Chapter 210

Chapter 210

Ji Xinghai didn't expect to see this. He didn't turn around; even if he did, he wouldn't be able to see Tatar's expression below. Acting on the principle that firsthand experience is better than mere analysis, he walked straight to the hibernation pod, which opened upon sensing him.

He lay inside, and the lid closed automatically. The inside was empty, giving an eerie sensation of being alive in a coffin.

After that, his thoughts became blurred for a moment.

Ji Xinghai was stubborn. If you talked nicely to him, he would cooperate, but if you caught him off guard, his rebellious nature would flare up. So after the sudden blur, he remained extremely alert and found himself in a certain digital world.

The pitch-black world was filled with strings of green numbers running past, occasionally interspersed with red numbers. It felt like eating unripe mushrooms—everything seemed bizarre yet somewhat logical, and within that logic, there was still something abnormal.

As he was observing, several bright red data strings suddenly appeared, flashing red lights as they charged towards him.

Ji Xinghai knew he had become a string of numbers in this strange digital world. These red numbers were either trying to eliminate him like a virus or fix him like a bug.

In the blink of an eye, those bright red data strings were already in front of him. Ji Xinghai instinctively 'extended' his senses, surrounding, gathering, and swallowing them.

His mind was filled with fragmented memories that didn't belong to him.

But he had no time to examine them closely. More and more red data strings appeared, making him feel like a goose being force-fed until the food was almost choking him.

Fortunately, after swallowing one wave, the next wave hesitated. The red data strings circled around him, and Ji Xinghai felt a sense of fullness, as if he had eaten too much and needed digestion.

The world of red, black, and green data slowly faded away, revealing layers of rooms. He saw Tatar pushing a wheelchair, and the metal knee.

"Tatar."

Tatar didn't move, but if you looked closely, you could see his fingers trembling slightly on the wheelchair handles. What was he thinking about? The once-impossible dream? The sacrifices made for their shared cause?

"Warm-up exercises start. Get familiar with the new mecha." But in the end, Tatar said nothing, as if everything was perfectly normal. A genius like him shouldn't make mistakes. The joy of success belonged to Ji Xinghai, while the bitter fruit of time was something he would hide away, tasting it alone in the quiet of night.

The new mecha was excellent, very excellent.

Before, controlling the mecha felt like wearing thick cotton gloves. Now, it was like wearing surgical rubber gloves, allowing for more precise and accurate movements.

Moreover, this mecha, built on the framework of the third-generation Hunter, was even more advanced than the fifth-generation Comet. It had the 'self-healing' ability typically found only in seventh-generation mechas, where the shell could repair itself after damage.

"Are you not planning to announce it?" After getting out of the mecha, Ji Xinghai asked Tatar.

"Announce? I don't owe them any explanations." He only needed to answer to himself, and he had already done so, "As for you, I thought kids your age wanted to show off."

"What's there to show off? A secret weapon should stay hidden."

Ji Xinghai didn't plan to tell anyone that the consciousness mecha had succeeded. He had a feeling that without his powerful swallowing ability, anyone who broke through this barrier into the digital world would disappear, whether NPC or player.

However...

He looked at Tatar and his lover, and finally mentioned the world he saw after entering the consciousness connection in a joking manner.

Tatar abruptly stopped, his eyes widening slightly.

Some chaotic and strange memories appeared in his mind. He saw a group of people intensely discussing or arguing about something, and someone asking him what he thought. Despite never having experienced it, it gave him a strange sense of familiarity.

Ji Xinghai also stopped, seeing Tatar bend down slightly, covering his head. His expression was as if he had seen something terrifying, but after a few seconds, it slowly calmed down, becoming blank and empty.

"What did you just say to me? Sorry, I zoned out and didn't hear clearly," Tatar calmly asked Ji Xinghai.

"... Just like Sister Mei back then, automatically corrected," Ji Xinghai replied, "Oh, I wanted to ask if you can lend me the mecha storage space. The rental fee is too expensive."

With the new consciousness mecha in hand, Ji Xinghai left Tatar's place. He went to a safe location and attempted the consciousness connection again. This time, it was very smooth, as if the previous data space was just a dream.

So he sought out a student at the Hungry Academy who specialized in computers.

"Hi, Ji." The intellectual beauty greeted him warmly.

Contrary to stereotypes, Lacey, a computer expert, was a blonde beauty who loved retro-style bold red lipstick.

Naturally, Ji Xinghai treated her, buying a box of pastries and a bouquet of friendship flowers as a thank-you gift.

Clearly, Miss Lacey enjoyed such small gifts, though she might have liked the well-mannered Ji Xinghai even more: "What does Ji need from me? Want to hack the Special Operations Group's website? Not impossible."

"... That won't be necessary." Ji Xinghai recounted the scene he saw, remembering the numbers, red and green, the sequence of 0s and 1s.

Lacey stared at the densely written numbers, her eyes wide. She suspected Ji Xinghai had photographic memory, otherwise, how could he remember such long sequences of random numbers in just half a minute? And not just one segment, but many.

She took out her glasses and connected several square boxes, eventually linking them to her small purse-sized computer.

Ji Xinghai knew a bit about computers, which was good compared to ordinary people, but not compared to a true professional like Lacey. So he quietly drank water, waiting for her conclusion.

Meanwhile, he recalled the memory fragments that flashed when he swallowed the data.

How to describe it? They didn't seem like human memories. He 'saw' some peculiar worm-like things, and given the digital context, he naturally thought of 'worm viruses,' a type of computer virus.

But what direct connection did these have with the current holographic world?

"These green number codes and red number codes come from two different data sources..." Given the short time, Lacey could only give Ji Xinghai a rough assessment.

Considering this was a scene after the consciousness connection, Lacey guessed he might have temporarily left the holographic world and entered the core processing area. The stable green codes he saw were likely NPCs, while the red ones were players or later-implanted codes.

"Can it still function normally despite such chaos?" Ji Xinghai wondered, "I couldn't delve deeper at the time, otherwise, I could have remembered more information."

"Hmm..." Lacey paused for a moment, "Codes, as long as they function normally, are reasonable. No matter how chaotic and unordered they look, don't touch them. One touch and it's all over." She suspected that if Ji Xinghai 'explored further,' the functioning hologram might collapse directly.

After bidding farewell to Lacey, the mecha warrior 101 set off again, the silver-gray mecha active in various battlefields against A-class monsters.

Meanwhile, the second and third-ranked students, after several failures, finally passed the basic mecha driving test. Two slightly clumsy mechas began appearing in the students' sights. Even NPC Sister Mei muttered that the mecha warriors were no longer doing missions but fighting monsters instead.

At this point, the former 13th-ranked player had been eliminated four times and completely left the holographic game stage, while the White Whale Academy remained quiet.

Three days before the registration deadline for the exploration of the Chaku Ruins, Bill wrote to say that the people from Gold Academy and Zhentian College had approached him. They also had five metal plates and hoped to study the secrets of these plates together.

The Hungry Academy has four metal plates, and Miss Chacha, the main researcher, just passed her advanced title assessment. The research on the metal plates must be led by the Hungry Academy, which is a prerequisite for any collaboration.

"Boss, over here!"

Above a natural sandy beach resort, in a private bar, Ji Xinghai, wearing casual shorts, appeared at the end of the gray road riding a mountain bike. Today, he was representing the Hungry Academy.

It was the first time that the representatives from Gold Academy and Zhentian College met the top-ranked player who had overturned both their academies. Song, the head of Gold Academy, looked at him in surprise.

Song had seen him before, a long time ago (though it was only about thirty game days, it felt like ages). It was at Tata's house, where they all thought he was a native.

Song's brother couldn't hide his astonishment: "It's you?"

Others were equally surprised. Although everyone knew not to judge someone by their appearance in the game, Ji Xinghai seemed harmless in his daily life. He wore white sneakers, carried a backpack, and rode a mountain bike. His fair face was slightly red from the sun, exuding a lazy and comfortable vibe, like a college student from an ivory tower, with warm and clear eyes.

Most importantly, he didn't have the 'player' aura; walking on the street, he was indistinguishable from a native.

Ji Xinghai sat down on the side representing the Hungry Academy. Now, the top three players and their respective academy representatives were gathered in this drafty wooden hut.

"There are three days left until registration ends, and we have three people," Ji Xinghai said abruptly, but the representatives from the other two academies naturally picked up the conversation.

"Four."

"Five."

There were so many successful registrations? The Hungry Academy felt a strange sense of defeat, but when they saw their own head, they straightened their backs silently. Ji Xinghai could handle ten times as much.

He hadn't taken the difference in numbers seriously. If he needed to insert more people, he had ways, as he had already contacted one of the teams participating in this event. But there was no need; if it wasn't possible, it wasn't possible, and forcing entry would only make them cannon fodder.

He mentioned it just to see if the other two academies had discovered anything from the metal plates. Since the Special Operations Group had many high-level missions, they would have chosen this one only if they had studied the metal plates.

There are only nine metal plates: four with the Hungry Academy and five with the other two academies. That makes a complete set.

Only these three academies can likely participate in the exploration of the Chaku civilization ruins. For others, soloing A-level monsters and passing advanced titles would eliminate 99% of the participants.

Moreover, participating in such a one-way mission requires courage.

This is now the eighth exam, and only two championships remain to qualify for the Academy Battle. Once you put on shoes, you're less willing to take risks than when barefoot.

Even if the heads of the academies want to take risks, others would use responsibility to bring them down, surviving through the remaining two instances.

Because the mission is too dangerous, the three academies are sitting here seeking cooperation.

Though they compete, it is generally healthy, and they share the goal of ending the instance. Consistent interests are the premise of cooperation. Additionally, their abilities are similar; they recognize the connection between the metal plates and the final mission, and they aren't the dim-witted supporting characters from various dramas. This forms the foundation of cooperation.

What ultimately led them to choose cooperation was the NPCs' experience of being wiped out three times.

"Did you bring the metal plates?" The third-ranked player was a charming girl with pigtails, but she chose the first-generation tank mech, the heaviest mech so far. She took out three metal plates and pointed to a shy young man behind her. "This is our researcher, who just got his advanced title."

The researcher greeted them shyly: "Hello, everyone. My name is Pali."

It seems he will also be joining the event.

Seeing this, the representatives from the Hungry Academy and Gold Academy also took out their metal plates. They exchanged glances: "Why don't we combine them?"

"I think that's a good idea."

In the drafty wooden hut, the nine metal plates were carefully placed on the table in the center, arranged in the correct order.

As soon as the nine plates were set, blue light strips appeared on the metal plates, with golden dots rapidly flowing within the blue light strips. A thin beam of light shot out, followed by countless thin beams.

These thin beams of light formed a constantly changing three-dimensional image in the air.

The students around them clenched their fists tightly, holding their breaths, and quickly recorded the changing images with their phones, beads of sweat forming on their foreheads.

Ji Xinghai, facing the scene, observed with his eyes, memorizing each image in his mind.

It looks like a map, a three-dimensional map.