“The world you’re in is just a game, and I am a player…”

Eile克斯 said this, but he was stunned to find that what he said had turned into a nonsensical sentence. He tried again, unwilling to give up, and found that as long as he wanted to reveal any information about "reality," the system would change his words.

塞伯洛斯 shook his head helplessly. "Just like the answers in the hypnosis record, nonsense."

Eile克斯 was stunned, and suddenly realized that the NPCs' discovery of the players' special nature must have been deliberately simulated by the developers.

"So realistic." Eile克斯 was shocked. The sense of immersion in *Galaxy* was overwhelming, making him feel like the NPCs were real people.

He understood the meaning of the name *Galaxy* 1.0. The developers wanted players to become "Descenders" and experience the feeling of integrating into another "real" world, so they restricted players from revealing real-world information to avoid destroying the sense of immersion? He remembered a very old online game where players in the two factions couldn't chat with each other in the game due to language restrictions. It seemed to be called *Beast World*.

"That must be it!" Eile克斯 said with certainty.

Even though he felt that the NPCs' curious reaction to the players was simulated, he still felt a sense of excitement. Setting aside his professional gamer status, Eile克斯 himself found great enjoyment in *Galaxy*. He couldn't wait to see what would happen next, and how these NPCs would react as more and more players arrived.

The guard took Eile克斯 back, and 塞伯洛斯 stayed in the lab, collecting bloodstains from the operating table. After testing, they were no different from ordinary people. His eyes flickered as he pondered.

"This phenomenon, let's call it the Hetero phenomenon for now. What is the root cause, and why is it spreading? Most Heteros appear out of nowhere, and there is no record in the database. Could it be that a new race has been born? Or is it the effect of some kind of superpower? Or is it a projection from a higher civilization?"

塞伯洛斯 turned on the computer, brought up a top-secret file, verified his fingerprints, iris, and the daily changing password, and opened a document. This was a copy of the *Pan-Cosmic Civilization Contact Treaty (Seventh Revised Edition)*. Planet Hai Lan had contacted the Gedora civilization and gained a lot of common sense about the universe. Germination also had a copy of this treaty.

It clearly stated that high-level plane entity projection was a malignant means of interfering with the progress of low-level civilizations. The characteristic of not dying was very similar to the description of projection technology in the treaty. If this was true, it would be an invasion by a high-level civilization… No, a high-level civilization capable of entity projection wouldn't need to go to such trouble to invade. A reasonable explanation was that Planet Hai Lan had become a testing ground for some civilization. If a civilization was backward, it could only be manipulated by others. 塞伯洛斯 was not angry at all, but rather excited. Unexpected phenomena gave him passion.

If the number of Heteros continued to increase, the situation on Planet Hai Lan would change dramatically due to their characteristic of not dying.

"Heteros can be brainwashed and are very obedient, but when asked about their origins, they talk nonsense. It is speculated that this is an instinctive reaction or an unknown language. More experiments are needed to confirm this.

The transmission route of the Hetero phenomenon is unknown. It cannot be determined whether it is transmitted physically or mentally. It cannot be observed. The physical and mental condition of Heteros is the same as that of normal humans. Test results are normal. The form of existence of the characteristics cannot be determined. It may be any cause, such as superpowers, diseases, or gene mutations.

Interestingly, Heteros have not been observed to sleep. Judging from the time, disappearing may be the Heteros' "way of sleeping." Some Heteros possess other superpowers, but their strength is relatively weak and seems to have extraordinary potential. The reason is unknown. More special features remain to be added…

Is the Hetero phenomenon long-term or short-term? Will the number of people stop increasing? Is there a possibility that animals can be infected with the Hetero phenomenon? In the long run, the Hetero phenomenon has great hidden dangers, and countermeasures or suppression methods must be developed as soon as possible…"

After writing the summary, 塞伯洛斯 submitted the report to the leader. The leader's worldview was slightly impacted, but fortunately, he had a firm mind. Because there were all kinds of superpowers, even ordinary people had a strong ability to accept them and were used to all kinds of inexplicable phenomena.

"The six countries will notice the Heteros sooner or later. In the face of this phenomenon, the importance of being enemies with us will also take a backseat. The six countries will definitely contact interstellar civilizations to inquire about the cause of the Hetero phenomenon. They won't have time to start a war, and I will have time to breathe."

The leader was also very curious about the cause of the Hetero phenomenon, but he could not contact interstellar civilizations. However, he discovered a crucial issue, which was that Heteros could be brainwashed and were very obedient!

He naturally came up with an idea.

"They are born cannon fodder!"

The Andea continent was Germination's territory, and it had absolute control. The leader ordered the search and capture of Heteros to be brought back for research and brainwashing. Heteros also appeared on the other three continents, but unfortunately, all the sub-bases had been removed, and there was no manpower to capture them. Only then did the leader realize how great an opportunity the organization had lost, all because of Zero. He hated it so much that he even wanted to use the ultimate weapon, the "Child of Destiny," to lock down Zero's position, but he had not yet made up his mind to take the risk.

He wondered how interstellar civilizations viewed the Hetero phenomenon. Was this phenomenon rare or common in the universe?

…

West Continent had four novice villages. Twenty-plus days after the public beta started, the average level of players was almost level ten. Han Xiao was preparing to put the *Qi Refining Method* into the skill list as well, with a price of 10,000 experience and 3,000 Aquamarine coins. The prerequisite of ten points of favorability was removed, and some players should be able to afford it.

The plane landed at Farian's small base in West Continent. The climate in West Continent was relatively cold, and the first breath of air that Han Xiao took after getting off the plane made him feel uncomfortable.

In the past ten-odd days, he had manufactured the framework of the Viper Mech, which was the endoskeleton formed by PE-0 nano-muscle fibers. The appearance was like a relatively thick black tights, and the folds were muscle textures. Han Xiao tried it on once. It was very lightweight and already had basic physical fitness enhancements. For example, when throwing a punch, the fibers in the mech would generate elasticity as they stretched and twisted. This elasticity was condensed into the output direction through the conduction module, increasing the force of the punch, like gaining a new layer of muscle and tendons, making it more flexible than a skeletal endoskeleton. The user could move as they pleased.

It was still in the debugging stage and needed to be filled with other materials to prevent force loss. Han Xiao spent a lot of experience to fuse other basic knowledge with *Advanced Materials Science* and obtained some useful materials.

With the mech framework, the most crucial energy system, the "Bonfire" small-scale reactor, was an advanced-grade equipment. He had entrusted Lei Zhenyu to purchase it, and the seller happened to be in West Continent. Han Xiao chose to come to West Continent also for the purpose of picking up the goods.

Mechs were a way to quickly increase combat power. As long as he could replicate the Viper Mech, his combat power could increase significantly.

"Let's go to the novice village to get experience first."

Han Xiao marked the location on the map and handed it to the driver. At this moment, his phone rang with the sound of receiving a message. He opened it and saw that it was a bounty sent by the Blood Contract Society.

"Black Phantom, this is a bounty from the upper echelons of the Dark Web. Your mission is to infiltrate the residences of several Red Maple officials and leave a few documents behind. Someone will contact you in West Continent and give you the documents that need to be handed over. The following is the contact location and specific information about the Red Maple officials…"

Han Xiao raised an eyebrow and directly dialed Bennett's phone. "Hey, what are you doing?"

It was good to know the upper echelons. One phone call and he could ask directly. Compared to other assassins, he was considered a well-connected person.

Bennett: "Red Maple refused material assistance because these officials were obstructing it. They manage the financial budget, and you also know the situation on the Red Maple side. It's equivalent to touching these officials' private coffers, so they are desperately opposed."

"What material assistance?" Han Xiao raised an eyebrow, with a premonition.

"I haven't mentioned it to you yet. The organization is preparing a large-scale plan codenamed *Sanctuary*. Originally, there was a year of preparation, but the war is about to break out, so we can only advance the plan and request material assistance from various countries. Only Red Maple has explicitly refused."

Han Xiao's eyes lit up. The Sanctuary main storyline was starting early. He attached great importance to this main storyline. With his connections in the Dark Web, he was very confident in becoming a participant in the plan. He asked knowingly, "What is the Sanctuary plan about? Do you need my help?"