Chapter 244

"I'm telling you... you won't die the same way..."

That's pretty good logic. Players should ideally die in a fight, otherwise being caught is worse than death.

Yuki no sympathy; his palm erupted in Incandescence flames, twisting the shadows and emitting piercing screams, yet he remained unperturbed.

"You will definitely die, but the process will be different."

Yuki lowered his hand, and the Death Mage's soul was instantly burned to nothingness, becoming part of the Demon Heart.

Few can withstand the agony of a soul being burned, but this 'Death's Wind' was clearly not one of them. He had just entered the Transcendental Grade realm and Yuki before Yuuki could force him to hand over his points.

It's a bit of a shame that Yuki is poor, but the information Yuki was still quite useful.

I see. The first step for the Lurkers is to find the Puppet Bug contact. I knew those worms were impossible to communicate with, so how could they raise their neutral reputation with the swarm?

That's difficult. You need special items or skills to find the Puppet Bug, and you also need luck. Someone like him, who just parachuted into the center of the battlefield, can't just take the hits without fighting back.

"After finding the Puppet Bug, you accept the mission. No wonder that Blood Demon asked me for information about the Defense Force earlier; there must be a reward system similar to the Defense Force's merit system."

Yuki took a breath and realized that being a 'lurker' was really tough. These few 'Aether Particles' players had completed two steps, but the Puppet Bug that gave them the missions had already been spotted by the Interior Ministry.

Even without me, they wouldn't have fared well.

With a sneer, Yuki around and saw that there was indeed no one lying in ambush. Instead, the Defense Force were rapidly approaching. He bent down to pick up the staff and immediately received a signal.

[Death Staff (Damaged) Transcendental Grade]

[Repair must be completed]

A broken level 4 item is really nothing; in the past, Yuki wouldn't even bother picking it up. But now it can be sold and is worth at least 300 points.

"It's a pity that the archer was burned to ashes, otherwise I could have earned several hundred points. Hmm, what's this?"

Yuki had just turned around when he returned, sweeping away a pile of bone fragments to reveal a round, purple gem.

[The Undead Core, harboring the powerful soul of a necromancer, can be forged using 3 enhancement points and has a chance to evolve into Chaos Item.]

The notification came again, which stunned Yuki. He muttered it several times, and his blood-red pupils slowly contracted.

Raw materials are the raw materials for Chaos Item.

He had always wondered where the Chaos Item came from. After going through so many dungeons, only the Enhancement Points had a certain probability of being drawn, but that was completely random, and it was even more impossible to get the items he wanted.

With so many Chaos Item in the Borderlands, it's impossible that they were obtained by lucky players through gacha pulls. Besides that, there's another way to get them: encountering monsters that resemble players in dungeons, such as the source of the Hunter's Blunderbuss.

"But they are still players. Could it be that the raw materials for Chaos Item are the players themselves?"

Yuki suddenly felt the gem in his hand was a little hot, and a sense of disgust arose in him. Moreover, this thing was called 'Undead Core', and its evolution into Chaos Item was mostly related to 'Undead' and 'Magic'.

This way, there is a definite evolutionary path, and there is no longer a need for random selection.

"So what will drop if I die?" Yuki had a somewhat ominous thought, but was startled by the sound of the engine and put the core into his pocket.

Several black fighter jets appeared from behind the tall buildings, their two downward-facing exhaust pipes leaving azure contrails. Searchlights made Yuki squint, and the Black Hole machine guns were aimed at him.

They came at just the right time.

Yuki sneered, knowing he couldn't blame the Defense Force; the players' methods were too bizarre, each one incredibly cunning—how could they be so easily lured into a trap?

The barrier we just saw belongs to the magic faction, and the Defense Force haven't invested in that kind of technology.

The fighter jet hovered, the hatch opened, and heavily armored Psychic Warrior disembarked one after another, while the power armored vehicle running in front had a white flower painted on its shoulder.

Chris leaped a few times and arrived in front of him, her helmet opening on its own, revealing a slightly anxious face that seemed out of place with the war machine.

"Mr. Yuki, are you alright?"

"They won't die, it's just that your fishing skills need improvement. Next time something like this happens, let me take charge, and none of them will escape." Yuki raised his head with a smile, only to see the girl's gaze suddenly shift elsewhere, not daring to look him in the eye.

The corpses on the ground had already shown his stance; the Defense Force' actions were indeed unethical, and being exposed on the spot was a great shame for a naive warrior like Chris.

"I... I assured them you were fine, but the people from the Interior Ministry just wouldn't believe me and wouldn't let me have any contact with you."

Seeing her stammering Yuki wanted to laugh; he had never met someone so battle-hardened yet so naive.

"Soldiers are duty-bound to obey orders. Besides, if I don't contribute much, those people in the Interior Ministry will think this is a game of cat and mouse, and it'll never end." Yuki didn't dare look the girl in the eye and chose to change the subject.

"By the way, has Captain Kudus arrived?"

This thoughtful gesture put Chris at ease, and she nodded readily. "They're here, along with Subimendi from the Interior Ministry."

Brigadier General? Interesting. Looks like I've passed the final test.

Yuki's lips twitched slightly. He stepped forward, crunching on the broken bones, and after a few steps, he asked Chris, who had followed him, "Lieutenant, if I were the one who died, would you regret it?"

"No, but I will unleash my hatred and fury upon the swarm!"

The grievance has its source, and the debt has its debtor; that's true.

Yuki was not disappointed. He was escorted by the lieutenant to the fighter jets. The road was lined with large groups of soldiers and some surveyors in hazmat suits.

The Defense Force have been studying the players for countless years, but they haven't figured anything out. The Reincarnation Game claims it's incomprehensible, so there's no progress no matter what.

From afar, I could see two people in red military uniforms. The one in front was burly with a square face, resembling the King of Spades in a deck of cards, but he was hunched over, and his exposed hands were all Mechanical Prosthesis.

The Defense Force's prosthetic technology is inadequate; it's fine for daily life, but it's tantamount to suicide on the battlefield. All the 'civilians' in this city are severely disabled.

The man sized up Yuki, then glanced at Chris behind him, and asked in a deep voice, "The lieutenant has already told you my identity, hasn't he?"

"I've already told you, but they'll find out your identity sooner or later; it's not a secret." Yuki had no intention of betraying her, because Chris looked completely flustered, so there was no need for him to do so.

"Do you know why the Defense Force don't write ranks on their uniforms?" Subimendi said slowly, then suddenly glared at the girl. "Lieutenant, go and copy the secrecy regulations ten times, and hand them to Captain Kudus by tomorrow morning, understand?!"

"Yes, Brigadier General."

Copy it twenty times.

The girl's bright green eyes widened slightly, then she walked away dejectedly. Even Yuki couldn't bear to watch, and he opened his mouth only to be stopped by the brigadier general raising his hand.

"There's no need to plead for her. To fight the swarm, all the warriors have poured their energy into the war, so they all seem extremely naive. I know very well what kind of people you are, and I've seen far too many treacherous infiltrators."

"Then tell me, what kind of person am I?" Yuki also darkened; he didn't want to be met with a cold shoulder.

"To be honest, I don't know. Judging from your current performance, you're a useful person. The Command Headquarters will reward you, and you're exchanging the corpses of the swarm. This simple relationship is enough."

After he finished speaking, without waiting for Yuki's reply, he made a gesture to Kudus beside him, turned around and stepped into the gravity beam. The fighter jet's downward-facing nozzle slowly rose and disappeared with a 'whoosh'.

The gust of wind whipped at the corners of his clothes. Yuki stared blankly for a long time before finally pointing to the sky.

"Lieutenant Chris is his daughter? Is he afraid I'll kidnap her??"

The two are not related.

"Then why is he so hostile towards me?"

"Because something similar happened to the brigadier general's daughter. An infiltrator lured her, used her authority to do some things, and finally killed her," Kudus replied coldly, causing Yuki to look away.

That makes sense. Those soldiers, regardless of gender, are really not cunning. If they wanted to, they could swindle money, sex, and intelligence. Even if someone is a guardian, even if they have genuine feelings, what difference would it make?

This is just a dungeon; players either die inside or leave, there's never a clear ending.

"Captain, shouldn't you give me an explanation?"

Kudus's life experience was clearly far superior to Chris's. Faced with the questioning, he didn't look away but instead calmly replied, "That Puppet Bug has been dealt with. We've been watching it for a long time."

Okay, it really was a bait-and-switch tactic.

"You can test me if you want, but aren't you afraid the situation will get out of control and destroy this Blue Jade City?"

"This is a price we have to pay, and it's not just a test for you. We need evidence regarding the reinforcements, so it's best if you handle it yourselves." The captain paused, then said meaningfully, "As for why, you should be able to guess."

Yuki. The infiltrators didn't have their identities written on their foreheads, so what would the Defense Force think if they arbitrarily interrogated other players? But catching them red-handed was a different story; they couldn't just say it was an internal conflict between two infiltrator teams.

"And what was the result of the test?"

The captain didn't speak, but turned and walked towards the gravity beam.

"Come on, I'll take you to Command Headquarters."

We've finally reached this point!

Yuki didn't show any excitement, but her heart skipped a beat for a moment.

Cities and armies are just the surface; you can't find any key intelligence even if you rack your brains. The mysterious Command Headquarters is the key to the dungeon, Defense Force's attitude, it's not so easy for players to access it.

So their lives were a pledge of allegiance. This Defense Force was quite formidable; they managed to secretly identify a group of players.

He was somewhat glad he had been patient, having remained loyal throughout this period.

Boarding the fighter jet, they flew with a slight push-back sensation. Since there were no windows, Yuki didn't know where they were going, but soon they began to hover.

Is this it?

Judging from the feeling, it had only flown for a dozen kilometers. When the cabin door opened, a familiar scene unfolded before my eyes.

He went back to the airport.

"The Command Headquarters is underground?"

The captain didn't say anything, quickly left the fighter jet, stood in the open area of the airport, turned around and waved for him to follow.

What the hell?

Yuki was completely puzzled; this open terrain didn't seem like a place where axemen could be ambushed.

He walked with his sword in hand, his feet firmly planted on the hard ground, but after only a few steps, he suddenly stopped.

A beam of azure light descended from the sky, enveloping Kudus.

Traction beam?

Yuki looked up and saw a huge, hazy shadow at the location of the beam of light. Something was moving in the night sky, completely invisible using some kind of technology.

It resembled a colossal beast, its shadow covering an area comparable to a city, with only a barely discernible triangular shape of a ship's hull.

The Command Headquarters... is it in the sky?

Chapter Eleven: Teresa and Johnny Silverhand (4K)

The Command Headquarters of the Defense Force is essentially a giant airborne warship.

Cutting-edge technology keeps it invisible, like a ghost hovering over the Emerald Plains.

This is humanity's hope, and also its capital. In Yuki's eyes, it's more like a floating city with thousands of districts.

No wonder they wanted me to pledge my loyalty; this is a place you can't just come to casually.

Yuki walked through the steel corridor, surrounded by soldiers in various uniforms. He hadn't seen such a population density since arriving in this instance.

He was the only one dressed in civilian clothes, and passersby cast wary glances at him.

Trying to cause trouble here is incredibly difficult. Everyone is keeping a close eye on the players, but to be honest, if a player is really determined to cause trouble, it's impossible to keep an eye on them.

This ship blocks all signals, even the Demon Eye is restricted, but players have all sorts of skills and definitely have items that can communicate with the outside world.

Subtle gazes followed him like shadows; heaven knows how many detectors were monitoring him. Yuki was like a mouse entering a cat's den; once his identity was exposed, he would have no chance of survival.

But he had a very good attitude. After witnessing the Defense Force' use of soul energy, he even put away his Spirit Particle Communicator and looked around with great interest.

It truly is a city floating in the sky, with interconnected passageways and Taiyi ceiling heights in each area. The ship also features gardens, entertainment facilities, and other amenities. In terms of size, it could easily accommodate tens of thousands of people long-term.

Through the glass, he could even see more than one cabin. The black fighter jets he had seen before were being towed in, and the maintenance crew, who had been waiting, rushed in.

It probably weighs a million tons; where would the energy supply come from?

Yuki didn't understand high technology, nor did he need to, so he casually asked, "Are the other 'reinforcements' who passed the test here too?"

"I'm taking you to see them." Kudus walked ahead without turning his head. "I'll also give you a task: find any lurking agents that might be hiding inside."

The order was very direct, and it didn't surprise Yuki.

Players have all sorts of unique abilities, most of which are unrelated to technology. The easiest way to deal with players is, of course, players themselves. Although the Defense Force don't know anything about 'factions,' they have experienced player infighting before.

"You've assigned this task to each group of players, haven't you?"

"That's right, there's a huge reward for the winner." The captain was too lazy to lie, and his statement was rather direct.

"Is there no one in the high command of the Defense Force who can directly see through their identity?"

"Yes, but we need evidence. If I say you're an undercover agent, and then I take care of you, is that okay?" The captain repeated what he had said last night.

Of course not. No player would play with you if you did that. Players may seem to be at odds, but they can also be very united at times. Nobody wants to become a victim for no reason.

Yuki calmed down a bit and continued to follow Kudus inside.