Chapter 211

Chapter 211

The image formed by the metal plate lasted for three minutes before disappearing.

"Wow." Bill was applying eye drops; he hadn't blinked just now. Ji Xinghai remained silent, his fingers interlocked as if deep in thought.

Chacha turned on her computer to review the information she had found about the Chaguku civilization. Her expression was calm, but her eyes were shining, suggesting she had made some discoveries.

"Let's try again."

They moved the metal plate aside and reassembled it, but they couldn't trigger the previous phenomenon no matter how hard they tried.

"Perhaps it only works the first time," everyone speculated.

This meant that deciphering these mysterious patterns would have to rely solely on the video recordings and their memories.

"The phone footage is a bit blurry, but fortunately we can still make out the general situation." The people from the Gold Academy were checking the images they had captured.

The people from Zhentian College were also comparing the images they had taken.

Because the scene came suddenly, everyone's footage missed the initial moments. Fortunately, those were just the early stages of the three-dimensional light projections, which probably weren't very important.

"I didn't expect such a discovery. We initially just wanted to decipher the text on the metal plates. Was that a building? It looks so advanced, and this is something left behind by a civilization thousands of years ago?" Song's brother exclaimed, his face full of excitement as he looked at his phone.

"I guess that's the ruins of the Chaguku civilization we're supposed to visit. Of course, just the ruins." The third-ranked Bang San said. She was called Duoxi, the head of Zhentian College. In her civilization, women held power, and most of the participants here were female.

The college league had allowed them to see various kinds of civilizations.

The top-ranked Ji Xinghai's civilization was quite mysterious, but since they could develop mechs (only rumored) and had a magical civilization heritage (just starting), everyone considered it a comprehensive civilization with multiple development paths.

The second-ranked Song's civilization was technologically and culturally advanced. If not for being hit by a meteor and melting the ice caps, activating ancient viruses, their place would be quite peaceful.

The third-ranked Duoxi's civilization emphasized harmony with nature, had the best environment, and was led by women. It was said that the females there had naturally strong spiritual bodies and developed special abilities well.

The former fifth-ranked civilization, defeated twice by Duoxi, was the opposite. Because the local males were physically stronger, they focused on physical combat, leading to male dominance.

There were many other kinds of civilizations.

If they could establish diplomatic relations in the future, they could travel with their families. Unfortunately, their civilizations hadn't yet ventured beyond their own universe. Ji Xinghai thought this, maintaining a serious expression.

Bill thought he was pondering the previous image, so he brought over his phone: "Ji, seven buildings appeared. What do you think these represent? Seven relics of civilizations?"

"... Didn't you notice that it was a map?" Ji Xinghai snapped back to reality.

"What map? Was there a map?" The others turned around, as they hadn't noticed it either.

Ji Xinghai: ...

"It indeed is a map." Only Song from the Gold Academy had noticed the same thing.

Duoxi looked at Ji Xinghai and then at Song: "Men really are more meticulous. I can't handle logistics like this."

"Who captured the initial shape of the image?"

"Which shape? The first few seconds weren't just a starry sky?"

After looking around, it turned out no one had captured it. Even the quickest one only managed to capture the complete starry sky as the golden light was forming.

Ji Xinghai took out paper and a pen from his bracelet: "When the light first formed, a small two-dimensional sketch appeared in the corner, like this."

"Is there such a thing?" They thought hard about it.

"Probably because it was too small, so no one noticed." It was originally the size of a fingernail, and set against a background of stars, it was easy to miss.

A tiny mushroom-shaped house corresponded to the main structure of a later religious building.

"Then, from this sketch, a clear line bypassed this mountain shape, reached the second sketch, and the previous mushroom sketch was slowly erased, along with half of the route. In the middle of this path, at the mountain position, there was such a monster."

Several heads gathered to watch him draw. A fierce-looking, ugly monster with sharp teeth and an evil gaze, drawn in a rather soulful style, stood out clearly.

"Hiss."

"My drawing skills are decent, but this is more direct," Ji Xinghai added, noticing their expressions. So he wasn't a soulful artist.

They hadn't expected Ji Xinghai to care about this detail and suddenly felt that the top-ranked prodigy was still age-appropriate.

When the golden line reached the second sketch, the previous mountain and monster were also erased. The line continued forward, passing through a small lake-like area, where another half-human, half-fish monster appeared. The fish-headed creature stood on its feet, mouth open to the sky, as if it wouldn't rest until death.

They watched the patterns Ji Xinghai drew on the paper, ignoring the soulful style, thinking that as the top-ranked player, he remembered every detail of the ten-second scene, including the appearance and disappearance of things the size of a fingernail.

"Seven buildings, with monsters between them. What if we don't follow this route?" Duoxi stroked her chin, her two ponytails brushing against her shoulders.

"It will force us to follow this route in ways we can't refuse." Ji Xinghai looked up. "Isn't that what games are about? Reality doesn't need logic, but games do."

"I think these monsters carry certain information," Song added.

Now the group split into two. Ji Xinghai was drawing the map, while Chacha and several professional researchers were translating the content on the complete metal plate.

Once the map was finished, the translation was also nearly done.

"Please summarize it as accurately as possible," Ji Xinghai requested. Upon hearing this, the three professionals discussed for another ten minutes and finally wrote a draft they all agreed on.

It was similar to a sacrificial text burned during New Year celebrations in JiuZhou, detailing recent events and decisions, and praying for ancestors' blessings to continue the civilization's legacy.

The troubles they encountered were easy to understand—monsters, which players used to gain points, and which also came from the secret realm. However, their decisions were less clear, stating only that the accumulated strength was insufficient to resist powerful enemies, forcing them to make a decision.

"What decision caused the entire Chaguku civilization to disappear?"

"We'll only know once we get there."

Puzzles came one after another, each pointing to the 'Final Chapter,' an event that had wiped out NPCs multiple times, but they had no choice but to participate.

On the bright side, there might be great wealth there. Even if the top few didn't need it, others in their academy certainly would.

Ji Xinghai felt that Hungry Academy was poor, desperately so, and without aid, they would be pushed down the rankings by other academies.

With different purposes but choosing the same path, the three academies formed their first joint alliance, agreeing on a cooperative route.

Of course, this cooperation was only on a broad scale. If conflicts of interest arose, that would be another matter.

Afterward, the members of the three academies dispersed to prepare for entering the ruins. They needed as much equipment as possible and some living supplies; no one knew what kind of environment awaited them inside.

"Ji, the public account on the website..."

"The public account stays untouched. My mecha is free, so keep the money. It's enough for now." Ji Xinghai cut him off before he could finish. The items he previously sold went into his private account, while the second-hand website belonged to all Hungry Academy students, so he wouldn't touch a single contribution point from it.

However, Bill thought differently. The idea for the second-hand equipment trading website came from Ji Xinghai, and even the initial second-hand equipment was obtained through his efforts. Bill took on this responsibility to ensure that Ji Xinghai's wealth matched that of other academies.

Especially at this crucial moment when financial strength mattered.

So even though Ji Xinghai had money, the main profits from the website still belonged to him, with the rest distributed among others.

"Alright, if I don't have enough, I'll ask you for it. For now, buy me several four-star and five-star skill update cards, as many as possible."

High-star skill update cards were hard to come by. One needed high-star skills to begin with, and only two could be purchased per month. With so many people in Hungry Academy, those with five-star skills didn't exceed three, so they had to look outside and buy them at high prices.

"No problem, leave it to me," Bill said.

Then Ji Xinghai visited the headquarters of the Special Operations Group. This was his first time here, and after verifying his identity, he entered. The place was bustling with senior members, whose formidable strength was casually displayed, leaving ordinary people awestruck.

Ji Xinghai's few million contribution points seemed insignificant here. He realized that senior members often took on high-difficulty missions, earning millions in a single go.

With three days left until registration closed, he found several suitable missions at the headquarters, each worth hundreds of thousands of contribution points, facing only ruthless humans.

As a former bounty hunter, he was accustomed to this life of a hunter, finding joy in seeing his prey cornered.

Over the next three days, Ji Xinghai's rank remained unchanged, but his contribution points skyrocketed, already far ahead of everyone else.

"What use does he have for over ten million contribution points?" other students remarked enviously, their jealousy evident.

The wealth values of the top few were plummeting, suggesting major moves, yet why didn't the top one need anything?

Of course, the top one did.

Once registration ended, they were given three days to prepare and required to arrive at Luwa Port on the fourth morning. The wealth value of the top one finally started to drop, and it dropped significantly.

"Just for a mission, you bought a full set of automatic repair robots. Are you trying to burn your money?" Tatta, wearing warm colors for the first time, crossed her arms and complained.

He woke her up early in the morning to help him buy second-hand mecha automatic repair robots and spare parts. Was he planning to risk his life on the mission?

Tata doubted his aura. Why were the mech pilots he encountered all insane? Not only that, they were all crazily damaging their mechs and then leaving them for him to fix. Did he look like someone with a good temper?

Regardless of Tata's complaints, the seller was a fan of his and gave him a 30% discount on the secondhand base price, saving him over a million contribution points.

"Mr. Tata, are you really not going to pay attention to this matter?" Ji Xinghai put the robot back into his storage bracelet, which had been upgraded again with money and minerals, and then asked Tata. He had a hunch that the long-lost civilization was closely related to the current fragmented holographic world. Perhaps it could unravel the mystery of Tata's lifelong misfortunes.

Tata frowned. The mention of the 'Tea withered Civilization' stirred an innate aversion within him. However, he didn't elaborate, simply remarking nonchalantly, "No need. Just return safely."

This was based on his experience: the more one cared, the worse the outcome. Conversely, when one didn’t care at all, the result often turned out well.

Hmm, perhaps in such a dangerous profession, one must take advantage of fate’s inattention to survive?

"Wait for me to bring gifts for you and Master when I return, Teacher."

Tata was taken aback: "What did you call me? Take it back, take it back. No setting flags."

"Don't worry, no Grim Reaper would dare claim me." Ji Xinghai had already run far away, waving at them from behind.