Long Aotian"s accident had always been a topic of discussion amongst the employees of Baoze Group over mealtimes. When the initial accident happened, many of Baoze"s spiritual awakeners threw themselves into the virtual world. Most of them were damaged inside. A few of them escaped, but they had been driven insane.
Since then, in the past half a year, demon descendants had tried to enter one after another, but to no avail. There were not many people like Lady Killer"s calibre left in the outside world.
After the announcement of Lightning King was issued, the demon descendants" chat blew up.
Li Bai: "Condolences."
Mo Fei: "Condolences."
Fire G.o.d: "Condolences."
Food G.o.d: "Condolences."
Medical Department Director Hua Tuo: "Condolences."
Medical Department Deputy Director Li s.h.i.+zhen: "Condolences."
File Manager Mo Fei: "Condolences."
Tentacle Monster: "What"s the situation? Even San Wu is trapped inside? Are you serious, King?"
Law Enforcement Director Lightning King: "It"s true. Tentacle Monster, you are also a spiritual awakener. Why don"t you try then?"
Tentacle Monster: "Farewell."
Tentacle Monster was also a spiritual awakener, but he was not good at combat. However, his ability was skewed towards the combat side. He was responsible for guarding the prison on the first floor. His favourite pastime was to use his tentacles to bind the female demons and demon descendants.
Lightning King: "Long Aotian"s progress seems to have strengthened. Hence, Sanwu is trapped in it and cannot come out."
Li Bai: "Even San Wu"s pure heart could not stand the formation? Then, even the Taoist and Buddhist high-ranking people may not be useful. Back then, the big boss had vowed to create a formation of unprecedented power. Now, it has come back to haunt him."
Old Master Qin: "San Wu actually has her own issues too."
This seemed to be a taboo topic. n.o.body answered; the chat remained silent for a few minutes.
Mo Fei: "Five more colleagues are trapped in the virtual world. Sigh, when will this problem be solved?"
Li Bai: "There is always a good side to everything. For example, we don"t have to listen to King Kong complaining and asking for new things in the chat anymore."
Fire G.o.d: "Yes, yes, that toxic newcomer also went in as well. No wonder the atmosphere in the group has improved a lot these days."
Mo Fei: "Senior, don"t forget that your apprentice is still mentally ill. *covers face*"
Tongtong: "The divination lot of Putuo Temple is ineffective. *grievance*"
Li Bai: "What do you mean?"
Tongtong: "Yesterday, my mother took me to Putuo Temple to burn some joss sticks. Didn"t Sister Battle Lady go to save Uncle Killer? I asked them for a lot of safety. I asked the Bodhisattva to bless them to come back safe and sound. It"s a scam. It doesn"t work. I wasted $100 of my pocket money."
Uncle Qin: "..."
Li Bai: "..."
Hua Tuo: "..."
Mo Fei: "Tongtong, in fact, your lot is already working…"
Tentacle Monster: "Let"s sacrifice her to heaven. I"ll raise her up with my tentacles."
Mo Fei: "Agreed."
Li Bai: "Agreed."
Fire G.o.d: "Don"t speak nonsense. Tongtong"s curse is only effective if face to face. As for Thunderbolt Battle Lady and the rest, it"s their fate."
Tongtong: "Can no one save them?"
Tentacle Monster: "Let"s pet.i.tion and force the big boss to find a way out. Isn"t he a legend amongst the demon descendants? Legends should not be bamboozled by these small problems."
Hua Tuo: "So far, 32 colleagues have been trapped in the virtual world. The big boss is so capable. Is there really no solution?"
Mo Fei: "High combat power does not mean anything. The big boss is not an all-round talented person. He is not well-versed in magic. He is not a spiritual awakener himself. I searched through the files and found that very few of them could solve the current situation. Unless the Buddha Head, the Buddhist expert, is willing to make a move. He specialises in helping people see through illusions. If he can help, he should be able to solve it."
Fire G.o.d: "After Li Wuxiang"s death, he hasn"t been seen for 20 years. Why would he travel so far just to help us with this trivial matter?"
Murphy: "Precisely. This is a real problem. No one can solve it."
There was a collective sigh in the chat.
As the employees were chatting in the group, an accident happened suddenly in the equipment room. Two rows of sparks emanated from the main control machine up to the ceiling, causing the air to become pungent. The flas.h.i.+ng signal lights on the main control machine went out at the same time, as the power supply on the game cabin went off along with the indicator lights.
Lightning King was leaning against the machine as he browsed the chat. The strong current directly burned his mobile phone. Fortunately, Lightning King was like Pikachu, not afraid of high voltage.
"What"s going on, what"s going on?" The technicians panicked.
Lightning King refrained from saying those words as he barked, "Did the main control machine burn out? What about our colleagues in the virtual world?"
One technician replied emotionlessly, "Vegetables..."
Lightning King grabbed his collar and shouted, "Why is this happening? Why is this happening? How can the main machine burn out? Do you technicians eat dry food?"
Faced with such a catastrophe, he could no longer maintain a cool front. Metaphysically speaking, the collapse of the virtual world meant that the souls trapped inside had disintegrated. From a medical perspective, they had become vegetables.
Of the 32 employees, nearly 10 were senior employees. One of them had the most special ident.i.ty amongst all: the descendant of the Li family"s war spirit. Baoze Group had never suffered such a great loss since its establishment.
His position was bound to be in jeopardy. He would undoubtedly be dismissed by the board of directors. In fact, since last year, the board of directors had had the intentions for a power reshuffle within Baoze, planting their own people in the company.
For those politicians who colluded with each other, they perceived Baoze"s lack of politics as unacceptable. The people came from all over the world, their backgrounds were vastly different. They were of decent origin. Some were free-spirited pract.i.tioners, some were ruthless executioners. The mix of backgrounds were quite complex. However, such a complex group now no longer had a leader.
All along, the power of Baoze laid in one person"s hands.
Lightning King did not think that the board of directors would give up this opportunity. Of course, his personal future was insignificant compared to the other 32 colleagues" experiences. He was overcome with sorrow. Suddenly, he saw the door of one of the game cabins open.
A little fat man sat up from inside the game cabin. Long periods of slumber had made his face look yellowish and his eyes tired. He also lost weight, going from 190 pounds to 150 pounds.
"Long Aotian?" Lightning King stared at him, unable to contain his shock. He murmured, "Why are you awake? What about the others?
Before he finished his words, the doors of two more game cabins opened. San Wu and Li Xianyu sat up.
Lightning King was surprised and delighted. "You guys are awake too?"
Li Xianyu seemed to see a bear rus.h.i.+ng towards him. He went into a state of shock, but recovered upon seeing that it was Lightning King. With a sigh of relief, he said, "King, it"s you."
Lightning King took a deep breath and suppressed his ecstasy. "What happened in the virtual world, does this mean that the formation is broken? What about the other colleagues…?"
"They will wake up in a few days," Long Aotian said as he lowered his head, hiding his face from view. He continued in a tired voice, "The virtual world, no matter how real, is fake after all. In that world, I am perfect. And in the real world, I am just an ordinary person. Even if I have awakened, I am also an ordinary demon descendant. I have a working-cla.s.s family, an ordinary face, ordinary grades, and bad interpersonal skills. When I saw the virtual world, I asked myself, why not weave the fantasy in my heart into the virtual world? In the virtual world, I will be born into a good family, have a group of friends who will remain loyal even without communication, as well as a beautiful wife. What a wonderful life…"
"Zhao Ritian, you"re right. No matter how beautiful the virtual world is, it is ultimately fake. Fake things can never be real. I can"t abandon my 26-year-old self just because of some beautiful illusions in the virtual world. It"s not just the life of that little fat man. The next half of his parents" lives depends on him as well."
By this time, Long Aotian"s eyes were full of tears. "I woke up. I"m finally awake. I"m sorry for the trouble I caused everyone."
Lightning King looked silently at the tears flowing out of the big boy"s eyes, like a child or even like an abandoned stray kitten.
Ultimately, he could not bear to berate him, as he patted Long Aotian"s shoulder silently.