The copy has 0 error tolerance, and the last words on the ground are all wrong for me.

Chapter 532 The War of Rules
Wu Chang's current identity is Conghua from the Administration Bureau, not Heping. Moreover, his appearance has already attracted the attention of Base 44. After thinking for a moment, he decided to land at Base 44 first to see how things go before deciding whether to take action.

When Caiyun sent him the coordinates of Base 44, she also sent him the pass to enter the base.

He activated his pass, signaling that he was about to enter the private space below, and then maneuvered the aircraft downwards.

From above, Base 44 was an ordinary abandoned neighborhood. But after his pass was successfully verified and he was allowed to enter the private space, the moment the aircraft landed, the surrounding neighborhood transformed into a huge helipad, and the area around it changed from an abandoned neighborhood into a prosperous modern city.

Judging from the layout around the helipad and the tall buildings in the distance, the plane where Base 44 is located has a slightly higher level of technology than Earth, but not by much, and it lags behind the Underground Shelter and Anthem Corporation.

The city area was neat and clean, with no obvious building debris or signs of battle, showing that although it was located in a dangerous area, the players in the base had protected it very well.

If I had come at any other time, this place would have been a peaceful place, but unfortunately it is not like this now.

The approaching erosion instance caused an unusual phenomenon: despite it being daytime, the sky was filled with thick, low-lying, grayish-yellow clouds that could almost touch the tallest building in the base.

Even without knowing that the erosion instance was coming, just looking at the terrifying appearance of the sky, one knew that great disaster was imminent.

Deng.

The moment Wu Chang landed, large, conspicuous red warning lights lit up on the rooftops of all the high-rise buildings in the base. The lights, accompanied by piercing alarms, shattered the tranquility of Base 44.

Following the sound of the wind, he could vaguely hear commands to evacuate and take refuge.

As he left the aircraft, he saw two players walking towards him.

The leader was a middle-aged man in a white uniform who looked like the base's manager. Behind him was a young man wearing a brown pilot's leather jacket and sunglasses that covered half of his face.

The middle-aged man approached Wu Chang, shook hands with him, and said:
"Director Conghua, it's a pleasure to meet you. I am Qin Lang, the third person in charge of Base 44, a Level 3 Executor. Welcome to Base 44."

A common phenomenon within the Administration Bureau, or rather the four major organizations, is that those who had already entered the Administration Bureau's system before joining the Abyss Game, especially the middle-aged group, prefer to use their real names, or at most, aliases.

Young people who first become Abyss game players and are later recruited into the Administration Bureau often adopt unconventional code names.

As the head of Base 44, Qin Lang had probably seen many young people with strange code names. When he said the words "Director Conghua," he looked very serious, and his expression did not change at all.

However, it's also possible that other things were keeping him occupied, causing his furrowed brows to remain closed.

Wu Chang replied:

"It's an honor to join Base 44, Manager Qin. I saw an alarm going off inside the base. Has something happened?"

Qin Lang sighed and said:
"The base has indeed encountered some troubles, which are difficult to explain in a short time. According to regulations, we were supposed to prepare a welcome party for you, but now we have to postpone it."

At this point, Qin Lang's wristwatch flashed three times, as if urging him to do something.

He quickened his pace and said:

"Director Conghua, I have an urgent meeting and need to leave early. Let 'Flash' show you around the base; a tough battle might be waiting for us."

Seeing Qin Lang take off and leave in a hurry, the man in sunglasses known as Flash came to Wu Chang's side and stood shoulder to shoulder with him.

Flash pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, handed it to Wu Chang, and asked:
"Have one?"

Wu Chang shook his head and said:
"will not."

Flash curled his lip, lit a cigarette, and said:
"You've come at a really bad time."

Wu Changming asked the question knowingly:
"Is it related to the alarm?"

Flash said:

“Yes. You have just been promoted to the Realm of Reason and do not yet understand it. The base we are in is called a private space, but it is not actually that private. Unlike the private space in the Desolate Realm, no one outside can enter without the owner’s permission.”

“In the Realm of Reason, out-of-control instances don’t affect reality, but they do affect the Crimson Courtyard. Every base was originally an erosion instance, which was then converted into a base after being conquered by the organization.”

"The existence of the out-of-control instance determines the nature of the base. Many powerful beings can directly break through the dimensional barrier of the base and launch attacks on its interior."

"If they win, they will take ownership of this private space from us, just like we did when we conquered the eroded instance."

Wu Chang nodded slightly, and asked as if he understood:

"So, we're under attack right now?"

Flash was a little irritated. He stubbed out the cigarette he had just smoked a third of the way through, and then lit another one.

"We are about to be attacked. Our base is near the wilderness and we often encounter all sorts of troubles."

"For example, solo players who want to rush into private spaces to plunder, evil god cults, out-of-control monsters wandering in the wilderness, and extraordinary disasters caused by high concentrations of abyssal erosion."

"The situation we are facing is one of the most critical of all the problems: the spread of the eroded instance."

Although Wu Chang had already discovered the eroded copy outside, given his recorded abilities in the Bureau's archives, he shouldn't have had that kind of insight, so he exclaimed in surprise:

"An eroded copy of the Realm of Reason? How should we deal with it?"

Flash took a deep drag of his cigarette, exhaled the smoke vertically into the air, and said:
"Let's play dead for now, hoping the base is well hidden and the erosion instance won't discover our presence."

"If we are discovered, then war will be the only option."

Wu Chang said:

"War, does that mean conquering the Invasion instance?"

Flash scoffed and shook his head, saying:
"What do you think an erosion instance is? Even the lowest level, α-level erosion instance, is not something our base can easily handle. Otherwise, what you're seeing now isn't a red alarm light, but a summons from the Administration Bureau."

"What we can do is report the situation, then try our best to hold the base and minimize losses, while waiting for the higher-ups to send a suitable person to break the deadlock."

Flash extinguished the cigarette, took out the flying vehicle from his personal storage space, and called to Wu Changdao:

"Come on, I'll show you around the base so you can familiarize yourself with the rules. Otherwise, you might get killed by the base's rules before you even get a chance to fight."

Flash boarded Wu Chang, started the aircraft, and introduced him to Base 44.

Base 44 was transformed from a β-level erosion instance. The difficulty of a β-level instance is similar to that of a s-level instance in the Wasteland, and the size of the area within the instance is also similar.

The entire base area is nearly one and a half times the size of Grimland, and there are three lines of defense around the base.

The first line of defense consists of massive turrets built along the edge of the base. Each turret is operated by a member of the Administration Bureau, who can be used as a core to concentrate energy and fire powerful lasers.

The technological level of the base's weapons far surpasses that of the buildings in the city, indicating that the original plane where the base was located was a military-specialized plane.

According to Flash, the turrets built around the edge of the base are enough to defeat out-of-control monsters below level 50. It is thanks to these turrets that Base 44 has remained safe and sound.

Wu Changyi connected with Raven and asked her if the turret's manufacturing process involved any special energy. If not, he would try to get close to the turret, analyze its structure, and then have He Yun replicate it around Wanghai City.

In terms of lethality, this thing is much more effective than Anthem Corporation's high-energy weapons. If He Yun can figure it out, he might even be able to upgrade the Peacekeepers' firepower.

The base's second line of defense is an exceptionally sturdy city wall, which is connected to the functional equipment in the center of the base and can convert all the energy within the base into a large shield.

As for the third line of defense, it is the members of the Administration Bureau inside the base.

All the civilians who survived the erosion instance within the base have been sent to underground shelters.

If the turrets cannot stop the advance of the erosion instance, and the city walls also fall under the enemy's attack, then these players will have to rely on the terrain within the base to engage in close-quarters combat with the enemy within the erosion instance, buying time for the arrival of the disruptors.

Aside from the arrangement of the three lines of defense, the most crucial element lies in the rules of Base 44 itself.

All the dungeons in the Realm of Reason, like the S-rank dungeons in the Desolate Realm, come with their own rules. Even if a dungeon goes out of control and becomes a private space after being conquered, the rules will still be preserved.

Flash looked at Wu Chang and said:
"As you can see, Base 44 was once a military-technical instance, and the remaining rules of this space are also related to military and technology."

"All beings entering this space area may only use technological weapons to fight, and the technological weapons used may not be more advanced than the original technology of this space." "If magic, spiritual energy, or more advanced technological martial arts are used in combat, 1% of random attributes will be temporarily deducted for each attack."

Fearing that Wu Chang might not be taking it seriously enough, Shan Guang emphasized:
"A single instance of damage will trigger a check, and there is no built-in cooldown."

Wu Chang frowned slightly after hearing this. The rules of the No. 44 personal space were indeed troublesome, especially the rather harsh judgment.

If he uses Deepwater Bite or Mamba Elbow to deal continuous damage to the target, he will randomly lose 1% of his attribute for each tick of damage.

For example, in the final battle of the world instance, when he was dealing with Emperor Zhaoning, he spread Deep Water Devour over a large area. According to this judgment method, it would probably reduce all of his attributes to zero in one or two seconds.

Therefore, to launch a non-technical attack, one must be shrewd, accurate, and ruthless, aiming for a fatal blow.

Just as the two were about to speak, the entire base space began to tremble slightly, causing abnormal fluctuations in space, which came from the direction where the eroded instance was approaching.

Wu Changhe and Shan Guang looked in the direction of the anomaly and saw that the space outside the turret's firing range began to distort, and ripples appeared in the air, with a harsh sound similar to the friction of metal coming from within the ripples.

This is an indication that the Erosion instance is attempting to merge with Base 44.

Wu Changneng could clearly feel Flash's breathing quicken. While learning about the base, he took the opportunity to ask Flash for information.

With a Radiance Level of 44, he is a Level 1 Investigator. He has been in the Realm of Reason for two and a half years and has already comprehended the power of the Root. It's only a matter of time before he is promoted to Executor.

He had been in Base 44 for a whole year, and in that year he had weathered dozens of crises. Even so, he was still extremely nervous in the face of this invasion of the instance.

The metallic scraping sound lasted for a minute, and as the sound disappeared, a withered, grayish-white arm emerged from the ripples.

As the arm continued forward, a highly decomposed humanoid monster staggered into the space of Base 44.

The figure that squeezed in from a distance looked very familiar to Wu Chang; it was a zombie that often appeared in movies and games and was almost always associated with the apocalypse.

Inside the eroded instance, it turned out to be a zombie dimension.

Before Wu Changhe could say anything, Qin Lang's voice came from inside Flash's aircraft.

"The target erosion plane has breached the base's spatial barrier. Battle is inevitable. All personnel of the Administration are ready for battle."

The battle order was given, but the turret did not fire immediately, instead waiting for more zombies to enter.

The ripples on the spatial barrier increased, and the barrier between the two spaces was about to be completely broken. More than a hundred zombies had entered the base space and were swaying as they approached the base's urban area.

They are similar to zombies in movies and TV shows: rotting, slow, thin-bodied, and containing little energy.

Including Wu Chang, all the members of the Management Bureau within the base were wondering how a monster of this level could appear in the Realm of Reason.

Forget it, whatever the outcome, let's just go for it first.

Following the command from the base commander, a turret was activated, firing a thick laser beam.

With their frail bodies, these zombies might not even withstand ordinary bullets, let alone the massive laser. A single laser cannon shot would vaporize hundreds of zombies.

Seeing this, Wu couldn't help but mutter to himself, "It's all zombies and landslides. The base's turrets are much stronger than the plants in Plants vs. Zombies. If the zombies aren't strong enough, this game won't be fun."

In fact, these zombies are no ordinary beings, given that they can become part of the erosion instance.

The zombies vaporized by the laser weapon sent their zombie steam rising continuously, merging with the dark clouds in the sky.

Wu Chang's eyelids twitched slightly. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he felt that the brightness of the space where Base 44 was located had been dimmed by one notch.

He didn't think he was wrong, so he asked Raven. Raven said his feeling was right, and the changes at Base 44 were due to the Erosion Instance assimilating the rules of Base 44's space by sending cannon fodder zombies to their deaths, while further weakening the barrier between the two spaces.

Wu Chang asked the raven what the correct course of action would be in this situation.

Raven answered him that this was a contest between two spatial rules, a calculated move. The eroded instance was of a higher level and had stronger rules, leaving Base 44 with no choice.

Sure enough, although the first wave of zombies was wiped out, more ripples appeared on the spatial barrier. This time, more than 500 zombies entered the base space. They were more agile than the first wave and no longer staggered as they entered.

boom!
Just as Raven said, Base 44 had no choice. Two laser beams were fired, and the second wave of zombies turned into steam.

This was the first time Wu Chang had ever witnessed a war between spaces. With wave after wave of zombies serving as cannon fodder, around the tenth wave, the space barrier above the area of ​​the outer city wall of the base turned from grayish-yellow to a mixture of gray, yellow and green.

The spatial rules of the eroded instance have completely overlapped with those of Base 44. At this moment, both rules are in effect outside the base's walls.

After a long build-up, the erosion instance, which had been relatively quiet until now, finally revealed its true colors.

The ripples on the spatial barrier converged at one point, and in a blurry, fading light effect, the spatial barrier disappeared, allowing Wu Chang and the others to see the other side of the barrier and the scene inside the eroded instance.

It was a gray-green world, the sky was shrouded in eerie gray-green clouds, and as far as the eye could see, all the buildings were pitch black. There was not a trace of life in that world.

Looking down from the distant buildings to the ground, one sees a dense mass of heads; tens of thousands of zombies are gathered together, rubbing their hands together, ready to enter Base 44 for a feast.

The zombies at the very front of the line were completely different from the cannon fodder zombies that had entered before.

They were all full of energy, tall and strong, and were probably athletes in their lifetime.

Not only did they show no signs of decay, but they also emitted a faint green light. Their eyes were blood red, and even from thousands of meters away, one could still feel their longing for flesh and blood.

A whistle rang out from within the eroded instance, and a group of sports student zombies, as if hearing the referee's starting gun, charged toward Base 44.

Their speed was so fast that even Wu Chang was impressed. If he hadn't piloted the Peacekeeper or used teleportation, he would have had no chance of escaping if he had been spotted by this group of zombies in the open.

After a brief silence, the base leader's voice came through the communication.

"fire!"

In an instant, the turrets mounted on the base's walls fired simultaneously, sending dozens of thick laser beams into the horde of zombies.

These lasers, emitted from the core of the superhuman, also carry the characteristics of the operator's abilities. When the lasers hit the zombie horde, they explode, scattering the zombies in all directions.

The sheer number of zombies seemed to have no effect whatsoever in front of the turret formation.

Technological power, kid!
A cheer erupted from Base 44. Even Flash, standing next to Wu Chang, couldn't help but clench his fist and shout, "Awesome!"

When Wu Chang was browsing short videos and forums, he often heard people complain that the editors of zombie movies were shallow and lacked imagination. They had no idea what firearms and heavy weapons meant to flesh and blood.

How many zombies can be easily wiped out with just a certain amount of firepower?

The conclusion is now clear: even the zombies of the Realm of Reason are powerless against powerful weapons.

However, this conclusion is based on the premise that no rules are involved.

On the battlefield, when the smoke and dust from the explosion cleared, the cheers in the base came to an abrupt end. Flash's fist, which had just been swung to its fullest extent, froze, and he stood there stunned.

The zombies that had just been scattered, like athletes who had calmed down, got up as if nothing had happened and charged towards the city wall again.

Base 44 dared not be careless and launched another salvo.

The base leader believed that the zombies had high health bars, high stamina, and were like Wolverine, possessing rapid life regeneration abilities.

To ensure the damage was effective, the artillery fire plowed the ground several times, ensuring that even if the zombies regenerated quickly, they wouldn't have time to recover and would die instantly.

But this time, when the smoke cleared, the zombies were not only unharmed, but they also rushed to within 300 meters of the turret.

Upon seeing this, the players at Base 44 broke out in a cold sweat. What was going on? Did these zombies all have an invincibility cheat?
At the same time, Wu Chang was also asking why the raven zombies were unaffected.

This level of understanding of the rules was no challenge for Raven, and he quickly returned with the information.

The reason why the zombies are not damaged by the turrets is that the rules of the erosion instance state that within the area covered by the rules, the damage of any energy-based supernatural power and heavy high-tech weapons is reduced by 85%.

(End of this chapter)