Chapter 75: Old Friends Reunion

Chapter 75: Old Friends Reunion

Chapter 75: Old Friends Reunion (Seventh Update)

The next day.

Qi Sheng received a connection with the super-dimensional consciousness and learned that the decomposition function had been completed.

After testing this part of the function, Qi Sheng immediately started a new round of updates.

A few minutes later, the challenger prompt sounded in the minds of all players, and the forum also released the specific content of this update in real time.

[Challenger Tips (All Channels): The game will be updated to version 1.4 soon. The content of this update is as follows]:
Posted by: Guidance (certified official)
Contents:

In order to optimize the game content, this update will modify the function settings and add new features.

Update 1: Soul Decomposition

Introduction: A new soul decomposition function has been added to the function panel. Players can use this function to crush existing souls and obtain 95% of the evolution point feedback.

Tip: The decomposition function can only be used on the soul after it has been stripped, and cannot be used on the soul in the embedded state. The evolution points obtained from decomposition can be freely allocated to other souls.

Example: After a level 10 Black Armored Snake Soul is decomposed, 3000 evolution points can be returned, which can be used to train a level 1 Eagle-headed Monster, quickly raising its level to level 9 25%.

Update 2: Evolution Points Allocation
Introduction: At the end of this update, a secondary panel "Evolution Point Allocation" function is added to the Star Vein Enhancement Panel. Players can use this panel to freely adjust the percentage of evolution points obtained after hunting. They can focus on cultivating specific souls and obtain higher hunting output evolution point quotas.

Update 3: Trading Row
Introduction: A new trading function has been added to the function panel. Players can collect resources, make props, and other items and sell them on the trading line. The goods can be priced freely. A handling fee of 5% of the seller's total revenue will be charged for each successful transaction.

Tips: Items purchased from the trading house can be retrieved by teleporting regardless of the distance as instructed. Retrieval across a large area will increase the teleportation fee by 1%.

(This update is an online update, players do not need to log off and wait.)
……

Comment area:
Dark Night is Coming: The surprise came too suddenly. Yesterday, I was discussing with a brother on the forum the drawbacks of star vein improvement and the inability to focus on cultivating specific souls. As a result, the evolution point allocation function was released today. I don’t know if it was the Eclipse official who was secretly spying on me or if it was a coincidence... But I prefer coincidence. After all, everyone who has played their previous games knows the nature of the Eclipse clan. They are superior and don’t listen to anything.

Roaring Hurricane: I vomited three liters of blood. I just peeled off the life soul of the gargoyle and transformed it into an eagle-headed demon yesterday, but today the peeling and decomposition function was released. What should I do with my loss yesterday? The damn official won't compensate me? I was so angry that I wanted to punch a lunar eclipse to death.

This beaver: Hahaha, the evolution point allocation function and the soul decomposition function are well received. I don’t have to worry about the problem of early sunk costs when I change schools in the future. I give full marks to this update, which really takes into account the players’ personal experience.

Weapon Master: I really like the trading house feature. You don’t have to chat privately to buy custom weapons in the future. You can just search in the trading house and bid for it. Although there is a 5% handling fee, the efficiency is greatly improved. It is a very convenient setting.

Big Killer: Soul upgrade is too slow? Hunting evil spirits is too difficult? You can buy the second-generation improved psychic firearms and second-generation psychic bombs on the trading bank. Even at a low level, you can have powerful output. Those who have used it all say it is good.

The special official of the Eclipse Clan said: Hahaha, I just wanted to change the soul of the Black Armored Snake, and the update is here. This melee version is too lame, so I will decisively change it to a combination of Bone Fire + Eagle-headed Demon + Air-eating Star Vein. Long-range output is the answer for this version.

……

Looking through the comments, you can find that players are very satisfied with this update.

The only ones who are dissatisfied are the players who changed the Soul School before the update.

Their stripped souls were refined and entered the sacrificial power pool without any decomposition feedback.

Qi Sheng immediately provided a solution to this problem, converting 95% of the benefits obtained from the previous decomposition into evolution points and feeding them back to the players via email.

Suddenly the wailing sounds in the official update post disappeared.

The losses were compensated, and the previous complaints turned into praise for the updated content.

This update also means that players no longer have to worry about pairing the Star Vein School. They can switch to a new Soul School at will by simply reducing their initial investment by 5%.

What it will bring is the development and application of more combinations of Star Vein School.

After the update, Qi Sheng decided to start a new round of recruitment.

After the Black Tide ravaged the area, the Dark Cave has been vacant. Even low-level newbies have chosen to walk out of the Imperial Tomb Village and grow quickly by hunting evil spirits.

In Qi Sheng's opinion, the raging black tide is very suitable for the growth and training of newbies.

In terms of recruitment, he already has a clear target group.

……

Iron wall city.

As night falls, the lights are on.

In a corner of the city, the Veteran Tavern is open for business.

The pub's doorplate is shaped like a huge black shield with the word "Veteran" printed on it.

When you push open the door, the deep and magnetic jazz music flows slowly, forming a sharp contrast with the modern bustling and noisy world outside.

The interior decoration of the bar has a retro charm of the past centuries. The dim light shines through the carved copper chandeliers, giving the interior space a retro halo. Several yellowed old photos are hung on the walls, recording battlefield photos taken during the mechanical war era.

The bar counter is made of dark solid wood with a smooth surface that reflects colorful glass bottles and exquisite cocktail utensils. The bartender, wearing a classic white shirt and a black bow tie, shakes the cocktail shaker skillfully, and the air is filled with the smell of whiskey, cigar smoke and light floral scent.

The seats and sofas here have turned white after years of wear and tear.

At the round table in the center of the bar, a white-haired old man with a centipede scar on his face took a deep puff of his cigar, crushed the butt into the ashtray, and turned to look at the old man sitting not far away.

"Old dog, why hasn't the boss come yet?"

"I've contacted them, and they should be here soon." As he spoke, the old man hiding in the shadows bent down and stood up, revealing a semi-mechanized face. He raised the wine glass in his hand and saluted the old man who asked the question.

Just then, the door of the bar was pushed open and the bell hit the door frame, making a crisp "ding-ling" sound.

A group of elderly people in the bar turned their heads and saw a figure over two meters tall pushing the door open, his combat boots making noises on the wooden floor.

The figure who arrived took off his rain-soaked coat, revealing his broad and strong muscles. He looked up at his old friends and grinned:
"I'm late."

The bar, which had been quiet for a short time, suddenly became noisy.

"Captain, it turns out that walking with a broken leg can't be as fast as walking with two legs." An old man with both arms broken looked at Li Tie and laughed.

"Brother Tie, I'm afraid you're being pestered by your granddaughter again? Are you interested in introducing your granddaughter to my grandson?"

"Boss, come over and have a drink. I missed you so much."

……

Sitting down at the round table in the center of the bar, Li Tie swept his eyes over everyone present.

"Where are Blastball and Wasp?"

Faced with the question, everyone present suddenly fell silent and the smiles on their faces disappeared.

"Bombshell and the Hornets didn't survive this year. You were undergoing mental recovery treatment at the time and your condition was not very stable. In order not to distress you, you were not notified to attend the funeral." The old man sitting next to Li Tie said in a deep voice.

When Li Tie heard this, a hint of sadness flashed in his eyes.

But he quickly suppressed his emotions, reached out for the wine glass, raised it high, and grinned:

"For us old guys, it's a blessing to be able to crawl back from hell. Living one more day is a bonus. Respect the veterans and old friends."

"Cheers to the old soldiers and old friends." The old men present raised their glasses and then followed Li Tie and drank them all.

During the reminiscing session, while listening to old comrades recounting their experiences over the past year, Li Tie's thoughts followed the classic old songs played on an old-fashioned TV in the corner, bringing back memories from the deepest part of his heart.

The deafening artillery fire seemed to explode in my ears, an endless army of machines stood in front of the battlefield, stretching to no end on both sides...

Those who can sit here are brothers who have followed him through life and death on the battlefield.

In the brutal war, only 46 people from the troops he led returned alive, and the rest of his brothers were buried on the battlefield.

Today, there are only 27 left.

This painful memory is not only his nightmare, but also the unforgettable pain in the hearts of his old friends.

Whenever he thought of the past, countless young figures would always flash through his mind. In the end, these figures were torn to pieces in the raging flames of war. He wanted to reach out to retain them, but found that it was nothing but an illusion.

This is also one of the main reasons for his mental problems.

Every time the indelible memories replay themselves, the repressed emotions become more severe, until they completely explode when it becomes difficult to distinguish between reality and memories.

He took a deep puff of the cigar in his hand and exhaled the thick smoke from his mouth. The white mist swirled upwards along his fingers, obscuring his slightly confused eyes.

"Boss, tell me how you've been this year. Has our granddaughter gotten married?"

"Nonsense, if she gets married, can I not invite you guys over for a drink?" Blowing away the white mist in front of him, Li Tie raised his right arm, hooked the old man beside him under his armpit, and grinned:

"Are you trying to introduce your grandson to my granddaughter again?"

"That kid is not so lucky. He has recently become addicted to some kind of black market. My son said he often stays up late to buy the qualification. His life is ruined."

Hearing these words, Li Tie's heart moved.

"Dark Place?"

"Yes, that's it. It is said that the scenes in it are very realistic and much more advanced than the virtual games we played when we were young." The old friend's words suddenly made Li Tie have an idea in his mind.

The situations of these old comrades are similar to his, and they all suffer from post-war stress and trauma syndrome. Why not drag these old friends to the dark land and take them to fight in the game.

Venting out emotions can not only alleviate their symptoms, but also avoid the destructive risks brought about by every emotional outburst in reality.

Thinking of this, Li Tie stood up and clapped his hands violently.

"Snapped!"

The crisp sound of applause was heard, and the noisy bar suddenly became quiet, and the old comrades looked at Li Tie one after another.

"Come here, let me talk to you about something."

Upon hearing this, the veterans present stood up and surrounded Li Tie with puzzled expressions.

The scarred old man in the lead spoke first without waiting for Li Tie to speak:

"Boss, you're probably going to drag us into playing virtual games again. I'm not interested. It's too childish."

Hearing the words of the scarred old man, Li Tie was suddenly speechless.

In fact, before this, he had invited this group of old friends to experience virtual games.

But he was the only one who persevered, as his old comrades all chose to return to real life after a short experience.

The reason why he was able to persevere was to accompany his granddaughter Li Siyu, otherwise he would have quit long ago.

"This time is different. Recently, Siyu recommended me to a very realistic virtual game... so I want you to experience this game with me... By the way, the game can automatically fill in our physical defects, and we can regain the lost body parts in it."

Li Tie glanced at his old friends present and said in a deep voice:

"I'm not kidding you this time. This game is far from comparable to the virtual game I recommended to you before. You will know after trying it."

After listening to Li Tie's story, his old comrades surrounding him looked at each other in surprise.

The scarred man who was in the lead spoke first:
"Boss, since you said so, we have to give it a try. Send a purchase link to the group later and we'll try it when we get back."

Hearing this, Li Tie immediately shook his head:

"It will never be your turn to buy it. Players who want to buy it now have to fight for it. If you want to buy it through official channels, you may not be able to get it even after you die."

"Captain, what do you mean? How can we enter the game if we can't get the purchasing qualification?"

Facing the question, Li Tie grinned and said:
"I have a cracked version link here. You can use the link to get the game qualification directly... But you have to keep it secret. If it is exposed, we may all be disqualified from the game."

As he spoke, Li Tie took out his mobile phone and shared the download link of "Dark Land" with his comrades in the group.

Time passed, and at midnight the annual veterans' gathering ended.

Li Tie and his old friend, who were drunk, slept soundly in the pub until dawn.

……

noon the next day.

When Li Tie got home, he took out his mobile phone and found that his old friends had already obtained the qualification and were downloading the game.

Li Tie did not think there was anything wrong with this.

He downloaded the game for the first time using the link, not knowing that the link was limited and could not be downloaded anytime and anywhere.

There is another reason why this group of veterans can easily apply for download qualifications.

All network movements of the Star Network were monitored in real time by the guide. After learning that he wanted to share his qualifications with other veterans, the guide fed this information back to Qi Sheng.

Qi Sheng chose to issue an additional batch of downloading qualifications to this group of veterans.

In Qi Sheng's opinion, veterans are far superior to ordinary players in terms of psychological quality and combat awareness, and are the most ideal candidates for player recruitment.

……

After one hour.

At Li Tie's call, the Veterans officially logged into the game and appeared at the resurrection point in Dizhong Village.

When they first enter the game, their reactions are completely different from other players.

What shocked them was not the scene before them, but the restoration of the broken body parts.

"My hand...is back."

An old soldier raised his arms in front of his eyes. The familiar yet unfamiliar feeling made his eyes red.

His eyes were fixed on the arm that was once lost but now intact. The emotions surging in his heart were complex and indescribable. His fingers trembled slightly, and the feedback of the subtle movements seemed like a dream.

At this moment, the nature of the game has changed in the eyes of these veterans.

The pain of physical disability was once a setback in life that they could not face. The strength they showed in front of others could not cover up the grief and loss in their hearts.

But in this game, the lost body parts are back.

"Hahaha, looks like I'll spend the rest of my life playing this game. It feels so good." Waving his hands, the veteran couldn't help laughing.

Looking at the joy on his old friend's face, Li Tie, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but grin.

"Let's go and experience the battlefield of this game."

At this time, Li Tie waved his hand and led his old friends towards the exit of Dizhong Village. Along the way, the old friends were looking at the environment of Dizhong Village with curious eyes and felt unbelievable about the realism of this game.

During this period, Li Tie kept talking, introducing the gameplay and functions of this game.

The arrival of his old friend made Li Tie extremely happy.

Although he has joined the guild formed by his granddaughter in this game, he is still unable to fit into the group chat atmosphere of the Fanzui Group and feels that he is out of place. This is why he chooses to go it alone.

It's far less comfortable than getting along with this group of old friends.

Walking out of Dizhong Village, the thick fog that blocked the view dissipated, and the scene before them made the old soldiers following Li Tie nervous.

The black fog that covered the sky and the sun was like a huge wave sweeping in, one layer higher than the other, hitting down fiercely, scattering countless hideous monsters formed by the condensation of black tide energy.

The horrific scene was so shocking that the veterans subconsciously assumed a fighting stance.

"This is the Black Tide Evil. In this game, it is our biggest enemy. Killing the evil will earn you evolution points, which can significantly increase your physical strength, allowing you to experience the power, speed, and stamina you only had when you were young..."

After he finished speaking, golden light burst out from Li Tie's eyes, and five weapon spirits appeared and disappeared around his body, eventually turning into golden streams of light that gathered in his center and transformed into a golden battle axe.

Li Tie's aura also changed accordingly, surging energy ripples spread outward from under his feet, and the attributes of the fusion of the weapon and spirit turned into golden runes imprinted on his body, making him look like a god of war.

"Captain, you look so handsome."

"Boss, how did you do this? Make one for me too."

……

Hearing the exclamation of his old comrade, Li Tie's vanity was satisfied. He looked at the raging black tide in the distance and grinned:

"Look, there will be more handsome ones next."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Tie suddenly jumped up more than ten meters high. His body drew an arc in the air. After landing, he jumped high again. The battle axe in his hand burst out with brilliant golden light, and smashed into the group of evil spirits like a meteor. Suddenly, a big hole appeared on the ground. The bursting power instantly defeated the evil spirits around him and turned them into black mist. After spreading, it quickly shrank and condensed, attacked him, and turned into energy and merged into his body.

"The boss is so handsome, give me another one."

"Captain, this game is fun, but why can't we jump as high as you?"

"Brother Tie is so awesome. It reminds me of the scene when you charged into the mechanical army. So cool."

Old friends clapped and exclaimed in the voice channel, which gave Li Tie the maximum emotional value of pretending to be cool and also increased Li Tie's desire to fight.

Seeing the brave performance of the regiment commander, the old soldiers also switched to monster form according to the method taught by Li Tie, and roared as they followed Li Tie to kill the evil tide.

ten minutes later:

Wall-breaking Group-Comrades-in-arms group.

Lao Gou: I'm so angry. I just killed two of them and he was killed. Why does this game have an hour cooldown on death?

Dagang: Damn, what does an hour cool down mean? It ends just when I’m having fun. I’m dying of frustration. How can I skip the one-hour cool down? Can I just watch an ad?
Ashes: This game is so cool. The feeling of following the leader to charge is like a dream back to my passionate youth. I feel like my brain has recovered a lot. It turns out that venting emotions can relieve mental stress.

Machete: Fuck, why does this crappy game have such a shitty resurrection cooldown limit? What’s the point of adding this setting? Get into the game quickly, I still want to kill.

(End of this chapter)