Chapter 150 - 148: Flow

Chapter 150: Chapter 148: Flow

RATTLE—

The bathroom’s sliding door opened.

Li Qing walked out, looking sheepish.

He hadn’t undressed and was completely dry. He had just been pointing the shower head at the waterproof wall panels.

After hearing what Feng Ling said, he knew he couldn’t hide it any longer and was at a complete loss.

Feng Ling sized him up from head to toe and chuckled. "Well, I never expected this..."

She said nothing more, but her look said it all.

Li Qing squirmed under her gaze and forced himself to ask, "What do you want to talk about?"

"Why use a corpse?" Feng Ling asked him. "Can’t you people take over the bodies of living people?"

Li Qing glanced at her cautiously before answering in a low voice, "Because the Mazes... most of them are in remote, uninhabited areas. It’s very inconvenient for a Maze Administrator to have a human body, so we prioritize taking over local wildlife."

For example, take a Maze in the desert. If the guarding Maze Administrator were human, they would struggle with the daytime heat and nighttime cold, on top of needing food, water, and sanitation. But what if the Maze Administrator were a desert lizard? Many of those problems would cease to be problems.

The form of a wild animal, combined with a Card Ability, essentially guarantees these Administrators’ survival.

Besides, an Administrator’s role is just to let players accept quests, so it doesn’t matter if there’s a species and language barrier.

The game system just never expected that such harmless Administrators would be hunted down by players.

Li Qing was terrified Feng Ling would get angry. He remembered a human saying about respecting the dead, and that there was even a law against desecrating a corpse. His actions had likely crossed a line for her.

He quickly added, "My Card is Divination Master. Besides the Divination ability, it also has an ability called Summoning Soul, which lets me control corpses through a mental link. This Daoist, Li Qing... I don’t know if he went mad from his cultivation or what, but he jumped off a cliff. Around that time, I noticed many Administrators were going offline unexpectedly. I wanted to investigate the matter, so I borrowed his body..."

A human body is naturally far more convenient for an investigation than a wild animal’s.

Feng Ling immediately seized on the key point, her eyes narrowing. "You get a notification when an Administrator goes offline unexpectedly?"

"Yes. We Administrators have our own private network," Li Qing nodded.

"In other words, whenever an Administrator dies, you know immediately. That’s equivalent to knowing the exact time each Maze begins to spread its contamination." Feng Ling said thoughtfully, "So... have you received any such messages recently?"

"No," Li Qing explained. "A few months ago, a large number of Administrators started going offline unexpectedly. At first, we thought it was a system bug. We submitted a report, but the system didn’t respond. Later, Administrators started sending dying messages about being ’attacked by players.’ That’s when we realized players were behind it. All the surviving Administrators have gone into hiding now, so I haven’t received any recent reports of incidents."

After speaking, Li Qing couldn’t help but sigh again. "But this can’t go on forever. Sooner or later, it will cause problems. For an Administrator to log off normally, a player has to clear their Maze. If we hide, players can’t find us and can’t enter the Mazes... But if we show ourselves, we might run into those players who are hunting us."

That was why he was so anxious. He was desperate to understand why the players had gone out of control.

Feng Ling stared at his face. "Do you also know the location of every Maze?"

Li Qing shook his head. "I don’t. I only know about the Mazes that are spreading contamination..."

He trailed off, a sudden realization dawning on him. He looked up, stunned. "You want to go there?"

"Didn’t you say earlier that players intentionally let the Mazes’ contamination spread so they could earn more points?" Feng Ling said with a smile. "Can I take that to mean that where there’s contamination, there are also more Alien Species? And where there are Alien Species, there are more Cards? Daoist, I really need Cards right now."

Feng Ling took a dried, hardened eye from her pocket and handed it to Li Qing.

Li Qing took it dubiously and examined it closely.

Feng Ling said, "I ran into an Alien Species today. It had an eye growing on it. After I killed it, the eye fell off its body. The moment I saw it, I just had this feeling... I want this ability. My Nest needs this Card."

Her tone was resolute, her conviction unwavering.

Li Qing looked from the eye in his hand to Feng Ling and said hesitantly, "I’ve heard... that some Cards, after they’ve developed to a certain point, can create a state with their wielder that’s similar to a flow state."

Feng Ling smiled. "Maybe that’s the flow state you’re talking about. Anyway, it was like something suddenly clicked. Vague images started appearing in my mind—images of the Nest’s final evolved form."

"But you’re already a mature form..." Li Qing couldn’t help but try to dissuade her. "Feng Ling, you’re already very strong."

"You could log off by now, so why haven’t you?" Feng Ling tilted her head, still smiling at him. "Sure, you want to save the other Administrators, you want to fix the game. And I could claim I’m trying to save the world. But why not just admit we both have our own desires?"

Li Qing was silent for a long moment before saying quietly, "There are many Cards related to eyes. But if it’s a Card that lets you implant a parasitic eye on another person, I think it must be the Eye of Horus."

"The Eye of Horus?" Feng Ling was intrigued. "Tell me more."

Li Qing gave her a helpless look, unsure if he was doing the right thing.

But it wasn’t as if he had a choice.

Li Qing said, "In ancient Egyptian mythology, there was an eagle-headed god named Horus. He is the Sky God, the protector of the pharaohs. So, the Eye of Horus represents divine protection and supreme sovereign power. The Ancient Egyptians believed this eye could distinguish good from evil and safeguard health and happiness, so they used it as a talisman to ward off evil. The Card Ability follows this theme. A player who possesses the Eye of Horus can place an eye-shaped parasite on another person, allowing them to know everything that person sees and hears. They can then provide timely assistance, thus achieving the ’talisman’ effect."

Feng Ling listened intently and then asked Li Qing, "This player who has the Eye of Horus—where can I find them?"

"It’s very difficult..." Li Qing sighed again. "As far as I know, because that Card is perfect for liaison and communication, its wielder was recruited into the Star Association a long time ago."

"The Star Association again..." Feng Ling mused. "Looks like if I want to get that Card, I’ll have to find a member of the Star Association first."

"It’s better if you don’t get involved with them." Li Qing’s expression was full of worry. "The players in the Star Association... they’re all insane."