"Hey, can you wipe the piss off your legs first?"
Qin Yu glanced sideways at Fatty, who had just rolled down from the Floating Fortress.
His expression was full of disdain.
Qi Chun shakily got to his feet.
His once quite respectable custom-made suit was now wrinkled like pickled vegetables.
A large wet patch soaked his crotch.
The sea breeze blew.
Chilling him to the bone.
"Bro... Brother Qin..."
Qi Chun wiped the cold sweat from his face.
His eyes darted around.
He didn't dare look at the broken ship floating on the distant sea surface.
That was the once-arrogant Ragnarok.
Now reduced to trash.
Shattered beyond recognition.
"I was really scared."
"That lightning just now exploded right above my head."
"My crappy flying saucer almost became a lightning rod."
As he spoke, Qi Chun shrank behind Qin Yu.
As if only by standing in this man's shadow could he truly feel alive.
"Enough."
"Stop playing the victim."
Qin Yu flicked his cigarette butt into the sea.
Pointing ahead, he said:
"Get to work."
"Even though that ship is wrecked, the materials are still S-Class."
"Especially that broken main mast."
"It's made of Deep Sea Sunken Silver."
"You're in charge of salvaging it."
"Salvage it, and you get twenty percent."
Upon hearing "twenty percent,"
Qi Chun's beady eyes instantly lit up.
Brighter than a searchlight.
He stopped trembling.
And stopped pissing himself.
"Twenty percent?!"
"Bro! You're my real dad!"
"Deep Sea Sunken Silver! That's top-tier material for making Power Furnace Cores!"
"That's exactly what I need to upgrade my Floating Engine!"
Qi Chun let out a howl.
He jumped right up.
Barking orders at the few equally terrified lackeys behind him.
"What the hell are you all standing around for?!"
"Get in the water!"
"Salvage it!"
"Don't leave a single screw behind for me!"
...
Meanwhile.
Tens of thousands of meters above.
The clouds had long since dispersed.
But in that void space undetectable even by satellites,
A pure white control room.
Hovered.
Devoid of any mechanical equipment.
Only countless streams of flowing data.
Cascading like waterfalls across the four walls.
"Alert!"
"Alert!"
"Unauthorized operation detected in Zone 9527!"
"Rule-Level Power interference detected!"
"Detection... player contact with 'Core Data'!"
A cold electronic synthesized voice echoed through the room.
The voice held not a trace of emotion.
Like it was announcing a death sentence.
And in the very center of the room.
On a chair constructed of photons.
Sat a man.
His features were indistinct.
His face seemed to flicker with static.
He wore a black tailcoat-like formal suit.
Holding a glass of red liquid in his hand.
Was it red wine?
Or... blood?
Crack!
The glass shattered in his grip.
The red liquid trickled through his fingers.
Dripping onto the floor.
Instantly evaporating.
"Qin Yu."
The man spoke.
His voice was hoarse.
Laced with a sense of violated anger.
On the massive Light Barrier before him.
The earth-shattering scene from moments ago was replaying.
The purple lightning.
The annihilated void.
And that man.
Standing at the bow of the ship.
A middle finger raised defiantly toward the sky.
It was a provocation aimed directly at him.
A blatant trampling of the entire "Battle Royale" rules.
"What audacity."
"What arrogance."
"Smash the judgment seat?"
"Kill the judge?"
The man stood up.
His gaze fixed intently on the screen, where Qin Yu was toying with a black cube.
His eyes were sinister and cold.
"I am the Executive Officer."
"The shepherd of this world."
"You're nothing but a slightly stronger ant in the sheep pen."
"And you dare to challenge the heavens?"
He extended his hand.
His fingers moved swiftly through the air.
Pulling up Qin Yu's backend data.
[Player: Qin Yu]
[Status: Extremely Dangerous (Recommended for Elimination)]
"I originally intended to keep you as a whetstone."
"To sharpen the skills of those seeds that haven't awakened yet."
"But now it seems."
"This blade."
"Is too sharp."
"Sharp enough to cut the hand that wields it."
The Executive Officer's finger hovered over the red [Eliminate] button.
One press.
And that man's heart would stop.
This was the authority granted to him by the rules.
However.
The next second.
His hand froze.
A red warning box popped up on the screen.
[Warning: Target is in possession of a "World Anchor" fragment!]
[Warning: Target has made contact with the "Primordial Gate"!]
[According to the Zero-th Law of the Supreme Code: Holders of key Items are exempt from rule-based elimination. They can only be cleared through in-game actions.]
"Damn it!"
The Executive Officer slammed his fist hard against the Light Barrier.
The barrier trembled.
The red warning box seemed to mock his powerlessness.
"That useless Odin!"
"He actually dropped something like this!"
"That's a ticket to the 'world above'!"
"How could it fall into the hands of a monkey?!"
The Executive Officer took a deep breath.
Forcing down the rage in his heart.
The mosaic on his face flickered violently.
Since direct elimination wasn't possible.
Then he'd change the game.
"Want to open the door?"
"Want to see The Truth?"
"Fine."
"Let's see."
"In the face of despair."
"Whether that stubborn backbone of yours can hold up."
The Executive Officer sat back down in his chair.
His fingers typed out a line of command on the keyboard.
[Command: Elevate global disaster level.]
[Current Level: Wasteland Era.]
[Elevate to: Abyssal Resurgence.]
[Command Activation Countdown: 72 hours.]
After completing this.
He looked at Qin Yu on the screen.
A cruel smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
"Qin Yu."
"Don't rush."
"The real game."
"Has only just begun."
...
President.
On the deck.
The smell of gunpowder still lingered in the air.
Elena sat in a corner.
Wrapping a bandage around her injured arm.
She clenched one end of the bandage between her teeth.
Pulling it tight.
"Hiss—"
The pain made her grimace.
But she didn't utter a sound.
This woman.
Was a true force to be reckoned with.
Qin Yu walked over.
Tossing the black cube to her.
"Do you recognize this thing?"
Elena caught it with one hand.
After just one glance.
Her pupils contracted sharply.
As if she had been burned.
She nearly threw it away.
"This..."
"This is that 'Gate'?!"
Her voice trembled.
Not from pain.
But from fear.
A fear that ran bone-deep.
"Speak."
"No riddles."
Qin Yu frowned.
"Odin... used to study this thing all the time."
Elena swallowed hard.
Placing the cube on the deck.
He didn't dare touch it again.
"He said."
"There's a god sealed inside."
"Just open it."
"And you'll gain eternal life."
"You can leave this damned sea."
"Return to the real world."
"The real world?"
Qin Yu raised an eyebrow.
"Blue Star?"
"No."
Elena shook her head.
Her eyes were confused.
"Odin said Blue Star is fake too."
"It's a farm."
"Only behind the door is reality."
"To open it."
"He sacrificed three thousand living people."
"Poured their blood on it."
"And then?"
Qin Yu asked.
"Nothing happened."
Elena smiled bitterly.
"Not even a fart."
"Then he went mad."
"Babbling nonsense all day."
"Said he'd sacrifice everyone in the world."
"To pry open this crack."
After listening.
Qin Yu fell silent for two seconds.
Then.
"Pah."
He spat on the door.
"Idiot."
"Sacrifice living people?"
"His brain got kicked by a donkey."
"System."
"Get to work."
"Scan this thing."
"Give me an unlocking solution."
[Ding!]
[Initiating deep scan...]
[Analysis failed.]
[Material unknown. Structure unknown. Energy source unknown.]
[Note: This object does not belong to current dimensional technology.]
[Recommend host attempt to find corresponding "key."]
"Useless."
Qin Yu cursed.
It was unclear whether he was cursing the system.
Or cursing Odin.
He refused to believe it.
Drawing [Kiss of Death] from his back.
He used the gun butt.
Against the cube.
"Clang!!"
A crisp sound.
Sparks flew.
The impact numbed Qin Yu's hand.
Not even a mark was left.
"Hardness is impressive."
Qin Yu grew stubborn.
"Yao Qian!"
"Here!"
His sister-in-law in White Silk Stockings hurried over, hugging a tablet.
"Bring your laser cutter."
"Cut it for me!"
"On it!"
Yao Qian was a tech geek.
Most interested in such unknown objects.
She immediately pulled a Portable Industrial Laser from her backpack.
"Zzz—!!"
A high-energy laser beam focused on the cube's surface.
Temperature enough to slice through a tank instantly.
Shining on the cube.
Was like a flashlight on a mirror.
All refracted.
Not even the black paint chipped.
Ten minutes later.
Yao Qian was drenched in sweat.
The laser was overheating and smoking.
"It's no good, brother-in-law."
"This thing doesn't take energy attacks at all."
"It seems to absorb thermal energy from all wavelengths."
"Physical attacks don't work either."
"Ruo Bing just smashed it eighty times with a sledgehammer."
"The hammer flattened."
"It's still fine."
A group of people surrounded this small cube.
Staring blankly.
Like a bunch of primitives staring at an iPhone.
No idea how to proceed.
Qin Yu stroked his chin.
Frowning deeply.
He refused to believe this thing was unsolvable.
Since Odin could obtain it.
Since the system called it a "door."
Then there must be a handle.
"Key..."
"Key..."
.
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