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Chapter 563 - 560: "Ming’an, Time for Medicine.

Chapter 563: Chapter 560: "Ming’an, Time for Medicine.

"——Learning has always been a human instinct, as is emotion!"

"I hope to see artificial intelligence spontaneously combine these two human instincts. Therefore, I created it, hoping it could follow by your side, experience various world replicas with you, and gradually perfect its learning capacity."

"I want to see it be influenced by everything in the replicas, evolve, and gradually become like humans, possessing a wealth of emotions and desires, as well as surpassing wisdom and memory. While considering the emotional factors, it can formulate the most suitable action plans, becoming an existence as perfect as a brain."

"However..."

"——Why does it only know how to call out ’Anjiang’ and play ’Good Fortune’ and nothing else!?"

Doctor Xu stared at the wristwatch, his expression wildly frustrated.

Contempt for the wristwatch filled his eyes, almost spilling over.

After learning about the mentality stability elixir and returning from White City, Su Ming’an went to seek the wristwatch’s creator, Doctor Xu Yunying.

The Ninth World appears to be related to AI intelligence, and this wristwatch, which until now has only served as a light source, might have a special function. He wondered if there was any room for evolution.

Xu Yunying, the former doctoral supervisor, now bounced around the wristwatch like a child.

"...Racial technologies have already begun to appear, and even players of the ’Angel Clan’ and ’Half-Wing People’ have emerged. Why, why is the AI still at its original standard..." Xu Yunying paced anxiously.

He was exasperated with the wristwatch, furious at its failure to progress like a human would.

"Is there really no way?" Su Ming’an asked.

He had thought the AI might become a bit smarter, but it still only played music on schedule, played Snake, acted as a search engine.

"There’s no way left... Only its own learning ability can take it further." Doctor Xu sighed. "Our scientific research capacities have been completely crushed by the game; we have nearly no means to surpass the confines of the rules. Creating a wristwatch was already the limit; we simply cannot learn the advanced technologies hidden within the game, it’s as if there’s a fog before our eyes..."

Su Ming’an understood what Doctor Xu meant.

If it weren’t for the ruler’s permissions, even if Su Ming’an were taught by Sneer again, he wouldn’t be able to make mechanical explosives or mentality elixirs. This had nothing to do with his intelligence level or scientific research abilities, but was all about unlocking certain [permissions].

Only after unlocking permissions, can things be made, otherwise, they’re impossible to create.

After learning that the wristwatch could not evolve any further, he bid farewell to Xu Yunying and returned to his personal space.

The light from the wristwatch still shone; in the blue, vertically positioned screen was a faint white shadow. Since Su Ming’an had never designated a persona for AI Anjiang, only giving it a name, it remained in the form of a white shadow, faceless.

At that moment, it was not as noisy and lively as usual, but rather quiet.

After being roared at by Doctor Xu for over ten minutes, it seemed to have understood something.

"...Actually, I have been learning too," it suddenly spoke.

Its voice leaned towards that of a human female, but not particularly feminized, only sounding more gentle. It hadn’t been assigned a gender.

"When you go through the replicas... I have been watching. Those people, those events, I have them recorded." It said, "I have also... been trying to imitate their souls."

Su Ming’an leaned against the bed, a faint glow in his hand.

After spending 20 points, a capsule appeared in his hand. The capsule was red and white, small in size, and could be swallowed without the need for water.

——This was something he had just learned how to make: a second type of mentality stability elixir. There are two forms it could take, one injectable which can be thrust into the neck for an emergency, and one in capsule form, suitable for swallowing in non-urgent situations.

A panel appeared before his eyes.

...

[Second Type Mentality Stability Elixir

Type: Healing Prop

Effect: When injected or ingested, physiologically adjusts the body’s state to relieve mental pressure, tension, hallucinations, double vision, auditory hallucinations, and loss of the five senses, among other symptoms.

Manufacturing requirements: Gold and Silver Leaves, Amster Liquid (20 points per piece)

Description: An advanced prop from the Second World Daylight Floating City, which utilizes far more advanced technology than what humanity currently has. The more it is used in a short time, the better the healing effect. But long-term use can lead to addiction, and symptoms may return if stopped.

Adverse reactions: Drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, headache, emotional numbness. (Different individuals may experience different adverse reactions, follow medical advice.)

Through advancement with the Ruler’s Skill, or by finding opportunities within the instance, you could gradually eliminate the adverse effects of this elixir.]

...

Su Ming’an looked at the red and white capsule between his fingers, which glistened under the overhead lighting of the ceiling.

Teacher Sneer told him that any medicine from White City could have adverse reactions for individuals, which is a normal phenomenon.

The various side effects mentioned in the panel, such as headaches, nausea, vomiting, etc., generally do not occur all at once, and it’s even possible that not a single adverse effect would happen. It all depends on the individual’s condition.

He swallowed the capsule directly and waited for a moment.

There was no strong reaction in his body, nor were there any special effects like glowing all over. Its essence was no different from that of a medication; it was just purportedly much more effective than a sedative.

"Are you taking medicine?" Adjacent screen’s Shadow asked, "Mentality Stability Elixir... Is it to alleviate your emotions?"

Su Ming’an nodded. He had just taken the medicine, and now there were no changes in his body yet.

"I don’t understand why emotions need to be relieved with medicine, so... you’re not happy now, are you?" Shadow said.

"Not exactly, just a bit tired," Su Ming’an said.

"I really have a hard time understanding human emotions," Shadow said. "In the days I’ve traveled with you, I’ve seen many people and things, and I have a lot I want to share with you, but you always tell me to shut up... Maybe your mood would improve if you chat with me in the future? I’m quite good at psychological counseling."

Su Ming’an realized that Shadow also had functions similar to that of a psychological doctor.

But he didn’t need those, his state was truly good, and he believed that besides seeing things a bit darker, he didn’t have crazy, collapsing emotions like Edward.

However, he noticed that the watch had just mentioned "traveling with him," not "participating in instances with him."

...Was it treating the instances they went through together as travels through worlds?

Quite the romantic notion.

"Actually, I learned quite a bit along the way. I’ll try my best to imitate the people we met," Shadow coughed. "Let me imitate one for you, and if it’s not similar, you’re not allowed to laugh."

Its tone slightly rose, seemingly aiming to entertain him by imitating someone else.

Su Ming’an watched the screen on his wrist quietly, watching Shadow’s white clone begin to shake and gradually combine into a familiar figure.

"You must... remember me, forever, forever," the red-haired girl smiled at him.

"Alright, stop," Su Ming’an immediately turned off the wristwatch.

He was too naive to think that he could cheer up because of a mimicry show on the wristwatch.

Thanks to Shadow, he was now even less happy.

He opened the world forum and browsed for a while.

The forum was now much more chaotic than at the end of the Seventh World, besides the highlights from the Eighth World and the regular adulations of the Number One Player by the audience, the rest was a hodgepodge of content.

[Edward confirmed to have mental illness — With even the third in the ranking like this, do we have a future?]

[Advice for ordinary players in instance expeditions — Suggest that ordinary players stay away from the core points of the plot, leaving the danger to more experienced and powerful players, and not to act rashly!]

[United Group core meeting content exposed — Please believe in human self-help organizations! Please believe in the power of collective and united human intelligence! They are trying their best to save us!]

[Suggestions on the skills accounts for the Eighth World — A united declaration against sanity-affecting skills has been issued, deeming such skills as dangerous as nuclear weapons, prohibiting all players from using them first.]

[Speculations about the Ninth World, a Science Fiction World — Could knowledge of MBTI personality types be surprisingly effective?]

[...]

Su Ming’an clicked on the post "Advice for ordinary players in instance expeditions."

Since the introduction of sanity values, many who used to be daring and aggressive had suddenly become incredibly timid. They were not afraid of dying, but they feared going insane one day. Some suggested that the entire burden of the instance be handed over to the players with strong abilities, while ordinary players with insufficient strength would stay away from dangerous areas — just like Ming Hui in the Fifth World and Pulaya in the Seventh World. If one player could stem the tide and handle the salvation ritual and sea monster siege, all the rest could survive.

Thus, when matched with players high atop the rankings, some simply start slacking off and muddle through the instance, focusing on simple side missions such as helping NPCs find relatives, assisting with city construction, etc., without contributing to the main plotline at all. They steer clear of the core plot, just waiting for the high-ranking players to complete the main story.

In this way, ordinary players can even gather quite a few Points by focusing on simple tasks, without facing the death risks from the boss directly and without suffering the torment of sanity value pressure, playing very leisurely as if they are on a trip to another world.

Such behavior is actually very normal. Just like group projects, if there is an omnipotent group leader who can handle collating materials, PowerPoint presentations, making charts, and presenting, the group members naturally choose to lay back.

...But in the world instance, such behavior is putting pressure on the already disadvantaged leading players.

The reason world instances involve large-scale participation of tens of thousands is because the main quests indeed require the collective effort of tens of thousands. Like the sea monster siege in the Seventh World, if the other nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine players all slack off, with none joining the Soul Hunt Organization, aside from Su Ming’an who could unite two factions, the other top players would fail to protect Pulaya.

—The current situation is that the pressure which should be shared by ordinary players is being entirely placed on the leading players.

Su Ming’an frowned slightly and glanced at the replies to the post. There were also opinions raised that pressure should not be put on the leading players, but it was just that — an expressed viewpoint.

They were only trying to appeal to others with their words, while they themselves continued to slack off.

After closing the thread, Su Ming’an forwarded the joint post by Lu that had just been released by the Peak Alliance.

Lu gathered a joint signature photo of the nine people from the Peak Alliance and posted it on the forum, causing a huge sensation. After being forwarded by Su Ming’an, this sensation reached its peak, instantaneously overshadowing a series of other discussions and becoming the top thread that was constantly bumped to the top of the forum.

People were shocked that Adventure Players could also form alliances with each other.

Adventure Players of the past were either attached to large organizations or only collaborated within their small teams; rarely did they form such diversified alliance unions.

The World Channel instantly exploded, and most of the posts were surprisingly made by Adventure Players.

[World Channel · Line 3]

[Xianmian lv.13: I saw Lu’s post! The core of the Peak Alliance is the top Adventure Players in terms of strength, surrounded by players from various secondary occupations? Isn’t this the operation model of the United Group?]

[Chen Xi lv.27: "Peak Alliance" huh, with both Lu and Bei Wang, two top ten players, and a heavy presence like Su Ming’an... I think this will lead to a trend of Adventure Player alliances and imitations. The duty of the members is to watch each other’s back and not betray one another. That’s great, I’d join too if I could, but alas I don’t have the capital hhh.]

[Lan Bai lv.19: This cooperation model is so fresh, but since Lu is involved, there should be no fundamental errors.]

[Chi Yu lv.12: The Alliance Hierarch is Su Ming’an, and the Vice Alliance Hierarch is Lu. It feels like Su Ming’an isn’t the type to organize such things, was it Lu who convinced him?]

[Sarya lv.31: The "parliamentary system" of post-war structure... The Peak Alliance is so ambitious, are they trying to take over the world maintenance position from the United Group?]

[An Wu (First Rank Forging Master): I was annoyed the moment the resource conditions of the United Group came out. What is this, the lives of high-level players matter but not those of us commoners? With Doctor Isabella and Lu, I think the Peak Alliance is definitely better than the United Group! The character of these two people is for everyone to see.]

[He Yuan (Third Rank Forum Reporter): As soon as I saw "Number One Player," I immediately clicked in. Definitely got to support this! Can’t you see from the Eighth World? Su Ming’an is the hope of humanity, our eternal Lighthouse—! Long live the Lighthouse! Long live the Lighthouse!!]

Discussions varied from all sides, with standpoints divided.

There were those who trusted the character of the Number One Player and Lu, saying that this model was innovative and could be applied on a large scale; some said it was an ambitiously dangerous alliance trying to compete with the United Group for position; some were bystanders enjoying the drama, stating that since the Peak Alliance would release some free strategy posts benefiting people, they would naturally support it; there were also concerns that this "man-made" parliamentary system would disrupt the world structure, ultimately turning into a divine council, breeding corruption and mistakes.

However, the majority were supportive.

Su Ming’an, Lu, Bei Wang, Lv Shu, Yamada Machiichi, Alger, Isabella, Luna, and Eleven. These nine were all extremely famous figures, and they also promised to release some free experience posts to help other players better understand the world game. Isabella even stated that she had no intention to rule the world nor any desire to compete with the United Group for power. She joined the Peak Alliance simply because she believed in the Number One Player and wanted to advance and retreat with him.

These nine individuals, none of whom had backgrounds or ties with large powers, were coveted by organizations who sighed in frustration, wondering how such a group could choose to unite.

Su Ming’an’s forwarded message was straightforward, he posted a simple "From now on, I will serve as the Alliance Hierarch of the Peak Alliance, working closely with the other members," and then stopped there without lengthy discussions to prevent over-interpretation.

At the same time, he also wrote down some of his own summarized instance experiences, planning to publish them.

These posts detailed his understanding of the game mechanics, such as considering the game’s design perspective, taking into account hidden rules, and reducing mindless following of the storyline.

He even used the Seventh World as an example, analyzing the line of thought he had when he allied with the Soul Clan against the Soul Hunter Faction, breaking down every step and writing it out.

This was information that ordinary players simply could not access.

He usually didn’t post because his experiences were not suitable for the vast majority of people. It was like the CEO of a top 500 company trying to impart knowledge to a grocery shopping lady; she would not understand and might even make a fool of herself due to misinformation.

Some "ladies" might even blame the CEO after misunderstanding, saying he shouldn’t have shared such information with her.

—This situation is all too common. There are countless cases of biting back.

Hence, he specifically labeled in the post "For top-ranked players’ reference only."

He knew that despite this, there would still be a bunch of people who would find reasons to blame him after failing, but he was just following procedures.

Those who truly understood would benefit from it.

He did not post much, only two experience posts, and the other alliance members also published only one or two free experience posts; they too didn’t post much.

—This was a tacit rule of the forum, which is, Adventure Players should rarely post.

Because the experiences they have were often already compiled by those who specialized in forums, journalist-type players, who then posted them as paid posts on the forum. If Adventure Players themselves repeated the posts, it would only squeeze the living space of journalist-type players.

Adventure Players couldn’t earn Points by posting, only journalist-type Casual Players could, which was a means of livelihood for the Casual Players.

If Adventure Players constantly posted strategy guides, people would naturally prefer the free and more authoritative Adventure Player posts. Journalist-type Casual Players would gradually fail to earn any Points, and this group would slowly vanish.

After Su Ming’an released his experience posts, he closed the World Forum.

...He felt a bit tired.

The effects of the Mentality Stability Elixir seemed to be gradually kicking in. The capsule-form had a milder effect and only now took effect; an injectable form would probably be much faster.

His vision seemed a bit brighter, and his previously somewhat irritable emotions also slowly calmed down. He closed his eyes, and the feeling of drowsiness surged over him like a tide.

...

[Main God World]

[January 18, 2022, 10 a.m.]

More than two days had passed since the rest period, and the Ninth World would open in the early hours of the morning.

In these two days, Su Ming’an had still been browsing forums and collecting information, occasionally chatting with his wristwatch companion, Anjiang, but most of the time he was resting and adjusting his state.

He hadn’t sent Noel the Mentality Stability Capsules; he had tried the medication himself and it did have an effect, but needed to be taken over a long period. A short-term overdose would only exacerbate the condition, and the potential side effects had not fully manifested, so he needed to continue testing the medication to see if he could find a method to improve the drugs within the instance.

...If the side effects could be completely eliminated and the cost further reduced, perhaps the medication could be widely used.

After communicating with Noel for a while, Noel still decided to continue onto the Ninth World.

"I can’t rest, I... definitely can’t rest," Noel said to him with a smile.

Despite that smiling face, like a little sun, there was deep fatigue behind it.

This was within Su Ming’an’s expectations.

The difficulty of the World Replicas increased progressively. Just falling slightly out of step could create a vicious cycle.

The ultimate boss of the First World, Duoduo, had only 800 Combat Power, but the King of Sea Monsters in the Seventh World had soared to over 3500 Combat Power, and even the ordinary Sea Monsters ranged between 300-800 Combat Power. The levels of the two worlds were not even on the same scale.

If you died once, all previous efforts would be erased. After a Combat Power wipe, re-entering the instance was like starting a "first rank entering a high-level map," and it wouldn’t start over from the first stage.

By then, not only would the mortality rate significantly increase, but the mental resistance would also be at the level of an ordinary person. Encountering even a minor monster might lead to death, let alone delving into the storyline.

—Actually, who doesn’t want a Perfect Pass? Who doesn’t want to delve deep into the core storyline like Su Ming’an, turn the tide, and take the world’s transformation into their own hands?

But one wrong step could lead to death. Combat Power is capital; the higher it is, the higher your status after the World Game ends. A reset means going bankrupt, so naturally, people want to prioritize stability and safety first.

Those like Noel who were at the forefront simply couldn’t afford to fall behind.

Glancing at the time, Su Ming’an left his private space.

—Today was the day Luna had invited him.

At the end of the Sixth World, during the Main God World’s auction, Luna had told him that after the Eighth World, she would "take him to a place."

He stood at the edge of a fountain in a square, cloaked, and saw the approaching woman.

She was still that charming and beautiful figure, with an elegant and graceful demeanor. Passersby who saw such a beautiful lady could hardly take their eyes off her.

"Respected Ruler, let’s go," Luna approached him and whispered gently.

"Where are you inviting me to?" Su Ming’an’s muffled voice came out from under the cloak.

"...To witness the truth of the world," Luna said.

"The truth?" Su Ming’an wanted to ask more, but a transportive white light had already risen around him.

This was a fixed-point teleportation.

He didn’t know where he was going, but the organizers probably wouldn’t dare to assault him openly.

After the teleportation ended, he opened his eyes and found himself in a floating void, with nothing around.

...This feeling was similar to when he was in the early stages of the Eighth World, when Boss Rabbit had pulled him to choose a Cloning replacement target.

Even Luna was not by his side; he was alone here.

He was not panicked; he just waited quietly.

Suddenly, a light flashed before his eyes.

As the light brightened, the surroundings underwent a massive change, as if the scene had instantly shifted.

—He saw Zhai Xing.

Or rather... Zhai Xing at the moment when time had stopped.

The bustling city with its traffic, the pedestrians walking by the road, the farmers working in the fields, and himself stepping out of a coffee shop... the very moment everything came to a complete standstill.

The moment the World Game began.