Survival

The Coordination Bureau is an underground prison.

Yan Fushou saw Queenie again.

During this period, the Internal Security Response Division put Queenie under heavy pressure.

But the results weren't very good.

Queenie was more resilient than expected—even with her Great Memory Restoration and various innate abilities, she couldn't pry open her mouth.

----It seems that her revealing the framework of the Prison Rock instance last time was an accident.

If Lu Xiu's alter ego hadn't been so ridiculously difficult, she probably wouldn't have been able to speak.

Seeing that the interrogation was making no progress and the arrival of the new version was getting closer, Yan Fushou thought of what had happened before and took some time to find her again.

Queenie is in pretty good shape, but it's clear that being bombarded with all sorts of things lately has had some effect on her.

At least she wasn't as arrogant and composed as before; her eyes held a hint of weariness and unfocus.

Yan Fushou looked at Queenie: "Miss Queenie, we meet again."

"Director Yan, I suddenly have some regrets about joining Nine Provinces."

Queenie pulled out a chair and sat down, saying, "You have absolutely no intention of accepting me."

"The new version is about to be released, so there's no need to say these self-deceiving things."

Yan Fushou smiled and said, "Whether you truly want to join Nine Provinces or not, you know it in your heart. The Internal Security Response Division has used almost every means at its disposal, but still couldn't get you to talk, not even a ranking of the difficulty of the Prison Rock civilian dungeon from you."

If you still call this a surrender, you're insulting our intelligence. I don't know what's going on at Prison Rock, but we have something here called a "pledge of allegiance."

"The Prison Rock dungeon framework I mentioned last time is a pledge of allegiance."

"No, you're psychologically unbalanced because you're tormented by Lu Xiu's copy."

Yan Fushou waved his hand. "I'm not here to discuss this with you. The report about you has already been submitted. The Internal Security Response Division doesn't want to waste any more time on you, and neither do I. Your fate is sealed. Either you'll be injected with high-intensity sedatives every day after the new version goes live and put to sleep until you die, or you'll be executed."

I don't want to waste any more time on this topic. If you really want to change the situation, go directly to the interrogators in the Internal Security Response Division.

Queenie froze for a moment, but quickly recovered. "So Director Yan came here just to announce my fate?"

"No—I have only one purpose in coming here: the Apostle."

Yan Fushou was silent for a moment, then replied, "While you're still lucid, I'll ask you one last time: what did you mean by ' Apostle' last time? Where did you learn that name from?"

"----If I told you, would I be spared from sleeping until I die or being executed?"

"No, you also need to submit a ranking of the difficulty of the Prison Rock dungeon by its inhabitants, along with a description of its characteristics."

Yan Fushou gently shook his head. "I only asked this incidentally."

"Then why should I say it?"

"Understood."

Yan Fushou nodded slightly, stood up, straightened his suit, and then put the chair back in its original position. "Well then, goodbye, Miss Queenie, if you're still alive by then, although the chances are slim."

Next.

He looked at the Strategy Group members beside him. "Tell the Internal Security Response Division that we can begin. Starting tomorrow, give her daily injections of sedatives. Lin Yi from the Strategy Group will also cooperate with them, giving her the highest level of weakness every day to ensure she is awake for no more than an hour each day."

"Clear."

Queenie paused, seeing that Yan Fushou was really about to leave, and said, "Director Yan, aren't you really curious about the Apostle? This concerns your chief Architect, or are you just putting immense pressure on me?"

"No, I'm curious, but I don't want to waste my time—you know about that [Witch] dungeon Lu Xiu recently released, right?"

The Strategy Group is having a headache over this; they don't have any extra time to waste on you.

Yan Fushou paused for a moment, then replied, "Of course, that's a secondary reason. The main reason is that I have confidence in Lu Xiu. No matter what you mean by ' Apostle' or what it represents, I believe Lu Xiu can reach that level. It doesn't matter if I don't know now; I'll know when she reaches that level."

You've been observing Nine Provinces for quite some time now, so you should be able to tell whether what I'm saying is true or false.

Queenie was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed, "I also believe that Lu Xiu can at least become a candidate, but whether she will die immediately is unknown. Didn't you ask me how I know about the title 'Apostle '? It's simple, I've seen players in areas who have Apostle, or rather, I used to have them."

They fondly remember that golden age, an era they said was invincible. But the exceptionally powerful Architect also caused an imbalance in the community's dungeon ecosystem, with honor and disgrace resting on the shoulders of a single Architect.

The Architect was indeed unstoppable in the early stages, leading his region to victory after victory in battle—but soon, as he reached the barrier, the Architect died on the very day he became Apostle Candidate.

This new version is player-versus-player—but what makes you think there won't be any Architect- versus-player battles? What makes you think Lu Xiu could withstand the pressure back then?

Queenie's smile faded, and she continued, "You know, even the most brilliant geniuses are only at the threshold of meeting Apostle. The Architect in that area was also a genius, but he still died instantly the first time he faced a real Apostle."

"But the price was exceptionally heavy—a once prosperous Level I region plummeted to Level V after his death."

"Placing one's fate on the shoulders of another may lead to initial meteoric success, but once that person falls, utter ruin awaits—don't you think they're similar to the Nine Provinces?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Fushou astutely grasped the hidden information behind Queenie's words and narrowed his eyes. "You mean, Prison Rock has experienced something similar to this new version before?"

Queenie looked at him with a half-smile, "So—why do you think this is the first time a special event has appeared? Since it's been gamified, isn't it normal to have a version update every now and then?"

Yan Fushou's expression remained calm as he pressed on, "How many version updates has your Prison Rock undergone?"

Queenie sat quietly in the chair, meeting Yan Fushou's gaze without uttering a word.

Applying pressure in the opposite direction?

Yan Fushou looked at Queenie.

Queenie's words were clearly intended to make him compromise.

Clearly, she didn't want to spend the next few days being injected with high-strength sedatives every day, coupled with the highest level of weakness techniques, falling into an endless sleep like a living dead.

She was waiting for Yan Fushou impatient, waiting for him to take the initiative to compromise.

"Take Miss Queenie back to the cell."

Yan Fushou glanced at Queenie for two seconds, then, instead of pressing for details, said directly, "Do as we discussed earlier. Begin administering sedatives and weakening agents tomorrow."

Queenie didn't say anything, but just stared intently at Yan Fushou's figure.

She didn't believe it!

The rulers of Nine Provinces were absolutely not interested!

Because Nine Provinces relies on Lu Xiu's folk copies even more than imagined!

If Architect happens to Lu Xiu, the entire Nine Provinces will be doomed.

All we can do now is wait!

The interrogation room door closed.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor.

Yan Fushou walked forward with a thoughtful expression, then suddenly turned and walked in another direction, finding the head of the Internal Security Response Division: "Old Hu, that Prison Rock player cannot die for now."

Hu Duo, from the Internal Security Response Division, was somewhat surprised.

This is unlike Yan Fushou's style.

Seeing his expression, Yan Fushou knew what he was thinking. He briefly repeated what Queenie had just said, and then said, "Intelligence is important, but taking the initiative is even more important. We cannot compromise right now. We don't know if Lu Xiu can cross the threshold of Apostle, but if we can't even cross the Prison Rock now, we have no right to worry about things that are so far ahead for her."

"But on the other hand, Queenie does indeed have value."

Hu Duo lit a cigarette and remained silent for a while before saying, "I was originally planning to have someone stall for a couple more days, but now it seems unnecessary. It would only send the wrong signal that we really care about what she's saying, making her resist even more firmly, thus forcing us to back down—I understand. I will pass your suggestion to the director, but I cannot make the specific decisions on my own."

"I know."

Yan Fushou nodded, then changed the subject. "By the way, how are the frontline soldiers who were recalled being arranged?"

Only three days left until the new version goes live.

To avoid any uncontrollable chaos, a batch of frontline soldiers have been recalled.

This is also why frontline military representatives personally go to the front lines to coordinate rotations.

Of course, this is also a plan that kills two birds with one stone.

If the new version goes live without any major problems, or if the situation stabilizes quickly.

Then these recalled soldiers will seamlessly transition into the new role and be directly deployed to clear Lu Xiu's [Witch] instance.

Hu Duo exhaled a puff of smoke and nodded, saying, "It's basically finished."

"What about Lu Xiu?"

"It's been arranged, and we'll be paying close attention."

Yan Fushou felt relieved and continued to ask, "The selection of members for the Old Sea Strategy Group— "

The two then moved on to discussing other contingency plans in connection with the security issue.

This is not an isolated incident.

With the new version approaching.

Both Queenie and Zhang Chongshan began to do everything in their power to save their lives.

After all, they are ticking time bombs—and they themselves know this, so they've all started to show their value.

Meanwhile, in the Royal Court on the other side of the Prison Rock, preparations were underway for the new version, with discussions focused on how to deal with Zhang Chongshan.

Both regions are rife with undercurrents.

But no matter how turbulent the undercurrents.

Nothing can stop time from moving forward.

The new version is getting closer.

Three days.

Two days.

one day.

Twenty hours.

"We definitely won't make it."

Construction Space.

Looking at the already quite impressive scene, Lu Xiu pondered for a moment and came to a pessimistic conclusion.

There's no way we can catch up with the release of the new dungeon before the new version is released.

no way.

The new dungeon is too troublesome.

We also need to ensure that the gameplay of rest and status recovery can fool the system.

This is no easy job.

But it's not a big problem.

Even dungeons released during the new version update will be added to the scene library. Furthermore, releasing new dungeons in the new version has its advantages; if everything goes smoothly, players will have a place to use the Survival Points they earn in the arena.

This wasn't because Lu Xiu coveted the players' Survival Points.

Instead, it's foreseeable that the entry fee for this new instance will definitely be quite high.

certainly.

All of this is contingent on the new version being released smoothly.

Lu Xiu took one last look at the scene not far away, then exited the Construction Space and returned to reality.

The aroma of food wafted from the kitchen.

Lu Xiu didn't rush to the kitchen, but instead went to the window and looked down.

She'd been mostly focused on building new content lately, so she didn't really feel the arrival of the new version, although she'd occasionally glimpse the countdown numbers when she opened the System Panel.

Until recently.

She noticed the change downstairs; many frontline soldiers had appeared downstairs in the apartment building.

It's coming soon.

There's finally a sense that a storm is brewing.

"Time to eat!"

But Lu Xiu's thought didn't last long, to be precise, only a second.

Just as she had this thought, Shen Nian's voice rang out.

Lu Xiu turned to look at Shen Nian, who was dressed in a black and white maid outfit, and sighed.

I was starting to get nervous myself.