The virtual empire starts from the game

Chapter 607 Who designed such a terrible road?! (July minimum monthly vote request!)
The respawn point on the western edge of the metropolis of Mansheng is one of the most well-known respawn points in the city.

Players will gather here for any action that requires them to leave the city.

Just a few days ago, Chinese and American players were blocking Indian players here, fighting so fiercely that it was like the sky darkened and the sun and moon lost their light.

However, times change.

Peace has long since been restored around this respawn point.

Players from all over the world—including many from India—came together to work together towards a common goal.

Even players who were fighting each other face-to-face just a few days ago can now sit peacefully in the same troop carrier bed.

Considering it was a long journey, Xu Meng first went to the lounge to change her Dream Machine login.

Afterwards, Xiaomeng and I randomly picked a truck and jumped on it. We saw an Indian player and a Chinese player staring at each other on our right.

Judging from their expressions, it's clear that they couldn't possibly have reconciled and forgotten their past grievances.

But at least they all sat quietly, without resorting to violence or hurling insults at each other.

Xu Meng smiled and started the live stream.

At that time, the topic of [Digital Ark] was still being hotly discussed online. When netizens saw that Xu Meng, the initiator, was going live, they rushed over excitedly, thinking that there was more big news to be announced.

But upon clicking in, they found Xu Meng and Xiao Meng sitting in the back of a truck.

The background noise was also very loud.
"Is there any room left? Can someone show me around? Please!"

"Luxury passenger seat, ladies only! Hurry!"

"There are four seats left on the roof, someone come quick!"

"Hold on tight, get ready to go!"

……

Of course, there are plenty of resourceful netizens out there. Seeing this scene, some immediately understood what Xu Meng was doing:
"Boss Xu is heading down the road to his death!"

"With Mr. Xu personally overseeing the operation, does that mean we're guaranteed to reach our destination?"

"Wait for me! I'm coming right now!"

……

The roads through the wilderness and rainforest are far too dangerous.

Very few players successfully reach the Lost Ship, while countless others perish along the way.

In less than a day, it had already earned the nickname "[Road to Death]".

Seeing Xu Meng personally overseeing things, many players felt reassured and were immediately excited, dropping everything and heading straight for the west side of the city.

Not only netizens, but also the main group of players at the scene became agitated, looking around for Xu Meng.

Players were jumping onto the roofs of cars everywhere, scanning the surroundings.

No matter how hard they searched, they couldn't find Xu Meng and Xiao Meng, which puzzled them greatly, and they all asked questions in the live broadcast room.

The reason is not complicated: Xu Meng modified the live stream source.

He and Xiaomeng have now disguised their appearances: he is a blue-haired cowboy, and Xiaomeng is a Gothic Lolita. To avoid being exposed, Xiaomeng has also been made to grow taller, with her head now reaching Xu Meng's shoulder height.

This technique, which keeps all other scenes unchanged and only replaces the images of herself and Xiaomeng, is almost effortless for Xu Meng.

But Xu Meng couldn't explain, she just advised netizens: "Everyone, don't run this way."

"I'm going on this trip to test this road myself. My character strength is about the same as everyone else's, and I won't be using any special privileges. It's hard to say whether I can reach the end smoothly."

"Don't make a wasted trip and waste everyone's time."

As they were talking, the main force of players had already set off.

Vehicles of all sizes moved slowly through the west gate of the bustling metropolis.

Once outside the city gates and freed from the constraints of the narrow streets, the entire player group immediately began to accelerate.

The convoy quickly transformed from a long, thin line into a sprawling, open pancake, stretching into the depths of the wilderness.

One by one, drivers started playing wilderness racing games, practically flooring the gas pedal.

The driver had a great time, but the passengers in the truck bed were in a terrible state, being tossed around like flies.

My butt was bouncing around on the seat.

Xu Meng clung tightly to the guardrail of the truck bed to avoid being thrown out.

Those players sitting on the roof or hanging outside the truck bed fared even worse; many were thrown off the vehicle and had to run while shouting, "Wait! I'm not on the truck yet!!"

Seeing that they couldn't catch up, they had no choice but to try to hitch a ride on the car that was chasing them from behind...

Only Xiaomeng was happy, even though she was being tossed around by the wind and waves, she kept laughing.

Xu Meng initially replied to a few comments.

But soon he lost interest in watching the live stream, clinging tightly to the railing while enduring the churning in his stomach.

The viewers in the live stream laughed hysterically at his expression of wanting to die.

Having finally endured until they reached the edge of the rainforest, Xu Meng jumped out of the truck bed before the vehicle had even come to a complete stop.

"Ugh~"

He leaned against the truck bed, bent over, and retched incessantly.

But no matter how much he vomited, nothing came out.

Xiaomeng patted his back tenderly to help him catch his breath.

Many players are like him; some even experience nausea and vomiting in the truck bed.

Even worse, some people opened the car door, dragged the driver out, and beat him severely!
"Are you fucking treating us like pigs?!"

Xu Meng looked at the furious passengers and the driver who was rolling around on the ground and laughing wildly. She slowly straightened up and looked at the vast rainforest in front of her.

After a while, he pulled Xiaomeng along to catch up with the main group and continue moving forward.

His luck didn't improve after entering the rainforest.

Before we had gone far, we saw a large flock of blue toucans taking off from the nearby jungle, flying towards the main group with an overwhelming gloom!
"Holy crap!" Xu Meng exclaimed instinctively, "A food-eating bird?!"

The other players nearby realized something was wrong: "Take cover! Take cover quickly!!"

No one recognized the bird, but after a night and a day of trying, they had confirmed one thing:

There's absolutely nothing peaceful or friendly about this rainforest!

If you see any living creature approaching, you must be on high alert immediately.

If many living creatures approach, you must hide immediately!

Otherwise, there could be a deadly danger at any time!
The densely packed group of players scattered instantly; some hid in the treetops, some crawled into the bushes, and some hid in puddles to hold their breath.

Some people even carry an iron bucket with them, and when they see a flock of birds approaching, they immediately flip the bucket over and put it on their heads.

He squatted down, and all that remained in the spot was an iron bucket.

They truly each displayed their unique talents.

Only Xu Meng stood there dumbly, showing no intention of hiding.

The only action was to tap Xiaomeng's head, causing a faint blue light to cover Xiaomeng's gorgeous gothic-style dress.

Then, the flock of birds swept through the crowd like a storm.

All the players in the area felt as if they were being bombarded by a constant stream of birds, as if they were experiencing a hailstorm.

He had to cover his head with both hands, shielding his eyes.

In addition, the blue feathers that fell off during the collision flew around in all directions, severely obstructing vision and making it impossible to see anything around them.

However, the viewers in the live stream were unaffected and could see it clearly:
As flocks of birds fly over the player, the player's equipment and clothing quickly develop cracks and tears.

In just a few seconds, everyone's clothes were torn into pieces and flew around with the blue feathers!
"Wow! Everyone's clothes are ripped off!"

"What do you mean by 'staying true to our original aspirations,' my friends?! When Dream Building Games was on the verge of collapse, all they could think about was 'clothes exploding'! Now that Dream Building Games has reached the top of the global stage, all they can think about is still 'clothes exploding'!!"

"Damn, having slimes that can dissolve clothes isn't enough, you also need birds that can rip clothes off, huh?"

"I've heard there's another kind of rain that can dissolve clothes and even make metal rust..."

"So, the 'clothing explosion' is part of the company culture of 'Building Dreams,' right?"

"Mr. Xu's physique is so-so, he doesn't seem to like exercising much?"

……

The viewers in the live stream were amazed.

Once again, Dream Building Games remains true to its original aspirations...

Xu Meng crossed her arms in front of her face to shield herself from the birds' attack.

His clothes had been pecked into tattered rags by the birds.

It wasn't a wardrobe malfunction, but it was incredibly embarrassing!

The other players fared much better; the guy in the canopy fell from the tree, and the metal bucket was knocked away with a clanging sound...

All the players were left in tattered clothes. Only Xiaomeng was different.

The layer of protection Xu Meng added for her was useless—the flock of birds would automatically avoid her and fly past her.

She stood in the center of the chaos, yet not a single bird feather touched her.

As the flock of birds swept past, leaving only a large group of men dressed as beggars, she was still holding a blue baby bird in her hands, playing with it.

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey." Xu Meng spat out the bird feathers from her mouth.

"What bad luck! How did I end up with this thing?"

Xu Meng decided to travel with the main group of players, naturally with some confidence—he knew more about what was in this rainforest than the players, and he also knew how to deal with most of the monsters.

Even if the character's combat strength on paper is inferior to the player's, he is confident that he will be among the last to die.

But when you encounter a monster that you can't avoid, you really have no choice but to tough it out.

Fortunately, it wasn't fatal.

After he took out a spare set of clothes from the slot on his ID card and changed into them, the other players got up from the ground in a daze.

They were all dressed in rags, looking at each other in bewilderment.

They felt extremely embarrassed looking at their tattered clothes, but when they came out, their storage slots were full of supplies and ammunition, so why would they use them to store clothes?
Now, all I can do is continue my journey wearing these tattered clothes.

……

More than 20 minutes later, they encountered dozens of fire-breathing salamanders.

This salamander has thick skin and tough flesh, and its fighting ability is considerable, but the more troublesome problem is—

They spray ignited oily substances from their mouths.

These substances explode immediately upon impact with the ground, trees, or even people, splattering kerosene everywhere.

Wherever the kerosene splashed, the fire spread.

In the end, a huge fire broke out in the extremely humid rainforest!

Xu Meng had no choice but to run wildly through the rainforest with the main group.

After being chased by the fire for more than ten minutes, an even worse situation occurred—a strong wind suddenly blew up in the rainforest!
The fire, fueled by the wind, burned ever more fiercely.

Players who were slower to run began to be engulfed by the fire.

Xu Meng glanced back at the human-shaped torches a few times, then immediately turned back and ran for her life!

But as he ran, he sensed something was wrong!

How can there be water in the wind?

Realizing the problem, he turned back again.

But they found that the fire was being extinguished quickly, while the moisture in the wind was getting thicker and thicker, and the humidity was soaring!

A storm is brewing.

The older brother [Da Sun] who had been following Xu Meng since she got off the bus stopped, took a few deep breaths, and finally let out a long sigh of relief:

Rain is better than fire!

"Is it a storm or a flash flood next? I'm ready!"

He also encouraged Xu Meng and Xiao Meng: "Keep it up! We should be almost halfway there!"

After saying that, he leaned on the wooden cane he had just picked up in the rainforest and continued on his way.

Xu Meng took a deep breath and immediately followed.

Soon, a light rain began to fall overhead.

Raindrops fell on Xu Meng's lips, making him suddenly realize that something was wrong.

He reached out and caught some raindrops, putting them in his mouth.

When you press your tongue together, a bitter taste explodes on the tip of your tongue.

He stopped.

"What's wrong?" the big bamboo shoot in front asked him, turning around.

Xu Meng opened her mouth, but it took her a lot of effort to say: "The shark is coming."

"?" Da Sun didn't quite understand.

What did you say? A shark?

He looked around suspiciously: "How could there be sharks in the jungle?"

Before he finished speaking, a shark that was at least 1.56 meters long fell from the sky!

It opened its blood-red maw and swallowed the bamboo shoot's head and shoulder in one gulp!
"Ugh!! Ugh ugh ugh!!!"

Dasun braced his hands on the shark's head, frantically shaking his neck and body, trying to shake the shark off.

But this shark that fell from the sky had an amazing bite force; its serrated teeth pierced deep into flesh, making it impossible to shake off!
It was also vigorously wagging its tail, hoping to swallow the bamboo shoot whole.

Bright red blood gushed down Da Sun's shoulder, staining his body crimson in just a few seconds.

Xiao Meng stared wide-eyed at the scene in astonishment.

Xu Meng finally drew her gun and fired at the shark's tail—she was afraid of accidentally hitting Da Bamboo Shoots on the head.

Dasun also realized what was happening.

He pulled out an AK, pointed the muzzle upwards, and fired a burst without hesitation!
Now the shark started bleeding profusely.

After a few seconds of stalemate, the shark finally lost its strength and fell to the ground along with the giant bamboo shoot.

Xu Meng and Xiao Meng stepped forward, each grabbing one of Da Sun's legs and pulling him out of the shark's mouth.

Da Sun, leaning on his gun, looked at Xu Meng with a face full of questions, panting heavily.

Why would a shark fall from the sky?

“Not one,” Xu Meng corrected him.

Da Shu turned his head and saw that there was indeed more than one!
In the midst of the storm, sharks are descending from the sky, pouncing on the players!

As the wind picked up, some sharks didn't even fall from the sky, but instead rode the wind through the rainforest!
When the wind became so strong that he could not stand steadily, some mutated great white sharks with two, three, or even four heads began to appear in the wind!

Players clearly didn't expect to encounter flying sharks in the rainforest.

Everyone was caught off guard.

He struggled against the fierce winds while drawing his gun and firing.

However, shooting accuracy is greatly reduced in the hurricane, and the great white shark's health bar is extremely thick, making it very difficult to kill in a short time.

If you're not careful, you might get bitten!
Everywhere there were sounds of panic and anger.

The bamboo shoots were all dumbfounded.

"What...what is this thing?"

Looking at the towering tornado in the distance and the powerful storm it had created, Xu Meng gave her answer, word by word:

"Special celestial disaster - [Sharknado]".

"……what?"

Da Sun's mind went blank; he couldn't process the word at all...

Xu Meng is not idle either.

A mutated three-headed giant shark was already pouncing on him!
He had to switch to cold weapons to fight back.

Players died as they gathered, braving sharks and hurricanes to make their way.

With every step, I felt the bitter seawater splashing on my face and body.

With every step I took, I felt like I would be blown away by the wind at any moment.

With every step I took, I felt like the shark's stench was about to hit my face!
Xu Meng became increasingly distraught as she walked: "Is this road... really that difficult to walk?!"

Wearing rubber boots and a bright yellow hooded raincoat, Xiaomeng splashed through the water as she answered him, "Yes!"

"The mortality rate on this road is over 98%. Tens of thousands of people set off, and it's considered good if two or three hundred of them make it to the destination!"

Before the words were even finished, from the thunderclouds to their northwest, the Nightmare Rain Squid stretched out its slippery tentacles, pulled the two players at the front of the group into the sky, and stuffed them into its mouth.

The sounds of panic from ahead carried through the heavy rain.

Xu Meng finally broke down: "Who designed this terrible road?!"

Xiao Meng looked at him silently.

"?"

Xu Meng was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized:

He designed it himself...

(End of this chapter)