"You can also call them program vulnerabilities."

Chu Xuan adjusted his flat-lensed glasses and then spoke seriously to the others: "Explaining this issue will take a lot of time, so I will simply ask: Since entering this world, have you ever seriously contemplated the principles governing it? Who exactly created the marvels of this world, when were they created, and why? Have you ever carefully considered all these things?" As if by unspoken agreement, the crowd nodded, then simultaneously shook their heads, their synchronized movement so precise it seemed they had rehearsed it hundreds of times. After this action, Zheng Zha finally spoke with a wry smile, "Chu Xuan, stop playing these word games. Those last two sentences have left us reeling. What exactly is going on? That a Daoist ancestor Hongjun and a human progenitor Fuxi turn out to be the legendary cultivators and Sages—this is bizarre enough. Just tell us plainly, what do these words truly mean?"

Chu Xuan showed no reserve, nodding as he said, "As we have just learned, this 'Main God' space was jointly constructed by Sages and cultivators. Therefore, we can draw a reasonable hypothesis: Sages and cultivators are at least equals, or perhaps the power of the Sages and that of the cultivators are not vastly different, with the Sages perhaps holding a slight edge in individual strength.

But this is not the critical point. The crucial matter is that this passage highlights two points that require attention."

"First, ancient humans were divided into three factions, categorized by skin color and direction. And it goes without saying which faction we are descendants of, right? Second is the origin of the 'Main God' space. It seems to be the convergence of the Sages' control and creation of energy, combined with the rune technology of the cultivators. The union of these two forces brought the 'Main God' space into being. However, as the first point mentioned, the Sages and cultivators comprised three factions. Thus, while they certainly designed this 'Main God' space with humanity's future in mind, they could still manage to leave small backdoors beneficial to their own descendants..." At this point, Chu Xuan paused, then continued, "Just as we have experienced before.

There is absolutely no free lunch in this 'Main God' space. The greater the danger, the greater the reward. For instance, you must experience and complete a mission of B-rank difficulty to obtain the rewards corresponding to B-rank difficulty missions. Similarly, the cultivation achieved by Luo Yinglong of the Heavenly God team was not gained unless they experienced a horror film world involving cultivation and completed the mission at that level... But right now, we might truly be in luck, as we only need to complete a B-rank difficulty mission to receive S-rank or even beyond S-rank rewards. This is the 'Main God' space BUG I spoke of... it is the last legacy left behind by our ancestors of the yellow-skinned lineage for us, their descendants."

Zheng Zha and the others looked at each other with delight, yet only Chu Xuan remained frowning. After several seconds, he spoke, "However, this BUG is not as easily obtained as imagined. Because of modifications made by the other two factions, although temporal and secrecy issues prevent them from completely altering this BUG, they can easily tamper with it slightly—for instance, increasing the power of the first 'God,' Hao Yi, several times over, or perhaps halving the completion time. If that happened, we would be utterly annihilated, and this BUG would be unobtainable."

Hearing this, Zheng Zha immediately recalled the situation. He pondered, "Setting aside Hao Yi's strength for a moment, don't we have ample time? Whether it’s the time we’ve exchanged in this world or the time we have to complete this mission, seven days is enough time for the Green Devil Skateboard to circle the world several times. Moreover, the Buddha Head is still with Jonathan. It’s unlikely that our fight with the first 'God,' Hao Yi, will last a full week, right?" "A pure combat scenario shouldn't take a week, but what about matters outside the fighting?" Chu Xuan gazed at the message on the map as he spoke, "From this mission prompt, there are two ways to acquire this mission: one is to obtain this map, or two is to obtain any component of the Buddha Body... Do you understand now?" "No!" Zheng Zha and the others shook their heads in unison, their tone so self-assured they showed no hint of shame. Moreover, Cheng Xiao muttered a few words, complaining about answering a question with another question, clearly unwilling to attempt to guess the meaning behind Chu Xuan's statement.

Chu Xuan glanced at the group, a slight, almost imperceptible frown crossing his brow, before he said, "If, as Jonathan suggested, the Buddha Head—or rather, this statue—is the key to entering that tomb, and the mission prompt specifies any component of the Buddha Body, it means this statue is likely divided into multiple parts. For example, the Buddha Head is one part, the Buddha Body is another, and even the limbs could each function as an independent component. This side-story mission might be because the Buddha Body has already been split into several pieces, and if we fail to reassemble the statue within seven days, all of us will be instantly annihilated, plain and simple..." Zheng Zha exchanged a look with those around him, asking perplexedly, "But we are currently in a horror film world. We won't be instantly annihilated; we’ll only be erased due to negative points after our exchanged time runs out. We could complete this side-story mission during that time interval, couldn't we?" "Yes, you complete the mission, but... do you understand now why this side-story mission only rewards side-story mission points and not standard points? It’s because we have been designed into this trap. The originally allocated reward points have been adjusted away by the White faction Sages. Therefore, if we don't complete this side-story mission within seven days, completing it later will be useless..." Zheng Zha and the other team members fell into deep contemplation. Unconsciously, Zheng Zha had unlocked the third stage of his gene lock and began simulating Xiao Honglu's thought process. After a moment's thought, he said, "Indeed, based on your deduction, this scenario is the most likely. Alternatively, one could argue that when the cultivators originally designed this BUG, they arranged for the Buddha statue to be scattered, preventing the team completing the mission from finishing it easily within seven days. And once the team is penalized a deduction of ten thousand reward points, that team will be forced to fight Hao Yi, the first 'God,' desperately to achieve the cultivators' objectives. If my guess is correct, the original reward for this side-story mission should have included ten thousand reward points for every team member, is that right?"

Chu Xuan nodded, "The probability of certainty is over eighty percent... That’s why I said this BUG definitely exists, but obtaining it might be extremely difficult. This current side-story mission... has a high probability of resulting in team annihilation if we are not careful. Our Central Team might be wiped out within this BUG, with no one ever knowing what became of us..." Zheng Zha exhaled, reaching up to pinch the hair on his forehead. After a long moment of holding it, he said, "I am currently using Xiao Honglu's thought process. While I cannot achieve a hundred percent simulation, I can reach about sixty to seventy percent similarity. Simulating with his thought process, this crisis can be resolved in two ways..."

"The first is to completely abandon this side-story mission. The deducted reward points after seven days will be acquired through other means. There will definitely be other side-story missions in this world; if necessary, we could even massacre a city to see if we can gain reward points... In short, the first method is to forgo obtaining this BUG and seek other side-story missions to cover the deficit of one thousand reward points. Although this carries the risk of searching everywhere for other side-story missions and whether the rewards from completing those unknown missions will be sufficient, the probability of team annihilation drops to about fifty percent—this data is derived after comprehensively considering our team's strength..."

"The second is still to complete this side-story mission, but it requires doing something astonishing. First, we must marshal an extremely vast force to track down any channel through which the Buddha statue components might leak. Then, we must possess overwhelming combat power to ensure we can seize back any piece of the Buddha statue, even directly destroying an army or a nation if necessary. The second method has two major difficulties: one is how to possess immense influence in an extremely short time, influence that includes spies, secret agents, and moles, needing to investigate all factions that have come into contact with the Buddha statue; and two is whether our possessed combat strength is truly sufficient to support such actions? The second method entails risks that are too great, with a team annihilation probability exceeding seventy percent. To be honest, purely from a rational perspective, choosing the first method might be far more appropriate, but..." Zheng Zha chuckled wryly, "But... I don't know why, but when using Xiao Honglu’s thought process, if it were him, he would resolutely choose the second method."

Chu Xuan smiled—it was unclear if this smile was a simulation through muscle movement or genuine emotion rising—and after smiling, he nodded and said, "That's right, the same as me... We both choose the second method."

"Very well, we rest for one hour. Afterward, we split into two groups. One group heads toward the tomb location to check if the Buddha statue is complete. The other returns to Shanghai... and turns this world upside down. We will achieve it our way!" Zheng Zha burst out laughing, clapping Chu Xuan on the shoulder, then laughing loudly at the others.

Jump to