Swallowing the Stars: Starting with the Battle of Geniuses.

Chapter 32 Possession

In the simulation, with the addition of Maud as a powerful assistant, the league's development was like being on a highway, rapidly expanding its grand plans.

With the addition of robust macroeconomic controls, it took off even faster.

Many strategies, while able to resolve alliance issues more quickly, also carry high risks.

As the alliance grows stronger and more people from different factions join it, a collective mutiny by these individuals could potentially threaten the strongest individual simulator.

Therefore, it is impossible for a simulated human to make such a choice on their own.

At this point, Hunzhen needs to provide the simulated human with a little help.

By acting first and informing later, then conducting a simulation, and finally making minor adjustments, a false impression of complete control is created.

Although for others who cannot simulate it, this is the only reality.

Thus, in just three months, the rudimentary alliance that would later unify the fifth district was formed.

But mastering one district is pretty much the limit.

He couldn't allow the simulators to truly control all districts of the Infernal Realm; this was a ceiling created by a combination of time, manpower, background, and individual ability.

However, this is all there is to it; controlling only one district is far from enough to "catch" the treasure.

Based on the location where the barrier's energy first weakens on the day the barrier collapses, its final destination can be roughly determined.

It can be seen that it has been constantly shifting between different districts.

This won't be effective if we simply change which area the Treasure Hunting Alliance controls.

By observing from the perspective of overlooking the long river of time through a simulation system, it is easy to discern a truth: it has always been avoiding being found by Hunzhen.

Or rather, it tends to appear in areas where human control is weaker and chaos is greater.

Therefore, Hunzhen began to think of a solution.

He had the simulators actively promote the alliance's name, thus attracting the attention of external forces in advance. Then... a year before the earliest possible "barrier weakening" phenomenon recorded in the simulators, eleven out of the twelve districts saw the emergence of controlling forces similar to the Treasure Hunting Alliance.

Why leave one instead of all of them?

What Hunzhen wanted was to minimize the degree of change in the final result.

The location where the treasure will eventually appear is limited to a relatively controllable and narrow area.

Then, step by step, we trace the source back to the result.

In reality, the idea of ​​leaving a chaotic area outside of human control is far more difficult than bringing all areas under control.

There is an old saying that people are not worried about scarcity but about inequality. When the alliance rises to power under the secret control of Hunzhen, but is still within the range that external forces can keep up with, they will unite to restrict the treasure hunting alliance and secretly learn from the treasure hunting alliance's practices to establish an alliance that they control.

The result of dynamic equilibrium is that every region is completely consumed by humans, leaving none behind.

Ultimately, the goal was achieved by relying on the idea of ​​a "buffer zone".

A wartime buffer zone, designed to resolve conflicts among multiple parties, and not protected by any individual or belonging to any power or resource, is also in the interest of the vast majority of people.

Ultimately, the center of the "weakening barrier" did indeed fall within the buffer zone, just as Hunzhen had predicted.

To obtain the treasure after everything has settled down is much more difficult than under normal circumstances.

In fact, the simulators allowed those suspected of seizing the opportunity to escape successfully several times. To be precise, finding someone with unknown characteristics in the buffer zone is not something that can be achieved in one or two simulations. These times, they were all far from the true center.

Moreover, with the barrier weakened, those cosmic-level and domain-lord-level powerhouses outside swarmed in like sharks smelling blood. How could a mere Heng-level being have any room to intervene?

So... this time, Hunzhen chose to apply for off-field assistance.

After waiting for the simulation system to cool down, Hunzhen began a new round of simulation.

The previous rounds of simulations were not in vain; he had shrunk the final position from the entire buffer to one-ninth.

Skipping over the simulated records of numerous alliance developments over the past year, Hunzhen chose to get straight to the point.

In the fourth year, you temporarily handed over the affairs of the Treasure Hunting Alliance to Yamu. This time, you left the Fifth District alone and came to the H District (the area directly below the nine-square grid) in the buffer zone, where you quietly went into hiding.

On this day, the crimson snow suddenly stopped, and the orange-red sky, which seemed to be burning, dimmed slightly. With your advanced knowledge, you know that after one day, the siege of the Fiery Hell Realm will be over.

[You contacted Roger in advance, announcing that you had seized the resources of the Fiery Hell Realm and urgently needed his protection. Now, he is waiting outside the barrier. You are no longer a "vagrant" without any background.]

[If you act directly, one day is enough time for you to abduct all the humans who have been marked and appeared in buffer zone H during this period into the D9-class spaceship.]

[With your abilities, you can't determine who among this group obtained the treasure, but with Roger's near-World Lord level strength, limiting it to a certain number of people, it's naturally not a problem.]

[You were confident that no one in the Fiery Hell Realm could be your match, and even if you were no match for them, you could take refuge in the spaceship for an emergency, and that was indeed the case.]

But just as you were capturing the nineteenth person, you encountered unprecedented resistance—the target abandoned its physical body and attempted to possess you!

The latest novel is first published here!

[The barrier weakened, and while you resisted the possession, Roger arrived to rescue you. Roger confirmed that the abandoned body had also undergone possession; the one now possessing you is a mutated remnant soul with a special connection to a bead-like treasure.]

This remnant soul is extremely powerful, though its level is only at the Heng level, so it can only possess Heng-level life forms. However, the magnitude of its soul power is comparable to a third-tier cosmic level. Roger expressed his condolences to you, believing there is a 90% chance that you will be possessed by it.

You feel terrified and curse the "cheater" in your heart; your remnant soul is also desperate and frantic. It never expected that there was a powerful figure behind you whose strength was close to that of a realm lord, and who could even see that you had been possessed. Even if it successfully possesses someone, it cannot escape being purged.

[What you yourself belatedly realize is that the backup soul energy in your sea of ​​consciousness is comparable to a sixth-tier cosmic level. After a year-long tug-of-war, the remnant soul ultimately failed in its attempt to possess another body!]

You obtained the damaged treasure "Flame Realm Pearl". Half a month later, you began refining the core energy component of the Flame Realm Pearl, "Fire Spirit Heavenly Heart".

[After five years, you have consumed more than half of the "Fire Spirit Heavenly Heart," and your understanding of the fundamental laws of fire has greatly increased.]

[This simulation has ended]

Please select the inheritance direction.

[1. Material Inheritance (You are at your current peak, with no changes)]

[2. Soul Inheritance (Breakthrough to the sixth level of "Flowing Blade Jakka", deepened understanding of the Law of Fire, and some other experience)]

3. Forgo the profits from this simulation.

Hunzhen was overjoyed and immediately chose to inherit the soul.

He had thought that by letting Luo Jie take the lead this time, he would only get a small share of the spoils. He had already prepared himself for not getting the "opportunity" this time, but rather using what he had gained to continue to trace back to the source and slowly plot for another opportunity.

Unexpectedly, this misfortune turned into a blessing in disguise. Perhaps because the Sim had suffered the ordeal of being possessed, Roger did not ask the Sim for the compensation he was owed afterward, which was equivalent to... working for the Sim for free!

He glanced at the simulation record again and grinned from ear to ear.

"Roger is really good at getting along with people!"

Not only did they genuinely take action when something happened, but they also didn't forcibly seize the treasure afterwards!

He really made me cry my eyes out!

Based on these two points alone, Roger is a shoo-in for the top spot!

(End of this chapter)