ATIGIBTC Chapter 135.1

The residents of the main city, who had been in the midst of heated discussions about the massive earthquake outside the city, received the same message. The familiar notification tone instantly made everyone, almost subconsciously, take out their terminals.

Within the city, information was essentially shared among all. They were not the same as ordinary humans. When it came to major events, they had to possess the ability to share information. This was to ensure that, when faced with certain tasks, no one would inadvertently reveal a flaw in front of the Creator, and also to guarantee the city’s normal development.

Therefore, no matter what kind of message was sent, everyone would immediately check it.

At this moment, Min Zhizhou sensed that the atmosphere within the space had changed. He was resting, having lunch. The restaurant, which had been bustling and lively just moments before, suddenly became utterly silent.

Min Zhizhou raised his head in puzzlement. Some people still had half-eaten food hanging from their mouths, while others had their cheeks puffed out, stuffed with food, completely forgetting to chew. In that instant, everyone’s posture seemed as though time had been frozen.

Min Zhizhou frowned and reached out to pat the colleague sitting across from him, who had come to eat with him. “Hey? Hey? Are you okay?”

Had time really stopped? Just as Min Zhizhou was wondering, he saw that dazed colleague slowly lift his gaze. The movement of his eyes seemed to have been slowed down countless times. The man took out his terminal, looked at the message on it, then glanced back at Min Zhizhou, leaving Min Zhizhou completely baffled.

Just as Min Zhizhou was about to continue questioning him, the first scream came from outside. Min Zhizhou instantly stood up. Could something have happened? Why would something suddenly go wrong at this moment? Had some terrible incident occurred?

However, contrary to his assumption that only one person had met with trouble, countless people began screaming and shouting wildly one after another. The outside instantly became deafeningly chaotic. Min Zhizhou’s eyes widened. He had absolutely no idea what on earth was happening.

These shouts were not roars of anger, nor cries of pain, nor exclamations of shock. They were… they were… joy. Ecstatic joy. A joy so intense it seemed capable of overturning heaven and earth. A joy that, in an instant, drenched the entire world.

At that moment, Min Zhizhou’s colleague suddenly grabbed him. In his colleague’s eyes, it was as if blazing flames were flickering. Goosebumps instantly prickled across Min Zhizhou’s skin. And it wasn’t just his colleague. Those diners who had been “frozen in time” a moment ago seemed to have all sensed something at the same instant. They suddenly stood up, glancing at each other as if to confirm something.

“Min Zhizhou, Min Zhizhou, come here. Come here and look at this sentence for me. Read it out loud, let me hear it. I feel like I’m hallucinating. Help me check. Hurry, help me check…” His colleague gripped his arm hard. Min Zhizhou winced from the pain, and the strange look on his colleague’s face actually frightened him. He even leaned back in an exaggerated attempt to escape, not caring in the slightest about his favorite food anymore.

Min Zhizhou realized that ever since his colleague had spoken, every diner in the restaurant had turned to look at him. He swallowed unconsciously. For the first time, he felt the suffocating pressure of being the center of everyone’s attention. Even more fearsome than when he had first arrived in the main city. But seeing his colleague, who seemed to have lost all awareness, hand something over to him, Min Zhizhou knew that if he refused, it might cause trouble.

He looked down and saw that his colleague was handing him a terminal. Displayed on it was a message window he had never seen before, utterly unfamiliar, nothing like any message interface he had encountered. Min Zhizhou swallowed again and lowered his gaze to read the text.

“It says, ‘The Creator has learned the truth of the world. All NPC modes can be lifted’.” Min Zhizhou frowned. What was that supposed to mean? What did it have to do with anything?

But his colleague, as if unable to believe it, had him read it again. Min Zhizhou read it again, and again—five times in total—before the other man finally let him go. Then he watched as his colleague took the terminal back, holding it in both hands as if it were the most precious treasure in the world, unwilling to let go.

“You okay—”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh—!” Just as Min Zhizhou was about to ask, he saw his usually lazy, laid-back colleague suddenly shrieking like a madman, in perfect unison with the wild roar erupting outside at that very moment. And in the entire restaurant, every single person was displaying some sort of emotional change, each one different from the other. These changes were simply far too bizarre. Min Zhizhou felt his scalp prickle with dread.

Instinctively, Min Zhizhou took two steps back. He felt that the mental state of the residents in the main city was a bit off, one after another. In such a state of mind, he absolutely had to ensure his own safety. Otherwise, with just one careless move from any of these main city residents, he could lose his life on the spot.

He didn’t even bother with his food anymore. Min Zhizhou immediately left his colleague, who was now kneeling on the ground with both hands raised high in an encouraging gesture. He was genuinely terrified that if his colleague brought those raised fists down, they might just send his head flying.

After stepping outside, Min Zhizhou felt as if the whole city had gone mad. He had seen this kind of scene before. It was that day when He Fang had suddenly gone to the Nightmare Beast Forest. The entire city seemed to share some kind of mysterious mental link. Only after sensing He Fang’s disappearance would such a spectacle appear.

“Mom… Mom… wuwuwuwu…” At that moment, a child was clinging to his mother. Min Zhizhou thought the child might have been frightened, but on a closer look, he saw that the child was actually grinning so widely that his gums showed, yet was still crying in a strange tone.

All the cars on the street had stopped. One by one, the drivers stepped out as if they had seen something strange. Strangers were embracing each other in wild joy, and many of them were even weeping, their faces full of tears. Each and every one of them was showing their own unique emotions and happiness at this moment.

Something must have happened. Min Zhizhou was certain of it. He quickly slipped into a narrow alley in the distance, feeling that these emotionally unhinged people were truly terrifying. What if someone suddenly came up to give him an enormous hug…

Suddenly, from the side came a cheerful “meow!” Min Zhizhou’s face froze. Heaven knew why he thought it odd that there would even be a happy “meow” sound. He turned his head, his pupils constricting violently. He actually saw a cat dancing!

The cat was tiptoeing up and down, even hopping on one leg. It spread its paws wide as if to display its joy.

For a sudden moment, Min Zhizhou wondered. Could it be that it wasn’t the people outside who had gone mad, but himself? Could it be that something he had eaten was laced with poisonous mushrooms or something? Otherwise, why would he be seeing such a strange scene?

Just at that moment, a sudden notification sound rang out again. Everyone immediately halted their revelry and lowered their heads to look at their terminals. Right beside Min Zhizhou, he could actually see the cat’s terminal. Min Zhizhou was dumbfounded. The cat’s terminal?[mfn]Moonlit: HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA damn[/mfn]

At this moment, there were several lines of text on the terminal. To his surprise, Min Zhizhou could see them quite clearly.

“The Creator is currently deliberately being held captive by the Summit of the World. He has given us the right of choice. Now, everyone can act according to their own mood and goals. You may choose to rescue the lands currently being destroyed by the Summit of the World, or you may lend your support to the Summit of the World. Make your own choice.”

Min Zhizhou’s mind went blank. The Summit of the World? What happened to the Summit of the World?

Only now did Min Zhizhou think to check the terminal feeds. He discovered that everywhere was broadcasting news about the Summit of the World planning to strip away the Nightmare Beast Forest, causing the land of the world to fracture. Min Zhizhou drew in a sharp breath.

From nearby, a sudden new message came through. Min Zhizhou immediately looked toward the cat’s terminal. It read: “The Creator has already issued the order to the Divine Lord: ‘Protect everyone’.”

Min Zhizhou’s heart gave a hard thump. He understood clearly that the person intended to help the entire world.

He sensed something was off. The next moment, he realized exactly what it was. The little cat’s body was growing, bit by bit, until it completely took on the form of a human… no, to be precise, a beastman.

“Free action? Free choice?” From the cat’s mouth came the voice of a soft, charming woman. She—no longer “it”—casually slipped on a long red gown, looking stunning beyond words. Her beautiful catlike eyes blinked slightly, and she smiled. “Since the Creator wishes to protect humanity, that alone is proof that this is the Creator’s choice. And our choice… of course, is to carry out the Creator’s order.”

As she spoke, Min Zhizhou watched in astonishment as the cat leapt away in an instant, vanishing from sight so fast his eyes couldn’t even catch her movement.

That sight made Min Zhizhou suddenly recall the footage from the military parade. In that instant, a tingling sensation crawled over his scalp. Too terrifying. Far too terrifying. Just what on earth was happening?

However, what truly made him panic was not just this. He saw even more people, different kinds of people.

Those ordinary residents, the ones who usually didn’t have the slightest distinguishing feature, were now, one after another, undergoing extremely strange transformations. In that instant, it was as if demons were running amok.

He saw a woman carrying a child turn into a witch riding a broom, and her child actually became a winged fairy. He saw an elderly man with a head full of white hair, someone he had passed by earlier, now straighten his once-bent back, put on a long robe with trembling hands, grasp a staff, and fumble in his pocket for a tall pointed hat to place on his head. Although walking still seemed difficult, with every swing of his staff, he gradually grew younger until he became a handsome young man.

Min Zhizhou was completely stunned. Suddenly, the house behind him seemed to tremble. He whipped his head around and saw the once steady and quiet house actually split open a passage, from which countless flying machines—ones he had never seen before—shot out into the sky.

Min Zhizhou saw that there were actually people flying on swords.

Min Zhizhou actually saw people transforming into monsters.

The normal humans he saw also began, one by one, to reveal expressions utterly different from their usual calm, blank faces—expressions of madness, coldness, malice, ecstatic joy, and countless other emotions—becoming completely different people altogether.

What was going on?

Min Zhizhou quietly crouched down, hugging his legs and trembling all over. What was going on? Had he eaten too many mushrooms and gone stupid?

“Ruins Without Restart”, a fully open-world infrastructure game where everyone could use their own unique ideas to create different cities, free to build however they wanted. Different people could create entirely different cities. This was a completely open game.

Someone had once created a city of the demon realm. Someone had once created a cultivation world. Someone had once created a technologically advanced future world. Someone had once created a Western fantasy world. Different people would create different worlds, but all the NPC data generated would never be directly destroyed. It would instead be preserved and reused over and over again.

And among them, the NPCs would, across different worlds, gradually refine their data, becoming unique individuals that could never be replicated, each possessing a wealth of experience.

Zhu Yan stood inside the research institute, watching the strange scenes continuously unfolding outside. To him, this sight didn’t seem strange at all.

“What… is this?” Yuan Sanjin was already in shock. What exactly had she just witnessed?

“Even though I knew it would be like this, actually seeing it in person is still spectacular.” At this moment, Lu Hu stood beside Zhu Yan, a pair of fox ears sprouting from the top of her head. “It’s actually kind of uplifting.”

“When they come back, they’ll all have to change back. Otherwise, this will frighten the Creator. Thankfully, the Creator can’t see this right now.” At this time, Qi Jingwei frowned slightly, clearly disapproving of these residents running wild.

“It’s probably because they’re too excited. After all, this is such good news. If the Creator accepts us, even our last bit of anxiety will disappear.” Yuan Zhiran said from the side.

Qi Jingwei looked toward Yuan Zhiran and suddenly asked, “What are you like?”

“An elf, a half-blood elf. My world was destroyed because it lost its system, its laws. There were no rules, and in the end, it perished.” Yuan Zhiran unconsciously touched his own ear. “And you?”

“Human. I’m just a human, that’s all.” Qi Jingwei gave a faint, self-deprecating smile. “Before coming to the Creator’s world, I had always been a police officer, probably nothing as dramatic as you elves.”

Yuan Zhiran smiled faintly. “Not that dramatic. Just a more miserable death. But what I’m curious about is, what were Chong Ying and Chong Xiao like before?”

“The Domain of the Gods, I think.” Qi Jingwei smiled wryly. “The kind that plunders the resources of worlds.”

“How do you know that?” Chong Ying blinked in surprise, looking at Qi Jingwei.

“How could I have spent so much time with you and not guessed at least a little?” Qi Jingwei said with a helpless smile, looking at Chong Ying. “Since this is already a one-time thing, why not try revealing yourself just once? I’m also curious to see what a god looks like.”

“No way. This is the body the Creator gave me, and I’m not giving it up.” Chong Ying, clearly displeased, wrapped his arms tightly around Chong Xiao’s waist. “I’ll always uphold the body the Creator gave me. My brother’s and my faces were meticulously designed after countless studies. Are you seriously telling me you didn’t adjust your appearance before entering the main city?”

Qi Jingwei coughed lightly. “Yuan Zhiran must have adjusted his, too. Elves are already good-looking, but to still go and tweak the face. No wonder you look like such a monster.”

Yuan Zhiran gave a cold snort and touched his cheek. “I had good foundations. It just needed a little fine-tuning.”

At that moment, the expressions of the sibling pair Shi Canghai and Shi Sangtian had already changed. A vague suspicion had formed in their minds, and it had already been confirmed. Mirage… Mirage… What kind of terrifying place was this?

Meanwhile, Zhu Yan’s brows furrowed tightly. “They’re so overjoyed right now, they’ve lost some of their reason. This won’t do. We need to get everyone to tone it down.”

Zhu Yan immediately sent out another message: “Please make sure your external appearance matches the human appearance standards of the Creator’s main city. Don’t give other cities any excuse to talk. If the Creator finds out, it will make acceptance harder. We need to take things slowly.”

The moment Zhu Yan’s message was sent, all the non-human creatures that had been charging forward stopped mid-air. Then, like dumplings dropping into boiling water, they plummeted one by one to the ground before taking off on two legs and running away.

“Since everyone’s gone out to help, there shouldn’t be any problem now, right?” Qi Jingwei asked Zhu Yan.

At the side, Lu Hu was pressing her fox ears back down with both hands.

“If it’s just like this, it definitely won’t be enough.” Zhu Yan went over to the locator that had been transferred into the research institute. When he said “not enough”, he didn’t mean not enough to ruin the Summit of the World’s plan. But rather that it wasn’t enough to make these people place their wholehearted trust in the Creator.

Zhu Yan activated the locator, directly connecting it to all the city locators. Then he spoke…

—

An earthquake—a massive earthquake.

At this moment, the mobile cities closest to the coastline were the first to feel the enormous impact brought by the surging seawater.

The ground kept splitting apart. The fissures were so deep they seemed bottomless. Those cracks spread bit by bit. Some widening, some splitting open directly beneath the mobile cities, creating massive chasms that left the cities unable to move at all.

This was the greatest impact in the history of this world, and in everyone’s hearts, there was only fear.

Faced with such a disaster, they had no means of resistance. They were only human. No matter how early or how far they had advanced, they were still ordinary people in this world. The entire Earth could not be altered by human will. They were innocent, and they were helpless. Before everything unfolding in front of them, they were utterly powerless.

“Is this it? Are we finally going to die? The Earth has been killing us all along. It nurtured something as terrifying as the Nightmare Beast seeds just to wipe us out. All these years, we’ve been dragging out our pitiful survival. In the end, the Earth will still abandon us without the slightest hesitation. We have always been nothing but discarded pieces.” The man sitting on the ground had at last fallen into despair. His eyes were filled with a dull grayness—despair, sorrow, and bitterness toward this world—all of it, at this moment, reduced to numbness.

“I don’t want to die. No matter how hard life is, I don’t want to die. Please… City Lord, my City Lord, I beg you. I’ve served you faithfully. You will protect your citizens, won’t you? You will protect us, right?” Among the lowest of the people, on this violently trembling ground, it was impossible to even stand. He could only cling to the ground, as if in worship, but there was no one who would pay any heed to his kneeling.

“Is there really no way? One side of the city has already sunk into a ground fissure. Once we fall in, we’re done for! Is there really not a single person who can come up with even the slightest idea?!” The City Lord, in a panic, slammed his hands hard against the table, using his anger to mask the fear in his heart. But it didn’t work. More and more people were wearing the look of those resigned to death.

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