169: Chapter 169 The Captain is Secretly Fishing Again
"Is it a bug?"
The Star River Emperor raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.
His gaze, deep as the vast starry sky, fell upon the rapidly soaring numbers on the light screen.
"Bring up his personal perspective for me," he commanded indifferently.
"Yes!"
The project manager did not dare to be the slightest bit negligent and hurriedly operated his console.
Soon, an independent, small holographic screen appeared before the Star River Emperor.
What the screen displayed was Wang Pingan's "first-person perspective" at that moment.
However, when the Star River Emperor and the surrounding technical experts saw the scene on the screen, everyone's face revealed an expression of absurdity and disbelief, as if they had seen a ghost.
Because in that perspective, there was nothing.
Only a pure, deep darkness that seemed capable of swallowing even light.
And in the center of that darkness, a terrifying giant eye, indescribably huge and composed of the nebulae and dark matter of the entire universe, filled with an eerie purple light.
That giant eye just hung silently in the center of the frame, coldly watching everyone in front of the screen with a gaze filled with indifference.
Hum—
The moment they were watched by that eye, all the technical experts in the central control room, regardless of their cultivation level, felt their heads go "hum" and their minds go blank!
It was as if their consciousness and their souls were about to be forcibly sucked in by that eye!
"Pfft!"
A few technical personnel with weaker cultivation, only at the Third-Rank or Fourth-Rank, even spat out a mouthful of blood on the spot and collapsed to the ground with pale faces!
"No! It's a spirit attack! Cut the feed quickly!"
The project manager was the first to react!
He let out a roar of horror and, without thinking, slammed his hand onto the red emergency cutoff button in front of him!
However, it was already too late.
Just a split second before he was about to slam it down, the Star River Emperor just glanced at the screen indifferently.
With just that one look, that purple giant eye, which had originally been filled with an eerie and destructive aura, seemed to have encountered something that made it feel afraid.
It shuddered violently!
Then, with a "pfft" sound, like a punctured balloon, it dissipated silently.
The image on the light screen also returned to normal.
It was still that ordinary corner of the maze made of metal walls, as if everything that had just happened was merely a hallucination.
"Hoo... hoo..."
Heavy panting sounded in the control room.
Those technical experts were all wiping cold sweat from their foreheads, still lingering in fear.
They looked at the Star River Emperor, who was still looking calm and composed, their eyes filled with awe and lingering fear.
If the Lord Star Master hadn't acted in time just now, more than half of them would have probably become idiots on the spot!
"Lo... Lord Star Master... wha... what exactly was that just now?"
The project manager asked with a trembling voice.
He swore he had never seen such a bizarre and terrifying spirit attack in his life!
"An... interesting little guy."
A mysterious smile appeared on the Star River Emperor's face.
His gaze fell back onto the main screen.
The score representing Wang Pingan had already broken through the one-hundred-thousand mark at this moment!
And it was still skyrocketing in a dominant, unrivaled manner!
He knew that Wang Pingan was not cheating.
He was just using a more advanced method that no one could understand.
He did not attack those virtual spirit beasts.
He directly attacked the so-called "Ghost" AI that controlled these beasts!
He used his own spirit-defying, unfathomable illusions to forcibly drag that powerful artificial intelligence, which possessed the combat consciousness of a Seventh-Rank Grandmaster, into an absolute illusion domain dominated by himself!
Then, in that domain, he carried out inhuman... "ravaging" and "training" on that AI.
Now, the nominal controller of the tens of thousands of virtual spirit beasts in the entire "Thousand Illusions Maze" was still that "Ghost" AI.
But their actual "emperor" had already become that lazy teenager who was comfortably leaning against the corner and "sleeping."
He only needed to move a thought, and he could make those spirit beasts attack any target he wanted to attack.
He could also make those spirit beasts "willingly" "dedicate" the "points" they represented to him.
This was not a competition at all.
This was clearly a grand buffet prepared for him alone!
"Interesting, interesting."
The Star River Emperor looked at the numbers that were still jumping upwards, and the smile on his face became increasingly brilliant.
"It seems this invitational tournament won't be that boring."
Meanwhile, in another corner of the "Thousand Illusions Maze", Shi Lei and Lei Qian from Xuanyuan University were leaning back-to-back, facing a Fifth-Rank early-stage "Piercing Earth Dragon Beast" that was as large as a heavy tank with a grave expression.
"Damn it! Is this beast's skin too thick?!"
Lei Qian looked at his "Thunder Light Spear," which was enough to shatter alloy steel plates, but only splashed some painless sparks when it hit the dragon beast's body, and couldn't help but curse.
"Nonsense! This is a Piercing Earth Dragon Beast! Its defense is notoriously perverted among spirit beasts of the same level!"
Shi Lei panted heavily while using his "Earth Shield" to desperately hold off the crazy, battering-ram-like attacks of the dragon beast.
His face was already a bit pale.
He felt as if his arms were about to be shaken to pieces.
They had been trapped here by this beast for a full ten minutes.
They had exhausted all their means but couldn't even break through the opponent's defense.
If this continued, by the time their physical strength and blood energy were exhausted, they would only be reduced to the beast's meal.
"No! We must find a way!"
A flash of determination flashed in Lei Qian's eyes!
"Shi Lei! Hold on for another ten seconds for me! I'm using that move!"
"Good!"
Shi Lei roared, pouring all the remaining blood energy in his body into his shield!
And Lei Qian took a deep breath.
A dazzling, silver-white electric light filled with a destructive aura began to light up on his body!
He was preparing to use his trump card, a suicidal move that would hurt the enemy by a thousand and damage himself by eight hundred!
However, just a split second before he was about to launch his attack, the Piercing Earth Dragon Beast in front of them, which had been frantically battering Shi Lei's shield, suddenly stiffened without warning.
Its dark red eyes, which had been filled with brutality and cruelty, suddenly revealed a trace of human-like emotion called "confusion."
Then, in the eyes of Shi Lei and Lei Qian, who were filled with astonishment and bewilderment, the Fifth-Rank spirit beast that had been arrogant and left them both helpless, actually... turned around.
It started moving its four thick legs.
"Clang."
With a sound, it used its incredibly hard head to slam heavily into the cold metal wall made of special alloy next to it!
It... alive and kicking, killed itself by crashing into the wall.
Shi Lei: "..."
Lei Qian: "..."
The two looked blankly at the Piercing Earth Dragon Beast that was still twitching slightly in a pool of blood.
Then they looked at themselves.
Their minds were blank.
For a long time, the two of them thought of a possibility that they themselves felt was somewhat absurd.
They raised their heads in unison.
With eyes filled with awe and worship, they looked towards the figure whose direction they did not know.
"Cap... Captain, he..."
"Is... is he secretly fishing again?"