Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

Chapter 872: Chapter 828 Sudden Bad News_1 Chapter 872: Chapter 828 Sudden Bad News_1 Yelang felt like he must have not read the almanac before starting today’s live stream – it’s been bad luck all around.

First, he got shot in the butt and died on the spot, then faceplanted on the floor.

With great effort, he endured the pain and transformed into a [Blazing Swordsman], even at the cost of burning all his hair, turning himself into a boiled egg.

However, he didn’t get to enjoy his new look for long.

–– The flames only burned on the surface of his body, setting his clothes on fire, but could not consume everything entirely.

His skin was undamaged, only his hair got burnt off.

Despite all, he still looked pretty cool.

But before he could enjoy his coolness for a minute, he got betrayed by his teammates….

Infuriating!

Compared to Yelang, Lincoln’s dissatisfaction was minuscule.

It was merely some predictable glitches in the task sequence.

It is true that if players follow the prescribed process, they will receive a lot of help – in the Dojo, Little Sister’s Master would give players hints about possible encounters and even give them a “Fire Talisman” specifically for restraining Black Zombies.

For a well-prepared player, all they would need to do is to leave the zombies weakened.

The hidden evil force would then show up as expected, naturally taking the clues forward.

However, an open world game should be prepared for players messing up the sequence – there will be measures to deal with that.

Although this would surely lead to a less smooth gaming experience.

Victoria had done just that, skipping sections and instead grinding through the increased difficulty levels.

She refused to give up and instead decided to seek help from others to fight.

As a result, the BOSS grew terrifyingly strong, the difficulty level soared rapidly, and the real perpetrator no longer appeared.

The only way to get clues on the next step was through dropped items.

But considering how they were grinding for experience feverishly, Lincoln was not going to wait for them.

He left with Mavis to get food at the Aerospace Center, then would return to training.

…

…

When Lincoln got home, exhausted from training, Mavis kindly showed him the highlight reel of the aftermath of the live-stream ––

These people were ruthless indeed.

Six waves of Golden Guards were let in, turned into White-haired zombies by the BOSS, and then mercilessly killed off and turned into experience points.

By the end of the day, they had each leveled up twice.

It was only when their posted guards noticed the Cow Holding Guards, each carrying large barrels of flaming oil, that they were forced to stop leveling and concentrate their firepower –– ushering in the final, brutal battle.

There was scarcely any black hair left on the BOSS’s body, and its defenses were significantly weakened.

Despite its still-shocking damage output, it could not withstand the players’ self-sacrificial attacks.

Eventually, it was felled by the swarm of players.

As a result, half of the buildings in Luck Square were reduced to ashes in a blaze.

The moment the BOSS fell, there was a flash of light as the players leveled up.

The night had already fallen, but at that moment, the entire market seemed as bright as day!

Clearly, everyone had gained greatly.

As a cost, eight districts in Chang’an City experienced tremendous destruction, with three and a half of them utterly destroyed by fire.

If it weren’t for the rules of the BOSS battle, every present player would have to spend a full day and night in jail.

But Victoria was not worried about the destruction.

She knew that once they logged out and went to sleep, they would wake up to a brand-new Chang’an City.

What she cared more about were the items dropped by the BOSS:

[Suspicious Meat]: Can significantly enhance the fertility of the land when buried in farmland, thereby accelerating the maturity of crops.

–– This is an item to aid players farming, helping with planting gourds as well as growing herbs for making plasters or brewing alcohol in the later stages, quickening crop maturity is always a useful boost.

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[Corpse Control Talisman]: Task item.

This is a talisman drawn on yellow paper, with the words “The Day of the Imperial Order and the Spirit Feathers” written on it in cinnabar.

The system description is: [Travel to Dongming Temple and give this talisman to the Sun Daoist to get clues for the next step.]

[Protector Talisman]: With this talisman item, you can resist three fatal attacks.

This is also a talisman drawn on yellow paper.

However, the words written on it have changed –– [The Day of the Imperial Order Forever.]

[Black Zombie Claws]: Enhancement Item.

A skilled blacksmith can meld it into a weapon to improve the weapon’s level.

As for the money, it was awarded by the county magistrate, a full fifty taels of silver.

By the way, the reputation of Chang’an City immediately went up by 1500.

The previous step of submitting intelligence had only given 100, showing the great reward from this task and the severity of the destruction caused by the Black Zombie.

Of course, all these rewards belonged solely to Victoria, the homeowner.

The players who had come to join the fun and help didn’t get anything besides experience.

–– After all, this was just a mission BOSS, not an instance or World BOSS.

The intensity had been raised up so absurdly only because of the high number of people.

But the crowd was not disappointed.

Many of them immediately went to the forum to post, setting up 100-people teams, aiming for another round.

With these ample experience rewards, there is worth in grinding, even considering the decrease!

…

As for Victoria, she looked at the items dropped from the task with some hesitation.

The [Teaching Workshop Case] had been solved: the missing person was eaten by a monster.

It’s a clear-cut case.

The pursuit of the actual culprit comes next in sequence.

Considering the strength of the Black Zombie, who knows what crazily strong enemy they’ll encounter later on.

Therefore, Victoria finally decided –– to do the main missions first.

Seeing the [Suspicious Meat] in her hand, she was even more eager to fertilize her fields and start the plantation.

–– If she acted quickly, she might be able to harvest a few more batches of gourds.

*

After following these developments, Lincoln feels considerably better.

Once again, he stands up from the sofa and says to Mavis, “Mavis, let’s get back to work.”

He prepares to go downstairs to the lab, to continue producing microchips.

“Yes, yes, on the way!” Mavis rushes to catch up with Lincoln.

Just as they close the door and are about to reach the elevator, his mobile phone rings.

Lincoln picks it up and is somewhat surprised to find that the caller is Old Man Leonard, who he has not been in touch with for some time.

“Hello, what’s up, old man?”

Old Man Leonard pauses for a moment before saying: “Sisi says she misses you, do you have time to see her?”

“Well, I was thinking about visiting her in two days.

OK, I’ll go right now.”

As he’s talking, the elevator arrives.

Lincoln gets in and presses the button for the 17th floor where Old Man Leonard lives.

Little Sisi is already familiar with him.

Not only does Lincoln sometimes visit her, Sisi also sometimes comes to visit him when she misses him.

But because of the development of “Chang’an” and the research and development of the Consciousness Chip, Lincoln has been very busy lately and hasn’t had time to see her.

Sisi, seemingly aware of this, has stopped coming by.

Now that this shy little girl has taken the initiative and said that she misses him, it won’t hurt to postpone his work on the Consciousness Chip tonight.

After all, one day won’t make much of a difference.

– The Consciousness Chip is not a direct path from understanding theory to product development, it requires a lot of effort and dedication.

The elevator begins its slow ascent.

But after a few seconds, Old Man Leonard breaks the silence again, saying: “We’re not at home.”

“You’re still out?” Lincoln looks at the time on his phone, confused, “Where are you?”

“The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiajing University.”

“???” Lincoln is caught off guard.

After a pause, he asks, “Is everything ok with you, old man?”

After a longer silence, Old Man Leonard finally speaks again as the elevator arrives at the 17th floor: “It’s about Sisi, her situation is a bit complicated.

I’ll explain everything when you get here.”

Old Man Leonard’s words make Lincoln worried.

“I’ll be there immediately!” He promptly presses the button for the first floor and calls Yue Pengju because although he doesn’t need Pengju to go to the lab, he needs to notify him when he leaves the building.

…

…

Thirty-six minutes later, Lincoln arrives at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiajing University.

He is then taken to the Hematology Department by Old Man Leonard.

He does not immediately enter the ward but looks at the pale and thin little girl on the hospital bed through the glass door, incredulously asking, “What happened to Sisi?”

Old Man Leonard takes a heavy sigh and answers: “Acute lymphoblastic leukemia.”

Then, with some difficulty, he says two words: “Late stage.”

He speaks remorsefully, “It’s my fault.

I realized it too late.”

This sudden and disastrous news leaves Lincoln stunned and shocked.

His mind is almost blank.

This is completely out of his expectations!

He couldn’t imagine that he would suddenly hear such terrible news!

Not only Old Man Leonard, even Lincoln, who has seen Sisi quite a lot over the past few months, hadn’t noticed any signs.

– No.

Lincoln suddenly realizes that there were indeed signs!

The little girl’s skin was always very pale, not in a healthy way but somewhat sickly.

And she always seemed languid and did everything slowly, as if lacking energy.

But Lincoln thought it was simply because Sisi was shy and introverted, and she stayed at home most of the time, not taking in the sun or doing any physical activity.

But thinking about it now, could those have been early symptoms?

No one thought about [Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia].

The little girl never complained about discomfort.

Or perhaps she was uncomfortable, but she didn’t want to bother others, so she kept it to herself?

All this is consistent with Lincoln’s understanding of Sisi’s character.

He gazes at Sisi on the hospital bed.

A storm is stirring in his mind, countless images flashing across, and countless words he wants to say, but he is overwhelmed and doesn’t know what to say.

After a while, he finally manages to ask with a trace of hope: “Is there a possibility of a cure?”

Old Man Leonard shakes his head, opens his mouth but cannot say anything.

He tries to control his emotions and supports himself against the wall, and with great difficulty, he says-

“Two days ago during the treatment, she developed Tumor Lysis Syndrome.

The doctor said she could only hold on …

for three more months, and…

she could collapse any time.”

It took Old Man Leonard several pauses to finish his sentence.

“Damn it!!”

This is Lincoln’s first reaction.

But his second reaction is:

Wait…

The Consciousness Chip!!