"In the middle of the fringe area of the central hall!" The man pointed breathlessly into the distance. "The bottom row!"
Before the man could finish speaking, Mu Sicheng had already disappeared.
Mu Ke took a deep breath. He threw away the deformed plastic bottle in his hand and ran after Mu Sicheng.
Wang Shun, who was resting on the side, saw that the two of them had run away without any hesitation. He helplessly stood up and took over the mess that these two main players had thrown at him.
"Everyone, your hard work has borne fruit." Wang Shun had a smile on his face. "Now let's go and see the president that we dug up."
The group, still climbing the mountains of TVs, briefly paused. Then they raised their hands and let out huge cheers.
The members were so excited that they started weeping. They scrambled down from the mountains of TVs and, after repeated confirmations with the member who came to report the news, they screamed.
"He was pulled out!"
"He is back!"
The outskirts of the central hall.
Mu Sicheng was the first to reach the outskirts and sharply braked in front of the small TVs. He took two steps back and started to search the TV screens for the person he was familiar with.
In the end, his eyes were fixed on a position in the bottom corner. Mu Sicheng stared at this position for a while before exhaling and smiling.
This smile could only be understood by Wang Shun, who came over later. It was because this was exactly the promotion position where Bai Liu was when he and Mu Sicheng first saw him in the central hall.
"He is truly big enough." Mu Sicheng crossed his arms over his chest and scanned Bai Liu's condition from beginning to end. "It seems that his spirit is pretty good."
Mu Ke, who followed closely, stared at Bai Liu on the small TV for a while.
After knowing that Bai Liu had entered a level-three game, Mu Ke had always been afraid. He just didn't dare to show it on his face. He had to resist and fulfill Bai Liu's instructions to him.
Now he saw Bai Liu, and the emotions he had been suppressing surged out. Mu Ke blinked his red eyes and sniffed in grievance. The tears filling his eyes couldn't fall down.
At this time, Mu Ke would probably cry if Bai Liu were standing in front of him.
Wang Shun led a large group to follow them closely. He was also stunned for a moment when he saw the location of Bai Liu's small TV. Then he smiled comfortably.
"It is good that he is okay."
The other members, or players of No Man's Land who were rescued because of Bai Liu, looked at the person on the screen with curiosity, admiration, and thousands of complicated and clueless feelings.
This man had an unforgettable face. Anyone could easily pick him out of the crowd due to his appearance.
He wore the most ordinary white shirt and suit pants as he stood on a stage while giving a speech. He read something unhurriedly while looking sideways at the audience with a smile from time to time.
He didn't look like a newcomer player trapped in a level-three game at all.
This was Bai Liu.
What was he doing?
The group thought like this and couldn't help getting closer to Bai Liu's small TV. They were so close that they entered the viewing area of Bai Liu's small TV and finally heard what he was saying.
Bai Liu looked down at his speech and spoke in a slow tone.
"…We have all experienced the darkest times. We were trapped in a crevice where no light could be seen and had to survive. We were exploited by others for fun and had the last drop of value squeezed out of us. We were thrown into a dark prison…"
The nickname for No Man's Land was the prison of the game.
People heard Bai Liu say this and couldn't help looking suspicious. They talked to each other very quietly.
"…Does President Bai know what is going on outside?"
"Isn't he in the game? Why does it feel like he is talking to us?"
On the small TV, Bai Liu suddenly raised his eyes. He looked at the screen and smiled.
"Look up at me. You are the ones who fought together with me. I am not the one who led you or saved you. I am one of you. So don't lower your heads to me."
The audience outside the TV was truly horrified. They looked left and right. Finally, most of them had to look up at him in a daze, following Bai Liu's instructions from the small TV.
Mu Sicheng also showed a frightened expression on his face.
Bai Liu's words gave him chills. Mu Sicheng leaned toward Wang Shun while rubbing his arms. He cursed in a low voice. "F*k! What is going on? Why does it feel like Bai Liu knows what is happening outside?"
Wang Shun smiled helplessly. "How do I know? Do you think I am someone who can understand what Bai Liu is thinking?"
"It is the first time I've seen a player who can coordinate his in-game actions with the outside of the game." On the other hand, Charles approached the small TV with great interest as he looked up at Bai Liu inside it. "He is more in line with my taste than I thought."
Charles sincerely praised him. "No matter whether it is his actions or looks, he is really beautiful."
On the small TV, Bai Liu retracted his gaze, looked at the speech on the table, and continued to read it.
"…This is an unfair world. There are always people who try to think of us as ants and want to build a kingdom on our lives for their own enjoyment. They are powerful and have the best resources to overwhelm us, restrain us, and demand that we survive by their rules."
"No matter how we fight, there will be times when they succeed."
Here, Bai Liu raised his head and looked at the tearful vagrants below him.
"We paid a heavy price."
The bottom-level players and No Man's Land players outside the TV also stopped being surprised. They stared at Bai Liu silently as they realized that he was talking to them.
This was exactly their state.
"It isn't shameful to lose. It isn't shameful to lose to anyone who oppresses you. It is shameful to stop resisting and not fight because of the outcome of losing."
"Anybody can lose. The good people can, and the bad people can." Bai Liu looked at the vagrants below him. "I can as well."
The vagrants couldn't help but refute this. "Mr. Bai, you can't lose!"
"Thank you for your wishes." Bai Liu chuckled. "However, now I am in a place I can't get out of, and I must have lost a lot."
"I fell into a place where only corpses can be buried. That place is probably darker than your prison. It is full of wreckage, and no one has ever been able to get out of that place."
Bai Liu calmly stated, "I can't either."
The vagrants fell silent.
The audience outside the TV stared at Bai Liu's face in a trance.
They knew what Bai Liu was talking about. He was referring to being surrounded by a large guild and falling into No Man's Land.
He really knew!
"As individuals, we are powerless to resist in the face of something beyond our power, even if it will take away our property, our lives, or our souls. Even if it isn't in accordance with morality, law, procedure, or even the laws of nature."
Bai Liu declared, "But we can do it as a group."
"I can't escape from that terrible place alone, but I know that there will be a group of people who will try to save me. This group of people will gradually become stronger and form a brand-new group that will change the original order. They will change the world, save themselves, and save others."
"You are amazing," Bai Liu said. "You really did it."
Bai Liu's eyes were calm. "I believe that the right order won't always win. The logic of the bad people is more destructive than that of the good people most of the time."
"Therefore, justice won't always win over evil. I believe that every one of you who has experienced evil understands this truth."
"However, as long as a good person doesn't die, then as a group, justice will last forever."
"You might lose, but as long as one of you is still fighting, you will never be eliminated."
Bai Liu unfolded a long document.
"That is why I made this decision. I have decided to divide the shares of these newly opened six-thorn factories among you. Each of you will assume part of the responsibilities of the factory manager."
"Then what will become of the world—" Bai Liu sorted out the documents, bowed, and stepped down from the podium. "—It is your own choice."
There was a long silence inside and outside the game.
The players who came out of No Man's Land, other players who were attracted, and the guild members silently bowed their heads and opened their system panels.
They were filled with the small TVs of all the players they had just bookmarked in order to find Bai Liu. The channels they liked were even more varied, and the points assigned to them had been spent.
They looked like they had done nothing, but they seemed to have done a lot. At this time, they received a reminder from Bai Liu's speech and realized what an incredible thing they had just done.
Under the strong containment of the King's Guild, they had pulled out a new player!
If they could help each other and unite in this way every time, would the large guilds no longer wantonly block and oppress them?
Was there such a collective?
In this cruel game, was there such a guild that distributed the rights to each member?
Some people started to talk about Bai Liu's guild in low whispers, and more people started to consult Mu Ke on how to enter Bai Liu's guild. They inevitably added Bai Liu's small TV to their collection of small TVs.
Charles looked at the stunned Wang Shun with a smile. "It seems that our dark horse, or white horse, doesn't need me to use points to control emotions. He can handle things well in his own way."
"Yes." Wang Shun couldn't help waving his hands and yelling. He smiled more freely than ever. "Yes!"
More and more people gathered next to Bai Liu's small TV.
There were too many people consulting him, and even Mu Ke's memory started to burn out. Fortunately, Wang Shun intervened in time to help him bear part of it.
The data of Bai Liu's small TV was climbing at a terrifying pace.
It was as if the wings of a helicopter were attached to his small TV once he came out of No Man's Land. He jumped several promotion positions in a row and directly entered the core promotion position of the central hall.
After staying in the central hall for less than ten dimensional seconds, the audience watched in a daze as Bai Liu's small TV flew to the nightmare nova hall. Then, within three-dimensional seconds, it sat firmly in the first position with its soaring data.
Mu Sicheng was amazed. "I know we can't use common sense with this guy, but is this really reasonable?"
"It isn't very reasonable," Wang Shun answered honestly. "I have recorded players for many years and have never seen a small TV that can reach this type of data in a fourth-level game."
"Not even Spades could get so many people to follow him wholeheartedly in the course of the game."
Wang Shun looked at the huge number of people constantly consulting with Mu Ke on how to enter Bai Liu's guild and sighed. "…He was literally born for this game."
The moment the system reported that the game was cleared and the small TV turned off, the settlement began, and Bai Liu's comprehensive data reached an incredible eight-digit number—it was data in the tens of millions.
Even Wang Shun, who started recording it, began to doubt himself. Had he misremembered?
This was already a number that only Spades could achieve. No matter how great Bai Liu was, he was still a newcomer with no foundation. Could he really reach this type of data?
Then Wang Shun's doubts were dispelled with the system notification:
[8,064,673 people liked Bai Liu's small TV, 307,700 people have bookmarked Bai Liu's small TV, 1,256,171 people have charged Bai Liu's small TV, and player Bai Liu has obtained 2,789,651 points.]
[Player Bai Liu has received over 5 million likes in one minute and over 2.5 million points from being charged! You are devoutly loved by the audience!]
[Congratulations to player Bai Liu for winning the final promotion spot.]
Huge virtual fireworks appeared around the small TV, and a large crown logo appeared in the center. The system broadcast in a cheerful tone:
[Unbelievable—the comprehensive data of player Bai Liu's small TV is ranked first in the whole district and has won first place in the central screen's king promotion position. You are today's king!]
[The views of player Bai Liu's small TV are soaring rapidly…]
[Congratulations to player Bai Liu for unlocking all the main tasks and clearing 'Rose Factory'.]
[System: The players have reached the true ending—the Factory Where Roses Fall Forever.]
[If there was a world that banned the growing of roses and the production of perfumes, but also produced thorns and forced people to swallow them—it would be this world.]
[It sounds as if the people living here are very miserable and unfortunate. They lost the right to own roses. However, they feel that their world has never been more beautiful—it is their choice.]
[A heart weighs 250 g and a rose weighs 2 g. Are you willing to exchange one heart for 100 roses or 100 roses for one heart?]
[The Rose Factory awaits your choice.]
—————————————————
[Cleared Rose Factory's true ending: 300,000 points rewarded.]
[Cleared Rose Factory's true ending: 500 attribute points rewarded (can upgrade the attributes panel according to the player's own needs).]
[Rose Factory Monster Book: Dry Leaf Addict page collection reward — Item: Tentacle Cage (can be used to catch moving objects; disposable item).]
[Rose Factory Monster Book: Rose Employee page collection reward — Item: Reverse Right Eye (after the player wears it, mental value is reduced and personality becomes wicked. You can glimpse the real scene hidden in the instance. Limited to once per instance. An extraordinary-level item).]
[Rose Factory Monster Book: God page collection reward — Item: Rose that Doesn't Bloom (unknown quality; there are identity attributes, but the specific attributes are unknown).]
[System: Comprehensive evaluation of player Bai Liu's small TV]
[The comprehensive data is more than 20 million, and the video of player Bai Liu's 'Rose Factory' is being rated. It should be a diamond crown badge-level video. Taking into account the 214:13 likes-to-steps ratio, the video will be downgraded.]
[The final rating is a golden crown badge-level video, and it is eligible to enter the VIP library. Player Bai Liu's game video has entered the VIP library.]
[After entering the VIP library, if there are players who want to watch player Bai Liu's Rose Factory game video, they need to become a VIP member of the system and pay 10,000 points. The points will be divided 5:5 between player Bai Liu and the system.]
[Bai Liu's small TV has the following achievements this time —]
[1st in the king's ranking.]
[The 17th player to get a small TV data level in the tens of millions.]
—————————————————
The game exit.
Due to Charles' previous action of throwing money into the No Man's Land, many players logged out. This exit, which originally had a relatively average flow of people, was now bustling. It looked a bit crowded, even though it was a system space where everyone was separated by dimensions.
From the exit, they could faintly see the king's promotion seat in the central hall.
The king promotion position was in the middle of the central hall and was a huge screen that showed to all sections of the game lobby when newcomers logged in. It was the best publicity channel for newcomers.
Therefore, the moment these players came out of the exit, they could see Bai Liu's small TV in the king promotion position giving a speech. The system's loudspeaker was broadcasting in a cheerful tone:
[Unbelievable — the comprehensive data of player Bai Liu's small TV is ranked first in the whole district and has won first place in the central screen's king promotion position. It is today's king!]
No matter whether they were watching for fun or were attracted by Bai Liu, most of the players who poured out of the exit headed to the central hall as soon as they came out.
Of course, there were those who didn't go to the central hall. They were players in a hurry — for example, the members of senior guilds who were recalled by their own guilds to discuss matters related to Bai Liu.
Charles' intervention and Bai Liu's fame meant that this support season wouldn't be as simple as usual. Even if Bai Liu didn't compete in the league until next year, the support this year was bound to be divided by this guy!
He was too eye-catching every time he appeared, and this time was especially so!
Such a major event like the league was mixed up by this guy, and most of the audience's attention was focused on him!
The players hurried to their own guilds after leaving the game exit and didn't give Bai Liu's screen a second glance. This was the source of their troubles.
The other group of players who couldn't go to the central hall was more pitiful.
They were badly injured in the game and lay on the ground as soon as they exited the game, unable to move at all.
Generally speaking, injuries wouldn't be brought out of the game. However, in a game that completely destroyed the player's sanity and blurred the boundary between reality and the game, the injuries suffered by this person in the game would remain on the person's body and be taken out of the game.
It was because they were so sure that the game was the real world. This meant the wounds left in the 'real world' would naturally carry over into reality.
This group of people lay at the exit, unable to move, and were stepped on by people coming and going. Their bodies weren't trampled on due to the rules of the game hall, but most people didn't give these injured players a second look or help them.
Some players crawled to the side after recovering slightly on their own. However, most of them were in a daze. They lay on their backs with empty eyes, allowing others to trample on them. They were no different from corpses.
Yet among them, a 'corpse' that climbed to the side was particularly eye-catching.
The man seemed to have been fished out of a sea of blood. Blood was dripping all over his body, and it was hard to tell if it belonged to him or to someone else.
His facial features weren't deep. He seemed to be mixed-race, and his features could still be seen through the blood. He was beautiful and gave the feeling of adolescence. His golden, half-curly hair was dyed orange by blood. He was half leaning against the wall of the exit, and hiding under the dirty curls was a pair of fresh, apple-green eyes.
He stared at the big screen in the distance with those apple-green eyes for several minutes without blinking. He didn't care about the blood flowing into his eyes.
The blood flowed into his eyes and stained his apple-green eyes an ominous, dark red.
He tilted his head to stare at the person on the screen for a long time. Then he slowly climbed up from the ground using his broken limbs and fingers, and moved closer to the large screen where Bai Liu was.
Bai Liu's voice came from the small TV. He was giving a speech to the vagrants of the factory.
"I followed the agreement and tried my best to save each of you…""Each of you is worth saving…"
The man's climbing hand paused. He moved his limbs stiffly, like a puppet that had been broken and barely pieced back together. He wrapped his arms around himself and bent down to cover his face in a self-protective gesture, but the corners of his mouth were strangely split on both sides of his hands.
It would be a terrifyingly exaggerated smile if he moved his hands away.
He laughed uncontrollably.
It was hoarse and dry, like the laughter of a demon crawling out of the bottom of the abyss.
"Bugiardo (Liar)," he whispered. "Padre, mi hai mentito (Father, you lied to me)."