366: Chapter 366 All this talk of dual cultivation is a lie!

That pillar of colored light didn't last long; after only a few seconds, the radiance dissipated without a trace.

The crack in the sky closed rapidly, and the firmament returned to its original azure blue.

Inside the Qinling Base, the ear-piercing alarm also came to an abrupt halt.

Chen You looked down at the red glass plate in his hand.

"What was that just now?" Zhang Yunhai put away his gun, his gaze fixed intently on the large screen.

Chen You looked down at the red glass plate in his hand.

The green checkmark on the screen had disappeared, reverting back to an ordinary chat interface.

Chen You immediately reached out and tapped the screen frantically.

[Chen You: What did you just do? What was that light all about?]

The message was sent out, but it was like a stone sinking into the ocean.

[Chen You: Hello? Say something! If you don't talk, the Dual Cultivation is canceled!]

There was still no response.

That Invincible Beautiful Girl, who kept calling him "Brother," seemed to have evaporated into thin air.

"Stop sending them." Zhang Yunhai's brow furrowed as he walked to Chen You's side. "We might have been tricked."

Chen You was stunned: "Tricked?"

"'Dual Cultivation' might have just been a smokescreen."

Zhang Yunhai pointed at the pillar of light captured on the big screen that had pierced through the universe.

"Her true goal might have been those few seconds just now."

"The so-called deal was just to trick us into providing an energy transmission port."

Chen You felt a slight chill run down his back.

"Then what did she... transmit out? Or rather, what did she bring in?"

No one knew.

Sun Feng's fingers flew across the keyboard, cold sweat already seeping from his forehead.

"I can't monitor it! The level of that energy is too high; it completely exceeds our existing understanding of physics."

"It didn't cause any substantial damage to Earth; it was as if... it just took a look."

Professor Pan Yu pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and voiced her suspicion.

"She intentionally made such an absurd request that challenged human moral boundaries and cognitive limits to divert our attention."

"What she needed was simply your authority to 'Confirm Transaction' within the Yuanjie System."

"In other words, I personally opened the door for her just now?" Chen You looked at Director Li Guoan. "Director Li, did I mess up?"

Director Li Guoan did not answer immediately.

His hands were braced on the conference table, his gaze fixed on the images sent back by the space station on the big screen.

"This isn't your problem." Director Li Guoan turned to look at Chen You, his tone steady.

"Moreover, since she needed to gain authority through you, it shows she is restricted by certain rules and cannot do as she pleases."

"What we need to do now is not lose our composure, but figure out exactly what she did."

Director Li Guoan picked up his teacup, the warm tea settling his mind considerably.

"Little Chen, go back into the game immediately."

"See if any changes have occurred at the system level. If she really did something, it's impossible for there to be no ripples within the Source Realm."

"Understood."

Chen You didn't waste words. Just as he was about to exit the guild territory, Director Li Guoan spoke again.

"The focus is tonight's Guild Boss battle. We'll see then if the 'stage' she promised actually materializes."

"If it does, it means the deal is still on; if it doesn't..."

A cold light flashed in Director Li Guoan's eyes.

"Then it means we might have been played by a piece of high-dimensional data."

With a flash of white light, Chen You returned once again to Cangxing City.

The sky was still clear, and white clouds drifted leisurely.

There were no cracks, no pillars of light; everything appeared peaceful and harmonious.

NPCs and players came and went, carrying out their daily activities in an orderly fashion.

He ignored the reverent gazes and whispers of the surrounding players and walked straight toward the Supreme Tower.

Pushing open the ornate doors of the Supreme Tower, the familiar scent of money wafted toward him.

Hille was leaning over the counter, holding an abacus made of pure gold, clicking it loudly.

Chen You walked to the counter and rapped his knuckles on the tabletop.

"Stop counting your spare change," Chen You said.

Hille looked up, and upon seeing it was Chen You, her eyes lit up instantly, but she quickly masked it, putting on a business-like expression.

"Oh, if it isn't our Boss Chen?" Hille put down the gold abacus and crossed her arms.

"What, have you come up with some new idea to scam money... ah, I mean, a new idea to benefit the players?"

Chen You was in no mood for banter and got straight to the point.

"Has anything strange happened in the game just now?"

"Strange? What do you mean?" Hille rolled her eyes.

"Are you referring to a large-scale brawl somewhere? Or some Berserker streaking in the plaza? Strange things happen every day."

"Not players." Chen You stared into Hille's eyes.

"The system. Was there a server-wide announcement? Or any celestial phenomena? Like the sky splitting open, or a pillar of colored light?"

Hille stopped her movements and looked Chen You up and down suspiciously.

"Did you go behind my back to some other NPC and buy some gift pack I don't know about?"

"No."

"Really?" Hille didn't believe him. "Then why ask that? The sky splitting open? Do you think the Source Realm is made of paper? The system's main brain is running stably without any abnormal data fluctuations."

Chen You's brow furrowed.

With such a huge commotion in White Jade Capital, this main city had no reaction at all?

He changed his approach.

"Help me check a guild," Chen You said. "The name is [Cosmic Origin Center]. See what's going on with them now."

The pure gold abacus in Hille's hand stopped.

She looked up, her gaze holding a hint of coldness: "Check a guild? Boss Chen, do you have some misunderstanding about my scope of business?"

Chen You didn't speak; with a flick of his wrist, a thousand gold coins landed on the counter.

Hille's gaze swept over the gold coins, and her throat bobbed as she swallowed, but she still pushed the coins back.

"Source Realm Privacy Protection Act, Article Seven: No NPC shall disclose the core data of other guilds to players."

"This is underlying logic; even if I take your money, I won't be able to say it."

"I don't need to see their guild's core data." Chen You pushed the gold coins back in front of Hille and added another thousand.

"I just want to know if any 'special circumstances' have occurred within this guild."

"For example, a sudden light appearing, or their base blowing up."

Hille stared at the two thousand gold coins, her fingers tapping unconsciously on the edge of the abacus.

She glanced left and right to make sure no other players were around before quickly sweeping the gold coins into a drawer.

"Special circumstances, huh..." Hille lowered her voice and leaned forward.

"If you're talking about their base blowing up, then definitely not. However, there is one piece of gossip."

"What gossip?"

Hille's expression became somewhat strange. "Their guild leader just gave birth."

Chen You was stunned.

"Gave birth? What do you mean by gave birth?" Chen You suspected he had misheard.

"Literal meaning." Hille shrugged. "Their guild leader has been blessed with a son, and the whole guild is celebrating."

"How is that a special circumstance? Can't a couple have a child?" Chen You frowned.

Hille had an expression that said, "Wasn't this what you wanted to know?"

Chen You sighed. "Forget it, that's all."

He opened his friend list; Arrow of the Moon's avatar was still bright.