I'm just an internet cafe owner

Rick swallowed hard. In his world, humanity no longer had a choice.

In his world, humans are simply 'animals' evolved from monkeys. Even the weakest of the other fifteen races, the orcs, can prey on humans.

He temporarily left the tribe in search of a way to break the deadlock. Was this suspicious? Very suspicious, but in his view, what was wrong with giving up his own life as a bargaining chip if it could ensure the continuation of the human race?

"Of course, you can also allocate your time reasonably, for example, six hours to improve yourself and six hours to improve technology. As long as you complete any game on the highest difficulty, you can obtain the weapons, equipment, items, and even technology, as well as anything else in that world."

Rick swallowed hard. The temptation was too strong. Even if there was only a one in ten thousand chance that humanity could live a normal life, it was worth the gamble.

Chapter 55 Rick's First Experience with the Game

"Is there anything that can help me immediately?"

Upon hearing Rick's question, Liu Yuan began his professional explanation.

"Immediately? Then I recommend you play Elden Ring. Through this game, you can quickly improve your combat power. Trust me, even the most basic mode will help you develop combat skills."

Slaying a god? Liu Yuan couldn't guarantee that. Even the faded ones in the Elden Ring had to fight again and again, and through Marika's machinations, they became the only ones to emerge victorious among countless faded ones.

While he could gain immense power after clearing the Magic Ring in the late game, he couldn't guarantee whether that power would be enough to defeat the gods in the world of Rick. However, he could assure him that, aside from the top ten races, he could defeat the other five relatively easily.

Unless Rick Lang.

"The Elden Ring? How long do I have to live?"

"Eighty years old, barring any unforeseen circumstances, you can live to be eighty. You have plenty of time ahead of you."

With ten yuan a day, as long as Rick doesn't spend extravagantly, he can easily spend all his time at the internet cafe and play all the games.

He began his own path to becoming stronger in the game.

He made a perfect plan for himself: ten hours out of twelve would be spent improving his strength in the Elden Ring, and the remaining two hours would be spent becoming the commander of Red Alert, striving to complete the game and obtain the weapon and equipment blueprints.

Because he heard Liu Yuan say that the technology here is all technology that humans can create.

To improve himself, and for the sake of humanity's potential technological development, Rick was prepared to trade away the next fifty years of his lifespan.

He had asked before playing, and the Red Alert series he chose was none other than Mental Omega.

Firstly, Mental Omega, as a mod, can be played directly without completing any of the games in the series. While Red Alert III does have some very useful technologies, the awkward part is that you need to complete the first two games to unlock the true difficulty of Red Alert III.

Mental Omega doesn't require this; it's a standalone mod that can be enabled directly. However, compared to the mainline titles, this series is a bit more difficult.

When Rick actually got his hands on it, he realized it wasn't just a little difficult, it was extremely difficult. Even after spending an hour learning the roles of each unit and how to use various equipment for command, he still experienced what true pain was when he actually tried it himself.

Act One: Red Dawn

Upon entering the game and seeing this sentence, Rick immediately became a rookie commander in America.

Washington, D.C., January 8, 1982.

Mission Objective 1: Protect Washington during the Soviet invasion.

Mission Objective 2: Protect the Pentagon

The task was very simple and clear, yet it gave Rick a bad feeling.

He's in Reality mode, where the ratio of in-game time to out-of-game time is different. He's currently in a command center at the Pentagon.

Inside the room were three intelligence officers, an adjutant, and the commander.

Everything was exactly like the real thing; orders were given, and soldiers were directed to their designated positions for combat. These soldiers seemed to be flesh and blood.

If given coercive or inappropriate orders, real people may even rebel.

The realism of the battle was also very high; after he personally issued the orders, the situation of each unit on the ground could be observed in real time through projection.

In the game, large numbers of civilians in Washington are fleeing in all directions, while Rick is taking stock of the available combat units at his disposal and devising a battle plan.

He's currently a rookie Allied commander, with a battalion and a few assigned main battle tanks. With these, he needs to intercept enemy infantry from at least two directions.

"You need to hold your ground. Enemy reinforcements are few. Wait for reinforcements to arrive. Good luck, Commander."

Rick didn't sense anything amiss. With a large number of soldiers, tanks, and multi-purpose infantry fighting vehicles, and having mastered the functions of these weapons and equipment, plus the ability to occupy all the buildings in the city, he felt that he couldn't lose this mission.

however…

When he saw the clamor of tanks and soldiers coming off the amphibious ships on the sea, the Kirov slowly approaching in the sky, and the Soviet military base that was completed in ten minutes to the north of the city, he was completely overwhelmed.

"Just... these?"

Rick could see clearly that the enemy had the ability to manufacture tanks on the front lines, while his side was full of soldiers.

After fighting for ages, he managed to scrape together a few tanks as reinforcements, but they were all destroyed by terrifying robots before they even reached the front lines. Finally, as he watched the massive army storm the Pentagon, not only was his defensive force gone, but all the factories and facilities built around the Pentagon had been completely demolished.

The conscripts, carrying PPSh-41 and shouting "Twist your neck to the right!", stormed into the Pentagon; the mission failed.

In reality, only twenty minutes had passed, but in the game, this command lasted for two hours. During those two hours, he experienced a true sense of powerlessness.

but…

"We can win..."

Rick, however, realized that this operation had a chance of success. It was his first time commanding, and he wasn't familiar enough with tanks, infantry, and heavily armored soldiers. For example, he had sent too many ordinary soldiers into the building, making it impossible for ordinary firearms to penetrate the armor of the Soviet tanks when they arrived.

In addition, the Soviet army used a three-service combination of infantry, tanks and dogs. When a large number of troops invaded from the right, the navy was also harassing them. On the left, troops were directly established. By the time the troops on the right completed their mission of containing the enemy, the base established here had become too powerful for them to defeat.

Meanwhile, the tank command also faltered; the commander was too eager to eliminate enemy armored units, resulting in several tanks being destroyed by landmines. Had these mistakes been avoided, the outcome would have been victory.

In reality, he would be dead. But as a game, he has a chance to start over. In a world where survival is nearly impossible, Rick led humanity to live for several years, reducing the annual death toll from hundreds to dozens.

He possesses exceptional leadership skills and is empathetic to the deaths of those around him, yet he can also suppress his emotions and deliver perfect command when necessary.

The second attempt failed, this time due to a traitor within the Pentagon. He successfully dismantled the enemy base, and the coastline was heavily fortified with infantry, making it impossible for enemy ships to move.

The armored units that landed were wounded by his armored units in shifts, and were stabilized through repairs using multi-functional infantry fighting vehicles.

But a traitor appeared within his ranks, and a spy found him and killed him. The intelligence officer beside him had just said, "Commander! Don't worry, the people here are incredibly loyal," only to be killed by his "loyal" subordinate. This made Rick a little weary.

Rick, who had already spent the whole day playing the Elden Ring and had conducted two high-intensity command sessions, was a little tired. He decided to take a break and see what others were doing.

Chapter 56 Black Zetsu, Times Have Changed

"Hey~ newbie, we're about to play a round of Red Alert too, wanna join us?"

Minato Namikaze extended an invitation to the newcomer. He also felt that the game Red Alert was quite interesting. Playing a game every day could relax his mind, improve his command skills, and help him get closer to everyone. It was a great choice.

"PvP? Sure."

He understood the importance of balancing work and rest. No matter how tough life was in the cave, he would relax a little after a while, taking a bath or playing chess by himself.

With just over half an hour left before closing time, it's really difficult to start another round, and there's obviously not enough time. So why not join everyone for a game and test your skills?

In a very simple sparring match, Rick used his full strength. Relying on the strategy of "using one wolf to devour another," he first took away the surrounding neighbors, and while Zhongli was fighting with Fujimaru and Black Jeanne again, he stole Zhongli's backside and then used his power to kill both families.

Seeing this result, Zhongli was a little helpless. He wondered if he was lucky or unlucky, as he was placed between Fujimaru Kaori and Jeanne Alter in both random rankings.

These two have a very clear objective: I may not win, but I must annoy you before I lose. Seize oil fields, mass-produce troops and tanks. Without sufficient resources, even if he's a god, with the best strategies and reflexes, he can only lose against a massive army that he can't personally engage in battle.

With the game over, there are still three minutes left before closing time today.

"What a fantastic battle."

"Yeah! But Uncle Zhongli is so strong, Jeanne Alter! Let's challenge him again next time!"

"... "

Zhongli felt like he was being treated like a boss. Although he wasn't particularly attached to winning or losing the game, he was still a little annoyed by being targeted like this.

Minato Namikaze sighed, "I feel like I have so much to learn right now. See you all tomorrow."

See you tomorrow~

In the Hokage Village, Minato Namikaze returned home and went straight to bed.

"So tired..."

"You've already tried your best today."

Minato Namikaze has now defeated all the previous bosses in the royal city, and the attributes he gained from defeating them have brought him to the peak of Kage-level ninja. However, fighting like this for more than ten days in a row has left him feeling exhausted, let alone today…

"I didn't expect them to be this strong..."

Playing Red Alert online showed him what it meant to have a wealth of talent, especially Zhongli and Rick, who had just arrived that day; their final command of the battle was absolutely brilliant.

It is no exaggeration to say that if any one of them had commanded the Konoha ninja army during the Third Shinobi World War, the losses would not have been so severe.

"An internet cafe that connects different worlds—perhaps its existence is to allow people from every world to communicate."

Just as Kushina was about to say something more, her expression changed.

"what happened?"

"It hurts...it feels like I'm going into labor."

"!!!"

At that moment, Minato Namikaze used the Flying Thunder God Technique to arrive at Hiruzen Sarutobi's house.

"My wife is about to give birth!"

"!!!"

At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi realized the seriousness of the situation. He immediately sent his wife and two midwives to Minato Namikaze's house, and at the same time summoned the strongest sensory ninjas of the Anbu.

Kushina has the Nine-Tails sealed within her, and childbirth is when the seal is at its weakest, so no one can be sure what kind of child will be born. If it's a normal child, that's fine, but if it's the Nine-Tails...

Meanwhile, the Nine-Tails inside Kushina calmly ate ramen.

Kushina had always traded using the Nine-Tails' energy, but this had a slight loophole: the Nine-Tails could choose what power was extracted. She left a message saying "Give me anything, just to try it out," and received a bowl of ramen. And now, she's been eating it for over ten days and still isn't tired of it.

Sometimes when Kushina renews her subscription or buys food, it renews its subscription as well. And when Kushina plays games, it can actually play along inside her body. Kushina just doesn't know this.

Liu Yuan knew this, but he didn't care. As long as someone paid, he didn't care whether it was Kushina or the Nine-Tails who were going to consume it.

Minato Namikaze and Hiruzen Sarutobi moved Kushina to a secret base protected by a special barrier, making it impossible for anyone to enter.

The room was guarded by two female ninjas. Minato Namikaze knew these two ninjas; they were very reliable Jonin. Although their combat strength was not strong, their sensory abilities were extremely high, and they possessed special ninjutsu that could delay even Kage-level ninjas from various villages for a few seconds.

Minato Namikaze and Hiruzen Sarutobi stood guard outside the base, one in front and one behind, ensuring their safety.

Hashirama Senju: "Hey~ Minato, why are you suddenly so tense? Have you run into some enemy? Let us see!"

"Kushina is about to give birth, I'm a little nervous."

Hashirama Senju: "Oh! Let me see the child after it's born!"

"no problem!"