The virtual empire starts from the game

Chapter 703 Climbing the Giant Tower!
Bang!
The iron fist, wreathed in silver flames, smashed through the steel skull.

With another kick, the massive mechanical tiger flew out and smashed a giant tarantula that required three people to hug.

General Longcheng took a deep breath and couldn't help but ask a soul-searching question:
“That’s it??”

Above his head, a giant eagle with a wingspan of three meters descended from the sky and crashed to the ground with a loud thud.

A bolt of lightning shot out from the giant eagle, swept past Dragon City General, and headed straight for the right.

There, the valiant sniper and three other players were facing a gigantic porcupine, unsure of where to begin.

—In the digital world, the logic of combat is not entirely the same as in reality. Firearms consume too much silk and are severely insufficient in terms of lethality, so everyone uses cold weapons.

But this porcupine in front of us was almost entirely made of metal except for its head. Its quills were long and hard, and would shoot out when subjected to strong impacts, making it very difficult to deal with.

However, Xunfei did not confront him head-on after rushing over. Instead, he stopped abruptly when he got close, and the electric light on his body quickly gathered in his hands, eventually concentrating on his index finger.

He pointed his index finger at the metal spike.

A powerful electric current instantly swept over the entire porcupine, and the intense discharge caused the mechanical porcupine to short-circuit and start smoking, spewing out electric sparks.

It quickly collapsed, never to be seen again.

He shared similar feelings with the Flying General of Longcheng.

"That's it?"

The valiant sniper, the electronic music Edison, and the other team members, although they didn't fight with the same unstoppable momentum and decisive advantage as Longcheng Feijiang and Xunfei, also felt that the difficulty of this mission was completely beyond their expectations.

—That's way too easy!

Especially before the mission began, Xu Meng repeatedly emphasized the difficulty and danger, and went so far as to select 60 people from users around the world to carry out the mission. Before entering the room, she emphasized the danger again, gave everyone a heads-up, and even prepared emergency measures, warning everyone to retreat if they couldn't win.

This serious demeanor prepared everyone mentally for an unprecedented and extremely difficult challenge!
Everyone was filled with strong awareness and determination, and they didn't even have time to appreciate the scenery outside the door after entering.

The monster was indeed quite imposing when it appeared.

On the lifeless streets, one large animal after another emerged from every corner, and one lifeless mechanical monster after another creaked and started running again.

All monsters are a mixture of metal and flesh: some are a fleshy creature and a robot roughly pieced together, while others are a mixture of half flesh and half machine.

When these bizarre behemoths rushed over, the dilapidated road surface rumbled and shook violently, creating an extremely oppressive atmosphere.

This made everyone feel like they were facing a formidable enemy.

But when the fighting actually began, everyone quickly discovered that:

The pressure was not as high as expected.

It wasn't as terrible as Xu Meng described.

The pressure these things exert on them is far less than that of the vine giants. Even the high-difficulty dragons in Monster Hunter and the hero-level NPCs in Blue Seas are far more oppressive than these monsters!
This unexpectedly high level of difficulty even disappointed fierce fighters like Longcheng Feijiang and Xunfei.

This is too simple!

It doesn't feel challenging at all!
Not enough! Not enough at all!

……

Behind the crowd, Xu Meng was quite satisfied with the situation.

He kept a close eye on the entire battle, ready to provide support to players in distress at any time.

But this team is strong in every sense of the word. From the start of the game to the point where they fought their way to the tower, they were almost completely crushing the enemy.

Except for two unlucky guys who got too caught up in the fight and almost got their heads chopped off by a mechanical mantis that could change color and hide itself in its environment, everything else went incredibly smoothly.

—Those two unlucky fellows were also saved from the mantis's sneak attack by being pulled by his silk thread.

Xu Meng was not surprised by this.

The fact that this city can house a completely realistic experimental site indicates that it is not some kind of "game" replica.

Before they mostly fall into ruin, they are public spaces just like the sprawling metropolis.

These places will naturally have characters with extremely high strength—just like the Hunter Association president and the Sky Arena master in the Sprawling City.

However, compared to the total number of NPCs in the city, their proportion is definitely very small.

If one is further eroded by the chaotic data of the information universe and loses their rationality, it would be difficult to retain even two out of ten points of combat power.

But their opponents are special individuals carefully selected by Xu Meng, chosen from tens of millions of people, and best suited to fight in the sea of ​​information.

It can almost be said to be the essence of humanity's digital world at this stage.

He and Xiaomeng were also there to support them.

Defeating these NPCs who have lost their minds is as easy as cutting melons and vegetables; it's perfectly normal.

If the fight becomes so close and evenly matched, that would be truly outrageous!

However, this situation began to change after entering the tower—

The monsters inside the tower suffered less from the erosion and decay. Although their sanity was also worn away over a long period of time, their bodies remained in remarkably good condition.

The twisted flesh and rusted metal parts that are common on the streets are rare here.

When we were halfway up, we couldn't even see any signs of distortion.

The difficulty of the battles then began to increase steadily.

With top-tier combatants as the spearhead, a complete team providing support, and Xu Meng and Xiao Meng offering strong assistance as a safety net, the entire team still managed to break through layer by layer and continuously move upwards.

As the team progressed to two-thirds of the way up the tower, they encountered increasing resistance.

After clearing the 68th floor, Xu Meng called a halt to the team's work to allow them to rest.

In the virtual world created by Xu Meng, players hardly feel tired unless there are [stamina] and [fatigue] settings in the environment.

Even with the relevant settings, if you feel tired, you can usually regain your strength by just standing still and taking a few breaths.

Generally, long periods of rest are not required.

However, in the vast ocean of information, this kind of setting also disappeared.

A player's "stamina," like "ability," "resistance," and other factors, all originate from the "data-driven thoughts" generated within their own body.

When they're dominating a game, the threads they naturally generate are more than enough to keep them going, allowing them to keep playing tirelessly.

However, when the intensity of the battle increases to a certain level, and players need to go all out or even exhaust their physical strength to fight, the consumption of "threads" will exceed the rate at which they are naturally generated.

The trend of unlimited battery life will be interrupted.

Even though there were 60 people on site, all of whom were carefully selected by Xu Meng, and each of them had excellent silk thread production and consumption, they still had to rest and adjust after reaching the 60th floor.

—If these 60 people weren't so outstanding, and we just randomly picked a group to fight, we probably wouldn't have even entered this giant tower before we had to rely on Xu Meng to replenish their silk threads.

Unlike these people, who not only rushed up to the 68th floor in one go, but also didn't even need Xu Meng to treat their injuries.

With just a short rest, the silk threads they produce can heal their wounds, allowing them to rise and fight again.

Upon hearing Xu Meng's order to rest, everyone stopped what they were doing and finally had time to chat.

They gathered at the windows of the giant tower, looking at the view outside, and started chatting animatedly:

"Where exactly is this place? It looks a bit like the Sea of ​​Creativity."

"It is somewhat similar, but it's a darker version. The Sea of ​​Creativity is much gentler and calmer."

"So those shining stars, like the world bubbles in the sea of ​​creativity, are also content to be explored?"

"How...how do I get there?"

"Something doesn't feel right to me. I exerted myself too much outside and was exhausted for about ten seconds. It felt like a bunch of jumbled things got into my head."

"Actually, this task is an advanced test. It's not fully developed yet, is it? There's messy code everywhere. If you break anything, it will turn into scattered code."

"To be honest, it doesn't look like it's unfinished; it looks more like a junkyard made up of abandoned projects..."

"In short, this place doesn't seem like a simple place."

"It's definitely not simple! I've never seen Boss Xu so serious before!" ...

The players were buzzing with discussion.

Everything they saw and felt warned them that this place was very unusual.

But they had too little information and couldn't quite put their finger on what was wrong.

While they were all talking at once, Xu Meng was also busy—

At this distance, he was already able to analyze and record the giant tower.

He wasn't sure if there were any readily available, complete fusion technology documents here.

Therefore, he made two preparations:

It would be best to have complete technical documentation and record it directly.

If not, then copy all the information and code of this entire giant tower!
In a fully simulated environment, this giant tower itself is a ready-made model of fusion technology.
-
In the virtual world, the players were somewhat distracted.

They all thought: If Boss Xu can make such a big fuss just by registering and selecting people, the scene will definitely be even bigger when the mission actually starts!
It should at least be on par with the Creative Sea!

After Xu Meng selected her people and led 60 of them through the door, there was no further response.

Live streaming?

No.

What are the task details?

do not know.

When will it end?
do not know either.

Players, netizens, and media around the world were stunned on the spot.

I have absolutely no idea what Mr. Xu is up to.

This confusion and bewilderment has made the world even more curious about what lies behind that door.

This answer is even more appealing than the red envelopes being distributed all over the world right now.

On social media, discussions about this matter are increasing, and everyone is eagerly hoping that Zhumeng can come out and explain, or release some information.

Unfortunately, the employees of Zhumeng were also in Mansheng Metropolis, gazing longingly at the door in the sky, eager to know what lay behind it...

The company group chat has been buzzing with excitement.

However, none of the people behind the door knew any of this.

—After crossing the threshold, the live streaming system and control panel that relied on the virtual world all became ineffective.

Their connection with the outside world has actually been severed.

Half an hour later, the team finished their rest and set off again for the attack.

Layer upon layer, the monsters grow stronger and stronger.

The team finally started to suffer staff losses.

Anyone who has trained at the Remington Indoor Training Grounds in the Sprawling Metropolis knows how dangerous the complex indoor environment can be.

Here, neither Xu Meng nor Xiao Meng can simultaneously keep everyone in their field of vision.

In addition, these monsters, a mixture of machinery and flesh, have bizarre and unpredictable fighting styles that make them impossible to defend against.

As an unlucky player was moving forward, a wall beside him was smashed open, and a humanoid rhinoceros with huge metal horns burst out of the wall.

Before anyone could react, a headbutt slammed into the player's head.

The powerful blow left him dazed.

The next second, Xu Meng's silk threads flew over, Long Cheng Fei threw out his telekinetic spear, and Xun Fei also instantly burst into lightning and flew over.

The telekinetic spear pierced the rhinoceros's chest, while the longsword, crackling with electricity, plunged into the rhinoceros-man's thick neck, with code and blood gushing out simultaneously.

But its massive, sharp point still pierced the chest of the dizzy player.

Xu Meng's silk thread only had time to pull him down from the sharp corner.

The player clutched his chest, screaming in agony, clearly on the verge of death.

Xu Meng waved her hand.

Another invisible thread appeared on his body, pulling him backward at high speed, smashing glass, soaring through the sky, and in an instant passing through the half-open door, returning to the sky above the city of Mansheng.

The wailing player suddenly realized that the pain had stopped and the hole in his chest had been completely healed.

Both his physical and mental condition are exceptionally good.

He was still shaken, but he mustered his courage and prepared to go back inside to fight again.

But the thread had already broken.

Several lines of text also appeared before his eyes:
Thank you for your contributions to the world.
[You need to rest now. Please log off immediately for three days of offline rest.]
[Building dreams and shaping the world will remember your contributions.]
[Countdown to logoff: 10, 9, 8]
"?"

The unfortunate player was kicked offline with a lot of questions in his mind.

They tried to go online again, but were rejected by the Dream Machine.

After his initial excitement subsided, he belatedly realized that he was very sleepy.

This is strange.

Under normal circumstances, players using the Dream Machine game are like sleeping; they will be wide awake and unable to fall back asleep after logging off.

But now, even though he had just logged off, he felt extremely sleepy, as if he had stayed up all night.

So he put down his phone, leaned back onto the bed, and quickly fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

……

After similar situations occurred twice more, Yama suggested changing the strategy.

"Mr. Xu, it's hard to avoid losses if we fight like this. How about we use a base-destroying strategy?"

What is the "base demolition" strategy?

On each floor, they went all out, knocking down all the walls and turning the entire floor into a spacious, open-plan penthouse.

In this way, the most complex blind spots and dead zones in indoor combat will no longer exist.

Unfortunately, Xu Meng cannot adopt this approach.

To ensure the integrity of fusion technology, they must preserve the integrity of this giant tower as much as possible.

Not only could they not be dismantled, but after the 80th floor, Xu Meng had to protect all equipment and building structures in advance on each floor to prevent critical information from being destroyed in the battle.

He did not hide anything and explained the situation frankly.

Therefore, Yama stopped mentioning the home-destroying tactic and instead suggested slowing down and using time to ensure safety.

Xu Meng naturally agreed.

As a result, player casualties were indeed greatly reduced.

However, the progress of the game is getting slower and slower.

After the 90th floor, Xu Meng had to spend a lot of time and effort on the threads to protect the increasing number and sophistication of the facilities.

This meant that the team had to spend at least an hour going up each floor.

Fortunately, the team lived up to expectations and made it all the way to the 100th floor.

The entire giant tower will be brought under the players' control.

The "sun" that Xu Meng dreamed of taking back the real world also appeared before everyone's eyes, so close that it was within reach.

(End of this chapter)