The System's Censorship

Feng Ling: "???"

Was this referring to her?

Not only did she find it strange, but players on the forum also found it baffling.

'※: What's going on here? This can't be right, right?'

'※: So the Hidden Boss's skill is to heal its teammates? It doesn't even have a party system—where are its teammates coming from?'

(From Huangfu Miaomiao's note: Any Card's buff-type skills are restricted by the system and can only be used on oneself and party members, similar to how in games a healer can only restore HP to teammates, not to monsters.)

'※: No wonder the system's panicking—this bug is way too obvious! A Boss is designed to attack players, but its skill is healing—haha, hilarious!'

'※: Laughing to death, why am I kind of happy? We're always getting screwed over by the system, never thought the system itself would have a day where it gets screwed too, haha!'

'※: The Hive is a rare Card. The system probably never imagined a human would get their hands on it when they put it in the Card pool.'

'※: The guy above is jumping to conclusions, how do you know it's a human and not some other animal? There have been way too many mutated animals lately, Zone Quests one after another, can't even kill them all.'

'※: Evolving from Juvenile Form to Sub-adult Form this fast—it's definitely a high-intelligence lifeform, no need to argue.'

'※: Am I the only one jealous of the guy above for having so many Zone Quests? There haven't been any decent quests near my place for a long time, can't earn Points, thinking of moving~'

'※: Move then, recommend Zones 17-22 and 26-18, both pretty good.'

The rest of the content was all about Points and quests.

Feng Ling scrolled further and found these Xenomorphs quite interesting. She wasn't sure if it was because Huangfu Miaomiao's translation was too localized, but Feng Ling actually felt that Xenomorphs and humans weren't all that different.

They loved joining in on the fun, loved gossip, and loved derailing threads.

From the text, they were all ordinary people—couldn't be more ordinary—but that didn't change the fact that the moment they Logged-in to a human, they became executioners with blood on their hands.

That included Huangfu Miaomiao. The little girl who had fought cancer for years—the moment Huangfu Miaomiao Logged-in, she vanished forever.

Hyenas on the African savannah would bite their prey until their guts spilled out, yet when facing their own kind, they'd play, frolic, and show a tender side.

Feng Ling's heart remained calm, without a ripple, as she continued reading.

In another discussion thread, Xenomorphs gathered to analyze the Hive's weaknesses, debating with fiery passion.

Someone said she should be sunk into the deep sea to prevent the Hive's powerful recovery ability from bringing her back.

Someone said a trap should be set, luring her into a sealed space and burning her to death—burning her to ash was the only safe way.

Another said an Expedition Team targeting the Hive should be formed, pointing out that at least one member skilled in using Corrosive Fungus was needed to disrupt the Hive's recovery.

Feng Ling spotted a reply:

'※: The Hidden Boss is in Qingjiang City. If you want detailed intel, DM me.'

Further down were some ordinary discussions, arguing over what kind of team composition the Expedition Team should have.

No one mentioned Qingjiang City, as if they hadn't seen that reply at all.

But how could they not have seen it?

Feng Ling guessed that plenty of people had already DMed the replier.

She set the tablet on the shelf and sank into thought.

Being treated as a target to shoot at was a real pain.

Though she didn't feel scared, too many Xenomorphs coming to Qingjiang would be a huge hassle.

She was in a critical period of Nest Building, and her Corruption Value was already at 29%. Her top priority was finding a Maze—she really didn't want to be distracted by other things.

What should she do?

Feng Ling stood up, draped a bath towel over herself, grabbed a dry towel to dry her hair, and thought while rubbing.

"Little Skeleton..." she began.

Huangfu Miaomiao looked up. "Hm?"

Feng Ling asked thoughtfully, "You players, why do you kill Bosses?"

"Because Bosses give high Points," Huangfu Miaomiao replied.

"Then why do you need Points?" Feng Ling asked again.

"Because..." Huangfu Miaomiao was a bit stumped. Earning Points felt as natural to her as breathing—did it even need a reason?

"Because without Points, you'd die..." she tried to explain. "Eating human food only keeps your body alive, but maintaining the Log-in state itself consumes Points. Also, during the game, using Nutrient Paste and recovery potions all require Points to buy. Dying and re-Logging-in costs a ton of Points too, not to mention pulling characters and Cards—all of it needs Points..."

Feng Ling asked her, "How many Points do you have now?"

Huangfu Miaomiao paused. "4520 Points."

Feng Ling had helped her earn quite a bit in the cave.

Feng Ling asked curiously, "Is that enough for you to survive?"

Huangfu Miaomiao opened her mouth, her expression complicated. "It's... enough here, but if I Log-out, it might only last about seven months..."

Feng Ling grew even more curious. "Why? Do you need Points to survive even after Logging-out?"

Huangfu Miaomiao uttered a string of strange syllables from her mouth, as if her voice had been scrambled into garbled code.

Eh... was this the system censoring her?

Feng Ling found it quite novel. Was the system really this intelligent, monitoring every player's speech in real time?

Huangfu Miaomiao, however, was completely unaware. She earnestly babbled on for a good while, then asked Feng Ling, "You should understand now, right?"

Feng Ling laughed. "Haha, not at all."

Huangfu Miaomiao: "..."

(T^T) Are you messing with me again?

Feng Ling chuckled. "Anyway, the driving force behind all your actions is Points. As long as a target with higher Points than the Hidden Boss appears, it can divert the players' attention."

"I think it's hard..." Huangfu Miaomiao sighed faintly. "After all, no Boss outside the Abyss has ever made the system announcement. The system singled you out like this—you don't need to guess to know your Points must be sky-high."

Feng Ling swished out her Bone Blade, licked her lips, and said, "How about you try killing me right now?"

"..."

Huangfu Miaomiao stood under the showerhead, feeling the water temperature drop by half.

"Just kidding~" Feng Ling smiled and put away the Bone Blade.

Huangfu Miaomiao: "..."

Not funny at all! And please put some clothes on!!!

She scowled at Feng Ling and said, "The system not only exposed your Card but also emphasized that you've advanced from Juvenile Form to Sub-adult Form. It's like a limited-time discount item in a store—if you don't buy it now, the price will go up. So, a large number of players will definitely rush to Qingjiang to hunt you down."

A smile lingered in Feng Ling's eyes. "If I were already in Mature Form, would they still dare to come?"

Huangfu Miaomiao was momentarily stunned at this.

...If it were Mature Form, maybe not so many people would have such ideas.

Just like those twelve Abyss Bosses—their reward Points were as high as one hundred thousand, yet no player dared to challenge them.

Because they were too strong.

"So, instead of trying to stop them, it's better to find a way to get stronger. As long as I'm strong enough, the annoying flies and mosquitoes will naturally disappear."

Feng Ling smiled at Huangfu Miaomiao and said, "Little Skeleton, let's go find the Maze."