There weren't many people in the square. After Chen Xiaolian shouted, a few seconds later, indeed, an elderly man in traditional Chinese exercise attire, practicing Tai Chi, smiled and walked over.
The old man sat directly on the bench next to Chen Xiaolian, glanced up at him, and said, "Are you looking for me?"
Chen Xiaolian squinted at the GM.
He sighed, "I want to know how to revive Qiao Qiao."
The old man furrowed his brow and shook his head. "You're asking the wrong question."
"How is it wrong?"
"You should first ask me if there is a way to revive Qiao Qiao," the old man said coldly. "Instead of coming up and asking me how to revive her. Are you sure there's definitely a way to revive her?"
Chen Xiaolian fell silent for a moment. "Well, is there a way to revive her?"
"No."
The old man replied decisively and succinctly.
Chen Xiaolian's eyebrows raised slightly. He stared at the old man, his tone carrying suppressed dissatisfaction. "Since we've worked together, I believe I've done quite a bit for you. I've completed several Instances I participated in without letting the players ultimately succeed. You asked me to participate in Punishment Instances, and I did. I obtained a base, allowing one of your avatars to enter it and secure a refuge, ensuring your survival, effectively buying you an insurance policy.
If it's cooperation, then I've made contributions, and I also hope for returns.
I've made efforts to meet your demands.
So now, I think I have the right and reason to make some demands of my own.
My request is to revive Qiao Qiao!"
The old man sighed.
He patted the empty seat beside the bench, gesturing for Chen Xiaolian to sit down.
Chen Xiaolian hesitated for a moment before sitting down beside the old man.
"I am merely an administrator running this program, akin to a GM, not part of the development team, not an all-powerful deity. But evidently, you haven't grasped this point and seem to have mistaken me for a god," the old man's tone remained calm. "Chen Xiaolian, you should understand one thing: if someone who exploited the system could be resurrected after death, then why would I have been helping you and cooperating with you all this time? If there were a way to resurrect you after death, wouldn't the game become too easy?
Is that even possible?"
Chen Xiaolian remained silent.
"This world was created by the development team. Everything, every life, every existence, is just a part of the program," the old man continued in an emotionless voice. "When something is erased, it is deleted. Deleted things, to restore... do you think I can do that?
Please understand, I am only responsible for maintaining the program's operation. Although I am a part of the program, I do not possess all its permissions."
Upon hearing this, Chen Xiaolian did not feel disappointed. Instead, he asked, "So, you mean resurrection isn't impossible, it's just... a matter of permissions? Then who has the authority?"
"The development team," the old man replied bluntly. "The development team is the master."
"..."
Chen Xiaolian felt disheartened.
"The development team?"
"That's a correct but useless answer."
With this thought in mind, Chen Xiaolian suddenly had an idea—he decided to take a risk!
"I have a question for you," Chen Xiaolian stared at the old man. "Have you ever heard of 'Mr. San'?"
Originally, Chen Xiaolian hadn't planned to discuss anything about Mr. San with the GM.
Because he had already obtained many pieces of information that even the GM didn't know.
For example, the GM thought Chen Xiaolian was the first-generation exploiter.
However, Chen Xiaolian had already speculated that Mr. San and his associates were exploiters who came before him.
Furthermore, regarding the cooperation between the current GM and himself, it was likely that many years ago, there had already been a collaboration between a GM and Mr. San's group, but they failed.
Then, the GM was refreshed, and memories were reset.
One could say that Chen Xiaolian originally thought having this intelligence was an advantage.
But now, in order to revive Qiao Qiao and to obtain even a shred of information from the GM, he had to take a risk.
This was the old man's answer.
"I am well aware of his existence; he's someone the system has been relentlessly pursuing," the GM said lightly. "He's an Awakened, perhaps he has mastered some kind of system bug and has been attempting to escape the system's control."
"Then, have you ever seen him?" Chen Xiaolian pressed.
"No," the old man shook his head. "The system's electronic guardians have been chasing him all along, and if even they can't find him, how could I? I am just a low-level management program with limited permissions."
"So, you're saying you have no way of finding Mr. San?"
Chen Xiaolian stared at the old man.
Without hesitation, the old man shook his head, "No."
Chen Xiaolian frowned, then slowly continued, "Then let's talk about the base."
He looked at the old man. "Initially, you had me participate in Punishment Instances to locate this base. What's the situation with the 'Conqueror' team? How did you come to know about the existence of the base?"
His gaze became sharp, "You've withheld a lot of information from me. I believe I have the right to ask some questions."
However, the old man stood up slowly, "He's overthinking, and he's already somewhat confused. I understand your desire to revive your companion, but I can only tell you, I don't have the means—I know for a fact that such means simply don't exist. Perhaps the development team has a way, but I believe that's impossible."
He glanced at Chen Xiaolian, "As for the rest, I am not obligated to answer you. Don't forget, our transaction hasn't been entirely one-sided; I've also provided you with many benefits, such as the 'base' you currently have. So, Chen Xiaolian, I don't owe you anything."
"I want information and data on the 'Conqueror' team. Who are they exactly? Are they players? I believe they are players! So, who is responsible for eliminating the 'Conqueror' team? Is it the system? Why would the system eliminate a group of players? And how did these 'Conqueror' teams obtain the 'base'? And why were they eliminated by the system? Was it because of the 'base'?"
The old man had already turned and walked into the crowd.
Chen Xiaolian didn't hesitate to follow, continuing to question, "Does the system kill players on its own? What taboos did these players violate? Does killing players align with the system's rules? And... how did those players from the past obtain the base? Since there is a bug like the base, then surely there are other bugs in the system!
This indicates that not everything is under the control of the development team! Since not everything is under the control of the development team, why can't exploiters be resurrected?!"
The old man remained silent, just walking ahead.
Chen Xiaolian grabbed his shoulder, "You can't just say nothing! You have to answer me something!"
The old man, caught by Chen Xiaolian, turned to look at him, "Do you want to know?"
"YES!"
"I can't tell you much because I don't know much myself."
"Then tell me whatever you can!"
The old man stopped.
He stared into Chen Xiaolian's eyes. "Alright, what I'm about to say, some of it you can understand directly, and some you'll need to figure out on your own. Because of the rules of the system, I can't say too much. If I say too much, I'll be restricted by the system rules, and then what you hear might become unheard... It involves some things from higher realms."
"Go ahead."
The old man took a deep breath. "First, this program isn't always static; it has undergone one or more updates, or 'upgrades.'
In the earliest version of the program, there were no 'Awakeneds.' The development team created this world to provide a game world for the 'players.' Essentially, the earliest version of this game program was designed solely for player use."
Chen Xiaolian nodded. "I understand. I already knew this from participating in the Punishment Instances. The Instance games undergo upgrades and updates. The earliest and most primitive version was only suitable for player mode. Then, with the emergence of Awakeneds, the Awakened mode was upgraded, along with a compatibility mode for both."
"Very good, you understand the first point. Now, for the next few questions, I'll only provide the information, and you'll need to find the answers yourself."
"...," Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath, carefully observing the old man. "Go on."
"One question: since the earliest mode was player mode, and there were no 'Awakeneds,' why did Awakeneds appear later?
Was the emergence of Awakeneds a self-mutation of the game world? Or were they created by the development team for some purpose?
After the appearance of Awakeneds, the game program was upgraded to include the Awakened mode, allowing Awakeneds to join the battle alongside players...
Have you ever considered the two scenarios for upgrading and updating these versions?
The first scenario is that the emergence of Awakeneds was deliberately orchestrated by the development team, so the new versions were actively upgraded and updated by the development team.
The second scenario is that the emergence of Awakeneds was a self-mutation of the program and not the will of the development team, so the development team had no choice but to create game Instances with Awakened mode to maintain the continuity of the program.
Which do you think is the truth?"
Chen Xiaolian was stunned!
"Which one?" he instinctively asked.
"I don't know," the old man shook his head bluntly. "My memory storage cannot trace back to the origin of this question, and I don't have the authority to access this information."
Chen Xiaolian's eyes suddenly lit up, "When was the first Awakened born?"
"I don't know."
"Then who was the first Awakened?"
"I don't know either."
Chen Xiaolian fell silent.
After a pause, he suddenly looked up at the GM, "Alright, then I'll ask another question... Instead of asking who the 'earliest' Awakened was. Just from the information you can access now, who is the most senior Awakened currently alive?"
The most senior Awakened currently alive.
This question...
The old man looked at Chen Xiaolian, "Are you intending to investigate this yourself?"
"Since we can't know who the earliest Awakened in history was, let's start with the earliest one currently alive."
"That's a rather foolish approach."
"I understand. Suppose the earliest Awakened is 1, and the most senior Awakened currently alive is 10,000. If I find him, perhaps I won't be able to find out who 1 is, but at least I can ask who 9,999 is. Then, I can trace back one by one. Even if I can't find the origin, I believe I can still uncover some valuable clues."
"So, I say, this is a rather foolish approach," the old man shook his head.
"Awakeneds can be refreshed into ordinary people after death... this also falls under the Awakened mode," Chen Xiaolian spoke quickly. "And this mode was added to the program by the development team after the appearance of Awakeneds. So, I must find out what exactly happened when the Awakened mode was introduced!
If Awakeneds can be resurrected, why can't exploiters?"
"Let me give you some advice," the old man thought for a moment. "If you want to trace history, then going to find the most senior Awakened currently alive may not be very meaningful. You'd better... go to Zero City."
"Zero City?"
"The core control system of Zero City must have preserved a lot of data about the founders of Zero City. Perhaps if you go there, you can find the real history... However, I cannot enter that place."
Chen Xiaolian's eyes lit up, "Is this your purpose? Using this opportunity to instigate me to investigate these matters in Zero City?"
However, the old man suddenly turned around and walked into the crowd.
This time, Chen Xiaolian didn't catch up because he noticed that the old man's demeanor had changed— the GM had already left.
Standing on the street, Chen Xiaolian pondered quietly for a moment when suddenly his phone rang.
He glanced at the unfamiliar number on his phone.
"Hello?"
"Chen Xiaolian?" a familiar voice.
Chen Xiaolian hesitated for a moment, "Mr. Bluesea?"
"It's me. I think we need to talk. I have something to discuss with you."
Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath, "It's quite a coincidence. I also have something to discuss with you. Arrange for someone to pick me up; let's meet in Zero City."