Chapter 513: Defenceless City

Chen Xiaolian was in a dazed state.

He stood within the room before the monitor screen hanging on the surface of the wall.

There was a stuffy feeling here – the room had been sealed in for a long time without any ventilation. Thus, it was inevitable that the air inside became somewhat stuffy.

The moment Chen Xiaolian’s mind thought of that, a “beep” sound came from the room’s ventilation system and it began operating. Although the system operated in a very quiet fashion, the moment it began operating, some sounds still came off it. As Chen Xiaolian had enhanced his body before, it was only natural that he would be able to catch the sound.

He subconsciously turned around to look at the ventilation duct of the room. He could clearly feel the fresh air flowing into his room once more.

This… … what is going on?

Chen Xiaolian stared with widened eyes and began pondering the matter.

His last piece of memory was… he was inside ‘Room Zero’ and was looking for ‘his own place’.

And then?

And then… … … blank.

I appeared inside this room?

Chen Xiaolian’s face turned grim.

No! This is not right!

Something must have happened in between these two points.

But why can I not remember anything?

My memories… … they were erased? Edited?

What happened to me in Room Zero? What did I find out?

And… … what did I acquire?

He could clearly remember how he entered Zero City’s main system, the conversation he had with Zero City, the conversation regarding authority…

And how he had gone through the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang instance dungeon again.

However, after entering Room Zero… … … he could remember nothing else.

“The Hell!” Chen Xiaolian was unable to stop himself from swearing out in a hushed tone. “Do you have to do this to me? Damn it, Zero City! What did you do to me?!”

Wait!

How did the ventilation system of this room get turned on?

Is the power restored?

As Chen Xiaolian was in a daze, he heard Guan Shan’s voice coming from outside the door.

“Xiaolian! Are you inside? Sir Bluesea sent me to check up on you…”

Next came the sound of him knocking the door. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! …

Chen Xiaolian, who was still reeling from all this, was unable to recollect himself immediately. It took him a few seconds before he could respond to Guan Shan knocking on the door of his room.

“I… … am all right.”

Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath and looked at the monitor screen before him. On the surface of the screen was the reflection of his face.

It was slightly blurry and unclear. Although it was clearly his face there, for some unknown reason, Chen Xiaolian felt that it looked somewhat… … unfamiliar?

He shook his head and moved to the door.

Guan Shan’s voice came from outside the door. “Xiaolian? Is that you? What did you say just now?”

“I said… I am all right.” Chen Xiaolian then subconsciously grabbed the handle of the door and gently rotated it.

Pata!

The door opened.

Guan Shan, who was standing outside, gaped at what happened.

He stared with bulging eyes… … he was not looking at Chen Xiaolian. Instead, he was looking at the opened door.

His expression was one of stiffness while shock coloured his eyes.

“What happened? You look like you just saw a ghost?” asked Chen Xiaolian with a frown.

“I… …” Guan Shan stammered. “Door, door opened?”

“Yes.” Chen Xiaolian subconsciously nodded his head. “You knocked on my door so I opened the door… …mm?”

“Has the system returned to normal? Is the power restored?”

Guan Shan instantly exclaimed.

Next, the two of them looked around the corridor they were in…

All the rooms were still closed. The doors were still locked.

“You… how did your door…”

Chen Xiaolian smiled bitterly. “I do not know either.”

Guan Shan was momentarily taken aback. However, he quickly said, “A problem has occurred. What I mean is, there is a problem with Zero City! An error has occurred in the system. As of right now, the operations of nearly every place have come to a halt.”

Chen Xiaolian thought to himself: I know. However, none of that showed on his face. He simply looked at Guan Shan.

Seeing Chen Xiaolian look at him, Guan Shan felt goose bumps rising on his body. Although he was feeling puzzled, he quickly said, “Forget about all these first. Sir Bluesea had me come here to check up on you. Since you can get out, come with me!”

“Where are we going?”

“The control centre of the Board of Patriarchs’ building… at present, that place is the safest place!” replied Guan Shan solemnly.

“… … all right.” As Chen Xiaolian’s mind was in a mess, he had no time to consider much about it. He simply nodded his head.

Next, Guan Shan led the way and brought Chen Xiaolian to the secured passageway. However, after arriving before the secured passageway, Chen Xiaolian did not realize Guan Shan entering the passageway and instead continued moving along the corridor.

Turning around, Guan Shan saw that Chen Xiaolian was not following him. Seeing Chen Xiaolian moving toward the elevator, he hastily shouted out, “There is no power, all the elevators are… mm?”

What happened next caused Guan Shan to become flabbergasted.

Chen Xiaolian casually pressed the button for the elevator and the non-functional elevator suddenly released a “ting” sound…

It was now operational.

The expression on Guan Shan’s face was as though he had seen a ghost.

“I… …” Chen Xiaolian smiled wryly before knitting his brows as he observed the elevator before him lighting up. “I… … don’t know.”

“… …” Despite the feelings of shock, Guan Shan simply had no time to worry about it. “Let us hurry! We’ll talk about this once we reach Sir Bluesea.”

Soon, the two of them had left the hotel and were rushing into a street.

Zero City’s system had shut down. That included the system that simulated day and night. Thus, the street was covered in darkness.

Even all the street lamps had been shut down. There in the distance, some armed members from the Angel Corps were patrolling about to ensure safety.

Seeing how dark the street was, Guan Shan produced two flashlights out. He handed one of them to Chen Xiaolian and said in a hushed tone, “Hurry, follow me.”

“All right.”

Chen Xiaolian nodded his head and held onto the flashlight as he followed Guan Shan. They then quickly made their way toward the Board of Patriarchs’ building.

It was at that moment that a peculiar incident began to unfold.

As Chen Xiaolian ran through the streets, wherever he stepped foot upon, the lights on either sides of the streets would suddenly light up one after another.

It was as though they were specifically lighting up for him.

When that happened, no matter how Guan Shan attempted to suppress his feelings, he was simply incapable of doing it.

He watched in shock as the lights came to life in succession and came to an abrupt halt. He turned around and stared intently at Chen Xiaolian.

“You… … just what did you do? Just why… … this is…”

Chen Xiaolian had also stopped running.

He furrowed his brows as he observed the surrounding streetlamps.

A thought swirled quickly within his mind.

Could it be… … me?

In the next instant, a presumptuous notion rose up within Chen Xiaolian’s mind.

Could this be… … authority?

Just now, I had felt that this place was too dark. If only there are some sources of illumination…

As a result, the streetlamps automatically lit up.

Then, there was what happened in the hotel room. I had felt stuffy and the ventilation system began operating.

The door of the room could be opened.

Is this… … authority?

Chen Xiaolian looked at Guan Shan, who was looking at him, a tangled expression mixed with shock on his face. Chen Xiaolian then took a deep breath and waved his hand at him. “Wait a bit.”

He then raised his head to look at the ‘sky’. This so-called sky had turned into nothing but a stretch of darkness.

Chen Xiaolian thought to himself: It is too dark. Light it up.

The moment he thought about that…

The world lit up!

…

Bluesea and Angel Wu were in the middle of a discussion when an Angel Corps’ member staggered inside hastily.

“It is up! It is up!”

“What is up?” Angel Wu retorted with a frown. “Stop panicking and tell us slowly!”

The Angel Corps’ member took a deep breath. However, there was excitement on his face. “Outside… … outside! The virtual day-night system is up!”

Within a few seconds time, the work personnel seated before the control panels grew excited and they hastily reported, the sound of happiness and surprise in their voice.

“The ecological system is up!”

“System for power source is back, now charging! It is restored!”

“All monitoring systems back online!”

“Power supply to the production districts all normal!”

“Reserve power system is back to sleep mode, the main power supply is back!”

“Zero City is up! It is up!”

The members from the technical departments who were positioned before the control panels gave the joyous news one after another. Although Bluesea and Angel Wu had no idea what brought this about, they both gave sighs of relief.

Good news came in succession from the personnel within the room and voices of excitement filled the room.

“The locked authority over internal security is now unlocked!”

“The automated system for the Sea of Love has recovered!”

“The resident guilds’ respective main systems have recovered!”

“Angel Corps military provision system recovered!”

“Exterior lighting system…”

“We are saved…”

Bluesea and Angel Wu exchanged glances. There were looks of surprise and suspicion in their eyes. However, as the outstanding leaders there, they temporarily suppressed the doubts in their hearts and quickly issued out orders.

“All on-duty personnel, check up on your respective monitoring posts! I want to be sure that Zero City is 100 per cent restored!”

“Affirmative!”

“Also, give the order to have the technical personnel from every resident guild to get to their respective posts. Every detail must be examined!”

“Affirmative!”

“All combat personnel from Angel Corps take up positions and continue managing the situation. Command the others to stay in their rooms. They are not to step outside! Execute a martial law on the streets! With the exception of the members from the resident guilds and Angel Corps, the outsiders are not allowed to move about freely!”

“Affirmative!”

At that moment, Bluesea noticed Guan Shan hastily making his way inside.

Bluesea swiftly gave an excuse to Angel Wu before moving toward Guan Shan.

“How is he?”

There was an extremely odd look on Guan Shan’s face. Hearing Bluesea’s question, he did not reply. Instead, he stared in stupor at the room full of cheers and excitement. He then gulped and said, “Sir… … this place…”

“Mm, just now, Zero City came back online. Everything has returned to normal.” Bluesea smiled.

“Is it… … just now…” Guan Shan muttered. Next, he shook his head vigorously. “Following your orders, I… I went and found Chen Xiaolian and brought him here.”

“Brought him here?” Bluesea was surprised. However, he was quick to nod his head and said, “That is good. At present, we do not know what is going on. Leaving him inside the hotel could prove dangerous. Bringing him here is a good thing. You did well. Where is he?”

“Outside. I asked him to wait in the lounge where you may go find him at any time.”

Bluesea nodded. “Good, I will go in a moment.”

“Sir.” There was a very serious expression on Guan Shan’s face. “You had better go see him now… … there, there is something wrong here.”

“Mm?”

Beads of cold sweat oozed out from Guan Shan’s forehead. Ignoring everything, he leaned forward and whispered something into Bluesea’s ears.

Hearing what he had to say, Bluesea became stunned. “What did you say?”

Guan Shan smiled wryly before leaning over once more. He relayed what happened after he met Chen Xiaolian. Everything that happened along the way as they made their way here was relayed to Bluesea.

After he was done, Bluesea was left dumbfounded as well.

“… … is it true? That actually happened?”

“I… … I thought I know what I saw, but… … but…” Guan Shan appeared as though he was about to break down and cry. “My mind is now in a whirlpool of confusion. Sir, I don’t even know what is going on.”

There were shock and terror in Bluesea’s face. Taking a deep breath, he then said, “Hurry! Bring me to him right now!”

…

Chen Xiaolian was seated inside the lounge.

Unlike those seen in the movies, this lounge lacked a futuristic atmosphere. Instead, it had an old-fashioned atmosphere to it.

The leather sofa did not feel comfortable and Chen Xiaolian twisted around for a bit before standing up. Then, he walked to the wall.

There were several wall lamps attached to that section of the wall.

“Off.”

The room turned dark.

“On.”

The room turned bright.

A peculiar smile appeared on Chen Xiaolian’s face.

“It truly is… …”

He was like a child who had just received a new toy and his heart was filled with this feeling of wonder.

As he was turning off the light in the room and turning it on once more, the door leading into the room opened.

Bluesea, who was standing in the doorway, just happened to catch sight of the wall lamps flash and turn off. Then, it flashed again as it turned on.

Chen Xiaolian had his hands behind his back as he stood beside the switch on the wall.

Seeing that, Bluesea, the Guild Leader of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild was utterly shocked.

At this moment, words could not possibly describe the expression he wore. He abruptly stepped inside and closed the room door forcefully. Next, he turned around and cast an incredulous look at Chen Xiaolian.

Chen Xiaolian stood without uttering a single word and looked at Bluesea.

“Chen Xiaolian… … can you tell me what is going on here? The things that happened just now… … you…” Bluesea felt a bitter taste in his mouth. “How did you do that?”

There was a peculiar look on Chen Xiaolian’s face as he replied, “This matter might be rather difficult to explain.”

“Then explain it to me slowly!” A hint of anxiety could be heard from Bluesea’s tone – a trace of panic and unease had bubbled up from his heart. Thus, for an instant, he lost his sense of rationale.

Chen Xiaolian knitted his brows and looked at Bluesea.

“… … I am sorry.” Bluesea kneaded his face forcefully. “I am feeling very flustered… … even so, I believe it would not be difficult for you to understand! This is Zero City! This is our home! And you… … somehow, it would appear that you can control everything in Zero City? An outsider has obtained the authority and control over our home. In face of such a scenario, how can I not feel flustered? How can I not lose my sense of reason? Chen Xiaolian! I need an explanation!”

“Very well. It is just a matter of time before this gets revealed.” Chen Xiaolian sighed. However, just as he was about to speak up…

Bang!

The room door was forced open.

With an anxious expression on his face, Angel Wu stepped inside.

“Bluesea! Quick, follow me! Something big has happened!”

“What is it?”

“Hurry! The main control centre! Summon everyone! Hurry! Get every combat personnel from your guild to come!”

After saying that, Angel Wu quickly turned around and left in a hurry.

Bluesea was taken aback for a moment. In the end, he turned and followed Angel Wu. However, after taking two steps, he turned to look at Chen Xiaolian. “Xiaolian, you come as well!”

…

In the great room for the main control centre, the atmosphere of joy and excitement had vanished. In its place was an atmosphere of someone who was facing a great enemy.

Bluesea followed Angel Wu inside and saw two other familiar faces.

The Guild Leaders from the other two resident guilds have arrived. They brought with them several key experts from their respective guilds.

There was a tense atmosphere inside the room.

“What happened?”

Bluesea asked.

There was a dark look on Angel Wu’s face and he pointed at one of Angel Corps’ staff. “You, report.”

“Affirmative!” The Angel Corps’ staff quickly straightened his body. Although he was rather nervous, he was quick to give the report.

“Just now… … everyone was examining the procedures in their respective posts. At present, it would appear that all of Zero City’s functions have returned to normal. However… … I found an abnormal situation within my area.”

“What kind of situation?”

“The authority over the outer passageways, sir!” The Angel Corps’ staff answered with a quavering voice.

Authority over the outer passageways!

The moment those words were uttered, Bluesea and the people from the two guilds sucked in a cold breath of air.

A middle-aged man in grey robes spoke with a hoarse and heavy voice, “Be straightforward and tell us just what the situation is.”

This person was obviously one of the titans on the Board of Patriarchs. The Angel Corps’ staff quickly bowed to him before quickly saying, “The authority over the outer passageways has always been the most highly secured part of Zero City. All this while, we have always held control over all the functions involved in the opening and closing of the passageways. Additionally, we have the authority to temporarily open up reserve passageways at any moment.

“I am talking about the authority over the passageways that each resident guild holds. Even the Angel Corps have their own secured passageways that are required for battle. The same goes for Zero City, which has its own public passageway. During opening days, that passageway is used for outsiders to enter.

“Because we have a screening process, we could ensure that the Electronic Guardians sent by the outside world’s program could not invade us – although they have constantly tried to invade us, with Zero City’s outer passageway security program in place, we were able to remain unassailable.

“However, just now…”

“Just now, what happened?” asked Bluesea in a grave tone.

“Just now, the authority over the outer passageways, meaning, the security program included, has disappeared!”

Angel Wu growled furiously and said, “Disappeared. What do you mean by that? Do you mean to say the program is not operational? Locked down? Just like what happened earlier? Is it locked? Is it in sleep mode?”

“No, that is not the case here.” The forehead of the one reporting was soaked with sweat. “During the earlier incident, the outer passageway program did not disappear. It simply entered a locked state. Meaning, all the ‘doors’ were closed tight. Thus, people from the outside could not enter. The same thing applied to the people inside, they cannot get out. That is what ‘locked’ means. But now… … something weird has happened.

“The entirety of the security system for the outer passageways… … have disappeared!”

He began stammering. It was obvious that he was unable to suppress the feelings of shock and terror in his heart. Thus, his voice took on a stammering quality.

“Assume that this outer passageway system and authority is a wall that has been constantly protecting Zero City, ensuring that no enemies invade it…  as of now, this wall has utterly disappeared! It is as though this program had never existed in the first place!”

His final words caused the room to fall into a deathly silent state.

A few seconds later, Bluesea asked in a hoarse voice, “Do you mean to say… the walls of this city no longer exist? If so, all of Zero City’s outer passageways… … the main passageway and the other passageways under the authority of the other resident guilds… all of them are open?”

“That is not it,” the man replied in a low voice. “You all have probably misunderstood something. Truth be told, Zero City only has one outer passageway, the one in the Central District. It is the one that is used the most, the one used to allow outsiders in and out during opening days. We call this passageway the ‘main gate’.

“In addition to that, there are also the special passageways that every resident guild possesses, the reserve passageways etc. These minor passageways were all opened using various types of authorities. We call these passageways the ‘wicket gate’. These wicket gates actually do not exist. We had utilized the outer passageway system to create them.

“In other words, we had constructed some additional doors on the defensive ‘wall’ protecting Zero City to be used by the resident guilds and Angel Corps.

“However, those doors were opened up at a later date. In the initial state, the one and only passageway in existence is the ‘main gate’.

“The wicket gates were separately created using the outer passageway system… … at present however, that piece of program has disappeared! Thus… … gentlemen, all the passageways under the authority of the resident guilds and Angel Corps… … all of the wicket gates no longer exist! All of them have disappeared!”

The faces of everyone there sank.

Bluesea, however, was one of the few able to remain calm. “If so… … according to you, those wicket gates have disappeared. That means everyone would have to use the main gate in the future? That doesn’t sound too horrible…”

“That is not it.” The man’s eyes were red. It was obvious that he was under a great deal of stress. His voice grew sharper and harder to grasp. “The wicket gates have disappeared! But the main gate is still there! Because the ‘outer passageway system’ has disappeared, we have now lost control over the main gate!

“Presently, the main gate is completely open. Anyone may enter or leave! I mean to say, it doesn’t matter who, they do not need to undergo any screening, there is no security system or defences in place to stop them from breaching in and out! Anyone could choose to enter and leave at will!

“Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to make this even clearer. As of now, Zero City is defenceless!”

Defenceless.

Zero City was defenceless!

Their main gate was wide open.

Everyone there heard those words. Everyone there understood the implications.

No sound could be heard inside the room. It was such that they would be able to hear the sound of a needle falling upon the floor.

There were expressions of shock, anxiety, terror and confusion… … the various emotions played out upon their faces.

“In other words, we are now in a very precarious position.”

The one who spoke this time was another Guild Leader. This person wore white coloured robes and appeared to be a magus.

“Something like that.”

“Not necessarily.” Guan Shan, who was standing beside Bluesea, was unable to stop himself from speaking up, “Even if the main gate is open… … our enemies outside, the Electronic Guardians for example, may not be able to figure out the location of this main gate…”

“I won’t be so sure on that,” the reporting staff member was quick to reply. “The outside world’s program and the Electronic Guardians are always on the lookout for our main gate. The reason why we have remained safe all this while is because we had Zero City’s outer passageway system.

“We are not the ones who developed this system. It is something that came from Zero City itself. It is an extremely brilliant piece of system and we have never been able to figure it out. We could not even understand how it operates.

“In short, the system would release various ‘deceptive’ data streams out to deceive the outside world’s program that is searching for us.

“The searching efforts by the outside world’s program were practically non-existent thanks to the protection granted by the outer passageway system. It protected our main gate, stopping the outside world from locating us!

“But now… … as I had stated earlier, for some unknown reason, this program that had been protecting us has disappeared!

“Thus…”

“Thus, the main program of the outside world and the terrifying Electronic Guardians may discover our position at any moment and may breach through our open and defenceless main gate to kill us and destroy Zero City?” Bluesea used a calm yet peculiar voice to ask with a whisper, “Is that what you are trying to say?”

“… …yes,” the man replied with a trembling voice. “Considering the present situation and the highest war time protocol of the Angel Corps, I, the person in charge of this post, would like to give my suggestion to Sir Angel Wu.”

“Speak up.” Angel Wu’s face was grim.

“… … according to the protocols from long ago, should such a situation arise, the protocols state that the highest priority should be to… … evacuate! Evacuate everyone within Zero City!”

…