Chapter 967: As Long as the Catastrophe Witch Exists, We Will Never Have Peace!
“What happened? Why did I get logged out! I was in a battle! I was still on the battlefield! My account! My equipment! Ahhhh!”
“Damn it! The Infinite Group’s game is really a dead horse! I just got a beautiful NPC, she was already dealt with, I was even in bed… why was I forced to log out!”
With the forced expulsion and self-check of the All Worlds Terminal, the shift in permissions immediately affected several worlds under its control.
Players disconnected, and were forcibly expelled by the world’s will in large numbers.
Even in unimportant places like the Chaos Land and Rift Resettlement Area, players couldn’t even log into the game!
Most of the affected players were in the midst of critical actions, but regardless of what they were doing, account anomalies had already occurred.
If a death or killing happened during this period, the characters that players painstakingly nurtured would completely disappear. In the upcoming period, complaints and applications for such incidents would flood the virtual mailbox of the Game Architect.
As for compensation?
Aside from some procedural matters for those involved, the majority would directly collapse!
After all, they couldn’t do anything to the Game Architect, even if it was the members of the Supreme Council who caused all this; ordinary people had no way to argue.
What about exposure online?
Living in a realm completely controlled by information, there was no push mechanism whatsoever, nor would there be any exposure; those expressing fierce opinions couldn’t even voice them.
No way online, the sky’s the limit in reality…
This was the plight of those completely controlled within the game world; even death would be meaningless.
But these arrangements were just the next steps of the Supreme Council; even though it hadn’t happened yet, the fates of those whose interests were infringed had already been sealed.
At this moment, members of the Supreme Council continued to sweat profusely, not daring to appear in person at the Supreme Council.
After all, what had just happened was far too terrifying; they actually dared to appear before the Catastrophe Witch as players!
Once they calmed down, they realized that the Catastrophe Witch had likely locked onto them through gameplay qualifications (fortune) and that such channels wouldn’t exist in virtual space.
But what if?
They were seated in this position, who wouldn’t risk their lives?
But turning back, their mood wasn’t too bad at all.
The first encounter with the Catastrophe Witch… might also be the last.
In any case, they wouldn’t be in this position for a second time to meet her.
Her attitude was far from their expectations, and personality analysis data of the All Worlds Terminal had already been generated.
The Catastrophe Witch was no longer suitable for contact, which meant they could only now interact with Wizard Apprentices.
Just as they thought this incident had expelled the Catastrophe Witch from the All Worlds Terminal with the operation of special permissions, the alarm rang again in the conference hall.
“What the hell happened again? We risked our lives to stall for time, and those idiots can’t even handle a small permissions adjustment without mishaps?!”
Along with this outburst, one of the council members projected a virtual screen.
What it showcased was the recorded surveillance within the realms of the All Worlds.
But this imagery was already in disarray…
Several members frowned as they acquired permissions, skipping forward in time to the moment they had left the All Worlds without any rest.
Seeing themselves flee in disarray from a third-person perspective, the involved individuals pretended nothing had happened, while the one retrieving permissions decisively cut this segment.
Then the image displayed only the Catastrophe Witch remaining.
Under the effect of supreme permissions, the Catastrophe Witch seemed to have resisted and held on for a while through special means.
Then a nearly blurred magic circle flickered, causing the entire image to grow hazy.
“What… happened here?”
“The Witch… the Witch can cast spells in our virtual space! How is that even possible! This is unscientific!”
“How could she cast spells inside the All Worlds Terminal? This is fake! How could it happen?”
But no matter how they denied it, the facts had already occurred.
And just during this moment of panic…
The All Worlds Terminal Headquarters was experiencing intense shaking!
A crescent moon-like blade of light seemed to tear through space, slicing through the virtual pixels and ripping apart the overcast sky!
Affected by the Infinite Energy Perpetual Motion Machine, the All Worlds Terminal had long been shrouded in clouds, while at this moment, a gap was created by this blade of light.
Forgotten light gently illuminated the land enveloped in shadows; as the blade of light broke everything, luxurious sunlight was once again slowly obscured.
The shattered sky saw countless virtual pixels collapse, not like shattered glass, but as numerous irregular pixels formed that breach.
The concept of virtual space is akin to how material space structures exist above the void and the world, a real presence yet abstract enough to be imperceptible.
With this one strike, the game world’s arrogant confidence was severed, and their self-proclaimed invincibility obliterated.
They had immersed themselves in the security constructed within the virtual, never considering that someone could break through their defenses.
When this day truly came, everything would already be beyond recovery.
The Catastrophe Witch’s strike was a clash of order, slicing through “expulsion” and “self-check.”
Absolute order collided, leaving no standing ground for unauthorized access.
Thus, whether it was the Game Architect or the Supreme Council members, the force of permission control over mandatory expulsion and terminal self-checks had drastically decreased.
This battle, the Supreme Council dared not and could not publicize it, for leaking it would equate to support for the Catastrophe Witch.
However, this confrontation was not known solely to the Game Architect and the Supreme Council members.
A hacker team formed by resistance forces from around the world witnessed this miracle!
Even if they were eventually forcibly expelled by the supreme permissions, it wouldn’t be long before the information spread out.
After all, such a serious event occurring at the All Worlds Terminal was absolutely unstoppable, and the hackers were determined to break through these informational barriers to find the data they needed.
Furthermore, it wouldn’t be long before they discovered that the force driving the All Worlds Terminal against them would also significantly decline, which would correlate with this incident.
As for the weakening of self-check capabilities, the Supreme Council must not let outsiders know.
The All Worlds Terminal had existed for so long, and the craftsmanship for maintaining terminals had gradually declined. The core functions still relied heavily on terminal self-check and automatic maintenance.
Facing such overwhelming oppression, while a group of council members debated how to respond, the doors of the parliament hall were kicked open.
“Who! Who gave you permission to destroy the Supreme Council’s doors?!”
“The Supreme Council? I see you seem not to have a clear understanding of who your enemy is. At this moment, several figures walked in from the violently kicked open doors.
Dressed in gray wizard robes, their bodies distorted by magical changes were concealed by hoods that hid their ghastly faces.
“You above the headquarters are really quite unbothered, how was your first encounter with the witch… not so pleasant, right?”
“How do you know so quickly? Are you monitoring us?” A few members present in character angrily spoke up.
What happened in the virtual space couldn’t possibly be exposed that quickly, unless… these wizards had other means of surveilling them and had even infiltrated the All Worlds Terminal!
“That’s not the point. The point is… you’ve been marked by that Catastrophe Witch, your means have been thoroughly controlled by the other side; this is equivalent to you being slapped in the face by her. Can you endure this?”
“Hmph! Does that mean you wizards can withstand this blow?!” The council members had no intention of backing down.
“This is what you’ve claimed; this means has reached an extraordinary level; you aren’t extraordinary wizards, right?”
“In reality, we aren’t extraordinary wizards, but our arrival represents the will of the wizards!”
“Wizards’ will… we certainly can’t see how great that is; does this thing allow your phony heroes to unleash attacks as powerful as that witch?”
“The greatest power of wizards is our wisdom! Our bodies are merely containers sustaining the continuation of a wizard’s life,” one of the wizards said angrily.
This anger, laced with disdain, mocked those who didn’t even have the ability to recognize the greatness of wizards.
“The power of the Catastrophe Witch indeed exceeds our imagination, but it’s only an extraordinary power obtained through clever means. I don’t believe she uses this power without cost, nor can she maintain it indefinitely…”
“After all that, do you have any method to kill that Catastrophe Witch? As long as she exists in our world, we will never have peace!”
When this impatient council member interrupted the meaningless dialogue and zeroed in on the key issue, both the council members and wizards present fell silent.
Killing the Catastrophe Witch…
This was what the Supreme Council members most wanted to do at this moment; the threat from her was far too great.
Even feigned actions wore them down.
They must treat this matter seriously, and cannot confuse the Catastrophe Witch with those outsiders.
Meanwhile, on the side of the wizard apprentices, they had also received direct orders from the Main World’s Wizard Extraordinary Academy to spare no efforts in exterminating this little witch.
And they meant killing her in a way that could not be revived even with a resurrection spell.
These wizards were not apprentices from the Main World’s Wizard Academy but were apprentice wizards brought in by the Wizard Void Merchant Association, meant to assist in the plans and arrangements of the Main World’s Wizard Academy.
Though this was a tough job, the wizards did not fear it, as they were prepared for an equivalent exchange; the merits accumulated during this operation, alongside rewards as extraordinary wizards, would be exceptionally abundant.
These early accumulations, together with their original savings, would even be enough for their future advancement to the extraordinary level and to establish their own wizard tower!
If they could kill this little witch, they would also receive exceptionally generous additional rewards, and they had even spread the word: after killing this little witch, they could build a wizard tower within the Main World’s Wizard Academy!
The construction of wizard towers within the academy received support from the academy and was built on systematic infrastructure, even more convenient than solely establishing a wizard tower; how could they refuse?
For wizards, resources were always insufficient; saving was key.
Thus, the goals of the wizard apprentices and Supreme Council members aligned at this time.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Main World was unable to exchange the foundational “All Worlds Terminal” of the game world for the (Extraordinary Knowledge), so this matter could only be temporarily shelved, but killing that Catastrophe Witch was urgent.
“If the other party were an extraordinary witch, we wizards would naturally not dare to covet her, but she is only a little witch, likely possessing some extraordinary-level powers, we wizards certainly have means to slay her.”
“Look at you, speaking so slyly; you don’t have any confidence, do you?”
“We are wizards! We fight with our intellect; it would be foolish to fear a cowardly opponent; what we seek is to kill the other side, not to directly defeat them…”
“So you have a way now?”
“As far as I know, that Catastrophe Witch has ambushed dozens of outsiders, making no one dare to enter the city of Ige. We can similarly lure her into the trap we’ve prepared for her,” a wizard apprentice side spoke.
“That witch would believe you? She wouldn’t even leave the city of Ige; how would you ambush her?”
“Doesn’t the Catastrophe Witch want to claim the Real Protection Association for herself? She aims to win their complete allegiance; there is someone she must meet.”
“The spiritual leader of the Real Protection Association… Monroe?” the council members frowned and spoke.
However, Monroe had already escaped from their capture; how could this person still be of service to them?
He was the spiritual leader of a resistance force! How could someone like him possibly betray his organization?
“You answered correctly—Monroe, just as you said, holds significant and far-reaching influence over the Real Protection Association. No matter what means that Catastrophe Witch uses to absorb that branch, this issue must be resolved.”
“How can you guarantee he will serve you?”
“Hehe… guess how he escaped from your heavily guarded location. No matter how he may be, he can’t escape the fact that he’s just an ordinary person; under the might we showcase, he has already entered the embrace of wizards’ will!”
“It’s you guys who did this?! You also want to control the Real Protection Association?”
“Originally it should have been like this, after all, your indecisive attitude forced us to prepare for both situations, but now… since you have no choice, there’s naturally no need to hide such matters.”
The wizards felt nothing wrong with what they had done; it was merely a necessary means.
“You… don’t just have contingency plans, do you?”
“You don’t need to worry about that; remember! Right now, you depend on us!”
