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Chapter 36 Star Destroyer
Black Tower (voiceover continues): "...Look who's here?"
In the scene, Qiong's expression turned serious. He passed through a familiar elevator compartment and arrived at an area that players had never activated before.
"Ms. Black Tower, requesting the opening of the compartment."
Space station system voice (female voice): "Command detected. Level 1 classified zone. Access temporarily granted to Ms. 'Ruan Mei'. Module opening."
The elevator doors slowly opened and began to descend.
When the elevator doors opened again, what appeared before Qiong was a brand new area filled with unknown technology and the atmosphere of life research—the confinement compartment.
In the background music, a clear, melodious sound, like the plucked strings of a guqin (ruanxian), suddenly rang out.
The next moment, Ruan Mei's complete image officially appeared before the audience: she stood gracefully at the entrance of a laboratory filled with soft bioluminescence, gently caressing Ruan Xian's zither strings, glancing back at him.
His eyes were clear and serene, yet seemed to see through everything.
Nguyen Mai (voiceover), her voice soft as a whisper, yet carrying an undeniable authority:
"The secrets of the space station... are far more numerous than you currently know."
"Before you fully understand what's happening here... remember to hide your 'expression'."
"otherwise…"
In the scene, two strangely shaped unidentified creatures, resembling green red bean cakes and white shumai, follow at Ruan Mei's feet as she gracefully turns and leaves the laboratory corridor.
Nguyen Mai (voice-over, fading): "...will be full of flaws."
The barrage of comments was instantly captivated by Ruan Mei's appearance and charisma, with various exclamations and "hysterical" literary expressions flooding the screen:
"(Inhales) — A beauty of unparalleled grace! I rarely use such strong words, but Ms. Ruan Mei deserves them!"
"That charisma! That charm! That voice! I want to eat Ruan's food! Nobody stop me!"
"Ms. Ruan Mei! I'm willing to be your lab dog! Please use me for your experiments!"
"I apologize, everyone. This is my wife's first time appearing in front of you all, so she's a little reserved. I hope she doesn't make a fool of herself. (bowing)"
"??? How much did the person upstairs drink? They're already acknowledging their wife? Aren't they afraid of dying?"
"Ruan Mei isn't going to cheat; she'll play until the server shuts down! She's already prepared the Starry Sky!"
……
The scene shifts, and the style suddenly becomes cold and impactful.
The figure of a man wearing a distinctive plaster head appeared in the dimly lit corridor of the confinement section.
He held a thick book in his hand and walked with a steady gait.
Ladio (voiceover), his voice steady and rational, carrying a condescending air of scrutiny: "A genius's move, how do you counter it?"
He stopped in his tracks, and before him appeared a ferocious "true stinging insect" exuding an ominous aura.
Ladio glanced at the book in his hand, then at the roaring insect lunging at him, and made a move that astonished all the spectators—he swung the heavy book and, with an extremely standard and powerful motion, slammed it hard into the head of the real stinging insect!
"Bang!" A muffled sound.
Ladio (in a flat tone): "What's wrong? You look troubled."
The true stinging insect was provoked and pounced again.
Ladio took a half step back and elegantly pulled out a... piece of chalk?
Then, with a flick of the wrist, the chalk shot out like a bullet, accurately striking the shell of the real insect with a crisp "thud," and creating a white ripple at the point of impact.
Ladio turned around, his tone tinged with disappointment, as if to say, "Since that's the case... figure it out yourself."
The viewers in the live chat were amazed by Latios's "simple, brutal, and highly distinctive" combat demonstration:
"Throwing books at people?! Using chalk as bullets?! Professor, is your fighting style... really that direct and 'educational'?"
"I was wrong! I thought the guy with the plaster head and the book was a support character! Turns out he's a melee mage?!"
"Hitting me on the head with chalk, just like the professor's habit, I'm traumatized by it!"
"Wow, that guy upstairs is pretty awesome too!"
"The weight of truth is reassuring!"—From now on, I'm a fan of the professor's attack methods!
……
The scene shifts again, the pace quickens, and the music becomes tense and oppressive.
Qiong awoke from her brief coma to find herself in an unfamiliar environment.
Before them stood the ever-elegant Slugum and the worried Estella.
A deep, resonant voice-over, seemingly carrying an endless will to destroy, slowly rises, like a declaration from the depths of the universe: "The gods of the stars have departed from this world and become alien, only the wounded lord shall allow all realms to be bathed in the flames of destruction."
Suddenly, without warning, a ghostly blue flame burst forth on Estella's body!
That wasn't an ordinary flame; it seemed to possess some kind of special characteristic.
Estelle appeared completely panicked, trying to pat the flames but to no avail.
Seeing this, Qiong rushed forward without hesitation to help.
However, just as he was about to touch Estádio—
Estelle's figure, along with the blue flames, vanished like a phantom!
Qiong missed her target and turned around in surprise.
Behind him, an enormous, incomparable figure made of dark blue slowly appeared!
The sheer size of the figure was enough to suffocate anyone who saw it.
The scene flashes by rapidly edited, like a series of antimatter legion monsters.
The final scene freezes on the moment when a "Legion Trample" carrying destructive power throws a heavy punch, about to shatter everything!
A devastating voice-over (emphasis added): "No matter where you flee... 'Oblivion' will eventually come!"
Immediately afterwards, the magnificent phantom of the God of Wisdom, the Venerable One of Knowledge, composed of machinery and stars, briefly appeared on the screen. His "gaze" seemed to be directed at this chaotic cosmos, as if he were observing and calculating something.
The PV ends with a relatively peaceful scene.
Black Tower (the puppet) toyed with a die that shimmered with strange light and was covered with complex runes on its surface.
She curled her lip, her tone as dismissive as ever: "'The Audience Dice'? What a load of rubbish!"
Clearly, these dice are related to the upcoming new gameplay in the simulated universe.
The image finally freezes, transforming into this version's exquisite promotional poster: on the left is Ladio and his books, on the right is Nguyen Mai and her Nguyen Ham, and floating bioluminescent dots.
The background is the sealed section of the Black Tower space station, shrouded in mystery.
The title shines—"Mediocrity and the Crown of God".
……
Black Tower Space Station.
In the control room, Estella stared blankly for a few seconds at the end of the PV, where she was "engulfed by blue flames and then disappeared," before her eyes suddenly lit up!
"I...I'm famous?!" She excitedly turned to Alan beside her.
But then she realized it wasn't a good thing and quickly changed her tune: "Ah! No, no! This, this must be something from the 'future,' right? Ms. Ruan Mei visiting the space station? And that terrifying blue flame? I don't remember any of that happening!"
Alan frowned, his expression clearly showing anxiety and worry: "Miss! This is obviously..."
"Oh dear, Alan!" Estelle patted Alan's shoulder, trying to reassure him. "I know you're worried about me. But we still have Lady Black Tower! With her here, what serious trouble could possibly happen to the space station? She'll definitely handle it!"
As she spoke, her tone grew increasingly resolute, as if she were convincing herself: "Right? They'll definitely... they'll save them, right? Probably..."
Alan: "..."
With a look of speechless exasperation, as if to say, "Miss, are you using your optimism in the wrong place?", she still wanted to continue trying to dissuade him.
Just then, a voice filled with absolute confidence, even arrogance, broke in: "Hmph! Daring to provoke me in this way on my Black Tower's territory... I will absolutely not let him get away with this!"
The Black Tower doll appeared nearby at some unknown time.
Estelle immediately felt like she'd found her anchor, her eyes lighting up as she nodded vigorously in agreement: "Oh! Lady Black Tower is so cool! You're right! We absolutely can't let her go!"
Then, she quickly turned her head away from Alan's worried face, took out her phone, and frantically refreshed and searched the shopping app while muttering to herself:
"The fighting is about to break out... Why haven't they restocked the Star Destroyers yet?! What about that one I had my eye on last time that could destroy a planet? I remember it's been under development for ages! I even liked and saved it..."
Alan was completely speechless.
I've decided to max out the defense system privately!
Neither of them seems very reliable.
(P.S.: I'm starving! I feel like this kind of content isn't getting any views anymore. Maybe I wrote too many words in one chapter? I'll try a different approach.)