Chapter 22

The purple-black lightning struck, and the body of the Dragon King was burned to ashes, while the Destroyer was kicked out of the game.

In a VIP section of a public virtual world access terminal (similar to an internet cafe) on the first floor of a certain area on Earth, a nutrition pod suddenly burst into sparks. Under the transparent pod cover, one could see the player inside trembling violently, in extreme pain.

There were not many staff members in the terminal, only five, most of whom were in the front hall welcoming new players. The emergency alarm suddenly lit up, shocking everyone. The owner of the terminal, without regard for the players' privacy agreements, quickly checked the surveillance footage of the corresponding nutrition pod.

He was startled to see that the player inside the pod was completely still, with a steady stream of dark red blood seeping from his nose and mouth, staining the nutrient solution light red. The life monitoring system showed that both breathing and heartbeat had stopped, and brain waves had become flat, indicating a state of death.

In other words, the player was dead, dead in the sensory equipment provided by him.

Bad luck! Tragedy! Sky-high fines! No hope of entering the Garden District! No prospects for the rest of his life! These thoughts flashed through the owner's mind, making him break out in a cold sweat, his legs trembling, and his whole body feeling drained.

Someone had died, and the terminal's smart system automatically triggered an alarm. The police arrival time was displayed in red on the alarm system, flashing incessantly, impossible to ignore.

The owner stared blankly, knowing that this was likely the countdown to the end of his life.

Five minutes later, a blue and white police hovercar arrived. A combat robot got out first, scanning the entire terminal with its electronic eyes to confirm there was no danger before the real police officer got out of the hovercar.

"What happened?" he asked the owner out of habit, then without waiting for a response, he skillfully pulled up the surveillance footage himself. After watching it, he patted the owner on the shoulder with a sympathetic look and said, "Clearly a device malfunction. You'll have to hope for the best. I hope the cause of death is a device defect, not due to your negligence."

The owner was already numb, and upon hearing this, he forced a smile that was more painful than crying. A malfunction, a one-in-a-billion chance, and he had encountered it. What a complete tragedy.

The police officer said no more, directing the robot to remove the nutrition pod. The entire pod had to be taken away for testing to determine responsibility. The robot worked quickly, disconnecting the pod's interfaces in a few swift movements and carrying the coffin-sized pod out on its shoulder.

The police officer got back into the hovercar, which sped away.

The poor owner endured for hours in agony, finally receiving the news: "Not a device malfunction, but a punishment for a Destroyer. The terminal has no responsibility." This news immediately pulled the owner back from hell to earth. Following this was a transfer notification, with the game company compensating for the equipment update and mental distress.

Soon, the news of a Destroyer dying in a public game terminal was released by the police as a warning to future players. This news quickly spread through the virtual network, reaching countless clients and sparking a heated discussion. However, within three hours, the discussion died down, and the incident was soon forgotten by most people. In modern society, new hot news appears every moment, and people have no time to focus on a single event for long.

However, there were always those who remembered.

In a multi-story sky villa in the Garden District, a middle-aged man was looking at the news with a blank expression. After a long while, he stood up and spoke to the air in front of him, "Connect to the virtual network, address ****."

A holographic screen appeared in front of him, expanding to cover the entire room. The carefully arranged light arrays concealed all the furnishings, transforming the space into a pure white room.

A rustic wooden door appeared in front of him, adorned with intricate patterns. The middle-aged man closed his eyes, extended his fingers, and placed them on the door, beginning to decode.

After half a minute, the virtual wooden door disappeared, revealing a black corridor behind it. The middle-aged man looked down the corridor, and the holographic screen immediately simulated a realistic sense of movement.

This was a maze, known as the Pandora's Palace, one of the most commonly used secret methods by Destroyers. The maze's structure was simple, but its function was very powerful. Without the correct path, even the central AI would be trapped in a calculation loop, with no way out except to exit.

The middle-aged man, of course, knew the way. He moved forward, and after half an hour, he reached another door. Opening it, he found an endless white hall behind it.

The endless white was an illusion, representing a void. This secret room used no data support and occupied no space in the virtual network, leaving no trace and thus could not be tracked by the AI.

In simpler terms, this place was a gap in the virtual network. In a more fantastical sense, it was equivalent to a spatial rift, something that should not exist.

There were already people in the hall, just like the middle-aged man, they were faint, gray, transparent shadows, like ghosts. There were two ghosts, standing casually, who nodded to the middle-aged man as he entered.

With everyone present, one of the ghosts spoke, "Number Four is dead. He died in the early Dragon Era, killed by a lightning strike. There's a final video of his death online. You should all watch it to understand who our opponent is."

The members of the Poison Scorpion Mercenary Group all used code names, with numbers one to ten being core members. Number Four was close to the decision-making level.

"Number One, when will we take revenge?" the middle-aged man asked. Blood for blood, tooth for tooth, was their principle in the Poison Scorpion Mercenary Group. Only by doing so could they intimidate the Maintainers.

"First, we need to observe the opponent. I've carefully reviewed the video. The opponent's Maintainer level is not high, just Black Iron, but he has strong potential. I suspect this Maintainer was once one of us, so we can't underestimate him."

"A Destroyer becoming a Maintainer?" the other ghost sneered. "Turning from freedom to imprisonment, there's only one explanation: this Destroyer revealed his real name."

The middle-aged man mocked, "Revealed his real name? Ha, even if he was once an eagle, now he's a hound on the ground, chained and no longer a threat."

The greatest source of a Destroyer's power is their boundless imagination and freedom. Without this, even the strongest Destroyer can only rot on the ground, never to soar in the sky again.

"Perhaps. I've thoroughly checked his background and found no loopholes. He is very strong, and we must be cautious," the ghost known as Number One said neutrally, without any bias.

The middle-aged man said, "If so, I'll wait for your news. Notify me when you're ready."

"I will do the same, Number One," the ghost said.

"Good. I'll send some peripheral members to probe and gather information on the opponent. Also, the situation is tense now, so we need to be more cautious. For the next six months, it's best not to take any commissions," Number One instructed.

"Number One, you're being too cautious. We've been doing this for ten years, and who has discovered us? Those Maintainers are just a bunch of idiots," the middle-aged man said, somewhat dismissively. He thought Number One was overreacting and losing his edge. More importantly, he lived in the Garden District, with high daily expenses and no savings. Without taking missions, how could he maintain his luxurious lifestyle?

Number One, the ghost, was somewhat displeased with his attitude: "We are still in the shadows, so we don't have the right to say such things." He didn't say it, but the Destroyers who had the right to look down on Maintainers wouldn't accept commissions and mostly lived freely in the real world.

Number Two, the ghost, nodded and said, "I agree with Number One. Number Three, your personality is very similar to Number Four's, both too aggressive. Now that Number Four is dead, you should reflect on it."

The middle-aged man was somewhat unhappy, waving his hand, "Number Two, you don't need to lecture me. I know my limits. That's all, I'm leaving."

With that, he ignored the hesitant Number One and Number Two, opened the virtual wooden door behind him, and exited the virtual network through another path in the maze.

Subsequently, the holographic screen in the room disappeared, and the luxurious furnishings of the villa were restored. The middle-aged man remained seated, a cold smile on his face, "A bunch of old cowards, timid as mice."

He followed the address given by Number One, using the same secret method to log in and watch Number Four's battle footage, then checked the opponent's background.

After carefully watching it, the middle-aged man shook his head and laughed, "Just a talented young man, and Number One is so afraid."

Since they were hesitant and unwilling to take revenge, he would do it himself! After so many years as a Destroyer, he had never failed, which boosted his confidence and gave him a sense of superiority. ————————————————————————————————————————

As usual, I request recommendations, collections, and clicks. Also, thank you to the reader 'ZIXIPIGGY' for your support.

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