Argument

inside the house.

Jian Li stared intently at the window in front of her. Perhaps because she was too nervous, Lu Xiu noticed again that a few silver scales were faintly emerging on the back of Jian Li's fair hand.

Speaking of this beautiful girl's innate skill, what exactly is it? It seems to be out of her control.

The thought had just crossed her mind.

Jian Li tightened his grip on her wrist, forcefully pressing down the emerging scales.

"Jian Li?"

Lu Xiu frowned slightly as she was pinched, and looking at the girl who suddenly seemed to be facing a formidable enemy, she called out to her again.

Jian Li finally came to her senses and abruptly released Lu Xiu's wrist.

This girl, who was usually calm and collected, seemed a little anxious at this moment, as if she wanted to say something, but the urgency of the situation left her no time to waste.

Please don't leave here.

She left behind only this one sentence, without further explanation, and turned into a gust of wind, hurrying away.

Bang!

The door was slammed shut.

The living room returned to silence.

Lu Xiu rubbed her wrist, which had been pinched and left several red marks, stood there, blinked, and a look of confusion appeared on her beautiful face.

What does that mean? Running so fast?

The moment that thought crossed her mind, a communication window popped up.

From Jian Li.

She sent over the updated information she had received.

Clearly, the information received by the players is not subject to the same restrictions as the information received by the Architect.

This is probably because the special event "Hunt and Watch" itself carries a sense of forcing players to make choices, and the system seems to intentionally let players spread the pressure of the countdown.

But for Lu Xiu, this was not the focus.

Her focus is on----

Why didn't I receive it?

Lu Xiu looked at the information sent by Jian Li: "Isn't this a bit too much? As Architect, all I need to know is that the new version involves arena battles and Constructed Instance. As for the fact that someone will rush over to kill me before the version officially goes live—that's not important? Is that what you mean?"

"What a trash game!"

"Can you make games? Then make them! The information received by Architect and players is different. You're using this information asymmetry to forcibly increase gameplay choices and create factional divisions among players, right? Right?!"

"What a brilliant design!"

Don't do it again!

Lu Xiu couldn't help but complain, stood up, went to the kitchen to pour a glass of water, and came back to sit down again.

to be honest.

She was somewhat speechless, but not overly worried about it.

This was partly because she had some confidence in her own abilities, and partly because she had some confidence in the Coordination Bureau.

Furthermore, the number of cross-player slots is limited, and there aren't many players—just over twenty top-tier players facing off against a region's Architect. The pressure shouldn't be too great.

etc.

As Lu Xiu thought of this, she suddenly realized something, and her expression became somewhat subtle.

Under normal circumstances, information asymmetry and excessive pressure are acceptable.

These inferences are all valid.

If a region has many skilled Architect, then these 20 cross-dimensional assassins will have to face the difficult problem of who to find, who to kill, and how to divide their forces.

The same logic applies to the defending side.

At this point, the mechanism of revealing coordinates becomes an excellent tactical game.

But the Nine Provinces I live in----

Lu Xiu recalled those unscrupulous Construction Club that only knew how to rip people off, and the phrase in the announcement that the overall rating and regional influence had reached a threshold----

Is there supposed to be a leaderboard?

The Architect in grassroots Construction Club must have a regional influence that's practically nonexistent, right?

If each region is a separate game server.

Am I going to be the only sitting duck on the entire server?

No division of forces! No strategic maneuvering!

As soon as the passage opened and the citywide broadcast started, she was like the only 1,000-watt light bulb in the dark.

The 20 top-tier players from another world on the other side didn't even need to use their brains; they could just group up and charge at her.

Holy crap!

No way?

Lu Xiu suddenly stood up.

At the same time.

The Coordination Bureau, the underground Training Ground.

Yan Fushou was handling the daily affairs of the Strategy Group while waiting for Han Xiao. At the same time, he was also thinking about whether Jian Li could persuade Lu Xiu to accept his personal protection.

But just then, the communication window popped up without warning.

Wei Yidong sent him a message.

[Target sequence and combat power detected; concealment threshold reached----]

[The first cross-realm PVP opponent in this region is -- Category IV Otherworldly Prison Rock!]

After reading the content forwarded by Wei Yidong, Yan Fushou's expression suddenly froze, his pupils contracted sharply, and he felt a suffocating chill rush up his tailbone to the top of his head.

"Special event?!"

Next.

He couldn't help but shout out, "12 hours?"

At the same time that Yan Fushou received the information.

Several beams of Bai Guang appeared.

Han Chi emerged from the [Outlast] instance once again.

He was just about to speak when he noticed that Yan Fushou's expression was a little strange.

"Director Yan?"

Han Xiao was stunned when he saw Yan Fushou's pale face: "What happened to you—"

"Captain Han."

Upon hearing Han Xiao's voice, Yan Fushou snapped back to reality, his expression turning grim. "Immediately halt the dungeon raid," he said. "Take your men and head to 29 Maple Leaf Avenue. Then, coordinate with Captain Li. From now on, don't let any outsiders approach the floor where Lu Xiu is staying."

Han Xiao was stunned by this sudden turn of events, but out of a soldier's duty, he instinctively straightened his body.

T

Yes!"

"Your next task is extremely important."

As Yan Fushou spoke, he sent the intelligence he had just received to Han Xiao: "This concerns our future."

In fact, Han Xiao was transferred to Chen Capital not only to solve the Outlast mission, but also to increase the security force on Lu Xiu's side.

I just didn't expect it to be arranged in this way in advance.

Just as Han Xiao was reading the updated content, his pupils dilated in shock.

Yan Fushou had already turned and was walking quickly toward the exit.

Coordination Bureau, Conference Room.

This is the second emergency meeting today.

It hadn't even been half a day since the last meeting ended.

But there's nothing we can do.

This special preview event for the new version came too fast, leaving them only 12 hours to prepare!

And the most critical thing is that this special event just happened to coincide with the time when the Coordination Bureau was preparing to implement new regulations.

That's being too sensitive.

As everyone took their seats with somber expressions, the meeting quickly got down to business.

The question of whether or not to protect Lu Xiu doesn't actually need to be discussed at the meeting.

Even the most extreme person, if they had this idea, wouldn't dare to abandon Lu Xiu at this critical juncture and let her try to survive on her own—not to mention how strategically valuable the dungeon she constructed was, the soldiers on the front lines who obtained life-saving skills from her dungeon alone could knock the proposer's head off.

There is no dispute about protecting Lu Xiu.

But how many top players should be left to protect them, and whether or not to launch a proactive attack on Prison Rock to decapitate the core Architect on the other side?

----But reaching a consensus won't be so quick!

first.

Those who advocate for war want to go.

Their reasoning was quite sound: what if the other side also had Architect like Lu Xiu?

One particularly disturbing piece of intelligence is that successfully eliminating the enemy's core Architect will completely erase all civilian instances under that Architect's name, preventing them from being used as battlegrounds in the new version's arena.

The arena.

Battle scene.

These words all subtly suggest that the new version's PVP gameplay is absolutely tied to the Architect's dungeon pool, and that Architect and the dungeons they create may even be the deciding factor in victory or defeat.

If the top players in this region are stronger than those on the other side, this is absolutely a golden opportunity to strike at the enemy's core and destroy their foundation.

It was very quick.

Some dissenting voices have emerged.

For example, who should be sent? How many should be sent?

The top players in the Strategy Group of the Coordination Bureau are only a handful, and currently only Nineteen people have received intelligence about the special event—theoretically, only Nineteen people meet the requirements for crossing the boundary.

There are only so many people.

However, there are twenty quotas for crossing the line.

Sending too few troops means the enemy might be heavily fortified and defensive, resulting in the wasteful deaths of top players. And who knows what the new version's PvP will be like? What if it's a large-scale battle?

If they send too many, what if the enemy sends their top 20 players to kill Lu Xiu? Can Lu Xiu's side hold them off?

If the passage remains closed, you'll never know whether the enemy on the other side is a ruthless butcher sharpening his knife or a formidable fortress standing ready.

certainly.

Another possibility was also mentioned during this period.

That means recruiting the leaders of those large guilds.

If you include the leaders of those major guilds, the number is enough—but the fifth rule clearly states that they are capable of betrayal.

Normally, other things might not be a problem.

However, in this special event, dying on the opposing side, while not necessarily resulting in actual death, will cause you to lose all your skills and equipment.

Would the leaders of those large guilds really be willing to take that risk?

They may not necessarily have such a high level of ideological awareness.

Most importantly, what stage are we at now? It's a sensitive time when the Coordination Bureau has just released information that it will implement new regulations to reduce the interests of large guilds.

At this critical juncture, will stepping into the passage directly lead to their betrayal and defection? Will they become enemy forces in the new version?

After all, they know about Lu Xiu's copy! Couldn't this be aiding the enemy?

Although this possibility is not high.

After all, they might not necessarily abandon their guild, but what if they do?

In case the guild leader betrays you, can you directly recruit your own guild members and ask them if they want to join [Prison Rock] with their guild leader?

Furthermore, there are too many unknown details.

Where exactly will these 20 extra slots be opened?

How long does this passage last, and how long can one stay in this other world?

Can the Coordination Bureau ensure that the passageway is controlled immediately?

If members of a major guild force their way through the passage to secure cross-server slots, will the Coordination Bureau have to allocate additional forces to prevent and suppress these potential internal threats of betrayal?

Countless variables, countless dead ends.

In the conference room, a variety of questions were intertwined.

And someone quickly raised another question.

That's the problem Lu Xiu was worried about.

For those players who cross boundaries—is there a ranking of Architect's overall rating and regional influence?

If so, wouldn't all twenty players be heading towards Lu Xiu?

The moment the question was raised, everyone's expression became even more serious.

They definitely hope it doesn't exist.

It would be best to let those civilian Builder Group share the firepower!

But is it really not true?

It's hard to say.

"Let's go for full defense! Protect Lu Xiu first! Meanwhile, monitor those major guilds! Don't launch any preemptive attacks!"

"What if the opposing team also has an extremely strong Architect?! Doesn't that mean we've already lost at the starting line before the official version even goes live?!"

"Y

"What can we do then? If we send the top players from the Strategy Group to kill the enemy Architect, who will cover our side?"

"Divide the troops!"

"Divide the troops? How many? Too few, and they'll be sent to their deaths; too many, and the homeland will lose its ability to resist."

66

5

Yan Fushou didn't speak, rubbing his temples and staring at the countdown on the panel, his head throbbing with pain.

[Countdown to channel opening: 10 hours and 56 minutes]