Chapter 998: The Great Collapse of the Berunis Rift Settlement Area
“Sigh~ they are just a bunch of guys who don’t know how much information they have.”
After searching these people’s memories, I opened my eyes and disdainfully flicked my fingers.
The big boss they spoke of was not the person directly connected to them, but rather a small fry taking orders one level lower, relying on hearsay.
They didn’t even know if the other party was male or female.
They were only responsible for blocking the entrances to this area, and if someone broke in, they would immediately report back.
However, they were now unable to relay this information.
After pondering for a moment, I took a communication device from the only intact body in the vicinity.
Then I opened my mouth and produced a voice completely different from my own; it was the voice of the person called the boss.
Following his memories, I sent the message back.
Using this person’s voice, with a tone laced with sarcasm, the other party had no doubts, merely cursing a few times.
After all, the message I conveyed was that someone here had let the other party escape, unable to stop them at all.
After saying this, I crushed the communicator underfoot.
Hmm… it feels somewhat villainous.
But in any case, the message “people have arrived here” was barely transmitted.
As for what would happen next, that remains unknown.
I continued to delve deeper, no longer maintaining my previous appearance. That guise was only to guard against some clueless individuals looking for trouble. Now that there was no one around, it was naturally unnecessary to put up with it.
As I proceeded, I played with a material pixel worn down from the wall.
I have to say, this kind of product, influenced by the enduring effects of Extraordinary Knowledge, is undoubtedly the greatest cheat in this world.
Such a massive underground city, completely disregarding foundational and load-bearing issues, transformed countless detailed specialized problems into the simplest stacking issues.
This again reminded me of what that Betraying Witch told me, about the significant breakthroughs in foundational materials concerning the All Worlds Terminal.
“I presume you are the Catastrophe Witch who created the urban miracle of Ig this time?”
Just as I was passing time with the player material pixels, a voice emerged. From just the sound, I pinpointed the other person’s location, and then a figure stepped out of the shadows like a strong pack.
I narrowed my eyes slightly, realizing that what stood before me was not a person, but… a game character.
“Oh? You are the current honorable president of the Real Protection Association, Monroe? How cautious~ meeting me using a game character. This must be a banned account, right? It’s an honor for me that you sacrifice such a strategic resource just to meet me!”
When I spoke, the other party was momentarily stunned, but being a seasoned veteran, he quickly ignored my use of “honorable president.”
“Meeting with the Catastrophe Witch is naturally worth it, but even I did not expect you to be so quick; the city of Ig is not close from here. ‘Monroe’ spoke with an air of confidence, but he was quite amazed by my efficiency in making the appointment.”
“Isn’t it because you chose this lousy place? Since it’s a meeting under a banned account, wouldn’t it be much more convenient in my Ig city? And that useless association you’re part of is truly troublesome to manage; now you even need to rely on my power to maintain this status quo.”
“Does the Catastrophe Witch mean… my association branch cannot provide assistance for you?”
“A weak body that can be pointed out by a finger, a lazy attitude that shifts responsibility everywhere, and a greed that wants everything—what kind of help can such a group give me?”
“Then I’m truly sorry.”
“Then I’ll reluctantly accept your apology; do make sure your attitude is better next time,” I continued to respond.
You could say this exchange was full of nitpicking and provoking, showcasing pride and disdain towards them.
This wasn’t surprising; I was targeting him.
Although I didn’t know what he was plotting, I could sense something wrong with the material space here.
It seemed some special means had reinforced the space, making normal spatial spells difficult to cast.
Moreover… this technique felt somewhat familiar.
It resembled the spatial blockade in the Linlosen Wilderness earlier…
Very much akin to sorcery methods.
Could it be an ambush?
However, with my perception, I detected no hidden traces.
Even if this was merely a clone, it shouldn’t be like this, right?
“I wonder what I’ve done wrong; this should count as our first meeting, right? Your tone, Catastrophe Witch, sounds as if I’ve done something to offend you. I admit this meeting was a bit rash, but…”
“Wait a minute, old president…” I interrupted him, signaling for silence.
“Any advice?” Monroe, repeatedly embarrassed, naturally felt a surge of anger.
“Listen.”
“Listen?” Monroe appeared confused.
As we quieted down, unusual sounds began to echo around us.
That was the sound of the earth cracking.
The clacking noise reverberated in an extraordinarily low and eerie manner from all directions.
Then, my expression suddenly darkened.
Because the material pixel I had been playing with just now had faintly produced some sort of special energy dispersing wave!
You have to know, this item produces the All Worlds Terminal completed by Extraordinary Knowledge, possessing power nearly on par with the Great Spellbook.
The power of the Great Spellbook is enduring and self-circulating, stemming from the operating rules of the Void itself. How could there be any phenomenon of energy dispersion?
Not long after, I squeezed hard, crushing the cubic pixel with my hands.
However, after shattering, the pixel did not break into finer pixel cubes but transformed into irregular dust!
Seeing this, my pupils contracted sharply!
Before even looking up at Monroe’s face, I sensed an even greater anomaly and instinctively crouched down.
“It seems you’ve noticed,” Monroe’s voice came, tinged with a hint of smugness.
But before he could continue, a powerful abnormal gravitational field crumpled this area where I stood!
Accompanied by a tremendous collapse, countless screams and wails rang out…
The first massive collapse of an underground city in the Game World opened its curtains.
Countless clouds of dust rose.
Countless structures crumbled.
Countless screams and wails!
One side of the Berunis Rift Settlement Area sank down as if the sky had fallen.
Underneath a vertically engulfing abnormal gravitational field, countless heavy objects crashed down with no chance of survival.
Even the outskirts of the city on one side of the web collapsed.
The colossal accident triggered continental tremors, even making the residents of the surface city believe an earthquake had occurred!
Yet after the shaking, many realized their homes showed no signs of collapsing or cracking, so they foolishly thought everything was fine.
After all, those lacking a certain degree of common knowledge regarding disasters were often unaware of the very concept of earthquakes.
Some teachings even stated that if danger arose, one should hide in their homes, believing their residences to be indestructible.
The common knowledge of a world often dominates how its inhabitants respond to sudden events.
Perhaps the residents living in the tall urban cities of Fengtangua had no idea that a large-scale collapse of the underground city happened right on the edges of their city in an undeveloped area.
At this moment, in the night sky.
Several figures hovered in the darkness without any support.
They watched the wails below as if enjoying a grand performance art.
“I believe that Catastrophe Witch never expected it would end this way, even in death?”
“We’ve been planning for so long, and in the end, we can witness a grand finale; it appears the little witch has enough company for her demise, which is worth it.”
“Indeed, it is worth it!”
“In that case, we can consider our mission complete, right?”
“So easy! I’ve already started thinking about where to lay the foundations for my Wizard Tower; that would be in the Main World!”
These individuals conveyed the notion clearly with their exchanges, indicating that they were responsible for everything that transpired.
These few were the Wizard Apprentices still lingering in the Game World.
From their words, it seemed they had not received any messages from the Main World, nor did they realize that the little witch they were “hunting” was merely a clone.
“This action was still too hasty; I didn’t expect that little witch to arrive so quickly.”
“So what? Isn’t she just rushing to her own death?”
“Speaking of which, do you think she might still be alive?” one of the Wizard Apprentices cautiously spoke up.
“Rest assured! Isn’t there data on that little witch? It seems she has only engaged with the extraordinary for two years; if she doesn’t die now, how could she withstand being buried alive?”
“Exactly! Is my ultra-gravity field hex set up for nothing?”
“My spatial blockade hex assisted as well, ensuring she cannot teleport away with spatial spells. I can already envision that little witch’s despair at not being able to escape such a trap! Hehehe!”
These Wizards exchanged words, revealing their entire layout and treating it as leverage, as talks.
Their capacity to create such a large-scale trap was also due to the temporary authority granted to them by the Supreme Council.
They had activated the architect profession branch of demolition specialists, giving them the authority to remove the characteristics of building materials.
Ultimately, this led to the chaotic creation of an entire underground city graveyard!
After the Catastrophe Witch repeatedly showcased her threat to the Supreme Council’s powers, the council members naturally understood just how terrifying she was!
From the onset of her strong combat strength, to taking over the city of Ig, and then to her strange methods that could vaporize both characters and players, finally, the last straw was the Catastrophe Witch invading the All Worlds Terminal!
Seizing their supreme authority!
They had to exhaust every means to kill this Catastrophe Witch!
Ultimately, under negotiations between these Wizard Apprentices, this utterly brutal plan was born.
The Supreme Council completely ceased to regard those at the lower levels as human. For them, their foundation lay in the surface cities along with high-end, cutting-edge gaming talents.
Those others were merely pests, wasting their resources to appease them and stave off possible riots!
Of course, chaotic areas and settlement zones occasionally produced some exceptionally talented geniuses, but these talents could not change the local nature and value of these areas.
What was most abundant in the Game World was, indeed, people!
What they plundered the most were Soul Materials, and precisely because of this, the population in their world exploded.
Regular population purges were also very necessary.
Yes… just that short phrase “population purges are indeed necessary” determined the life and death of countless lower-class individuals.
Absolute power, absolute authority, and absolute status conferred upon the Supreme Council an irrevocable absolute authority.
They even had the capability to erase the significant incident that occurred in the Berunis Rift Settlement Area from this world.
Absolute public opinion and control over network information instilled such confidence in them.
“Hey, what was the name of that guy we saved?”
“Monroe, the president of the Real Protection Association.”
“Right, that guy; he has no value now, right? Why not just kill him?”
“Keeping him around is useful; the real protection association can effectively control most of the chaotic resistance forces in this world, always under our watchful eyes.
Haven’t we already decided to make that guy a dog under some congressman? Killing him would worsen our relationship with the Supreme Council; he is still very useful.”
“What a pity.”
“Not a pity; let’s wrap it up! Find that little witch’s corpse; at the very least, we need to see her dead with our own eyes.”
“Is that really necessary?” one of the Wizard Apprentices remarked indifferently.
“Better to be cautious; document this. When we get to the Main World, we can present direct evidence proving we completed the mission bounty, thus avoiding some follow-up disputes, all of which relate to our promotion to the Wizard Tower after gaining extraordinary status… Isn’t this worth the precaution?”
“Indeed, let’s not forget, what we want is a death that even the Resurrection Spell cannot bring her back from.”
…
Meanwhile.
In a surface city near the land property of Ig, in a rather inconspicuous area.
Inside a nondescript crowded residential complex.
Monroe was terrified as he peered through the transparent display area of his enclosed gaming terminal device, watching the girl who had just lifted him up.
Words of fear stuck in his throat, unable to utter a single syllable.
He was terrified and wanted to cry for help, but it was the same for her.
“This is our first proper meeting, old president.” I gazed into Monroe’s eyes.
In the guise of a player, I stood before him; who gave you such confidence?
“To call you ‘old president,’ and you actually are… In the beginning, I thought you would be the kind of born leader representing the Real Protection Association.”
“But… you truly are undeserving.”
After I sighed, I did not give him any chance for rebuttal; all arguments would be deposited into his memories.
There was no room for error; if something went wrong, I could always get resurrected.
After briefly touching his memories, I abruptly opened my eyes.
Because I discovered that this guy… cannot die, at least not in this identity.
I didn’t expect this person to have such a worship of the extraordinary, becoming a dog for the Wizard Apprentices… Heh.
But looking at Monroe, who lay silently on the ground… I felt that it would be more convenient for me to use disguise techniques.
After all… I had “died” too.
