Chen Xiaolian became furious. “Do you take me for a three-year-old? Friendship? Ha ha ha ha… just how highly do you think of your Rodriar Guild? With a mere friendship, you expect me to hand over this Star Sand mine?”
The silhouette fell into silent contemplation. It seemed to have understood that its price was quite outrageous.
“10,000 points,” said the silhouette coldly. “Brat, for a minor character like you, acquiring 10,000 points is enough to be considered a huge jackpot.”
The corners of Chen Xiaolian’s lips curved as he smiled. “10,000 points do look a lot. But… let’s not talk about how much this mine is worth first. Let’s talk about you. This spirit avatar of yours has fallen into my grasp; if it is destroyed, how much loss would you suffer? Could it be simply worth 10,000 points?”
The silhouette owner was absolutely infuriated.
However, he had to admit that Chen Xiaolian’s words were very reasonable.
The loss in strength that the silhouette owner would suffer was certainly not limited to a mere 10,000 points!
As for this mine…
If this mine were to fall into the hands of the huge Rodriar Guild, it could be fully utilized! The Star Sand produced from this mine could be used to enhance many of the guild’s arsenals!
Now that the yield of the minerals had gradually decreased, the ownership for every available mine was something that could spark a war between the large guilds!
10,000 points… that was indeed an act of deceiving little children.
“Out with it then, how much do you want?” After a moment of silence, the silhouette spoke in a much more serious tone. Clearly, Chen Xiaolian was not someone he could easily dupe. “Quote a price but remember this well, don’t be outrageous.”
“I’ll think about the price. But before that, you need to answer a few of my questions.” Chen Xiaolian waved the spirit-force handgun that he was holding.
“Humph.”
“The first question… tell me, what is going on with this mine? How could it appear in the real world?”
The silhouette did not appear surprised to hear that question. After hearing it, the silhouette sneered before saying, “Humph, as expected of a minor character. You don’t even understand the key issue in this matter.”
“I don’t understand; that’s why I really want to know about it right now,” Chen Xiaolian said coolly. “If you don’t answer me, I will pull the trigger. Think properly before you utter your next set of words.”
“… … …” The silhouette cast a furious expression at Chen Xiaolian.
“I have another nine bullets in my magazine. While I don’t know if it’s enough to kill this spirit avatar of yours, I can always put in a new magazine if it proves insufficient,” Chen Xiaolian said coolly. One pack gives 100 bullets at the cost of 10 points. This is something that even a minor character like me can afford.”
The silhouette took deep breaths. It was supposed to be a spirit entity that did not require breathing. However, it had clearly been agitated to the point of showing this natural response.
“… very well,” the silhouette replied coldly. “Telling you about it is not a problem. There are quite a few people in Zero City who knows about this as well. At the very least, the people in several large guilds know about it as well.”
“Please continue, I’ll just listen.”
Chen Xiaolian smiled.
Soon however, he was unable to continue smiling.
The silhouette opened up with. “In your opinion, what is Zero City?”
Chen Xiaolian’s expression became serious as he pondered the question. “A refuge that can avoid the scanning powers of the system. It can allow the Awakened ones who are hiding inside it to be free from the control of the system and avoid being selected for instance dungeons.”
“Not bad.” The silhouette nodded its head. “However, this knowledge is quite common among Awakened ones who had been to Zero City before.”
“There are more to it that people don’t know?” Chen Xiaolian’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.
The silhouette chuckled a few times and said, “Zero City… can also be considered as… a program.”
Program?!
Chen Xiaolian was stunned!
…
“Zero City has a very mysterious origin. It is part of the main program of the system. Rather, it is part of the inceptive program of this game world.
“Consider Zero City as a small part of the main program that was cut out by someone, similar to how one would cut out a smaller portion of dough from a larger clump.
“Naturally, this small portion would retain functions that are similar to that of the main program.
“What is the main program of the game?
“It’s the whole world!
“It is the architecture of the entire world. All of its settings, you, me, this world, all of it are contents laid out by the main program.
“Then, what about Zero City? It too possesses such a function!
“You have been to Zero City. What kind of place is Zero City? It is something that resembles an independent space, one that exists outside the boundaries of the real world… now think carefully. Is every instance dungeon… not the same?”
A tremor ran through Chen Xiaolian’s body!
That’s right, each of the instance dungeons… the underground labyrinth in the deserted island, the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang, the Tokyo instance dungeon, the London instance dungeon… they were all miniature worlds that were created by the main system, small spaces!
They were all small spaces that were completely isolated from the real world!
If so, it would appear that… Zero City… was similar!
…
“Theoretically speaking, the functions that the main program possesses… Zero City possesses them as well! However, Zero City is just a small portion of the main program. Although it has the same functions as the main program, its functions are weaker, emasculated. A miniature version.
“That is why although the main program can create many instance dungeons, many small spaces…
“Zero City… can only create one. It could only create Zero City. Any more would be impossible.
“However… the main program also has other functions…
“For example, the main program is the one that dictates what the real world should have. What kind of mountains, what kind of rivers, what kind of seas, what kind of cities… what kind of humans…
“These things are all created through the main program.
“If so… Zero City too, possesses such a function! Only… at a much reduced capacity.
“Or perhaps I could explain it in a different manner.
“If we assume the main program is the main program of a game…
“Then, Zero City who possesses functions that are nearly similar to the main program would be the equivalent of a…”
After the silhouette said that, Chen Xiaolian sucked in a cold breath of air!
He blurted out, “A mod! A highly powerful mod!”
This comparison was most apt!
Naturally, Chen Xiaolian was someone who had played many computer games before!
If this world was a stand-alone game…
What was Zero City?
It was the mod!
The architecture of this world was built by the main program, but Zero City shared a function that was very similar to the main program – although it could not completely change the world, it was still possible to change one part of it.
Let us take a Three Kingdoms game for example. The main program of the game would be the equivalent of this world’s main program. As for Zero City, it would be the equivalent of the game’s modding tool!
It could change the parameters and values of a certain region or city. It could even change the terrain!
However, that change cannot be too big! Although the modding tool possessed a function that was nearly similar to that of the main program, a change that was too big would disrupt the balance of the game.
That would cause the game to crash!
That was the case for stand-alone games.
If so, this real world that was a game would face the same constraint!
If the modding tool modified too much… it would disrupt the balance of this world!
The main program… would take action!
Or rather… the Development Team would take action! To repair it!
…
“The main program has the function of issuing quests. Thus… it is only natural for Zero City to have the same function. It is about the same as the instance dungeons that we have to participate in. However, the features are somewhat lesser.”
Chen Xiaolian finally understood!
Why did Zayad become a system quest even though he was in the real world?
Because the quest was not issued by the main program!
It was… Zero City!
A quest issued by a mod!
…
“There are many large-scale guilds in Zero City. Someone like you cannot even begin to fathom just what kind of power those large-scale guilds have! It is something beyond the minds of third-rate Awakened ones like you!”
Chen Xiaolian nodded his head and said, “I can imagine it… back in Zero City, I had seen many wondrous and odd objects. You people even have mechs posted inside Zero City… although it was just small Sentinel mechs, to be able to equip things like mechs… that is something that outsiders cannot even dream of.”
“But have you ever considered the question, those mechs and the other high-grade equipment, where did they come from?” The silhouette sneered.
Chen Xiaolian finally understood!
Considering how many equipment and weaponry those large-scale guilds possessed, it was only natural that those items weren’t simply acquired as loot from instance dungeons.
Rather…
They manufactured it themselves!
What was needed in the making of weapons?
Simply put, the technological side of production could be acquired through the system.
But what of the materials?
The resources!
There was a very simple logic. One mech alone would require super strong alloys. Where should they go to find the materials for the alloy?
Chen Xiaolian was unable to restrain himself from looking around at his surroundings!
This C11 mine!
These Star Sand!
“Zero City possesses the modding function and can directly transform this real world… but the scale cannot be too large. Occasionally, Zero City would execute some modding to alter a very small and distant place, away from prying eyes. It would create a valuable mine for resources.
“Naturally, these resources must not be allowed to fall into the hands of the people from the real world. It has to be secretly controlled and mined.”
Chen Xiaolian smirked and said, “Just like this Kombia?”
“Yes.” The silhouette did not bother trying to hide anything. “However, the number of modded mines and resources are limited. Since the main program is always on the hunt for Zero City, too big an alteration would lead to being discovered by the system. That would result in a self-repair procedure. Thus, the scale of modification has always been maintained at a very small scale.
“This led to a situation…”
“There’s not enough to go around.” Chen Xiaolian sighed. “There are several big guilds in Zero City and all of them want to develop their own guild. That requires resources… thus, the distribution of the resources that Zero City had modded out will become a problem. The way I see it… everyone is probably fighting for it! It would be similar to the quest that the system gives. Whenever a resource point is modded out, a quest would be created and the various guilds would compete for it. Whoever succeeds would become the owner, is that right?”
“Correct.”