Chapter 1050: Xiao Han: The Plan is Going Unusually Smoothly
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 1050: Xiao Han: The Plan is Going Unusually Smoothly
It was several hours later by the time the news of the upheaval within the Emerald Forest game world reached the rest of the system.
Initially, the Game Architect in charge of the Emerald Forest assumed that the resistance forces had found a loophole in the Terminal of Myriad Worlds, breaking the combat power limits of the Emerald Forest to carry out indiscriminate destruction. Consequently, they proceeded according to standard emergency protocols.
However, when the head Game Architect in charge of the matter received the feedback from those protocols, he was utterly dumbfounded.
The one invading the Emerald Forest wasn't some player, but the long-vanished "Calamity Witch"!
By the time the Game Architect received the next update, nearly a third of the player-built infrastructure in the Emerald Forest—including 269 large player main cities, 1,664 player settlements, and countless unregistered gathering points—had completely fallen!
By the time this news reached the Supreme Council, nearly half of the player settlements in the Emerald Forest had been lost.
Furthermore, these incomplete statistics were still climbing at a terrifying rate.
This was the first time they had ever seen the Calamity Witch in such an "all-out" state.
They finally realized that previously, the Calamity Witch had merely been playing with them. If she truly wanted to annihilate their world, she probably wouldn't even need a real Transcendent Witch; they would collapse entirely, becoming nothing more than a dead world drifting in the Void.
Humanity would be wiped out, and an entire world would become a tomb for their civilization.
* * *
Inside the Supreme Council.
"We must call for reinforcements! This Calamity Witch is far too terrifying. We have to find a group of people who can restrain her and drive her away!"
"Number 12, you're being far too pessimistic," someone interjected to refute him. "This Calamity Witch is merely inside a small game world."
"If she can stir up a calamity in that world, she can do the same in our home world! Do you think just because the meteor shower in the footage didn't hit your head, you can just keep happily playing with women?"
"I also feel this matter is grave. Should we perhaps notify the Wizards?" another person nearby added in an agreeing tone, proposing their own idea.
As soon as this suggestion was made, the meeting fell into a sudden silence.
No one found it strange.
Most of the twelve members of the Supreme Council represented major factions and interest groups. This meeting was less a discussion between twelve individuals and more a brainstorming session—and a struggle for interests—between a dozen conglomerates.
While the group waited to deliberate, Number 11 was the first to speak: "I don't think there's any need, is there? The Wizards have their own hands full. Besides, with that Transcendent Principle of Non-Interference, do you really think anyone will come to save us?"
When he finished, no one echoed his sentiment. The meeting maintained its eerie silence.
After a while, someone else spoke up.
"I believe it is still necessary to inform them. Recognizing our own position is a reality we urgently need to face. At least on the surface, we stand in the Wizards' camp."
"I disagree with the latter half of your statement, but I also believe notification is necessary. Some people should be careful not to live so long they end up looking like dogs."
"Let's put it to a vote. Let's end this topic quickly. I see that some people don't understand at all why we've gathered here in such a hurry," Number 02, the second-highest authority after Number 01, declared with finality.
The voting began.
A simple decision was ultimately passed with a unanimous twelve votes, almost like a farce.
"Then, let us discuss how we should handle the world codenamed 'Emerald Forest,'" Number 01 presided personally. He hadn't spoken during the previous bickering, but he spoke now.
"I propose forcibly cutting off the connection with the Emerald Forest world, and executing it immediately. This matter cannot be delayed for a single moment."
As soon as he finished, someone else reacted with agitation: "Do you have any idea how severe the consequences of doing that would be? You're just running your mouth!"
"State your reasons," Number 01 said, not joining the argument but looking at the person who made the proposal.
"We all know that the Calamity Witch has the means to kill people across the network. So far, we only know she uses game qualifications as a medium for her killing ability, but we can't figure out the specifics of how she does it because everyone targeted by that move is dead. Who knows if she can use that same method to descend into our world?"
"I think that's too pessimistic. If she really wanted to destroy our world like that, she could have done it long ago."
"The Calamity Witch who descended into our world was just a clone! Her not bringing a calamity to our home world might not be out of the goodness of her heart, but because she lacked the capability. If her main body follows the path from that small world to stand before us, do you really want to leave your life and death in the hands of a bloodthirsty maniac like the Calamity Witch?"
The person who had just argued back was silenced by these words.
In truth, everyone present could see the terror of the Calamity Witch. They had to be beyond cautious.
However... the current situation in the game world had already made many feel hopeless, to the point where a sense of inevitable defeat had taken root in their hearts.
This led to a conflict between making the correct choice and sacrificing interests.
After all, they were already in a "broken pot" situation—the Calamity Witch had already paid them a visit. For whatever reason, if she came again, many felt a sense of "so what?" in the back of their minds.
The Emerald Forest game world had been operating for a long time. While its foundation was hollow, the industries within were all immensely profitable!
The consumption of desire was always the most lucrative business.
With such interests at stake, many were naturally reluctant to let go, still harboring a sliver of hope.
At that moment, someone spoke again: "How are the negotiations between the dispatched players and the Calamity Witch going?"
"According to the data, that Calamity Witch has already killed thirteen of our negotiators. We've issued tasks and granted permissions, but the temporary negotiators have died in countless numbers. She has absolutely no desire to communicate with us."
This response completely extinguished the flickering hope in many hearts.
"I must emphasize again: half of the player settlements in the Emerald Forest have completely fallen. These settlements are scattered, which means half of the entire world has been thoroughly destroyed! Why are you still clinging to that wishful thinking? Do you really think we are the ones damaging your interests? It's the Calamity Witch!"
It proved that no matter how high a position a person reached, they still loved to harbor strange fantasies.
The underlying logic was the unfairness of the damage to their interests.
They had lost profit for no reason. They could blame the Calamity Witch, but could they ask her for compensation?
Obviously not. And they were being mocked by others for it.
So it was unfair!
Therefore, they couldn't just let the others watch the joke. They would stall, making overt threats.
At worst, everyone would go down together. Otherwise, you had to provide a solution we can accept, whether it's a redistribution of interests or a compromise. Either way, no one gets to be happy!
One could say these dissenters were putting their roguishness on full display.
The talk within the Supreme Council was merely a declaration of stances. Grand ideals, right and wrong, the interests of the majority, the life and death of everyone—all of it was just bargaining chips.
Since the Calamity Witch hadn't reached their home world yet, that was their leverage for negotiation.
These were people whose heads were filled with nothing but profit, possessing a bizarre train of thought. If you couldn't understand it, it simply meant you weren't looking at the problem from their perspective.
The issue of the Emerald Forest was destined to be discarded the moment it was brought up.
But it couldn't be discarded with a simple "yes."
That was the true purpose of this Supreme Council meeting.
The subsequent phase was the climax of the meeting, where the entanglement and trade-offs of interests affected every aspect.
It could be said that everyone maintained a high level of focus. When it came to their own interests, they naturally wouldn't let the other parties gain even a slight advantage.
As for the Emerald Forest incident—how the Calamity Witch reached that world, why she wanted to destroy it, what her goal was—no one cared.
The foolish would ignore these questions without reason, while the clear-headed knew they were powerless to handle them.
Were there any fools in this Supreme Council?
No.
They all knew exactly what they were facing.
The bickering on the surface was actually another layer of masking their own incompetence and helplessness.
As for the accumulated civilizational foundation they were so proud of—the experience of wandering the Void for so long while remaining unscathed—it was completely useless at this moment.
If they truly laid bare their foundation, they would only find: bullying the weak while fearing the strong, being cowardly and cautious, and running away at the first sign of trouble.
And now, they were trapped.
Time ticked by. No one cared how many player settlements in the Emerald Forest had fallen; those losses were merely fluctuations in data to the Supreme Council.
In fact, stable data fluctuations even gave them a slight sense of security.
If the Calamity Witch was busy destroying that world, she wouldn't have the spare energy to deal with them.
* * *
While the meeting for the distribution of interests continued, the Transcendent Academy in the Main World also received the news.
That little witch from the Witch Academy, who was always jumping around, had actually run off to a game world again.
And this time, she was invading a prospective colony world.
The first to receive this news was, naturally, the Wizard Academy.
Originally, the Wizards didn't intend to interfere—until they learned that the world the little witch was invading was a world dominated by Elves.
Upon learning the internal situation of the Emerald Forest, the Wizard Academy immediately suppressed the news.
What a joke!
Enslaving an elven world, even if it was just a small world, and doing those things to Elves... were they really not afraid that the Afuhemi Forest Elves would tear that game world apart?
When they, the Wizard Academy, raised plant spirits, they did so privately in the most sealed world fragments. That alone showed how high the Elves' obsession with their kin was!
Furthermore, the current situation in the Main World was incredibly delicate. If those stupid Elves from Afuhemi had a short circuit in their brains and started internal strife, the conflict would directly affect the relationship between the Three Great Transcendent Races.
Once a rift appeared, wouldn't the Staff of World Destruction Deterrence Plan become a laughingstock?
Moreover, the game world was a place where transcendents were not allowed to interfere. That was a Witch Contract!
If they violated it... it would draw the ire of the Witches.
The previous incident had taught them that there were so many Rebel Witches outside the Main World.
Fortunately, the Witch Academy didn't want the Rebel Witches coming in either. But if the Wizards violated a Witch Contract, the Rebel Witches would have a mandatory obligation to step in and uphold the Truth Dedication of the Witch Contract.
In the world of Witches, the importance of upholding the Truth Dedication of a Witch Contract was far greater than a repairable Main World!
At least, that was the current state of affairs.
Thinking of this, the Wizards realized just how horrifying it was that the Witch Academy had allowed a little witch to go to the game world to pull such a stunt.
If they tried to make a political issue out of the little witch's actions, the Three Great Transcendent Races would lose all face. If such bottomless behavior were spread by the Witches, it would cause a massive blow to the reputation of their transcendent clans.
At that time, they might even be completely abandoned by their clans—though, their current situation was already close to being abandoned anyway.
The Witch race was truly someone they couldn't afford to provoke.
One could say that the Wizard Academy was currently bearing all the pressure alone, and it wasn't over yet!
Soon, they received word that the game world was preparing to cut its losses and abandon the world called Emerald Forest. Furthermore, they hoped to push this world toward the Main World as they discarded it.
They wanted to send that little witch back to where she came from.
They did this because, after deliberation, they felt they couldn't afford to offend the Calamity Witch. To avoid completely making an enemy of her, they would gift the entire world to the Main World.
Seeing the game world make this decision almost made the Wizards laugh from rage.
Sending this world to the Main World?
Wouldn't the crimes the game world committed against the Elves be completely exposed then?
Do they really think they aren't dying fast enough?
But... did the game world have any other choice? It seemed not. This world was bound to fall into the Main World. Even if the game world discarded it into the Void, once the colony world detached from the game world, it would no longer be within the scope of the contract.
Any random Rebel Witch outside the Main World could throw it into the Main World, which would cause an uproar. And they couldn't reason with Rebel Witches—not even other Witches could.
So... the Wizards agreed to the players' plan. But what the game world didn't know was that the Wizards were already planning to redirect the Elves' fury onto the game world.
No matter what, within the Main World, the academies of the Three Great Transcendent Races had to be "harmonious friends"!
Because if they weren't friends, the only outcome was that everyone would die!
Meanwhile, far away in the Supreme Council of the game world, some "Councilors" felt that the plan was going... unusually smoothly.