Volume 2: Winter’s End
As Gray finished recounting his experiences, Ye Qian and Nuan Dong had already organized the necessary confidential documents. Shu Xun furrowed his small eyebrows, evidently not optimistic about the information obtained from Gray. According to Gray, his spawn point was very close to Micro City, and fortunately, he didn’t deviate too far from the direction. However, he encountered several Hunter teams, consuming a considerable amount of time to deal with them. In the end, he managed to enter Micro City ahead of them. Later, the blue light suddenly appeared, and he hid in the south of the city. If the speculation was correct, those Hunters should be arriving at Micro City soon, or they might have already reached there.
Hunters typically possessed high-intensity combat abilities, whether individually or as a team. If in a team, it was highly likely that the players belonged to the same race, either due to the random placement of spawn points or a special racial talent that allowed them to find each other within a certain distance.
Regarding Gray’s sudden appearance, Shu Xun naturally had some doubts. However, in this era, a person who stammered due to nervousness wouldn’t be a Hunter, as it would be too conspicuous. Hunters aimed to hunt down other players to gain resources and clues, mostly seeking a one-hit kill. If Gray were a Hunter, he would be completely overshadowed by Lie Yang, considering their shared race. In all life forms, the rule of the strong being respected was universally acknowledged. Still, the manifestation of this rule varied among different races. However, the Zerg, Beast, and Spirit races happened to be relatively strong.
It could be confidently said that if Gray exhibited any unusual behavior, Lie Yang would undoubtedly detect it first, and unless his strength was overwhelming, Gray wouldn’t stand a chance. Additionally, considering Qing Meng’s earlier appearance, it was evident that the Hunters were behind them; otherwise, such an important figure as Qing Meng wouldn’t have been overlooked until they discovered her. Shu Xun suddenly felt a small sense of relief; Qing Meng’s sudden disappearance also spared her from witnessing more darkness.
Shu Xun, pulling at his hair, pondered for a moment before looking at Gray. “If you were to meet them, who do you think would have a better chance of winning?”
Gray hesitated as he glanced at the others. He obviously knew about Lie Yang and Ye Qian’s weight in the group. Despite this, Gray pondered for a long time before shaking his head. “I… I can’t determine for sure.”
Lie Yang nonchalantly raised an eyebrow, saying, “Then let’s wait for them to come. Trying will reveal the answer.”
Shu Xun, still pulling his little head, surprisingly nodded and spoke with determination, “Exactly, let’s try, and we’ll know. We’ll take the initiative to reach Micro City first, holding the geographical advantage.” He then tapped his small head. “The brain is a good thing, and our team happens to be quite resourceful. Even if our strength is insufficient, we can compensate with strategies. I believe in my judgment. In this gaming world, there are few above us in strength, and if there are, it’s better to resolve it early for our advantage.”
What Shu Xun didn’t explicitly mention was that Gray seemed very lacking in confidence. This could lead Gray to subconsciously make judgments against himself. However, even in this situation, Gray still expressed uncertainty, which to a certain extent proved that their strength was superior to the opponents.
Lie Yang’s eyes lit up instantly; evidently, Shu Xun’s words resonated with his preferences. This confidence and boldness were more to his liking than retreating and evading, fueling his fighting spirit.
“Unfortunately, we might not have enough time,” said Nuan Dong, shaking the documents in his hand. “The National Bureau’s Meteorological Cipher Document No. 117 has made speculations about the winter temperature drop. Based on current observations, all speculations have been accurate. Next, Micro City will fall into a permanent ice state.”
As Nuan Dong spoke, he opened the file in front of everyone, pointing his slender fingers at a simplified latitude map and sliding his fingertip over a latitude line. “Soon, everything north of this latitude line will be completely frozen, and over time, the frozen area will gradually expand southward. The blue light was just a preview; eternity is the end. The next time the blue light descends, it will never dissipate.”
Shu Xun looked deeply at the latitude line marked on the map and the time noted above. The location of this latitude line was familiar to him; it was on the white paper he found in the forest base’s study, listing a few locations and times. Although the speculations had slight differences, the locations and times were almost identical to the documents, indicating that someone in that base had also speculated on this situation. Shu Xun looked up at Ye Qian. “How accurate can you pinpoint Qing Mo’s time of death from now?”
Ye Qian, expressionless and without any pause, responded, “Between 177 and 187 days.”
After hearing this, Nuan Dong pointed to the latitude line on the map that traversed Micro City and the time marked above: May 10, 2334. “According to what Shu Xun mentioned before, Qing Mo’s time of death was on November 3, 2333, precisely 187 days from May 10, 2334, which is today. It’s also the date when Micro City is about to be frozen.” Nuan Dong’s expression looked unusually solemn, even bordering on heaviness as if some kind of gloom was accumulating. Yet, it seemed not much different from his usual indifferent state.
Ye Qian glanced at Nuan Dong, then put the well-organized information into his pocket, picked up Shu Xun sitting on the edge of the file cabinet, and casually placed him in his pocket. He spoke coldly, “Go to the research institute, the meteorological station, and then leave Micro City.”
Lie Yang seemed entangled in Nuan Dong’s date calculation. Hearing this, he suddenly felt that his full spirit had been blocked. “Even if it’s today, dealing with those Hunters first before leaving would be the same. Why the rush?”
Ye Qian turned his gaze to Lie Yang for a moment, then shifted it to Lie Yang’s antennae, and finally, with an expressionless light laugh, he said, “Heh~”
Lie Yang “…”, Why did he feel disdainful? Lie Yang instantly recalled Shu Xun’s words: It’s normal for butterflies with long antennae to lack brains. Lie Yang grinned, showing his white teeth. “Ye Qian, find an opportunity. Let’s have a good fight.”
Ye Qian, who had already turned towards the door, paused and turned slightly, coldly saying, “Heh~”
“…” The antennae on Lie Yang’s head immediately stood upright, ready to charge forward in an instant.
Seeing this, Gray quickly stood in front of Lie Yang, anxiously speaking, “Your, your, your Highness, I, I, I, I…”
Watching Gray blocking his way, Lie Yang raised an eyebrow in confusion but still stopped his direct charge, indicating for Gray to continue speaking.
Gray, seeing this, became even more embarrassed, and his tone became more urgent. “I, I, I, I, I, I… It’s nothing.”
Lie Yang, with a black line on his head, shrugged his antennae down, heavily patting Gray’s shoulder. “Kid, if it were the me from before, you might have been beaten to death already.”
“N, n, n, not… warm, warm, warm…” Gray scratched his head anxiously, unable to express clearly what he wanted to say.
Lie Yang (￣ー￣) For the first time, he realized that listening to someone talk was also a physically demanding activity.
Just as Gray was infinitely embarrassed, a childish voice came from the front. “Gray wanted to say that the temperature we experienced with the blue light was already extremely low, but the cold gradually receded. So, if Micro City is eventually frozen, the temperature will reach an extreme. Even for evolved species like us, it will be utterly powerless.”
Gray immediately nodded. “Yes.”
Shu Xun shook his head and sighed playfully, “It turns out that a butterfly’s antennae and brain can grow simultaneously.”
Gray, unfamiliar with the origin of this statement, looked puzzled. Lie Yang rolled his antennae, showing a face of “I didn’t hear anything,” and nonchalantly walked out of the file room.
In the live broadcast:
“I’ve already figured it out; my king can be passive until the final victory!”
“Same upstairs, feels like my Zerg race has prepared to lie down and win. My king has created a new clearing mode.”
“Why is it that my Emperor Butterfly’s intelligence is not even as good as a dead leaf butterfly.”
“By the way, the original form of the dead leaf butterfly doesn’t look good at all. Is this Gray going to become a teammate too? Feels like the art style is a bit off!”
“Amid all these beauties, suddenly there’s one with delicate features. It’s okay, but when he talks, I get anxious.”
“Hurry up, add one.”
“…”
In the game world.
Leaving the City Bureau’s Office building, whether it was a psychological effect or not, the few of them felt that the previously gloomy northern sky now had a faint light blue hue. If they hadn’t discovered that confidential file, they might have thought it was due to the blue light not completely dissipating.
Unable to determine the time and temperature of the freezing, the group had to save time as much as possible and quickly headed towards the research institute. Not long after they left the City Bureau’s Office, a team of seven people also arrived at the office. Seeing the open file room and the empty confidential files, one of the silver-haired men let out a light laugh.
After Shu Xun and the others arrived at the research institute, they found the situation more complicated than they had imagined. Although the previously searched locations were empty, they were orderly. In contrast, the research institute seemed to have experienced a storm, with chaos inside. Obviously, someone had already searched here before their arrival, especially the data room where the information was stored, which was in a mess, with almost no place to step.
Unfortunately, the importance of this place surpassed that of the City Bureau’s Office. To avoid missing crucial clues, everyone split up and searched for useful information. Even Shu Xun jumped out of Ye Qian’s pocket and traversed through the chaotic materials.
The disorder in the data room made Shu Xun feel a bit strange. Departments of transportation, libraries, city bureau’s offices, research institutes, and meteorological stations – these several places were the most valuable in terms of clues for game players. If it was done by game players, they would definitely not only search this location. Moreover, the time did not permit such extensive searching, so it must have been the work of the natives. Judging by the accumulation of dust, it had been some time, so what special attraction did the research institute have for the natives?
As time passed, Shu Xun, who was threading through the chaotic materials, suddenly paused his gaze on the overturned trash can. Several crumpled pieces of paper were scattered there. Intuition told Shu Xun that there was something he wanted. Carefully stepping over the pile of documents, he focused on the task at hand. However, his attention was too concentrated, neglecting the ground beneath him. Stepping into thin air, he tumbled down. With a thud, he happened to stop next to the crumpled papers. Shu Xun got up, dusted off non-existent dirt, and discreetly turned his head. No one had seen his recent mistake, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
Holding the crumpled paper, he walked to a flat area. Slowly unfolding the paper, he found it to be an international item turnover list. The shipment location was the research institute, and the destination was a sea area called “Yuanhai.” Shu Xun had carefully examined the world map of this world from Lie Yang. He knew that this sea area was not too far from the continent, but it was still a distance from Micro City.
