ATIGIBTC Chapter 18

«Believe in the Creator and obtain the supreme life!»

“The Nightmare Beast seed cannot parasitize us!” The researcher in the white lab coat stood on top of the police car, spreading his arms and laughing recklessly. “We are bathed in the glory of the Creator, untouched by these filth. Those who trust the Creator shall attain the highest form of life!”

Countless police officers stirred as the researcher mentioned the Creator. When they faced the Nightmare Beast, its helplessness immediately boosted everyone’s morale.

The chief grabbed the walkie-talkie and issued orders to everyone: “There’s one more Nightmare Beast. It must be captured alive, under no circumstances should it be allowed to escape back to the Nightmare Beast Forest. I repeat, under no circumstances should it be allowed to escape back to the Nightmare Beast Forest. Attention, no one is allowed to enter the borders of the Nightmare Beast Forest during the capture! Proceed with the capture immediately!”

Min Zhizhou stood still, numbly watching as young men in regular police uniforms zipped past him with lightning speed. Their power and speed were far superior to the enhanced Nightmare Beasts that had burned their lives for strength, even causing strong winds to swirl around Min Zhizhou as they passed him.

Min Zhizhou turned his head, watching helplessly as the Nightmare Beast, realizing the danger, began fleeing toward the Nightmare Beast Forest. But who could have anticipated the massive capture net descending from the sky? The iron net, glistening with delicate, glowing threads, quickly moved to envelop the Nightmare Beast. The creature instinctively felt fear and fled in a mad panic. But there was no way to resist.

The Nightmare Beast let out a heart-wrenching scream. To Min Zhizhou, the entire event felt like it happened in an instant. He had exerted all his strength and faced great danger, spending a long time searching for weaknesses and opportunities to fight against the Nightmare Beast. Yet, despite fleeing with all his might, he could not escape the swift pursuit of that moment.

In that instant, Min Zhizhou once again felt the immense sense of oppression that this city imposed.

Having spent so much time in the city, observing its peacefulness every day and seeing its residents live without any sense of crisis, Min Zhizhou had forgotten the overwhelming fear he felt upon first entering the city—his primal instinct warning him of the city’s residents’ great power.

The chief turned to the researcher and asked, “Should we take this Nightmare Beast back for study?”

The researcher squinted at the Nightmare Beast, now covered by the glowing net, and frowned. “It seems we won’t be able to take it back.”

At that moment, the Nightmare Beast, realizing it could not escape, suddenly convulsed. It rapidly turned into black ash, forming a human-shaped black dust pile on the ground.

A police officer furrowed his brows. “What’s happening? Was it burnt?”

“It was drained of all its life energy. What’s left are only the seeds of the Nightmare Beast,” Min Zhizhou explained. “Even if we had captured it, it wouldn’t live much longer.”

Min Zhizhou wanted to remove his beast-mask helmet to mourn for his teammates, but the researcher suddenly stopped him. “You’d better not remove your helmet now. Wait until we go back and clear it properly before taking off your armor.”

Min Zhizhou paused. His eyes, still behind the mask, looked at the researcher, clearly confused as to why this was necessary.

“We are not parasitized because we are the creations of the Creator, true creations of God, unlike you mere mortal humans. Whether you will be parasitized, I’m not sure yet; we need to conduct experiments to find out, just in case,” the researcher explained.

Min Zhizhou lowered his hand.

At that moment, the chief approached Min Zhizhou, patting him on the shoulder with a heartfelt tone. “Kid, although you’re a bit inexperienced, your attitude is correct. You’re honest, dedicated, and understand the importance of sacrifice. Sometimes, attitude matters more than ability. I have high hopes for you.”

“…” Min Zhizhou struggled to get out a response. “Thank you.”

He Fang sat on the sofa, hugging his legs, staring intently at the TV with a highly complicated mood.

He Fang’s emotions shifted rapidly, eventually condensing into two words—”Is that it?”

The helicopters had all returned, the city’s alarm was lifted, and the false alarm was over. People went back to their daily routines—those who needed to work resumed work and those who needed to go to school resumed their studies. In an instant, the city returned to its usual pace of life.

The family of three sitting beside He Fang casually discussed the situation.

“When I first heard about the Nightmare Beast, I thought the name sounded terrifying. But now, it just seems like a bully with no real strength, there’s nothing scary about it,” the wife gently patted her chest.

“Exactly. Even the Rainbow Squad didn’t detect any threats. There wasn’t even any sign that they needed to activate anything. Clearly, it’s not that scary,” the husband added, patting his wife on the head. “Don’t worry, we’re residents under the City Lord’s light. We won’t be in danger.”

City Lord He Fang: “…”

“What’s a Nightmare Beast?” The little girl blinked her big eyes in confusion, looking up.

“A Nightmare Beast is something that spreads dust. It’s very dirty and can get our pretty little dresses all dirty, something we don’t want. You must never get close to a Nightmare Beast, my darling,” the wife explained to their child.

“I don’t want dirty. I want to be pretty. If I get dirty, I won’t be pretty,” the little girl’s innocent voice said as she grabbed the pants of the stiff He Fang. “If I’m not pretty, I can’t marry City Lord.”

City Lord He Fang: “…”

“Oh dear, is our little one’s wish to marry City Lord?” The wife chuckled, covering her mouth with a smile. “Our darling really has good taste. City Lord is the most handsome man!”

With an ordinary face and NPC-level looks, He Fang remained stiff, unable to get a word in.

“Although I might feel a little sad if our little one falls for another man, if it’s City Lord, I actually think he’s a perfect match for our cute darling!” The husband, holding his little daughter, smiled and teased, “So our little one needs to grow up quickly and become a beautiful lady!”

“En!” The child’s crisp voice responded. The whole family was filled with warmth.

No one mentioned the Nightmare Beast again.

Under the pressure of the couple and their child, He Fang kept a stiff expression as the three of them eagerly watched him. He Fang, looking expressionless, logged off.

Lying inside the sensory simulation pod, He Fang took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

His city was very safe.

After walking out of the sensory simulation pod, He Fang relaxed his whole body and immediately felt the fatigue setting in, so he decided to take a shower.

Feeling refreshed after the shower and drying his hair, he sat down in the nearby office chair, sprawled his body out, and relaxed.

Thinking about the bizarre scenes that happened in the game, He Fang got back up and decided to make a rant video.

He had originally thought that the world of “Ruins Without Restart” would have players fighting against the Nightmare Beasts that destroyed the world, creating cities and rebuilding the Earth!

But “Ruins Without Restart” was, after all, just a casual city-building game.

He had thought that once “Ruins Without Restart” went online, it would introduce new combat elements—strategies, troop placement, and planning.

But “Ruins Without Restart” was essentially still a casual city-building game.

He had expected “Ruins Without Restart” to be about battles, invasions and counter-invasions, city alliances, or even wars.

But in reality, “Ruins Without Restart” was most likely just a casual city-building game.

That vast Nightmare Beast Forest!

The Nightmare Beast seeds that brought about the end of the world!

Was this it?

Or maybe he was just overthinking it?

Was the game really that simple?

He Fang furrowed his brows, thinking that the game couldn’t be this simple.

The game developers were definitely using this approach to lull players into thinking the game was simple, only to unleash a massive surprise later.

Thinking about the traits of the Nightmare Beast seeds—since they were parasitic lifeforms, their scope was huge—and He Fang had yet to encounter any of the outside cities or see other humans. He couldn’t just assume that the game was a simple casual city-building game.

The appeal of open-world games lies in the details and exploration.

At this thought, He Fang had a sudden realization and stopped making the rant video.

He couldn’t set the flag so early and claim that the game was simple, or else he’d end up with an egg on his face later.

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