168: Chapter 168 This isn't a competition, it's a buffet.
When Wang Pingan's vast, ocean-like spirit, like an invisible giant net, silently blanketed the entire "Thousand Illusions Maze".
In the central control room of the maze.
The Galaxy Emperor and dozens of top technical experts from the Federation Academy of Sciences were quietly looking at the huge holographic screen in front of them.
The light screen clearly displayed the real-time movements and data of every participant inside the maze.
"Lord Star Master, all participants have successfully entered the maze, and no one has experienced any teleportation anomalies." An old man wearing a white research suit, who looked like the project manager, reported respectfully.
"Hmm." The Galaxy Emperor nodded indifferently, his deep gaze slowly sweeping across the thousands of flickering light points on the screen.
"Activate 'Ghost' mode, and set the maze's difficulty to the maximum." He suddenly spoke, issuing an order that made all the technical experts present change color.
"What?! Lord Star Master, this..." The project manager's face changed drastically. " 'Ghost' mode is the highest-difficulty AI combat program that we are still in the testing phase for! Its computing power is sufficient to simulate the combat awareness and tactical thinking of a Seventh-Rank Grandmaster! To let these freshmen, whose average strength is only Fourth Rank, face it, this... isn't this sending them to their deaths?!"
"Sending them to their deaths?" A meaningful smile appeared on the Galaxy Emperor's face. "You cannot grow true towering trees in a greenhouse."
"True monsters should be honed and grow in the cruelest environments."
"I would like to see how many of this year's freshmen can survive this 'Ghost' hunt."
His gaze finally landed on an inconspicuous corner of the screen.
In that corner, there was a light point representing a participant that had remained motionless since entering the maze.
As if it had disconnected.
"Yes, Lord Star Master." The project manager dared not raise any further objections.
He took a deep breath and entered a series of complex commands on his console.
" 'Ghost' mode, activate!"
Hum—
Inside the entire "Thousand Illusions Maze", a blinding red light lit up without warning!
All the participants who were carefully exploring the maze subconsciously stopped in their tracks and looked around vigilantly.
They could clearly feel the surrounding air, which seemed to become oppressive in that instant.
An invisible, terrifying will filled with malice and a murderous aura descended.
"Roar—!"
A roar filled with rage and bloodlust suddenly resounded from the depths of the maze!
Immediately after, in the eyes of all the horrified participants.
Virtual demonic beasts of various shapes, massive in size and composed entirely of dark red energy, slowly emerged from the metal walls!
There were thousands of them!
The weakest among them reached the Fourth Rank Peak!
Among them, there were even some terrifying "Beast Kings" with auras comparable to Fifth or even Sixth Rank!
"Holy shit! What the hell is this?!"
"How... how could there be so many demonic beasts?!"
"Oh no! It's a trap! We've been tricked!"
Panic spread like a plague in the hearts of all the participants!
They ran for their lives towards the path they had come from, as if they had gone mad!
But it was too late!
The moment those virtual demonic beasts appeared, they launched the bloodiest, cruelest, and indiscriminate attacks on them!
For a moment, screams, explosions, and the roar of energy rose one after another!
Meanwhile, in an inconspicuous corner of the maze.
Wang Pingan was still in his lazy posture, leaning against the corner as if he had fallen asleep.
The violent virtual demonic beasts filled with a murderous aura that surrounded him would, without warning, freeze the moment they approached within ten meters of him.
Then, a trace of "fear" would appear in their dark red eyes, which were filled with cruelty and a will to destroy.
Immediately after, they would turn around and run as if they had seen a ghost! It was as if something existed on Wang Pingan that made them tremble with fear.
Wang Pingan ignored those "little guys" who had been scared out of their wits.
His consciousness had long since connected to the core control system of the entire "Thousand Illusions Maze" through the "Senluo Illusion Realm".
In his "God's-eye view".
The entire structure of the maze, the position of every participant, the movements of every virtual demonic beast, and even every tactical command of that so-called "Ghost" AI were crystal clear and held no secrets.
"Interesting. They actually know how to play the 'shut the door to catch the dog' trick."
A playful smile appeared on Wang Pingan's face.
He "saw" that under the control of the "Ghost" AI, those tens of thousands of virtual demonic beasts were like the most elite army, conducting "textbook-level" encirclements and massacres against the participants who had already fallen into complete chaos.
He also "saw" that in various corners of the maze, those so-called "treasure chests" hidden under the walls and ground had also been activated one by one.
They radiated alluring energy fluctuations, like deadly bait attracting the desperate participants to walk right into the trap.
Once someone approached, what awaited them would be even more terrifying traps.
"Tsk tsk, these methods are quite ruthless." In his heart, Wang Pingan silently gave a thumbs up to the organizers of this competition.
However... he liked it!
"Since you have prepared such a sumptuous 'buffet'. If I don't 'savor' it properly, wouldn't that be too disrespectful to you?"
A smug smile of "scheme successful" appeared on Wang Pingan's face.
With a thought, an invisible yet incredibly strange spirit wave radiated from him as the center, silently merging into the entire maze's system.
The next second, in the central control room, on the huge holographic screen, the light point representing Wang Pingan, which had remained motionless as if disconnected, began to skyrocket in points at a crazy speed that left all the technical experts feeling baffled!
【Wang Pingan, Points: 10】
【Wang Pingan, Points: 100】
【Wang Pingan, Points: 1000】
【Wang Pingan, Points: 5000】
...
The speed at which the numbers jumped was so fast that they left afterimages!
In less than a minute, his points had already broken five digits!
And they were still skyrocketing at a terrifying speed that defied all logic!
"Th-this... what is going on?!" The white-haired old man in charge of the project looked at this bizarre scene, his eyes nearly popping out of his sockets! He suddenly turned to look at the Galaxy Emperor, his voice changing pitch. "Lord Star Master! The system... the system seems to have a bug!"