Chapter 65: Victory's Aftermath
A crisp notification rang out, followed by brilliant golden light shining down from the heavens.
The stone city walls were covered with sword slashes and artillery bombardment scars. Countless defenders stood atop the walls, some holding spears, some raising giant logs, some clutching rolling boulders, and some gripping bows, all of them filthy and dust-covered...
As they looked across the stretch of city walls below, every soldier stood with a solemn expression.
Then the golden radiance descended from the sky.
Bathed in that golden glow, every face was illuminated. The gentle light reflected upon them, bringing an indescribable sense of peace and tranquility.
Soon after, waves of cheers and shouts erupted beneath the golden light.
It was the cry of victory.
A celebration of finally obtaining victory.
A celebration of finally seeing the light.
Server-Wide Announcement: Congratulations to player Half-Journey Through the Mortal World for successfully passing the Mountain Bandit Siege Trial. Territory level has advanced to Main City! Reward: Special Item Draw Chance ×1.
Server-Wide Announcement: Congratulations to player Half-Journey Through the Mortal World for successfully passing the Mountain Bandit Siege Trial. Territory level has advanced to Main City! Reward: Special Item Draw Chance ×1.
...
The announcement repeated five full times, echoing continuously in everyone's ears, as though proclaiming to the world the return of a king.
As for Xiao Wen, the source of all those announcements, his expression remained calm as he stood proudly upright.
Bathed in golden light, he raised his head toward the heavens as if waiting for something.
Less than half a quarter-hour later, the skies above suddenly churned.
The sun, which had still been emitting traces of dawnlight moments ago, was gradually swallowed by a dark shadow.
A total solar eclipse?
No.
It was the Heavenly Hound Devouring the Sun!
The main storyline was advancing!
Exactly the same as what he had witnessed in his previous life.
Even after being reborn, seeing that phenomenon in the heavens still filled Xiao Wen with endless emotions.
As the Heavenly Hound devoured the sun, the entire game world fell into darkness.
Even torchlight, which originally illuminated a radius of three meters, was compressed down to only one meter.
Light was suppressed.
The whole world became filled with a cold and sinister aura, as though the apocalypse was about to arrive.
But for Xiao Wen, the darkness belonged to them.
At least, before his eyes, there was still light.
Boundless light.
It was the golden radiance generated by the territory's advancement, illuminating the entire Main City brightly.
Because his level had increased, the weakness caused by using Dragon God's Wrath had already disappeared.
With a leap, he crossed several rooftops and landed atop the city wall.
His eyes narrowed.
Faint golden light flickered within them as he gazed toward the heavens.
Above was endless darkness.
The land seemed trapped within eternal night, with not even the slightest trace of light visible.
Yet under that gaze, from the far reaches of his vision, he could vaguely hear waves of humming sounds vibrating through the air.
His fingers loosened before slowly clenching into a fist.
Veins subtly bulged on the back of his hand.
As the Great Darkness descended, everyone felt a chilling sensation originating from the depths of their souls.
In the real world, inside the villa, within the gaming pod, Xiao Wen's consciousness remained inside the game world.
Yet his body unconsciously let out muffled groans.
Black impurities seeped out from every pore.
His already-enhanced physique was now being strengthened at an even faster rate.
Outside the room, Uncle Fu heard the commotion.
Taking several quick steps, he entered the room and looked at Xiao Wen inside the gaming pod.
A sharp glint flashed through his eyes.
But in the next moment, he turned around and left, closing the room's door behind him.
Similar scenes were occurring throughout Divine Province and across the entirety of Blue Star.
Around the Mediterranean region, many Western players immersed in medieval-civilization-themed game worlds were also groaning in pain.
At the headquarters of the Blue Star Game Company, groups of engineers stood before massive server mainframes.
Their fingers flew across keyboards as they programmed, deciphered, and attempted to reclaim control of the server core.
However, despite paying enormous sums to hire top engineers from across Blue Star, they still failed to regain control.
The reason was simple.
The security level of the in-game firewall was simply too high.
Combining the wisdom of everyone present, they had spent over a month attacking it, yet they had only managed to break through the outermost layer.
And after finally breaching that layer...
Before they could even celebrate, they discovered countless additional barriers behind it.
At that moment...
Despair nearly overwhelmed them.
Yet after despair came another charge.
They were determined to reclaim control of the core program.
Because that authority was simply too important.
So...
Charge!
Overtime!
Endless overtime!
As long as they were still alive, they would work themselves to death if necessary!
They had to break through every last firewall!
"B-Boss, the core program responded. An email has been sent over..."
One engineer suddenly spoke while frantically typing.
The moment he said those words, all the other engineers received an email as well.
Chief Engineer William hurried over.
His eyes fell upon the screen.
Reading the contents of the email, he immediately fell silent.
The Starry Sky Civilization has arrived.
Everything will restart.
Spiritual energy will recover.
The age of gods and demons shall eventually descend.
Angels, gods, Buddhas, immortals...
The myths buried within history shall awaken once more.
Fortunate ones born into this unfortunate age, strive to become stronger in this glorious era.
A great calamity is approaching.
War already spreads among the stars.
Will you become ashes amidst the flames of war?
Or will you be reborn through fire and race toward the galaxy?
Everything...
Depends upon yourselves.
...
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Just as everyone finished reading the email, explosions suddenly erupted.
The server mainframe exploded directly.
Brilliant flames instantly engulfed the entire hall.
Then the remaining computers exploded one after another.
Within moments, the entire hall became a sea of fire.
Countless engineers screamed as they fled the server chamber in terror.
Even after everyone escaped, the flames inside continued burning fiercely.
A fire caused by a short circuit?
Someone immediately thought of that possibility and ordered people to cut the power.
But they ultimately discovered that regardless of whether they pulled the switches or physically severed the cables, electricity still flowed through the core control room.
Above a certain sea region lay the location of the game server's mainframe.
Ten thousand meters beneath the ocean surface, countless electric eels surrounded the server, continuously generating electricity to power it.
Above the sea, in the heavens, positive and negative ions collided to create lightning currents.
Those currents were guided into the depths of the ocean and then into the server itself.
No one could see it.
Within the endless darkness of the deep sea, deep inside the core of that mountain of server machinery, a flame was burning fiercely.
The Starry Sky Civilization's Spark!
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