Desperate Map-Running and the Flesh Fortress

Blue Star time, the third day after the second beta test began.

Coordinates: Sighing Corridor (junction of the heart and pulmonary artery).

In just three short days, this place had transformed from a desolate, calcified highland into a bustling "slum."

The influx of 11,000 players had turned this outpost, originally designed to hold only a thousand, into an overcrowded mess. The ground was littered with the traces of player stalls, and some had even used collected chitin fragments to construct makeshift tents.

"Buying [Flame Poison Crystal Core] at a high price! I'll take as many as you have!"

"Running a group for the Corridor Sludge Monster! Need laborers who listen to commands, potions provided!"

"Help! Can someone lend me 5 points of bio-energy to repair my gear? I've been running around naked for three days!"

However, there was more complaining than excitement.

"Is the map in this game too big or what?"

A newbie player with the ID Walking Grass sat on the ground rubbing his legs (though he felt no pain, he felt mentally exhausted), looking desperate. "I went to the [Downwind Vent] monster spawn point ahead, and just the travel time took two hours! If I die and respawn, I have to run for another two hours! I've spent the whole day just running across the map!"

This was the biggest pain point currently facing all players.

The Titan's body was simply too vast for players at the cellular scale.

From the "Sighing Corridor" safe zone to the nearest spawn point, the "Downwind Vent," lay the long, arduous Blood Vessel Wasteland. Furthermore, randomly spawning wandering monsters along the way made it extremely easy for solo travelers to die suddenly.

This hardcore setting of "five minutes of death, two hours of corpse-running" had discouraged quite a few newcomers with fragile mentalities.

Coordinates: Storm Abyss - Deep in the right lung lobe (unexplored area).

The environment here was even harsher than in the peripheral zones.

Violent winds whipped up scorching flame poison dust, reducing visibility to less than fifty meters. The ground was no longer a hard calcified layer, but soft, slippery, and constantly undulating alveolar tissue.

Squelch!

A black bone blade precisely sliced through the core at the back of a [Flame Poison Golem]'s neck.

Feng Xing Tian Xia panted heavily and kicked aside the debris at his feet. Behind him stood an elite squad with weary expressions.

After three days of frantic exploration, their average level had reached LV.5, making them the top-tier players in the entire server. But even so, they had reached their limit.

"Brother Feng, we can't go any deeper."

Yun Zhong You glanced at her nearly empty supply pack. "We only have three recovery potions left. If we run into another mob, we'll be wiped out and forced to return to the city. If we die and go back, today's work will have been for nothing."

Dali Chu Qiji was also exhausted; his prized chitin shield was now pitted and scarred, its durability about to hit zero.

"This crappy game, can't they just set up a respawn point ahead?"

Dali Chu Qiji cursed as he plopped onto the ground. "I don't want to run a marathon anymore."

Feng Xing Tian Xia didn't speak.

He stood on a protruding gray-white rock, his gaze piercing through the fog to look ahead.

There, the mist grew thicker, taking on an eerie, dark green hue. Vaguely visible were countless massive, spider-nest-like sacs hanging in mid-air, with dense, swarming black shadows darting between them.

That was the true [Virus Nest].

Unlike the "Inflammation Golem" on the outskirts that only knew how to smash things mindlessly, the monsters there were organized.

"We really can't get through."

Feng Xing Tian Xia analyzed calmly, "With just the five of us, we're like a drop of water in the ocean. To push the front line, we must bring the main force over."

"How do we bring them?" his teammate, the Spirit Pivot Envoy Thunder King, spread his hands. "Everyone isn't stupid; no one is willing to run for hours just to die."

Feng Xing Tian Xia looked down at the massive, hard calcified rock beneath his feet.

This was a natural highland, easy to defend and hard to attack, and it was located on the leeward slope of the storm.

A bold idea began to take shape in his mind.

"Since the system won't give us a respawn point..."

A flash of fanaticism crossed Feng Xing Tian Xia's eyes. "Then we'll build one ourselves!"

He looked at Yun Zhong You in the team.

"You, I've seen the advancement roadmap for [Life Weaver]. Although you need to be level 10 to change classes, you have [Matter Recombination] in your basic skills, right?"

Yun Zhong You was stunned for a moment. "I do, but that skill can only be used to repair cover or create some temporary obstacles..."

"If you use the monsters' bones, carapaces, and mix in that high-viscosity bio-gel, can you build a wall?"

Yun Zhong You blinked, thought for a moment, and her eyes lit up. "Theoretically... yes! This is the prototype for a [Flesh Artisan]!"

"Then let's do it!"

Feng Xing Tian Xia issued the order in the team channel. "Stop grinding monsters. From now on, our mission is to collect materials! Da Qiang, go move those rocks left behind by the golems! King, you guys go collect the monster slime!"

"We are going to build a [Flesh Fortress] right here!"

High-dimensional perspective.

Gu Yuan watched as this small squad suddenly halted their advance, instead beginning to frantically collect the surrounding trash—the remains of monster corpses—like ants moving house.

"Trying to build a house?"

Gu Yuan was slightly stunned, then revealed an appreciative smile.

As expected of his countrymen, the spirit of civil engineering runs deep.

When the game mechanics restricted them, they would find ways to utilize the rules to create miracles.

"Since you have the heart for it, I'll give you a hand."

Gu Yuan knew very well that if the "map-running" issue wasn't resolved, the ten thousand players of the second beta would soon churn. Establishing an outpost in the lungs was imperative.

He tapped his finger lightly, quietly listing a set of new items in the [Gene Shop] and unlocking special regional permissions.

[Server-wide System Announcement: Pioneering behavior by player Feng Xing Tian Xia's squad detected.]

[Regional Permission Unlocked: Storm Abyss - Construction Mode.]

[New Shop Blueprints:]

[Biological Beacon (Simple Respawn Point)]: Requires 5000 biological energy + core materials (Flame Poison Crystal Core x100).

[Chitin Wall (Blueprint)]: Requires Life Weaver skill guidance.

[Defense Turret (Blueprint)]: Requires Spirit Pivot Envoy charging.

As soon as this announcement went out, the entire server exploded.

"Holy crap! We can build our own respawn points?"

"5000 biological energy? That's a sky-high price!"

"Feng-shen is a legend! He actually triggered the construction system!"

At this moment, Dali Chu Qiji, who was busy moving rocks, also saw the announcement and nearly dropped a stone on his own foot.

"5000 points? And 100 crystal cores?" Dali Chu Qiji wailed, "We couldn't even afford that if we sold the five of us!"

Although they were in the top tier of the server, all their money had been spent on potions and equipment repairs; their combined liquid assets totaled less than 500.

Feng Xing Tian Xia, however, appeared unusually calm.

He opened the server-wide [Regional Channel]; this was his first time speaking formally in the public chat.

Feng Xing Tian Xia:

"Coordinates (Storm Abyss 334, 128). We have discovered a safe high ground here and are preparing to build the server's first [Frontline Fortress]."

"Once completed, this place will have a [Respawn Point], repair stations, and supply depots."

"In the future, when everyone comes to the Storm Abyss to grind mobs, you won't have to run for two hours in vain."

"But the construction cost is massive, so we need to crowdfund."

Feng Xing Tian Xia:

"All players who donate materials or biological energy will receive [Permanent Residency] and [Tax-free Repair Rights] at the fortress."

"We aren't forcing anyone. If you want to keep corpse-running, feel free to ignore this."

After this message was sent, the channel went silent for a full ten seconds.

Then, the flow of messages exploded.

"I'm a Divine Guard! I have strength! I'll go move bricks!"

"I'm a Life Weaver! I can spit glue! I'll go build walls!"

"I only have money! I'll chip in 100 biological energy! Big brother, carry me!"

"Damn it, finally no more marathons! I'm heading over right now!"

Several hours later.

On the previously desolate rocky highland, a spectacular scene had emerged.

Thousands of players, enduring the environmental toxins that drained their health every second, had formed a long line.

Some were carrying massive golem rubble, some were dragging monster corpses, and others were using crude tools to level the ground.

Yun Zhong You had become the chief engineer on-site.

Dozens of Life Weavers surrounded her, and under her command, they weren't just spitting gel; they were stacking the bones and carapaces of those monsters like building blocks, then sealing the gaps with gel.

A ferocious, rough, yet wild-looking gray-white bone wall was rising at a speed visible to the naked eye.

As for Dali Chu Qiji, he led a group of Divine Guards to act as "pile drivers." Utilizing their high strength attributes, they hammered massive chitin spikes deep into the ground to serve as the foundation.

As for that massive gap of 5000 biological energy and 100 crystal cores?

Driven by the shared vision of "not having to corpse-run," the ten thousand players displayed astonishing unity. You chip in 1 point, I chip in 2, and that crowdfunding progress bar shot up like a rocket.

In just three hours.

[Crowdfunding Progress: 100%]

Feng Xing Tian Xia stood in the center of the highland, clutching the [Biological Beacon Core] materialized by the system in his hand.

It was a crystal emitting a soft white light, with the divine power bestowed by Gu Yuan flowing within it.

He took a deep breath and slammed the crystal hard into the altar at the center of the highland.

BOOM--!

A brilliant pillar of white light shot into the sky, dispersing the yellowish-brown toxic fog within a radius of five hundred meters.

A gentle energy field expanded, and every player within range heard the heavenly system notification in their ears:

[Entered Safe Zone.]

[Environmental toxins isolated.]

[Health regeneration speed +200%.]

[Respawn point activated.]

"We did it!!!"

Cheers rang out to the heavens.

Countless players were so moved they hugged and wept (though two chitinous carapaces colliding only produced a clanking sound).

This fortress, built brick by brick by the players themselves, might have been ugly and crude, but at this moment, it gave them a greater sense of belonging than any exquisite in-game structure.

Feng Xing Tian Xia watched the cheering crowd around him, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

He turned around and looked beyond the fortress.

Outside the light barrier, the thick, dark green mist seemed to have been stirred by the commotion here.

Countless pairs of scarlet compound eyes were lighting up deep within the fog.

The true Virus Legion had awakened.