Chapter 407 Adding a Bit of Difficulty to Their Game
“What Catastrophe Witch? Where did you see that?”
As the person spoke this piece of information, many people showed an understanding look, but still, quite a few were not clear about what exactly was happening.
After all, a strange and somewhat edgy term like “Catastrophe Witch” had nothing to do with this plant technology side world of “Sinful Star.”
“What are you all talking about? Why haven’t I heard of it?”
At this moment, someone was curious to ask, but no kind soul generously provided more information.
Of course, the main reason was that the strategy post requiring payment did not reveal more information either; everyone knew very little.
At this moment, I was not just standing there for others to gawk at. From that earlier remark that attracted hatred, it was evident that my original plan was to take these people down.
Just from the equipment of that outspoken individual, it was obvious that their means were actually limited; their attacks depended entirely on external gear, so their individual strength had to have an upper limit.
I remained passive, listening to their exchanges. Engaging in blind combat with them held no meaning for me; gathering information was my true aim.
Although I was a bit far from them, I could still hear some of their conversation thanks to my body cultivation sense and spell enhancement, but it was utterly unexpected that their words were muted, which left me quite frustrated.
However, this did not mean I failed to acquire other useful information, like keywords such as “Catastrophe Witch,” “post,” “play,” and so on…
If I still didn’t realize the seriousness of the situation, then I would have wasted two lifetimes in this modern society of information explosion!
Perhaps… I should find another term to call these excavators; maybe… calling them players would be more appropriate?
If this was the truth, then I would have to face two difficult choices! Either admit that I am merely a low-dimensional game character, becoming an NPC in the eyes of the other players, or prove… that they are merely a group of powerful civilizations that label the invasion of other worlds as a game!
Compared to the two hypotheses, I naturally leaned toward the latter because the latter wouldn’t lead me to feel a sense of self-doubt and despair.
But in an instant, I returned to my usual self, for all fear stemmed from scaring myself!
How could these guys be higher-level beings than me?
Is the theory of the main world false?
Is the void false?
Is the brilliant witch civilization, wizard civilization, and extraordinary elves just a setting?
I don’t believe it. Even if I haven’t witnessed it with my own eyes, I still firmly believe.
However, there is one more thing I need to clarify, which is that their individual consciousness and the actual concept of fortune are related.
In other words, if I am a game character, I should not have means to make others “exit the game” other than killing them.
That earlier guy who was willing to communicate with me demonstrated with his life that the Thread of Fortune seems to be their “network cable.”
If these excavators were replaced with extraordinary witches, wouldn’t they be the behind-the-scenes manipulators controlling the script of this world?
It’s just that the witches let us play ourselves, while these people step in directly.
In any case, these “players” are related to fortune, which can only indicate one thing: they have a grip on the “script” of this world.
And they possess and utilize the script in a way I cannot comprehend, completely different from those extraordinary academies in the main world.
At first glance, these guesses seem quite reasonable and have no major flaws, but I also know that they are just castles in the air; the remaining evidence requires me to test it myself.
As for how to test… that naturally means using absolute power to make them speak!
With this thought, a flying broomstick silently appeared in my hand. These excavators can fly, right?
How coincidental, I can too. I don’t mind engaging in aerial combat with them; it’s a rare practical experience that I naturally want to try.
As for… death?
Am I afraid of that?
Not to mention my defensive and escape means, the reconstruction resurrection spell I had explored in Ninglan New City was enough for me to release a resurrection spell without needing help.
Of course, any battle carries risks; that is unavoidable. I can’t shy away from killing these excavators out of fear, right?
That would have me laughing at myself for an entire year!
Once I made up my mind, I didn’t hesitate. I rode my broomstick and charged toward the person nearest to me at a speed they could barely react to.
“You!”
I reached out and firmly pressed down on the other’s head, and before he could react, I rapidly took him toward the building behind him.
In an instant, the glass curtain wall emitted a sound of shattering.
I, including the alchemical broomstick with protection spells, was relatively unharmed, but the guy in my hand was in for a rough time.
After crashing through the glass curtain wall, I tightened my grip on his neck, forcing him hard against the ground.
Because of the speed, by the time he reacted, the shattered glass fragments were only just crashing down beside him; the crisp sound of breaking and the tremendous impact left him dizzy.
At this moment, other excavators alarmed by the sudden change quickly realized that the Catastrophe Witch had actually begun to attack them!
That speed, riding a broomstick, had slammed someone directly into the building. If it had been them… they would probably have been just as unprepared!
Instantly, a chilling sense of crisis washed over them until one person raised their voice, awakening everyone.
“Open fire! Kill that witch!”
“You fool! That’s a hidden task! If you kill her, how do we continue the mission? Capture her alive!”
In an instant, these excavators divided into two viewpoints. One side insisted on directly eliminating this unknown witch when endangered, while the other greedily thought about the follow-up of the hidden task.
The one shouting about killing seemed unconcerned by all that and launched an attack, causing his armor to glow with special effects. Then, floating objects resembling mobile artillery emerged, supporting a massive firepower platform. Countless tiny black dots formed these weapons, floating around him, with illusory aiming reticles and control interfaces appearing before him. Countless loading information flickered like flowing light, collating into a heavy artillery platform composed of pixel-like materials.
Seeing this setup, keen observers understood that this person was likely a whale player!
This was an existence one couldn’t afford to provoke. Realizing this, many immediately distanced themselves to avoid being implicated.
Just as this “whale player” completed charging his weapon, a powerful strike with dazzling ballistic effects slammed down onto this player’s floating platform.
Boom—!
With this explosion, accompanied by the whale player’s furious curses, the previously charged weapon was interrupted at that very moment.
“Who the hell is looking for death? Show yourself!”
As the smoke sputtering with special effects dissipated, an energy shield appeared around him, but half of his firepower platform was rendered completely useless.
These weapons were worth solid money! Even repairs would cost a fortune.
However, at this moment, he had no time to mind that; his gaze was locked onto the person who had attacked him.
“You people! Members of the Real Protection Association!?”
“Some knowledge there! Fortunately, we came just in time. This Catastrophe Witch is under the protection of our Real Protection Association!” The newly arrived group made the expressions of those present change dramatically.
As this group arrived, a somewhat disheveled figure made its way toward them; these people were indeed those who had been chased by those present.
“I see it’s you looking for death! Just now, who was it that was chased around in panic? You think we’re afraid just because you brought some people for support?”
“Then come and try! All you know is to kill, kill, kill!” The one claiming to be from the Real Protection Association was equally unyielding.
Meanwhile…
After subduing the guy in front of me, a binding spell directly restrained him. Ensuring there were no opportunists trying to sneak an attack from behind, I began to inquire urgently.
“I ask you, you guys are players, right?”
“Uh… What?” The person, still recovering, struggled to resist but realized he couldn’t move at all.
“Let me ask you again, you guys are players, right?” I deliberately lowered my tone as I questioned.
“Play… you! How dare you %#!”
“By what means did you invade this world?”
Although he didn’t provide a definitive answer, I could tell from his expression that he was at a loss, so I immediately followed up with another question.
But it was clear he hadn’t recovered from the shock.
“I… I don’t know! Please let me go! I really don’t know anything!”
In vain struggles, he chose to give up, facing my questions with “I don’t know,” no matter how much I tortured him, it was still “I don’t know.”
It’s not that I didn’t believe his words; his expression genuinely indicated he had no idea, and he wasn’t lying.
So this meant that even being a player, he was probably just a low-tier player, or maybe… they didn’t even realize that their so-called game was actually a form of invading another world in a different way.
Next, I asked other questions, such as where their world was, what it was like, what their daily lives were like, and what their social structure looked like.
Sadly, he couldn’t hold out long enough to give me the answers to those questions before he directly “logged out.”
Looking at the figure on the ground, resembling a dead body, I pulled at that thread of fortune.
Just now, I could hold this thread because I was observing what happened after it disconnected. Soon, I realized that after a while, that thread of fortune seemed to be tugged, wanting to fade into the void, and then I yanked it back.
I initially thought this would be a tug-of-war over the thread of fortune, but the unknown presence quickly fell silent, pulled over by me.
At that moment, the “equipment” on the guy on the ground began to disappear. I quickly grabbed the gun that had fallen to the ground, but soon, this firearm also became blurry.
It didn’t become blurry due to being pixelated, but due to its irregular shape.
Even… under my observation, as its form collapsed, it was not the material I understood; it was cubic, constantly changing, like an extremely unstable form of existence.
The information feedback I received through spirit vision was also exceedingly strange, things I could not comprehend at all.
But looking at this existence, a concept seemed to align quite closely with it in my mind: “Perhaps, this should be called… pixels? Or pixel blocks?”
When the concept of “pixel blocks” replaced the information, my spirit vision’s feedback on this thing became coherent again.
It was as if the confirmed concept was completed, or like a scattered puzzle that was fitting a key piece at that moment, allowing me to glimpse a corner of it.
That was a cognitive concept that couldn’t be described with words but still belonged to the extraordinary category.
Until the firearm in my hand completely vanished, pixel blocks transformed into the most basic pixel particles, and then disappeared into information, I was still lost in thought.
But the next moment, I trembled with excitement!
If these excavators could achieve such a level, it must be the result of some unknown extraordinary means!
The reason I had feared confronting concepts like games and falsity earlier was naturally due to the fear of the unknown. The unknown breeds fear, fear leads to internal strife, and internal strife would completely collapse my cognition!
Now that I had confirmed this to be a means of the extraordinary realm… what was there to be afraid of?
Even if their strength represented a powerful dimensional attack, it was a known overwhelming strength, not an unknown force that was unresistable.
Because the former represents infinite possibilities within reach, while the latter symbolizes a direction devoid of effort, rendering any efforts futile and void.
So… what could be more exciting than recognizing the truth?
At least for me now… nothing!
It turned out that my earlier worries were just me scaring myself.
At this moment, the last thread of concern was completely extinguished, and I felt my thoughts became clear!
Boom—Boom—!
As a series of intense explosions erupted, several figures charged into my floor, launching a merciless attack at me, who had my back turned to them without hesitation.
The powerful explosions caused my protection spells to show signs of breaking, and the next moment, this layer of shield shattered under the successive powerful attacks.
I soon reacted and quickly layered my shields for protection.
“Such pathetic firepower…”
As I came to my senses, I casually waved my hand, a small spell instantly dispersing the explosive smoke. The figures of those excavators who had launched the attack now revealed themselves before me. “Let me tell you why I’m called the Catastrophe Witch!”
After saying this, several spellbooks were activated directly.
Body enhancement, perception enhancement, plus the outstanding physical quality from my body cultivation became terrifying.
Then came the Fire Elemental Sprite Transformation Spell, and in an instant, flames wrapped around me. In this moment, I had become a sprite capable of freely controlling fire!
The fierce flames erupted with terrifying phenomena, the flames spewing out from the gaps in the glass curtain walls of the building, as I appeared like a fire queen walking through flames. The fire I commanded was even enough to allow me to stand in mid-air.
Feeling the power bestowed by the transformation spell, this form’s strength was comparable to the elemental sprite’s protection at the peak of my power!
Now, everything around me had already been scorched to ashes. Even the glass curtain wall began to melt under the high temperature at this moment, molten glass dripping from above. The great fire had consumed this floor, even spreading to the upper and lower levels.
At this time, my gaze fell on the battlefield outside. Seeing the excavators gathered there, a glimmer of realization flickered in my eyes. No wonder no one had come to sneak attack earlier; it turned out to be… infighting?
The excavators had not even concentrated their firepower on me, and they were already suffering losses among themselves, which truly surprised me.
But that wasn’t enough. After all, the Fire Elemental Sprite Transformation Spell only consumed a two-digit amount of mana. Although it seemed sufficient to deal with these guys now, it still wasn’t shocking enough.
So, after some consideration, I decided to activate the extraordinary elf’s protection once again. After all, there’s plenty of magic source; I can be reckless!
This time, I must catch all the excavators present in one fell swoop, adding “a bit” of difficulty to their gaming journey!
