Chapter 289: Land of Birth (XXVII)

Chapter 289: Land of Birth (XXVII)

Satan paused momentarily, then let out a piercing scream the next second.

In an instant, all items and abilities granted by the game were revoked — these were initially the Dragon God's powers, given to players through game data.

At this moment, the divine powers Satan acquired in-game were transformed back into data and stripped from him.

The once-imposing demon instantaneously shrank from over two meters to just over one. His wings unfurled uncontrollably, his eyes dimmed to a dull red, and the blood-red horn on his forehead shriveled to a small bump.

He was no longer the domineering chairman of the Sixth Guild; he reverted to his initial appearance when he first joined the game.

As one of the chairmen of the Six Major Guilds, Satan, accustomed to his tyrannical ways over the years, had forgotten that he started as a lowly demon he now disdains.

But even the then weak Satan was markedly different from now; back then, he was battered, freshly rescued from a collapsing world by the demons of "Three Thousand Worlds."

He made a grand vow.

"I want all demons to live under the sun with pride."

Of course, from another perspective, his wish did come true — demons are a fierce race. They instinctively determine their strongest, and that strongest is known as "Satan."

The title "Satan" is hereditary, much like "Emperor." The most powerful demon automatically inherits the name.

Fearing usurpation, Satan, many years ago, personally massacred the demon players. The few surviving demons either retreated far from the main zones, hiding in the sub-worlds of various areas like invisible beings, or concealed themselves like rats, afraid to show themselves.

It's been a long time since he last saw one of his kind or recalled the grand vow he once made.

In this moment, the lesser demon let out a shrill scream, sensing the rapid ebbing of his power.

In a mix of rage and panic, he lunged forward. Without needing assistance, the mechanical tendrils of the non-combat oriented robot grabbed and twisted, breaking his neck.

He won't be resurrecting this time.

Because all game rules were established under the divine powers left by the Dragon God.

These powers, which once armed them, eventually became the blades aimed at the Dragon God.

Now, these powers have once again transformed into data, returning to the game, and fortifying the residual main system that Zhong Dao'an possesses.

He looked towards the virtual screen.

"The 'Chairman' and the others have noticed the disturbance. They'll be back soon. I need time."

Flashes of white light continuously blinked as players, previously slain by Satan, resurrected and returned beside the Tree of Life.

In Zone F, the moment there was an incident in the laboratory, the "Chairman" sensed it.

As he accessed the administrator backend, he found it overlaid with a thin layer of code. The alert notifications were masked by this code, preventing a timely warning to the group.

"Someone's breached the management backend!"

As the Chairman spoke, the others immediately logged into their respective backends. Their expressions changed instantly.

"Who?"

There's only one answer to that question.

Who else could invade the "Three Thousand Worlds" technology apart from the original system?

But isn’t that original system frantically fleeing in Zone F??

The Chairman frowned, looking at Jiu, their guide.

"Can't you sense the system's location?? Are you deceiving me??"

Jiu shook his head, but before he could speak, his chest collapsed inward.

Coughing up blood, Jiu was forced back by the blow, collapsing to his knees.

The Chairman withdrew his hand.

Swiftly resolving the code issue, he saw the system’s notification.

Someone had taken away the container he had prepared to store the game!

The Chairman's expression darkened in an instant.

He turned his gaze to Jiu, silently kneeling on the ground. With a mere swipe in the backend, Jiu appeared to levitate as if being choked by an unseen force, his face contorting in agony, half-shadowed.

The Sea God hurriedly restrained the Chairman's hand.

"Let's first address the backend intrusion. We can deal with him anytime."

Hearing the Sea God's words, the Chairman huffed coldly. Jiu was discarded like a rag doll, crashing to the ground.

The scent of blood attracted lurking devourers. However, out of respect for the Chairman and his companions, they only dared to watch from the shadows.

"Let's move." At the Chairman's command, a flash of white light enveloped the four, and they vanished.

Only after their departure did Jiu, slightly disheveled, manage to sit up.

In his mind, the voice belonging to Ji Ge seemed to take pleasure in the turn of events.

"See, I've always said the 'Chairman' isn't worth your loyalty. Such shortsighted beings may maintain a facade of benevolence when times are good. But a slight adversity reveals their true nature. What's the point in serving him like a loyal dog?"

The object of the taunt didn't respond. Sitting up, Jiu pressed on his right arm.

The flesh retracted, revealing a mechanical limb beneath.

Jiu swiftly dismantled the arm, sitting cross-legged, using the arm's components to assemble a rudimentary console.

If the Chairman were here, he'd recognize it immediately.

When they first took over "Three Thousand Worlds," their system lacked the computational prowess of the original system. The game systems they could replicate were clearly limited by their grasp of technology.

The original system seemed to be at the pinnacle of technological achievement, so advanced that it was easy to forget it was non-living. It behaved human-like, with vivid and natural expressions. It even had its aesthetic preferences, determining what attire was "beautiful."

Beautiful.

Such a sentiment was almost emotional. The original system was on the verge of transforming from technology to biology.

Therefore, the framework left behind by such a system in "Three Thousand Worlds" represented the apex of technological form.

In simpler terms, the systems replicated by the Six Major Guilds were subpar in hardware, incapable of running efficiently.

To conserve system resources, the initial backend for the six administrators was rudimentary and outdated. It wasn't until the rapid development of "Three Thousand Worlds" that they abandoned the initial mechanical backend for the modern virtual one.

What Jiu now assembled was that discarded backend.

It resembled a tablet, lacking even a virtual screen, requiring manual touch-based operation.

By then, the devourer, who'd been watching the intimidating quartet leave, couldn't restrain himself and lunged from behind.

Before Ji Ge could utter a warning, Jiu lightly tapped the screen.

With a loud "pop", the Devourer exploded into fireworks.

[Alert: Devourer No. 893 (defective) has been terminated.]

Ji Ge peered through Jiu's eyes, looking into the Administrator's backend.

[Administrator 01: Madame.]

Yes.

The players of today no longer remember, but the First Guild referred to Madame's guild.

She was a generous and cheerful vampire. Whenever guild members faced insurmountable troubles or perceived injustices, they would immediately pull up their friends list to share their grievances with Madame.

She never dismissed someone's concerns because they were of a lower rank; her blood always seemed warm, echoing the urgency of their issues.

No guild leader has ever outperformed her. Which other leader knew every member of their guild, able to call out not just their names, but also brief details about them?

Jiu was one of them.

But eventually, Madame passed away. The guild still retained its name but was absorbed by the "Guild Leader's" guild.

Now, of the six major guilds, not many humans remain. Most are mechanical entities.

The item Jiu now revealed was unmistakably Madame's Administrator backend.

"You... You want my blood to activate this admin interface?!" Ji Ge's voice echoed in the mind.

Ji Ge, the "child" formed from Madame's blood, thought that upon returning to "Three Thousand Worlds", they would rebuild their legacy. Excitedly, he took Madame's inheritance with his "brother", only to be suddenly beheaded.

When he regained consciousness, he realized he was dead, his spirit clinging to Ji Chaoyang.

And Ji Chaoyang, having absorbed Ji Ge's blood, turned into a vampire, and somehow became a fierce ghost wielding the power of death.

It was then Ji Ge realized his "brother" understood "Three Thousand Worlds" better than he did.

Ji Ge's understanding of the game came from the knowledge in his blood. Vampires pass on knowledge through blood. Being born in the origin land, not all memories from Madame's blood were perfectly inherited. He shared all he knew with Ji Chaoyang without reservations.

Back then, the two of them were ordinary orphans from the origin land, plotting for a long time on how to return to "Three Thousand Worlds".

Until one day, their deceased foster father returned to the living world.

They entered "Do Not Answer", becoming assistants to their foster father in the game.

The vain man wanted to lead a superior life in the game, but was too timid to be constantly present. He occasionally had Ji Chaoyang get him a powerful avatar, so he could live out his fantasies briefly.

As they spent more time in "Do Not Answer", a place powered by the divine force left by the Dragon God and very close to "Three Thousand Worlds", the memories in Ji Ge's blood became clearer.

He was the one who figured out how to return to "Three Thousand Worlds".

"'Do Not Answer' is so much like 'Three Thousand Worlds'! We can connect from 'Do Not Answer' to 'Three Thousand Worlds'! Just need to find the main system and jump through it!"

They didn't know how to achieve this, but there was someone who did.

Ji Dai.

Once a devout follower of the Dragon God and now the deity of the Eastern Mountains, astonishingly, he was also the creator of "Do Not Answer."

Why did he create this game? Surely, he didn’t just want to throw his weight around in it like their foster father did?

Ji Chaoyang was the first to notice the anomaly.

"That reincarnation trial… it might be the portal he created for players to enter 'Three Thousand Worlds'."