First Player

No. 8 “Why.”

High in the sky, Su Lin rushed into the room with Su Ming'an.

Everything in the room far exceeded Su Mingan's imagination.

Dozens of soft cat-shaped stuffed animals were scattered around the corners, and there was even a plush cat as tall as a person lying on the bed. Beacon flags were hung on the walls of the room, and dozens of War of the Dawn coins were stored in the glass cabinets next to them. of medals.

"Pfft." Su Mingan stepped on the room and stepped on a giant cat puppet. He looked down and saw cow cats, Siamese cats, pastoral cats...all kinds of cat dolls piled on the ground in various shapes.

"Is this the room you are coming to in such a hurry?" Su Lin glanced at the scene in the room.

Su Mingan walked to the bedside table and picked up a group photo of nine seats. In the photo, Akto and eight other people are smiling in the sun, as if they are looking forward to a bright future.

This is the room of the gods - during the six years when the gods occupied the magpie nest, the gods used Akto's body to live here. Su Mingan didn't expect that the layout of the room would be so close to Akto's personal preferences.

Beacon flag, Battle of Dawn medal, nine-seat group photo... God actually lived in such a room for six years.

"Okay." Su Ming'an had some guesses in her mind: "Let's go back."

The scene in front of them disintegrated in the collapse, and white light enveloped them. Then, the familiar sight of the City of Measurement came into view——

…

[One Dimension·City of Measurement·Twelve O'clock at Midnight]

"The West 3 Edge Energy Station has been successfully repaired."

"At the No. 417 energy station 3872km away from the city, all members of the transportation team have been killed."

"There were a total of 1,200 transport teams in the northern region, with 23,123 killed, 55,437 seriously injured, and 112,129 slightly injured..."

Electronic light belts surrounded the high-rise buildings, and the blood-red warning broadcast of the City of Measurement rolled throughout the night, like a flashing flag.

In the eternal night, the army marched quickly in the vast darkness. The backs of people's necks glowed green, and they wore white protective clothing to resist the ubiquitous black mist in the air.

Looking down from a high altitude, the trucks are connected in a straight line. Each transport team has more than a dozen trucks moving together, accompanied by a helicopter at high altitude.

Noel opened his eyes and found himself sitting in the cockpit of a truck.

"...Looks like he's back."

Noel looked at the time. It was now twelve o'clock at midnight - Caius Tower had ended and all players had been teleported back to the first dimension.

As a temporary resource transportation officer, Noel's mission is to escort the resources of this team to the energy station at the edge of the world. He looked out and saw an entourage on motorcycles surrounding the truck, everyone wearing masks and protective clothing.

"We are entering the Panjaro area in the north. There is road collapse ahead. Please take a detour." The announcement came from Noel's headset, which was the voice of the Dawn System. As the main system for all programs, the Dawn system will tell people how to act in real time.

Lu Wen's voice came through the headset: "Noel, our two teams are very close. If something goes wrong, we can help each other."

"Okay." Noel raised his head and glanced at the sky. The sky looked like a thick black oil curtain had been poured on it. He turned and looked back and saw many bodies lying in the carriage behind the truck.

Since the city of measurement entered eternal night, everyone has been transporting resources in the vast darkness. Even wearing protective clothing can't resist the black mist in the air.

The color of the light on the back of the neck represents people's physical condition. If it is green, it proves that they have not been eroded by the black mist, and their emotions and thoughts are still in a safe state. But if the light on the back of the neck turns red, it proves that the person is no longer able to resist erosion.

The corpses on the truck were all suicides, and the light on the backs of their necks was, without exception, bright red.

"Dip, beep, beep -"

"The signal of Team 487 has been interrupted. Position (2), the escorting helicopter has lost contact, and the radar has been interrupted."

A warning sound sounded, and then the entire team of trucks began to circle around. Since they didn’t know which area the [Tavi] invasion breach was deeper in, the transport team was completely searching for a path to death. Once contact was lost, no rescue was allowed, and other convoys had to make a detour.

"Hold up the shielding arithmetic unit!"

"Hold up the shielding arithmetic unit!"

Human voices were conveyed in the vast black fog, and each truck lit up, like a pure white Milky Way. A long bridge of white light composed of 0 and 1 data rose from each truck and was quickly erected to prevent When passing through the high-concentration black fog, everyone was completely corroded.

But despite this, people still died on the road. The corpses gradually paved a road, and the white protective clothing was like stars all over the ground, like a luminous river.

If you look down from a high altitude, you can see this scene - with the Measurement City as the center, thousands of corpses are radiating, spreading in all directions, like a blooming white fairy orchid.

Civilization wars have always been cruel.

People in the two-dimensional world repeatedly simulate a firewall, and people in the one-dimensional world are also paying a huge price.

"Please help! The 240,000 people in Uli border town ask for help! The scene here is tragic, please help..."

A desperate male voice came from an unknown channel. This is a regional broadcast. If the rescue call can be heard, it means that the receivers are not far apart.

Noel glanced at the positions of both parties. But before he spoke, he heard the cold voice of Dawn System on the regional radio:

"Give up. The resources on the car must be supplied to the energy station at the edge of the world and cannot be given to you."

"Please help, please help... sting, sting, sting -"

The male voice on the regional radio sounded a few times and then disappeared quickly.

Noel's fingers tightened and he touched the back of his neck. The back of his neck was flashing a green light that represented safety. For now, these players who have just returned are the safest group of people because they have just started to come into contact with the black mist. As long as they survive this day, they will be fine.

But he had already smelled the smell of decay in the air, and the black mist surrounded him, silently eroding his body.

"Based on the current situation...compared to those ordinary people, my willpower should be able to last for a long time in the black mist. It is not a problem to survive for a day." Noel murmured to himself: "But the vast majority of people in the world People are all ordinary people, so this is troublesome..."

Suddenly, Lu’s voice came from the headset again:

"Noel, have you received the new mission prompt?"

Noel glanced at the taskbar: "No."

"Yes, it's the same here, but the problem is..." Lu said: "What about the new tasks that Su Mingan said he would assign to us? Didn't he say that after midnight, he would use the tasks to contact us? Why did he still No new tasks released?”

Noel was startled and glanced at the task bar again, and found that there were really no new tasks assigned by "Su Ming'an".

Noel immediately opened the door and jumped out regardless of the speeding truck. He rolled a few times on the sand, summoned the black crow Yinke, and flew straight into the air.

"Noel, where are you going?" Lu heard the movement.

"Please take care of my transportation team." Noel said, "I want to go back to the city to find Su Mingan."

…

"To assist ground transportation operations, City-State has activated low-energy mode."

"This 'Project Dawn' will win the civilized war at all costs. Speaker Colby has gone to Central City to state his opinions and decide how we will respond to this unprecedented situation."

"We have suspended all information systems to avoid being invaded. Fierce conflicts are currently breaking out across the city. In the next few hours, the city-state will hold an emergency meeting for security gathering."

"The city-state calls on all residents to actively cooperate and report [Tavi] intruders around them to the Eagle and Dog Guards. Please note that the black mist in the air is pervasive. Please try to stay rational and not be robbed of consciousness. We will try our best to protect the residents' safety. Personal safety."

"Currently, the Dawn Plan Special Committee is negotiating with each city on an equal footing. Seventy-eight external city-states, including Sartofa City, Lamut City, and Anculus City, have formed allies. In critical moments, the transport team can pass through the outer city The channel seeks temporary assistance from them.”

"Currently, City Lord Asa Akto has not been found. If any residents find it, please report it to the Eagle and Dog Guards around you as soon as possible..."

The warning sounded over and over again, accompanied by blood flowing up and down the city-state.

Trucks were rushing, planes were taking off, people were rushing through the dark fog, and the green light on the backs of their necks was flickering.

"Communications band 49."

"This is the Santa Cruz District, and the shielding calculator has been set up."

"(5 is expanding, the black fog concentration is as high as 92%!"

"Anjie! Is the protective device activated?"

"Transporter B1! Radar outage!"

"Don't worry about me, let's go! Let's go!"

"Captain, Captain——!!"

Under the dark fog and among the scorched earth, the wreckage was inhuman shape.

Yueyue has never seen such a doomsday.

She saw the crowds of people walking across the sand like tiny ants, stumbling confusedly in the black mist, stretching out their corroded hands and groping for everything touchable around them.

The old man holding hands walked slowly with squinted eyes. Soon a red light flashed on the back of his neck, his eyes turned into two red holes, and he fell down.

The mother held her child tightly, using her body to resist the black mist. Her hair was scorched like burnt weeds, and her skin was stained with yellowish-white grit.

Then her body disintegrated like a landslide and fell forward, leaving only the child in her arms still crying.

People held each other's hands and walked slowly in the eternal night. Outside the city-state, wanderers, travelers, and small town residents did not receive shelter, and they were the majority of human beings.

Their pain has no outlet, and their despair has no root. The enemy that caused all this is another civilization, and the battle between civilizations never concerns right or wrong.

Nothing could be seen in front of him, only the chirping of vultures and the faint sounds of human voices and crying in the black mist. As Yueyue walked along, there were corpses and withered bones at her feet.

On the way to the mission location, Yueyue was pulled by a young soldier.

He pulled her clothes, looked at the medal on her shoulder, and called her sir.

Yueyue looked at the red light on the back of the soldier's neck. Even after a long time, she still maintained her original kindness, and she wanted to save him.

She patted the soldier on the shoulder and asked him to try to stay calm and talk to her, so maybe he wouldn't be invaded.

The young soldier slowly told her his story. He said that in the autumn of his hometown, the sky was filled with golden ginkgo leaves, which were blowing in the wind and were more beautiful than any other sight. When I come back from school, I often pass candy sellers banging their wooden sticks in the alley, and there are many girls sketching with drawing boards by the river.

His hometown is just a small town. Compared with the city of measurement, the lives of residents of these small towns are very difficult, but it is humane and many times warmer.

He also said that he had a grandfather who lived during the War of Dawn. That grandfather was also a young soldier when he died. His grandfather liked music scores. When he was a child, he would hold his mother and beat the ice under the eaves in winter. The sound was like The crispest instrument. Even when my grandfather went to war, he kept those pieces of music in his backpack.

Later, my grandfather died in the frozen glacier, like countless young soldiers.

"What are we fighting for?" the young soldier asked intermittently.

"In this life, apart from those cold data, strictly defined personalities, insurmountable classes, and a life to prevent emotional overload... apart from these, what are we living for?"

"The order of the city-state, the gears of society, the mediocre workers like ants... We have worked hard all our lives for a 'perfect' city-state, but who did I become in the end..."

"Sir, can you... tell me?"

"You..." Yueyue whispered, but found that the soldier in front of her closed his eyes.

She stood alone in the black mist, holding the dead soldier.

Whose fault is this?

There is nothing wrong with Akto who made all this, there is nothing wrong with the Dawn System in order to preserve resources, there is nothing wrong with ordinary people who long for survival, and even the civilized invader [Tavi] also wants to survive, there is nothing wrong with it.

Unknowingly, even though the vast majority of people made the best decision, things inevitably slipped here and there were no survivors.

Che's voice came from the headset: "Are you here?"

"No." Yueyue said.

"There is new news." Che said: "The city lord is missing."