One day before entering the "Island of the Eye" copy, in Song Yang's personal space.
…
Xia Jing looked out the window at the sea at night and laughed, "So, the person who opened Smiley City four years later is really the same person from four years ago?"
At this moment, Feng Shi and Jia Qing felt horrified after hearing this.
Of course, they cannot find the answer to this question in a short period of time, and the investigation needs to continue.
It was already late at night.
Jia Qing and Feng Shi both had classes the next day, and their energy was not as abundant as Song Yang's. After a quick goodbye, they logged off and returned to the real world to rest.
Song Yang and Xia Jing stayed.
The two of them snuggled on the sofa, looking out the floor-to-ceiling window at the sparkling sea in the night.
They leaned against each other, shoulder to shoulder.
Xia Jing pondered, "Song Yang, if it was really another group of people who revived Smiley City more than two hundred days ago, do you think they have already taken control of this place, or are they still trying to control it?"
Song Yang thought for a moment and said, "Anyone who can restart Smiley City must at least be a person with special abilities, right? How long it will take him to take control of this place depends on how powerful his special abilities are."
Xia Jing looked at the sea and said, "If they have already taken control of it, then things might be a little troublesome."
Xia Jing remembered the crack that appeared in the safe house.
He hasn't told Song Yang about this yet, simply because he hasn't waited for any follow-up action from the "other party". Telling Song Yang at this time would only make this man more worried, which would be meaningless.
Xia Jing leaned his head on Song Yang's shoulder, thinking lazily -
If the rift was caused by the new ruler of Smiley City.
If the new controller has completely taken control of Smiley City.
Then the crack in the safe house might become the only evidence of the other party's invasion.
Once the other party chooses to lie dormant, it will be difficult for them to find any trace of the other party.
on the contrary--
"If they continue to try to control this place, then things will get interesting," Xia Jing said with a glint in his eyes. "Obviously, with their strength, they can't swallow up Smiley City in one go. While they're forcibly controlling this place, perhaps we can find some opportunity."
Song Yang was stunned.
He looked down at Xia Jing.
"Some kind of opportunity to completely defeat Smiley City."
Song Yang's body tensed up silently.
He whispered, "But neither you nor I have superpowers. Even if the other party has a loophole, it will be difficult for us to counterattack from the perspective of the entire Smiley City."
Xia Jing raised his head and said abruptly, "Song Yang, you should know that my current body is made up of some special power, right?"
"This special power allows me to be resurrected from the dead. As long as I'm not suppressed by an absolutely powerful force, even if I'm turned into a pile of minced meat, I can still return to my original appearance."
"I've always wondered if the reason I can't easily escape from the safe house is because I'm a collection of some special power, and the power that makes up Smiley City is fundamentally different from the other two."
"I became a foreign target. Smiley City could easily locate me and confine me to a safe house."
Having said that, Xia Jing looked straight at Song Yang and said, "But what if I am completely defeated?"
Song Yang frowned immediately.
He sat up straighter, his expression serious.
"I can inject my spiritual consciousness into Tuanzi's body, and naturally I can also let my spiritual consciousness attach to the power."
"I can't destroy myself, but if there is a force in this world that is stronger than me and more maneuverable than Smiley City, perhaps it can completely defeat me."
Xia Jing expressed an astonishing idea: "As long as I turn into smoke and a trace of power can escape, then I might be able to escape the surveillance of Smiley Face City and move more freely."
"I can freely enter and exit the game lobby and the dungeon," Xia Jing said with a playful smile. "Naturally, I'll have the opportunity to find a loophole in the new controller, exploit it, and destroy 'him' and Smiley City."
Song Yang's voice deepened: "Is this why you gave me that space bag two days ago?"
When Song Yang saw what was in the space bag that day, he was very surprised.
At that time, he had already vaguely realized what Xia Jing wanted to do, but he never thought that Xia Jing's idea would be so bold.
Song Yang's brows were furrowed tightly. "This is all just your conjecture. There's no evidence to prove that your idea can be realized. What if you're defeated... and then die completely?"
"Also, we haven't found a way to get you back to the real world after the destruction of Smiley City yet, right?"
Xia Jing tilted his head and said, "Actually, I've thought about the answer to this question before."
"Song Yang, think about it. Although Smiley City is separated from the real world in two dimensions, since it can intersect with the real world, then - perhaps the things in Smiley City can actually step directly into the real world?"
Song Yang was stunned.
Xia Jing's eyes sparkled. "That is to say, if I could successfully possess a new body at the moment Smiley City was destroyed, then perhaps I could somehow return to the real world directly with that body."
"Of course, this is just a guess. As for whether it can be realized and how to achieve it," Xia Jing looked at Song Yang and said, "We need to keep moving forward to find out, right?"
Song Yang was silent for a while, rubbed his eye sockets and said, "It's still too risky, Xia Xia."
There are uncertainties in such plans.
Xia Jing asked, "Do you think we can escape from Smiley City without taking any risks?"
Song Yang froze.
"You know this is impossible," Xia Jing said softly, "because I'm the one who needs to take the risk, so you're unwilling?"
"But Song Yang, the reason I need you is that there are some things that only you can do for me—"
Song Yang thought of the space bag and his eyes darkened.
"And some things can only be done by me," Xia Jing paused and said, "When that time comes, I need you to trust me."
Song Yang's Adam's apple rolled.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "Okay, then we'll use this as a backup plan. If it turns out that this is the only way we can go, then we'll do as you say."
Song Yang's voice was hoarse: "You will be defeated by external forces and become scattered forces to escape from the safe house."
Xia Jing: "In order to avoid being discovered by the new ruler of Smiley City, I need to let most of my power be completely destroyed by the other party, leaving only the weakest trace of power. When the other party thinks he has won, I can escape."
"At that time, the other party is most likely to let down their guard and expose their weaknesses."
Song Yang whispered: "After that, you will..."
In some way, reborn.
…
At this moment, everyone was stunned as they listened to the two men recount the plan they had discussed that night.
When Xia Jing regained his memory and recalled that besides himself, there was a larger force belonging to him in Smiley City, he took advantage of the situation and allowed Jiang Ying to defeat both parts of his force.
Only those last tiny bits of power escaped Jiang Ying's eyes.
Lu Chenfei murmured: "So Xia Jing's way of rebirth is..."
Song Yang paused here.
Xia Jing smiled slightly and said, "As long as I can retain a little bit of strength, these powers can be reunited into me. However, my current strength is much weaker than before."
When everyone heard this, they suddenly understood.
So Xia Jing's power drilled into the copy and was transformed, then came out again after the transformation, condensing into a new him.
They believed Xia Jing's words and breathed a sigh of relief.
Song Yang didn't say a word.
He and Xia Jing held hands tightly in silence.
At this moment, many people were amazed at their foresight.
Feng Shi thought of something and asked, "Isn't there any way for Jiang Ying to close this five-star instance now?"
Xia Jing still smiled: "This copy is completely out of control. As long as he doesn't have 100% control over Smiley Face City, he won't be able to close this copy."
Jia Qing quickly said, "Oh, yeah, what happened when Brother Yang said Jiang Ying was dead?"
Xia Jing also became interested when this matter was brought up: "As far as I can remember, he had indeed died a long time ago, so I am also curious about how he was resurrected."
If they want to figure out this problem, they can only enter the five-star copy and meet Jiang Ying.
Zheng Shu asked, "Brother Xia, can't we just not enter this five-star dungeon? Since Jiangying can't close this dungeon, then as long as the number of players is not full, the dungeon can't be opened. These people will be trapped in it forever, can't they get out?"
Jia Qing: "No, no, no, don't forget, this five-star dungeon is ultimately a dungeon generated by the power of Smiley City. Once someone enters the Smiley City dungeon, if it's not full for the next three hours, the dungeon will automatically eject the players who previously entered!"
Lu Chenfei also disagreed with Zheng Shu's idea: "If Jiang Ying doesn't die, then Smiley City will not disappear, and the biggest problem will still remain unsolved."
You Ye said, "And he has no way to close this instance right now. But if we let him live, it's only a matter of time before he completely conquers the entire Smiley Face City. By that time, he'll definitely be able to find a way out."
Therefore, they must enter the copy as soon as possible and find a way to deal with Jiang Ying.
This five-star copy is not controlled by Jiangying, so it is easier for them to find opportunities there.
After discussing the matter to this point, no one had any objections.
The only issue they had to resolve was who would enter the five-star dungeon.
Lu Chenfei laughed and said, "There are 27 players in the dungeon now, and there are 7 spots left. Xia Jing counts as one, Song Yang counts as one, and I count as one. Who else wants to join?"
Feng Shi said without hesitation: "I'll go with you."
Just as Jia Qing was about to raise his hand, Song Yang and Feng Shi held him down.
"We don't look down on you, but this is a five-star copy. Are you sure you want to go in?" Feng Shi said seriously.
Jia Qing burst into tears: "You just despise me, and I despise myself too. Woohoo, just pretend I never raised my hand!"
Li Mian stepped forward and said, "I want to go in too."
Fei Shengxiao couldn't help but grab her wrist and bit her lip.
Li Mian patted her head and said gently, "I will definitely come out. Just wait for me outside. When we come out..."
Li Mian curved her eyebrows and said, "We can go home now."
Fei Shengxiao's eyes turned red.
You Ye smiled and said, "Count me in too. I don't like sitting around waiting, so I have to go in and stretch my muscles."
That left only one spot missing, so Bian Ya said, "Let me do it."
The seven candidates were quickly chosen, and they were all very familiar partners to each other.
Amidst the worried, nervous, and expectant gazes of everyone else—
The seven people turned around without hesitation and walked towards the holographic screen, towards the gloomy painting with the words "It is God" written on it.
They disappeared from the screen.
*
When colors reappeared in Xia Jing's vision, he was already in a... cave.
Yes, a cave.
It has nothing to do with the trees, land, and rain on the cover of the copy.
There were several incandescent lamps hanging on the ceiling of the cave. They were lit and scattered pale light.
The cave was very large. Not far to their right were several dilapidated machine tools. It looked like some strange workshop, and no one knew what it was used to make.
They couldn't see any materials, let alone NPCs.
Only the four entrepreneurs, four kidnapped persons, eight bodyguards and Jiang Ying who had entered the copy earlier huddled in the corner and stared at them with wide eyes.
Chai Feng and the other two people with special abilities stood by in silence with their arms folded. When they saw Xia Jing, they were somewhat surprised and confused.
The atmosphere suddenly became very weird, and the two groups were a little on edge.
Song Yang pulled Xia Jing behind him, and Lu Chenfei and the others stepped forward together and stood in front of Xia Jing.
Fortunately, Jiang's camp does not seem to dare to act rashly.
Xia Jing looked around and said first, "Doesn't the dungeon start yet?"
The opening scene of this dungeon is very strange. It shouldn't be possible for the game to start directly without giving them any hints.
But the fact is that all twenty-seven of them have arrived, but there has not been any change in the cave.
Suddenly, a figure appeared among them.
That figure... turned out to be Fei Shengxiao!
Everyone was surprised.
Li Mian was surprised and asked, "Sheng Xiao, how did you get in?!"
This copy is clearly full.
After Fei Shengxiao steadied himself, he hurried over to them, swallowed hard, and whispered, "Just now, after you came in, the holographic screen showed... only twenty-six players had logged into the dungeon!"
Everyone was stunned.
Fei Shengxiao explained, "Everyone feels like something's amiss, but since you've already gone in, we should definitely open this dungeon. Jia Qing and I discussed it, and we've finally decided that I should come in and support you. After all, I have more dungeon experience than he does!"
Just as Fei Shengxiao was speaking, four NPCs finally appeared next to the machine tool.
The machine started to move, making a "clang clang" sound, and the NPCs were working seriously with their heads down.
——In some dungeons, NPCs will not appear until the dungeon is officially opened.
This picture now is obviously the signal that the copy is activated.
This also means that the copy has only truly met the 27 player requirement until this moment. What Fei Shengxiao said is true!
But this is clearly a copy for 27 people, but they now have a total of 28 people!
Li Mian immediately became alert and asked, "Has an inhuman being sneaked into our midst?"
Lu Chenfei asked suspiciously, "Is it because of Xia Jing?"
Song Yang rejected it, saying, "Impossible. Xia Jing has always been a pure force body, but he has always been counted as a head by the copy."
Feng Shi glanced at the uneasy Jiang Ying not far away and said, "It can't be because of Jiang Ying. Just now, after this group of people entered the dungeon, the number of people displayed on the screen matched their head count."
This strange difference in the number of people clearly occurred after their own group came in.
The delicate situation made Bian Ya raise an eyebrow. "It can't be because of the other six of us. We were always counted in the kill count when we entered the dungeon in the past."
Everyone looked at each other.
So what's the situation with this extra person?
Among them, who is the "extra" one?