At exactly 8:00 PM, the Voice of the World’s Announcement rang out across the game zones on time.
“Congratulations to *** player for completing the progress mission. The number of Blue Star’s fallen game zones has reached 10.”
“Congratulations to all Blue Star players for completing the strategy mission. All level 30 dungeons have been fully cleared.”
“The fourth seamless update has been completed. Two major versions have been updated simultaneously. Versions 4.2 and 3.3 have been merged, and version 4.3 is now officially live.”
“Monster strength has been increased by 20% overall. Level region restrictions have been removed. Monsters now have a 30% chance to spawn outside their original zones. Final dungeon bosses have gained special abilities. Two new field bosses and one mobile dungeon have been added…”
“All player stats have been increased by 15%. The layout function within safe zones has been unlocked, allowing adjustments to overall building arrangements. The refresh rate for high-rarity items and equipment in the system shop has increased, and item attributes have been comprehensively enhanced. Players are advised to update their equipment promptly.”
“*** player has completed the collection mission. Event unlocked—‘Teleportation Grand Battle.’ Please check your communication device for detailed information.”
“Blue Star players have completed the collection mission. Event unlocked—‘Dungeon Core Defense Battle.’ Please check your communication device for detailed information.”
Lights blazed throughout the entire game world as everyone opened their communication devices on time, carefully studying the two events.
The command center held a joint meeting through the night. Zone A shared intelligence that the monsters had declared this their final event. All players steeled themselves.
Players rushed back and forth through the service hall as time ticked closer and closer to tomorrow.
……aaaa
At 7:00 AM the next day, the pink milk tea car appeared as usual. This time, however, it wasn’t stationed at the edge of the safe zone—their operating location had retreated further inside.
After all, the entirety of Zone A had been reorganized overnight, drastically transformed.
But the milk tea car still opened for business as usual.
Whether or not today would truly be the final battle the monsters spoke of, its consistent presence had already become a symbol of reassurance.
The only difference was that it opened an hour earlier.
Normally at 8:00, now at 7:00—otherwise, nothing had changed.
The collection mission required to unlock the event had already been completed. Li Liangzi and the others had devised flexible strategies based on the pre-released event details, leaving the thinking to the smart ones while they “slacked off” by running the stall.
The players’ new event was called “Dungeon Core Defense Battle,” essentially a tower defense game.
There were seven level-30 dungeons in total, all opening simultaneously. Only one commander would be appointed to manage all seven at once.
After discussion, Li Liangzi was chosen—no one else could realistically handle seven battlefields at the same time.
According to the rules, the commander starts with 1000 gold, and earns more by killing attacking monsters.
Gold can be used to deploy players into the dungeon battlefield as defensive units. Players can only operate within assigned grid positions, with different ranges depending on whether they are melee, ranged, or support types.
The pool of selectable players now spans all zones, thanks to completed missions.
In other words, if Li Liangzi needed someone, she could select any player from any zone and deploy them—provided she had enough gold.
Players are ranked by the system, and their deployment cost varies accordingly.
This was the first time the system publicly revealed its ranking method. However, just like when selecting administrator candidates, it seemed to evaluate only physical attributes, not abilities.
Thus, players were divided into S, A, B, C, D, E, F ranks, costing 500, 300, 200, 100, 50, 30, 20, and 10 gold respectively.
This led to a strange situation where highly capable players—like special combat members or Bai Yan—were categorized as the cheapest F-rank.
At first glance, it seemed advantageous for players, but Li Liangzi had already considered the downside: monsters would also have their own event. If too many powerful players were assigned to dungeon defense for the sake of efficiency, they might be caught off guard elsewhere.
“Thinking about it that way, that Hunting Spider Woman really helped us,” Yi Luo leaned nearby, watching He Wuning’s profile as he spoke. “Why would she tell us?”
“It can’t be that at this stage they suddenly want fair competition, right?”
“Before this, they did everything to weaken us—even forcibly balanced our stats at the start…”
He shrugged. “Now they claim to be honorable warriors—we’re not buying that.”
“Yeah,” He Wuning agreed, handing over a cup of milk tea. “Outside the game, they don’t seem like a warlike race. If anything, they’re cautious. Rather than respect, it feels more like leaving themselves a way out.”
He paused. “Just my guess.”
Yi Luo grinned. “No need to be that precise.”
He stretched lazily. “Even with the info they gave us, we still lack intel on their event.”
“But they probably know everything about us—from their followers.”
He subtly edged closer, trying to disrupt He Wuning while he made tea, only to get stepped on expressionlessly. Grimacing, he backed off.
Clearing his throat, he continued, “Anyway, we probably won’t enter the dungeon defense. We’re too expensive.”
Both of them were S-rank—500 gold each. Not exactly cost-effective.
Especially since Yi Luo, as a sniper, still had range advantages—but He Wuning, if confined to a grid, couldn’t use his mobility. Li Liangzi likely wouldn’t deploy him there.
He Wuning glanced at the time. “We’ll know at eight.”
Only minutes remained.
From what they knew, the monsters’ “Teleportation Grand Battle” involved capturing field zones to open portals inside safe zones.
Starting from the level-50 sky zone, monsters would drive out players and corrupt areas. At 100% occupation, they could advance.
Once a zone was fully occupied, a portal would open in each safe zone. Initially, one monster could pass every 20 minutes, with intervals decreasing by 5 minutes per additional zone captured.
After completely occupying all wilderness zones, the portals would no longer have any restrictions, and monsters would be able to freely enter the safe zone to attack and destroy.
After yesterday's game update, all buildings within the safe zone had gained durability bars. It was obvious that once a building's durability dropped to zero, it would enter a damaged state.
Most players hadn't slept well last night. The Command Center had purchased a large number of defensive installations and placed them throughout the safe zone, while also reorganizing the zone's layout.
The Service Hall serving as the Command Center, along with functional buildings such as the Treatment Center and Rescue Center, were placed near the respawn point at the heart of the safe zone. Four watchtowers purchased from the system surrounded them on all sides. Players participating in the Dungeon Core Defense Battle event, as event initiators, were immune to permanent death—even if they died, they would respawn at the respawn point. This layout ensured they could always emerge from there.
Further outward were the ordinary players, who had been gathered into this area and arranged in rings around the functional buildings. During the night, they had concentrated as many high-durability buildings as possible into this zone and mobilized all players to temporarily relocate there.
Stronger players and Combat Department members were mixed together along the outer perimeter for rapid response, while the elderly, the weak, the sick, the disabled, pregnant women, and others unable to fight were protected in the center.
The perimeter was equipped with various defensive structures provided by the system. Surveillance radar had already been activated in standby mode. System guards and archers stood dutifully atop the watchtowers. There were even things like magnetic energy shields far beyond Earth's current technological capabilities. If even those measures failed to stop the monsters' advance, then it would be Zhao Yantong's and the Combat Department's turn to take the stage.
Most low-durability buildings had been relocated to the edge of the safe zone. The outer boundary no longer contained defensive installations; instead, it was packed with offensive devices and traps.
Zone A had already decided to abandon part of its buildings, using them as defensive barriers themselves. While replanning the area, the Command Center had demolished all pathways between the outer buildings.
If the monsters wanted to pass through, they would have to smash their way through the buildings first.
He Wuning glanced at the unfamiliar yet familiar Zone A and felt a trace of nostalgia. This had once been the most prosperous CBD district in City A. He wondered what it would look like after this great battle was over.
Lost in thought for a moment, he heard a player waiting at the milk tea cart mutter quietly: "I hope everything goes smoothly and that it's over soon..."
He Wuning came back to himself and looked at her. She was a very young girl. Her face still carried the air of a student, which looked strangely mismatched with the shield and axe slung over her shoulder.
Before He Wuning could comment, Q-chan enthusiastically chimed in: "Even after the game is over, please keep supporting our business! Don't forget about Q-chan!"
That guy's optimism was as unwavering as ever. He Wuning couldn't help laughing.
The player blinked, then smiled. "Of course!"
"By then, I won't have to think about buffs or special effects anymore. I'll just be buying milk tea because it tastes good!"
"And having the chance to leisurely enjoy afternoon tea again gives me even more motivation!"
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