionth of a bacterium. Yet these insignificant beings, driven by their undying nature and a motivation called "greed," were working like diligent worker bees to slowly repair his broken hive.

"Liver metabolic function restored by 0.01%."

A pitifully small number, but it meant—the beginning of a reversal.

Well, maybe not quite 0.01... forget it, round it up to 0.01%. Truly a promising future.

Blue Star, the real world.

Coordinates: Jingdu City First People's Hospital, Rehabilitation Center.

"Miss Li! You can't leave! Absolutely not!"

Several experts in white coats, sweating profusely, tried to block a young girl packing her luggage.

"Your recovery case is a world-class miracle! We need to run a full examination! We need samples! We need—"

Li You (Yun Zhong You), dressed in light sportswear, hoisted a heavy bag with one hand and looked helplessly at the fervent doctors.

Days had passed since she drank the [Titan Blood].

After the initial agony, her body had recovered its functions at an inconceivable speed. Atrophied muscles had filled out and strengthened in just three days; dead nerves transmitted signals as efficiently as recast cables.

Now, she could not only walk—she could run five kilometers without issue. Perfectly healthy.

"Professor Liu, I've cooperated with your tests for days."

Li You sighed, slinging the bag over her shoulder with an ease that stunned the nearby nurses. "You've drawn blood, done CT scans, and the results show I'm healed—even healthier than before."

"But that defies science! We need to find the cause!" The old professor was so agitated his glasses nearly fell off.

"The cause is a good mood and good food."

Li You winked playfully, then decided not to linger.

She tapped her toes, slipping past the interns trying to block her with the agility of a swallow. By the time the doctors reacted, she had already pressed the elevator's down button.

"Dad, Mom, wait for me downstairs. Drive fast—don't let them catch me!"

Li You said hastily into her phone as the elevator doors slid shut, cutting off the doctors' shouts.

The moment she escaped the hospital, she looked at the sunlight outside and took a deep breath.

That was the taste of freedom—

Prison break success~

That night, Dawn Guild core voice channel.

"I broke out!"

Yun Zhong You's voice rang through the channel, laced with barely concealed laughter. "Those doctors looked at me like I was an alien."

"Hahaha! I knew you'd pull it off, sis!"

Dali Chu Qiji's loud voice shook the channel. "Same here! The foreman tried to sign me up for weightlifting at a sports school—scared me so bad I grabbed my stuff and ran. Just got to Magic City, looking for a hotel now."

"Since everyone's settled, let's meet in person."

Feng Xing Tian Xia's voice cut in. "Some things are better said offline. Especially about future plans."

"Agreed." Lei Zhen was brief. "Li Zihan and I are already in Magic City."

"Then tomorrow night."

Feng Xing Tian Xia sent a location pin.

"Magic City, Cloud Apartment, my place. Even if it's the end of the world, we still need to eat. I'm treating everyone to hotpot."

The next night. Magic City, Cloud Apartment.

This was a private gathering with no outsiders—the first offline meetup for the five core members of the Dawn Guild, who had only known each other online.

The venue was Chen Feng's home. This spacious flat, though in a prime location, was surprisingly simply decorated—even a bit sparse. Only the rows of professional gaming gear revealed the owner's identity.

But tonight, this place was filled with the warmth of life.

In the center of the living room sat a steaming copper pot, the spicy beef tallow broth roiling and fragrant.

"Brother Feng, your knife work is legit!"

Wang Daqiang, wearing a tight T-shirt that looked ready to burst at the seams from his chest muscles, was drooling over the paper-thin lamb slices in Chen Feng's hands.

"Basic pro player skill—steady hands."

Chen Feng smiled and neatly arranged the meat slices. His hands weren't just steady; they were fast. The cleaver in his grip seemed to have a life of its own.

On the couch, Li Zihan was fiddling with his portable terminal, occasionally pushing up his thick-rimmed glasses. Lei Zhen stood on the balcony, habitually scanning the surroundings and escape routes before stepping inside and sliding the glass door shut.

"Ding-dong—"

The doorbell rang.

Chen Feng went to answer it.

Standing at the door was a girl with a ponytail and jeans, her face glowing with a healthy flush.

Li You.

"Hi everyone, I'm Yun Zhong You." She waved a little shyly.

"Youzi's walking pretty smoothly now—totally different from what you described before."

"Not just walking, I can even jump." Li You gave a light hop on the spot, landing silently. "Thanks, everyone. If I hadn't met you all in the game..."

"Stop." Chen Feng cut her off with a smile, handing her a pair of chopsticks. "It's all in the pot. No downer talk. Sit, let's eat."

After a few rounds of drinks and plenty of food.

Everyone was sweating from the heat, and the awkwardness of turning online comrades into offline friends melted away over the hotpot.

Chen Feng set down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth, and looked at Lei Zhen.

"Old Lei, about the officials..."

"Relax." Lei Zhen took a sip of beer and said steadily, "Old Ban... my superior, has listed our guild as a 'strategic partner.' As long as we don't cross the line, the officials will give us maximum leeway. You could even say we're the vanguard now. Those three hundred special ops soldiers' paychecks are all under the guild's finance department."

"Good." Chen Feng nodded.

"Brother Feng, there's something."

Li Zihan suddenly spoke up, his eyes clear—his supercharged metabolism made it hard for him to get drunk. "Tianqi Group, Longteng Capital... at least ten major conglomerates have contacted me in the past few days, wanting to invest in Dawn or buy our members and strategies at high prices. Some even hinted they'd target us in-game if we didn't agree."

"Target?"

Wang Daqiang slammed the table, making the dishes jump. "Who gives a damn! In the Liver, if anyone dares show their teeth at us, I'll lead the boys to camp their Respawn Point and farm them!"

"Can't just brute-force it."

Chen Feng shook his head, leaning back in his chair with a deep gaze.

"They wouldn't dare do that unless there's something wrong here."

Chen Feng tapped his head.

"Money is useful in reality, but in Titan: Genesis, it's worthless. Those conglomerates have cash—maybe they can buy up a ton of Bio-Energy from solo players, that's their edge. But it doesn't mean much. Take Titan Blood, for example—a strategic resource that requires a class change to purchase, and its price isn't even that high. In other words, money that doesn't translate into combat power is meaningless. Put differently, in-game strength is the real currency. As long as we keep our combat edge, resources will keep flowing to us."

"So, do we fight them?" Li You looked worried.

"No." Chen Feng smiled. "We do business with them."

"Business?"

"Right. The pie in this world is too big—no single faction can swallow it all." Chen Feng pointed at the night view outside the window. "The Liver has countless zones, the Lung has countless Bronchi, not to mention other areas. Dawn has fewer than five hundred core members, three hundred special ops, plus the solo players freeloading off us—a few thousand total. We can't claim it all."

"So, we need to find our niche."

Chen Feng raised one finger: "First, tech barriers. Strategies, boss tactics, special resources—these must stay in our hands."

"Second, high-end combat power. We ensure Dawn has the server's top raid squad. When big guilds hit a boss they can't beat, they'll have to pay us to handle it."

"Win-win cooperation." Lei Zhen summed it up. "They put up the money, we provide the know-how. Use their capital to fuel our elite."

"Exactly." Chen Feng raised his glass. "That's my plan. Only cooperation maximizes profit. A game that affects reality can't let petty gains derail our main development path."

"What does everyone think about the Titans?"

Li Zihan adjusted his glasses, choosing his words carefully.

"The idea of the virtual affecting reality is just unbelievable." He glanced around at his teammates and gave a wry smile. "I'll say this—as a materialist, I'm starting to believe there might really be gods out there..."

Li You raised her glass with a cheerful grin, a touch of carefree spirit in her voice: "Gods? If they're real, objective existences beyond our understanding, isn't that still materialism? Where's the idealism in that? Besides, we're Titan Kin—we've actually received their gifts. What's there to worry about? Let's just clink glasses first!"

Five glasses clinked together with a crisp ring.

In-game, the Liver region.

By now, the Liver map had become a thriving scene of multiple powers standing side by side.

Besides the [Detoxification Camp] built by Dawn Guild, two other major strongholds had risen in different parts of the Liver.

Coordinates: H-109 Sector – Iron Blood Outpost.

This was established by the Dragon Fighting in the Wild Guild, which had received massive funding injections.

Though they lacked top-tier combat power like Feng Xing Tian Xia, they had money and manpower. Tens of thousands of salaried players, clad in uniform standard-issue gear, were advancing here in a carpet sweep.

Coordinates: Liver Edge – Mushroom Village.

This was a settlement built by a group of casual players and life-skilled professionals.

Giant, glowing fungi grew here (actually benign symbiotic fungi within the liver). Players farmed, fished (angling in the Bile River), and researched Dark Cuisine. While their combat strength was weak, the various Anti-Poison Potions and food produced here were the best-selling across the entire server. It could be said that this was the most laid-back place in the whole server.

High-Dimensional Perspective.

Gu Yuan watched these three nails glowing within the toxic mist, along with the purification zones radiating outward, and felt a slight relief.

"The situation in the liver is stabilized for now."

"But that's not enough."

His gaze pierced through the Diaphragm, landing on the organ right next to the liver—one filled with corrosive acid: the [Stomach]. A headache set in.

Violent spasms were occurring there.

Torrents of terrifying strong acid backflow (Gastroesophageal Reflux) were searing the Cardia, even threatening the bottom of the Lung that had just been healed.

"If the stomach issue isn't resolved, the liver stronghold the players worked so hard to build will eventually be drowned by the acid tide."

"And I can't hold out either. It hurts like hell."

Gu Yuan grimaced and let out a sigh.

This body was riddled with holes.

"Looks like I need to open a new instance for those thrill-seeking players."

He began drafting a new quest in the backend—[Battle of the Cardia: Acid Tide].