It's up to me to decide.
The younger generation of the Nie Family felt an unprecedented mix of trepidation and excitement. As a key figure being groomed by the prominent family, he had enjoyed resources unavailable to ordinary people since childhood, but at the same time, he had been subject to constraints unlike those of others. The Eastern Federation was notorious for its strict seniority system, and at his age, he couldn't even decide which university he would attend.
But now, he's been given such important authority?
His heart was pounding, and he was extremely cautious when checking and granting permissions, feeling so nervous that he could hardly breathe.
But the most nerve-wracking part was yet to come.
"Three minutes until the command center is restarted, Xiaojun, are you ready?"
"Speaker, I'm ready." He took a deep breath. "Don't worry, I will definitely complete the mission."
Regardless of whether it can be accomplished, it is essential to express your commitment to your superior beforehand.
"Good"
After a quick "Okay," as time ticked by, the younger man named Nie Xiaojun kept swallowing hard, his body tense as he stared at the coordinates in the command room.
Perhaps no one would have imagined that the coordinates of the command center would be located in a bathhouse in such a low-class entertainment district as East Ninth District.
The eastern region is almost entirely comprised of the entertainment industry. All entertainment projects listed on the red line can be found in the eastern district. The East Ninth District is arguably the most low-end, with the lowest prices, the worst environment, and the least electricity consumption. Sometimes, the electricity consumption of the entire East Ninth District is even less than that of a single commercial KTV in the first or second district.
In the Federation, electricity consumption determines data configuration. High-quality data requires powerful computing power and electricity. East Ninth District is a poor entertainment district with very low electricity consumption. It wasn't even on the list for shutting down the eastern entertainment districts this time because everyone knows that whether East Ninth District East Ninth District is shut down or not has little impact, since the power consumption is so small. The female NPCs in the red-light district are blurry and have extremely poor texture, all made with extremely power-saving programs.
It's hard to imagine that the command center, a dignified place, is located in such a place.
Two minutes, one minute, thirty seconds.
As the seconds ticked by, Nie Xiaojun's heart was in his throat.
Number One is a universally acknowledged extremely dangerous individual. He's a madman who nearly shut down the Data City. If he were still alive, opening the command center at this moment would be like unleashing a demon from hell.
He had a clear plan: first, he needed to distance himself from the command center and directly warn the other party not to leave. If they even had that thought, he would immediately shut down the command center again, giving them no chance whatsoever. Yes, whatever it was, he had to intimidate them first before discussing anything else.
After all, the command center has now been stripped of its authority and is also a spatial box, making it very suitable for restricting the other side in this way.
Nie Xiaojun thought it was feasible more and more. As soon as the last second of the reminder passed, he opened his mouth to put pressure on the inside. He even planned to open it for only half a second and then close it again to let the other party know his current situation. Of course, the premise was that the people inside were still alive.
Even if everything is just my speculation, and the people inside are already dead data like ordinary data beings, my caution will only waste a little time and won't affect the overall situation.
Yes, that's what we'll do!
"This child seems a bit slow-witted, whose child is he?"
The sound appeared abruptly. Nie Xiaojun swore he had been staring intently at the entrance to the command room, but he saw nothing and couldn't react in time. The white figure, the figure that had once been listed as a top-level dangerous person, was already in front of him.
All those plans about the spatial box and the backup plans seem like a complete joke now. No wonder my uncle never told me how to deal with Number One; he probably knew I posed no threat to Number One at all.
"Are you really stupid?" The man looked at Nie Xiaojun, who was in a daze, with a puzzled expression, and waved his fair hand in front of the other man's eyes.
"You... you..." Nie Xiaojun stammered, all the words he had thought of before he could not be uttered at this moment, his whole body tense to the extreme.
"It seems the situation is quite serious right now," the man said, nodding at the other person.
Nie Xiaojun was taken aback by these words. After forcing himself to calm down, he asked, "How did you know?"
"If things weren't so serious, this place wouldn't have been opened, and you, a fledgling, wouldn't have been allowed here. There's only one reason you were brought here: you're not easily noticed."
"Forehead"
"Tell me, what's the situation outside? Has the Federation leadership been completely taken over?" the man asked in a friendly manner, putting his arm around the other person's shoulder.
Nie Xiaojun's mind went blank for a moment, not understanding what was going on, but he still honestly replied, "It's basically under control. A group of people suddenly appeared with extremely high authority. The Federation is now completely under their control, and they are preparing to shut down the power supply equipment in other worlds of the Eastern Federation to fully support the New World. We don't know why either."
"As for authority, I think so too." The man nodded. "The best way to intimidate the current officials in the First World is to show off their authority. They created Data City, so no one has higher authority than them."
"What did you say?" Nie Xiaojun's mind was a bit confused. Was the other person saying that the group of mysterious people who suddenly appeared were the creators of Data City?
Is it true or false?
But the man didn't reply. Instead, he muttered to himself, "Increase the power supply? I see. What has been limiting the arrival of the fourth version all these years isn't the so-called players, but external manipulation. In fact, the simulated world is far beyond the capacity of a regular game. After its development, its data is enormous, comparable to two Data City. And once the fourth version arrives, the expansion of the game world's worldview may be several times greater."
"Without enough battery power, it simply can't support version 4; that's the key issue."
"But those people have endured for so long, yet they've activated the fourth version this time. Have they already come up with a solution? Have they found a way to deal with that thing that has trapped them for hundreds of thousands of years?"
The man stroked his chin, his eyes gleaming as he considered various possibilities.
"Mr. Number One," Nie Xiaojun said cautiously, using the appropriate form of address, "I know you had some misunderstandings with the authorities in the past, but now that our common enemy has begun to wreak havoc on all sides, I hope you can temporarily put aside the past and work with us to resolve these troublesome entities first, okay?"
"Mr. Number One." The man smiled upon hearing this. "You certainly know how to address someone."
Nie Xiaojun choked, and immediately became stammering, not daring to speak.
"Let's go see Nie Xingjun now."
"The Speaker is unavailable right now."
"I'll make it convenient for him, you don't need to worry. And also," the man patted the other person on the shoulder, "I'm not Number One."