"Mission priority increased... Hm? Rewards doubled?"
"Damn, it's not like I care about the rewards. I just want to defend Titan and fulfill the responsibilities of a Kinfolk! Let's form a team and go!"
The players cheered excitedly and prepared to set out to investigate.
Meanwhile, in B404's bronchioles, Vanguard Across the Realm, Dragon Fighting in the Wild, and Brute Force Yields Miracles all trembled with excitement, delight appearing on their faces.
"Let's go, let's go. The three of us will team up, then recruit a few more people."
B404 was now bustling with engineering projects, firing on all cylinders with scientific research, happily farming, and charging up with enthusiasm. Only the few of them had neither suitable professions nor relevant expertise, leaving them with nothing to do. They were idle loafers, pure social deadweight.
Reality, Blue Star, Imperial Capital of Dragon Kingdom—the secret base of the Academy of Sciences' Titan Engineering Bureau.
The atmosphere here was even tenser than on a battlefield.
"The forty-second simulation test... passed!"
Inside a futuristic laboratory, more than a dozen white-haired academicians, along with a large group of outstanding young scholars, Changjiang Scholars, researchers, and senior PhDs, were gathered around a newly assembled mechanical arm, cheering.
The mechanical arm was incomplete, with many intricate circuits exposed, but its core transmission structure perfectly replicated the design principles of Titan's Fist from the game.
"Unbelievable..."
Academician Li stroked the "bionic muscle bundle" simulated with carbon nanotubes. His eyes were bloodshot yet terrifyingly bright, and his expression was feverish with excitement.
"The blueprints in the game are real. Although we don't have that kind of biological material, this neural-electronic translation technology has directly helped us overcome technological barriers that have stumped us for decades!"
Beside him, Ban Jianguo looked at the mechanical arm, which moved as flexibly as a human hand, and asked in a low voice:
"How soon can it be applied?"
"Military exoskeletons can have a prototype within three months," Academician Li declared. "If we can obtain more advanced blueprints, or a sample of the Flame Core used to supply energy in the game... Dragon Kingdom's individual combat capability will undergo a qualitative transformation."
Ban Jianguo nodded and turned to issue an order to his assistant.
"Notify every region. Work with the Transcendental Alliance to intensify the screening of players within their jurisdictions. Focus especially on players likely to reach Level 20 soon and receive major physical enhancements, as well as highly educated and knowledgeable players."
"Tell them the country needs them. We need them to actively explore and conduct research in the game, strengthen themselves as much as possible, and acquire more technology that can be brought out of the game. Anyone who produces results will be richly rewarded!"
There were currently five hundred thousand players worldwide, with Dragon Kingdom alone accounting for over three hundred thousand. In a nation with more than a billion people, three hundred thousand players scattered throughout it were like a handful of salt thrown into the sea. Yet under the precise operation of the state machine, everything proceeded in orderly fashion.
The slightest sign of criminal behavior was swiftly stamped out by Transcendent law enforcement. Order still existed, and for the time being, no one could stand above ordinary people.
Across the ocean, in Eagle Kingdom's political center, the DC District.
The air here was steeped in the scent of money and power.
Inside the luxurious recovery room of a private estate.
Senator Smith, already past seventy, had just removed his game helmet. His face was glowing, and he looked full of vigor.
"Miraculous... truly miraculous."
Smith looked at himself in the mirror. Though he was merely a Level 5 newbie in the game, dying in all sorts of ways, the sensation of having his nervous system reactivated intoxicated him.
"I want that... that potion called Titan Blood."
Smith turned toward his private assistant behind him, greed shining in his eyes. "Contact those top players. I can pay any price. I only want Titan Blood!"
"Green cards! Gold cards! Family trust funds! Equity! Dividends! They can even use special privileges! Eagle Kingdom's highest level of protection!"
"Tell them that as long as they can—so long as they can find a way to get me the right to purchase that potion..."
"I can give them everything they can imagine! There is nothing in reality that I cannot do!"
Meanwhile, at the Pentagon's recruitment office, a new internal directive was being issued.
[Special Operation: Titan Project]
"Recruit players, with higher levels given priority. No restrictions on ethnicity or gender... What kind of look is that? Fine, fine. Then break up the Latino, Indian, Asian, and Black groups when the time comes to prevent them from forming cliques... I know, I know. We won't give the President any reason to worry."
"MAGA! Loyalty!"
"These players don't need to go to the battlefield. They only need to join designated guilds in the game and take jobs at designated companies in reality. We'll arrange everything."
"Move them collectively into good neighborhoods. Learn from Silicon Valley's methods."
"Let commercial health insurance companies reimburse them. Learn from Dragon Kingdom—property tax exemptions, interest-free loans, housing funds. Wouldn't that make these people ecstatic?"
"Immigrants get fast-track citizenship, international students get full scholarships, and everyone gets a chance at... reserved military ranks for Transcendents above Level 20."
Eagle Kingdom unsurprisingly chose the method it was best at—using capital to select elites and create a new privileged class.
Little Saint James Island.
A group of middle-aged men in top hats and beards sat around a long table, dining elegantly. Medium-rare meat glistened with enticing grease beneath the lights.
"Gentlemen, we must participate as well. There cannot be one more thing on this planet beyond our control."
"Agreed."
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"Agreed."
"We must take direct control. We cannot allow Eagle Kingdom an opportunity to escape our control."
Golden Triangle—Wild Wolf City.
If Dragon Kingdom was a bastion of order and Eagle Kingdom was a marketplace of fame and profit ruled by capital, then this place was a lawless land where the evil in human nature was utterly unleashed.
The formerly dilapidated warlord compound had now been transformed into a lavish fortress.
Beside the enormous outdoor swimming pool, two armed helicopters acquired through smuggling channels were even parked there.
"Brother Wolf, this is the latest batch of players."
A subordinate led in several dozen people with varying expressions.
Among them were wanted criminals who had fled from Dragon Kingdom, desperate local Southeast Asian fugitives seeking fortune, and even several blond, blue-eyed Western adventurers.
Most were newcomers from the sixth batch. The strongest was not even Level 10, while some had only just entered the game. Yet in reality, every one of them held live firearms.
Greedy Wolf Zhang Kuang was reclining on a lounge chair by the pool while two scantily dressed beauties massaged him.
He did not open his eyes. He merely lazily raised a hand and picked up a walnut from beside him.
He did not use pliers.
He gently squeezed it between two fingers.
Crack.
The hard walnut shell instantly shattered into powder, while the kernel inside remained completely intact.
[LV.22] [Talent Allocation: Neural Sequence (Hunting Instinct) + Flesh Sequence (Muscle Fiber Reconstruction) + Flesh Sequence (Keratinized Skin)]
The newcomers before him changed expression, their eyes simultaneously filling with fervor.
Displaying strength was both a way to establish authority and a promise of future rewards.
Unlike most first-echelon players, Greedy Wolf had not gone all in on a single sequence. He had chosen a "survival build"—thick skin, great strength, and keen instincts.
Such an allocation might have been mediocre in the game, but in the chaotic Golden Triangle where firearms ran rampant, it was the perfect template for a king of soldiers.
"Welcome to Wild Wolf City. Anyone who comes here is a brother."
Zhang Kuang sat up. His muscular body was covered in scars left from his days in the underworld, and combined with his current Transcendent physique, he radiated overwhelming pressure.
"Here, there are no laws and no morality."
"There is only one rule: the strong take everything."
He pointed behind him at the mountain of wealth, containing US dollars, gold, jade, firearms, and most importantly—high-end game login pods.
"Those people back home treat the game like a job. Why work themselves to death?"
Zhang Kuang sneered, pulled the beauty beside him into his arms, and took a huge gulp of strong liquor.
"We're different. We play the game to become stronger, and we become stronger so we can stand above everyone else in reality!"
"The strong should ruthlessly humiliate the weak!"
Zhang Kuang's eyes were like blades as he surveyed the newcomers below. He gave satisfied looks to those whose eyes burned with passion, while contempt flashed through his gaze toward those still hesitant.
"Titan Game is the greatest opportunity of this era!"
"As long as we lie low here and slowly strengthen ourselves using the game's resources..."
"Then this entire Golden Triangle will become our backyard. Maybe even..."
Zhang Kuang looked northward, ambition gleaming in his eyes. Everything was left unsaid.
"Heh heh. One day, no one will ever be able to ride over my head again."
On this chaotic land, an uncontrolled savage force was quietly taking root.
(Brothers, because Tomato's late-night reviews are very slow, the chapter I uploaded at twelve-thirty last night was not released until eight in the morning, so some of you had to wait for a long time.)
(To avoid this, we'll try to update during the daytime from now on! This chapter is still being posted at midnight as usual just to notify everyone of the schedule change! The remaining chapter today will be scheduled for release at nine in the morning. I'll work hard on writing, and I hope everyone will continue supporting me~)
(If you have any opinions, feel free to say them directly!)
(I'll try my best to include the characters everyone submitted. Some settings don't quite fit this book's background and would feel too out of place, so I really can't include them. Please understand, sry~)
(There are also a few setting explanations:
1. Titan's body cannot be an anatomically proportional enlargement of a human body, nor can its structure correspond to that of humans one by one. For example, in reality, an elephant's cells are not larger than human cells; the difference lies in the vastly greater number of cells. So the hundreds-of-millions-of-kilometers body hair everyone imagines might not exist! Even if it does, it would only be in specific areas.
2. Titan's illnesses likewise cannot correspond one-to-one with human illnesses. I merely referenced some physiological material, so it might not be entirely rigorous!
3. The technological level of reality in this book is not much different from the real world, except for the added premise of widespread "holographic gaming." Otherwise, given the current pace of technological development, by the time game technology like this existed, the global landscape would no longer look the same. There might even be more science-fiction-like things such as lunar bases. If you insist on extrapolating it, everyone can brainstorm with me in the paragraph comments. I just won't make it that rigorous in the book!)
If you can't find a book by its title, try searching for the author. It may have simply been renamed!
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