317: Chapter 317 I Have My Own Rhythm

The holographic projection's voice had just fallen.

Below the dance floor, on the originally empty semi-circular wooden booths and reinforced glass floors, hundreds of translucent spirits emerged without warning.

They stood up in unison, clapping frantically.

The applause echoed throughout the massive underground space, deafeningly loud.

All the spotlights' beams were concentrated on Chen You.

A piercing red light popped up on the system panel in front of him.

[Triggered Hidden Challenge: Star Sea Carnival Night]

[Mission Objective: Use the console to complete an electronic mix with an SSS-grade evaluation.]

[Mission Restrictions: Use of any skills or items is prohibited. Pure sense of rhythm is the only criterion for passing.]

[Failure Penalty: Detonate the entire subwoofer matrix, dealing a defense-ignoring sonic destruction strike (damage equal to 90% of maximum health).]

Chen You looked at the last line of text.

His current Shadow Clone only had 1 point of health left, which was forcibly retained.

Asking him, a corporate slave who had never even been to a nightclub and only listened to free music charts, to be a DJ?

And he had to get an SSS-grade evaluation?

Wasn't this clearly a setup to stop him from playing?

The holographic DJ in mid-air waved his arms frantically.

"Let me see your hands! Special guest DJ Chen You! Five-second countdown, the music is about to reach its climax!"

"Five!"

Buck, covering his ears in the corner of a booth, shouted loudly, "My Lord! Quickly, operate it!"

"Four!"

The holographic DJ's volume rose again.

"Three!"

Chen You was expressionless.

He glanced at the glowing damaged turntable part in the console's slot.

Since they wouldn't let him play, then nobody gets to play!

"Two!"

Chen You reached out his right hand, gripped the part, and pulled it out forcefully.

*Click.*

The deafening electronic music vanished instantly.

The holographic projection flickered twice and froze directly in mid-air.

A shrill red alarm sounded throughout the nightclub.

"Warning! Mission process forcibly interrupted! Logic base error detected..."

The spirits on the dance floor stopped their movements instantly and looked up at the high platform in unison.

Thousands of pairs of glowing eyes stared fixedly at Chen You, making the scene extremely eerie.

Chen You looked at the part in his hand, then at the slot.

He plugged the part back in.

*Click-clack.*

The alarm stopped abruptly.

The holographic projection resumed operation, glowing with intense blue light.

"Welcome to Star..."

With a flick of his wrist, Chen You pulled it out again.

"Warning! Mission pro..."

Plugged it in.

"Welcome..."

Pulled it out.

"Warning..."

Chen You remained expressionless, his right hand turning into an afterimage.

In, out, in, out, in, out...

"Wel-Warn-Wel-Warn-Wel-Warn-Wel-Warn..."

The system notification and the holographic projection's opening lines were completely shredded.

Under the extremely high frequency of physical interruptions, two completely different audio tracks were forcibly stitched into an extremely glitchy, explosive sound effect with a strong industrial metal style.

The console's indicator lights flashed frantically, the frequency of the alternating red and blue light exceeding the limit of what the naked eye could capture.

The spirits below the dance floor were stunned for a full three seconds.

Then, they actually began to shake their heads wildly to this strange, glitchy rhythm.

The spirits' movements were perfectly synchronized, and the glass dance floor groaned under the invisible pressure of their rhythmic stomping.

Buck watched this scene through the gaps in his fingers, his jaw dropping onto his knees.

Chen You maintained his rhythm of plugging and unplugging.

The surface temperature of the console rose sharply, and acrid black smoke began to rise from the edges of the slot.

*Bang!*

A muffled sound came from inside the console as a burst of intense electrical sparks exploded.

Chen You let go and took half a step back.

The part was completely jammed in the slot.

The holographic projection in mid-air distorted into a mass of garbled code, then exploded with a boom, turning into a sky full of light specks.

The glitchy divine tune came to an abrupt halt, and the entire underground space fell into a dead silence.

Immediately after, the black metal wall behind the console made a tooth-grinding sound of tearing metal.

A crack ten meters long spread from the center of the wall.

Extremely violent energy fluctuations gushed out from the crack.

Wild winds swept through the area.

The spherical spotlights at the top exploded one after another, glass shards raining down like raindrops.

The spirits on the dance floor were instantly pinned to the ground by this terrifying pressure, their bodies becoming extremely transparent as if they would dissipate at any moment.

Buck was directly blown away by the wind pressure, slamming heavily into the wall before rolling his eyes and fainting.

Chen You stood on the high platform, the hem of his clothes fluttering loudly in the gale.

"Who is it!"

An extremely angry roar came from the crack.

The voice, processed through layers of electronic effects, made the entire underground space buzz and vibrate.

A giant palm made of ghostly blue energy reached out from the crack, gripping the edge of the wall tightly.

The half-meter-thick metal wall was forcibly torn open to both sides.

A massive figure over five meters tall stepped out.

The familiar blue skin, the familiar bandages.

It was precisely the Star Sea King Projection.

"How dare you destroy my equipment and ruin my rhythm on my territory!"

The Star Sea King Projection strode toward the console. With every step, the metal grid beneath his feet sank deeply, making a harsh sound of deformation.

He raised his massive right hand, and an extremely compressed sonic energy ball rapidly condensed in his palm.

"Die!"

The Star Sea King Projection roared, suddenly looking down at the saboteur on the platform.

Chen You stood in place, looking up at him.

Their eyes met.

The energy ball in the Star Sea King Projection's hand suddenly stopped spinning.

The ghostly blue flames in his eye sockets flickered violently twice, even making a "hissing" sound of an electrical short circuit.

That expressionless face, that yuhuang sword emanating the terrifying aura of an innate spiritual treasure.

The Star Sea King Projection's memory module overloaded instantly.

Not long ago, this human had ignored all his sonic attacks and used the hilt of that sword to bash the back of his head exactly two hundred times.

If he hadn't run fast through the portal, the projection would have been beaten to pieces long ago.

"You..."

A dry mechanical grinding sound came from the Star Sea King Projection's throat.

The originally arrogant and cool electronic voice effects completely vanished.

"How did you chase me all the way here?!"

Chen You brushed the dust off his clothes.

"You didn't close your portal properly."

The Star Sea King Projection glanced at the wall he had torn open, then back at Chen You.

The sonic energy ball in his hand dissipated silently, without even stirring a breeze.

*Thud.*

The massive five-meter body's knees buckled, and he knelt heavily on the metal platform.

The entire underground space shook violently along with it.

"Big Brother, I was wrong."

The Star Sea King Projection propped his hands on the ground, his head bowed low, his posture humble to the extreme.

"I'm just a projection. Is it really necessary to hunt me across maps?"

The spirits lying on the dance floor struggled to lift their heads, watching their god-like sovereign who controlled life and death now trembling as he knelt before a human.

The group of spirits flickered severely in unison, as if their worldview was collapsing.

Chen You looked at the giant kneeling before him.

"I just want a god core."

"Hand it over, and you can continue being a DJ here."

The Star Sea King Projection looked up abruptly, his face full of bitterness, his features scrunched together.

"Big Brother, that's a Boss god core!"

"I'm just a projection that's been drained of energy, where would I get that kind of high-grade stuff!"