I've already reached the maximum level, and you guys are just starting out?

Chapter 159 Ten Million Source Points! The Rules of the Game! Don Fleck!

"The enemy of the fallen?"

"A higher-dimensional civilization watching?"

Yu Jin stared at the few lines of text before him, lost in thought.

He had just finished tallying up his loot from killing the Fallen Squad when Tongzi struck again.

"Ugh!"

Ember sighed heavily.

At that moment, he even felt a pang of guilt for being a cheater...

I feel guilty all the time.

open!

That's how it should be driven!

With a thought, Yu Jin displayed all his previous gains on the panel in front of him.

[Wasteland Source: 1200 million]

[Tier 4 Unlimited Stones: 101]

Good news—

With 1200 million Wasteland Origin Points, Ember became a tycoon in less than half a day after logging in, thanks to hard work and sweat.

bad news--

Ember searched for a long time but couldn't find any explanation or usage of this 'Wasteland Origin Point'.

He turned his head and looked at his older brother, who was sitting to the side, still looking somewhat dazed.

"Captain Aaron."

How do I use the Wasteland Source Point?

Ember raised a question.

He wasn't worried that Aaron would know he had the system, because killing Fallen Ones would earn him Source Points from Wasteland Online.

Aaron remained silent upon hearing this.

He stared at the embers for a long time, not answering directly, but instead uttering a sentence:
"Are you really a newbie?"

"Or……"

"Are you actually a seasoned veteran, but pretending to be a newbie? You've been deliberately fooling me before and now?"

Since the end of the battle.

Aaron had been thinking about this problem for a long time.

He was unaware that Ember was already considering reaching the 'true maximum level'; from his perspective, Ember was a 'first-tier maximum level' unlocker.

A first-tier max level is already considered an absolute powerhouse!

Aaron is only at Tier 1, Level 3, yet he is already the captain of a 100-person squad.

"So cute."

Yu Jin answered seriously.

"Ugh!"

Aaron sighed heavily and stopped pressing for answers.

He recalled the rumors he had heard about 'limit breakers' and guessed that Ember might be one of those rare geniuses.

Aaron shook his head, temporarily setting those thoughts aside, and turned to answer Ember's question:
"Wasteland source sites are extremely valuable!"

"There is only one direct way to obtain it—"

"That is to kill the Fallen."

"The higher the Fallen's rank, the more generous the Source Point rewards from Wasteland Online."

Yu Jin nodded, indicating his understanding.

Aaron continued:

“Wasteland Origin Points are very valuable; they are essentially a form of currency or points.”

"In the Ophelia Federation, it is the only currency for transactions, you should know that, even if you have only recently ascended to the next dimension."

Yu Jin hummed in agreement, signaling his kind older brother to continue.

"In addition, wasteland source points can also be used to increase the limit-breaking value!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Jin raised an eyebrow.

He now has a whopping 1200 million source points.

If this can increase the stats, wouldn't he have a chance to 'level up instantly'?
"How to improve?"

Yu Jin pressed for an answer.

He searched the game panel for a long time and found that apart from the balance of 'Wasteland Origin Point', there was no other information, let alone the usage channels.

"Two ways—"

"First, use Source Points to purchase Unlimited Stones from the Federal Mall."

"Limit-Release Stones are crystals that can increase limit-release values. They are extremely rare, and each one is incredibly expensive!"

"If we could obtain a second-tier limit-breaking stone, even a first-tier level zero evolver would have a high probability of directly advancing to the first-tier maximum level!"

As Aaron spoke, his tone became increasingly excited.

His face clearly showed his longing.

Ember remained silent.

"That's too far."

After getting excited for a while, Aaron finally sighed, returned to reality, and continued to explain things to Ember:

"Secondly, there's someone like me who confronts things head-on."

"After Wasteland Online is taken offline, you can use Source Points to brute force the unlock value at the Federation Unlock Center."

"The more source points there are, the greater the improvement in the solution limit."

"The higher the limit value, the more source points are needed to improve it by one point."

"It is said that once the limit is unlocked to a certain level, the source points required for a direct assault become an astronomical sum, which even the wealthiest federal nobles cannot afford..."

After hearing Aaron's explanation, Ember frowned.

He found himself in an awkward position.

A wasteland source point worth 1200 million is definitely a huge sum of money.

but……

It doesn't work!
Both of the approaches Aaron mentioned are related to the so-called 'federation'.

Such beings can only be accessed after ascending to a higher dimension.

Although Ember has logged into Wasteland Online, he actually entered through a bug. He hasn't even ascended to a higher dimension yet; he's just a 'low-dimensional ant' as the system calls him.

……

……

Energy Hub No. 07.

In the blink of an eye, another day has passed.

Aaron's team has officially settled in here.

One after another, gray tents resembling pyramids were erected.

According to my older brother—

For the foreseeable future, the team will be stationed here.

More teams will converge here during this period.

From Aaron, Ember also learned the complete game rules of Wasteland Online.

Overall, this is a war game with the characteristics of 'capture the flag'.

The war is fought between the evolved humans and the degenerates.

Aaron didn't know much about the Fallen Ones, only that they didn't come from the Ophelia Federation.

The war was divided into three phases.

Phase one, also known as the initial Nexus struggle, is the phase that Ember and others are currently experiencing.

During this phase, energy hubs will randomly spawn on the planet.

The human and fallen factions can gain ownership of a Nexus by completely occupying it within 24 hours of its spawn.

Ownership cannot be revoked within 48 hours of a successful takeover.

This is why no second Fallen squad has attacked throughout the past day.

Even if they kill everyone in Aaron's squad, they still won't gain ownership of the Nexus.

even--

According to the rules of Wasteland Online, before the next phase begins, the side that loses the battle for the Hub cannot even get close to the Hub area.

The second phase is the war phase.

With ownership of the hub liberated, the two sides will engage in a 30-day offensive and defensive battle to seize control of it.

The victor can seize the key from the loser.

The loser loses their pivot.

The third stage is the extinction stage.

After the 30-day war phase ended and ownership of the hub was settled.

The side with fewer hubs will be punished by the Wasteland Online rules.

Aaron called it 'extinction'.

According to Aaron's description, that experience was extremely terrifying—

Both the physical body and the soul will be completely obliterated.

Of course, only the characters within the game are wiped out; the characters outside the game are unaffected.

if not.

Even if Aaron and his hundreds of teammates were to earn Source Points, they would never log into Wasteland Online to work.

Working your life on the line?

Nobody would do that kind of business.

What benefits would we gain from winning this planetary war?

After listening to Aaron's explanation, Yu Jin asked this question.

Aaron's answer stunned Ember. "I don't know."

"That's something for the bigwigs in the Federation to consider."

"I only know—"

"As long as this war is completed, you will receive a reward after it ends, which is the Source Points."

"Of course, winning the war is the best outcome, as it not only avoids the experience of death but also usually brings extra rewards from the benefactors."

"Oh, you should know, our patron this time is Miss Athena. She is the daughter of the Federation's Chief Speaker, a true person of power and wealth!"

Whether someone is powerful or not, Yu Jin doesn't care.

The information revealed by Aaron has answered some of Ember's previous questions.

For example--

The historical information that Yufei saw.

The war that Planet A3 experienced was most likely the same one that happened in Wasteland Online.

For example—

The so-called energy hub is very likely the energy source for the refuge cities on future wasteland planets.

From this perspective.

As the embers grew, they gradually gained some understanding of how wasteland planets like A3 were formed.

But problems also arise.

Yu Jin looked up at the starry sky above.

Deep in the starry sky, you can still see that planet, half blue and half black.

That was his home planet, Blue Star.

Pollution cannot be stopped.

But the embers had already prevented the contamination of Earth twice, by Oumuamua and Oumuamua 2.

Although the pollution level of Blue Star has not been completely eliminated, it has been somewhat contained.

The problem now is—

Leaving aside the possibility of a third or fourth round of Oumuamua pollution.

Will Earth one day become a battlefield in Wasteland Online?

This conjecture weighed heavily on Yu Jin's heart.

If that day ever comes...

How should the billions of humans on Earth live?
Do you expect high-dimensional players to get along amicably with humans on Earth?
Do you expect the fallen to have great mercy and treat humanity kindly?

Ember spent the entire day pondering this question.

At last.

He realized that this was likely the only solution.

"If we cannot seek refuge on that day, Earth is destined to become a battlefield."

"So……"

"I must become one of them."

"I will become the leader of the human camp."

……

……

Time flies by.

Another day passed.

Around Energy Hub 07, the total number of tents has increased several times compared to the day before.

This is because a total of six teams arrived here in the past day.

some of.

The three squads are roughly equal in strength to Aaron's squad.

The team members are generally first- or second-level unlockers, while the team leader is a first- or third-level or fourth-level unlocker.

The remaining squads are clearly stronger than Aaron's squad.

The team members are generally at level 3 or 4 of the first tier, while the captain is at level 5 or 6 of the first tier.

Compared to them, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call Aaron's squad a bunch of rabble-like lackeys.

The last squad is especially powerful.

According to Aaron, they were part of Miss Athena's personal guard.

Their captain was a blue-haired young man named Don Fleck.

Its solution value is as high as 1.9%, making it a second-order, ninth-level solutionr.

The team he led was called the 'Blue Silver Squad'.

All two hundred members of the team were at least Tier 2 Limit Breakers.

In Aaron's words—

In this planetary war, the Royal Guard is actually the real main force.

Aaron's squad, along with the other squads, were merely used to make up the numbers, or even deliberately used to 'lower the average unlock level'.

It was only at this moment that Ember realized—

It turns out that Wasteland Online also has different levels.

The Mars Online server he was in was the lowest Tier 2 level, meaning the highest level a player could unlock on the server was Tier 2, with the highest being Tier 2 Level 9.

Even those who exceed this limit, such as Athena Ophelia, will be forcibly restricted to Tier 2, Level 9 upon entering.

only……

Yu Jin stared at the text on his personal panel, lost in thought.

[Limit Relief: 5% (4% + 1%)]

"bug?"

"It doesn't seem like a bug; it's probably a game Easter egg."

Although Ember hadn't fought in the past two days, the surging attribute energy within him told him that he could unleash 5% of his unlocked potential if he wanted to.

And this also means...

On his second day in Wasteland Online, he accidentally surpassed the level cap and became a player above the level cap.

"oi!"

Yu Jin's thoughts were interrupted by a shout.

In the center of the camp, the blue-haired youth, Don Fleck, the captain of the Blue Silver Squad, stood in mid-air, looking down at everyone.

"There's only one minute left before the start of the war!"

"I, Don Fleck, hereby present the War Plan for Energy Nexus 07!"

"First, it's suicide!"

"Secondly, it's suicide!"

"Thirdly, it's still suicide!"

Don Fleck, with utmost seriousness, addressed the other five squads present, excluding the Blue Silver Squad.

"You are too weak!"

"so……"

"I demand that you, once the war begins and the Fallen Squad appears, charge towards the enemy in an organized and disciplined manner and self-destruct!"

"You should understand that self-destruction is the greatest role you can play!"

"Now, tell me, can you do it?"

Don Fleck finished speaking.

Everyone in the camp remained silent.

anger?
No one was angry.

Aaron's face now showed an expression of 'I knew it'.

However, he still sighed:
"I originally thought Miss Athena's war plan would be different, but..."

"Just like other powerful and wealthy patrons, they don't value the lives of ordinary people!"

Ember listened without saying a word.

He has not yet attempted the act of 'self-destruction'.

but……

All he knew was that if he died, he would have to wait 30 days for the High Dimension Helmet to cool down before he could log back into Wasteland Online.

and so……

Ember stared at the blue-haired youth in the sky, his fingertips gently moving.

Om-!
A spatial fluctuation suddenly spread.

However, it did not center on the embers, but rather enveloped Don Fleck, who was standing in mid-air.

"Who?"

Don Fleck reacted quickly, immediately letting out a furious shout.

boom--!
The wood-elemental energy within his body began to surge.

but……

Bang-!
Don Fleck was sent flying backwards.

He was sent flying by an invisible spatial force!

What a coincidence.

Swish-!
Outside Energy Hub 07, amidst the surging black mist, the figures of the Fallen Ones came into view.

Bang-!
A muffled thud resounded from the ground.

Hundreds of Fallen Ones, whose auras varied in strength and whose ranks were uneven, stared at the blue-haired human youth who had fallen to their feet with an angry expression, and fell into deep thought.

"leader."

"In human terms, wouldn't this be called..."

"Feeding kills?"

(End of this chapter)