165: Chapter 162 Speculation and the Teutonic Order at the Top

The two people who had been arguing incessantly just moments ago posted surrender emojis almost simultaneously, and the comments section was instantly flooded with laughter.

"Hahahaha, you two brothers argued for ages, but the answer was right there in your inboxes!"

"This is why you need to form the good habit of checking notifications—you didn't check company emails before Transmigration, and you still don't check them after!"

"I feel this so hard. I never checked my email before Transmigration either."

"Fate Master: I told you all. You didn't look. Is it my fault?"

As Fisherman Song's post spread, more and more Survivors opened their Fate Platform inboxes and found the System email lying quietly in their received list.

After reading it, many people suddenly realized what had happened.

[Chen Yong (Yanhuang Civilization): No wonder! Last night, when I was playing the Sequence Battle late into the night, my life ring did seem to flicker. I thought I was just seeing things at the time, because the life ring has been running extremely smoothly since I started using it, and it has never had any issues. So, I remembered that flicker very clearly, but I didn't pay it any mind at the time and kept playing. Now I know—that was the 0.01 seconds when the life ring was iterating.]

A bunch of supportive replies quickly flooded in under this post.

"Me too! My life ring flickered a little after eleven last night!"

"I saw it flicker right at twelve o'clock; it recovered in less than 0.01 seconds. I thought it was just normal, like the occasional screen flicker on a computer before Transmigration!"

"Ahhh, I experienced it too! I was using the compass to scan the sea area, and the screen suddenly went dark for a moment and then lit up again. I thought it was signal interference... turns out it was the life ring iterating!"

"I was asleep at the time... I have no idea what happened..."

"So, after that 0.01-second silence, this alien icon appeared?"

"That seems to be the case."

The discussion continued throughout the morning. By around noon, as the content of the email notification was widely spread, most Survivors understood the origin of this icon—a product of the life ring's iteration.

However, while the "origin" was clear, the "function" remained a mystery.

Around one in the afternoon, a new wave of speculation posts popped up.

[Doomsday Angler (Yanhuang Civilization): Since it's confirmed that it was added after the life ring iterated, it definitely isn't just a decorative logo. But what exactly is it? I personally have a guess—don't you think the style and position of this little humanoid icon look exactly like the online customer service icons on websites and apps before Transmigration? They're usually placed in the corner of the page, a cartoon figure that pops up a dialogue box when you click it. Maybe the Fate Master is developing an official customer service System for the Fate Platform? It's probably just still in debugging, which is why it's currently unclickable.]

This speculation received some agreement.

"Now that you mention it... it really does look like it!"

"Right, right, right! The customer service icons on platforms like Taobei and Jingxi before Transmigration had that exact position and style!"

"The Fate Platform has so many functions, it really does need official customer service. Every time there's an issue, we can only ask in the forums, which is too inefficient, and there's no channel to provide feedback on questions or ideas about the Fate Platform."

Following that, some people's trains of thought began to diverge.

[Sleepwalking Fish (Yanhuang Civilization): Do you guys think... this little humanoid icon could be early foreshadowing for the life ring being able to turn into a humanoid form in the future? Imagine it: the life ring flies off your wrist, turns into a humanoid assistant that stands by your side, helps you fight monsters, cook, and chat—if I get one, can I ask for a Young Miss? ( ⁄ ⁄ • ⁄ ω ⁄ • ⁄ ⁄ )]

"Keep dreaming, hahahaha!"

"Although it's unlikely... but if it really could turn into a Young Miss... I want one too!!!"

"Can you guys be serious!"

[Iron-Faced Ruthless (Yanhuang Civilization): Continuing with the wild thoughts from above—the life ring is worn on the wrist. If it can transform and expand in the future, wouldn't it be more reasonable for it to turn into a set of exoskeleton armor rather than a humanoid? This little humanoid icon might just be the switch button for armor mode!]

"Holy crap, this theory actually has some merit!"

"Exoskeleton armor! life ring Battle Armor! That sounds incredibly cool!"

"You guys are getting more and more ridiculous with these theories..."

Then, someone branched out even further—

[Data Maniac (Yanhuang Civilization): Actually, all the humanoid assistant or exoskeleton armor theories you're talking about aren't as likely as another possibility—AI. Artificial Intelligence! Look at the style of that icon: a simple line-art figure, no facial features, no details. Isn't that the standard image for those AI assistants before Transmigration? If the life ring has a built-in AI System, that would be amazing. Think about those ones that just became popular before Transmigration—Shabao AI, Wanwen, SeepDeek... Sigh, speaking of which, I really miss those times. I wonder how the world before Transmigration is doing now.]

"Stop, stop... I feel terrible whenever Transmigration is mentioned..."

"The afternoon before I transmigrated, I had just spent an hour chatting with Shabao AI about how to pursue a girlfriend... and then I transmigrated that very night... I didn't even get to see the girlfriend..."

"My condolences, brother. Your girlfriend is probably drifting on the Magic Sea right now too."

"...Are you a devil?"

"To be honest, the AI theory isn't impossible. But the key is—it's unclickable."

"Right, no matter what we guess, it always circles back to this problem. It's unclickable. No matter how much we guess, it's all for nothing."

These wild and imaginative speculations continued from noon until around three in the afternoon.

Because that alien-shaped icon remained completely unresponsive, all speculations ultimately remained in the "speculation" stage; they couldn't be verified, and naturally, no conclusion could be reached.

The heat of the topic gradually cooled down from the initial heated discussion to the point where someone would only occasionally mention it.

After clicking it dozens of times and confirming it was unclickable, most Survivors chose to accept its existence.

Just like accepting that there was an extra little decoration on the life ring screen.

And then—

At 3:07 PM.

A new topic completely replaced the discussion about the life ring icon.

The real-time leaderboards for the Faction Sequence Battle and the Individual Sequence Contest, after the comprehensive explosion of the Yanhuang Civilization brought about by the life ring over the past two days, continued to undergo a series of large-scale reshuffles.

The changes in the Faction Sequence Battle were still within expectations—multiple teams from the Yanhuang Civilization, bolstered by the full functionality of the life ring, were advancing triumphantly. Yanhuang Civilization teams already occupied six of the top ten spots, and the first place was still the Wall of Despair, leading by a wide margin.

The championship of the 5v5 Faction Sequence Battle was already without suspense.

But the changes in the Individual Sequence Contest leaderboard left everyone unable to calm down.

[Individual Sequence Contest · Real-time Win Count Leaderboard]

[1st Place: Hans Weber (Teuton), Win Count: 924]

[2nd Place: Lin Ke (Yanhuang Civilization), Win Count: 913]

[3rd Place: Yuri Volkov (Polar Bear), Win Count: 902]

[4th Place: Elena Rossi (Gaul), Win Count: 897]

[5th Place: Zhang Haotian (Yanhuang Civilization), Win Count: 891]

[6th Place: Victoria (Fog City), Win Count: 890]

[7th Place: Christian Muller (Teuton), Win Count: 885]

[8th Place: Zheng Yuanshan (Yanhuang Civilization), Win Count: 885]

[9th Place: Solomon (Hebrew), Win Count: 880]

[10th Place: President Shen Qing (Yanhuang Civilization), Win Count: 880]

[...]

Yang Hang's name was in 126th place.

Win Count: 662.

It hadn't increased.

From the start of the Sequence War until now, he had cleared 662 rounds on the first day—this number had shocked the entire Magic Sea at the time, and everyone thought he would crush the competition all the way to the end.

And then, there was no then.

662, frozen right there. It wasn't going up anymore.

And the top spot—

[1st Place: Hans Weber (Teuton), Win Count: 924]