Chapter 234: Game Activation

Chapter 234: Game Activation

Many memories from that time should have been forgotten, considering the years that had passed.

Yet perhaps because of his inner demons, everything in front of Jie Fangcheng appeared incredibly vivid and lifelike.

He could discern every single pillar, every tile on the floating celestial palace over the Sand City, all appearing exceptionally intricate and grand.

The day the celestial palace appeared, not just the common people but even many military generals prostrated, worshiping the celestial beings with profound reverence.

Jie Fangcheng simply observed the palace in silence. Unlike the astonishment of those around him upon seeing the immortals, he felt a chilling sensation.

The sudden emergence of this celestial palace atop the Sand City raised questions. If the newly appeared immortal ordered them to surrender, what then?

Soon enough, Jie Fangcheng's conjectures materialized.

On the third day after the celestial palace's appearance, the Yi Nation general, who was guarding the Sand City, arrogantly brought forth a white celestial decree to the gates of the Sunset Pass.

A century of deep-seated enmity and the tragic demise of tens of thousands were reduced to mere cold, black ink on a white paper - a letter of surrender.

The letter bore humiliating terms. Xie Fangcheng, however, glanced at it impassively before stowing it away.

After dispatching the envoy from the Qi nation, his deputy inquired, "Your Highness, what should we do?"

Xie Fangcheng remained silent, uttering not a word.

That night.

Armed with a sword, Xie Fangcheng stealthily infiltrated Sha City, alone on horseback.

By dawn's first light the following day, he returned bearing two severed heads.

"It wasn't a deity."

That's what Xie Fangcheng asserted.

Subsequently, the humiliating letter of surrender was made public. The frontier folks and commanders were passionate. Years of enmity between the two nations had cemented a kill-or-be-killed mentality.

In the throes of his inner torment, Xie Fangcheng watched as his "doppelganger" methodically positioned the entire Ru Kingdom against the divine realm.

— Yes.

He knew it that day: it was a deity.

That very night, after infiltrating Sha City, he discovered the divine palace eerily deserted.

But within that palace, one could truly see the touch of the immortals everywhere.

Fans that moved without a breeze, otherworldly flowers and fruits unseen before, and the elusive mist of the immortals... Everywhere, Prince Jie Fangcheng saw wonders he had never witnessed before.

If this isn't the work of immortals, then what is it?

Perhaps it was due to the descent of the immortal that the Sand City lowered its guard. Quietly, Jie Fangcheng descended from the celestial palace, heading towards the brightly-lit mansion of the city lord.

The entire Sand City was illuminated and decorated, celebrating the arrival of this immortal. Everyone understood; what was once a mortal conflict between two nations changed entirely upon the arrival of the immortal.

It's an immortal, after all!

Indeed, that's an immortal.

When Xie Fangcheng arrived at the city lord's mansion, what he saw was an "immortal" - his physique strong and face handsome, yet drunkenly intoxicated, discoursing animatedly with two beautiful concubines, behaving no differently than any typical hedonistic noble.

This “immortal” was oblivious to the fact that a mere mortal had already visited his celestial palace and was unaware of the figure silently watching him from the roof above.

Xie Fangcheng thought of the humiliating surrender paper.

The Yi Nation was known for its savage and bloodthirsty nature, often launching invasions and massacres against Ru Nation and its neighboring countries.

There was once a small neighboring country that surrendered to the Yi Nation, only to have its entire populace enslaved, with the men turned into laborers and the women into prostitutes. Should Ru Nation surrender, its fate might be even more tragic.

Immortal.

Immortal, after all, should also mean human, right?

It was only after Xie Fangcheng personally killed the immortal and the Sand City generals that he became certain.

Even the so-called immortals can be slain.

What followed was an unending war.

The death of the immortal seemed like a minor episode in the war between the two countries. With that highly insulting surrender paper, the entire morale of Ru Nation shifted.

As things continued, another celestial palace appeared. But this time, it descended upon the Luo Xia Pass.

This new immortal seemed to favor Ru Nation. He praised Xie Fangcheng for his kills and extolled Ru Nation as a sacred land, promising to aid Ru Nation in winning the war. All he asked in return was the construction of a shrine in his honor and a yearly sacrifice of a few Ru Nation citizens to receive his divine protection.

Once again, Xie Fangcheng unsheathed his sword.

In his inner turmoil, the blood of the immortal sprayed on his face, bringing an inhuman chill.

Xie Fangcheng watched "himself", witnessing how he “protected” Ru Nation.

If given another chance, would he still stubbornly choose to stand against the realm of gods?

He pondered this question countless times, each time arriving at a different answer.

But in his innermost thoughts, there was only one answer.

The immortals that came were probably just fledgling deities, and Xie Fangcheng, a mere mortal, managed to triumph over them with his own might.

Indeed, he was exceptionally gifted. His strength augmented tremendously through each successive battle with immortals, eventually allowing him to wield spells exclusive to deities.

But after all, he was only human.

Many perished in that battle, some familiar faces, others strangers, most of them fell defending him, sacrificing themselves for his protection.

Mortals could no longer triumph over gods.

Xie Fangcheng saw himself sitting amidst a mound of graves, gazing up at the luminous moon.

"If humans cannot overcome the heavens... what about spirits?"

In reality, Xie Fangcheng suddenly furrowed his brows, forcefully spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Beside him, Cui Jue only knew that after Xie Fangcheng entered the control room, he seemed to have realized or found something. Closing his eyes for a brief moment, he then abruptly coughed up blood.

"What happened to you?!" Cui Jue, taken aback, hurriedly supported him.

The next moment, due to a mental tumult, a white Dream-returning Fish, as if it had been forcefully kicked, shot out from his body.

Seeing this fish, Cui Jue exclaimed in surprise, "What is this?!"

His colleague sure had a plethora of secrets!

Xie Fangcheng waved it off, nonchalantly wiping away the blood from his lips, grabbed the Dream-returning Fish, and thrust it into the compartment designated for the Book of Life and Death.

Almost instantly, every server in the control room lit up.

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Hearing the system prompt, Xie Fangcheng was taken aback.

"Three Thousand Worlds"? Wasn't it supposed to be "Do Not Respond"?

Could it be because I returned from "Three Thousand Worlds" and still have remnants of the game's essence on me, causing this control room to detect it and automatically replace "Do Not Respond" with "Three Thousand Worlds"?

Can it really be this sophisticated?

And with it switching to "Three Thousand Worlds", can my original plan still come to fruition?

Xie Fangcheng felt utterly confounded.

And what on earth is this version activation code?

He glanced at the console, where the electronic screen displayed an interface prompting the entry of the code.

Tentatively, Xie Fangcheng input a sequence of numbers.

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With a frustrated expression, Xie Fangcheng turned to Cui Jue.

"Did any of the confiscated documents mention a version activation code?"

Cui Jue responded helplessly, "There's a ton of documents. How should I know? Want me to search for you?"

"Please do."

Cui Jue quickly exited the control room to search for the code.

With nothing better to do, Xie Fangcheng turned his gaze back to the electronic screen.

Apart from the activation code prompt, there was an adjacent question mark.

Perhaps it's some sort of explanatory note?

Thinking so, Xie Fangcheng clicked the question mark, revealing an instruction page.

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【Dear administrator of "Do Not Respond" (updated to the licensed game: "Three Thousand Worlds" inaugural version), welcome to the "Three Thousand Worlds" administrator backend.

Please be advised!

#1 The system is designed to serve players of "Three Thousand Worlds". The in-game instances are generated based on the current average strength of the player. Please refrain from arbitrarily adjusting the difficulty level of these instances.

#2 "Three Thousand Worlds" is a wholesome, uplifting, large-scale rescue game. Players can mend the fractures in the world's order by completing instance missions, thus contributing to delaying the collapse of these miniature worlds.

#3 This game strictly prohibits interference with the normal operation of the world. Administrators are forbidden from indiscriminately increasing or decreasing the number of generated instances!

#4 The right to interpret the game belongs solely to Developer 01.

A line of fine print is present below.

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Beneath this line, there should have been contact details, but for some unknown reason, they have been erased.

Could what Yan Zhen said actually be true?

Was the initial purpose of this game not to plunder but to save?

Is Xie Fangcheng currently holding the game's original version?

Why does he have the first-generation device of "Three Thousand Worlds"?

Xie Fangcheng was completely baffled. No matter how hard he thought, he couldn't recall when he had acquired such an impressive item.

This doesn't make sense…

As Xie Fangcheng pondered and unconsciously scrolled down the interface, he saw the contact column. Although the contact details of Developer 01 had been deleted, the photo was still there.

It wasn't a person... or rather, it wasn't a fixed form of a being or an entity.

Instead, it was a landscape painting.

A white planet, surrounded by several other satellites.

Such an image seemed somewhat familiar... and Xie Fangcheng had indeed seen it before.

In "Three Thousand Worlds", every player can customize their own avatar and personal signature.

If left unchanged, the default avatar remains constant.

Yet Xie Fangcheng had never changed his avatar, and his chosen image wasn't the default one.

Instead, it was the very landscape painting he was now looking at.

According to Zhan Xiaoming, this depicted the scenery of Area A1, where the six major guilds were initially located in the early stages of the game.

This white planet represented the original appearance of Area A1.

Why is it like this?

While Xie Fangcheng was pondering this, his hand unconsciously brushed against the slot where the "Dream Return Fish" was placed.

The next moment, he heard two distinct beeps.

One emanated from the server in front of him.

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The other came from within his mind and bore the voice of Yan Zhen.

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