Chapter 237 - 235: Revived from Death

Chapter 237: Chapter 235: Revived from Death

The game pod blew up?

Just a bout of terrible luck?

Staring at the messages in the chat group, the lurking game bloggers were all stunned. How could it be such a coincidence?

’Haha, it must be just a coincidence.’

One member, still completely unfazed, joked, "Then you’re screwed. Maybe it’s that Fang Can’s superpower at work!"

But immediately after, three or four more messages popped up in quick succession.

"Damn it, I was just listening to that First Turn guy speak when my game pod suddenly reported a bad connection and needed maintenance."

"Shit, the moronic AI just burst a water pipe and flooded my game pod. Now it’s saying the environment is hazardous and gaming is not recommended."

"Holy crap, a nearby power cable blew out. My wirelessly charging pod got forced offline. I’ll get back in once I switch to backup power."

...

Everyone’s heart skipped a beat as they saw the sudden flood of messages from their friends in the chat.

One player quickly asked, "Hey, you guys aren’t all in on this together, trying to prank us, are you? This joke isn’t funny."

Electrolysis Blood: "Why would we lie? It really is a bad connection. If you don’t believe me, see for yourself."

As Electrolysis Blood sent the message, a video call invitation was sent to the group. Someone accepted immediately.

Meanwhile, in the game, Fang Can looked at the players before him and began to earnestly lecture them on the conveniences of modern life.

"The power of technology, much like the Martial Dao, can benefit the masses. However, the more precise a device, the more likely a single malfunctioning component is to compromise the stability of the entire system."

"Perhaps the probability of any single component failing is one in ten million, but that doesn’t account for the sheer number of components involved."

As Fang Can continued his explanation, the surrounding players failed to notice that several of their companions had quietly logged off.

Back in the group chat, when the player with the damaged game pod sent out the video invitation, Feng Qiaoyan accepted it along with the others.

An image of the room where Electrolysis Blood was located was soon projected onto his retina.

A handsome man was pointing at a massive game pod beside him. "I told you I wasn’t lying," he said. "It’s broken, plain and simple."

Following his pointed finger, the others saw the display on the man’s game pod flickering and lagging, as if infected by a virus.

Recalling Fang Can’s words, a sliver of unease crept into their minds. ’Don’t tell me... that guy’s superpower... is actually real.’

But before they could dwell on it, a message appeared in front of Electrolysis Blood. He squinted to read it, then cursed, "HOLY SHIT, my parents just got hit by a hovercar! I need to go handle the bills."

"A car crash!" Feng Qiaoyan’s eyes widened. ’Things can’t be this coincidental.’

Meanwhile, in the chat group, messages began flooding the screen.

In that short span of time, some had their stocks plummet to the brink of bankruptcy. For another, a train transporting processed waste exploded nearby, bringing a literal shitstorm down upon them.

In just those few moments, every single one of the chosen players was struck by terrible misfortune, their luck seemingly having run completely dry.

In the video call, Electrolysis Blood connected the dots back to Fang Can’s words and, seething with anger, was about to get back in the game to confront him.

But the next moment, with a resounding BOOM, the entire game pod detonated, burying Electrolysis Blood in a shower of shrapnel.

Everyone watching the video call jumped in shock, but then a furious roar erupted from the flames. "I’m at the Profound Gate Third Layer! This little explosion is nowhere near enough to kill me!"

When the group members looked, they saw Electrolysis Blood standing amidst the wreckage, his clothes torn to shreds. But aside from looking disheveled, he was completely unharmed.

After all, the body of a Profound Gate Third Layer cultivator was far too resilient to be harmed by an ordinary accident.

Back in the game, Fang Can had something to say about that.

Looking at the increasingly impatient players, he smiled. "You see, as technology advances, the destruction caused by accidents grows ever more powerful."

"In feudal times, the worst bad luck might get you is struck by lightning, drowned in a river, or crushed by a falling roof."

"In our current era, however, technological accidents like missile misfires and vehicle collisions are far more common."

"And as technology progresses, the scope and devastation of these accidents will only become more terrifying."

"I recall you’re from an interstellar civilization, correct? The probability of a structural failure within a simple lightbulb is really no different than the probability of one within a starship."

As Fang Can spoke, deep within the Jade Light Star System, the internal structure of a starship began to show faint signs of instability.

On Guiyuan Star, just as Electrolysis Blood finished his declaration that nothing could kill him, piercing alarms blared all around him. A moment later, a blinding light seared his vision.

Filled with dread, Electrolysis Blood instinctively turned. Through the floor-to-ceiling window, he and everyone watching saw a magnificent pillar of light bloom in the distance.

"That’s... the antimatter storage depot..." Electrolysis Blood muttered, his lips suddenly dry and cracked.

"Antimatter storage? Who in their right mind would store antimatter on a residential tourist planet?"

A group member who also lived on the planet shrieked in the chat.

The antimatter was only being stored on the planet temporarily due to an unforeseen incident; it was scheduled to be shipped out the very next day.

But a single, tiny accident was about to cause the entire planet to be annihilated by the detonation of a mountain’s worth of antimatter.

’I... I can’t escape.’ Electrolysis Blood’s legs gave out, and he collapsed to his knees. He watched the pillar of light, born from the annihilation of matter and antimatter, grow larger and larger as destruction rushed toward him.

An explosion of this magnitude would destroy the entire planet. All he could do was watch, utterly helpless to escape.

Meanwhile, in the game, the player known as the Bloody Hand Butcher was listening to Fang Can’s ongoing lecture about the role of a "luck manipulator" in a high-tech society when he suddenly realized something was wrong.

’What’s going on? Why are more than half of the players offline? And they haven’t logged back in for so long.’

Puzzled, the Bloody Hand Butcher also briefly logged off. Less than two minutes later, he reappeared with a WHOOSH.

But the man who logged back in was a far cry from his former arrogant self.

Like a cornered hyena, he glared at Fang Can with bloodshot eyes. "What the fuck did you do? All the other players... they all had accidents in the real world."

"So the accidents finally happened." Confronted with the accusation, Fang Can covered his face with his left hand and couldn’t stop himself from laughing.

"A little earlier than I expected, even. It seems your Otherworld’s high-tech weapon stockpiles are quite potent indeed."

At the Bloody Hand Butcher’s revelation, the remaining players all logged out in a panic, desperate to see what was happening in the real world.

In the blink of an eye, all 41 players present had logged off, leaving their avatars standing before Fang Can like a group of comatose patients.

At that same moment, a player regained consciousness. His face was a mask of terror, and his legs gave out, sending him kneeling to the floor.

Staring at the smooth floor of the interrogation room before him, Electrolysis Blood murmured to himself, "Wasn’t I killed by the antimatter? Was... was that all a hallucination?"

Hearing the man’s words, Fang Can’s eyes narrowed, and a hint of a smile touched his lips.

"Oh? What was that? You’re already dead in the real world."

"Now, things are getting interesting."