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Chapter 289 - 286 - The Beginning of the Seventh World (Added by Helmsman reader 20170215)

Chapter 289: Chapter 286 - The Beginning of the Seventh World (Added by Helmsman reader 20170215)

"...So, I think sending my followers would be very advantageous in this situation."

In the glass room, the light was bright and transparent.

Facing the smiling Nina, Su Ming’an slowly said, "My current situation...is not very smooth, there are always some fools who question me with all sorts of nonsensical excuses."

"You’re right," Nina said softly, her demeanor incredibly gentle.

Her hands were clasped in front of her lower abdomen, still in the very respectful stance of a service personnel.

"Frankly speaking, going up to deliver the closing speech in this disaster scenario is just pushing me into a fire pit," Su Ming’an said. "While others are still struggling with the disaster’s aftermath, I would be up there giving a passionate speech—forgive me for refusing, but this would do me no good at all, and would only make those people hate me more."

As he spoke, it seemed there was anger in his tone: "Not to mention the difficulty of the previous Ruler’s Quest, if facing everyone’s anger because the Organizers want to show ’care’ to the only Ruler, I don’t feel that this kind of care is reasonable. It brings me neither benefit nor loss that matches, only doubts and enmity from everyone—Nina, do you really think this is a reasonable form of player competition?"

He spoke very directly, without beating around the bush.

At this time, any hesitation or concealment would be seen through; it was best to think like an ordinary person.

If he still wore a smile in this situation, like he was easily manipulated, it would contrast with his previous behavior.

What he now displayed was the image of a "Number One Player" who had been let down in trust and "cared for" by the Organizers.

As for whether this statement would enrage the other party, it didn’t matter, he just wanted to see their reaction, to see how much the Organizers valued the so-called "Ruler," and if things really went south, he could always reset.

...But thinking about it,

The players’ speculation that "they were specially cared for by the Organizers" wasn’t wrong after all.

...Quite ironic.

"So, your idea is to send your followers down to regain people’s trust in you?" Nina asked softly.

"What happens to those people is none of my concern, I just don’t want to stand up and fill the fire pit at this time," Su Ming’an said. "As for sending followers or not, it doesn’t matter, it’s just a difference between brushing up or not brushing up reputation."

As he spoke, he suddenly laughed:

"Moreover... even if the followers do save those people, I can guess the thoughts of a minority. They might even ridiculously speculate that I orchestrated the explosion to boost my reputation and would still consider me a traitor, a spy... Ha, although they’re not wrong, it’s not their place to say for such valueless fellows," he said with a hint of mockery in his voice. "However, such superficial work, at least, is useful to the vast majority. After all, many lives are truly saved by me, and they will surely be dripping with gratitude."

Nina watched him with a smile.

"Nina, did you know? These... worthless fellows, they can only be meaningful at times like this," he said. "In such a disaster, panic spreads quickly among the masses, and once someone extends a helping hand, these desperate people will naturally, because of this life-saving grace, become my most loyal followers—it certainly helps me become the beacon in their eyes..."

"Your theory is very interesting," she suddenly interjected.

As she spoke, the red gemstone earrings by her ears suddenly began to flash. After listening for a moment, she smiled and said:

"Since this is what you think, naturally we won’t obstruct."

As she said this, she leaned closer.

"You are a very interesting person..." she whispered, "We are very interested in you."

Under the bright transparent light, her face was flawless, exuding a rubber-like artificial texture.

"After the Eighth World ends..." she exhaled softly, her smile taking on an indescribable meaning, "we will invite you to a place."

"What place?"

"You will know when the time comes," Nina’s lips curled into a mysterious smile, as she looked outside.

Su Ming’an followed her gaze outside and saw the chaos below.

Because of his last-minute order, three followers who were originally on standby in the square had arrived in time. The followers, each with a Combat Power of 1000, stood out among the Casual Players like three tigers among a flock of sheep.

Among them, the swiftest assassin, Bonnie, had already pinned down a middle-aged man.

In the man’s hand, he held an explosive with the pin yet to be pulled.

Su Ming’an showed no mercy towards these people.

For those who deliberately created terror and chaos, killing innocent players, he ordered his three followers to strike lethally, leaving no room for leniency.

Bonnie’s dagger slid swiftly across the man’s neck, cleanly taking his life.

The followers were designed in the Main God World to not initiate attacks, but could counterattack without restrictions once attacked.

Previously, Su Ming’an thought this "unrestricted counterattack" meant being able to respond like other players, to act, to suppress other players with sheer power. Just like after the Fourth World ended, during his talk with Edward—back then, he just dragged Edward from one end of the United Group to the other with his high Strength point.

But what he hadn’t anticipated was,

This "unrestricted counterattack"... could far exceed his expectations.

It didn’t simply mean "can act."

It meant...

— "Can act, and can cause direct injury or death."

This meant that once the followers were affected by an explosion, once restrictions were lifted, once blades were drawn, they would be completely different from the pent-up ordinary players—they could kill other players directly in the Main God World where direct harm was forbidden.

The rule was, as long as an ally initiated an attack, it would automatically link the hatred to other allies.

In simple terms, it meant that once a follower was hit once by an explosive, they could attack other terrorists holding explosives indefinitely.

This is the true essence of a "Main God World · Ruler."

They wielded slaughter above the rules.

Now, with their blades unsheathed, the three followers were truly like tigers among sheep.

Anyone they set their sights on stood no chance against their blades.

Wherever they went, flesh and blood were splattered.

They carved a bloody path through the surging crowd, like reapers wielding power over life and death amidst the throngs of people.

The other Adventurer Players who had come to the rescue watched dumbfounded as these three armored individuals slaughtered mercilessly, speechless.

...This was just too terrifying!

Followers who could attack without restriction, unless they perished in a large-scale explosion, other players’ offensive skills could not harm them, yet they could keep on killing others.

...These were three almost invincible judges.

Even though at first, people were afraid these armored individuals might be launching indiscriminate attacks.

But when someone saw an explosive being thrown high into the air and bursting in the sky, they suddenly realized—these fellows with the scales of the organizers carved on their armor...

They were actually there to save them.

Someone suddenly shouted with excitement in their voice.

"It’s Su Ming’an—it’s Su Ming’an’s followers, I recognize them—!"

"Didn’t they say he was a mole for the organizers? Why, why would these three guys from the organizers save us...?"

"Are you still cursing?"

"A lot of the terrorists were controlled, everyone first focus on evacuating..."

"Anyway, now that this has happened, whoever calls him a traitor to humanity in the future, I’ll be the first not to let it slide!"

"They saved my child; they are my benefactors, my benefactors, don’t leave, I’ll kneel for you, thank you, thank you..."

"..."

Words of every hue filled the world channel’s chat.

Although the strength of the three followers was still minuscule compared to the overall situation, the scope of the attack was not very large. It seemed that the organizers had targeted this particular section of high-end Casual Players in the core area, the audience seats behind were not much affected.

The swift actions of the followers stabilized at least six disaster points where explosions were about to occur.

...Though, even so, terrorists who had become alert chose to detonate the explosives early, and still some people fell victim, but the six groups of people who were saved were overflowing with gratitude.

At this time, the crowd was extremely dense; the number of those saved was at least in the four digits.

This explosion had only about a dozen or so attacks in total.

The three followers had single-handedly stopped nearly half of them.

Su Ming’an stood in the high glass room, watching this scene in silence.

Some of the rescued people showed expressions of having survived a catastrophe; many were so frightened that their legs gave way, and they sat on the ground weeping uncontrollably.

Some held their children tightly, silently shedding tears amidst the crowded throngs.

Others cursed as they grabbed hold of the terrorists beside them and started throwing heavy punches.

...He also saw many of the saved people bending their knees, kneeling in his direction.

Some people clung to the followers’ armor, not allowing them to leave, wanting to bow in gratitude.

Adventure Players surrounded by a white light looked over with serious expressions, whispering to each other.

...He also saw.

The outermost, safest Casual Players were in chaos, surging towards the Teleportation Formation like a tidal wave.

The bodies of those who died in the explosion were torn to pieces, with crying friends and family beside them.

Within the barrier, rooted-to-the-spot Adventure Players and reporters looked at each other and whispered amongst themselves.

He saw players who had been seated safely, now casting complicated looks in his direction.

He stood inside the high glass room, separated by two layers of shields, looking at these people who felt so far away from him.

It was as if he was looking at the Endless Faraway.

"...This guy."

Below, Edward, seated in the third-ranked seat, whispered, "...Another show?"

Not far from him, the black-haired woman heard this remark.

She turned her head, her feline eyes fixed on him intently.

"Edward." Mizushima Kawa Sora spoke up.

As she spoke, her gaze involuntarily flickered upwards, seemingly eager to see the reaction of the man above.

But this thought was ultimately suppressed by her.

She addressed Edward, whose expression was solemn, with a cold voice:

"—Do not presume to guess at others’ goodwill with your shallow prejudices, it’s an insult to humanity itself."

Edward frowned at her, "What do you mean, Mizushima Kawa?"

"What I mean is—stop speaking such malicious words, Edward—I’ve changed my mind," she said. "I’ve been observing these World Replicas for a while, always considering... and now, seeing this, I can fully believe that he’s worthy of being a competent leader. Here, I... alter my previous thoughts. Even if unstable, even without a background, this guy’s empathy for his brethren... is sincere."

As she spoke, her eyes grew more luminous: "At least to put myself in his shoes, if I were him, I’d never dare to take my only three Main God World armed forces into a bombing scene to risk it all."

"And you say... showmanship?" She continued, letting out a sneer: "If a lone Player could suddenly orchestrate such a large-scale attack and keep the entire operation completely leak-free, I’d admire him more—Edward, I apologize for my previous malice towards him, from now on, I will no longer associate with you."

Hearing this, she turned and walked away.

Her black hair streamed behind her like a flag, and the bright red rose was discarded on the seat.

Her stride was steady and swift, decisively leaving the bloody crimson peak Player zone, as if to shake something off for good.

Edward’s face was composed as he quickly contained his expression.

He glanced upward at Ming’an, who was also watching him, and didn’t say another word.

He rose to his feet and left the venue with equally swift steps.

Sitting in seats six and seven, Lu and Bei Wang looked up with some gravity and left the venue together after exchanging looks.

Number ten, Flora, holding Bonnie’s hand, threw Ming’an a flirtatious look.

"Number One Player," she said with a smile, her long eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings, "your followers were very handsome today... of course, so were you."

Ming’an silently watched her.

Flora adjusted her hair, pondering: "Hmm... maybe after today’s event, the storm branch will have a different opinion of you?"

She seemed to be speaking to Ming’an and to herself at the same time.

"Anyway." She let go of her hair and spoke a cryptic line:

"Very successful... congratulations."

The mature woman spoke to herself, unconcerned by the lack of response, and left with Bonnie, who was clutching a teddy bear, her demeanor full of allure.

Ming’an looked away.

"Is this over?" he asked.

"It’s over... if we’re talking about the auction," Nina replied with a smile, "You are now free to choose whether to return to your personal space without going through the original pathway."

"Nina," he called out.

"Yes?"

"..." Ming’an hesitated before speaking: "You feel very familiar to me, very much like someone I’ve met."

Nina laughed at his words.

"That pickup line is a bit old-fashioned," she teased with a laugh.

Ming’an tilted his head, earnestly regarding her.

His gaze at that moment was very intense, entirely different from the somewhat casual demeanor he had shown before.

"Nina, I’m asking you seriously," he said, "on a certain day, at noon, might I have seen you in a coffee shop?"

His tone was urgent.

Nina’s smile faded slightly.

Beneath her bright red lips, her mouth opened as if two butterfly wings dyed with blood slowly parted.

"Noble Ruler," she spoke softly, "we did not meet before the game started."

"Is that so..."

Ming’an didn’t pursue further.

Since she had given a negative answer, he had to temporarily set aside the guess in his heart.

He looked out the window again.

By now, people inside the venue had begun to leave in dribs and drabs, but those outside the barrier were still in chaos.

It seemed this incident would need more time to calm down.

The flood of messages on the World channel was too much to keep up with, scrolling past like snowflakes. It was clear that people watching the livestream from outside were also extremely concerned about this worst and most heinous terrorist attack since the game began.

This was the real death of a large group of players.

An unprecedented terrorist event.

... one could imagine that the United Group and such organizations would have to put a lot of effort into guiding public opinion.

Ming’an opened his personal interface and chose to return to his personal space.

The white light of teleportation brightened before his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, he was back in his cramped personal space.

The steady white light shone from above, and behind him was a small bed.

He stood still, checked his Points, which were down to 91; that wasn’t enough to buy much of anything, so he’d just save them for now.

There were three days until the next World started; he planned to gather some forum information in these three days and fully adjust his mental state...

He sat on the bed, opened the World forum, and began to browse.

The terrorist attack had escalated extremely quickly; perhaps even the participants had not anticipated such a vicious event. Some who lost loved ones wailed and cried on the forums, triggering widespread empathy.

Among these, Ming’an’s followers also became a hot topic. People contrasted his actions with the inaction of other top-ranked players, and many started criticizing the indifference of the other players.

But as one might expect, another group would jump up to defend the top-ranked players and engage in debates about the value of their actions.

Eventually, neither side would convince the other and would only think of each other as fools.

In the information explosion era, things passed by extremely fast.

Apart from some places implementing additional explosion-proof measures and undergoing a few changes, this incident more resembled a controversial storm raging on forums, endlessly debated by people...

...

[December 17th, noon 12:00]

"Ding-dong!"

[Rest time is over—Dear Players, welcome back to the World Game!]

[Seventh World: Maritime Banquet. Global instance open-type/role-playing game.]

[Participating Players: 228,079,817 people!]

[Maritime Banquet will be copied into 22,808 identical instances, each with 10,000 players participating in the game!]

[Since players are entering the game for the seventh time, they will not relearn the common language. 10 points will be automatically deducted to learn the Seventh World’s common language!]

[—The World begins!]

...

Su Ming’an, who had just closed the World forum on his screen, checked his equipment and props one last time.

During the system broadcast, he noticed the number of participants—more than two hundred twenty million.

...This was the smallest number of people since the start of the World Game.

It seemed that even with the influence of the explosion incident, not many people were really motivated to join the game.

After all, the aftermath of the Sixth World was too severe. Those who truly coveted comfort and feared death would rather shrink back into their personal space than face actual death on the field.

The suitable will always seek adventure, while the unsuitable always find ways to escape.

...It’s hard to change because of any sudden incidents. Su Ming’an had already anticipated this turnout.

As he pondered, a teleportation white light suddenly appeared.

The brilliant light forced his eyes to involuntarily close, and as his consciousness slowly returned, he opened them again.

The scene before his eyes was not yet clear, with remnants of blurred white spots lingering in his vision. Suddenly, the heat in the top-right corner soared, and the bullet comments that drifted like snowflakes began their punctual reporting.

[First!]

[Here it comes!]

[I kick the butt of the one in front, I’m the real first!]

[Ho ho ho, I checked the forums, Su Ming’an is seriously awesome, those people he saved are crying on the forums... almost every post is a long essay of gratitude spanning ten thousand words.]

[Enough said, Su Ming’an is the best!]

[Su Ming’an is the best +1]

[? Am I the only one who suspects he’s just showing off? Why can his followers attack others uncontrollably, huh? Does our survival even have any guarantee now?]

[Yes, you’re the only one who doubts.]

[? Why are there still brain-dead trolls in this livestream spreading crap? Guys, let’s flush him out!]

[Reported.]

[Brain-dead mind, brain-dead soul, let’s not discuss your survival for now, shall I first make sure you don’t survive at all?]

[LMAO, hey, why are there still people coming to this livestream to trash-talk? At least pick somewhere else to do it, seriously fearless of death.]

[Speaking of which, when will the Number One Player get a room moderator for the livestream? I’ve been annoyed by this "World Game, Online Vacation" livestream title for a long time...]

[Here we go, here we go, what’s the take on this World Replica?]

[I think, this has to be a normal one, right? It’s finally got to be a normal one...]

[Normal instance +1, shouldn’t this one end with everyone happy?]

[...]

The white light before his eyes gradually faded.

Su Ming’an slowly made out what seemed to be a high-end restaurant.

In front of him was a clean white dining table, bright and seductive flowers, pristine cups and bowls, and white ivory chopsticks.

...And a woman sitting opposite him, her face wet with tears.

"Su Rin—I’m telling you, I won’t be foolish anymore, I won’t love you anymore!"

"There’s no shortage of men who want to get close to me. You’ve played with fire too much, you’ve smashed this relationship with your own hands! From now on, we’re strangers—to this world, there’s no longer a woman who will love you with a heartrending pain!"

She shouted, picked up her purse next to her, turned, and left, leaving a long trail of tear stains hanging in the air.

"—Su Rin! In your lifetime, you’ll never meet another woman as good as me!"

"You’ll spend your life regretting it!"

...

Su Ming’an: ...

Su Ming’an: ?