Chapter 15

As the return drew near, Chu Ci's mind was clear and calm, as if he had returned to the days in the orphanage, biting his teeth and hiding in the dark, narrow wardrobe, not crying, not making a fuss, not hating, and when he came out, he was still that obedient and cheerful child.

Revenge Squad 1, 2, and 3 had long been dispatched by Chu Ci to the exit bridge, and all orders for the Avengers League were locked in. They recklessly poured gunpowder along the way, doing their best to eliminate all zombies they encountered, regardless of whether they could catch up or not.

As for the silent 800 feet underground, Chu Ci took out a bulky mobile hard drive, connected it to the large computer in the server room, and then returned to the central computer room to begin transferring the Red Queen's core logic library.

Although Chu Ci's electronic skills were strong, the Red Queen's source code was a massive entity that he couldn't understand in a short time. Instead of trying to restore the Red Queen's computational logic later, it was better to directly cut and transfer it, taking it back to digest and absorb slowly.

"Red Queen, hand over the maintenance mechanism of the Hive to the central computer for automatic handling, and shut down the AI system automatically." Chu Ci ordered the Red Queen to shut down automatically, then began to manually transfer her. Chu Ci's timing was very precise. Although the missile strike was a few minutes earlier, with his experience in transferring, he easily timed it to the last minute.

Four minutes later, Revenge Squad 1, 2, and 3 arrived at the exit bridge, joining the precarious defense line.

One minute later, Alice and the others successfully used rocket launchers to blow a hole in the defensive wall.

Two minutes later, all survivors hijacked several vehicles and rushed towards safety.

One minute later, the missile strike occurred, and Chu Ci lost control of the ground surveillance, seeing only a distorted, white-out image.

After a few dozen seconds, Chu Ci felt a vibration, but the Hive was 800 feet underground, and a tactical missile couldn't bury it.

Fine sand trickled from the ceiling, the Red Queen quietly residing in the hard drive, the room filled only with Chu Ci's steady breathing and the hum of the central computer, serene and peaceful.

The progress bar reached 100% in an instant, and Chu Ci rushed into the server room, pulling the mobile hard drive from the mainframe.

"Acquired初级人工智能‘Red Queen’."

"Rescued 59 Raccoon City citizens, rescued plot characters Carlos, Nikolai, Jill, Terry, and Matt, earned 8000 reward points, completed B-level side mission."

"Main mission completed, returning to the God Space."

In the next second, Chu Ci's vision blurred, and he found himself in a vast... vast nothing. Chu Ci raised an eyebrow, his lips twitching. This was not the huge white platform the high schooler had described!

A small room of less than 20 square meters, peeling wooden walls, a low ceiling, and dirt in the corners—it looked like a cheap basement in the outskirts of Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou, renting for 500 yuan a month.

The others returned with Chu Ci, mostly sitting on the floor, moaning and groaning.

This wasn't too bad, after all, there were only nine people, so it shouldn't be too crowded. However, there was a 5-square-meter floating white light ball in the center of the room, which somewhat resembled what the high schooler had described.

20 - 5, leaving only 15 square meters for the nine people, causing a few newbies to bump their heads on the walls.

Wait, Chu Ci narrowed his eyes, "Who are you?"

There was an unexpected tenth person in the room!

"1, 2, 3... 9, not bad, all of you survived. Looks like we need to choose a more challenging and obscure world next time." The unexpected man flicked his cigarette ash, put it back in his mouth, and mumbled, "Su Jiayou, your senior and guide."

Chu Ci immediately recognized the man with only his upper body visible: "It's you. Is this the God Space?"

"Exactly. Any questions, ask later." Su Jiayou nodded, took a few deep puffs, and spat the cigarette on the ground. "God, evaluate the newbies. I need to go home for dinner after the introduction."

"Home? Can we go back? I want to go home! My wife and son are waiting for me." The middle-aged worker, hearing the hope of returning, became emotional and lunged at Su Jiayou.

"Go back and behave yourself, don't force me to get serious!" Su Jiayou kicked the middle-aged worker to the ground, his face turning cold. "Don't waste my time, or you'll regret it."

Mang Xue, who had intended to chat with Chu Ci to improve her rapport, stopped in her tracks.

The large white ball in the center of the room, the God, immediately emitted a soft glow, a beam of light scanning all the newbies, finally stopping on Chu Ci for the first evaluation.

"Chu Ci, newbie, score: 100, evaluation: SS, earned 9999 reward points."

This score didn't seem to be out of 750, and getting 100 points clearly indicated a good performance. Chu Ci whistled, feeling quite pleased.

"Wow, I underestimated you, a newbie king." Su Jiayou looked at Chu Ci with surprise, clearly not expecting this from a messy tech geek.

"Gaoyuan, newbie, score: 30, evaluation: E, earned 500 reward points."

"Gu Qingqing, newbie, score: 20, evaluation: F, earned 200 reward points."

"Shang Manxue, newbie, score: 20, evaluation: F, earned 200 reward points."

...

"Liu Dian, newbie, score: 20, evaluation: F, earned 200 reward points."

Except for the high schooler, the other newbies were all the same. Su Jiayou nodded and shook his head, a rare situation.

"Why are our points so few?" Handsome Hao Jun's face turned red, asking the God, "200 points versus nearly 10,000 points, the difference is too great."

"These scores are based on your performance in the cycle world. If you're unhappy with the points, try harder next time." The God's tone remained unchanged, not even bothering to explain to the F-rated Hao Jun.

"Chu Ci, you have successfully earned the title of Newbie King and can join the List of All-Heavenly Strong. Do you want to join?"

"What is the List of All-Heavenly Strong?" Chu Ci didn't choose rashly but asked the God for an explanation.

"The List of All-Heavenly Strong is a list of the most powerful, excellent, and potential cycle warriors from all God Spaces. It includes over 500 Newbie Kings, over 800 Supreme Kings, over 200 Invincible Commanders, and the rest are either leaders of large guilds or solo travelers across countless worlds."

The God's explanation made Chu Ci draw a sharp breath. With countless God Spaces and a multitude of cycle warriors, it seemed he knew only the tip of the iceberg.

Chu Ci slapped his cheeks and took a deep breath, continuing to ask, "So, I can choose to join as a Newbie King? What are the rights, benefits, and obligations of joining the List of All-Heavenly Strong?"

"If you don't choose to join as a Newbie King within three cycles, you will automatically give up the option and must earn another qualification. Joining the List of All-Heavenly Strong has no rights, no benefits, and no obligations, but you will automatically gain a qualification."

"What qualification?"

"Sorry, I can't reveal it yet." The God, who usually answered all questions, refused to answer Chu Ci's question this time.

"Let's put the List of All-Heavenly Strong aside for now." Su Jiayou took out a new cigarette, flicked his finger, and a flame appeared, lighting the cigarette. "Now it's time for 'Su Teacher Talks God,' a five-minute program with audience interaction. Please don't interrupt the host."

"About the God Space, you can read a few novels to understand. Don't bother me. I'll just highlight a few key points. First, the God's exchange is not unlimited. Each person can only exchange items from the cycle worlds they have experienced. Even if you are a Newbie King, during this rest period, you can only exchange one vial of T-virus. As for martial arts and magic, you must personally experience the relevant cycle world to unlock them."

"Are you serious? We can only exchange items from the worlds we've experienced? Isn't this a death sentence?" Gaoyuan was the first to cry out, thinking the God's exchange was unlimited, only to find another pay-to-unlock scam.

"Ha, you scum, even if everything was unlocked, do you have the points to exchange?" Su Jiayou sneered, spitting on Gaoyuan, who turned red with anger but was intimidated by Su Jiayou's stern gaze.

"Second, the reward points you earn cannot be traded or used as a substitute for exchanges. Everyone must rely on their own efforts, which is one reason the God evaluates you. Besides the tough guys, the high-IQ strategists rely on their scores to survive." Su Jiayou's words also discouraged a few female newbies from trying to attach themselves to Chu Ci.

"Third, and most importantly, the God does not provide any enhancements!"

"This is impossible!"

"Why?"

"How can this be?"

Su Jiayou's words caused a stir among the newbies, especially those who had read similar novels, shouting in disbelief. Only the middle-aged worker muttered about wanting to go home.

Seeing the newbies' reactions, Su Jiayou's lips curled into a mocking smile. Only when he saw Chu Ci's calm demeanor did he feel a slight approval. No wonder Chu Ci was the Newbie King, he was indeed calm.

"Don't shout. Listen to what he has to say. I believe he's leaving something out." Chu Ci, who had planned to remain silent, couldn't resist the passing time and wanted to hear more from Su Jiayou.

Shang Manxue, recalling the flame from Su Jiayou's finger, immediately reacted, "You're lying to us!"

"Lying? You're not qualified." Su Jiayou, with a smug look, leaned against the wall, "You started shouting before I finished. Can you blame me?"

"Stop wasting time, continue." Chu Ci remained unmoved, standing quietly amidst the newbies' complaints and anger.

"Alright, you're reasonable. I'll give you a brief overview of the God's exchange options." Su Jiayou found himself increasingly appreciating Chu Ci.

"The God's exchange is divided into four categories: Basic Enhancements, Special Enhancements, Equipment, and Entertainment. Basic Enhancements are simple, including healing injuries and physical enhancements. Physical enhancements are divided into constitution, strength, agility, intelligence, spirit, and magic resistance. Constitution and intelligence are the foundation; if they are not up to par, the other four enhancements will be limited. Special Enhancements, as the name suggests, enhance various attributes and exchange various skills, but..." Su Jiayou scanned all the newbies, pausing for a few seconds, "These must be unlocked. To enhance Superman's bloodline, you must experience the Superman world. To learn the 18 Dragon Subduing Palms, you must enter the world of *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils* or *The Legend of the Condor Heroes*. Without unlocking, you cannot exchange, and even after unlocking, you may not be able to use them."

"What do you mean, unlocking doesn't guarantee successful enhancement? It's not like the DNF's cursed enhancement system where you can fail." Gaoyuan made a joke.

"You finally said something useful." To everyone's surprise, Su Jiayou nodded, "Enhancements are risky, and exchanges must be made with caution!"