After the internet was disconnected, I connected to the magic world.

Less than a week after the last group of supernatural beings caused trouble, news of finding black tokens suddenly emerged across the country.

Villagers in remote mountain villages found the sign while cutting firewood on the mountain, while an office worker was hit on the shoulder by a black sign on his way home from get off work.

Some construction workers even dug out a piece of sand from a pile of sand in just 48 hours.

The Special Investigations Bureau received more than seventy related reports, and there are still unreported reports hidden among the public, making it impossible to fully count the total number.

The lights in the top-floor conference room of the Special Investigations Department headquarters remained on all night.

Section Chief Li Rui sat in the main seat, with a thick intelligence summary spread out in front of him, and a group of people sat below the stage.

The room was filled with people, including a senior national security advisor, a mythology and folklore expert from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a leading researcher in the field of biophysics, and the head of the action team, all with solemn expressions.

"Everyone is aware of the situation." Li Rui tapped the table, his voice deep and resonant.

"The official name has been officially given to this token that can bring people into the world of Kyushu: Dream Token."

The second batch of dream-entering talismans has been distributed on a large scale, unlike the first batch which appeared out of nowhere.

These items will all drop randomly; anyone who picks them up will be able to bind them and activate the effect. The total number of items released is currently impossible to estimate.

He paused, then added a slightly better piece of news: "Three staff members within our system were lucky enough to receive a new batch of Dream Entry Cards."

With the five existing players, his extraordinary team would soon expand to eight members. Adding the seven recruited independent players, his available strength would double.

The crowd below the stage relaxed slightly, but no one truly let their guard down.

"I've invited everyone here today for one main reason only." Li Rui's gaze swept across the entire room.

"What's behind the Nine Provinces world and the Dream Card? What's their purpose? Everyone, please speak freely without reservation."

Before the words were even finished, the old professor from the physics department spoke first:

"First of all, it can be determined that this is definitely not a natural phenomenon."

The projection of consciousness across worlds and the solidification of extraordinary power into reality must be manipulated by someone, perhaps even a more advanced civilization.

I lean towards the extraterrestrial civilization hypothesis; they might be conducting social experiments or sowing seeds of civilization.

"I disagree." The national security advisor next to him immediately shook his head.

"It doesn't make sense logically. If it's an extraterrestrial civilization, what would their purpose be?"

aggression?

If we have this technology, we can just crush the Earth directly; there's no need to go through all that trouble and teach humans how to cultivate.

Aquaculture?

Even less likely, who would equip their prey with fangs?

Offering power without demanding resources or interfering in reality is completely inconsistent with the behavioral logic of advanced civilizations.

The old professor frowned but didn't refute it further.

At this moment, the senior expert from the Folklore Research Institute slowly spoke:

"Is it possible that they are legendary immortals or gods?"

The meeting room fell silent for a moment.

"The cultivation system, sects, monsters, and spirit stones of Kyushu are highly consistent with the cultivation settings of our ancient mythology."

The old expert slowly explained, "The background of the Nine Provinces world says that in ancient times, spiritual energy was abundant and immortals and gods were everywhere. Later, due to war, the immortals and gods fell into slumber, and the world declined."

Could it be that slumbering immortals are beginning to awaken, or that an immortal has been reincarnated and opened this passage?

Are we being led back to help that world regain its vitality, and incidentally, to select its successors?

These words caused many people to fall into deep thought.

This explanation, rather than that of extraterrestrial civilization, better explains all the doubts.

The immortals and gods need human hands to restore the world, so they pass on their cultivation techniques and invest resources, which is a completely self-consistent logic.

"I don't think that's right."

A young voice suddenly rang out. It was Xiao Chen, a data analyst specially hired by the technical team. He was in his early thirties and also the person who understood the logic of online novels the most in the room.

Everyone looked at him.

Xiao Chen cleared his throat, a little nervous, but still finished speaking:

"I suspect that behind it is neither an alien civilization nor a god, but just an ordinary person on Earth who has obtained a cheat code."

That is, the system.

"System?" Most of the elderly people present had heard the word before, but no one expected it to be brought up in such a formal meeting.

"Yes, it's the kind of system you see in online novels." Xiao Chen nodded and quickly offered his analysis.

"Think about it, from the first batch of players to now, the whole process has followed the same pattern as the closed beta testing of online games."

The first batch of several dozen people were stationed in a village, where they were then guided by sect disciples and given basic cultivation techniques.

Once we've mastered the basic cultivation, we immediately deployed relics and released monsters to update the version, followed closely by expanding the closed beta test with players—the timing was perfect.

He pointed to a screenshot of the player panel on the screen: "There's also a personal panel and a world channel. Although there's no in-game store or quests, the basic framework of the online game is complete."

There's no need to make immortals and gods look like a game panel, and alien civilizations certainly wouldn't cater to Earthlings' online gaming habits.

Only Earthlings who obtain the system will subconsciously adopt this pattern.

The fact that each version update follows the actual research progress indicates that the people behind the scenes have been keeping an eye on our movements.

Adjusting settings as needed makes this more like an operator than a supreme deity.

The meeting room fell silent.

This conjecture is even more revolutionary than the resurrection of gods and immortals or extraterrestrial civilizations.

An ordinary Earthling suddenly possesses the ability to change the world, hiding behind the scenes and manipulating everything. No one knows who he is or what his purpose is.

Neither possibility can be ruled out.

After a long silence, Li Rui finally spoke, his tone unusually solemn:

"The resurrection of immortals and gods, and the system holders, are being investigated simultaneously from two directions."

First, launch a nationwide screening, focusing on individuals who have exhibited abnormal behavior, live alone, and have limited social interactions in the past year.

Those who had shown extraordinary signs before the first batch of dream cards appeared were willing to spare no expense to find clues.

Second, research on mythology and supernatural history should keep pace, so that we have contingency plans in place in case they are indeed gods or immortals.

He turned to the team leader and said, "Send a message to all official players of Song Xian: the next time we enter Kyushu, there will be three cores."

Task: First, continue to contact the first batch of core players and finalize an official partnership as soon as possible.

Secondly, with a new batch of players being randomly deployed, many will inevitably fall into trouble. Actively offer assistance, reveal your official identity, and recruit newcomers.

Third, collect as many spirit stones, cultivation techniques, and elixirs as possible, prioritizing their supply for internal cultivation.

"yes!"

When the meeting ended, it was already dawn.

Unbeknownst to anyone, a faint black light flickered from the Dream Token in the pocket of one of the official players attending the event.

At the core of the demiplane, Lin Ze leaned back in his chair, listening to the entire meeting clearly.

All the dream tokens are nodes in the Heavenly Net; wherever the token is, he can perceive the sounds and images.

He raised an eyebrow, showing no sign of panic.

They never expected to be able to keep it from a country's top think tank.

This was his first time doing something like this, and he was constantly changing settings and fixing bugs, which was even more tiring than writing code before.

Without the Heavenly Dao Network assisting in the calculations, it simply couldn't support such a vast world; it's perfectly normal for it to have loopholes.

"You guessed pretty accurately." Lin Ze chuckled softly, his fingertips tracing the ever-increasing player data on the screen.

"Unfortunately, even if you guess the direction, you still won't be able to find me."