United Nations Defense Department
"Who goes there!" someone shouted. The guards grabbed their weapons and surrounded the president, protecting him.
"A new era is about to begin for this world, Your Excellency. I will save you and your people from the rule of a tyrant. I will bring you freedom. As dawn breaks, let us not add any more needless casualties."
The man walked towards the president as he spoke, and although he was walking slowly, he reached the president in the blink of an eye.
"Guards, seize him!"
Several guards rushed forward.
Medivh simply waved his hand casually, and the soldiers were sent flying. As Medivh walked past, people quickly moved to the sides.
"Fire!" At the captain's command, several soldiers who were already armed and ready immediately pulled the triggers.
Bullets rained down, then stopped mid-air in front of Medivh.
Medivh picked up a bullet, looked at it, smiled slightly, and with a whoosh, the bullets scattered all over the ground like marbles.
"My God, what's going on—" the guard captain exclaimed, but no one answered him.
By this time, Medivh had already walked up to the president.
Several loyal and brave bodyguards drew their guns to stop them, but met the same fate.
"Who, who are you?" the president asked in surprise, his hand still pressed on the red button.
"I am not a man—I am a god!" Medivh declared proudly.
"God— God?" the United States president asked, looking completely bewildered.
Medivh shook his head. "Of course not God. God doesn't exist, at least not in your world. I am another god, a real god."
If an ordinary person said this, they would probably be immediately considered crazy and locked up in a mental hospital. However, the supernatural abilities that Medivh had just displayed made the president rationally shut his mouth.
"What if I press it?"
"That won't change anything; this world is destined to be liberated."
"Liberation? What did you mean by the tyrant who ruled this world?"
Medivh smiled slightly. "Some things are better left unsaid." He gently tapped the suitcase with his staff, and with a soft "poof," the suitcase transformed into a giant cream cake.
While the president was still in a daze, the official who had been urging him to use nuclear weapons secretly slipped away. He went to a bathroom in the base, closed the door, and took out his cell phone. Normally, cell phones would be unusable in this deep underground base, but his phone was an exception.
"Hey boss, United States's nuclear missiles can't be launched anymore. Some guy claiming to be a god has taken over this place! Okay, I understand, I'll evacuate right away."
After the official finished speaking, he waved his hand at the air and vanished instantly.
"What? Russia didn't launch its nuclear weapons? That's ridiculous! The five permanent members of the UN Security Council always brag like crazy, but when it comes to the crucial moment, they all cower in fear? What? Moscow has been taken over by aliens?"
After hanging up the phone, Li Mingfei felt like a million alpacas were stampeding through his mind.
This is the United Nations Defense Headquarters. Unlike the real United Nations, the United Nations in Earth Online, while not able to directly control the five major powers, wields considerable power and possesses its own army and even nuclear weapons.
This was specifically designed during the game's development to give the Game Master (GM) greater control over the entire game, and the high-ranking officials of the United Nations Defense Department are basically all GMs.
And the head of the entire United Nations Defense Department was Li Mingfei.
At this moment, Li Mingfei was cursing under his breath as he watched the images transmitted from various locations. "Are you kidding me? This is supposed to be Earth Online, a realistic game with no fantasy elements. How did alien monsters suddenly appear? Now even gods have shown up! How am I supposed to fight this?"
To be fair, his fighting force is not weak at all. If nuclear weapons were placed in the Sky World or the War of the Gods world, they would be devastating weapons.
However, no matter how powerful these weapons were, the people who controlled them were just ordinary people. Faced with a mysterious enemy possessing mysterious magic, these powerful weapons became ineffective before they could even be used, which made Li Mingfei so angry that he almost vomited blood.
He glanced at the screen again, and a huge, fleshy alien creature on it looked vaguely familiar. "Wait a minute, why does that alien creature look so familiar?"
But before he could take a closer look, a person charging towards him interrupted his train of thought.
"Your Excellency, has the United States government announced its surrender to the aliens? Russia seems to have surrendered as well. Now, the five permanent members of the United Nations have basically given up resistance."
What? They all surrendered so quickly? Li Mingfei could hardly believe it. How could they surrender so easily? Even without nuclear weapons, conventional force could have put up a fight.
"That's not surprising. They simply can't fight enemies that exist outside the laws of physics. Since they can't defeat the enemy, they have no choice but to join them."
A voice answered Li Mingfei's question and startled everyone awake.
Who goes there? Inside the base, everyone looked over warily, only to see a man in a cloak appear in the center of the base.
Li Mingfei recognized Medivh and his mouth dropped open in astonishment. "Medivh? How could it be you? You're still alive?"
He had assumed Medivh would have been completely deleted during the game formatting.
"Long time no see, Li Mingfei," Medivh said with a hint of Taunt.
"Are you here to help me?" Li Mingfei asked tentatively.
"Help you? Why should I help you?" Medivh sneered.
I gave you life.
Medivh nodded. "Heh, I remember I only promised to do one thing for you, and that thing is already done. I don't owe you anything anymore. I'm no longer bound by you in any way. In fact, I do owe someone else a favor, and now it's time to repay that debt."
"The person you're talking about, could it be— Shen Yuan! Damn it, I knew it, so it's Shen Yuan's doing again!" Li Mingfei said angrily, thinking to himself, Shen Yuan, what grudge do you have against me, you old bastard, that you always come to my game to court death.
Medivh nodded. "That's right, it's him. To tell you the truth, Earth Online is beyond saving. This time, there's no other Azathoth to help you. In ten minutes, the Wall of Fire will be fully activated, the system self-check will begin, and this game will be completely isolated from the outside world. I suggest you retreat immediately, or it will be too late."
"What!" Li Mingfei was shocked. He hadn't expected Shen Yuan to go to such extremes this time.
"But in this way, all of you will be trapped in the game, completely isolated from the outside world."
"And that is precisely our goal: an independent and sovereign world."
Li Mingfei thought to himself, "This is bad." He glanced at the other people in the base. Many of them were GMs playing the roles of high-ranking United Nations officials, while others were NPCs from Earth Online.
The NPCs all stared blankly at the conversation between the two, while the GMs all wore pleading expressions.
The GMs were all staring at Li Mingfei expectantly. They didn't want to stay and wait to die, but they didn't just run away either, still maintaining some semblance of discipline. However, Li Mingfei knew that if he didn't announce the retreat when the time came, they would definitely run away.
"Let's go!" Li Mingfei shouted, and everyone was immediately relieved. One by one, they logged out of the game, and with streaks of white light, the high-ranking officials played by the GMs disappeared. Only the NPCs were left staring in disbelief at everything that had happened around them.
"Alright, I'm in charge here now. Now, let's convene the world summit." Medivh said, sitting down in the United Nations Defense Department's seat. He spoke with an unquestionable tone, and the NPCs all subconsciously began to work, doing exactly what Medivh commanded.