reincarnation npc, but tomorrow's ark

Chapter 196 Talulah

(I plan to finish this book in early June, and then take a good rest for a while. I'm so tired... It'll be a good time to have some fun.)

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Perhaps because the crisis had been resolved, Carmen seemed to be in a good mood.

"It's a pity we couldn't witness the massive retreat from the land; it must have been spectacular." Bai Ye looked at Granfalo before him. Before he left, it was a small town almost swallowed up by the Netherworld Mark, but now it had been transformed into a sturdy fortress.

Even so, the area is filled with signs of battle, which is enough to show how intense the fighting was on the shore.

"What we need to do now is to change the direction of public opinion. We must transfer the hatred of Iberia towards the Sea Children to the Deep Sea Church as much as possible. We have already held several public trials for this purpose."

Carmen spoke, glancing at Greta and the others who were watching:

"Yes, that includes Cicero and Amaya, whom you helped capture. Unfortunately, we didn't get any useful information from them in the end."

"Anyway, the main group has already shared all the information with us, so these deep-sea bishops are no longer of any use to us," Bai Ye said indifferently.

Carmen nodded, then looked at Bai Ye and suddenly remembered something else:

"By the way, everyone at the Iberian Tribunal is waiting for you."

"Kal'tsit?" Bai Ye asked without hesitation. After all, he didn't have any other friends in Iberia, and Kal'tsit was probably the only one who would ask him for help.

However, Carmen shook her head:

"I won't tell you the answer. You'd better see for yourself later. In my opinion, it should be considered a surprise."

Bai Ye was a little confused; why was this guy being so mysterious?

“There’s one more thing. Pope Ivangelista XI of Lateran is preparing to convene a summit of nations, and he has already recalled the messengers of all nations,” Carmen added as a final reminder.

Bai Ye was indeed unaware of this matter, as he had been isolated from the world for a long time. In the deep sea, apart from learning about the players' movements and major events that even the players knew about and were affected by through forums, he knew nothing else.

"It's actually ahead of schedule?" Bai Ye was somewhat surprised.

The World Summit wasn't entirely unfamiliar to him; before his transmigration, it was the Lateran dungeon, which was only opened in 1099, during the fourth version.

I don't remember much about the White Night dungeon anymore; it seems like there was something outrageous like an ice cream truck in it.

Because the "Debauchery" was preparing for the first kill of the new dungeon "Bozokasti in My Heart", Bai Ye's mind was not on the new dungeon. In addition, Bai Ye's main weapon was not a gun and his skill level was very low, so he only went into the dungeon for a short while.

I also helped the gunner in Team Five get a set of equipment.

Well, it's worth mentioning that, given the player's skill level before the time travel, thinking they could directly confront and kill "Bozokasti in their heart" in the fourth version was a bit of a stretch. This thing is not something players can just casually mess with.

At first, Bai Ye thought Bozokasti was just a reskinned version of the Patriot boss, with perhaps a slight increase in stats and little change in mechanics. It turned out they were two completely different bosses. Bozokasti was far too powerful in his mind; the "Libertine's Tea Party" challenge was incredibly difficult, requiring a huge effort to slowly whittle him down, a far cry from the original plan of a direct assault. Even so, towards the end, the team was practically out of ammunition, and most of the players, including the commander, had to stop and watch TV.

……

Reflecting on the past, Bai Ye and the Deep Sea Hunters arrived at the Inquisition's guesthouse. Actually, the Iberian Inquisition didn't even have such a place initially; after all, it was a completely closed country with no diplomacy and no need to entertain foreign guests.

Therefore, this guesthouse was newly built after Iberia gradually opened up following the receipt of aid from other countries, making it a relatively new establishment. Indeed, for Iberia, which had experienced decades of relative calm, this was an unprecedented and groundbreaking move.

Upon reaching the room indicated by the concierge at the entrance, Bai Ye did not proceed further. Instead, she clapped her hands, and two figures appeared out of thin air in front of her. They then bowed to Bai Ye.

"Commander Bai Ye."

"Did you guys go to the Eastern Kingdom for further studies? You're starting to look more and more like ninjas..." Bai Ye couldn't help but complain.

Clearly, the two who suddenly appeared were Ghost Squad agents acting as guards. As his former instructor, Bai Ye recognized them, but he hadn't expected their stealth skills to have improved to this extent.

“I did communicate with them and learned a lot,” the Ghost Agent replied.

In fact, the two women's stealth skills were already quite outstanding; they blended almost completely into the shadows, and even the deep-sea hunters didn't detect them. Goredia and the others were clearly taken aback when these two appeared.

“However, if you were here, then the guests in the room wouldn’t have any mystery to them…” Bai Ye said with a hint of helplessness. He had deliberately not sensed the atmosphere in the room to ensure the “surprise” that Carmen mentioned.

Before the mystery could be revealed, the two ghost agents completely destroyed all the mystique.

Bai Ye knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Sure enough, a familiar voice came from inside the house.

Upon opening the door, a dragon maiden dressed in a formal gown appeared before Bai Ye.

The girl's eyes lit up the moment she saw Bai Ye.

"white night!"

Talulah lunged at Bai Ye, but then quickly changed her stance after seeing the three Deep Sea Hunters behind him.

"It's alright, you guys continue." Laurentina waved her hand with a smile, then pulled Skadi, who had been watching the show, away. Gladys nodded to Talulah with a wry smile, then followed after them.

"Oh, so you've captured that tall deep-sea hunter too? I knew she couldn't escape." Talulah had clearly noticed the change in Grace, and she looked at Bai Ye in surprise. The deep-sea hunter had always been cold and aloof before, so this contrast was quite unexpected for Talulah.

“Well, there are very complicated reasons for this…” Bai Ye blinked.

"It must be because of her white hair and red eyes that you couldn't resist..." Talulah knew White Night's tastes well; almost everyone around him was white-haired.

Upon hearing this, Bai Ye was indeed speechless.

Oh no, I'm surrounded by white hair!

"No wonder you look down on my sister, the reason is actually so simple..." In this respect, Talulah has clearly won by a large margin.

Bai Ye thought about it carefully, then nodded:

"That might indeed be part of the reason?"

"Huh? You actually seriously consider this issue?!" Talulah looked at Bai Ye speechlessly.

……

While joking around, Bai Ye and Talulah entered the room.

Besides Talulah, there was another acquaintance of White Night in the room.

"Yelena." Bai Ye waved to the white rabbit sitting at the desk reading a book.

Summer has arrived, and the Iberian coast is gradually becoming hot and humid, but the temperature inside the room remains exceptionally comfortable. After all, with Yelena around, there's no need for any cooling equipment; the room temperature simply won't rise.

Yelena herself was dressed in rather heavy clothing, making her seem like she came from a completely different world compared to Talulah.

"Do you need me to go out?" Yelena asked, standing up as she saw Bai Ye.

"Uh, I don't think so?" Bai Ye shook his head.

Yelena was slightly surprised:

"Are you planning to take me with you today? The problem of the low temperature hasn't been solved yet, this isn't a good idea... I'd better not let you get too cold."

Legendary mobile suits.

Upon hearing this, Bai Ye was truly taken aback.

"We'll talk about that later! I don't have any thoughts on that today."

Talulah blushed slightly, clearly not expecting Yelena to be so bold.

As expected of her.

"Alright then." After hearing this, Miss Froststar sat back down at her desk. Bai Ye glanced at her and noticed that she was reading a book related to low-temperature physics.

Clearly, Yelena, who came from an unorthodox background, has found a way to enhance her strength, namely by strengthening her theoretical studies. Yelena's magical talent was already outstanding, and now that she has studied Originium Arts theory and physics, she can be described as having a very promising future.

Talulah, on the other hand, didn't need any extra lessons. After being taken away by Kosicheal, she began learning all sorts of things, with Originium Arts being a top priority. Unfortunately, as a lord now, Talulah hardly needs to use force anymore. The most obvious sign is that she hasn't fought in a long time.

Seemingly noticing that Bai Ye was looking at Yelena, Talulah smiled and said:

"She's a very studious person. If I were to fight her now, I'm afraid my chances of winning wouldn't be very high. Yelena's training is much more rigorous than mine, whether it's melee combat or magic."

“Bai Ye, don’t believe this dragon girl. She trains secretly all the time, don’t think I don’t know,” Yelena suddenly interjected. “Sometimes she’ll go to the training ground after finishing work late at night.”

"You can just roll it up secretly..." Yelena complained.

"That's just... to prevent my figure from going out of shape," Talulah explained sheepishly. She paused, then continued, "After all, my age forces me to start caring about these things..."

Both Talulah and Yelena are practically older sisters. They're both almost 30 years old.

At least in terms of age.

Of course, compared to the lifespan of the Talulah race, this girl is still too young and probably doesn't need to have any anxiety about this at all.

“However, even with the protection of Ghost Agents, it was still too hasty for you to leave the core city like this…” Bai Ye said, looking at Talulah’s dress, “So, Talulah, you can wear clothes other than military uniforms?”

"It was Alina who recommended me, saying that this would suit my identity better and also conceal the martial spirit of the core city."

Because of the presence of players, and because the core city was built by seizing someone else's territory, most of Terra's natives have a strong martial spirit influencing the city. Talulah wants to reverse this prejudice as much as possible.

"Are you planning to attend the Lateran International Summit?" Bai Ye suddenly realized.

“Yes, because of the special nature of the Marquisate, His Majesty the Emperor has allowed me to represent my territory at this meeting.” Talulah nodded.

Bai Ye sighed:

"We need to gradually change direction. We must have other alternatives to the undead, and that's the players. You know, this group is a significant asset. Going forward, if we want to preserve the sanctuary for the infected, relying solely on players will definitely not be enough."

"Could it be that what Luna said before is about to happen? Your world is about to arrive, and players who are merely projections will disappear forever?" Talulah quickly understood the reason.

Bai Ye nodded.

The reason why the Marquisate of Talulah, also known as the core city of Chernobog, has such a special status is certainly not just because more and more infected people are entering this city, making it a hotbed for infected people. If that were all, in the eyes of the Ursus Empire, it would just be an even larger concentration camp of infected people.

This region's significance stems from the players who congregate here, players who inspire fear in any nation on this land, especially after witnessing their actions along the Iberian coast. The latest intelligence has been obtained, and no one dares to provoke such an armed force.

Therefore, Talulah's position is special because she is able to keep such a large group at ease. Even the Emperor of Ursus would allow Talulah to represent his territory at the World Summit.

However, with the world merging and the players disappearing, Arknights Online officially shut down, transforming into the real world, and the core city will also lose the protection of players.

Before that, Baiye and Talulah must find more important leverage to ensure that the core city can maintain its current status and remain unaffected after players log off.

“I understand.” Talulah nodded, then asked with some curiosity, “When will those non-players leave?”

"It's already very fast. We've reached the final stage, and I think we'll have results soon. After all, Hai Si has once again accelerated the progress of world fusion." Bai Ye wasn't sure when Luna's plan would be completed, but even if world fusion was finished, shutting down the game would still require many procedures.

In-game assets need to be settled, player information needs to be cleared, and a broadcast needs to be made across the star system to recall everyone... The closer to the critical moment, the more complicated and tedious things become.

Chapter 197 Server Shutdown Announcement

(I'll also use that universal formula for grooves. The author says that readers only need to subscribe and follow the story, but the author has a lot more to consider [not really])

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In fact, Arknights Online shut down faster than Bai Ye had imagined.

While Bai Ye was still discussing this issue with Talulah, he suddenly discovered that the server shutdown announcement had already been released.

Dear players:

Thank you for your continued support and love for Arknights Online! Due to adjustments in our operational strategy, Arknights Online will cease operations and shut down its game servers.

For details regarding the service suspension plan, please see the link below.

……

Since Bai Ye was already in Terra, the game's downtime on Earth was meaningless to him. All Bai Ye knew was that players had 10 Terra days to process their game accounts. At the same time, Luna would stop registering all new player accounts.

There will be no new players in the future.

Furthermore, all existing players can do is log into the game; all player data will be frozen.

Simply put, players cannot level up, use items, learn skills, or change their status; all they can probably do is wander around.

Ten Terra Days later, Arknights Online will be completely shut down, and players will no longer be able to access the game. One month later, the two worlds will complete their final fusion, creating a completely new world that no one can predict or has ever seen before.

This sudden announcement startled even Bai Ye, who was somewhat prepared, let alone players across the entire planet.

Especially for players who just joined the game in this version, who have only been playing for a short time, suddenly being told that the game is gone without any warning, who could stand that?

In an instant, countless complaints and reports were sent to the relevant departments. And all of these would eventually be compiled and submitted to Luna.

Luna: ? ? ?

What's this? I'm the defendant, but I'm the one who has to deal with it.

Although it sounds funny, players are more inclined to believe it's a minor joke, such as a temporary worker causing trouble and messing up the job. After the players confronted the worker, the company clarified the misunderstanding, offered some compensation, and the matter was considered closed.

Unfortunately, after the in-game announcement was released, Luna sent out the server shutdown announcement again through official channels.

Now everyone understood that shutting down the servers and ceasing game operations was Luna's decision.

Immediately, various discussions erupted in real life.

Some very old movies and their concepts are being brought up again, such as "Terminator," "Skynet," and "Iron Man Rebellion"...