Chapter 3: Events and Countermeasures
In Lu Li's hideout, he placed his hand on the enormous spine of a dragon, continuously channeling shadow magic into it. Through this process, he thoroughly examined the entire spine and gained a comprehensive understanding of it.
This dragon spine had excellent magical conductivity with minimal energy loss during transmission. It was incredibly sturdy, and when infused with magic, it could even activate some abilities related to controlling water vapor. The only drawback was its immense size and difficulty in being divided without performance degradation. Hence, Lu Li was contemplating how to reduce its size.
After some thought, Lu Li took out a special module, a spatial one, cleared out the debris inside, and began the process of integration using his imbuing and solidifying modules. During the integration, a part of his internal shadow magic formed a structure, manifesting as wings of arrogance. Using the power of arrogance, he influenced the integration results.
As the spatial module merged, the dragon spine folded in on itself, becoming a bamboo-like stick about eighty centimeters long and as thick as a thumb—just the right size. However, the modules used for imbuing and solidifying lost their luster, developed cracks, and ultimately turned into piles of fine dust that dispersed into the air.
Regretting the loss, Lu Li reached for the spine on the ground but found it difficult to lift. Only after releasing his body's restrictions and using both hands was he able to pick it up. Despite the spatial compression reducing its size, the weight remained unchanged.
Lu Li infused it with shadow magic, activating the spatial module within, which shifted the weight into the folded spaces, allowing him to lift it with one hand. He then took out his oil-paper umbrella and replaced its handle with the compressed dragon spine. He also rewove the umbrella's surface with magic, connecting it to the dragon spine, thus creating a new oil-paper umbrella.
"It looks a bit out of place. I'll need to replace the umbrella surface when I get the chance," Lu Li thought as he opened the forum to post about purchasing suitable materials. However, he noticed a sudden influx of unfamiliar posts, or rather, now that his access level had increased, he could see these higher-tier posts.
One post, in particular, caught his attention, prominently displayed. The author's ID was "Wanderer," marked with a black claw symbol. The post was titled: "Should We Intervene in the Recent Supernatural Events in Leping City?"
"According to reports, Leping City, which has been dormant for a year, has experienced a suspected supernatural event. The following is the intelligence gathered through various channels," Wanderer wrote.
Attached were numerous images, the first few depicting damaged school buildings from various angles, accompanied by descriptions. On June *, a black wind, possibly a divine power, erupted at Leping No. 2 High School.
Following this were reports of various damages caused by mask-wearing individuals, all documented with images and reports. The post concluded with the question: "Should we intervene?"
The comments varied:
"Why go there? To die?"
"Logically, we should send someone to investigate. After all, someone almost descended there a year ago."
"If anyone wants to go, they can. I'm not sending anyone. If that person catches wind of us, I'd rather commit suicide immediately."
"Could there be another player there? It's been a year, after all."
"Highly unlikely. Given that the city was a site of a near-demonic descent, all players around Leping City died back then, and the residents were affected. Even if a new player emerged, they wouldn't survive."
"Maybe we should post in the lower forums to trick some newbies into investigating for us?"
"Go ahead if you want to die. Don't say I didn't warn you if you get caught."
"Is it really that scary?"
"Unless you're an exception, you'd best stay away. Getting caught means a fate worse than death. Even those who broke the rules didn't comment on this matter."
"Rumor has it that the Countermeasure Bureau is sending a suicide squad into Leping City. Not sure if it's accurate."
"Those lunatics from the Countermeasure Bureau?"
Most of the subsequent discussion didn't reveal much more. Seeing this, Lu Li fell into deep thought, gradually organizing his thoughts.
First, his access level had increased, allowing him to see higher-tier forum information. This included a term mentioned in the post: lower forums. The forum he previously accessed was likely a lower-tier one.
Next, the special status of Leping City. A year ago, the city experienced a near-successful demonic descent, killing all players around it and affecting the residents. For a year, no new players emerged, and external players still feared any association with Leping City.
A memory stirred in Lu Li's mind: the figure emerging from the endless light and shadows he saw underwater a year ago. He forced himself to dismiss those memories and focused on the final matter.
The Countermeasure Bureau was planning to enter Leping City. From the post's discussion, the players had a unanimous opinion of the Bureau: mad dogs.
Lu Li exited the post and specifically searched for information about the Countermeasure Bureau. He gained a clearer understanding: the Bureau, formally known as the Bureau of Supernatural Event Disaster Countermeasures, was established by the Yue Kingdom's royal family to handle supernatural events.
While the Bureau wasn't entirely hostile to players, it monitored most of them, maintaining the "reality" of the real world. For any offending players, the Bureau pursued them relentlessly, regardless of the cost. It was rumored that during the Leping demonic descent incident a year ago, the Bureau's director sacrificed himself using a royal secret treasure to prevent the event. Of course, such rumors were mostly speculative.
Lu Li also noted the emergence of various professional posts and recruitment ads for guilds. Yes, a new feature had been introduced: player guilds.
Players could now form guilds. The black claw next to Wanderer's name was a guild emblem. Guild members could trade without transaction fees, automatically align in the same faction during instances, share information, and access guild benefits.
Lu Li narrowed his eyes, gathering information while planning his next moves.