On my second playthrough, they were full of malice towards me.

But don't worry, Liao Ji had already considered these issues before making the plan.

As players nervously entered the battle page, the chat was quickly flooded with messages.

"Holy crap!? What kind of buff is this?"

"This bonus effect is insane!"

"What are you talking about?"

"You'll find out once you enter the boss battle."

"What? Could it be that the BOSS has really turned into a beautiful girl?"

Many players who were still chatting in the channel were suddenly intrigued and immediately entered the battle preparation screen.

Here, in addition to the familiar character selection system for battle, there is another new interface.

Please select the buff ability you will use in this battle.

Quantity: 0/3

[Holy Kingdom Chant - Grants all friendly contractors a 1000% HP boost. Upon entering combat, they recover 10% of their maximum HP per second, are immune to all control effects including knockback, stun, and confusion, and have their resistance to negative buffs increased to 90%. All friendly units gain a new passive ability - Divine Blessing. When a character is about to suffer a fatal blow, they are immune to that damage and gain 5 seconds of invulnerability. During this invulnerability, any healing effects are boosted by 200%. Divine Blessing has a 30-second cooldown.]

[No Thoughts, No Feelings - Grants all friendly contractors a 1000% increase in physical damage. Upon entering combat, every five seconds, physical damage increases by 1%, attack speed by 1%, critical hit rate by 1%, and critical hit damage by 5%. This effect can stack infinitely. All friendly units gain a new additional passive skill - Dragon Blood Soul. The character gains 100% physical penetration, attacks will "ignore" enemy physical defense and cannot be dodged, and 15% of the damage dealt is converted into a shield. This shield can stack infinitely without an upper limit.]

[Electronic Sheep - Upon entering battle, the support character "Electronic Sheep" will automatically join the battle. Electronic Sheep's attribute values ​​will be calculated based on 1000% of the total attribute values ​​of all friendly contractors. During the existence of "Electronic Sheep," an additional "Auto-Management" option will be added. After entering "Auto-Management" mode, Electronic Sheep will control the character in place of the player, including but not limited to optimizing deployment positions, automatically releasing skills, automatically analyzing the battle situation, automatically switching positions, and automatically avoiding BOSS damage, etc., all fully automated operations.]

[Serena! — Grants all friendly contractors a 1000% magic damage boost. Upon entering combat, each skill cast increases the damage of the next skill by 15%, reduces energy cost by 15%, and reduces cooldown by 15%. This effect stacks infinitely. All friendly units gain a new passive effect—Frenzy. The character's magic damage can be critically hit and gains 100% magic penetration. Attacks "ignore" enemy magic defense and cannot be saved. 15% of the damage dealt is converted into mana. Mana stacks infinitely with no upper limit. Each 1% increase in mana further increases magic damage by 1%.]

[Forest Alliance - Grants all friendly contractors an additional shield based on 1000% of their maximum health. Upon entering combat, each point of shield value grants the character an additional 1 point of damage dealt and an additional 1 point of physical and magical resistance. This effect is stackable with no upper limit. All friendly units gain a new additional passive skill - Twelve Wings. While the shield is active, for every 1% of shield value lost, the character's maximum health increases by 1%, and when the character attacks, they will deal additional true damage based on 1% of their maximum health. When the character is attacked, they will reflect true damage based on 100% of their maximum health. When the shield value drops below 50%, the character gains 50% damage reduction and converts 75% of the damage received over the next ten seconds into new shield value. This effect has a 30-second cooldown.]

Liao Ji did not let "them" participate in the battle directly, even though a top-tier "Calamity" level Evil Transformer like Jiu You might be worth hundreds of players.

Liao Ji chose to use the power of the Mother of Turbid Calamity, Polica, to transform "their" abilities into aura buffs and bestow authority upon the players.

These are the five combat buffs that have shocked players, who are now wondering if they are playing a "cracked version".

Chapter 347 The End

Actually, if possible.

Liao Ji certainly hoped that all five players could choose together.

Unfortunately, with Polica's current power, she can only project three buffs onto the player's world at most, and that's the limit.

but

This should be more than enough, more than sufficient.

You can tell from the players' reactions right now.

"Bro! It's real! Can you believe it? This is actually a real buff! I just tried it, and it really works!"

"What is this? An official cheat?"

"This 'Holy Kingdom's Chant' is so awesome! After selecting this buff, there's absolutely no pressure to survive. No matter how the boss attacks, my health keeps regenerating rapidly, and my character is in good health the entire time. It's so comfortable! It even has the invulnerability effect to further increase the margin for error. This is a must-have!"

"I think 'Forest Alliance' is pretty good too. It greatly enhances damage output while maintaining survivability. I've been raising tanks, mainly focused on being timid and cowardly. In previous games, I always relied on being tanky enough to slowly wear down the boss. I originally thought that the DLC's boss battles, where damage output was crucial, were probably out of my reach. But now, the Guardian class can deal tons of damage! I just tried it out, and even with a pure tank composition, I dealt nearly 200 million damage!"

"It's not just survival-related; the 'No Thought, No Aspiration' and 'Serendipity' damage buffs are insane! Their stats stack infinitely! Form a physical and magical team, and they're unstoppable. I just tried it; my team's DPS was barely over 3 million before, but after using these two buffs, guess how much damage I dealt? 300 million! That's right, 300 million! That's a hundredfold increase!"

"If you ask me, the truly invincible buff has to be 'Electronic Sheep'! What does that even mean? This is practically an official cheat! Wow, this is the first time I've ever seen something that can be completely automated, letting us take over the boss fight. The boss battle is fully automatic, and I just observed the AI-controlled battle. How can I put it? It's flawless! It perfectly times and executes all sorts of skill and timing maneuvers, even skillfully using my character's skills to dodge the boss's attacks while maximizing its own damage. This AI is amazing! This buff is absolutely a must-have, especially for those of us with poor reflexes!"

"So, isn't the optimal solution 'Holy Kingdom Chant' + 'No Thought, No Feeling' / 'Thorn' + 'Electronic Sheep'?"

"I chose the combination of 'Holy Kingdom Chant' + 'Forest Alliance' + 'Electronic Sheep'. These three buffs can enhance each other, and they all benefit from maximum health. Anyone who uses it knows how overpowered it is! It's incredibly comfortable, and it's fully automatic, super convenient!!"

"My assessment is that it's a pure, brutal damage combo of 'No Thoughts' + 'Serena' + 'Electronic Sheep'! We experts don't need any survival buffs! We pursue the absolute ultimate damage output; we love the feeling of walking a tightrope!"

"Electronic Sheep: Oh right, go on, anyway, you're not the one walking the tightrope."

"I see now, the 'Electronic Sheep' is really awesome!"

"Surely no one would actually not choose 'Electronic Sheep,' right? Really? Really?"

"Damn it! Why can I only choose three?! I want them all! Damn it!"

Liao Jineng understands the excitement and exhilaration of the players now. That unparalleled sense of thrill actually comes from the extremely high difficulty of the previous game, "The Fall".

It's like a player who used to play Souls-like games and always got killed by monsters in one hit, suddenly switching to a legendary online game where one hit can deal 999 damage, and they can just enjoy it.

Reflected on Liao Ji's side at this moment, one after another dazzling flames began to appear on the Phoenix Wings of the Source Lord. These were all caused by the damage inflicted on the "Source Lord" in the player world.

The phoenix struggled and cried out incessantly, as if making its final, death throes. The commotion was so great that the entire World Tree seemed to sway slightly.

But all of this was in vain. From the moment the players responded to Liao Ji's call and returned to the world of "The Fall," the outcome was already decided.

Ten trillion health points is indeed a lot, but with each player's battle, this astronomical number is rapidly decreasing: ten trillion, nine trillion, six trillion, three trillion, five hundred billion, three hundred billion, one hundred billion.

The source master's aura grew weaker and weaker, and the extent of his struggles diminished. The wings that once sheltered him from the vast world, those magnificent, mythical wings, had long since fallen off, leaving him desolate and miserable.

It once exploited players, but now it is reaping the consequences of its own actions, with players taking back everything that belongs to them in this way. This is the ending that Liao Ji wanted to give to the "Source Master," and it is also a little bit of Liao Ji's selfish desire as a "player."

after all

The difficulty of Falling can indeed be described as disgusting. As a reunion of players with Falling, in the DLC, Liao Ji hopes to give players a beautiful memory of Falling, a "satisfying" ending, so that the journey of Falling is no longer all painful.

Yes.

Once the "Source Master" is completely destroyed, the portal between the Fallen World and Earth will be closed, at least no longer allowing nearly ten thousand players to connect as it does now.

Even the players who connect now are only playing a 2D version of the game; it can't even be done in 3D.

They remain in their own world, and the BOSS they fight is merely a phantom of the Source Lord, harming the real body by harming the phantom.

Once everything is over, apart from myself, the remaining players may truly be saying goodbye to this world.

almost

Players weaken the Source Master from within, but ultimately, the one who defeats the Source Master and delivers the fatal blow to this phoenix is ​​the one who stands outside and can directly face the Source Master's "true form."

The weakened phoenix could no longer soar in the air and fell from the treetop, lying lifeless on the "Source Sea" under the World Tree. This was the moment Liao Ji had been waiting for.

The skill "Touch of Calamity" is activated, and a blood-red greatsword is summoned. This familiar weapon comes from Irene.

Irene, who was taken as her guide after her arrival by Lena, merged with Lena's remnant soul and the remnants of the source, and the heart of a girl that she had never "pulled out" of, now reveals her true form: a greatsword containing the power of "source".

The source cannot be killed, but it can be scattered.

After using the power of the "Source" to shatter the "Source Master", it would take a long time to form the next "Source Master". This is the optimal solution that Liao Jineng has adopted, which is equivalent to a seal.

Liao Ji, having raised his greatsword, no longer hesitated. His figure transformed into a streak of light, pointing directly at the Phoenix Source Master on the ground, who was utterly powerless to resist and could only accept his fate.

Chapter 348 Cold Wave (Part 1)

Realizing the crisis facing the "Source Master," as if making a last-ditch effort, the entire "Source Sea" beneath the Starry World Tree began to surge and churn before Liao Ji.

Countless "sources" leaped out of the sea, their bodies creating wave after wave of monstrous waves as they rushed towards Liao Ji like madmen, trying to stop him from reaching the "source master".

But all of this was in vain. The only Source Master on par with Liao Ji had been completely paralyzed by the players' attacks, and no matter how many other "Sources" there were, they couldn't do anything to Liao Ji.

The greatsword's blade cleaved through the waves, shredding the mythical creatures that blocked its path. Yet these "sources" continued to advance relentlessly, hoping to give the phoenixes on the sea behind them a chance to catch their breath, so that their "source masters" could at least take flight again and escape from this place.

This scene allowed Liao Ji to witness another side of "Source," the side of the group.

In times of crisis, it seems that "Source" is no longer such a cold and ruthless mythical creature.

But this will not make Liao Ji show any mercy.

After all, the two sides seem destined to be adversaries in terms of ideology. It's as if one day, the oxygen on Earth develops its own consciousness and tries to take over a body and obtain a shell, all of humanity would probably try every means to destroy such a consciousness.

What Liao Ji is doing now is the same.

The source is the cornerstone that makes up the world.

The foundation does not require consciousness.

Ten steps, five steps, three steps

Liao Ji, wielding a greatsword, finally arrived in front of the phoenix. No matter how the phoenix source master retreated, at this distance, there was no room for escape. If Liao Ji wanted to, he could now swing his greatsword and cut off the phoenix's head.

With the destruction of the Source Lord, the entire Source race came to an end. The Source Sea returned to calm, the World Tree's ecology was balanced, and the "Turbid Calamity" naturally disappeared. The vast world, which is each "leaf," will also begin to recuperate.

Everything returns to beauty

?

Amidst the phoenix's mournful and desperate cry, Liao Ji's greatsword pointed directly at the phoenix's head, slashing down with a single blow, only to come to an abrupt halt a mere centimeter away, the blade hovering above it.

But clearly, this Phoenix Source Master did not seem to realize it, or rather, it seemed to have already imagined that it would be killed by Liao Ji. After letting out a final mournful cry, its body collapsed completely with a thud and began to convulse.

One twitch, two twitches, twitch

"Waaah?"

The Phoenix Source Master, with its eyes closed, finally realized something was wrong. Shouldn't its body have twitched twice and then completely stiffened and died? Why was it still twitching non-stop?

When the Source Lord opened his eyes and saw Liao Ji, who had reined in his greatsword at the edge of the cliff and placed it on his head, the Phoenix was initially confused, but then an unparalleled will to survive emerged.

Some things, like death, if you've truly experienced half of them, walked through the gates of hell, and felt that coldness and desolation, then the will to survive after surviving such an ordeal will be several times stronger than when you were a "newborn calf."

Therefore, when using torture to extract confessions, it is not necessary to directly torture the target. You can first find another prisoner and let the target see the prisoner's miserable state. After that, the subsequent interrogation will be much smoother.

This is also the origin of the phrase "killing the chicken to scare the monkey" in Liao Ji's hometown.

What Liao Ji is doing now is essentially the same.

Having been terrified by Liao Ji and having truly come close to its end for the first time in its "origin," the Phoenix Source Master seems to have awakened some new attribute. From its previous aloofness and unyielding spirit, it has now...

"Chirp!?"

"Chirp"

The phoenix began to cry out frantically at Liao Ji. When it saw Liao Ji frown, the phoenix seemed to realize that it was so frightened and flustered that it forgot to "switch" its language and hurriedly switched to Liao Ji's language.

"Spare me."

"Please, please, let me go."

Unlike the ethereal voice of the previous Source Master, the current Phoenix seemed to be catering to Liao Ji's preferences, adopting a clear and crisp tone with a soft and pitiful voice.

It was even a female voice.

It has nothing to do with sound.