National destiny: Global tower climbing skills have decreased by 10,000 times.

In the evening, somewhere in China, at a barbecue restaurant.

The private room was filled with smoke, and the grease from the grilled meat dripped onto the charcoal fire, making a sizzling sound.

The table was covered with empty wine bottles, and several young people in dark blue team uniforms sat together, their faces beaming with undisguised excitement.

"Come on, let's have another one!" One of the team members raised his glass, his face flushed red.

"This year is truly a double celebration!" another team member chimed in, his voice not quiet.

"Yes, the third-generation machine combat method has finally been mastered. This time, our Qingxiao has truly reached the threshold of world-class."

"Let's see who dares to say that our Qingxiao only knows how to follow Zixia around and pick up leftovers!"

"That's right," someone chimed in, their voice rising in agreement. "Things weren't even settled yet this year, so we were bound to face a tough battle..."

"Unexpectedly, with this incident today, they collapsed on their own, without us even having to lift a finger!"

"Accepting gifts during job interviews, the young master being slapped in public—how can they possibly have the nerve to stay?"

A burst of hearty laughter erupted from the table.

"Serves you right." A tall, thin man sitting in the corner sneered. "After suppressing us for so many years, it's time for us to turn the tables!"

Another voice chimed in, "That's right, it's all thanks to Captain Xu!"

"If it weren't for him helping us get such good resources, how could we have achieved this breakthrough?"

"We have to have a go with Brother Xu today!"

The others chimed in, "We have to do it! We have to do it!"

Xuan Niao held a wine glass, the 'Donis' tattoo on his neck particularly striking in the setting sun. He didn't immediately reply, only a slight smile playing on his lips. .

"Double happiness?"

He paused deliberately, keeping everyone in suspense.

"Don't forget, there's another important matter. The document from above was just issued a few days ago..."

"In the future, other roles will be developed and introduced in Dragon Kingdom. At that time, we will have many competitors, but also many opportunities!"

"So this year should be a triple celebration! I'll drink to that!"

He picked up his glass and downed it in one gulp in front of everyone, appearing quite enthusiastic. The others followed suit, finishing their glasses in one go, seemingly enjoying themselves immensely.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that. Captain Xu is really well-informed!" The person next to him nudged him.

"Speaking of this, I've seen it online too. There seem to be many different versions, some from research institutes, some from private solicitations, so I'm really not sure."

Another person said, "Hey wait a minute, seriously, do you guys really think China will open up?"

"I remember there was a similar initiative a few years ago, but it was eventually abandoned because of strong opposition."

A short, stout team member chimed in:

"I'm not sure. Our Dragon Kingdom esports has been developing malfunctioning robots for so many years, and now suddenly they're letting other characters have access to them—"

"Even if it gets approved from above, will those private organizations agree? And will the millions of malfunctioning robot enthusiasts agree?"

"Who cares if it's real or fake," the tall, thin man spoke up again, reaching for another skewer.

"Anyway, Zixia is already down, so the spot in next year's National Games is definitely ours."

"This principle remains unchanged, even if the King of Heaven himself were to appear!"

Everyone nodded in agreement and raised their glasses in celebration. Xuan Niao also raised his glass, his voice loud and boisterous:

"Drink as much as you want today, it's on me!"

The private room became lively again, filled with laughter, clinking glasses, and the sizzling of grilling meat, creating a joyful atmosphere.

Meanwhile, in a rental house in a certain place in China.

Chu Liang pushed open the door, threw his backpack on the ground, and slumped into a chair.

The room was small and dimly lit, with the computer screen reflecting his tired face.

His first reaction was to turn on his computer, log into his account, and watch the replay of that trial session.

On the screen, he saw again the amazing game that Ye Fei had directed him to play.

Chu Liang carefully saved the replay, made a backup in the cloud, and then dragged to the beginning to watch it frame by frame.

At the time, he was only focused on doing as instructed, following each step without time to think things through or understand them.

Looking back now, he truly understands how terrifying those actions were.

He recalled that he had gone through all the recordings of famous Crown Prince streamers and professional players on the Dragon Kingdom's online platform, and could say that he had seen almost all of the Crown Prince's playing styles.

But he had never seen anything like Ye Fei's before.

This "never seen before" is not simply a matter of never having seen it before—

Rather, it is an "unknown" that transcends all others, capable of looking down upon all living beings and obscuring the distance between them.

At this moment, he was like someone standing at the foot of a mountain, looking up at the summit, knowing there was someone up there, but unable to see their face clearly.

You can't even touch the edge!

Chu Liang turned off the playback, leaned back in his chair, and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Who exactly is this Ye Fei?

Why is even President You so respectful to him?

Why would someone with skills far exceeding those of top-tier professionals pretend to be a player for a tryout at Zixia? And why did they happen to strike up a conversation with him?

These questions swirled in his mind hundreds of times, but he couldn't find an answer to any of them.

He picked up his phone, the screen lit up, and message notifications exploded:

He picked up his phone, the screen lit up, and message notifications exploded:

There were 999+ unread messages in the fan group, 999+ private messages, and dozens of missed calls from numbers all over the country that he had never seen before.

He didn't click on it, but opened the search bar directly, hesitated for a moment, and then typed in "Hei Xi".

The search results popped up, and he scanned them one by one, but found no relevant information, only a few news articles from a few months ago.

It was the incident that caused a huge stir at the time, where the "genius boy" "Kuroyu Ceal" broke through the viewers' speedrun list that had been blocked by the chefs for three years.

He remembered this incident; he had heard about it at the time. However, after Hei Xi became a partner, the hype died down, and it didn't cause much of a stir, so he didn't pay much attention to it.

Chu Liang searched for "Ye Fei" again, but the results were even less; there were only some irrelevant results and a few people with the same name in other fields.

This shows that he is not a professional player registered with any organization or team, and he is not even a professional in the relevant industry!

Only in the corner of the news about the "Zixia Thunder Incident" were a few comments mentioning "Mr. Ye", which were some speculations from eyewitnesses.

However, these comments suddenly disappeared within seconds, as if someone was intentionally covering something up.

"ah???"

He was stunned.

A player who was just a spectator managed to outmaneuver the Crown Prince in ways that even professional players couldn't achieve; this can't be explained by mere "extraordinary talent."

As for why he doesn't participate in professional play, what his true skill level is, and whether he will take on other roles, these remain unknowns.

His subconscious told him—this person definitely has a secret!

Chu Liang stared at the screen, remaining silent for a long time.

The note was still on the table, with black and white writing on white paper: a name and a string of numbers.

He picked up his phone, hovered his fingers over the keypad for a few seconds, and finally pressed the dial button.

"Beep—beep—"

Ye Fei was climbing the tower in his room, deciding to restart the Hunter's Winning Streak challenge for the fourth time.

Suddenly, the cell phone on the table rang; it was an unfamiliar number.

Ye Fei frowned when he saw it was an unfamiliar number. He continued using the mouse with one hand while answering the phone with the other.

"Feed?" Ye Fei's voice came through the receiver; the background was very quiet.

Chu Liang's voice was somewhat strained, as if facing some unknown force, carrying a hint of timidity and probing:

"Hello, is this... Mr. Ye Fei?"

"I am……"

"Sword Demon, Chu Liang."

Upon hearing Chu Liang's voice, Ye Fei sat up straighter and paused the game.

He remembered that he was the one he was looking for.

"I've come to thank you. Without your help today, I might..."

Chu Liang swallowed hard.

"I might really be tricked by that rich kid into working illegally."

"It's nothing," Ye Fei interrupted him, his tone casual. "Just something I did."

Chu Liang took a deep breath. He knew this question might be inappropriate, but he asked it anyway.

"Mr. Ye Fei, I know this might be a bit presumptuous of me to ask, but I still want to ask..."

He paused.

"Who... exactly are you?"