Chapter 19: May Peace Be With You All

[Regional Announcement: Player "Gentle Kiss Lotus" has nobly taken the initiative to launch a district-wide mutual aid campaign for resource donations!]
[All items in her personal inventory—including but not limited to: 12 bottles of regular water, 5 compressed biscuits, 1 rusty iron box, 1 unopened bronze treasure chest, 3 low-level herbs, 15 units of wood, 8 units of stone, and more—have been randomly redistributed by the system to the 100 currently online players with the lowest total resource value.]
“A rose given to others leaves a lingering fragrance! The spirit of harmony and mutual aid in District 888 is truly commendable!”

This system really kills the soul!

Su Liu bloomed with joy.

“Doomsday Maniac”: “@Gentle Kiss Lotus, system verified: ‘voluntary generosity,’ such noble character! Truly the ‘key to cohesion’! Alright everyone, disperse—the resources have arrived. If there are future ‘mutual aid’ requests, keep turning to her to propose them.”

The chat hall fell into a stunned silence before exploding into uproar!

“Wind Wails, Fire Chills”: “Holy crap?! This is real forced sharing!!”

“I Hate Calculus”: “Thanks, Sister Lotus???... Wait, but... Maniac bro is amazing! So satisfying!”

“Cloudside Big Hammer”: “This scroll... it’s terrifying! What kind of demons and monsters come out of Maniac God’s resource boxes!”

“Call Me Sniper God”: “Respect to Lotus, a true hero (doge face).”

“Into the Woods”: “Can’t mess with her, can’t mess with her...”

“Failed Username Load”: “Tsk tsk, this time it’s truly self-sacrifice (laughing emoji).”

Gentle Kiss Lotus collapsed to the ground, face ashen, all her hard-earned resources vanished into thin air!

Looking at her empty inventory, she finally understood—she had been used as a pawn.

Anger and indignation instantly clouded Gentle Kiss Lotus’s mind.

[Chat Hall—Regional Channel District 888]

Gentle Kiss Lotus: “@Spring Commander, you despicable scoundrel!! Get out here!!! (angry emoji)(angry emoji)”

“Don’t think I don’t know! It was you! You privately assured me that Doomsday Maniac bought tons of ‘non-essential items’ in the service area, encouraging me to lead the ‘call for fairness’!”

“You said he spent loads of game currency, so food and water must be overflowing! Said it was a ‘great chance to establish authority.’ And what happened?! All my stuff is gone!!!”

Spring Commander: “Oh dear, Miss Gentle Kiss Lotus, what are you saying? (smile emoji) I was only trying to share some news about Maniac God’s movements out of goodwill—after all, we’re all following his progress.”

“As for words like ‘encouraged’ and ‘guaranteed,’ I can’t take responsibility for those. (whiny emoji) I merely expressed a possibility and advocated a spirit of mutual aid. You chose how to act on that suggestion.”

Spring Commander’s reply, with its trademark gentle tone that sounded reasonable but was laced with evasion, utterly enraged Gentle Kiss Lotus.

Gentle Kiss Lotus: “Bullshit!!! You hypocritical bastard! You dare deny privately telling me ‘Maniac bought so many fresh vegetables and soaps, he must have surplus, it’s only right for him to cough some up, and if you take the lead, you’ll surely succeed’?”

“You played your scheme perfectly! You made me charge ahead while you hid in the back and reaped the rewards! Now my resources have become your ‘wedding dress’—are you happy? (frustrated emoji)”

Spring Commander: “Miss Lotus, please calm down. (frowning emoji) The regional channel is for everyone to share insights and encourage each other, not for venting personal emotions or slandering others.”

“Your statements have caused me great distress and harmed my reputation. We understand how you feel about losing your resources, but you cannot take it out on someone who only wanted to contribute positively to community harmony.”

Gentle Kiss Lotus: “Understand? My ass! You’re a wolf in sheep’s clothing! All you do is stir up trouble and make others do your dirty work! Your talk of community harmony is all lies—you’re full of hypocrisy and depravity!”

“I’m telling you, your kind of backstabbing hypocrite is a thousand times scarier than Maniac God, who’s at least upfront! (vomiting emoji)”

Spring Commander: “(sigh emoji) It seems you really need to take a good rest. I regret what happened to you and am willing to offer some emotional support within my ability.”

“But please stop slandering me further—that will only make you look more... out of control and unreasonable.”

Gentle Kiss Lotus: “...Heh heh heh, emotional support, huh! (cold smile emoji) @Spring Commander, I haven’t forgotten you! Just wait!”

“You use information to trap others, but sooner or later it will backfire on you! You didn’t get Maniac’s resources, but I’ll risk my life to take a piece of you!”

Spring Commander: “(helpless shrug emoji) Sigh... why bother? I hope you calm down soon.”

“As you all can see, I’m just one of the victims as well. Enough said, I’ll keep moving forward. May peace be with you all.”

The players gathered, watching this dramatic dispute unfold.

“Riding a Snail Chasing Missiles”: “Whoa... there’s insider drama like this?!”

“Dreamer on the Keyboard”: “Tsk tsk tsk, dog bites dog, all tangled up... Maniac God’s move just blew the hidden troublemaker out into the open. (spectating emoji)”

“Failed Username Load”: “Ha, ‘Spring Commander,’ what a move! Using others to charge ahead, then picking the fruit and playing the saint? Way higher tier than ‘Gentle Kiss Lotus’! (disdain emoji)”

“Graceful Square”: “So Sister Lotus was just a pawn? Though she’s greedy too, this Spring Commander... the more you think about it, the scarier it is—smiling while hiding a knife.”

“Cloudside Big Hammer”: “Information peddler? This guy’s deep... Maniac God, watch out for snakes lurking in the shadows! (@Doomsday Maniac)”

Having lost all her resources and utterly broken in spirit, Gentle Kiss Lotus became a pitiful and hateful joke in the eyes of the players, left only with hysterical rage and threats.

Though Su Liu remained silent in the channel, when she saw Spring Commander’s seemingly gentle but characteristically loaded closing line—

“May peace be with you all”—

she felt like she was struck by an electric shock, a chill running down her spine.

Fragmented memories of terror from the last game surged into her mind.

The late-stage dungeon encounters with players wearing eerie smiles, hollow eyes, and actions that defied logic yet struck with deadly precision flashed through her thoughts.

“The Peace Cult!”

Those three words branded themselves onto her consciousness like a searing mark.

In the previous game, as time passed, players had split into three factions—

One faction was the forward-moving players striving to uncover the game’s truth and return to the normal world, calling themselves “Sparks of Humanity.”

Another faction was composed of players addicted to the beast-taming survival game, reveling in its chaos and power. Their organization was named “Eternal Force,” but they were largely fragmented and acted independently.

The last faction—the true madmen—remained a mystery to all, with no one knowing their real intentions.