Chapter 403
Enhanced Development Plan
Chapter 403 Enhanced Development Plan
Is someone spreading scarlet fear through video games?
In the Countermeasures Research Office, Gao Liangwei looked grave after receiving the report.
The report shows that chaos broke out in many shelters in several core cities of North Star, all because of a game called "Apocalypse Frenzy".
The reporter quickly replied, "Yes! Someone replaced the game's start screen with an ultra-high-definition photo of Crimson Terra. Players were caught off guard and many were affected."
"Why would this happen? Isn't this a single-player game that has passed censorship?"
"Preliminary investigations indicate that the game underwent a hot update after its release, and it was this hot update that replaced the photos."
Who has the authority to perform this update?
"Only people in the game development department should have the authority, but we cannot rule out the possibility of hackers breaking in."
After a moment's thought, Gao Liangwei made a phone call and summoned Li Meng.
After understanding the situation, Li Meng asked, "Does Director Gao want me to investigate this matter?"
“That’s right. I usually delegate this kind of thing to Dr. Zhang, but he’s currently busy preparing for the experiment to explore the rules, so he’s probably too busy. Section Chief Li, you were the director of the Public Security Bureau before, and you investigated the Qingmei Club’s serial kidnapping case, so you have a lot of experience in this area. That’s why I’d like to entrust it to you.”
“Okay.” Li Meng immediately agreed, “I will try my best to get the results as soon as possible.”
After Li Meng finished speaking, seeing Gao Liangwei's solemn expression, he asked, "Are the consequences of this incident very serious?"
"It's very serious. More than a million people worldwide have been affected by this game, and North Star is one of the hardest-hit areas... because this game was developed by North Star's studio, and I estimate that the other members of the Human Alliance will soon hold me accountable."
"Hold you accountable? But this..."
“There’s no need to shirk responsibility,” Gao Liangwei said. “It is indeed our fault. And the most urgent task is to find the mastermind behind this. I have reason to believe that this was a terrorist attack targeting Beixing. We must not tolerate terrorists in any way!”
Li Meng said with a serious expression, "I understand. Please rest assured, I will go and investigate immediately."
After leaving Gao Liangwei's office, Li Meng immediately took action.
The game development team was taken into custody by the authorities as early as the beginning of the incident.
He took Yang Ran and Silver Fox with him to question them.
Meanwhile, the impact of the game "Apocalypse Frenzy" has spread across various platforms.
The most discussions were concentrated on the Ascended Home forum.
Although this website is also one of the "unreviewed and unregistered" websites that the authorities do not recommend using during the period covered by this rule, users around the world have long trusted it.
Despite the website's long operation, high level of global attention, and numerous attacks from hackers, it has never experienced a user information leak, which is sufficient proof of its security.
Especially after the new rules were released, the website owner took a drastic approach, announcing that the website would temporarily suspend the function of posting videos and pictures during the rule period.
This means the website can only communicate via text, and even if someone wanted to spread scarlet fear through video materials, they couldn't do so on the website.
"Someone changed the start screen of 'Apocalypse Terror' to Crimson Terra? Which bastard did that?"
"I almost fell for it... Luckily I didn't open the game immediately after downloading it."
“We had an entire dormitory in the shelter, and all four of us got infected. Two died, one went insane, and the other seems to have become a vegetable due to stress; he probably won’t live for more than a few days.”
"I heard that everyone at the game studio was arrested. They definitely need to investigate who did it."
"Isn't this thing approved? Games should be reviewed before they're released!"
"Some experts have already unpacked it; it was caused by a hot update after release that somehow bypassed manual review."
How could this happen...
Guan Tong had already said goodbye to Shang Yuan Zi and returned from Ying Qi to her refuge in the Pinglu Valley.
He sat in front of his computer looking at the discussions on the forum, and for a moment he felt confused.
Who would do such a thing? What would their motive be?
At first glance, he thought there were only two groups with motives: parasites and the fire-stealer cult.
This attack was clearly targeted at Beixing, specifically at Beixing's relatively stable social order.
With its relatively stable order, the Northern Star is undoubtedly a key force in the fight against these two evil groups. If the Northern Star can be thrown into chaos, the pressure on the Parasites and the Fire Stealers Cult will be greatly reduced.
"These are truly turbulent times..." Guan Tong sighed.
As rules become more numerous, the hostile relationships between different groups of people become increasingly acute, and all sorts of complex events emerge one after another.
Behind every unsolved case, there seems to be a mastermind, entangled interests, and ulterior motives of one or more individuals.
As the "shadow," Guan Tong could feel herself constantly being drawn into these vortexes.
Perhaps he could let go of everything and withdraw from everything, finding a place to live in seclusion, relying on himself to navigate the rules, going as far as he could.
But deep down he still couldn't let go of many people and things, and he vaguely felt that doing so was wrong.
Whenever he felt stressed and had thoughts of leaving, he would recall the scenes he had witnessed on Yahoo! Planet.
The destruction of the Qimo civilization, leaving only a few individuals, evokes a profound sense of loneliness and sorrow in him every time he recalls that scene.
Is that the meaning of surviving to the end? If the vast majority of individuals in a civilization are destroyed, leaving only a few lonely individuals... does that really count as "winning"?
Guan Tong knew he didn't want that kind of way to pass the game, so although he could have distanced himself from the troubles, he chose to stay and get involved.
Moreover, he had long believed that they could not follow the Fire Thieves' plans completely, especially since he possessed the Book of No Words. If he chose to go with the flow, what hope would others have?
"What I need now is not to overthink, but to strike while the iron is hot and strengthen myself."
Guan Tong closed the webpage, and her thoughts quickly returned to clarity.
In the past few days since entering the second stage of his transformation, he hasn't had a moment to rest.
Investigating Suzuki's suicide, meeting with Li Meng and others, and assisting the personnel at the Countermeasures Research Office's testing base... all of these took up a lot of his time.
Now that I have some free time and there are no leads on Suzuki's case, there's no point in thinking about it too much. I'd better use this time to strengthen myself.
Guan Tong took out the wordless book and turned the pages one by one.
Having experienced so many battles, he had long understood the principle of valuing quality over quantity.
For him, "refinement" means further developing his existing abilities.
Shadow, Reserve of Mental Power, Silver Hunter, Refuge, Open, Domain.
These six abilities come from the "Wordless Book".
Among them, the reserve of spiritual power has been improved, increasing from a conversion ratio of 10:1 to 5:1, more than doubling.
The other five aspects still have room for improvement.
The shadow can be further developed by adding text as needed.
Silver Hunter can add more types of bullets as needed.
Vaults may also be able to be modified and enhanced, but this has not yet been attempted.
As for the ability "Open", Guan Tong used it mainly for two things: destroying and weakening the earth vein pillars in the [Earth Dragon Turns Over] rule, and breaking through the mind lock that appeared after the [World's Number One] rule ended.
This capability undoubtedly has even greater potential for development.
The sixth is a domain that has two different forms.
Whether it's the Shadow Domain used for large-scale control or the small space used for extreme damage, these are his current common offensive methods.
It is essential to further develop these capabilities after entering the second stage of advancement.
If we add the writing on the seventh page, as well as learning the unique abilities developed by Shi Jingyi, such as "Mind Martial Arts" and "Condensation," the time required will be even longer.
If he masters and integrates all of these, his overall strength will definitely be elevated to a new level.
"If I didn't have so many things to do, I would have liked to go into seclusion for a while..."
Guan Tong shook her head.
He knew that food should be eaten one bite at a time, and one shouldn't be impatient.
After some thought, he decided to proceed in order, starting with enhancing the capabilities of the pages of the [Wordless Book].
(End of this chapter)