69: Chapter 69 Cross-Server Expedition

Deep within the ruins, the voice of All Realms Connector was like a heavy hammer, shattering the brief silence within the council channel.

"Emergency meeting, commencing now."

Without a physical meeting room, the consciousness of three hundred vanguard members was instantly pulled into a virtual space temporarily constructed by Outlaw Zhang San, with the golden chains of God Prison as the background.

Everyone's virtual avatar carried a trace of post-battle fatigue and murderous aura, but their eyes were shockingly bright.

"Let's hear it," All Realms Connector's virtual avatar stood in the center, arms crossed. He didn't look at anyone; his gaze seemed to penetrate the walls of the virtual space, staring at the golden invitation floating above the "City of Liver Emperor" thousands of miles away.

"Hear what? Screw her!" Demolition Office Director's voice was the first to sound, carrying an irrepressible violence. "Isn't she inviting us to a banquet? Let's go! We must go! Bring all our ‘War Puppets’ and ‘Self-Destruct Carriages’! Isn't she holding a Ten Thousand Immortal Assembly? Let's turn it into a memorial service for her!"

"Agreed!" Charge to the End clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking. "Just do it! So what if it's a Holy Land? No matter how long the health bar is, it can't withstand us grinding it down with our lives! At worst, we delete our accounts and restart; eighteen years later, we'll be heroes again!"

"A brute's view." A cold, eerie voice sounded. Under the hood of Plague Knight - Zero, shadows flowed. "Your understanding of power is still stuck at the level of piling up numbers. Fairy Yunshang can suppress the entire City of Liver Emperor with a single thought, which means there is a dimensional gap between us and her. This isn't a matter of health bar thickness; it's a suppression at the level of ‘rules.’ Even if we fill it with all our players, we won't even be able to touch the hem of her clothes."

The golden armor on Holy Light Hunk shone brightly as he retorted, "Cowardly excuses! So what if there's a dimensional gap? We cultivators train to defy the heavens! If we don't even have the courage to draw our swords, how can we talk about bringing glory to our ancestors? Zero, put away your defeatist rhetoric corrupted by demonic energy!"

"I am merely stating facts." Zero's voice was devoid of ripples. "Passion and courage cannot make up for a logically guaranteed defeat."

The quarrel between the two instantly led the meeting's atmosphere to another familiar battlefield—the struggle over the path forward.

"Stop it, both of you!" All Realms Connector barked, his voice not loud, but it made everyone fall silent.

He slowly scanned the circle and said in a deep voice, "Zero is right; there is a dimensional gap between us and the Holy Land. But Holy Light Hunk and Director are also right; we cannot swallow this insult, and we must fight this battle. Therefore, the core of the topic is not whether to fight, but ‘how to fight’."

He looked at Outlaw Zhang San.

"Zhang San, analyzing from the level of rules, is there any loophole we can exploit in this invitation?"

Outlaw Zhang San adjusted the virtual glasses on his face; countless data streams cascaded across the lenses.

"Difficult." He spat out a single word.

"This invitation looks like an invitation, but it is actually a ‘public conspiracy.’ Its textual logic is closed and self-consistent. ‘Meritorious service in protecting the safety of God Prison’—this is the pretext for a ‘reward.’ If we accept it, we are subordinates receiving a reward, and our posture is already lowered by three points. ‘Jointly discussing the great plans of God Prison’—this is a means of ‘binding.’ If we don't go, we are ignoring the big picture, and she will have a pretext to ‘purge the anomalies.’ ‘Come to court’—this term is the most poisonous; it directly defines our status as a ‘border vassal state.’"

Zhang San paused, his tone becoming incomparably grave. "The most critical point is that this invitation itself is a coordinate locker and a rule amplifier. Hanging there, it is constantly parsing our ‘civilization information.’ Any large-scale military mobilization on our part will be detected by it immediately. It can be said that from the moment it appeared, we were already on the opponent's chessboard, and in a way where our pieces are completely transparent."

These words left the group, who had just been filled with righteous indignation, feeling as if they had fallen into an ice cave.

On a transparent chessboard, how do you play?

"So..." All Realms Connector's eyes were as deep as the sea. "We cannot play with her on ‘this’ chessboard."

He looked up, as if speaking into the void.

"Ancestors, it's time to flip the table."

As soon as the words fell, the entire ruins, and even the entire game world, trembled slightly!

It wasn't an earthquake, but an indescribable resonance originating from the foundation of the world.

Thousands of miles away, in the depths of the ancestral hall of the "City of Liver Emperor," that ordinary nanmu coffin silently emitted a faint glimmer.

Immediately following, every player, regardless of where they were, had an unprecedented system prompt pop up before their eyes.

[World Announcement: Due to the exploration and resistance of the "Filial Sons and Virtuous Grandchildren" lineage, the core rules of the world have been successfully touched, and the civilization level has been upgraded.]

[World Announcement: The system is undergoing an epic update, unlocking new modules...]

[World Announcement: Module [Civilization Talent Tree] has been activated!]

[World Announcement: Module [Cross-Server Expedition] has been unlocked!]

Boom—!

Like the tolling of a great bell at the dawn of the universe, it exploded in the depths of every player's soul!

In the center of the council space, before All Realms Connector and the others, a giant tree, whose magnificence could not be described in words, formed from billions of streams of light, broke through the void, and slowly grew!

It was rooted in a chaotic void, its trunk gnarled and ancient, as if carrying the history of the world.

From the trunk, countless thick branches extended, each representing a grand direction of civilization development.

The four most brilliant branches were closest to them.

The first branch was entirely crimson, burning with raging fire, with the word "War" engraved on it.

Several fruits had already grown on the branch: "Human Sea Tactics," "Trap Flow," "Guerrilla Warfare," "Multi-Branch Coordination"... These fruits were emitting a faint halo, clearly the condensation of their past combat experiences.

And that player civil war had even spawned a strange fork on this branch, one half radiating sacred golden light, labeled [Purifiers], and the other half wreathed in pitch-black demonic energy, labeled [Symbiosis Faction].

The second branch was a heavy brass color, full of steampunk-like metallic texture, engraved with "Industry."

Fruits like "Infrastructure Maniac," "Assembly Line Production," and "War Puppet Studies" shone brightly, representing the glory of the "City of Liver Emperor."

The virtual avatar of Chief Engineer Liver Emperor V87 was already trembling with excitement, wishing to pounce on it.

The third branch was a mysterious purple, engraved with "Exploration."

The fruits on it were sparse, but fruits like "BUG Discovery," "Map Exploration," and "Ancient Ruins Analysis" were exceptionally bright.

The fourth branch was a shifting gray, engraved with "Culture."

Hanging on the branch were a few inconspicuous but strangely glowing fruits like "Rumor Spreading" and "Public Opinion Warfare," making Keyboard Warrior Governing the Nation drool.

"This... this is..." Behind his lenses, Outlaw Zhang San's eyes widened; he lost his composure for the first time. "Digitalizing all our players' actions and refining them into civilization-level passive buffs and development directions... My god, what a magnificent concept! The Ancestor... he isn't a golden finger; he is the GM of this world himself!"

Everyone was shocked beyond measure by this [Civilization Talent Tree].

This tree was their "Civilization Epic"!

Every step they took, every choice they made, left an indelible mark on it!

And at this moment, at the very top of the "War" branch, a brand-new node wrapped in layers of mist was slowly lighting up, finally turning into a vortex-shaped icon radiating endless spatial fluctuations.

Below that icon were three large, golden, calligraphic characters—[Cross-Server Expedition]!

[Cross-Server Expedition: Civilization-level war module. Can assemble the resources, beliefs, and power of our faction to construct a temporary, ultra-long-distance ‘Gate of the World’ to launch a dimensional strike on specified coordinates. Note: This function will consume a vast amount of civilization heritage; please use with caution.]

"Dimensional strike..." All Realms Connector whispered these four words. In his pupils, reflecting the rotating vortex, he seemed to see countless possibilities.

He finally understood.

Fairy Yunshang thought they were on the same chessboard, but the Ancestor had directly given them the ability to flip the board, and even jump to another chessboard!

You set up a net in your home court?

Fine, I won't enter through the front door; I'll open a door right in your bedroom and charge out with an army of thousands!

This was no longer war; this was a "fourth calamity" style arrival!

"Haha... Hahahaha!" Demolition Office Director looked up and laughed wildly, his laughter filled with long-repressed glee. "So that's what it means! I get it! I get it all!"

"What do you say, Old Wan?" He looked at All Realms Connector, his eyes filled with unprecedented fanaticism.

All Realms Connector took a deep breath, suppressing the agitation in his heart.

He turned to face all the members of the council, his voice carrying a sharp and high-spirited tone for the first time.

"Pass on my orders!"

"First, the ‘Expedition Council’ enters the highest state of combat readiness immediately. All resources are to be unified and allocated. All personnel are to cancel their leave."

"Second, Liver Emperor V87 will take the lead; the Industrial Department will immediately calculate the material list required for the [Cross-Server Expedition]. I want to see the most accurate resource deficit report within three hours."

"Third, Outlaw Zhang San will take the lead; the Technical Department will fully analyze the ‘Heaven Gate Order’ and ‘Gui Xu Spirit Eye’ coordinates, and reverse-engineer the energy model of the ‘Gate of the World.’ I need you to find the weakest point of entry for our ‘arrival’."

"Fourth, Holy Light Hunk, Plague Knight - Zero!"

The two who were named were both startled.

"I don't care about your path dispute. But from now on, all legions of the ‘Purifiers’ and the ‘Symbiosis Faction’ are to be mixed! Reorganized! I want you to create a ‘Chaos Legion’ that can both charge head-on and perform treacherous assassinations! Holy light and demonic energy are no longer opposites, but weapons in your hands! Anyone who has objections will be dealt with by military law!"

Holy Light Hunk and Zero looked at each other, seeing a trace of complexity in each other's eyes, but more so, a fighting spirit born from being forced together and having to face reality.

They replied in a deep voice simultaneously: "Yes!"

"Finally..." All Realms Connector's gaze fell on the virtual golden invitation.

"Keyboard Warrior Governing the Nation, take some people and send a reply to Fairy Yunshang."

Keyboard Warrior Governing the Nation was stunned: "How should I reply?"

A cold smile tugged at the corner of All Realms Connector's mouth.

"Just tell her, the ‘Filial Sons and Virtuous Grandchildren’ lineage is deeply grateful for the Holy Land's invitation. Three months later, we will... arrive for the banquet on time."

He paused, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

"With our entire force, not a single one left!"

Meanwhile, deep within the ruins, the remnant soul of the Demon Lord bound by the God Prison chains, Night Radiance, also "saw" that civilization talent tree rising from the ground.

In his eyes, composed of resentment and hatred, for the first time, a trace of unbelievable... jealousy and greed was revealed.

"Using the deeds of all living beings as fuel to forge a ladder of civilization... This... this is the true method of gods and demons..."

He muttered to himself, his voice filled with unwillingness.

"Lu Bei... who exactly... are you?"