Chapter 178: Fermentation
Stardragon’s Western Capital, Division 13 headquarters.
Gu Hui, the vice-chairman, and Division 13’s leaders gathered in the secret meeting room. Gu Hui pressed a button on the table, and the doors and the windows shut entirely. All surveillance devices lost their functionalities.
Gu Hui put on a serious look as he distributed the documents to everyone in the meeting. The documents had authorization stamps from the highest officials, which meant this information was highly confidential. It was the observation information of the Inhumans.
“Five days ago, rumors about the existence of Inhumans started spreading through the Dark Net. After investigating, it has been confirmed to be true. The documents state it clearly. Inhumans have been appearing and spreading in every continent like a virus. They appeared out of nowhere, and their origins are unknown.
“From the information that we found on the Dark Net, the Inhumans have the following characteristics…” Gu Hui stated the information that they had on the players, which was similar to what the Germinal Organization had. They knew that the players disappeared instantly, would not die, and one other point. “Through our observation, their average power is not high. The threat level is identified as low.”
“If we don’t suppress this phenomenon, it might spread like a disease and cause a disaster,” one person said.
Gu Hui nodded and said, “The highest officials have given us their commands. Contacting these Inhumans will now be our priority.”
“What about the expedition? The supplies and our army have already been prepared. We can head to Andrea anytime.”
“The highest-level superiors have already come to an agreement with the leaders of other countries to temporarily stop the expedition. We have to first understand the situation of this inhuman phenomenon; it has higher threat potential.” Gu Hui Knocked the table, he scanned through everyone and said, “Ask our people to bring back some Inhumans. Also, be friendly—we do not know anything about their origin.”
“Some of our agents are undercover in Andrea. Should we call them back?” the head of field operations said.
“No need, let them retrieve more intelligence. We have enough manpower,” Gu Hui said. “When we have a conclusion on this, maybe the officials will seek help and answers from the Galactic Civilizations.”
…
As the average level of players became higher, their actions made a greater impact and attracted the attention of the organizations. The Six Nations, Vagrants, Dark Net, and many large financial organizations were all paying attention to the Inhuman Phenomenon. They had been sending their people to contact these Inhumans with different approaches. Some were friendly, and some were not. The exception was Germinal Organization—they captured large numbers of players in Andrea, which forced player in the novice village to leave the village early.
For players, which organization they joined would not actually make a difference to them, but they would naturally want to resist if they were forced. The Germinal Organization had definitely left a bad impression on players, and for those who were already captured, they could only accept their fate.
Players in Andrea had a tough time. Their game experience was extremely bad, but it made players very curious about one thing—Why were the NPCs surprised about their existence? The NPCs acted almost like real people.
More and more organizations started contacting players, and more and more players experienced similar situations. They started making guesses actively on forums about the situation, and this topic soon became the most popular topic in the forum.
This only happened on Planet Aquamarine and not any other planets, so a large number of players from other planets visited the Planet Aquamarine site, which made it the most visited planet site of all the novice planets.
There were hundreds of new posts every second; its popularity was astonishingly high.
All kinds of speculations surfaced. The seemingly most possible and accepted theory was the Electrolux theory, but the game developers did not give any response. Players could only make random guesses, some of which were quite out of the box.
“We actually went through reincarnation to conquer a new world for our gods, serial number A12651 reporting for duty!”
“Bullshit, we’re Earth’s army to conquer alternative dimensions, and we have an honorable mission on our hands.”
“798 Space feet from the Earth Association. Commander Blacky is waiting for deployment. Victory belongs to earth!”
“You’re all wrong. The earth is just an illusion. This is actually the reality.”
“You youngsters are too naïve. This is all part of the Elder’s plan.”
“This marks the first step of Skynet’s domination over mankind. One day, all of our minds will be locked up in the game.”
“Hail Hydra!”
“Previous commenter is in the wrong set!”
“Sigh, I’m a retired soldier of the 1999 clan wars. Come to think of it, that was a really dark age.”
“This Grandpa above surely has a strong body, playing Full Dive VR games at such an old age.”
These ridiculous speculations became a joke that was trending all over the forum.
In a big picture, organizations contacting players with caution was beneficial. It was easier for players to pick a side or organization to join, except for players in Andrea who were being continuously captured.
Han Xiao was following the situation. He had information from both the Dark Net and the forum, which meant that he knew much more than any players or NPCs.
The mindset of both parties was very different. The organizations were careful and serious about it, while the players found it fun.
Interesting. Han Xiao raised his eyebrows.
The influence from the Inhuman incident was slowly fermenting as the organizations found out more and more about the players’ characteristics.
The pro players from my previous life should have met their opportunities by now.
Planet Aquamarine was China’s base camp, so there would definitely be some players who had met an opportunity, unlike other normal players.
The storyline was going on the right path. Han Xiao rushed to Maple, as the Mutated Heart Mission had a time limit.
Louis Research Institution was in Kaylos city in Maple. It was not near the border this time, so Han Xiao had to travel in a car for two days after being smuggled into the country.
The country of Maple felt lifeless. Its rigid political system, uneven wealth distribution, and resources were all tightly controlled by politicians, and the low class had very limited opportunities to improve their life. ‘Barely living and just waiting to die’ was the best phrase to describe civilians in Maple.
Walking on the street, long-faced pedestrians passed by him. Han Xiao rubbed his face. He felt that such a confident and handsome face did not fit in with the state of the people on the street.
Han Xiao changed his face again and even wore spectacles. He was sure that nobody could recognize him.
Louis Research Institution building was very tall and silver, which fitted the technology theme. The people in the building were all wearing white coats, as if they were worried about others not knowing they were doing technological research.
A receptionist walked to him with a well-mannered smile as soon as he walked in.
“Hi, do you require an introduction to the business scope of Louis Group Companies?”
Han Xiao raised the metal suitcase in his hands and said, “I have a heart from a Death Virus infected being. One of your researchers might be interested.”
“Please wait a moment, I will inform a superior.” The lady receptionist guided Han Xiao to the sofa and left.
Louis Research Institution accepted exterior research projects, so there were always customers who came to visit.
Han Xiao sat on the sofa and scanned the environment of the hall. It was built in the shape of a sphere, which made it look like a hotel hall.
After some time, two people covered in bandages walked in. Han Xiao raised his head as he smelled the odor of blood. It was the ‘superhero’ duo he had met in the Forbidden Zone.
These guys were saving some exploring team, could it be that the team was from Louis Research Institution?
Looks like they failed and are badly injured.
Han Xiao raised his brows but stayed put as they did not recognize him.
