Crackle... Crackle...

Electric sparks kept bursting in front of their eyes, a woman's curses echoed in their ears, and a cold wind brushed past their cheeks, carrying with it silvery white dust and sand.

"Plyer, such a mistake has never occurred before."

"It's your filter that's malfunctioning. I'm sure I was attacked by Divine Power, and it was clearly an annihilating impact from the self-destruction of a Divine Country."

"I lost five subordinates! The server has now had seven percent of its capacity destroyed, 56 million Character Cards will be affected, this is no small number!"

"Then you should better investigate what your subordinates are doing. We are equals, after all."

The sensation gradually transmitted to his fingertips, Xu Kefu blinked. As he propped up his hand, for a brief moment, he saw the back of his hand become incredibly smooth and sturdy, as if it was a piece of exquisite porcelain filled with a strange metallic-like luster.

But only for a moment, a large amount of data and gridded light patterns flashed past in front of his eyes, and the world he knew was restored to its original state.

When he climbed up from the ground, Lai Anding and Plyer were in a subtle standoff. Looking around, the once simple office had already been burnt to ruins.

Noticing Xu Kefu's gaze, Lai Anding glanced at him and was about to walk over when Plyer's face changed and he blocked Lai Anding:

"What do you want to do?"

"The moment this kid came in, the server was attacked. Such a coincidence is unlikely."

"You'd best not touch him," Plyer said coldly. "This child was chosen by me, not everyone can adapt to an upgraded version of the system and third-party scripts."

"Rest assured."

Lai Anding pushed him aside, picked Xu Kefu up from the ground with one hand, and opened the other hand, his five fingers tapping repeatedly on Xu Kefu's forehead as if playing a piano.

Her fingers kept moving, perceiving, and several times touched the headband Xu Kefu was wearing. She paused for a moment but, seeing the Qiqiao Network logo on it, did not delve into it further.

After a brief moment, Lai Anding let go of Xu Kefu, folded her arms, and stood there like a statue.

"How is it?" Plyer asked, "Did you catch a spy?"

"Don't interrupt, I'm thinking."

Lai Anding calmed down and said:

"I know that many people have been dissatisfied with overtime and welfare benefits recently, but I don't think that's enough to cause fury. The attacker, it was the self-destruction of a Divine Country, but that doesn't mean it was instigated by the Divine Clan."

"Then, do you think... is it her?"

"...Gaia."

Lai Anding squinted:

"Looks like it'll be time to teach the Earthlings a lesson."

"The next version's plan is all Starry Abyss's war," Plyer reminded. "Now is not the time to break with Secrets, if you still want peace talks, the best choice is to endure. But I don't think the server attack was from the Society side."

"I'm naturally aware of the situation, I'll also investigate internally, but I probably can't give you an answer in a short time."

Lai Anding pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked:

"Was any confidential data lost? Or, check the access records over this period. The other party might not be simply attacking; they might've acted with some purpose close to you."

"I'll check right now..."

Plyer rubbed his wrist, his profile seemingly damaged, a large swathe of skin peeling off, revealing flowing numbers and codes beneath.

His eyes quickly became hollow and expressionless, and his fingertips rapidly tapped in the void. Before long, Plyer's expression turned grim.

"Someone has accessed the ST database. She might have copied a Super Key, and player data was also unpacked by her. Information from at least 300 million accounts was stolen."

"So, her target was player data?"

"Still not certain, but she copied the Super Key. To be cautious, you'll have to have your people replace devices quickly. Also, reinforce the security of Qiqiao Network, as various attacks could soon arrive."

Plyer said calmly.

This situation is actually not considered a crisis; for a senator at his level, it is not enough to affect. It's like scratching a stone with a fingernail, only leaving a futile white mark.

But precisely because of this, he felt it odd.

"Is the loss severe?"

"...Too light."

Plyer said in a deep voice:

"She didn't download my information, nor did she invade my hard drive, it seems like she just took a glance. If it's not ignorance, then it's provocation—who would self-destruct a Divine Country, eternally avoiding falling into the Nether Abyss, just to provoke?"

"Who knows, maybe it was just a puppet. Controlling a Spiritual Warrior to self-destruct a Divine Country, there might be another scheme behind it."

Lai Anding paced back and forth, contemplating the matter, even forgetting about Xu Kefu, who was crouching on the side.

"Double-check, the other party might have left a virus program..."

"There isn't."

"What about assets then? It could also be that some kid unintentionally removed the Cognition Filter, trying to seize some benefits..."

"Nothing is missing."

"Damn, then what on earth was the other party doing here? Just for those 300 million account information, did they self-destruct a Divine Country? This doesn't make sense."

Lai Anding muttered.

The two were silent for quite a while, as Plyer watched Xu Kefu slowly rising from the ground, looking bewildered, something suddenly struck his mind. He glanced at Lai Anding, seeing her dissatisfaction, opened his mouth, and finally said:

"What is the number of Border Abyss players now?"

"398 million, the actual online population is usually around 162 million," Lai Anding said.

"If you think the other party is trying to win over the Border Abyss players, that's unlikely. After all, the system is under our control. We can modify the Cognition Filter at any time, or embed keywords for targeted blocking or content replacement. Even if the other party forms a group, we can reduce their ability to access resources by altering the task trigger frequency."

"...I heard that Mrs. Lai Anding, you've also established a player faction in the Border Abyss. Do you plan to play yourself?"

Plyer looked at the opponent and said:

"As for Layer Abyss, that's one thing, given its intensity is limited by levels, it won't be too strong. But the deeper you go, you know, there are still many alive from the War Beyond the Abyss periods, especially the Mass Abyss—I told you at the outset, 'From Star Abyss' plan reaching Mass Abyss is its limit. Once stepping into the Nether Abyss, we'll be strongly countered by the second and third narratives."

"Rest easy, I have discretion. I won't bring my own body into play; for Star Abyss, whether the Redemption Sprite Lai Anding survives is a mystery itself. Maintaining this mystery is the only way to continue fighting against the second and third narratives."

Lai Anding raised her hand, clenched her fist, her eyes cold as ice:

"My days are numbered. If we don't quickly retrieve Land Loyd, you, I, the entire Primordial Abyss, will fall into the land of no Chief God. Once the Royal Court and settlements know our true strength, it's highly likely we will head straight towards independence and division."

"So your ultimate goal is still to find your successor? Why not select talent directly from within the Divine Clan?"

"Do you think I don't want to?"

Lai Anding sneered:

"Plyer, you've likely forgotten that our Primordial Abyss has already completed narrativization. If we proceed like this, it will be our own Inherent Time Domain that disintegrates first."

"Makes sense."

Plyer nodded, saying faintly:

"You've controlled the world for too long; I'd almost forgotten, the First Starry Abyss, it's also the earliest narrative."

"Fate-oriented narrative."

"Everything that exists is born with a fate, and its fate is predetermined. Origin, class, future, all must be strictly mobilized according to the ruler's Will."

"If Star Abyss wants you to be cannon fodder, you must be cannon fodder. Star Abyss wants to separate the Six Great Abysses, to prevent their intercommunication, so it lays curses, allowing diving only from a fixed Underwater Abyss Port. Star Abyss wants distinction between gods and mortals, thus differentiates all beings into 24 levels, further internally slicing and categorizing the deities."

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.