Immortal I Speedrun Supernatural Game

Chapter 323 This is the best of times, this is the worst of times

Chapter 323 This is the best of times, this is the worst of times
This is the best of times, this is the worst of times;

This is the age of wisdom, this is the age of foolishness;
This is the age of faith, this is the age of doubt;

This is the season of light, this is the season of darkness;
This is the spring of hope, this is the winter of despair;
We have everything, we have nothing;
We are heading towards heaven, or we are heading straight towards hell.

Snapped--

Ethan gently closed the copy of the famous book "A Tale of Two Cities" in his hands.

He stood up and put it back on the bookshelf that resembled an endless mountain range.

The books on the bookshelf were all brand new, showing no signs of having been read.

It's clear that their owner simply treats the bookshelves and books as collectibles or decorations.

They don't have a real reading habit.

I couldn't help but sigh, "Yes, people of different statuses often have different feelings in the same era."

“The powerful and those in positions of power enjoy all the conveniences that the times bring, while the weak and foolish can only struggle at the bottom and experience darkness and despair.”

"Fortunately, I'll always be the kind of person who's in heaven."

The above content is taken from the opening of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities.

Ethan enjoys reading classic literature.

Especially enjoy reading books by philosophers from different eras who express their thoughts and feelings.

Every time this happened, he felt a strange sense of superiority.

To be precise, it's from the moment you become a player.

His sense of superiority never disappeared.

It felt as if I had transcended the mundane world.

It looks down on those ordinary people who are mired in worldly affairs with a detached perspective.

He was high above, like an immortal.

"Baby, do you know?"

"If it were players from the past, in an era when information was not as readily available."

"People's understanding of things outside themselves is limited to inefficient media systems such as radio and newspapers."

"It's too slow to gain attention."

Ethan put the books away.

He turned and walked into the bedroom.

He was talking to Dong Lei, who was lying on the bed like a puppet, as if talking to himself.

The other party simply nodded mechanically.

There was absolutely no light in his eyes.

He casually lifted the thin blankets, exposing the large expanse of his snow-white, alluring body to the air.

Faced with such an enticing scene.

There was not a trace of evil in Ethan's eyes.

There was not even a sign of raising a flag.

He simply said, "Things are different now."

"With the rapid spread of the internet, people can know what's happening in the world without leaving their homes."

"Ordinary people are always ignorant, dragging society toward the direction of entertainment to the death."

"Pornography, violence, feudal superstition."

"The more information involves these three types, the more attention it attracts, especially in the entertainment industry."

"To gain more attention, all you need to do is sacrifice people like you."

"Come on, strike a more alluring pose and let the public see a side of you beyond your innocent persona."

He heard his command.

On the bed, Dong Lei, like a marionette, began to display the exquisite beauty of her figure as much as possible.

There are simply too many ways to control an ordinary person.

Ethan was only using a high-quality prop on her.

It can hypnotize people with a mental strength of less than 9 points.

It's really not very useful against players.

But it's more than enough to deal with ordinary people.

Ethan, having adjusted his angle, lay down beside her and casually took photos with Donglei's phone.

The photos look like a male model paired with a woman in a racy photoshoot, or a couple secretly recording their private life.

He believed that after disseminating this information...

It only takes one night.

She could gain far more attention than she had previously received from public appearances on the street with Dong Lei.

After all, there have been precedents for this kind of thing.

For example, the sex scandal is enough to prove everything.

People tend to pay more attention to celebrities whose behavior contradicts their public image.

Gossip and similar sensational news stories abound.

The speed at which information spreads on the internet is terrifying beyond imagination.

It might not even take one night.

All you need to do is log into Donglei's own social media account and let her "accidentally" spread these images.

This skips the step of clarifying the facts.

This will further increase people's conviction and shock about the matter.

After taking the photos.

Ethan snapped his fingers.

Dong Lei collapsed onto the bed, her eyes closed as if she had fainted, and lost consciousness.

However, he did not take any further action.

Of course, this doesn't mean Ethan is incapable in that area.

Rather, he didn't want to leave any evidence.

After all, his rule-based items can change [attention level] and some easily modifiable virtual content.

Such as electronic documents, images, and web pages.

However, there's no way to make existing proofs disappear out of thin air.

For example, if Ethan were to physically injure someone.

It's impossible to say that it was after changing that person's "attention level" towards him.

The other person's injuries miraculously healed.

At most, it will only change the other person's memory of being injured.

In addition, there have been news reports of wild animals attacking humans in the area.

This led him to mistakenly believe that his injury was caused by an attack by wild animals while hiking.

Simply put, it's about rationalizing it.

Similarly, if I really did something to Dong Lei...

What if some evidence remains inside her body?

No matter how plausible the memory may be, the evidence will never disappear.

And one's own DNA will not be altered.

It can still be extracted from the evidence.

Therefore, Ethan has always been very careful about the actual evidence he might leave behind in reality.

All of his businesses are controlled by a few different ordinary people who are not players.

All he really needs to control are those few ordinary people.

Controlling a few ordinary people is much simpler than managing those industries.

Ordinary people have so many weaknesses that they are countless.

His worries about the safety of his wife and children, his fear of losing his own life, his panic about having evidence of his crime in his hands, and his concern about the collapse of his reputation...

These countless weaknesses made Ethan confident that the kids wouldn't betray him.

As a result, various legal and illegal transactions involved signing contracts, affixing fingerprints, and negotiating deals in public.

They were the ones who usually went on the trip.

Ethan himself rarely makes public appearances.

To the outside world, he's just an ordinary hoodlum in the gray industry.

At best, they'd be no different from the boatmen who smuggle people across the border.

They also take a break, fishing for three days and drying their nets for two.

Under normal circumstances, it would not attract the attention of any powerful or influential person.

He never intentionally hurts anyone.

Even if the person who offended him was a player.

The few ordinary people under his command couldn't handle it.

Ethan would only try his best to get rid of the other party by using other people's hands or some external force.

For example—Zhuge Yue.

Before Zhuge Yue returned to China.

She is Ethan's most valued business partner.

Whenever a player offends him to the point of needing to be eliminated, or when someone in a Western country becomes suspicious of him and begins an investigation, threatening his true identity, he will always be there.

Ethan always uses his own rule-based items.

He subtly shifted the attention people had paid to him to Zhuge Yue.

While they were doing everything they could to track down Zhuge Yue.

Naturally, his death was imminent.

That crazy woman had an inexplicable wariness towards any outsider.

The more twisted her inner desire for other people's secrets, the deeper her hatred for others digging into her own.

Most importantly—she is strong enough, and crazy enough.

Other players died at her hands in those Western countries that championed freedom but actually condoned rampant violence.

Even if everyone already knows.

They would only find it reasonable.

That's fucking reasonable.

As for reasons? What reasons are needed?
Isn't it normal for that crazy woman Zhuge Yue to kill someone?
in a sense.

The extent to which Zhuge Yue is viewed negatively by players of the Spirit Disaster.

This is basically similar to the level of credibility that Ke Zhen'e and Duan Zhengchun had in the eyes of the martial arts world in Jin Yong's novels.

You, Ke Zhen'e, want to say that Duan Zhengchun is a villain.

Even Duan Zhengchun himself had to weigh whether his life's deeds had been filled with evil.

But what if Duan Zhengchun goes back on his word and says that Ke Zhen'e is his illegitimate son?

Let alone outsiders, even Ke Zhen'e would suspect that his mother might have been hiding something from him back then.

This is what reputation in the martial arts world is all about.

Similarly, based on Zhuge Yue's reputation in the martial arts world.

No one would suspect that she committed murder.

Therefore, this is essentially a strong and powerful protective shield for Ethan.

Of course, the two were not friends.

It was Ethan who kept using his rule-based abilities.

After Zhuge Yue bought a villa in the West, she interacted with it as an ordinary housekeeper.

He dared not let Zhuge Yue discover his player identity again.

Their first contact.

It means that Zhuge Yue left China and went abroad.

Ethan happened to be the human smuggler she had contacted.

That crazy woman had suspected she was a player back then.

That morbidly obsessive digging into her own secrets, and her overwhelmingly powerful and unreasonable strength.

It was like a persistent leech, giving Ethan a terrible headache. He tried various methods to increase its visibility and make adjustments.

While trying to eliminate Zhuge Yue's "attention" to him, he also used this "attention" to cause her a lot of trouble.

It kept her busy and flustered for two whole months.

Distract yourself by focusing on the various other players.

That completely dispelled my self-doubt.

It was from that incident that...

Let Ethan discover that there are certain special beings in this world who can reduce the influence of rule-based items on him.

Zhuge Yue was one of them.

After the first "attention level" was eliminated.

She didn't ignore herself like the other players did.

Instead, they still maintain a skeptical outlook and attitude; at most, their skepticism has only lessened somewhat.

But it's only a matter of time before that morbid desire for secret exploration is rekindled.

Therefore, within two months.

Ethan used the "Attention" debuff on Zhuge Yue no less than 10 times.

It was only by gradually dispelling her doubts from various angles that we finally succeeded.

It was precisely during this process.

This sparked Ethan's curiosity about Zhuge Yue's background.

He wanted to know why Zhuge Yue's abilities, influenced by rule-based items, were reduced so much compared to others.

After two years of careful investigation.

Ethan learned about a hidden organization called the "Pluto Research Institute".

This organization is particularly powerful.

Furthermore, it is also associated with the "Disaster Retribution" sect.

If it weren't for Ethan's unique ability with the Rule-type items.

He was probably discovered and killed long ago.

But the more powerful it is, the more so.

He became even more curious about the organization.

So, after another two years of investigation.

Ethan located what appeared to be the location of the Pluto Research Institute.

And some of Zhuge Yue's secrets, including the speculation that she is very likely a copycat creature.

Things have reached a stalemate at this point.

The reason is simple—Ethan chickened out.

The organization was far more powerful than he had imagined, and it was located in a very special place.

If I go alone, I will definitely not return.

But what if you bring more players along?

The impact and the evidence left behind are too numerous to list.

At that time, simply eliminating "attention" may not be enough to conceal their existence.

After all, who knows what's inside this [Pluto Research Institute]?

How many people like Zhuge Yue are there who can reduce the effects of rule-based items?

That is, when Ethan hesitated about his next decision.

Zhuge Yue was inexplicably and seriously injured in the villa.

And he asked me to buy her a plane ticket back to China.

At first, Ethan didn't take it seriously.

They just thought Zhuge Yue had gone back to kill someone.

He killed people at will in that forbidden land of violence in China.

I reckon I'll have to run back immediately after killing her.

Unexpectedly, what happened upon returning home this time far exceeded everyone's expectations.

Zhuge Yue has disappeared.

Both Ethan and the various organizations have lost track of Zhuge Yue.

All we know is that she eventually went to Mingyang City.

At the same time, preparations for the public beta test were being carried out all over the world.

Ethan was also extremely busy.

Only after everything was settled did they go to China to investigate the matter.

This is also one of the rare times that Ethan has personally handled matters related to players.

After all, it concerns Zhuge Yue and that mysterious organization.

He was reluctant to let others know about this information.

The subsequent investigation in Mingyang City yielded no satisfactory results.

However, they learned that the [Disaster Cult] planned to make a big splash in the capital before the [Public Beta].

In response, they even recalled members of the "Disaster Cult" from various regions back to the capital to help.

As for how Ethan knew about this secret operation...

This is naturally because, by chance, he had controlled two members of the "Disaster Cult" while he was abroad.

Through them, I came into contact with a "disaster relief cadre".

The other person seemed to admire him.

They invited me to become a member of the "Disaster Cult".

Ethan naturally refused.

However, out of curiosity about the connection between the Pluto Research Institute and the Disaster Cult, and because the Disaster Cult itself is full of mystery, people decided to participate.

After all, why is this organization, which has been fighting against players worldwide, still alive and well and hasn't been wiped out?

This problem has always plagued all players.

Therefore, Ethan did not completely reject the other party.

You agree to be a partner of the "Disaster Cult" if they need your help in special circumstances.

As long as the [Disaster Cult] can generate enough trading value.

Then I can be considered a temporary worker and lend a hand.

Now, the deal he proposed to help the [Disaster Cult] cause trouble in the capital is—

[Hoping to learn more secrets about the Pluto Research Institute]

This is also a temptation.

If the other party agrees, it proves that the "Disaster Cult" does indeed have some kind of illicit connection with them.

Otherwise, where would they get so many secrets?
As expected, the message that the official sent back was an agreement to cooperate.

And the job Ethan was asked to do was very simple—

That means he should just do what he does best.

To stir up more unrest in the capital, whether it's unrest by ordinary people or by players.

As long as we keep stirring up trouble before the [public beta], keeping the people from the Bureau of Extraordinary Events or the Tarot Society busy running around.

Of course, this is to ensure one's own safety.

Ethan gained his first wave of attention in the capital city through Dong Lei.

He initially used it to dispel any doubts the Bureau of Extraordinary Events and the Tarot Society had about him.

The subsequent "attention" was intended to be used to cause trouble for these two organizations.

Thinking of this, Ethan squinted and took out a pair of light blue tinted glasses from his backpack.

After putting it on, he could clearly see in the left lens.

There is a red bar that keeps increasing, like an energy bar in a game, and there are numbers displayed on it.

This is how much attention others pay to you.

At the bottom of this attention bar, two conspicuous white dots are flashing.

Before coming to China, he had only seen white dots on Zhuge Yue.

This means that it is impossible to normally remove the other party's "attention level".

Unexpectedly, after coming to China, I encountered this situation again.

There were even two of them!
"It seems that the previous level of attention was not enough to defeat these two."

"It seems that some of the attention gained tonight from the sex photo scandal will go to them."

A murderous glint flashed in Ethan's eyes.

He hated these unexpected variables.

Fortunately, we are now in a favorable position!
This rule-based item also has a hidden effect.

That is—[when the user is unaware of the follower's identity, the effect of the follower attack is doubled].

This is one of the reasons why Ethan didn't investigate the true identities of the two men.

Firstly, the side effects of the props mean that one's "attention level" is bidirectional.

If he were to focus too much on these two, he would have to use his abilities to constantly reduce that focus, just as he had done with Zhuge Yue.

Otherwise, the other party will notice more of your abnormalities or even weaknesses.

After all, he came to the capital to help the "Disaster Cult" cause trouble.

Ethan doesn't have enough "attention" to handle everything at the same time.

He needs to focus more attention on attacking the Bureau of Extraordinary Events and the Tarot Society.

Secondly, without knowing the identities of these two people.

His focused attack is twice as effective, making it easier to eliminate the opponent.

"Destroying you is none of your business, hahaha!" Ethan laughed smugly.

I took out my phone and started browsing the internet.

As he said before.

The existence of the internet allowed him to make the most of his abilities.

Gaining attention on the internet is far too easy.

For example, right now, Ethan is browsing a post on Zhihu.

The content is about whether netizens can argue about any issue.

The first reply below is from a pessimist.

This person agrees.

"I think that because people are hiding behind their keyboards when they go online, they amplify their emotions and easily vent their dissatisfaction with life."

The person who replied to him was a rational and objective person.

He disagreed.

"I believe that as long as you stay rational online and don't let negative emotions affect you, you can avoid arguments."

Soon after, more and more people joined the discussion.

They addressed the question of whether netizens can argue over any issue—

They started arguing.

Such an ironic scene.

This made Ethan laugh so hard he couldn't stop.

"This is indeed the best of times."

"By stepping on these ignorant masses, I, in my wisdom, will possess everything!"

"Public opinion will be the stepping stone for me to ascend to heaven!"

Now, he's going to move on to the next step.
And their thoughts were exactly the same as those of Wu Wang, who was separated by distance—