The monsters in the ocean region suddenly noticed that the ceaseless arcs of electricity spreading across the water’s surface had abruptly stopped.
With the pressure suddenly reduced, they cautiously poked their heads out of the water. While they were still hesitating—unsure whether something had gone wrong on the players’ side or if this was some new kind of trap—they saw the players who had been fighting in the shallow waters all take out cups of milk tea, tilt their heads back, and drink—some boldly, some elegantly.
An ominous sense of danger flared. Before the leading monster could even warn the others, the players had already leapt into the sea one after another, looking like a bizarre mass suicide dive.
But the monsters knew these people would never do something like that. They quickly formed a defensive cluster, submerging beneath the surface and watching the human players approach with all kinds of swimming styles.
He Wuning didn’t rush into the water. He boarded the milk tea car together with Yi Luo.
The pink milk tea car slowly entered the water, transforming into its boat form and advancing forward at a leisurely pace—yet somehow exuding the same oppressive presence as a tank to the monster army.
Q-chan hung from the top of the boat: “Attention all players—if you experience cramps or discomfort, please approach the milk tea ship immediately and come aboard to rest…”
“Huh?”
A pale hand suddenly grabbed onto the flotation bag at the side of the boat. Q-chan crouched down curiously. “Someone’s already feeling unwell?”
A Green Serpent Woman with a long tail shot out of the water, trying to crash into the boat. Yi Luo glanced out and chuckled lightly. “Sorry, staff-only vehicle—no outsiders allowed.”
He pressed a button. The colorful decorative lights on the flotation bag instantly discharged electricity. The Green Serpent Woman screamed and fell back into the water, turning into a streak of light and disappearing.
He Wuning looked at the sea and raised an eyebrow. “Did you notice? The red color seems to be disappearing.”
“Hm?” Yi Luo leaned out the window as well. “Yeah… wasn’t the water here tinted red before?”
He trailed off, momentarily stunned as he looked at the players swimming forward with all their might toward the monsters.
The players, focused on the fight, didn’t seem to realize that faint, firefly-like white particles were drifting off their bodies. Wherever they drove the monsters back, the red color dissolved bit by bit under the glow, revealing the sea’s original blue.
That ocean, once stained with a heavy, blood-like hue, was being cleansed little by little.
Someone finally noticed the change and let out a startled cry, nearly getting counterattacked for losing focus.
Rong Jiu shouted loudly, “Hey! Stop looking around—move forward! Turn this place back to how it was!”
Padra, crouching on the milk tea boat, couldn’t help but sigh in admiration. He patted his little robot. “Hey, Jarvis, look at this—this is practically a miracle.”
Jarvis didn’t respond, silently witnessing it all as part of the game, its glassy eyes reflecting the soft white glow.
“Looks like our concert is moving into phase two.” Padra picked up his guitar again. “A concert at sea—now that’s romantic, haha.”
As the music started, players felt buffs reappear on their bodies.
Q-chan flipped upside down and clung to the front window, waving his tiny hands. “Look, look! It’s so pretty!”
He Wuning chuckled. The milk tea boat steadily advanced, unknowingly moving ahead of the other players and charging straight into the monster ranks.
The players’ counterattack surged forward. The monsters were forced back step by step toward Ghost Island, the red on the sea receding as if played in reverse, revealing the ocean’s true color.
The horn of counterattack had sounded—no one could stop them now.
Driven out of the sea and back onto Ghost Island, just as they had come, the monsters regrouped. He Wuning stepped onto the island, looked up at the still-crimson sky, and tilted his head thoughtfully. “Want to drink a ‘soul-form’ grape milk cap and turn into a ghost to fly up there?”
“If you’re going alone, that’d work. But if everyone’s going, pick up Xue Xun’s call.”
Both of them turned at the same time, meeting Rong Jiu, who had leaned in through the window of the milk tea car.
“I called you guys a few times,” Rong Jiu said, pointing at Padra. “He was too loud for you to hear, so I had to come up myself.”
Before he could finish, the delivery phone on the car rang.
He Wuning stood and picked it up—it was indeed Xue Xun. “I already know the situation. Come back for a moment.”
“I’d like to order an original milk tea.”
He Wuning smiled helplessly. “Director Xue, you’re as stingy as ever.”
He gestured to Yi Luo. A portal opened in front of the milk tea car, and the pink vehicle plunged into it, disappearing instantly.
Before the monsters could react, the milk tea car returned to the battlefield and stopped steadily at a spot.
The door opened, and an unfamiliar young man stepped down.
His eyes were covered with a black blindfold, and his gait was slightly uneven. Xue Xun stood beside him, wanting to help but hesitating to reach out.
Yi Luo jumped down from the driver’s seat and casually patted his shoulder. “I’ll take you. If your legs aren’t great, just admit it—no need to push yourself.”
“It’s not really inconvenient anymore,” the young man said, turning toward Yi Luo’s voice with a faint smile. “The tech department recently made a more advanced prosthetic using in-game skills. I’m still getting used to it. I heard you’ve been doing pretty well out there. Not missing us at all, huh… Captain?”
Yi Luo laughed and ruffled his hair. “Yeah. But calling me ‘Captain’ now isn’t quite right—I should be the one calling you that, right?”
“Heard you got promoted.”
“That kind of title doesn’t matter,” the young man said with a smile. “Once this game ends, it’ll all disappear anyway.” Supported by Yi Luo, he took a few steps forward, then slowly crouched down and touched the ground of Ghost Island.
The smile faded from his face as he lowered his voice. “There are some things I’ll only tell you, Captain.”
Yi Luo looked at him. “Go on.”
“Do you remember J?” the young man said calmly. “There were a lot of posts online back then, saying they couldn’t understand why J betrayed humanity to help the monsters. But… I can understand.”
He gently traced the ground beneath his fingers. “Because I also don’t want this game to disappear.”
“People like me—and Lu Bai—we’re burdens in the real world. Only here, thanks to these broken bodies, we have power… we can be needed.”
He sighed softly. “In a way, we’re not that different from him.”
Yi Luo let out a scoff. “Are you serious? Someone like me can’t pass a psychological evaluation, but you pass—and even get promoted?”
The young man chuckled. “You know how those tests work. Everyone knows what answers to give. The difference is—I know which questions I can afford to answer with just enough vulnerability.”
Yi Luo lowered his gaze to look at him. “But you’re not the same as J.”
“Hm?” The young man tilted his head slightly, as if curious about what he would say next.
“Everyone has dark thoughts sometimes,” Yi Luo said, watching him. “But I know you won’t act on them.”
“You’ll make the right choice.”
The young man fell silent for a moment, then let out a helpless sigh. “Seriously… asking me to personally shatter this dream—don’t you think that’s a bit cruel?”
Yi Luo laughed. “Relax. This game won’t shut down for another hundred years—you might not even live that long.”
“Wow, thanks for the blessing,” the young man replied through gritted teeth. He raised his hand and slammed it hard against the ground.
The entire Ghost Island trembled slightly.
It was as if a dragon beneath the earth had awakened. The soil seemed to gain a will of its own under his hand, forming a staircase of earth that rose upward toward the sky.
The young man’s face gradually turned pale. Though he couldn’t see, he could feel the vibrations from above.
He lifted his head with effort and murmured softly, not even sure if anyone could hear him, “Go.”
“No matter how beautiful a dream may seem, we still have to wake up.”
He Wuning’s communicator chimed. He glanced at Yi Luo. “Let’s go. The dungeon has reached the final wave of monsters. On our side… this is the end too.”
Yi Luo slipped his hands into his pockets and smiled. “Coming.”
The milk tea car roared forward, a small flag with the character “tch” fluttering noisily in the wind as it charged straight toward the sky region.
“Follow them!”
Someone shouted. The players smashed through the monsters trying to block them and surged upward as well.
Some monsters hurriedly switched into flying forms to retreat and defend, but Rong Jiu was prepared. He shouted, “Focus fire on the aerial monsters—don’t let them fall back to defend!”
The chaotic footsteps, the blood-pumping shouts, the tragic roars—these sounds faded the higher the milk tea car climbed into the sky.
To their surprise, the monsters seemed to have already deployed everything. The entire sky region was eerily empty, except for a single towering figure seated upon a throne at the center.
It had the body of a giant, resembling figures like Odin of Norse mythology or Zeus of Greek myth—someone who looked like a ruler just by appearance alone.
He Wuning narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “Ah… so it’s you. The former administrator of the monsters—their king.”
“You didn’t leave yourself a guard?”
The king sat silently on the throne, then suddenly raised his head to look at the sky. The Voice of the World began to announce: “Congratulations to the Blue Star players for successfully defending seven dungeon cores. Perfect event rewards will now be distributed…”
The rest didn’t matter. Both sides already understood.
The king slowly stood up.
“It seems… they have failed.”
Standing before He Wuning, their sizes were completely mismatched, yet He Wuning felt no fear. For some reason, he couldn’t sense even a trace of danger from the other party.
Looking down at him, the Monster King said, “Human, let’s make a deal.”
He Wuning raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”
“You won’t even hear my terms?” the king asked. “We understand this game well. You’ll need our help.”
“At this point, I can admit it—this game… you’ve won.”
“But we can strike a deal. One group of us is willing to assist you in managing the game. When the next game begins a hundred years later, we can serve as your vanguard.”
He Wuning arched a brow slightly. This game involved real death—if he truly intended to continue it a hundred years later, that would indeed be a tempting offer.
Unfortunately, he had no intention of playing by the game’s rules.
Yi Luo signaled him with a glance, and instead of refusing immediately, he let Yi Luo speak: “Oh? You’re offering such generous terms—what exactly do you want in return?”
The Monster King said in a low voice, “I ask that you do not drive us out of this game.”
Standing before them, he continued, “This game connects to reality. Your safe zones are part of your Blue Star. Beyond this level-50 region lies our safe zone—part of our planet.”
“Human,” he said, looking at He Wuning, “future administrator of the game—you have that power. You can allow us to remain here.”
“We are willing to pay any price.”
He Wuning frowned slightly, looking troubled. “Honestly… for someone that big, aren’t you going to fight me?”
He shifted into a fighting stance and sighed lightly. “If you’re a king, then stop thinking about relying on others. Try changing the future with your own hands.”
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