When the game shut down, I took my skills with me.

Shanghai, 78th floor of the Shanghai World Financial Center.

Fatty Wang stood blankly in the middle of the men's restroom, feeling like his brain wasn't working properly.

He had just experienced the most terrifying ten minutes of his life, cornered in a cubicle by three drooling green monsters, his skull nearly ripped off. Then, he made a phone call to Brother Yuan.

The world changed.

The toilet before him was unbelievably clean. The floor was as smooth as a mirror, clearly reflecting the astonishment on his chubby face. A faint, calming fragrance filled the air. The walls, previously smudged by goblins, now shone with a white glow, as if bathed in holy light.

Those three goblins vanished into thin air, leaving not a single hair behind.

Fatty Wang stood there, holding the phone that had already been disconnected.

The lazy words Lu Yuan had said before hanging up the phone echoed in his mind.

"Oh, I pressed the flush button for you, it might have been a bit too strong, so I flushed the toilet for you too."

Flushing button?

Pressing the flush button from Sanya to Shanghai? It can even flush away monsters and renovate the toilet while you're at it?

What is this flush button? Is it from the Nantianmen (South Heaven Gate) brand?

Just as he was questioning the meaning of life, the bathroom door was suddenly pushed open.

A group of people dressed in white, fully enclosed protective suits, looking like they had stepped out of a Resident Evil movie, cautiously rushed in, carrying various instruments he couldn't understand.

The leader, upon seeing him, visibly paused for a moment, then shouted through the communicator in his helmet, "Report! Target spotted! Vital signs stable! Mental state... seems a bit dazed!"

Fatty Wang: "..."

You're the ones who're sluggish! Your whole family is sluggish!

Soon, an elderly man who appeared to be the leader entered, escorted by several people. He was Dr. Chen, who had rushed here by private jet immediately after receiving Qin Shiyue's death order.

Dr. Chen ignored Fatty Wang and instead put on special gloves, gently touching the toilet wall as if caressing a rare treasure.

He closed his eyes, and a device in his hand emitted a soft "beep beep beep" sound.

"Incredible...absolutely incredible..." Dr. Chen's voice trembled. "The material structure here has been completely reorganized at the microscopic level! The molecular formula of the ceramic hasn't changed, but the arrangement of the molecules has become an incredibly stable crystal lattice structure that we've never seen before! This wall...theoretically, is even harder than diamond!"

He then walked to a sink and used a cotton swab to dab some of the water droplets remaining in the faucet.

"Highly active! This water possesses extremely high energy activity! Long-term consumption is enough to improve bodily functions! This... this is the legendary 'elixir'!"

"And then there are these free-floating energy particles in the air... They possess properties of 'order' and 'purification,' and have a significant suppressive effect on the dark energy within our bodies!"

Dr. Chen became more and more excited as he spoke, and finally he looked at the bewildered Fatty Wang with a burning gaze as if he were looking at a living miracle.

"Young man! You must be Comrade Wang Hao? Tell us quickly! What did that 'gentleman' say to you just now? What have you learned from this experience?"

Fatty Wang was taken aback by his question.

Insights? What could I possibly gain from that? All I gained was the realization that I almost became dinner.

He thought for a moment and answered honestly, "Brother Yuan said... he helped me flush the toilet."

"I flushed the toilet..." Dr. Chen muttered to himself, his eyes growing brighter and brighter. "I understand! I understand! 'Flushing'! This is 'flushing'! Using the highest laws to wash away the filth and chaos here! Returning to simplicity! What a profound explanation of Taoism this is!"

The capital city, the Dragon Shield Bureau command center.

Qin Shiyue and all the staff officers listened quietly to the audio transmitted from the scene.

After hearing Dr. Chen's excited analysis and Fatty Wang's honest "I flushed the toilet," the entire command center fell into an eerie silence.

The chief strategist's lips twitched slightly as he spoke with difficulty: "So... what you mean by 'rinsing' is the process of 'reshaping the material structure with laws and performing divine purification'?"

Qin Shiyue took a deep breath and said with absolute certainty, "That's right! This is the perspective of an 'immortal'! What we see as earth-shattering miracles is, in his words, just a trivial matter like 'rinsing water'! This is the difference in their levels of understanding!"

The more he thought about it, the clearer it became to him.

"I understand! When you established the 'South Heavenly Gate Fortress,' you were demonstrating your 'battleground.' And this time, by 'purifying' the toilets, you're demonstrating the 'rules'!"

Qin Shiyue stood up and paced in front of the screen.

"This world is being governed by new rules. And this gentleman is the one who sets those rules! His actions this time are actually a lesson for us! He's telling us that this new world has a 'reward and punishment mechanism'!"

He pointed to the preliminary report submitted by Dr. Chen on the screen.

"Look, goblins represent 'chaos' and 'evil,' so they've been 'purified.' This is 'punishment'!"

"Comrade Wang Hao, a friend of the gentleman, was frightened, so the area where he lives was 'upgraded,' and he himself received 'blessings.' This is the 'award'!"

"What does this mean?" Qin Shiyue's voice suddenly rose. "It means that going along with 'Heaven's will' has its benefits! This 'Heaven's will' is the supreme rule of this world that you, sir, represent!"

Dr. Chen's voice came through the communicator at that moment, carrying a hint of fanatical speculation: "Director Qin! I have a bold hypothesis! Just like in ancient mythology, doing things that benefit heaven and earth and all living beings will earn 'heavenly merits.' In this new, data-driven world, if we act in accordance with the 'system's interests,' such as eliminating monsters and maintaining order, could we also receive similar 'merits' as rewards?"

"This kind of 'merit' might be an attribute boost, a skill mastery, or even, like Comrade Wang Hao, a direct 'blessing'!"

Dr. Chen's words struck like a thunderbolt, resounding in the hearts of everyone in the command center.

Merit!

A word that is both ancient and new has been given a completely new meaning in this era.

Qin Shiyue's eyes were frighteningly bright.

He felt he had grasped the golden thread leading to a new world.

Previously, when faced with monsters, they only passively defended themselves, feeling lost and fearful.

But now, Dr. Chen's "theory of merit" has pointed them in a crystal-clear way!

"Immediately establish a special research group on the 'Merit Theory,' with Dr. Chen in full charge!" Qin Shiyue decisively ordered.

"Notify all field units to change their operational strategy from now on! We are not passively eliminating threats; we are 'earning merit' for this world! Every monster killed, every survivor saved, could be an opportunity for accumulation!"

"We must take the initiative! We must prove to 'Sir' that we humans are qualified to be the 'protagonists' of this new world, under his watchful eye!"

As commands were issued from the command center, the entire Dragon Shield, this massive national machine, began to operate with unprecedented enthusiasm and a strong sense of direction.

They all believed they had glimpsed the ladder to godhood.

On the beach in Sanya, Lu Yuan, the instigator of all this, was a little annoyed because his friend's afternoon nap had been disturbed.

He rolled over and mumbled something.

"Honestly, if something like this happens again, just teleport the person calling for help to me directly. It would save me the trouble of operating remotely."