Chapter 210 - Chapter 210: 176, Special effects!
Chapter 210: 176, Special effects!
“`
Qing Chen had seriously reviewed all his memories related to knight training, then grasped a key point: one must experience all the life and death trials as an ordinary person.
Therefore, Lin Xiaoxiao, Ye Wan, and Li Dongze, immature and not resolute in their childhood, couldn’t pass the initial scrutiny of the Breathing Technique.
By the time they grew up and became Awakeners, they lost the essential condition to experience the life and death trials as ordinary people.
This was once said by Lin Xiaoxiao.
Qing Chen guessed there must be a way for a knight to lock the Genetic lock again, otherwise, how could they complete the subsequent challenges? It would be too easy to experience the life and death trials with the identity of a knight, which would not fulfill the true meaning of experiencing life and death.
If he were to lock the Genetic lock again, he could only rely on his own body, and his training had to be persistent.
Moreover, Qing Chen could clearly feel that even during the training process, his physical strength was still growing. As long as he hadn’t reached his limit, he would continue to train.
Seeing his silence, Wang Yun said, “Forget it, I won’t ask anymore, it seems this is your secret. But I admire you for this, not everyone can maintain clarity and effort after suddenly gaining power, although I don’t quite understand why you try so hard.”
After thinking for a while, Qing Chen said, “Actually, even without the transmigration event, the lives of you, Hu Xiaoniu, and Zhang Tianzhen would already be splendid enough. To cross the Indian Ocean, one must first afford a sailboat or yacht. I’ve seen the price of those things; it’s enough to buy a dozen houses in Los Angeles City. You guys are certainly hardworking too, but you’re already happier than most people.”
“I’m different, for a long period of time in the past, I lived with insufficient food and clothing. Perhaps things would have improved after my graduation, but that was just too far away. Now, this world has finally given me a chance to restart my life, naturally, I have to grit my teeth and shed blood to forge a path. Wang Yun, it’s not that I want to train until 3am before sleeping, but that’s all the choices I have.”
There were some things Qing Chen left unsaid: In the Inner World, there was a master who was especially kind to him that might face danger.
Therefore, he had to race against time and become strong enough before that danger arrived.
…
…
At this moment, within Shenglong Community, two kilometers away from Xingshu Road.
Nan Gengchen, hiding in his bedroom and scrolling through his phone, suddenly froze when he saw a text message he just received:
“Hello Nan Gengchen, to better share gaming experiences, please click the link to join the group chat.—He Xiaoxiao.”
An invitation!
It was an actual invitation!
Nan Gengchen wanted to send Qing Chen a WeChat message but quickly restrained himself.
He glanced at the time and hurriedly changed his clothes before heading out.
In the living room, his father was drinking Er Guotou by himself, his eyes nearly glazed over: “Where are you going so late? All you know is to run nowhere meaningful; just like your mother, your heart isn’t in this house!”
As he spoke, his father stood up and pulled out his belt.
But this time, Nan Gengchen didn’t just stand there to be beaten; he sped up and darted out, leaving his alcoholic and gambling father standing there, dumbfounded.
The young man ran through the night, the first time he actively fled from his father, which felt surprisingly good.
As fleet as the wind, he ran all the way to Qing Chen’s door and knocked heavily: “Open up, open up!”
The door opposite opened, and Qing Chen looked at him calmly, “Come in and talk.”
Nan Gengchen was confused why Brother Chen had moved, and he followed Qing Chen inside, excitedly saying, “That group chat with He Xiaoxiao…burp!”
Mid-sentence, Nan Gengchen suddenly saw Wang Yun on the sofa!
She was dressed in home pajamas, wearing adorable panda cotton slippers, looking at him with an expressionless face…
The amount of information was simply too much for him to take in at once.
Immediately, Nan Gengchen felt a newfound respect for Qing Chen!
Honestly, he had never imagined that Brother Chen and Wang Yun would progress so quickly!
Qing Chen looked at Nan Gengchen and asked calmly, “What’s with He Xiaoxiao’s group chat? Is there any good news?”
“Aw aw!” Nan Gengchen snapped back to his senses: “The good news is, I’ve joined He Xiaoxiao’s group chat!”
For a moment, the room fell into silence, the atmosphere slowly turning heavy.
After pondering for a moment, Qing Chen asked, “You call this good news?”
Nan Gengchen said enthusiastically, “Yeah, billions of people are in line and can’t get into the group, but I received a personalized text invitation, the message said welcome Nan Gengchen to the group, with a link to click on, and I got in as soon as I clicked!”
Qing Chen was startled, He Xiaoxiao had specifically named Nan Gengchen for the invitation?
That meant He Xiaoxiao had access to more information than he had imagined.
Previously, the information she had could be explained by her identity as a “game expert” since they indeed have the ability to explore the world better than most people.
But now it was different. She must be backed by a powerful organization to achieve this.
So, who was behind her, Kunlun, or Kyushu?
Qing Chen sighed; it seems that, given the situation, Nan Gengchen’s direct entry to the group chat didn’t really expose anything additional.
The organization He Xiaoxiao belonged to must possess technology from the Inner World. Nowadays, the entire information network seems wide open for them.
While everyone still hadn’t had the chance to build a Data fortress, the organization could have easily invaded Nan Gengchen’s phone to get information if they wanted to.
There was no need to wait until now.
Or in a sense, He Xiaoxiao sending a direct, precise text message was a way of expressing a message: don’t hesitate anymore, you’re already exposed.
Qing Chen suddenly felt that such an organization was much more frightening than Kunlun.
“`
Thankfully, when he talked with Nan Gengchen, either they were in a noisy environment with both of their phones tucked away, or in a quiet one where Qing Chen would take out the other person’s SIM card and turn off their phone.
It must be said that in a dangerous environment, being cautious is definitely a good habit.
Nan Gengchen looked at Qing Chen’s solemn expression and hesitated before asking, “Isn’t this considered good news…”
“It is,” Yue Yue nodded indifferently, “The last time you beat over a hundred million people was eighteen years ago, so this is indeed something to be happy about.”
Qing Chen: “???”
He felt like someone had just driven a car over his face.
Qing Chen silently took out Nan Gengchen’s phone, found some black tape and carefully covered all the cameras before applying several layers over the microphone.
Not only did Qing Chen tape Nan Gengchen’s phone, but he also handed the tape to Yue Yue, gesturing for her to cover the cameras and microphone as well.
Yue Yue looked at Qing Chen’s phone and was surprised to find its cameras were already covered.
She asked, “Have you always been this cautious?”
“It’s become a habit,” Qing Chen replied.
Nan Gengchen asked, “Our phones haven’t had any secrets for a long time, isn’t this a bit superfluous?”
Qing Chen met his gaze and explained, “I hardly use my phone now, except for reading news, so there’s not much secret in it. What I’m doing is just to avoid exposing my daily privacy to others.”
Yue Yue said, “All done.”
Only then did Qing Chen continue to tell Nan Gengchen, “Open that text message and let me have a look at the original words inside.”
Nan Gengchen opened a text message and explained in a low voice, “Just by clicking the link, it will automatically download a group chat app. I checked it out, and you can even top up to buy decorative frames for avatars… oh, and there are special effects when you enter the group chat, not expensive, there’s a limited-time special offer for the first three days.”
God, three days of limited-time special offers…
Qing Chen looked at Nan Gengchen expressionlessly, “Did you buy it?”
“I did, and it looks pretty good,” Nan Gengchen answered honestly.
As he spoke, he opened a green app, and the moment he did, the phone directly entered the group chat interface, which didn’t differ much from WeChat’s interface, except it had an additional shopping icon.
Immediately afterward, a string of little bubbles started bouncing around on the interface.
Qing Chen instantly understood that this must be the group entry effect Nan Gengchen had purchased…
Unbelievable!
“Is this something only you can see, or can everyone see it?” Qing Chen asked.
“Only I can see it; I like the nice look,” Nan Gengchen responded.
Qing Chen sighed; this guy was still the same fool who was willing to buy nano socks.
But he couldn’t wrap his head around why He Xiaoxiao would create this group chat. Shouldn’t it be more serious rather than making such petty profit?
It was too strange!
Qing Chen opened the list of all members; there were only 27 people in the group.
Compared to those hundreds of millions waiting in line, these 27 seemed incredibly lonely.
Qing Chen pondered, “I wonder if He Xiaoxiao has everyone divided into many groups, or if there are really only these 27 people in the group chat system?”
Yue Yue, beside him, suggested, “I’m more inclined to the former. If I were He Xiaoxiao, I would also scatter all the Time Travelers across numerous groups, promoting familiarity amongst Time Travelers from all over the country. Because everyone’s location in the Inner World corresponds to their location in the Outer World, only people from different regions have valuable information to exchange.”
Just then, an ID named “Zhang San” in the group chat sent a message, “Has anyone suddenly received a letter, like waking up to find it right next to your pillow? It’s so scary.”
An ID named Wang replied, “No.”
Then another ID named Li Si responded, “I’ve received one before; it just appeared under my pillow, and I have no idea how the other person did it.”
Qing Chen was taken aback; he hadn’t expected that Nan Gengchen would be in the same group as Wang.
And it was only then that he realized most people actually didn’t know about the existence of the “Devil’s Stamp”, the Taboo.
When Wang Yun first exposed the mysterious letter, Uncle Li Dong and Lin Xiaoxiao had introduced Qing Chen to this Taboo item, ACE-017 Devil’s Stamp.
So Qing Chen naturally assumed everyone knew about it.
But he overlooked one point, Uncle Li Dong could be said to be the top Transcendent in the Inner World, and Knight was one of the oldest organizations. Most of the information that others didn’t know, they did.
It was at this time Qing Chen also remembered the character, animal, and plant data that Lin Xiaoxiao had specifically organized for him. And there were two more documents on Taboos and Taboo Lands yet to be organized. He would only see them once he returned to prison number 18.
It turned out to be a precious wealth specially prepared by Uncle Li Dong for him!
In this era, information itself means wealth!
Wang spoke up in the group, “‘Little Duck’ joined the group but hasn’t said a word, seems a bit shy, come on out and chat.”
Qing Chen slowly looked at Nan Gengchen, “Little Duck wouldn’t happen to be you, would it?”
Nan Gengchen’s face turned red, “I just typed in a nickname on the fly, I also didn’t know that the group chat ID can’t be changed…”
…
Thank you to the students Chili Stir Fry Looks Yummy, Three Lives Hunter, and Flying Chin for becoming new allies of this book. Thank you, bosses. Bosses are generous; bosses prosper!