Chapter 35: Ascension of Flesh and Blood

The entire city had returned to its original state; all exposed flesh and blood had vanished. Even the streets and buildings destroyed by players and monsters during the night were restored as if nothing had happened. Had Cao Yu and his three companions not been sitting in the vehicle they had commandeered, they might have suspected that the events of the previous night were merely a dream.

The streets grew quiet, with few pedestrians or vehicles in sight. Considering it was just past five in the morning, this was logical. The monsters that had rampaged through the night had become normal people, slipping back into the rhythm of everyday life.

When the four of them arrived at the police station, they found the night-shift officers still at work. Upon stating their intent to participate in "Operation Pig Hunt," they were immediately greeted with the same enthusiastic reception as the day before. They waited less than half an hour before being matched with a six-person hunting squad. Together, they boarded a minibus provided by the station and headed toward the eastern suburbs of the City of Truth.

On the way, the Merchant couldn't help but remark to Cao Yu and the others: "It seems our hypothesis was correct; everything is proceeding smoothly. But... have you noticed? It’s only five in the morning, and these 'local players' have already started grouping up to hunt the 'farmers.' This is even more hellish than the '996' work culture the Federation citizens despise so much."

"You missed a point," Cao Yu corrected him. "The flesh monsters turned back into humans only a short while ago, and they’ve already started working. Calling it a '996' hell is an understatement; this is the legendary '007' schedule."

"My apologies, I was being superficial!" The Merchant gasped. "Living as a human by day, a monster by night, working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week... No wonder they’re all screaming for help."

Damn, not even a god could endure this! As a company owner in reality, the Merchant thought back to his own company's policies and suddenly felt that, by comparison, he was actually quite kind.

During their idle chatter, the ten-person hunting squad arrived at the target location in the eastern suburbs. The local players took the lead, with Cao Yu’s group providing support as they launched an assault on a "farming den." The three farming players inside were essentially at the level of D-rank players, though they held no items. Consequently, the battle ended quickly.

Bold and skilled, Cao Yu didn't hesitate. While the local players were entangled with the farmers, he rushed forward and swiftly dispatched one of the farmers with his "Immortal-Slaying Incantation." The entire process was completed without any danger. Afterward, he felt the hunger that had been gnawing at him since he arrived... vanish. His stamina stopped draining as well.

It really worked... his guess was right! In the end, they rescued seventeen novice local players from the den. By the time they returned to the police station with the hunting squad, it was 6:55 AM.

Cao Yu and his companions did not immediately join the next hunt. After leaving the station's office building, they found an open space outside and gathered to talk.

"The negative buff on me has disappeared. How about you?" Cao Yu asked first.

"Same here," all three replied affirmatively.

The Fitness Coach mused, "The farming players in this instance are quite fierce. I only provided support and didn't dare rush in to steal the kills... It seems that as long as you participate in the operation and contribute, it counts."

"Now that the stamina issue is solved, does that mean... we're safe?" The Merchant felt a bit detached. "What do we do next?"

"We can continue participating in the hunting operations," Cao Yu suggested. "This might affect our final instance evaluation. The more we hunt, the higher the rating. If we only provide support, the final score probably won't be very high."

"Is that so..." The Fitness Coach and the Merchant exchanged glances, having made up their minds. Although the weakest farming players possessed the strength of D-rank players, none of them carried items. Combined with the frontal pressure from the local players, it was entirely possible to seize an opportunity to land the final blow.

Fortune favors the bold! With the goal of improving their evaluation, both of them felt a surge of excitement.

"Wait," the Fitness Coach suddenly thought of something. "Are these farming players... endless? The local players in this city are grouping up for hunts all day long. Even if the farmers are just leeks, they should have been harvested by now, right?"

"Your perspective hasn't shifted yet," An Li reminded him. "If everything is a script, the actors can naturally be reused. Don't forget, the people here... the monsters here, they cannot be killed."

"..." The Fitness Coach sighed softly. "I think I understand a bit more now why they scream 'save me' at night. Being tortured into repeating a script after death... if it were me, I'd be screaming for help too. This kind of thing..." He paused, his brow furrowing. "Is there really no way to stop it?"

He added, "Oh, right, I'm not being a 'bleeding heart' or anything. I just think... this is truly cruel." In the player community, "bleeding hearts" (moralizers) were universally despised.

"Being a 'bleeding heart' is a term of endearment, and a compassionate heart is undoubtedly noble," Cao Yu laughed. "You're likely referring to the hypocritical moralizers who are generous with other people's sacrifices. There's a big difference between the two."

"This certainly doesn't qualify as being overly sentimental," the Merchant sighed. "It's a pity we don't have the strength to stop anything. You saw the monsters last night—their heads could be blown off, and they would restore themselves without a scratch. To save them... even the 'grave-building method' mentioned in the instance hint is useless. I truly can't imagine any other way."

"Actually, there is one." Cao Yu offered his own hypothesis. "The monsters last night could use the flesh covering the city to reconstruct their bodies. They and the flesh of the entire city are likely connected. To use an analogy..." He thought for a moment and described, "The sea of flesh covering the city is both the cloud server storing the consciousness data of everyone in the city, and the terminal providing bodies for them. As long as the consciousness remains, the flesh can be used at will to generate new terminals—that is, new bodies."

"…Why do I feel like your casual analogy just revealed the truth of this instance?" The Merchant felt a sense of sudden enlightenment. Wait, was it really just a casual analogy? Given the abilities the man had shown, he had likely deduced this immediately after observing the monsters the previous night.

He had thought this was a supernatural instance. How had it suddenly become science fiction?

Cao Yu continued, "So, to save them, it’s simple. One blow to evaporate the entire city would free everyone from their suffering."

The Merchant: "..."

"I'm joking," Cao Yu laughed.

The Merchant did not laugh. Even the most powerful players in the Federation wouldn't dare claim they could evaporate an entire city in one blow. What kind of solution was that?

Just then, Cao Yu’s player interface suddenly popped up, and the Evolution Game notification sounded in his mind:

[You have survived the night and successfully unlocked the side quest.]
[Side Quest: Fulfill the wishes of the city residents.]
[Side Quest Completion: 7%]

"..." Cao Yu looked at the others and saw them all staring into thin air... It seemed they had all received the notification.

He asked An Li directly, "What's yours?"

"3%." An Li understood immediately and asked in return, "And you?"

"7%..."

Then, Cao Yu got the completion percentages from the Fitness Coach and the Merchant—2% and 1%.

After a few seconds of thought, he quickly deduced the pattern—it was likely calculated based on the player's contribution to the hunting operations. It had to be said that the Evolution Game was quite lenient toward E-rank players. With this side quest prompt, even if the other surviving players hadn't figured out the logic, they would surely realize they needed to participate in "Operation Pig Hunt."

The four of them returned to the police station's main hall to inquire about new hunting tasks, only to be told they needed to wait.

Cao Yu sat on a public bench in the hall, a thoughtful expression on his face.

The side quest—fulfill the wishes of the city residents. It said "city residents," not "residents of the City of Truth." He admitted he was splitting hairs, but... combined with his previous hypothesis, the meaning of this task had to be more than just hunting farming players.

If one looked closely, the residents of this city actually had two wishes. The first was forcibly implanted by the "Creator of the City of Truth"—the wish to hunt farmers; this was a false wish. However, as it currently stood, fulfilling this false wish did satisfy the criteria for the side quest.

And the second wish... combined with the cries for help during the night and the instance hint that "the dead shall sleep forever in their graves," the true wish of the city residents was, in all likelihood, to seek release.

Dust to dust, earth to earth; the dead shall sleep forever in their tombs.

'The instance hints would not provide meaningless or incorrect information. Therefore, the method to grant them release must be to build graves and bury everyone in the city.'

'Once the graves are successfully built and everyone is laid to rest, the farmers in the city will naturally be wiped out as well...'

'So, by fulfilling the true wish of release, the false wish of hunting farmers is automatically completed. It is a true wish encompassing the false one; there is no need to pursue them in parallel.'

Cao Yu quickly deduced the logic. The only problem was... how exactly does one build a grave to truly bury the dead?

On that point, he already had a lead.

Cao Yu suddenly rose from the bench, looked at An Li, and said with a serious tone:

"It's time for us to act."