Chapter 1 The Beginning

"Boom!"

A calloused, powerful hand reached out from the pile of rubble.

Immediately afterward, countless stones exploded outwards as Jin Tong, his face as dark as a thundercloud, stood up.

Several proctors hurried to Jin Tong's side.

"Elder Jin, are you alright?" Proctor Xiao Yi asked with concern.

Jin Tong: "I'm fine. Where are those men in black?"

Xiao Yi hesitated. "They kidnapped ten examinees and then retreated."

"Which ten?" Jin Tong grabbed Xiao Yi's shoulders, agitated.

"Qiao Yu, Gu Su…" Xiao Yi recited the names of the ten examinees, and Jin Tong's expression grew increasingly grim with each name.

"Damn it!"

Jin Tong punched the wall beside him.

"Elder Jin, don't worry. Since they were kidnapped, it means the examinees are temporarily safe. We still have a chance!" Xiao Yi quickly tried to reassure him.

Jin Tong shook his head.

"Such a well-trained operation couldn't have been carried out by an ordinary organization. And no ordinary organization would have the audacity to target national college entrance examination examinees!"

Mayor Fang Biao walked over with the four headmasters, their faces also grave.

"Elder Jin, I have some bad news." Fang Biao gave a wry smile.

"It's not just Su City. Examinees have been kidnapped in four cities across the country. And the methods are identical, suggesting it's the work of the same organization."

Jin Tong frowned deeply.

Kidnapping examinees in four cities simultaneously? This mysterious organization had a wide reach.

The Great Xia Empire had always been peaceful. When did such a powerful organization emerge within its borders?

"Investigate! No matter what, we must ensure the safety of those ten examinees!"

Creak!

After an unknown amount of time, the screech of brakes sounded, and Qiao Yu and the others turned their gazes towards the door.

The next moment, the car door was pulled open, and Hua Ci's pleasant voice rang out again.

"Ten geniuses, you can get out of the car now. Behave yourselves, line up and get out one by one, and don't cause trouble for yourselves."

"I'm not getting out. My mom said unless you add another 200,000 in betrothal gifts! Otherwise, I'm not getting out!"

Yang Xiangdi's massive frame blocked the doorway. He glanced outside and saw that they were in a deserted suburban area.

Hua Ci's expression darkened.

"Fatty, do you believe I have a hundred ways to make you regret being a smartass?"

"Really? I don't believe you. Not unless you can shit standing on your head."

Hua Ci directly pulled out a pistol and aimed it at Yang Xiangdi's head.

Whoosh!

Cold sweat instantly poured down Yang Xiangdi's back.

"Sister Hua Ci~ don't get so excited, listen to me first."

Hua Ci's eyes narrowed slightly. "Say what?"

"Say you want to tame every monster with light.

They say to stitch up your wounds because no one loves a clown.

Why is loneliness not glorious?

Only imperfection is worth praising.

Who says someone covered in mud isn't a hero?

I love you walking alone in the dark alley.

I love your unyielding appearance.

I love you…"

Click.

Hua Ci directly released the safety on the pistol.

Yang Xiangdi's Adam's apple bobbed up and down, and the rest of the lyrics choked in his throat.

Hua Ci: "Move!"

"Brother Yu, are you done yet! I really can't hold them back any longer!" Yang Xiangdi shouted.

"Done!"

Qiao Yu inside the car breathed a sigh of relief, shifting his gaze from the last person's chip.

"Hehe, goodbye, you bitch!"

After Yang Xiangdi finished speaking, his massive figure began to distort.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Hua Ci didn't hesitate and fired several shots in a row.

However, Yang Xiangdi's figure had already disappeared. Hua Ci looked into the car, but where were Qiao Yu and the others?

Hua Ci's face was gloomy, and an icy killing intent emanated from her.

"Lord Hua Ci, don't worry. They have to come out from where they entered the otherworld. We can wait here and catch them!"

7438 said obsequiously.

Slap!

Hua Ci slapped him so hard he spun around.

"Idiot! We're in the suburbs of Su City right now. Are you going to wait here for Fang Biao and the others to bring people and round us up?"

"Qiao Yu, Yang Xiangdi, I'll remember you two!"

Hua Ci's eyes flashed with a cold light.

"Go!"

Da da da!

The sound of helicopter rotors rang out above Bai Ze and the others' heads as Hua Ci and her group boarded the helicopter.

The long-haired man who had defeated Jin Tong earlier frowned.

"Why are there only a few of you? Where are the ten examinees?"

"Those kids somehow cracked the chip's interference and escaped into the otherworld," Hua Ci said coldly.

"What?!"

The long-haired man's expression instantly turned cold.

"Useless! If I had known you were so useless, I wouldn't have come to Su City! It's a complete waste of my time!"

Click.

A gun was pointed at the long-haired man's temple.

Long-haired man: "...Actually, I think coming to Su City wasn't so bad after all."

"This is my responsibility. I will give the organization an explanation."

Hua Ci took a deep breath, her profound gaze fixed on the empty car below.

A familiar high tower came into view.

"Crack!"

As soon as he entered the otherworld, Qiao Yu effortlessly broke free of his shackles.

"Brother Yu, how did you do that? I didn't know you had any research into the otherworld chips?" Yang Xiangdi asked.

The others who had just escaped also turned their gazes to Qiao Yu.

"Sigh, it's a long story."

Qiao Yu gave a wry smile. In order to escape into the otherworld, he had been forced to use the Heart of the Mechanical Empress.

After integrating countless mechanical knowledge, he finally had the ability to crack Bai Ze's interference with their chips.

The reason Yang Xiangdi had been blocking the door and talking nonsense was to buy him more time.

"I need to find a way to cram some relevant basic knowledge after going to Kyoto University."

Although the Heart of the Mechanical Empress had poured all the mechanical knowledge into his mind, Qiao Yu didn't know how to use it.

It was like someone who hadn't even learned addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division suddenly had countless advanced mathematical formulas in their mind.

Taylor's theorem, L'Hôpital's rule, Maclaurin series, all crammed into his brain.

He knew the formulas and the knowledge points, but he couldn't solve the problems…

That was Qiao Yu's current situation. He needed more time to digest the knowledge that the Heart of the Mechanical Empress had given him.

"Looks like I can never go to the Mechanical Kingdom副本 (fùběn, instance/dungeon) again." Qiao Yu thought to himself.

The Mechanical Empress had told him to keep her heart, but he had used it directly.

If he entered the Mechanical Kingdom again, wouldn't she beat him to death?

"Don't be in a hurry to chat, we're not out of danger yet! Bai Ze's people could come after us at any time."

Zuo You calmly spoke. Qiao Yu had noticed long ago that the more dangerous the situation, the calmer this girl became.

"Let's go into a closed instance. The time we spend in the instance should be enough for the people of Su City to find us. Then it will be safe to leave the otherworld."

Zuo You's suggestion was quickly agreed upon by the others.

The instances in the otherworld were divided into two types: open instances and closed instances.

For example, Nightmare Village and Myriad Venom Cave, which Qiao Yu had cleared before, were all closed instances.

Once players entered, they would not encounter other players. Open instances, on the other hand, were like the Mechanical Kingdom.

All players could enter at any time, and even players in the same instance would receive various tasks of different difficulty.

As long as they entered a closed instance, Bai Ze would have no way to find them until they cleared it.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Ma Fei urged.

Being inexplicably kidnapped by Bai Ze's people had made him as nervous as a frightened bird.

Ma Fei had been a rich young master since he was a child. He had never experienced such a kidnapping.

"Ma Fei, are you scared?" Yang Xiangdi asked.

"Bullshit! Would I be scared? If they hadn't restricted entry to the otherworld, I could have killed them all with one sword!" Ma Fei instantly became agitated.

"Hua Ci is catching up!" Qiao Yu shouted.

"Damn! Where? Where?"