Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
On Planet Aquamarine, the Southern Continent was experiencing intense summer heat. The scorching sun was high in the sky, and heatwaves could be seen rising from the ground.
The instant that Version 2.0 was released, the originally empty plaza of Sanctuary Three had suddenly been overwhelmed with people. In just a few seconds, that originally s.p.a.cious plaza had become packed with people.
Before the new system patch, because of the [The Last Bastion] mission that Han Xiao had left behind and Galaxy Times' a.n.a.lysis of Version 2.0, millions of players had gathered in Sanctuary Three and chosen to go offline there. The moment that Version 2.0 launched, the log-in point for those millions of players was naturally Sanctuary Three.
Millions of heads were bobbing up and down, looking around curiously.
“Is it Version 2.0 already?”
“There don't seem to be many changes.”
“Eh, the upper level limit has increased, and our experience can be used to increase our levels. It seems like this is the new version indeed.”
“Aren't there any other changes? I truly want to try taking a dump in the game.”
“Pants Taking Off Club, please have some self-respect.”
All the players began chatting among themselves and opened up the interface to check their stats. Apart from the raised level cap, there did not seem to be any other changes to their stats.
But very quickly, some players realized that the status of a certain mission had changed. The mission status of [The Last Bastion] had changed from ‘frozen' to ‘active'.
This was the Prize-Pool Mission that Han Xiao had left behind before his departure. The mission requirement was to protect Sanctuary Three as preparation for the Mutation Disaster.
And now, this mission had actually been activated!
Does this mean that the ‘calamity' in the mission hint has already begun?
All the players immediately became excited. Owing to Black Phantom's ‘blessings', they did not manage to partic.i.p.ate much in the previous Main Storyline. This time, there was finally something big for them to do!
Right, the NPC who issued this mission was Black Phantom… oh, he's now called Black Star. Is he still in the universe?
The moment they thought about Han Xiao, many of the players could not help but feel envious of the professional players who had been taken away by him. They had managed to enter the universe a step earlier and were miles away in terms of equipment and experience.
When the players were still observing their surroundings, a broadcast was suddenly made from the Sanctuary.
“Will all Inhumans stay where you are! I repeat, all Inhumans stay where you are!”
Very quickly, a large number of guards surrounded the plaza with their expressions filled with doubt as they looked at the large number of players nervously.
The Inhumans had disappeared from the entire planet for almost a year, and their sudden appearance had truly frightened the managers of Sanctuary Three. Bennett had hurriedly sent people over to control the situation.
At the same time, the players of Sanctuary Three received a mission.
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Remain on the Spot
Mission Introduction: During your time away, many things have happened on Planet Aquamarine, and they are currently facing a threat that could wipe out their civilization. Remain where you are and wait patiently for the relevant person to explain the situation.
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This was only a small mission, and the reward was not large. The players also wanted to know what was going on, and thus, they all stayed in the plaza. At the same time, it was also because they were surrounded by guards. Who knew whether they would end up being attacked if they chose to leave? None of them wanted to lose Favorability with the Sanctuary at the very start of Version 2.0.
Not too long later, Bennett rushed over. Looking at the huge wave of players, a trace of joy could be seen in his eyes.
He remembered what Han Xiao had said to him before leaving for the universe. Han Xiao had told him that the Inhumans would be a core strength to fight the calamity. With the Inhumans appearing again, while he did not know the reason for their appearance, their appearance was extremely timely. They truly needed manpower at the moment.
Bennett took out a loudspeaker and said, “Planet Aquamarine is currently facing a never before seen calamity, and we urgently need your help…”
He quickly described the situation, and the players found out that it had been over a year since the previous version. Just a month ago, a strange phenomenon had spread across Planet Aquamarine and become a calamity that covered the entire planet.
Planet Aquamarine called it the ‘Mutation Disaster'.
It had already been a month since the outbreak of the Mutation Disaster, and the entire planet had been thrown into chaos. The regime of the Six Nations had almost collapsed in a short month.
No one knew the reason for the calamity, but they were certain that it was because of some type of virus which they called the ‘mutation virus'. Many different living beings—be it humans, beasts, and even plants—had been infected by the virus. However, the appearance of the virus could not even be detected, and no one even knew how to virus was spread and who was infected with it.
Before the outbreak of the virus, all the infected individuals would be no different from usual, but the moment that the virus broke out, the infected individual would display unusual desires that included but were not limited to killing intent, destructive tendencies, anger, grief, craziness, l.u.s.t, hunger, thirst, and so on. A usually weak individual could be transformed into a murderer who killed without blinking. An ordinary person might suddenly squat down and crazily eat up the sand beneath their feet before dying. A conservative and virtuous lady could suddenly turn into a lascivious lady.
The most frightening thing was the fact that the infected individual would still maintain their rationality during the outbreak of the virus. This meant that the infected individual was not losing control or acting rashly but being led by their desires to perform such actions.
According to the recollection of those infected individuals, when the virus broke out, all of their desires would come from deep within their hearts and were their true thoughts at that moment. It was as though their personalities had been altered, but they were not able to detect it. During the outbreak of the virus, all the infected individuals felt as though their actions were very normal.
Bennett gave a few examples, and the confused players immediately knew how frightening the Mutation Disaster was.
Maple was where the first large scale outbreak of the virus took place. The infected individuals in the army began to pick up their rifles and shoot their own comrades crazily. The entire army immediately fell into complete chaos. No one knew whether the one opening fire was an infected individual or a defending soldier, and an internal war broke out with tanks, helicopters, and even missiles being used. This battle had caused half of Maple's army to be lost.
The president himself had even displayed severe violent tendencies and wanted to nuke the entire world. Thankfully, the process of launching nuclear weapons was extremely complicated. If the b.u.t.ton to activate a nuclear missile was in the president's office, the entire planet would probably have been flattened by now. As for the president, he had immediately been caught after that incident.
Many ridiculous events that would never happen under ordinary circ.u.mstances had begun to take place all over the world. It would not have been scary if a single person went crazy. However, if the entire world went crazy, it was akin to a bunch of devils dancing.
No one knew when the person beside them would break out with the virus, and they could not even be sure that they themselves were normal. This fear was extremely frightening, and it was as though the entire world had become their enemy, and they would not dare to believe anyone else in the world.
A month after the Mutation Disaster broke out, the order of society had broken down, and many prosperous cities had become ghost towns. For their own safety, many city dwellers had no choice but to find some place to hide themselves. Depression had become an ordinary emotion, and the view that radiation caused this strange virus had become popular.
As such, countless of citizens began to curse the Germinal Organization war, which had brought them peace. They felt that this was their retribution, and the end of the world had arrived!
After listening to the introduction, many players felt their hearts turn cold. Putting themselves in the shoes of the NPCs, this virus was truly too terrifying. The players had plenty of guesses with regards to the so-called ‘calamity' of Version 2.0, but never had they expected that it would be so strange.
Just what was the mutation virus?
All of a sudden, the players fell into a daze. The time in the outside world and game flowed at different rates. In the eyes of the players, only a few short days had pa.s.sed, but the entire world that they were familiar with was completely different.
Is there a need for the plot to be so exciting‽
“Is this virus incurable?” a player asked.
Bennett shook his head. “Presently, we have found two ways to fight this virus. First, it isn't easy for Supers to be infected, and this is a verified fact. Second, our Sanctuary Three has developed a type of suppressant, and it can prevent the virus from breaking out. However, production is limited. We are trying to grow all the required materials, but the quant.i.ty is still far from being sufficient.”
As those words were completed, a mission appeared on the interfaces of the players.
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Mutation Disaster
Mission Introduction: Planet Aquamarine is suffering from an unprecedented calamity, and it is the responsibility of every being living on this planet to fight the Mutation Disaster!
Mission Requirements: Contribute to the fight against the Mutation Disaster.
Progress: 0/30,000,000
Success Requirements: Complete the mission before the mutation virus becomes complete.
Failure Condition: Collapse of Planet Aquamarine's civilization. All of the survivors being forced to retreat.
Reward: Depends on contribution. (Even if the growth of the virus results in total progress being lowered, the individual acc.u.mulated contribution will be counted toward the reward rating.)
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The mission requirements for the players were extremely similar to Han Xiao's mission requirements. It was just that Han Xiao's mission included all the planets suffering from the Mutation Disaster. It was obvious that the Great Mechanic Han's mission was more complete.
This was a large Main Storyline that involved all the players. The contribution of every player would be counted toward the mission progress, and the players needed to work together toward this goal.
“We accepted a Main Storyline mission right after coming online? The plot of this version is truly fast!”
“Without any build up and going straight to the point, I like how direct they are!”
“That's not right. The reason that we were able to obtain the Main Storyline mission immediately is probably because we came online in Sanctuary Three. It seems like Galaxy Times' a.n.a.lysis isn't wrong. We were indeed able to come into contact with the Main Storyline more easily through Sanctuary Three.”
As everyone thought about this, they were immediately enlightened.
If they were in other locations, there would not have been anyone present to explain the entire disaster to them in detail. Furthermore, Bennett had previously mentioned that Sanctuary Three was the only place that had the suppressant. This meant that Sanctuary Three was the place where the Main Storyline would unfold. It was the mission that Black Phantom had left behind that had guided them there.
He was truly their lighthouse!
With this Main Storyline mission, the players were immediately energized, and they all went forward to ask if they could be of any help. The entire plaza descended into chaos, and Bennett only managed to restore order after a great deal of effort. He then got his subordinates to issue various missions. While the missions were all different, these missions would contribute toward the Main Storyline.
Every type of mission only needed a limited number of players, and a frenzied mess of s.n.a.t.c.hing for mission began.
The large guilds s.n.a.t.c.hed the most missions, and there were some solo players who were not able to s.n.a.t.c.h a single mission issued by the Sanctuary.
A player could not help but ask, “Can we leave the Sanctuary now? I want to go somewhere else.”
“You'd better take a look on the city walls yourself,” Bennett said with a helpless look.
The tall iron walls of the Sanctuary blocked the view of the outside. Hearing those words, many players became curious and climbed up the city walls to take a look.
With just a single glance, the players were dumbfounded.
In the surrounding ten kilometers, countless tents had been set up, and the tents were like a gray cloud covering the red earth. It was like a gigantic refugee camp, and all of them stayed outside the Sanctuary, refusing to leave. From time to time, the sound of fighting would be heard. Who knew if the fighting was because of the virus or for the scarce food and water?
“The news of us developing a suppressant has been spread, and countless people come here every day, requesting the suppressant and our protection.”
Bennett also climbed up the city walls. Upon looking at the endless sea of refugee tents, he let out a sorrowful sigh.
“However, our suppressant is limited in quant.i.ty, and we can only give a small number of refugees the suppressant. As for the others, we can only let them wait outside. With more and more people coming, the number of virus outbreak incidents is also on the rise, and plenty of people die on the outside every day. However, to prevent the Sanctuary descending into chaos, I cannot allow all of them to come in. I can only watch as they die…”
The entire world was helpless against the Mutation Disaster, and only Sanctuary Three had a suppressant. The result was extremely clear. This place had become the holy land for the refugees and their final hope.
In Han Xiao's previous life, everyone had been like headless flies when the calamity broke out. They had all been lost in shock and did not have a target of hope. The situation had been completely chaotic. Now, because of Han Xiao's influence, the refugees of the entire planet had a target. It was Black Phantom's Sanctuary Three, and it was treated as their only hope.
However, the suppressant that Emerald Gra.s.s and Aurora had created would only be effective in the short term, and it was not able to purge the virus. Bennett did not know what he should do to solve this calamity. In fact, there was not a single person on Planet Aquamarine who knew what to do. He could not help but think about the reason that Han Xiao had given him before leaving for the universe. Black Phantom had said that he wanted to find a way to solve the calamity. Did this mean that the solution to the calamity could not be found on Planet Aquamarine?
Bennett could only place his hope on Han Xiao.
If he can really come back…
“There isn't another Sanctuary on the entire planet,” Bennett said with a heavy tone. “This place is the only Sanctuary.”
