Lucky billion players, you've never seen one before / I can accumulate my own luck

“Base A9 was created by three B-level players. They control the entire base and are the kings here,” the woman with the high ponytail replied. “We fled here two years ago. The base was already established by then, so we don’t know the specifics.”

"Three B-level players..."

Fan Xiao seemed to be deep in thought.

"Where did three B-level players from non-fusion zones find enough fantasy materials to create a safe zone? I can only do it because I have a rich woman supporting me..."

"The reason why the 004 partition of node G08 was able to build a safe zone is because the two opposing forces, representing good and evil, have each gathered players from around the world and have been developing for many years. Only through their combined efforts have they managed to accumulate enough game currency. At the same time, Star Memory City has also secretly colluded with many forces in various merged partitions..."

"The player factions in this world are so scattered, yet each of them has built a total of ten safe zones... That's a bit exaggerated."

It is impossible for three B-level players to create a safe zone.

Unless they have a powerful backer like "Mammon" and are strong themselves, even if they forcibly seize things in the spacetime orbit, the official forces of the various fusion zones will not dare to say much and will often just accept their bad luck.

Only in this way can we explain the origin of their imagined matter.

Of course, there is another possibility—the so-called ten bases are all secretly controlled by the various forces in the fusion zone.

It's like a white glove.

As for the purpose... it might be to satisfy the perverted fetishes of some important figures.

Fan Xiao considered many possibilities, but these thoughts quickly faded from his mind, and he did not delve into them.

To this world's division, he was merely a passerby.

Before long, the group of five traversed a vast area of ​​desolate city and finally arrived at the outskirts of the A9 base.

Once we got here, the monsters were no longer in sight.

When Al-chan had some free time, she returned to Fan Xiao's side and, like a curious child, struck up a conversation with the woman with the high ponytail: "Why are the city walls black?"

"Well... the material itself should be black, right?" the woman with the high ponytail replied uncertainly.

Are all those devices on the city wall weapons?

"It seems so. I saw someone outside operating those devices, killing the approaching monster hordes. They all seemed to be laser weapons."

"Why are so many people crowding outside the city instead of going in?"

"..."

Faced with this question, the woman with the high ponytail sighed softly: "They were all driven out; staying in the city requires paying contribution points."

"Why don't they go and earn contribution points?" Al-chan continued to ask, "Is it because they're lazy?"

High ponytail: "..."

Fan Xiao, walking to the side, glanced around and frowned slightly.

Outside the walls of the A9 base, many people with sallow and emaciated faces gathered.

Most of them were elderly, sitting in their makeshift tents with numb faces and eyes that revealed despair and death.

A ring of laser weapons was set up on the black city wall, and with the help of the city guards, the monster hordes outside could not get close to the outer perimeter of the base.

Any monsters that dared to approach were basically all killed.

This is also why there are no monsters to be seen in the more distant, desolate city areas—the appearance of monsters today is mainly his fault.

In other words, staying outside the city is actually quite safe.

However, this is only in theory.

If the number of attacking monsters exceeds a certain limit, the defending guards will not be able to react in time and suppress all the monsters outside the outer area.

At this time, the monster horde will inevitably attack the area where these elderly people live.

Hoping for high-level players within the base to rescue people... The fact that these elderly players were driven out of the base itself demonstrates the attitude of the players in power.

In addition to the monster crisis, these people who venture out also face the crisis of random dungeons.

The longer a world zone is shrouded in evolutionary games, the more likely it is to be affected by random dungeons.

Basically, any partition that hasn't created a safe zone by the later stages will be destroyed in the increasingly frequent dungeon crises.

Have you ever encountered a large-scale monster horde attacking a city?

Fan Xiao asked the woman with the high ponytail.

“It happened once a year ago, back then…” the woman with the high ponytail sighed, “Back then, many people died in the outer area. After the monster wave was repelled, there were hardly any people to be seen outside. But after a year… it’s become lively again outside.”

"Staying inside the base requires paying a lot of contribution points?" Fan Xiao continued to ask.

"Actually, it doesn't take many, but when they accumulate, the amount becomes terrifying."

Next to the woman with the high ponytail, a quiet young man wearing glasses said angrily, "Even if we don't eat or drink, just living in the city requires paying contribution points, plus various living expenses... We are now tightening our belts to barely stay in the base."

"If you can't hand over the contribution points, you'll be kicked out of the base. If you're lucky, you might survive for a while, but if you're unlucky... you'll disappear that very night."

The so-called disappearance naturally refers to being swallowed up by random copies.

The bespectacled young man looked around at the tents and said in a low voice, "These old people's bodies no longer allow them to explore those abandoned civilization ruins. They are only able to survive thanks to the occasional aid from the people in the base."

"It's those lousy gamers and conglomerates! They've priced the food way too high!"

The tall, thin man next to the bespectacled youth growled, "They don't allow us to cultivate land and grow food on our own. Basically, everything edible is controlled by those conglomerates."

"We can only barely stay in the base by working non-stop, day and night, working 18 hours a day."

"They're a bunch of beasts..."

"Ron! Shut up!"

The tall, thin young man was interrupted by the woman with the high ponytail.

The woman looked around nervously, and seeing that there was nothing unusual, she whispered, "Are you crazy! Talking bad about the conglomerate in the outer area of ​​the base. If someone hears this and tells on you, do you want to live anymore?"

"I……"

The tall, thin young man looked at the black city wall.

Under the oppressive feeling brought by the tall city walls, he subconsciously shut his mouth.

"It's alright, what's wrong with venting a bit?" Fan Xiao laughed. "Anyway, this place is going to be finished in the next few days, and no one will hold you accountable for your disrespectful remarks."

"..." The woman with the high ponytail paused, then subconsciously asked, "What do you mean?"

"Just guessing." Fan Xiao shook his head. "Let's go inside the base."

He wasn't just guessing randomly.

Chaos and order are opposites.

Just as Star City was born in Division 004, the Radiant Society was also born in the same way.

And this region... should also contain organizations representing "justice," as expected.

Luck told him that he would meet his junior sister here. Given her personality, since she was here, she definitely wouldn't stand idly by and do nothing about the situation at this base.

So... let's make a bold guess here—the junior sister is a member of the so-called "justice" organization, and this organization is about to carry out a big operation here. The junior sister happens to be involved in this operation, so they will meet here.

This guess is somewhat presumptuous and has very little basis.

However, Fan Xiao felt that considering the responsibility that his junior sister might be carrying, the possibility was quite high.

“Um… you need to get a citizen ID card to go inside the base.” The woman with the high ponytail reminded, “People who come to the A9 base for the first time must work for the base for three months without pay before they are eligible to buy an ID card.”

"Can we skip this step by using money to pave the way and spending game coins?" Fan Xiao asked.

"Yes, yes, but..."

The woman with the high ponytail kindly reminded them, "While game currency can be used at the A9 base, it's far less worthwhile to use it directly than to contribute points."

“As expected,” Fan Xiao said without any surprise: “When it comes to bloodsucking, we can’t let low-level players go.”

As for high-level players... presumably, once their level increases and their strength grows, they will be lured in by higher-ups with benefits and become part of the exploitative group.

The dragon slayer may become the dragon himself; the allure of power and desire is nothing new.

After spending some game currency, Fan Xiao obtained an ID card and entered the base with the three people with high ponytails.

The environment inside the base was much cleaner than outside the black city walls, and the people coming and going were mostly young adults.

Everyone looked tired, and they hurried past each other without exchanging many words, each focused on their own business.

In a suffocating work environment, they probably have no desire to socialize.

"What is the relationship between the players and the conglomerate within this base?"

Fan Xiao took a moment to ask the three of them.

“The relationship between the conglomerate and the players is very close,” the woman with the high ponytail replied. “I heard that at first, the conglomerate only served the players. Once the strongest players were satisfied, the players would hand over the authority to manage their bases to the conglomerate. Later, the conglomerate and the players became closer and closer, and phenomena such as marriage alliances appeared. Many powerful players also emerged within the conglomerate, and they became inseparable.”

She sighed softly, "For us ordinary people, there's really no difference between the two. They're both high above us, dominating everything we do."

"Is it……"

Fan Xiao scanned his surroundings, observing the situation.

Without the constraints of order, conglomerates expanded wildly, monopolizing people's basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. Would this have led to the current state of society? It truly is a crazy social structure.

"Hmm? What's that over there?"

After walking a distance, Fan Xiao pointed to a spot not far away and asked.

In his line of sight, a row of raised platforms had been erected along one side of the street.

At this moment, a number of young men and women were standing on the platform, wearing collars around their necks with information plaques hanging from them, and their expressions were all numb.

Fan Xiao had some guesses in his mind.

As expected, the woman with the high ponytail confirmed his guess: "They are all... slaves."

With a gloomy expression, she said, "In recent years, slavery has been reinstated, and some attractive young men and women are sold by their families to slave traders."

"Of course, not all of these slaves were forcibly sold by their families. Some of them couldn't survive in the base and would voluntarily become slaves and be auctioned off, so at least they wouldn't go hungry anymore."

"Those who usually come to buy slaves are high-ranking citizens living in the central urban area."

"These guys are all in cahoots!"

The tall, thin man muttered curses under his breath: "Since the advent of slavery, many beautiful young girls have been forcibly tied up and made slaves!"

"The collars around their necks contain neurotoxins derived from samples provided by players. The person holding the switch can kill them at any time if they want, so they dare not escape."

"These guys... are all beasts!"

"Enough!" the woman with the high ponytail hissed, "Don't say these things in the base!"

“Don’t worry,” Fan Xiao reminded her, “you’re all safe until we part ways. By the way…”

He continued, "Have you heard of evolution agents? You know, those kinds of potions that can turn ordinary people into evolved beings?"

"Evolution agent? Never heard of it."

The woman with the high ponytail shook her head: "If such a thing really existed... I'd probably become an evolved being and give it a shot. This base... I've had enough of it!"

So the potion was indeed blocked and controlled... Fan Xiao pondered.

Evolution Agent and Evolution Potion are not the same thing—the latter is used to increase the player's evolution rate, while the former is used to turn ordinary people into evolvers. The names may differ in different regions.

As long as there are samples available, the development of this drug is not difficult.

In more mature world divisions, ordinary people can actively choose whether or not to become players.

If the evolution agent exists at the A9 base, Fan Xiao estimates that these people who have been exploited to the extreme might choose to take a gamble in the evolution game.

This path has now been cut off.

"Do not worry."

Fan Xiao said to the woman with the high ponytail, "If I'm not mistaken, you might have this opportunity soon."

"……What's the meaning?"

The woman with the high ponytail looked doubtful.

Fan Xiao didn't explain, but said, "Let's part ways here. I have other things to do, so it's not appropriate for me to take you with me."

After saying that, he quietly slipped a stack of game tokens to the woman with the high ponytail and whispered, "Take these and distribute them as payment for answering your questions."

After saying that, he walked forward and his figure quickly disappeared into the crowd.

The woman with the high ponytail held a considerable number of game coins, her emotions a mix of complex feelings.

This was the first time she had ever met such a friendly player... What a kind person.