Chapter 165: True and False

Chapter 165: Chapter 165: True and False

The buildings only really became numerous after they passed through a small gate.

Unlike the front courtyard, the buildings here were less crowded. Though they looked the same on the outside, faint lights and the silhouettes of people bustling about could be seen through the windows.

After walking inward for a few more moments, they finally reached the conference room.

There were five people in the conference room, including Wen Changming and Wei Zhan, whom Shi Zhile recognized.

The base commander, who was leading the group, was a man in his forties or fifties. He had a stern, square-jawed face and a humorless expression, making him look exceptionally serious.

Skipping the pleasantries, Shi Zhile opened the Teleportation Gate and stepped through first. Jiang Jing, Shi Zhiyi, Wen Bai, Wen Changming, and Wei Zhan followed one after another.

Using the Primitive Forest as a waypoint, Shi Zhile then led the group into her Planting Space.

Mr. Wen was watering the fields and jumped in surprise at the sudden appearance of a crowd.

Including Shi Zhile, there were now ten people in the Planting Space.

She sat down cross-legged, took out a voice recorder, and began by playing the recording of her conversation with Chuyi.

"...

The three of us traveled to this time and space through a wormhole. In our timeline, Earth exploded. All life—every plant and animal—was wiped out in the blast.

According to the current timeline, the interstellar War Faction is about to launch its first official invasion. But long before this, their cultivated sleeper agents had already infiltrated every nation on Earth.

...

There are too many humans on Earth, and no planet among the stars is suitable for you. The game is the only way to continuously improve your bodies so you can adapt more quickly to an interstellar environment.

..."

As the first recording ended, the group fell silent.

The base commander’s brow was furrowed. "Comrade Shi Zhile, you’ve had the most contact with him. In your opinion, how much of what he said is true?"

Shi Zhile replied, "Thirty percent. The part about them creating the game is true. It’s also true that they’re from an interstellar civilization and that they have spies on Earth right now. Everything else is a lie.

Especially the Peace Faction and the War Faction. I’m more inclined to believe they’re working together. Their goal is the same: to take Earth.

The Peace Faction is just putting on a show of being against war. They want to make us surrender without a fight and claim Earth for themselves. The War Faction, on the other hand, wants to use force to eliminate every last one of us."

Shi Zhile played the next recording.

This time, it was her conversation with Jiang Yuxing.

It was short, and they finished listening in just a few minutes.

Shi Zhile spoke first. "I have more information. Jiang Yuxing told me that you can leave the game by dying."

Wen Changming countered, "That’s unlikely! It directly contradicts the system’s notifications. If the system’s goal was to mislead players, it wouldn’t have repeatedly given us survival tips.

The introduction on the panel was real. It makes no sense for it to mislead us with false information right at the beginning."

A middle-aged woman with short hair spoke up. "But the information isn’t necessarily false.

In the rainforest instance that Comrade Shi Zhile first entered, players who died came back to life. If, as the system initially stated, ’death is death across all dimensions,’ then those players could never have been resurrected.

Those players retained their memories from before they died. And some people did in fact get the opportunity to exit the instance by killing ranked players.

If that information was false, how do you explain them coming back to life?"

Wen Bai said, "I lean more toward the theory that they’re using some method to pull our consciousness into the game.

Dying in the game would be equivalent to your consciousness dissipating. You might still be able to ’exit’ the game, but in the real world, a person whose consciousness has vanished would either fall into a coma or die outright."

"We don’t know if this is true or false," Shi Zhile said. "I suggest we don’t let this information get out. We don’t want players who can’t take the pressure anymore to commit suicide."

The base commander massaged the bridge of his nose. "Not only can we not let other players know, we have to do everything we can to keep the players in the game alive.

If this information turns out to be a lie and everyone dies in the game, then in the real world, they’ll have won Earth without firing a single shot.

It’s not enough for just us to know. We have to inform the other bases. Jiuzhou Base has more than twice the number of players we do, and other bases are being established as we speak. Our chances of winning are much greater if we all unite."

Wen Changming said, "More players means higher resource consumption. Huaxia Base’s current supplies aren’t enough to support more people."

He looked toward Shi Zhile.

Shi Zhile: "..."

The base commander smiled. "Don’t we have the Plant Growth Liquid? The crops in the base are withering. We might as well take a gamble.

It’s just that the Plant Growth Liquid... we’ll need to trade for it with Comrade Shi Zhile."

Shi Zhile put a hand to her forehead. Listening to the two of them play off each other, she couldn’t help but laugh.

"Alright, let’s trade for grain seeds. I need seeds to produce the Plant Growth Liquid anyway. For every portion of Growth Liquid, I’ll take an additional portion of harvested crops as payment.

But I have to make one thing clear beforehand: crops forced with the Plant Growth Liquid can’t be used as seeds for the next planting."

They all nodded in unison, indicating they understood.

Remembering that Jiang Yuxing had said he would give her lab equipment, she spoke again. "I need two rooms to store some things. As for what they are, I’ll tell you when they arrive.

We can’t always hide in this space to discuss things; it’s not a hundred percent safe. Is there any way to capture the game’s energy? We could use it to build things of our own, free from the game’s control."

The two commanders exchanged a look, smiling without a word.

Without them needing to say a word, Shi Zhile already had a good idea of what they were thinking.

’Either the base is already working on it, or they’re about to start. In any case, it’s good news.’

Jiang Jing opened his panel. "Any new theories about the next instance, the Cursed Island?"

Shi Zhile replied, "Our opponents will most likely be the Japs. Jiang Yuxing said he’s giving us a chance for revenge, but we’ll have to pay for it with our lives."

At the mention of the Japs, everyone—men and women, young and old—perked up.

Jiang Jing sneered. "Our lives? That’s nothing. If I could trade my life to make the Japs go extinct, I don’t think a single Huaxia person would refuse.

I’ll gladly give my life in the next instance."

Wen Bai added, "One-on-one or one-on-ten, it doesn’t matter. As long as I get to kill them, who cares about dying?"

The words had barely left his mouth when—SMACK!—the two commanders simultaneously slapped both of them on the back of the head.

The base commander snapped, "Oh, you’re so tough? Out in the real world, killing them is complicated. In the game, there are plenty of ways to do it. Why would you need to trade your life?"

Wen Changming added, "Every Huaxia life is precious. We need every person we can get right now, so stop spewing this nonsense!"

Shi Zhile silently swallowed the words she was about to say.

’Now that the information is out there...’ She had actually been thinking of leaving all her supplies at the base, then dragging Jiang Yuxing with her to die in the next instance, just for the hell of it, to see if they would actually be resurrected.

But seeing Jiang Jing and Wen Bai get smacked, and then catching the look Shi Zhiyi shot her way, she suddenly lost the desire to "play."

The next second, everyone’s panels chimed simultaneously as they all received video call requests.

Shi Zhile accepted the call. It was from Sun Ci.