Choice

Achilles charged toward Lin Li several hundred meters away, trailing rings of white, cloudlike shockwaves behind her. At nearly Mach 5, she had already surpassed the muzzle velocity of an Individual Electromagnetic Cannon shell. In less than 0.5 seconds, she would crash into the tentacled monster still standing in place.

Unfortunately, even if she was stronger than all five million people here, her brain was still that of an ordinary person, with an ordinary person's reaction speed. Lin Li, who had fused with the original Symbiote for half a year, had grown even stronger than before. His innate ruthlessness seemed to allow him to grow without limit, and his reaction speed had reached the millisecond level.

Eight hundred-meter-long tentacles lashed out like whips, all their force concentrated on the spikes at their tips. This pushed the speed of their ends beyond Mach 10, turning the air there into plasma. Yet even at such terrifying speeds, Lin Li controlled them with ease.

Before Achilles could even realize what was happening, her limbs and tail were severed. No blood splashed out; the intense heat had scorched the wounds black. Only her torso and head fell before Lin Li. The Cherry Bomb in her hand exploded in the distance with a deafening boom, blasting her two arms into ashes.

The white-haired girl dazedly struggled to lift her head and looked at the Octopus Monster before her. She had thought she was already very strong, but this person was far stronger than she was. He had not even moved from where he stood.

Somewhat dejected, she said, "You're amazing. Even those big birds in the sky can't beat you."

The enthusiasm that had surged within her turned into sorrow. She was about to die here. At that moment, she had completely forgotten that this was a virtual world.

"Continue. Defeat me."

He spoke calmly, without mercy. Lin Li's tentacles swung, slicing off the girl's head and turning her into a streak of White Light as she returned to revive.

Inside the Safe House in District 10, Achilles sat on her bed, staring blankly at her scale-covered hands. This was the first time she had died in this world. For that brief moment just now, she had truly believed she was going to die.

She gently stroked her cheek with her clawed, scaled hand. A few tears rolled from the corners of her eyes. The terror of facing death made the girl cry for the first time since becoming a wanderer.

Two beautiful intelligent maids thoughtfully handed tissues to their crying master. Achilles accepted them and wiped away her tears. Recalling the Octopus Monster's movements, she complained irritably:

"This guy is different from the other monsters. His reaction speed is way too fast."

That was only natural. All the creatures here were essentially controlled by ordinary human brains. Without intelligent systems assisting them in battle, these untrained people performed worse than veteran players who had spent years playing virtual games.

Achilles stood out among them partly because of her own exceptional qualities, but it was also related to their amateurish combat standards. In reality, soldiers or professional players who had undergone years of systematic training would not perform any worse than her.

Still, her natural talent was indeed exceptional. In just one month, without anyone teaching her, she had reached a level comparable to soldiers who had trained systematically for years. Such talent could undoubtedly be called genius-level.

Unfortunately, virtual games had only gradually become popular after 2043. Before that, they had been used for military training and simulation experiments. By then, Achilles had already been abandoned by her parents in the slums. She could only be said to have been born at the wrong time.

She forcefully pried open the scales on both sides of her waist, exposing the pouches inside. A pile of small red balls rolled out. These Cherry Bombs were extremely effective against clumsy large creatures, but against an opponent like Lin Li, who was even more agile than she was, they could only be used to blow herself up.

Thinking about the Octopus Monster's fighting style, the white-haired girl stared unfocused at the shop interface with her pale pink eyes. She made a series of adjustments in the body modification menu. After confirming them, a flash of White Light passed, and eight long tentacles grew from her back as well.

However, ideals were plump while reality was cruel. Her eight tentacles were nothing but decorations. The girl furrowed her two white brows and exerted all her strength, yet she could not make them twitch even once.

Completely copying his method was clearly impossible. Only then did Achilles notice something strange: nearly all giant creatures had four limbs. Even the giant birds in the sky had two wings and two claws. There were no multi-legged creatures here, such as crabs, octopuses, or squid.

Combined with her inability to control the tentacles, she reached a very reasonable conclusion: that Octopus Monster had cheated!

Still, she had learned some new fighting methods from Lin Li. Tentacles that moved like whips could concentrate force at a single point, greatly increasing both attack speed and range. That person was actually weaker than her, perhaps only around a thousand times weaker, but his precise control allowed him to win with effortless ease.

Achilles spent more energy points modifying her body again. Her two scale-covered arms became soft and flexible, made of countless elastic fibers. Her hands were covered in tough carapace, and springlike muscle tissue allowed them to stretch more than a hundred times their normal length—attacking enemies like flexible whips launched outward.

She swung her now somewhat slender arms and nodded with satisfaction. Since that guy was weaker than her, she still had a chance of winning.

Turning around, she lightly leaped out of the Safe House. Under the gaze of the intelligent maids, Achilles set out once again.

An hour later, a flash of White Light appeared, and the white-haired girl was back on her bed. She had spent nearly all that time traveling, only to be chopped into several pieces by Lin Li the moment she entered the Sky-Piercing Tower.

Traveling, modifying her body, dying the instant she entered—Achilles had already died more than a dozen times in a row. Her best result had been finally blocking one tentacle, allowing her to survive two seconds longer.

Several days later, when the strong fighters from the other districts finally entered the Sky-Piercing Tower, they found the white-haired girl waiting for them. Lin Li had long since vanished without a trace.

He had given Achilles a task: defeat the other strong fighters, and she would no longer need to spend an hour traveling every time. She could teleport directly from the Safe House to the Sky-Piercing Tower.

Still dressed in gold, Oriona watched the strange Inhuman figure with a grave expression. Inside the Sky-Piercing Tower, they could not use pet eggs to assist them in battle. Besides, even if they could, those intelligent creatures might not be willing to face such a terrifying opponent.

So-called intelligent creatures were more like Pokémon, possessing their own preferences and judgment.

For example, that Little White Mouse loved cream cake. This forced Oriona to spend energy points every day to buy cakes for it from the shop. If such creatures were not properly raised, they might even leave their owners and return to a wild state.

Oriona and the others stood in a line. As one of the earliest strong fighters, he still held certain advantages and occupied the leading position among them.

"Everyone, just as we agreed."

After those words, nine powerful forces descended upon Achilles like nine giant hands. The air was churned by the collision of those invisible forces like chaotic undercurrents beneath the sea. Rings of condensation clouds appeared around the girl, while booming echoes reverberated through the empty plaza.

Unfortunately, they might have been able to fight Achilles head-on a few days ago. Now, after dying so many times, she was completely different.

The girl's pale pink eyes observed the shapes of those clouds. They were caused by pressure differences created when invisible Telekinesis compressed the air. From their shapes, she could determine the strength and direction from which the nine forces were pressing down.

Compared with Lin Li's seamless movements, which left no trace before dismembering his opponents in an instant, these nine people's seemingly spectacular attacks were riddled with flaws. Their power was extremely dispersed, and even when their attacks collided, they were not much stronger than a single person's. If not for their advantage in distance and speed, their combat strength would not even match those giant creatures.

Boom!

With an explosive crack, Achilles burst through the gaps between the giant Telekinetic hands. Her two arms whipped outward. Her raw power was already fifty percent greater than theirs, and once she concentrated her full strength, her speed far exceeded theirs.

Twice the power was enough to create an overwhelming advantage. With her arms whipping out after concentrating her strength, Achilles now possessed a little of Lin Li's style. Her fists, covered in hard carapace, smashed two people into fragments, turning them directly into White Light as they returned to revive.

Sonic booms rang out without pause. Achilles had no habit of stopping to taunt her enemies. In her battles against Lin Li, her only advantages were strength and movement speed. Only by using Telekinesis to leap rapidly through the air without stopping could she possibly evade the strangling attacks of those eight tentacles.

The remaining seven could not see the girl's figure at all. Their Telekinesis, capable of destroying an entire forest, was shattered by her high-speed charging form. Their tactic of using Telekinesis to fly rapidly and widen the distance was utterly unusable in this small plaza—with their reaction speed, they might even crash into the walls themselves.

Oriona abandoned his useless attacks and revealed a somewhat bitter smile. Several months of effort had ultimately come to nothing. Once he returned, he should just live properly with the Little White Mouse. Today, he would buy it a big cake.

A few minutes later, the last person was smashed apart and returned to the Safe House. Achilles stopped bouncing through the air. Although physical stamina was not consumed in the virtual world, observing openings and adjusting her attack directions during the battle had consumed a great deal of mental energy. Her head now felt a little dizzy.

Lin Li appeared beside the girl and clapped his hands. "Not bad at all. Your combat strength has increased by roughly 2.7 times compared to when you first came in."

A vast projection appeared before them, showing the millions of residents outside. The densely packed little windows displayed joy, surprise, frustration, anger, and countless other expressions. Yet amid that chaotic scene, one word was repeated again and again: Achilles.

Hearing millions of people speak her name, the girl who had always preferred to be alone felt at a loss. She had become the sole focus of this enormous virtual city, the true protagonist.

Lin Li explained from beside her, "Everyone saw you tear those nine people apart. You are now the strongest person. Those profit shares worth billions are yours, and you have also obtained a pass to return to reality."

Achilles asked, "Wasn't I supposed to defeat you?"

"Do you think that's possible?"

Lin Li's words left her speechless. Recalling their past battles carefully, Achilles had to admit that there was an essential gap between them. Even if she became stronger and her physical qualities improved over the next few months, she still would not be able to defeat this Octopus Monster.

Changing the subject, Lin Li continued, "Besides that, you have another choice."

A paper contract floated before Achilles. It contained none of the lengthy, complicated clauses found in reality, only simple rights and obligations:

Join the Grand Unification Project. Receive a customized body in reality, with free lifelong upgrades, modifications, and maintenance. Copy her current memories and body to continue gathering information in the virtual world.