Chapter 13 Headquarters

Star Dragon Capital, West Capital, Dragon Horn Building basement, Thirteenth Bureau headquarters.

Gu Hui, the Deputy Director, and the thirteen department heads were all gathered in the secret conference room. Gu Hui pressed a button on the table. The doors sealed shut, the windows closed, and all monitoring equipment became useless.

Gu Hui, with a serious expression, distributed paper files to all the members present. They were stamped with the highest leadership's authority seal, indicating that this was confidential information reviewed and approved by the highest level, containing observation intelligence on the Esper phenomenon.

"Five days ago, the existence of Espers circulated on the dark web. After verification, it has been confirmed that it is not a rumor. The file clearly states that in all continents, the Esper phenomenon is spreading like a virus. They appear out of nowhere, with unknown origins and unknown causes."

"According to the information circulating on the dark web, Espers have the following characteristics..." Gu Hui repeated it, similar to the Sprout's preliminary research: they can disappear out of thin air, and they cannot die. He added one more point, "According to observation, Espers are generally not strong, and the threat assessment is low."

"But if the Esper phenomenon is not contained, it may spread like an infectious disease and develop into a disaster," someone said in a deep voice.

Gu Hui nodded. "The highest level has issued instructions to contact these Espers. This is the most important task at present."

"Then what about the expedition? The supplies have already been collected, and the army is ready. We can launch the expedition to Andrea at any time."

"The highest level has reached a consensus with the leaders of other countries to suspend the expedition and first figure out what the Esper phenomenon is all about. This is related to a greater security risk." Gu Hui tapped the table with his finger, and solemnly swept his gaze over everyone. "Let our people bring back some Espers. In the case of unknown origins, it's best to be friendly."

The Head of External Operations said, "Some agents are far away in Andrea, infiltrating and penetrating. Should we recall them?"

"No, let them continue to probe for information. We have enough manpower domestically." Gu Hui said, "When we have a conclusion, maybe the highest level will try to ask the interstellar civilization for help and seek answers."

...

As the players' levels increased, their activities gradually became more active, attracting the attention of various forces. The Six Nations, Wanderers, the dark web, and major consortia were all paying attention to the "Esper phenomenon", sending people to contact them with different attitudes, some gentle and some indifferent. Only Sprout was the most extreme, wantonly arresting players in Andrea, forcing the players in the novice villages to scatter and leave the novice villages ahead of schedule.

In fact, the players didn't care which faction they joined, but if they were forced, they would develop resistance. Sprout didn't leave a good impression on the players. As for the players who were arrested, they could only accept their fate.

The players on the Andrea continent were living a hard life every day, and the game experience was extremely poor. But this phenomenon aroused the players' surprise—why were the NPCs surprised by their existence, not rigid at all, like real people.

More forces began to contact the players, and more and more players encountered similar situations. Their interest was immediately piqued, and they actively speculated on the forums. The popularity of other topics was suppressed.

The players of other novice planets had not yet encountered similar situations, and they flocked to the Aquamarine Star section to watch the excitement. The traffic jumped to the highest among all the novice planets.

Hundreds of new posts were being refreshed every second, and the players' enthusiasm for this was completely phenomenal.

Various speculations emerged one after another, and speculations similar to Ilektra's were put forward. This theory seemed most reasonable to the public, but the game officials remained unmoved and never spoke out, so the players could only guess blindly, and many players' imaginations ran wild.

"Actually, we are all Reincarnators, opening up a new world for the Main God Space, reporting for duty with the code A12651!"

"Nonsense, we are clearly the expeditionary force of Earth attacking another dimension, shouldering a great mission."

"Lieutenant Black Bigstrong of the 798th Space Fleet of the Earth Federation is on standby. Earth will win!"

"You're all wrong. Actually, this is the real world. Earth is just a dream."

"Hmph, young people, everything is the layout of the elders. You are too naive."

"Hehe, this is the first step for Skynet to rule humanity. One day, our consciousness will be trapped in the game."

"Hail Hydra!"

"The person upstairs is on the wrong set!"

"Alas, I am a retired soldier from the 1999 Battle. Now that I think about it, it was really a dark time."

"The old man upstairs is in good health. He's still playing virtual online games at such an old age."

Various wild ideas formed a trend on the forum. The players' imaginations ran wild, joking and laughing, turning it into a meme.

In general, the forces contacting the players were all holding a probing and guarded attitude, which made it easier for the players to trigger factions, which was actually beneficial. Only the Andrea players were being hunted down, crying incessantly.

Han Xiao paid attention to the evolution of the situation. He had the dark web's intelligence network and forum intelligence, and he saw far more than the average player or NPC. The major forces were cautious and serious, while the players were surprised and found it fun. The two sides had completely different mentalities.

"Interesting." Han Xiao raised an eyebrow.

The impact of the Esper incident was slowly fermenting, and various forces were gradually studying the characteristics of the players.

"Those powerful players in my previous life should all have their own opportunities." Han Xiao's mind turned. Aquamarine Star was the home base of Huaxia, and there would always be a few lucky ones who would obtain opportunities that ordinary players did not have.

As the plot was on the right track, Han Xiao seized the time to act. The Task: Mutated Heart had a time limit, so he went to Red Maple to turn in the mission first.

The Louis Research Institute was located in Kanoros, a city in Red Maple, this time not on the border. Han Xiao smuggled in alone, and he still had to take a two-day car ride to reach his destination.

The country of Red Maple lacked vitality. The bureaucratic system was rigid, the distribution of wealth was uneven, and resources were tightly controlled by political oligarchs. People at the lower levels lacked upward mobility. Living a mediocre life was the best description of Red Maple's civilians.

Walking on the street, passers-by with gloomy faces passed by. Han Xiao rubbed his face, feeling that a confident and dashing man like him was out of place with the surrounding people's decadence.

This time, Han Xiao changed his face again and also put on glasses. He didn't believe he would be recognized.

The Louis Research Institute building was towering and had a technological atmosphere, with silver-white tones. The people coming and going were all wearing white coats, as if they were afraid that others would not know that they were engaged in scientific research.

As soon as he walked in, a receptionist came forward to greet him with a polite smile.

"Hello, would you like me to introduce you to the business scope of the Louis Group?"

Han Xiao raised the metal box in his hand. "I have a biological heart infected with the necrotizing virus. Maybe one of your researchers is interested in it."

"Please wait a moment while I ask my superiors." The receptionist led Han Xiao to a sofa in the hall to sit down and turned to leave.

The Louis Research Institute accepted various outsourced experiments, so customers often came to the door.

Han Xiao leaned on the sofa, looking around the hall. The structure was circular, like a hotel lobby.

After waiting for a while, two people walked into the hall, with bandages wrapped around their bodies. Han Xiao's nose twitched, smelling blood. He looked up and found that these two people were the "superheroes" he had met in the Lauperth Forbidden Zone.

It seemed that these two were going to rescue an exploration team at that time. Could it be a team from the Louis Research Institute?

"Looks like they failed, and got injured all over."

Han Xiao raised an eyebrow. The other party didn't recognize him, so he waited and watched.