Mo Yang erupted, unexpectedly taking down Emperor Qin directly. Mo Yang stood there, stunned by his own prowess, until he heard Wan Mei’s voice.
“Congratulations on breaking through Level 5 in mental power,” Wan Mei’s tone lacked any enthusiasm or joy in congratulating. “Do you feel any different?”
Mo Yang turned his head, and blinked, “Uh, it was a bit painful at first, but now it feels like my mind is really clear?”
Wan Mei nodded. “Oh.”
“Oh, what? Did I kill Emperor Qin? Why do I feel so incredulous?” Mo Yang continued to ask Wan Mei, looking a bit foolish and received a somewhat disdainful look from the big demon king.
“There’s nothing incredulous about it. That kind of person dies and that’s it. Not dying affects the mood. Come help me for a moment, while their bodies haven’t completely disappeared, I’ll dissect Emperor Qin’s brain.”
“Actually, dissecting it fresh is the best way. That way, you can see the true data of his brain in various aspects. Now that he’s dead, the data reflected on the body is just a replication of his brain before death. It’s better than nothing. Let me check if there are any marks of slave contracts or mental contracts at the back of his brain. There’s a plant in the grass over there with golden-threaded edges on its leaves. Go pick some for me, I’ll need it later.”
So, Mo Yang could only grin and help the big demon king gather the plants.
Even though he had just done something that would shock all the players in the dream world, he didn’t receive the expected hero treatment. Wan Mei didn’t care about this matter, and Mo Yang also felt that Emperor Qin’s life or death wasn’t a big deal. The ultimate enemy they had to face wasn’t Emperor Qin; it was the dream world carrying everyone’s spirits.
So, the couple happily continued their jungle picking (research).
Surprisingly, as Wan Mei purposefully searched for certain plants, they encountered a tired group of plant-based people on the way. Initially, the locals were defensive upon seeing Mo Yang. But after the locals circled Mo Yang strangely, as if smelling something, this group of native plant people quickly dropped their guard and became particularly friendly and gentle.
Mo Yang speculated it might be because they sensed the tree-hearted nature within him. Encouraged by Mo Yang’s earnest recommendation, they collectively accepted the overly enthusiastic healing? But in the end, they felt more mentally refreshed and ready to hit the road again. However, as they departed, contributing a tree-hearted fruit each, this group of plant people felt that something was off.
“Captain, I feel so strange! That outsider was obviously healing me, but I just feel uncomfortable all over.”
“Oh! You feel that way too?! I thought it was just me feeling awkward! He had a smile on his face, but I feel really uneasy.”
“I’m fine, I was watching that exceptionally good-looking outsider the whole time. Oh, he kept smiling at me. Do you think he’s interested in me? If he is, what should I do? Can our clan mate with outsiders to produce little plant people? What would their prototypes be? What if we give birth to some kind of monster? Or if we can’t conceive?”
Everyone stared at the tall plant man with black lines on their faces.
The captain extinguished his fantasies with one sentence: “He’s smiling at everyone. And from what I observed, he and the guy who healed us are a pair. Stop daydreaming, pass through this difficult situation, and then bloom honestly. Wait for the wind to pollinate you.” Being single for centuries had made this tree desperate, even getting ideas about outsiders. Although that outsider did look quite good.
The plant man sulked and walked ahead with a bit of dejection.
A little further down the road, they encountered more outsider players. Like paranoid individuals, these players first observed them carefully. Some outright asked if they were plant-based beings. Upon seeing the defensive expressions of this group, the outsider players were eager to explain that they weren’t bad people, just wanting to help. Of course, they used tree-hearted fruits as payment for their services.
The team: …suddenly remembered the unpleasant feeling from the healing (research) just now.
The team firmly declined.
The players sighed in frustration. One player who didn’t believe it and wanted to approach was punched away by the tree man who moments ago spoke about having little plant people with the outsider Mo Yang.
“Didn’t I say we don’t need help! Can’t you see how strong we are?!”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Compared to the tree queen sensing Emperor Qin’s disappearance, 001 looked at Emperor Qin returning from his first game failure, feeling uneasy.
It had never encountered such a situation before.
As the most powerful one among all the guiding entities, 001 invariably chose the host from the invaded planet with the best physical and mental qualities. Some powerful individuals with strong mental prowess might be challenging to invade or unsuitable as hosts. But given equal invasion conditions, it always selected the most formidable.
This ability allowed it to maintain a leadership position among all the guiding entities. It even managed to control a leader with the sharpest intuition on a certain intuitive planet, making that host completely trust and fall in love with its simulation state. Only then did they successfully invade that world characterized by intuition. This firm belief made 001 confident that it was the best, unmatched by anyone.
However, even with such firm conviction that it was the best and had the best selection speed, for the first time in its existence, 001 witnessed the failure of a host in a game.
It felt almost insane, its tone becoming frantic.
[Emperor Qin! What’s going on?! Why did you suddenly exit the game? Has some irreversible disaster befallen you in the game?! Why didn’t you evade? Why didn’t you save yourself?! Do you realize how many rewards you’ll lose by leaving this world-scale game prematurely? Were you even playing seriously?]
“Shut up!!”
Already suffering from mental backlash, Emperor Qin felt a splitting headache. But more than the torment resembling torture in his brain, his anger towards Mo Yang and even towards himself was devouring him. At this moment, Emperor Qin didn’t want to hear any reproaches or advice from 001, even if its voice was his favorite. He couldn’t listen anymore.
Seeing Emperor Qin, whom it almost threw away in anger, a dangerous red light flashed across 001’s body.
It hovered in the air for a while, then silently began sending energy for mental healing to Emperor Qin.
Emperor Qin felt his brain being soothed, and even his irritable mood seemed to calm down. He then looked at 001 beside him and realized he might have lost control.
“Sorry, I was a bit agitated just now.”
001’s gentle voice sounded as usual: [It’s okay, I was also agitated. I accused you without asking anything. It was my fault. Don’t be angry.]
Emperor Qin nodded, and the next moment, 001’s body began to glow. Soon, a beautiful virtual figure emerged from its surroundings, swiftly coalescing into an extremely gorgeous woman. Her eyes, as if capable of seeing into one’s soul, looked at Emperor Qin. As if afraid of his anger, she cautiously touched Emperor Qin’s hand with delicate fingers. Emperor Qin looked at this woman, who was almost perfect in every aspect that he could imagine and finally embraced her.
“Yi-Yi, I encountered those two again, they… they’re very strong. Stronger than I expected.”
A cold light flickered in 001’s beautiful eyes, but she denied softly while holding Emperor Qin’s hand: [No matter how strong they are, they’re not as strong as you. Ah-Huang, you are the strongest.]
For a moment, Emperor Qin was somewhat stunned. Ever since 001 chose him, it always said he was the strongest, no matter what games he encountered or what actions he took. It always asserted with unwavering confidence that he was the strongest. He had always believed it because 001 said so. Until today, when someone he thought he could easily defeat in the game turned the tables on him, he suddenly felt doubtful.
“Yi-Yi, why do you say I’m the strongest? In the game, that Mo Yang and Wan Mei’s mental strength and physical qualities aren’t inferior to mine. When I wanted to kill Mo Yang, he had a mental outburst and counterattacked me. Apart from other aspects, his mental strength might be even stronger than mine now…”
Before Emperor Qin finished speaking, the beautiful woman simulated by 001 covered his mouth. 001 looked at Emperor Qin, affirming with utmost certainty: [Ah-Huang, don’t doubt it, you are the strongest among all humans! When we descended into this world, I scanned and sought the strongest person. At that time, I found you. Therefore, you must be the strongest among all humans. This time, it’s just that person had a sudden mental burst; you completely have the ability to defeat him in other aspects!]
[You have to believe me. The person I choose is always the strongest one available in this world.]
Emperor Qin looked at 001 momentarily displaying an incredibly confident expression and slowly lowered his eyes.
So, it’s not because I’m the strongest that you chose me. It’s because the person you choose must be the strongest in this world?
Emperor Qin looked at 001 and asked, “But could you possibly make a mistake? After all, there are billions of people in our world.”
001 widened its eyes, its tone absolutely certain: [I will never make a mistake.]
[Rest assured, I will avenge you. I have always suspected issues with the hosts of 006 and 009. 006 and 009 themselves are defective without a sense of belonging to a group, so the hosts they chose must not strictly adhere to the criteria dictated by our home planet.]
[This situation has occurred several times before, and I didn’t punish them earlier because even if they caused trouble, it wouldn’t result in substantial harm to our home planet or the dream world. But this time is different. The exposure of the dream world is too early, and our number of hosts is far from reaching the ideal number. Moreover, humans have started researching methods to resist us, which is dangerous.]
001’s voice turned cold: [All dangers must be promptly eradicated. Even if 006 and 009 deny any issues with their hosts, if their hosts can cause harm to you, they must have reached the level of ‘subverter.’ I will confirm their ‘subverter’ identity in this game and then, using the power of our home planet and the dream world, eradicate them.]
001’s voice softened; it looked up at Emperor Qin: [Ah-Huang, those two who disrupted your plans twice will surely die. I avenged you, are you happy? You will forever be the strongest! And then, once you reach the pinnacle of this world, we can live happily together~]
Emperor Qin looked at 001’s smile and slowly, very slowly, smiled back. “Hmm. I look forward to it. Thank you, Yi-Yi.” He said that, but in his mind, several phrases echoed involuntarily:
‘Wanting to stand at the pinnacle of the world and be extraordinary isn’t a problem, but the problem arises when you don’t want to make an effort and use external forces, stepping on others’ lives and blood to rise—an idea of a parasite!!’
‘I always have the courage to face the path and outcome I’ve chosen, even if it ultimately leads to an endless abyss. But you don’t.’
‘That’s our difference.’
Emperor Qin clenched his right hand by his side into a fist, inwardly sneering.
Since that’s the case, let me see how much courage and ability you truly have. Can you win on this battlefield that entirely belongs to others? Everyone wants to be a hero, but throughout history, how many heroes have ended up with a good fate?
As Emperor Qin thought this, he saw 001 reverting to its original guiding entity appearance. Then, a fierce light flashed around it, seemingly transmitting some message. Soon, Emperor Qin understood what 001 had done—
The sky in the dream world, previously resembling a real sky, suddenly turned from blue to densely clouded dark black, and a deep, imposing voice resounded throughout the dream world.
[Suspected ‘subverter’ target discovered. Forcefully shut down all guiding entity communication paths. Guiding entities can collectively go into hibernation. Initiate precise screening tests in the game world.]
Emperor Qin’s face showed no expression, but in his heart, his wariness and distrust towards 001 had reached its peak.
At the moment when the home planet announced the news and orders, 006, who had been bored reading human world novels, suddenly sprang up. Its sphere body was flashing various chaotic colors frantically, roaring angrily at the sky: [Damn it!! That scheming and malicious female sphere 001!!!]
009 also quickly appeared beside 006, its tone calmer than 006’s: [Something must have happened in the game; 001 must have reported our hosts to the home planet.]
006 bounced around restlessly: [Isn’t that obvious! Precise screening tests! And forcefully shutting down communication paths! Isn’t that what they do against the top ten guiding entities’ powers?! It’s done this unethical thing before! Trash!! Disgusting!! It’s driving me crazy!!]
009 looked at 006, who had been angry for a while, and when it finally calmed down, 009 asked, [What do we do next?]
After venting, 006 seemed deflated, lying on the ground and resignedly saying, [Heh, what can we do? Right now, we can’t even communicate or sound the alarm. We’ll have to rely on those two themselves.]
[If they can withstand it, then it’s fine. If not, they’ll suffer brain death directly. Hmph, your host isn’t impressive, right? The first to surpass level five in mental strength, actually reaching level seven. Mine, on the other hand, dares to threaten me without even reaching level three. Let’s see if they’re really impressive this time.]
009 didn’t say anything further, just lying quietly beside 006.
After a long silence, suddenly 006’s voice echoed in the air.
[So, every time this happens, I feel especially pointless.]
[According to human standards, we’ve at least reached the pinnacle within our own groups, right? But why is it that the higher I climb, the more I feel trapped in a prison I can never break out of?]
[I’ve existed for so long, everything has to follow the demands and commands of our home planet, I cannot have other actions or thoughts. But even so, I can still be erased at will.]
[This makes me feel both ridiculous and angry.]
[…Recently, I scanned a human book and found a phrase I thought was quite interesting.]
[What is it?] asked 009.
006’s mechanical tone became cheerful: [Give me liberty or give me death! It means that if there is no freedom, I would rather explode in place!! This phrase, I find it very interesting.]
As if after a long time, the low mechanical tone of 009 sounded.
[I also find that very interesting.]
Author’s Note –
006 with a serious face: Honestly, I’m the thinker and pioneer in our sphere.
001 screaming face: Nonsense, you two brain-dead spheres!! System reboot!! Start over!!
009 with a calm face: This is evolution, you idiot.
Hahaha, muah muah. This chapter explains why 006 and 009 are different. In fact, the guiding entity group, even after successfully invading many planetary worlds, has its own thoughts, consciousness, and a considerable knowledge base.
However, generally speaking, they do not think or consider things unrelated to invasion. But 006 has been thinking for a long time.
For example: Who am I? What am I doing? What is the meaning of my existence?
The silly author has always found a certain sentence very subtle—’When humans think, God laughs.’ This sentence, umm, it really makes me think deeply. In various aspects. Although it seems not terrifying at all and even a bit humorous.
Sometimes, the results brought about by “thinking” differ like heaven and hell. Not thinking can maintain the status quo, yet humans will never stop thinking, and the road that thinking ultimately leads to is always unknown.
Thanks for the chapter!! o(^▽^)o💕
Wow, what a thought provoking chapter
gotta feel bad for the invaders, first it was intuition hell and now existential crises 😂 rip
as 001, it’s lackluster ah
at least the embarrassing and funny Mr. Qin isn’t completely deaf and blind
Wow, both ball has evolved. They were really funny. Thank you
If in the last chapter the protagonist was the star that made me scream “I LOVE YOU!!!”, in this chapter 006 made me jump like crazy “That’s it, damn it!!!! REVOLUTION!!!!!”