Volume 8 - CH 143.3

Fei looks conflicted, “so we’re back to fighting NE again…”

“We have to do something in the Ultimate Nightmare,” replies Wu Jian, “unless you want to do what Xü Beijin told us to and do nothing but keep our wits about? I think it’s not that simple, and we’re shouldn’t just sit around and wait for the results and escaping all of a sudden.”

Fei sighs and says, “you’re right.”

“In that case, where exactly should we be looking for?” Ye Lan ponders, “where did the fog first appear?”

Then she and Wu Jian both look up and look at Xie Zhijin.

Xie Zhijin, stunned, wonders aloud, “it’s just downstairs from my home, then?!”

Wu Jian shrugs and says, “at least, you were the first one to ever say something about a grey fog appearing.”

Xie Zhijin is twitching while saying, “I never knew my neighbourhood was developing some omnipotent AI…”

Though he’s in disbelief, the others seem to find it likely enough, and are discussing how they’ll head back there. Xie Zhijin wants to dissuade them, but keeps his silence in the end.

Maybe they really should be doing something in all this ridiculousness.

Better than staying somewhere safe and waiting for the sweet release of death… Waiting for death…

Suddenly, some image blazes past his mind.

He’s there. Others as well. Somewhere old, dilapidated, rotten… struggling, but knowing only death awaits.

Fine. Then. Let’s go search for the AI developers.

Fortunately, Wu Jian and the others basically walked straight here, and all three of them still remember the way, but unfortunately…

Ye Lan asks, “does the grey fog disorient our sense of direction?”

The question is directed at Fei and Jiang Shuangmei, who’ve already made it through the grey fog once.

They answer almost in tandem, “yes…”

Inside the grey fog, their sense of vision is as good as lost. The city is still there, but unless they have their face right up against the structures, they can’t see a thing or use them as navigation aid.

They’ll have to rely solely on their sense of direction, which is extremely unreliable, especially when they are humans, used to having tools and technology assisting them.

Wu Jian scratches his head, then, he suddenly takes the laptop he’s brought all the way with him out.

He was posting messages hoping to find his companions, but there wasn’t a single worthwhile reply. He never put it down after he brought it along, though.

This might possibly help them somewhat.

Wu Jian suggests, “this laptop has navigation software on it. The roads are completely wrong, but… I suppose the built-in compass would still work, right?”

Xie Zhijin praises him for his quick thinking, while the other Missiontakers are all stunned.

Using computers completely slipped out of their mind——Computers! There hasn’t been a single one in the Tower, ever!

Jiang Shuangmei is ecstatic, saying, “of course! We just need to keep our direction straight!”

So Ye Lan stands up and says, “let’s go.”

They’re going off to find the developer of the AI of the Tower, the one according to the game’s own plot.

Xü Beijin happens to see this.

He didn’t hear their complete conversation. He started listening halfway in, when they were talking about what they should do next.

He found them after realising the Raining Hellfire has struck the Ultimate Nightmare, surprised that they’ve grouped up together. He shifts the camera here for the stream.

Then, he is shocked that they’ve seemingly deduced that there must be another layer to NE’s identity, that is to say, ‘Iro.’

It’s quite proud to see.

He didn’t tell much information to these people who are trapped in the Tower, because he couldn’t.

NE is in his sleep mode, but that doesn’t imply that NE would never wake up again until woken up by Xü Beijin.

Perhaps the mention of a special keyword is enough to wake NE up, and alert him to the humans’ and Xü Beijin’s schemes.

So Xü Beijin had to do everything without arousing suspicion. Hopefully, when and should NE wake up, everything will have progressed to a point that NE can no longer stop——Best case scenario, NE is unplugged before he could wake up.

Now, the Missiontakers he has the highest hopes for, are on their way forward.

Xü Beijin truly wishes them luck in their endeavour.

While Xü Beijin is distracted by the Ultimate Nightmare, Lin Qin alerts him, “there’s only five metres left.”

Xü Beijin looks up by reflex, and notices the fog is almost right in front of them.

It does make Xü Beijin somewhat nervous; this grey fog headed for the Tower is the self-destruct mechanism of the game. It’s reached the Tower in such a short period of time.

Next, the fog will start to erode the Tower altogether.

If humanity becomes trapped in an isolating, blinding grey fog, they will succumb to insanity soon enough.

At least the humans in the Tower are all asleep right now, so for a short while, these effects wouldn’t be able to manifest.

However, Xü Beijin is also worried if the situation in the Ultimate Nightmare can continue to develop the way he envisioned.

But he also doesn’t have time to think about that, because he needs to secure the last data port they need.

The data port, somewhere inside the buffer zone between the grey fog and the Tower, which is now only 5 metres wide.

At the same time, the silhouette of a door, starts to form inside the grey fog.