Player Reload

"The new players these days are really baffling."

Feeling not quite satiated, Li Cheng took off his gloves and mask, switched on the air conditioning vent function, and casually fetched some bear goblin liver and intestines from the fridge to make stir-fried liver for himself.

While cooking, he let his mind wander, lost in thought.

The fashion in the killing field has always been a cycle; the first batch of players emerged during an era of chaos and disorder, where heroes were everywhere and their IDs generally felt impressive, like Side of Truth, Zero-day Vulnerability, Order Maintainer, and so on.

When the second batch appeared, national machinery and multinational consortia had already become aware of the killing field, starting to scramble for people, regular task opportunities, and player qualifications.

The oppression and pressure from major forces on Lone Wolf players intensified, causing players' IDs to become more cynical.

Names like Destiny's Slaughter, With My Broken Body Ignite Fierce Fire, Sword Cleansing Society.

As this historical stage passed, a balance of power formed among national machinery, multinational corporations, and civilian guilds, above which sat the Global Supernatural Alliance GOC as referee,

gradually dispelling the dreadful atmosphere of everyone living in fear in the player community and the killing field, shooting every day.

Makes the players' IDs lively and open, more personalized.

Such as [The Young Pig-headed Boy Won't Dream of Meg Griffin];

[I Don't Eat But Those Smelly Feet];

[Reborn to High School Bathroom Task Discover Ghoul Fire Father];

[Goblin Nightclub Is a Beastly Hazard to Killing Field Players];

and so on.

But now, the original ID style, which felt impressive, seems to be trending among the new players.

On the player forum, there are even people who charge money, drawing from numerology and divination, to create IDs for others, hoping to help them survive longer.

In the midst of this outrageous thinking, a pot of stir-fried liver was ready.

Li Cheng placed it in a bowl, eating it alongside some small buns.

[Hey Pifu Brother, are you there?]

While eating, the friend communication panel lit up, the message coming from Fuding Hualong.

[I'm here.]

Li Cheng's eating didn't slow for a moment; he'd been waiting.

"Cough cough, about the news from the British criminal court,"

as if you could see Fuding Hualong's awkward expression through the text, "did you see it?"

"I saw it."

"It's like this," Fuding Hualong said, "Now according to our speculation, the UK should have guessed the connection between Cai Anjie's foster parents and this Secret Realm—

[Nikola] has a sports camera on him, belongs to Bell Tower Guild, and the Bell Tower is in the UK.

Inside the Secret Realm, you saw a local British criminal court building.

As a domestic force, the UK's official institutions quickly realized the issue and went to examine that local criminal court's past cases.

Looking for cases with obviously problematic judgments—the killing field practice is that the deeper the grievance, the bigger the hatred, the higher the level of the anomalous event it spawns.

Combining other clues in the Secret Realm, UK officials pinpointed Cai Anjie's case. And they reneged on our agreed conditions, deliberately giving a light sentence to Cai Anjie's foster parents.

As for the reasons... they are likely multiple."

Li Cheng raised his eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

"Firstly, before the killing field descended, the UK was already keen on being anti-China. Whether harming others benefits themselves or not, they'll do it. Even harming themselves while harming others, they'll do it—just to play the spoiler and disgust the world."

Fuding Hualong explained, "Secondly, they speculate that the Secret Realm treasure's profits, half were taken by the Side of Truth, and half by the Special Affairs Bureau.

The UK got nothing from this event, even some insurance companies went bankrupt, causing them significant economic losses, hence this deliberate revenge.

Thirdly, from their perspective, once it's confirmed that the Special Affairs Bureau took benefits, they'll give Cai Anjie's foster parents a lighter sentence to sow discord on our side.

If we don't act, they'll have planted a nail, buried a time bomb.

If we counteract, they can entirely blame the local court, claiming they were completely unaware, and use the killing field to stir public opinion, accusing the Special Affairs Bureau of breaking the balance first, violating international order.

If we initiate negotiations, they can use Cai Anjie's foster parents as a bargaining chip, demanding we concede benefits."

Ever since 1815 when the UK defeated Napoleon's First French Empire in the Battle of Waterloo, wielding the Industrial Revolution in one hand and the Royal Navy in the other, colonized the globe, ruled India, known as the Sun Never Sets Empire, reigning as world hegemon.

Until World War II's end, gradually losing many overseas colonies, relinquishing the top position.

This century-long global domination was built upon the blood, tears, and corpses of countless Third World countries' civilians.

The current UK, lacking the ability to develop industries, reform military affairs, lead world trends, is like King Xiaoer celebrating New Year—worse each year,

but the ancestral skill of playing the spoiler remains proficient, conjuring cards out of thin air, making issues, always wins without losing.

Li Cheng thought about it, "They saw the image of the Side of Truth and still dared to act this way?"

"Uh…"

From Fuding Hualong's end came a bit of embarrassment, "Maybe because Pifu Brother, you're somewhat familiar with the Side of Truth Sir, you didn't notice the difference.

Among the psychological profiling departments of various guilds, he's always been quite... indifferent to them."

Fuding Hualong used the mildly neutral term "indifferent," instead of the more realistic "cold" term.

Indeed, Side of Truth has long ceased being human, the existence below the hood could look like anything.

Moreover, top-tier powerhouses all have their own pocket dimensions, or rather, small worlds. Who knows if their true psychological age is hundreds of years old?

"Understood."

Li Cheng nodded, the UK officials betting that Side of Truth wouldn't invest much attention in external matters, and even if he did, they could lie and deflect responsibility, using the court's judges as scapegoats, "What does the Special Affairs Bureau intend?"

"The Special Affairs Bureau wants to firstly protect Cai Anjie herself, and secondly pressure the UK from multiple angles."

Fuding Hualong said, "We've already submitted a request for arbitration to the Global Supernatural Alliance GOC. The origin of the Secret Realm was from Cai Anjie's foster parents' abuse, and the local police's racial discrimination and inaction.

GOC is obligated to mitigate the impact of anomalous events on human civilization and will establish a court for this, ordering the UK officials and Cai Anjie's foster parents to attend.

If UK officials remain stubborn, we also have contingency plans.

Either support Argentina's sovereignty claim over the Malvinas Islands, provide weapons to certain social groups in Northern Ireland, or hold individuals accountable within the UK's institutions, identifying who proposed the idea, and finding opportunities to settle scores.

Paired with trade embargoes, financial strikes, military intimidation, and intelligence warfare countermeasures in a series of combinations.

Ultimately, there are Mobile Task Force units in the killing field.

In the wilderness, 'accidentally mistaking someone for a monster,' capturing some British national Transcendents, demanding hostages in exchange, is also in the counter-strategies toolkit."

One ironic fact is, precisely because the UK long lost its world dominion, majorly weakened, and Hornheim of the Bell Tower also holds little affinity for the UK,

Hence UK officials feel at ease, shamelessly employing these rogue tactics.

Whereas the Special Affairs Bureau is stronger, growing faster, more inclined to maintain basic international order, resolving issues within the framework of rules.

The powerful yet reasonable side, ironically, before delivering that one slap, gets constantly provoked, disgusted, and challenged by the rogue.

The above isn't what Fuding Hualong personally thought; he lacks the authority and corresponding knowledge, merely parroting the solutions provided by the Special Affairs Bureau think tank.

"That's basically how it is,"

Fuding Hualong awkwardly said, "Pifu Brother, can you accept this solution?"

The Special Affairs Bureau basically paid nothing this time, gaining a dormant Demigod and potential future Hidden Room capable of housing souls.

The top brass felt extremely frustrated and angry with the Brits' dastardly tricks and sincerely apologetic to Li Cheng for believing in them.

"Whether I accept or not is irrelevant."

Li Cheng calmly closed the chat window from Fuding Hualong, put down his chopsticks, stood up, took a transparent raincoat from the rack, and walked out of the [Star-casting Anvil].

In the friend communication panel, Nikola from the Bell Tower silently transferred fifteen thousand Game Coins to him, likely caught between two forces.

Wow—

The weather control system above the slum simulated a heavy rain condition, uniform raindrops with a diameter of 4.5 mm pouring down at a rate of 100 mm rainfall.

Colorful umbrellas sectioned off the street into hues, Li Cheng walked through the crowd, strolled into the teleportation booth, picked up the slightly chipped phone, inputting the Toy Factory's coordinates.

He had his backup solution.