Xenogenic gods

"Resident Evil, Sekiro, Titanfall, Outlast, Sifu, The Witch, Dark Souls ----"

hotel.

After sending the message to Yan Fushou, Gong Yu couldn't help but look up the dungeon data that Lu Xiu had previously created and start reading it again.

The more I look at it, the more unbelievable it seems.

He wasn't from Nine Provinces, and aside from Monster Hunter and the latest Versus Instance, he hadn't cleared any of Lu Xiu's other dungeons.

He wanted to learn about the other versions of Lu Xiu's works, but he could only imagine them through Ganba's written descriptions.

However, simply reading the text makes it difficult to understand the specific details of the dungeon, given the powerful Memory Blur mechanism of single-player dungeons.

For example, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, a dungeon that is widely recognized by Nine Provinces players as extremely difficult, is mostly discussed by players who say that all the bosses are very powerful and have a set of parry and Posture Bar mechanics.

As for what parrying and the Posture Bar are, the information only states that when facing an enemy's attack, you can parry at the last second, which will greatly reduce the enemy's Posture Bar. Once it is full, you can kill them with one blow.

The descriptions of bosses are even more sparse. For example, Genichiro Ashina, due to the Memory Blur mechanism, is only a few sentences in the data. "Commander of Ashina Nation, skilled in swordsmanship and archery, he can summon lightning in the second phase."

Player reviews are even harder to judge; there are all sorts of comments: mad dog, ripped-clothes hunk, loser, high school exam teacher, despicable villain, and so on.

Go find Grandpa's trash, the Loser's Obsession with losing----

Just looking at these...

I really don't understand anything about this.

All I know is that the dungeon is very difficult.

It seems to be a dungeon that tests reaction speed.

Gong Yu had a similar feeling about Lu Xiu's other dungeons. The weaklings in the Sifu's dungeon all had superpowered punches? That's just superpowers, what's there to be afraid of? The Witch Instance had narrative tricks? So what if it did? The only way to Outlast was to run? Then run!

Players who have personally experienced the dungeon would probably strangle Gong Yu if they heard this. What do you mean, "That's just superpowers"? What do you mean, "Narrative tricks are nothing to be surprised about"? What do you mean, "If you can only run, then run"?

Why don't you give it a try?

As the saying goes, it's easy to talk when you're not the one experiencing it; this is exactly the situation where people's joys and sorrows are not shared.

Actual experience and reading materials are two completely different things.

Gong Yu had actually been secretly scoffing at the players of Nine Provinces at the time.

Even though he had been taught a lesson in Monster Hunter, that was a multiplayer dungeon, and he felt that Lu Xiu had definitely increased the difficulty.

But now, after watching the Bloodborne trailer...

When Gong Yu looked back at these dry, textual documents, he finally couldn't laugh anymore.

Words are somewhat inadequate to describe it.

But once you have a concept, things are different.

"Could Lu Xiu's previous dungeons have been even more insane than we imagined? Those single-player dungeons she created before the multiplayer and Versus Instance?"

Gong Yu recalled the promotional video he had just watched, murmured a sentence to himself, and then read out the types of dungeons one by one.

Escape room survival, melee knife fighting, mecha futurism, horror Outlast, counter-attack, dark suffering----

If the aforementioned dungeons are indeed more exaggerated than imagined, and are all on the level of Bloodborne...

That's just too outrageous!

Most importantly, Lu Xiu not only has a vivid imagination, but if you really think about it in the most terrifying way—most of the dungeons she constructs also have a completely new and comprehensive combat mechanism—

"Is this really something that the human brain can create out of thin air?"

Gong Yu looked at the information in front of him and fell into deep thought.

And at that time...

Roar!!!

A deep, violent roar, as if it were about to tear the sky apart, rolled in from the horizon, ignoring physical barriers and even penetrating the soundproof glass of the hotel's upper floors, causing the crystal chandelier in the room to vibrate and hum.

Gong Yu's heart clenched suddenly, as if a terrifying feeling, like being in the wild and being watched by a wild beast, suddenly overwhelmed him.

"What is that?!"

He suddenly stood up, rushed to the French windows in three quick steps, and looked out in the direction from which the roar came.

At the same time.

Other suites in the hotel.

Ulysses and Rosalind were also startled by the sudden roar. They jumped up from the sofa and rushed to the window, looking at the gloomy sky with suspicion.

In fact, it wasn't just these few delegation representatives.

At that moment, all the players who had been enthusiastically discussing Bloodborne on the forums heard him.

They fell silent instantly, raising their heads blankly to look at the distant sky.

Ulysses stood by the window, staring at the distant horizon, the inexplicable feeling of unease growing stronger.

At this moment.

A communication window popped up in front of him.

"Supreme Leader! Something's happened! When will you be back?"

"There's unusual activity on the front lines of the Red Tide!"

Nine Provinces.

Jade Capital Frontline.

Since the Astera appeared, a large number of High Sequence players have flocked here, turning the originally brutal and bloody defense line into a vegetable market by these players who are vying to farm materials.

It's unclear whether this is because there are simply too many High Sequence players gathering here recently.

During this period, the number of Monster Tide on the front lines has decreased. The monster seas that used to blot out the sky and surge out of the ruins like mudslides are now rarely seen, perhaps once a week.

Most of the time, only a few thousand monsters would occasionally emerge from that half of the assimilated city.

These monsters are basically unable to get close to the defensive line; they are quickly killed by bored players who focus their fire on them halfway there.

Because there are so few monsters, there are far fewer players on the defensive line now. They are all idly holding their weapons, gathered in twos and threes, and enthusiastically discussing the newly released Bloodborne trailer.

"He's handsome! But he's different from what I imagined."

"It's not PvP, it seems to be mainly PvE -- that's bad."

What is the significance of Lu Xiu's appearance?

The players were making a ruckus, and even the regular troops standing guard nearby couldn't help but glance at them.

Roar!!!

The roar seemed to echo from the depths of that half-assimilated city.

The noisy defensive line fell silent instantly.

Everyone, whether they were players discussing something or soldiers silently standing guard, instinctively looked up, staring in astonishment into the depths of the city ruins.

And then, as they watched, a surprising scene unfolded.

In the half of the city ahead that has been assimilated.

The dark gray membrane that had been clinging to the exterior walls of those towering buildings like living things suddenly stopped wriggling.

Prior to this, these membranes had been expanding outwards erratically with the Monster Tide. Once the expansion was successful, huge bulges would appear on the surface, and then monsters would hatch like insect eggs.

But now, with the echo of that roar still lingering, several Crawler that had just fallen from the ruptured membrane and were about to pounce on the defensive line suddenly froze in place.

The next second, they turned around without hesitation and crawled directly into the depths of the ruins.

It wasn't just the monsters that were retreating.

The dark gray membranes covering the building surfaces, which had previously seemed to be constantly expanding outwards with the Monster Tide, began to recede rapidly towards the city center, like a receding tide.

The building, which had been covered up, slowly came into view.

It seems that something is gathering all the scattered power together.

Behind the defensive line.

A High Sequence player who had just been discussing the Bloodborne Dungeon with his companions suddenly raised his voice upon seeing the scene before him. "Look—the membrane has receded! Were the monsters scared away? Has the front line disappeared?!"

It's no wonder he thought that way.

The area ahead, which was originally shrouded in thick gray fog and was assumed by all players to be a monster's lair, is undergoing an astonishing transformation.

The dark gray, viscous film clinging to the exterior walls of residential buildings and high-rises peeled off and shrank rapidly, just like the receding tide.

The viscous substance that had been intertwined and constantly wriggling and expanding like thick blood vessels had now lost its vitality, shriveled up, and turned into puddles of black liquid that dripped down the building's exterior walls and then slowly flowed into the depths of the city.

As this living, fungal carpet recedes, the Environmental Assimilation Mechanism seems to cease as well.

The city buildings, which had been hidden for so long, were once again exposed to the air.

Although the towering office buildings are now riddled with holes, the mall's exterior walls are reduced to crumbling cement and twisted, rusty steel bars, with shattered glass and rubble scattered everywhere.

But this is what a human city should look like after it's abandoned.

Not only that.

Looking from the direction of the defensive line, the gray-white mist that had perpetually shrouded the half-assimilated city seemed to be affected as well.

Drawn by some force, it began to flow back and converge towards the depths of the city.

In just a few minutes.

The area that was originally oppressive and distorted, the Assimilation Zone felt like it would pollute one's spirit if viewed for too long, has surprisingly become clean.

The long-awaited sunlight pierced through the clouds and shone on the ruins of those dilapidated buildings.

Gone were the disorderly expanding, writhing, viscous membranes and the monster's roars.

At the same time, the thick gray fog disappeared, visibility became clear, a gentle breeze blew, stirring up dust from the ground, and everything seemed to have returned to what it was before the game was made.

Witnessing this incredible scene.

Many players on the defensive line looked at each other in bewilderment, and then someone cheered.

"Assimilation mechanism - has it been dispelled?"

"Holy crap, could it be because we've been grinding monsters so relentlessly lately that we've destroyed this spawn point?"

"The monsters were all scared away?"

"Damn, that scared me! I thought some kind of monster had appeared, but it turns out the front lines are gone? I was hoping to farm more materials!"

The scene of environmental assimilation being completely reversed, coupled with the ruins of the city that, though dilapidated, have been restored to their original state, truly creates an illusion.

That was it—the disaster that had tormented the Nine Provinces for years finally came to an end after that roar.

Monsters, begone!

Humanity achieved victory in a rather bewildering way.

However.

The military isn't as optimistic as the players. The younger soldiers might even show a hint of joy, but the veterans who have been stationed on the front lines since the game's inception all have serious expressions.

Given that roar just now and the 30-day trailer for the new expansion, it's highly unlikely that the front lines have disappeared.

They had been fighting on the front lines for four years, witnessing the collapse of defenses and their comrades being overwhelmed by monsters. They didn't believe the system would let the players off so easily, nor did they believe the system would remove the Environmental Assimilation Mechanism just because the players killed a lot of monsters.

Moreover, the dripping liquid was flowing deep into the city, which really resembled—something gathering power.

Just like when the seawater recedes suddenly from the coastline, it doesn't mean the sea has calmed down; it's more likely that a tsunami is coming.

The veterans looked puzzled and began reporting the matter up the chain of command.

This wasn't just the case on the Jade Capital front; most front lines encountered the same thing, and the same was true overseas.

Various messages began to converge on Chen Capital.

At the same time.

Witch Forest.

The earth-shaking roar gradually subsided.

Lu Xiu withdrew her gaze from the distance, a thoughtful expression appearing on her face.

This commotion—considering the direction from which it came—there's only one possibility.

The monsters on the front lines have been strengthened.

After the 30-day countdown mentioned in the new expansion ends, the monsters on the front lines are expected to undergo a qualitative change.

"I've honestly forgotten the exact date—"

Lu Xiu rubbed her temples. She had been busy lately, especially after the release of the professional gameplay, which had taken up all her energy. She had actually forgotten the specific date for the frontline monsters to be strengthened.

It now appears that the Berserker Class Contest Instance, originally scheduled to launch in five days, will most likely not be able to launch on time.

After all, if an incident were to break out on the front lines and become truly serious, all the top combat forces and major guilds in Nine Provinces would have to step up, leaving no time to run dungeons.

I wonder how things are at the front lines now.

As Lu Xiu pondered, she suddenly felt a sense of doubt.

Why does the system specifically provide a 30-day grace period?

Is this to give the player factions time to prepare?

That is indeed necessary.

Moreover, Nine Provinces did indeed seize this opportunity. The emergence of the Astera not only attracted countless High Sequence players to the front lines, but the workshops within it are now also mass-producing equipment.

As far as Lu Xiu knew, the soldiers had already begun a large-scale re-equipment program, and many veterans had been equipped with the Yama Type I.

Compared to a month ago, their combat strength is worlds apart.

This is also why Lu Xiu would forget the date of the monsters' strengthening at the front lines.

Logically, with these preparations, the frontline monsters should be able to be dealt with even if they are strengthened.

but--

Lu Xiu lowered her eyes slightly, and a gentle breeze lifted her long hair.

I don't know why.

She felt something was off. Were these thirty days really just preparation time for the player faction?

Furthermore, upon hearing that roar, she inexplicably felt a pang of unease, a vague sense of unease creeping into her heart. She suddenly realized that the trump cards Nine Provinces had accumulated over the past thirty days were still insufficient.

Just as unease began to rise in Lu Xiu's heart, a system window suddenly popped up in front of her.

Lu Xiu was slightly taken aback.

What?

Before she could react, words began to appear on the window.

[The first King-class Monster is about to be born on the front lines.]

[A sentient monster has appeared.]

[Restrictions lifted; Xenogenic the Deity can now intervene.]

[The 1,829,852,302nd bet begins.]

Who do you think is suitable to be Kindling?

Lu Xiu stared at the notice on the window, her beautiful eyes widening slightly.

Monarch level?

Intelligent monster?

Intervention by Xenogenic the Deity?

A bet?

Kindling?

These few lines contain a wealth of information.

But before Lu Xiu could continue reading...

The text on the window suddenly flickered.

Next.

As the cursor blinked, as if some kind of error correction mechanism had been triggered, the text began to disappear one by one, as if someone were holding down the delete key, backspaced character by character.

Less than a second.

The text on the window was completely cleared, and at the same time, the system window shattered before Lu Xiu's eyes, turning into countless points of light that vanished without a trace.

"Lu Xiu!"

At the same time.

Footsteps came from behind Lu Xiu.

Jian Li and Shen Nian pushed open the door of the Wooden Cabin and stepped out.

The two men had clearly heard the roar and came out to check the situation.

"Lu Xiu, you heard that voice just now, didn't you?"

The two approached Lu Xiu. They had originally planned to discuss the Bloodborne Dungeon with Lu Xiu, but now, with this commotion, they couldn't care less about the dungeon. Shen Nian spoke first, asking, "This commotion is too much! Do you know what happened?"

Jian Li asked, "Are you alright? Why are you standing here?"

Hearing their conversation, Lu Xiu snapped out of her reverie, "It's the front lines, and the situation might be much more serious than we thought. Have you received any warnings?"

"Hint?"

Shen Nian looked at Lu Xiu with a puzzled expression.

Lu Xiu:

really.

Only I received the notification----

So the question is, why?

Because I'm Architect?

And who gave you this hint? Is it real or fake?

Is the enhancement of the frontline monsters related to a gamble by some the Deity?

There's a the Deity on the monster's side too?

This is no small matter.

This suggests that gamification may not just be about humans—or more accurately, it's simply a struggle between Humanoid Species! Everyone assumes that these are monsters created by the system! And that they are also a force!

If other worlds also have frontline monsters----

They might even be the strongest.

What also bothered Lu Xiu was the last sentence—who is suitable to become Kindling.

At first.

When she was building the Dark Souls dungeon, the first version's completion evaluation was very strange. The system seemed to pay special attention to the word "Kindling" and the setting that the Lord of Cinder burned himself in order to prolong the world's lifespan.

But when this word is used in reality—it carries a sense of despair no matter how you look at it.

so----

What's wrong with this gamified world? Why gamify it? What is the goddess's purpose? Where do the monsters come from? What are these Xenogenic the Deity? Which side do they belong to?

It seems the more I think about it, the more questions arise.

And I just can't understand it.

Lu Xiu lowered her eyelids and furrowed her delicate brows.

"Lu Xiu ----?"

Jian Li noticed that Lu Xiu had suddenly fallen silent, and with some concern, she gently pressed her arm and shook her.

Lu Xiu snapped out of her daze, looked at the worried Jian Li and Shen Nian, and explained, "I just—"

She was about to say those few words of advice.

But the words were barely out of his mouth.

A sudden change occurred.

"Aba aba----"

Lu Xiu was stunned. "?"

Jian Li and Shen Nian were also stunned.

"----What's wrong with you?" Shen Nian stared at Lu Xiu with wide eyes.

Lu Xiu opened her mouth, trying to reorganize her thoughts and say the words "intervention by Xenogenic the Deity".

but----

"Aba aba aba."

Lu Xiu's beautiful eyes widened slightly. Unconvinced, she tried again, wanting to rephrase the situation as a bet or Kindling.

But it still is.

"Aba!"

Jian Li and Shen Nian stared at Lu Xiu, who had an absolutely beautiful face and an angelic voice, with a solemn expression.

I froze for two seconds.

Then.

"Pfft----"

Shen Nian suddenly turned her head to the side, her shoulders shaking, causing her pretty shoulder-length short hair to sway gently.

Jian Li was also taken aback, then reached out her cool little hand and placed it on Lu Xiu's forehead.

66

Lu Xiu remained silent for a moment, then gently shook off Jian Li's hand, jumped up in a panic, and cursed, "Damn system!"

Aba my foot!

System, you son of a bitch!

If you don't want me to speak, just mute me! What am I supposed to do, act like an idiot?

"What exactly happened?"

Jian Li blinked and looked at Lu Xiu curiously, asking...

Shen Nian also forced herself to stop laughing and looked at Lu Xiu.

Actually, she's quite cute.

This is a silly goddess that outsiders would never see.

"The Goddess's Blade".

Lu Xiu mentioned the Title she had previously received.

The two of them immediately understood what was going on.

This means she just wanted to say something sensitive, but the system wouldn't allow it.

"Never mind, I'll look into it later. Oh, by the way, what about the Coordination Bureau— "

Seeing the two of them look enlightened, Lu Xiu shook her head helplessly. Just as she was about to ask if there was any news from the Coordination Bureau, a communication window popped up.

It was a message from Yan Fushou.

[Lu Xiu, do you have time now? There's been an emergency at the front. If you have time, could you please come to Chen Capital immediately?]

at the same time.

Communication windows popped up in front of Jian Li and Shen Nian one after another, indicating that they had both received the message.

Lu Xiu waved away the communication window, looked up and met the eyes of the two people, then said, "Let's go—to Chen Capital."

Because there's Bonfire for teleportation.

Less than ten minutes.

Lu Xiu and the other two were then teleported to Chen Capital and arrived at the Coordination Bureau.

Yan Fushou had been waiting at the door for quite some time.

"Let's go upstairs first."

As Yan Fushou led Lu Xiu Lu Xiu in the elevator, he recounted to her what had just happened at the front lines.

"Right after that roar, the Environmental Assimilation Mechanism at the front line seemed to be lifted. After listening to Lu Xiu Fushou's introduction and combining it with the system's notification that the first King-class Monster was about to be born at the front line, Yan Fushou roughly guessed what had happened at the front line."

She opened her mouth, as if to say something.

But that familiar feeling returned once again----

Lu Xiu immediately shut up.

It's hard to explain.

She didn't want to lose face.

"What's wrong?"

Yan Fushou keenly noticed Lu Xiu's unusual behavior.

Lu Xiu shook her head. "The Goddess's Blade."

Next.

Lu Xiu ignored Yan Fushou and fell into deep thought.

A moment later.

She looked up, no longer pondering what monsters were spawning on the front lines, and instead turned to Yan Fushou, suddenly asking a question that seemed completely unrelated to the current situation, "How many materials from the Monster Hunter dungeons has the Coordination Bureau collected so far?"

Yan Fushou paused for a moment, then sent a message to Li Shengkai of the Resource Management Department. After receiving the exact number, he reported it to Lu Xiu.

"Send them all to me, and I'll make several more high-rated sets as soon as possible."

Lu Xiu nodded, then asked, "Also, when will the materials that Franca and other countries promised to send arrive?"

"Within this month."

Yan Fushou recalled the Title Lu Xiu had just mentioned, and combined it with her current words, he realized something. His expression turned somewhat grim. "However, just now, the representatives of the Red Tide and Canaan delegations have already set off for their home countries. I will urge them to send it over as quickly as possible, but the number of players in their countries who have cleared the Monster Hunter dungeon is not large—"

"Give as many as you can."

Lu Xiu replied, then added, "Also—do you have any plans to explore areas where Environmental Assimilation Mechanism have been broken? I'd like to explore those areas."