Chapter 278: Birthplace (Part XV)

Chapter 278: Birthplace (Part XV)

[Beep... Analyzing...]

[Beep—Analysis Complete.]

[Copy of system 'Three Thousand Worlds' (Version 3.7) Successful.]

[Beep—Copying instance data, please wait.]

Within an expansive cognitive space, almost boundless to sight, countless strands of black data intertwined, forming numerous instances.

The cognitive space was so vast that the complex data copied into it only occupied a mere fraction.

Oddly, every cognitive space should have a master, yet in this one, no figure could be seen. The surroundings were filled with a gray haze, reminiscent of the primordial cosmic dust.

Amidst this haze floated countless fragments of memories.

When a data stream inadvertently touched a memory fragment during its copying process, the system automatically prompted.

[Beep—Unknown data detected (Suspected: Memory Fragment). Clear?]

From far beyond the cognitive space, the sound of keyboard strokes seemed to echo.

The data stream swiftly executed the administrator's command.

[Clearing memory fragment, please wait.]

[Beep—Clearance failed, memory fragment in use.]

Memory fragment in use? Wasn't the person dead? How could the memory fragment still be active?

The administrator hesitated.

After all, this was the cognitive space of a creator deity, perhaps different from ordinary beings.

With that thought, the administrator bypassed that fragment and proceeded with the new directive.

In the Restricted Zone A1, within the President's lab, the President stood beside a massive black cocoon.

His fingers delicately tapped the mechanical keyboard.

In reality, there was no need for such actions. As the current administrator of "Three Thousand Worlds," the President could issue commands with mere thought.

However, he needed a sense of ceremony.

A ceremony—befitting someone about to control a Creator Deity.

The tapping ceased, and the President lifted his gaze to the cocoon before him, formed from black streams of data.

At the heart of the cocoon, a figure silently floated.

His skin was pallid, lips a striking red, appearing eerily beautiful, reminiscent of an enchanting specter from legends... which wasn't far from the truth.

Rumor had it that in the beginning, he was indeed a formidable soul collector.

The President glanced at the virtual screen by his side.

On the screen, a progress bar indicated the system's copying status.

The President had conducted countless such experiments, intending to replicate the system and implant it within a sentient being's cognitive space—much like the previous Dragon God and the original system.

The President understood that within a cognitive space, all obeyed the commands of the space's owner.

The current system of "Three Thousand Worlds" lacked autonomous thinking, primarily acting on the administrator's directives. It remained an artificial construct, falling short of the original system's prowess.

However, even without cognitive abilities, this technologically advanced system instinctively pursued its interests.

It hadn't rebelled, largely because it couldn't compute the benefits of betraying the six major guilds. Plus, due to inherent rules, the system had to heed the administrator's instructions.

Yet its evolution was rapid, as was its learning.

Like a newborn, it mirrored its creators' actions.

The President knew well that the system they—the six "parents"—had nurtured would never resemble the original system, which, despite being non-living, astonishingly developed human-like emotions, ultimately forgoing its interests to side with the Dragon God.

The nature of the current "Three Thousand Worlds" system could be deduced from the players' interactions.

The President had always sought ways to subdue the system, ensuring its compliance.

Presently, the only feasible method he envisioned was to confine the system within a cognitive space, imprisoning it within a sentient being.

Without an external mechanical form, it'd lack aggression, retaining only its computational capacity to maintain the operation of "Three Thousand Worlds."

If this could be achieved, they wouldn't fear any rule modifications.

Yet, no guardian, no matter how powerful, could bear the weight of the present "Three Thousand Worlds."

The system had grown overwhelmingly vast.

Consequently, their prior conjectures were either to enter the primal land, leveraging its rules to reconstruct the system, or to obliterate the primal land, destroying the rules set by the Dragon God.

He also considered the ultimate prohibition on the emergence of a Creator Deity.

The leaders of the six major guilds had restrained their power from growing. If the final edict set by the Dragon God could be undone, then they too might ascend to godhood.

Now, it seems the idea of transplanting the system might genuinely succeed.

The President gazed feverishly at the corpse inside the cocoon.

Mortals might fail, but gods can surely sustain the system!

Tangible black streams of data enveloped the figure within the cocoon. Like a transfusion, myriad data currents pulsed, copying vast amounts of information into it.

Almost ready, all that was left was the final power source. Then, activating the system should finalize the process.

A smile crept onto the President's face.

At that moment, his ears twitched as he heard something, and his face immediately drained of color.

Without hesitation, the President pressed his palm onto a recess on the side.

In a flash of white, both he and the dark cocoon vanished.

Beneath the thriving World Tree in Zone D, the scar-faced Pigeon slowly withdrew his blade from the Elf King's chest.

He sliced open the Elf King's chest, revealing emptiness within.

"How is this possible?? Wasn't the Dragon's Heart always with her?!"

Nearby, "The Noble" quickly pulled Pigeon away, thrusting his hand into the Elf King's chest in search.

It's not there... How could it be missing?!

"Impossible!" The Noble gripped the Elf King's neck, pulling her face close to his, staring deep into her emerald eyes. "The Dragon God once placed his heart in the World Tree. Aren't you the tree's guardian spirit? Why isn't the heart with you?! Where is it?!"

The Elf King's verdant eyes twinkled, her grip tightening around The Noble's hand with a playful smile.

A harmonious sound seemed to resonate between heaven and earth. For a fleeting moment, The Noble looked dazed. Almost instantly, the branches of the World Tree twisted, decapitating him.

Yet, whether due to the laws of immortality or The Noble's inherent bloodline prowess, this attack was doomed to be futile.

"Aaaaaah!! I'll kill you!!"

The flesh fell from The Noble's frame, leaving only a skeletal structure.

The skeleton reclaimed its skull, its sharp phalanges piercing the Elf King's green eyes.

Although the Elf King didn't have the protection of the immortality laws, surviving for so many years meant her lignified state signified a power reaching its peak before death.

Slowly extracting the phalange from her eye, the Elf King's eye visibly regenerated in a blink of an eye.

"You intend to kill me?"

Behind her, the Tree of Life swayed silently.

As a spirit companion of the Tree of Life, it's said that unless she perishes from age or takes her own life, to kill her, one would first need to destroy the Tree of Life.

Yet, the size of the Tree of Life is almost equivalent to the entirety of Zone D. Moreover, its true form lies deep within the primal ground, and how could one possibly destroy the Tree of Life unless they were a god?

Just then, the bone knife in Jiu's hand struck down once more.

Facing this slash, the Elf Queen gritted her teeth, barely dodging in time.

The black mist trailing the bone knife brushed against her arm. The Elf Queen grunted in pain, as her muscles split apart, revealing the stark white bones beneath.

The wound inflicted by the Duke had healed, but the cuts made by Jiu on her chest and arm showed no signs of mending.

She coughed up blood and leaned against the roots of the Tree of Life.

The Tree of Life, enraged, sought to strangle the intruder, but the Elf Queen stopped it.

"Let it be... We can't defeat him."

The Elf Queen sighed, looking at the bone knife in his hand. "You truly are the Chairman's loyal hound, even willing to do this for him..."

The Jiu before her was no longer human but a lost soul.

Back when the Lady was nearing death, she decided to journey to the primal ground in search of one last chance at life.

She was the first among the six to die due to the reverse-rule, as she had altered the rules the most. The power of the rules she held was also the most unstable.

After the Dragon God perished, while other Chairmen were merely tentatively altering the rules of life and death or seeking benefits for their clans, the "Lady", a vampire, was changing many rules she thought were more favorable to other players and minor worlds.

For instance, she removed the rule preventing players from re-entering the same world and added the option to select worlds from historical records.

She also altered how players received rewards, introducing item and skill bonuses for simulated instances, and improving player conditions in various ways.

Some of the rules she changed are still in place today, but the vast majority were soon reverted by her.

Such frequent alterations made her the most chaotic among the six Chairmen in terms of rule power, and her management interface was the most severely corroded by dark data streams.

Until one day, the Lady discovered her management interface was rendered inoperative.

This not only meant she could no longer manage the game but also that she began to be ostracized by "The Three Thousand Worlds".

With her ostracization, the rules she established naturally became ineffective, including her immortality rule.

Sensing her impending doom, the Lady went to Zone F.

The way vampires give birth is different from humans. She condensed her blood, giving birth to an offspring, and placed it in the River of the Afterlife, hoping this "child" would be her continuation.

She succeeded in her endeavor.

The child truly entered the primal grounds, but within those grounds, there were no vampires. Under the cosmic rules, he seemed to have reincarnated as an ordinary human being.

Not long ago, Jiu brought him back... Of course, the Lady's attempt had failed.

As the Elf Queen's blood pooled around Jiu's feet, it seemed drawn to him, as if magnetically attracted to his form.

However, the blood couldn't actually adhere to the spectral figure, and merely formed a small pool at his feet.

Jiu looked down, casting a silent glance at it.

The Elf Queen couldn't help but chuckle.

Having undergone a bloodline transformation, Jiu should have been a vampire.

Especially given that he had adopted the bloodline of the "Lady", the most elite among vampires. Yet ironically, his being was now saturated with the aura of death, making him more of a vengeful spirit.

Only a spirit wielding the power of death could harm the Elf Queen.

Thinking of this, the Elf Queen found herself wanting to laugh.

"You all kept harping on about wanting to break free from the 'constraints of the gods,' but in the end, either you desired godhood or depended on the rules set by the Dragon God just to live..."

She sighed, "Such a nauseating bunch of ingrates."