Chapter 256

Before she could even think it through, Hiyori, who had been observing coldly, spoke up, "But how can we guarantee that after receiving the information, you won't hide the Fire Seed and make us scapegoats?"

Well said!

Yuki mentally gave a thumbs up and nodded. "That's right, we're all afraid of that. If someone hides the 'Fire Seed' in their storage space, all the other players will become stepping stones. But I have this thing."

He decisively took out the 'Soil-Offering Contract', and both of them were surprised to see a contract-type item.

Contracts can be signed between members of the same faction, but it is very difficult to sign them between different factions. These items are extremely valuable, with each one worth tens of thousands of points.

As a poor guy, Yuki certainly didn't have such luxurious items; he was just using his cheat code, which he had verified with his seniors before entering the dungeon.

The more details of the contract, the greater the butterfly effect. Yuki pondered for a moment, then used blood as ink.

[Player Yuki initiates a contract]

[Under no circumstances may any player claim the 'Fire Seed' for themselves or take it with them to escape.]

Neither Hiyori nor the Smiling Lady spoke; judging from their expressions, they had also received the notification and confirmed that the bamboo slip was not some kind of illusion.

"I underestimated you; you actually possess such a precious item." Hiyori behalf of Teresa, then stepped forward. "We are still at a disadvantage. In order to maintain unity and avoid unpleasantness, I, on behalf of Thorny Rose, accept the contract."

Teresa was suspicious; something felt off. If they had a contract-type item, why hadn't they brought it out sooner?

The system's endorsement is the highest guarantee, even more reliable than the covenant of the Hunters or Mechanical Believers. In addition, 'Thorny Rose' has already expressed its stance, so refusing would be too disrespectful.

As a hero of humanity, Yuki now holds a lot of prestige, and going against him will definitely not end well.

"But this means we're tied to the Defense Force. For example, if 'Fire Seed' is on this ship, the players have no choice but to fight to the bitter end."

"Then let's fight to the death. It's better than harboring ulterior motives, thinking of using others as scapegoats while we escape with the 'Fire Seed,' right?" Yuki replied with a smile. The terms of the contract were also for the safety of his seniors.

"By the way, when it comes to being free of all ties and making a quick getaway, I'm the easiest."

In truth, he was the one who suffered a loss. Mr. Silver Hand was worried that he would run away too fast and no one could catch him, so he deliberately kept a watchful eye on him, but he didn't expect that the man would see through his plan.

Teresa thought to herself that this was a way of exchanging shackles for unity, with all the 'Guardians' advancing and retreating together, but she still felt something was off, thinking that Yuki was being too fixated on Silver Hand secretly taking away the Fire Seed.

That's unnecessary. As long as they aren't devoured by the swarm, in extreme cases they can even find a way to destroy the 'Fire Seed' themselves.

Her expression changed slightly, and just as she was about to ask a question, Hiyori, spoke first:

"We also need to add that no player may destroy or seal the 'Fire Seed,' and the warning never mentioned the return of all Guardians. If anyone does, the Wall of Sighs will become ineffective, and we'll only die faster!"

These words weren't unexpected, but they almost Yuki's heart stop beating.

Can 'Guardians' also choose destruction? This means they are not absolutely protective, but rather have limitations.

Protecting the Fire Seed from falling into the hands of the insect swarm? No, to put it another way, the insect swarm had no intention of destroying the Fire Seed?

Yuki had long suspected the swarm's true intentions. If it was merely destruction, why didn't they concentrate their firepower to shoot down the Command Headquarters earlier? Were they afraid the 'Fire Seed' on the ship would be destroyed along with it?

What's more troublesome is that Teresa has become suspicious of me; she's not stupid.

Yuki's mind raced, and he put on a serious expression, as if he were considering Hiyori's suggestion.

"No, this one cannot be added."

"Why?"

"I suspect that the 'Fire Seed' could allow the swarm to undergo a leap in evolution. If it really can't be saved, we can destroy it and then find a way to complete the second main storyline." Yuki slowly shook his head, which was quite reasonable.

Teresa looked back and forth, but couldn't find a trace of acting. The two weren't on the same side, so it was impossible for them to be so in sync. And when she heard about the 'second main storyline,' her suspicions finally dissipated.

The infiltrators can Repulsion the Fire Seed, but they couldn't possibly know about the second main quest of the 'Guardian'. Besides, what the other party said makes sense; they even left an escape route.

Phew, we got away with it.

Yuki breathed a sigh of relief. It was all thanks to Hiyori's quick thinking that she managed to reveal a crucial piece of information by signing the contract.

'The guardians don't protect the Fire Seed, but rather prevent Fire Seed from falling into the hands of the insect swarm. Doesn't that mean—'

At times, guardians and lurkers end up together, albeit through different paths!?

Chapter Twenty-One: A Desperate Gamble! (5K)

For the past ten days, something has been troubling Yuki.

That is, what should you do if you have the 'Fire Seed' in front of you? Regardless of the fact that destroying the Fire Seed would kill millions of humans, from a game perspective:

Does the faction within the same squad destroying the enemy prove that the 'Guardians' have also completed the first main quest?

The game prompt is clearly problematic. It explicitly states that the mission has a 30-day time limit, so the standard strategy is to protect the Fire Seed until the thirtieth day.

There are 18 days left.

Based on Yuki's experience, the conventional strategy route is usually the most difficult. The Defense Force try every means to conceal the overall situation, but even a fool could tell that humanity would run into big trouble within these thirty days.

How to solve problems—that's the purpose of players.

"Johnny Silverhand and his group's plan was probably to strike first after the explosion and seize the Fire Seed. With such a large Emerald Basin, there must be plenty of places for players to hide, right? So why did they sign the contract so readily?"

Yuki bit the pen tip, skillfully employing the technique of putting himself in someone else's shoes.

Firstly, there was probably no other way; I figured out their intentions, and I couldn't just break off relations. Secondly, they probably lacked confidence to begin with. Taking the Fire Seed would mean facing a combined attack from the players, humans, and the Zerg swarm. Thorny Rose and I disagreed, and they couldn't do it on their own.

So, returning to the original question, can the Destruction Fire Seed bring all players back?

On the surface, it should be possible. Leaving aside the Lurkers, since the Guardians are there to protect the Fire Seed from being devoured by the swarm, the best protection is destruction, which would eliminate the 30-day limit.

Having figured this out, Yuki showed no joy whatsoever. He knew the Reincarnation Game all too well; the main quest would never be so 'united'.

"I guess either there are prerequisites for destroying the Fire Seed, or it will take some time... time... no way."

Yuki's eyes widened slowly as he suddenly realized the greatest function of the 'Fire Seed': to maintain the Wall of Sighs.

If a player destroys the Fire Seed and can't return immediately, the walls become useless, and swarms of insects will pour in from all directions—that would be a real disaster.

I'll incorporate some important conjectures Hiyori when I have time.

Yuki stopped thinking; he didn't even know what the Fire Seed looked like, it was just a guess.

One must eat one bite at a time. The primary goal now is to ensure that humanity survives the swarm's rampage, and then give Johnny Silverhand room to control the Central Database. Finding the Fire Seed will give him control of the choices.

Then Teresa will seize the time to get all the human players to sign a contract, thus uniting them completely.

"As I expected, once I blocked the easy path, the swarm had no other choice."

As a special player, Yuki finally gained a certain degree of battlefield awareness. Reports requesting reinforcements from various places flooded into the database like snowflakes and were then marked on the strategic map.

This holographic map is strange; it only depicts the battle situation at the edge of the basin. He had seen Chris's information terminal, and it contained the same content as his.

Just as the higher-ups deliberately concealed the overall battle situation, the soldiers only needed to know the specific mission objectives.

"From probing to a full-scale offensive."

According to Chris, this means the Zerg have completed the mass production of wormhole worms, like an assembly line, sending them into battle in batches.

The water pipes started leaking, and every hole had to be completely plugged, because if you didn't, the holes would get bigger and bigger, eventually leading to a dam failure.

[Tip 6: Time is precious for players of all roles]

This warning has put pressure on players, at least those on the human side.

"The troops are currently exhausted, and everyone's energy is limited. It won't be long before they are completely worn out," Chris said anxiously as she delivered the intelligence.

Are you in a hurry?

"Well, a little, but it's no problem. We've survived so many catastrophes, the Commander-in-Chief must have a solution!"

Anxious yet confident, they were adept at self-comfort; almost all members of the Defense Force shared a similar mindset.

Yuki a beat, and he asked, "Do you have a global map? The kind that includes all the battlefields?"

"I don't have the authority; only brigadier generals or higher can have that." The girl sighed quietly when she mentioned 'brigadier general'.

Only a brigadier general can know the full battle situation. For example, Chris is in charge of dealing with the wormhole, so she only knows the surrounding details. I remember the data said that the 'Bat Dragon Bug' would attack from the air.

Yuki sensed something was wrong, because he had only been dealing with wormholes for the past ten days.

Protect morale? Or allow intelligence to become fragmented?

Chris had no idea that her casual remark had caused Yuki to overthink things. She secretly glanced at him and asked, "How did your discussion with Smiling Lady go last time?"

Yuki already knows that the creep has a detection function. The principle seems to be that the swarm has collected the DNA of the humans on this planet, which allows it to pinpoint locations. In other words, only the player can leave the basin.

"The deal's settled. As for the specifics of the higher-ups' plans, it seems there's no need to Reconnaissance further now."

"Let me explain."

An elderly man, dressed in the same black military uniform, with a full head of silver hair and a hunched back, appeared at the door. His chest was covered with medals, and his deep blue eyes were not cloudy, but sharp as knives.

"Your Excellency, General"

Chris quickly stood at attention and saluted, Yuki also stood up. This man looked like he was about to die, but he had a faint sense of oppression about him.

Reingor smiled kindly, waved his hand to tell the two not to be so formal, and dragged over a swivel chair from the doorway to sit down.

"Mr. Yuki, in order to cope with the current situation, the General Staff has specially formulated the 'Sentinel Plan.' Here is the plan; please take a look."

The general was very polite and handed over the storage device. Yuki bent down to take it, and after activating it, a projection appeared. The scarlet words "Top Secret" at the beginning made him frown.

The plan is simple: wormholes are unpredictable, and constantly plugging them up only keeps the Defense Force busy. It would be better to deploy exploration arrays outside the walls to provide early warnings.

If we could find out where the swarm was digging its tunnels, and then gather an army to block it from the inside, the swarm would be easily wiped out several times due to their low intelligence, and would then give up. Before evolving new swarms, things would be much quieter.

It sounds simple, but it's very difficult to do. To set up the exploration array, you first need to go outside the wall, and the fungal carpet has already covered every inch of space outside the wall. If anyone runs out, they will be detected immediately.

"A plan tailor-made for players, no wonder they're going to such lengths to promote me. It's very difficult for NPCs to rebel against the Heavenly Gang and let players take on adventures."

Yuki closed his eyes and thought for a moment. The key to this plan was secrecy. If the swarm detected it, it wouldn't be difficult to remove the exploration array.

"This is very dangerous. The Wall of Sighs is an average of 1,000 meters high, making it difficult to get in or out. Once the swarm discovers it, even an iron man would be overwhelmed."

"I know, but the General Staff never sets up suicidal plans." The general pulled out another storage device and held it between his fingers. "When the Wall of Sighs was formed, in addition to the Unfallen Fortress, we also reserved access routes to prevent situations like today's trapped, isolated city from happening again."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yuki narrowed his eyes, thinking to himself, "No wonder I'm treated so well. If the Zerg swarm succeeds, they'll probably take more than just this one top-secret plan."

Knowing the color of the Defense Force's underwear, the swarm has a million ways to wipe out humanity.

Chris was somewhat at a loss. Top secrets were not something she could access; shouldn't she avoid this altogether?

"Mr. Yuki, we don't have much time Unfallen Fortress have reached the warning line." The general didn't even look at Chris; his attention was entirely focused on Yuki.

The plan can only be made by these extraterrestrial reinforcements. The people of Emerald Star, even with a single breath or the shedding of a single hair, will trigger the early warning function of the fungal carpet due to their DNA characteristics.

"Why not let the machines do it?" Yuki wasn't so easily fooled.

"Because of the existence of Electronic Bug, you've been here for so long, you probably haven't seen any unmanned combat machines, have you?"

That makes sense. With the Defense Force's technology, building some drones wouldn't be a problem, and they wouldn't run out of people. Besides, the Central Database is a one-way transmission, and they're very afraid of Electronic Bug.

Yuki, unaware that the 'Machine Uprising' had cost humanity half its land, then asked, "What about the air force's deployment?"

"The skies have long been under close surveillance. Otherwise, why do you think the Command Headquarters would need to remain hidden, or why Goshawk would only dare to fly below two thousand meters? Anyone exposed would be attacked."

What's the difference between this and being in prison? The Wall of Sighs is even more like a cage, trapping humans inside where they can only passively take the beatings.

Reality doesn't form in a day or two. Yuki can't think of a solution, nor does he need to. Perhaps this is just the stage that the Reincarnation Game sets up for players.

"So, it seems we're the only ones who have to do it?"

"Yes, you helped humanity through one crisis, and now you need to help us through the second."

You guys have had so many tough times! I've only had a couple of days to rest.

He glanced at Chris, whose face was full of expectation, and thought about it seriously for a while. In order to achieve the established goal, he had to help her, but he couldn't do it for nothing.

"To get their help, you have to offer enough benefits."

Reingor had anticipated his response and knew that the rewards from the military merit exchange system wouldn't be enough to satisfy the reinforcements' appetite.

"After the operation is successful, the Defense Force will perform Psychic Warrior surgery on qualified individuals. How about that?"

"What did you say?" Yuki was shocked. This was a huge investment. The Psychic Warrior were the backbone of this dungeon, and with the Reaper Mech, they were roughly at the level of Transcendental Grade II or Transcendental Grade III.

He didn't have specific data, but he could tell that Psychic Warrior were some kind of Espers. Some of them used energy to stimulate their bodies, thus gaining superhuman physiques, and the more powerful ones also had various special abilities.

"Is this really possible? Won't there be a high mortality rate?"

"Don't worry, this surgery is very dangerous for us, but the records show that none of the reinforcements died, and they were filled with the joy of a bountiful harvest." The general pulled a document from his pocket, seemingly having come prepared.

"This is a surveillance report from many years ago, after another group of reinforcements underwent surgery. You should be able to tell if it's real or fake."

Yuki glanced at it, then snatched the holographic tablet without a word. The report contained a term that the natives could never have fabricated:

Bloodline skills.