“Were you prey or a hunter before?”

“Couldn’t I have just been a VIP in the audience?” Chi Yao tilted his head to look at Jing Xi. “Do I look poor?”

Jing Xi: “…”

Seeing he was unwilling to talk, Jing Xi tactfully didn’t press the matter.

“I don’t know about poor, but you’re definitely stingy.”

Chi Yao let out an exasperated laugh. “Me, stingy?”

Jing Xi said flatly, “I gave you a planet, and you gave me a set of unwearable clothes in return.”

Chi Yao retorted, “You’re the one who won’t wear them. How is that my fault?”

Jing Xi observed the situation on the opposite bank, his face expressionless. “If we sold N0520 and exchanged it for clothes, we could have everyone in Extreme Shadow wear a different maid outfit every day until they die of old age.”

Chi Yao: “………”

Seeing Jing Xi was about to speak again, he raised a hand to cut him off, sneering, “So dissatisfied? How about a different return gift, then?”

Jing Xi agreed in a heartbeat. “Fine. You said it.”

Chi Yao: “…”

He’d fallen into his trap again.

On the other side, Fang Liang and Li Yuan were strolling around with two AIs disguised as players.

The two sat by the river with their arms crossed, and half an hour passed.

Li Yuan nudged Fang Liang and looked at the two AIs skipping stones by the river. “How much longer do you think they’re going to play?”

Fang Liang said with a straight face, “The air by the river is damp. If you stay too long, you’ll get rheumatism.”

Li Yuan: “…”

He switched to the public channel and glanced at it. The sponsors were all going ballistic.

“Get a move on!”

“The sky’s already dark, what’s the point of playing with rocks? You’re slacking off way too obviously!”

“I bet 300 million on this! If I lose, I’ll kill you!”

“I think it’s intentional. They must have taken a bribe!”

Li Yuan shouted over to them, “Hey, big bro, big sis, it’s time to go.”

Xiao Hong, with her cold and beautiful face, turned and pouted at him. “I want to play more.”

Xiao Hei, tossing a pebble, said in a cool voice, “I’m not leaving until we’ve decided a winner.”

Li Yuan gave an ‘okay’ gesture, his face a picture of resigned defeat.

“I’m going to set up the beds. Looks like we’re sleeping here tonight.”

Fang Liang: “…”

As the night grew deeper, thanks to Chi Yao’s meddling, eight beastified people were trapped within four invisible walls, fighting each other.

In the back-end control room, Gold Mask saw the AI’s warning on the virtual screen, and his brows, hidden under the mask, furrowed.

“What’s the problem?”

Hearing the voice from behind, he shot up and bowed.

“Some strange data was detected. I’m having the AI run a self-check.”

The person who entered walked over with his hands behind his back to look at the real-time data.

He wore a silver smiley-face mask with black patterns, and his voice came through a voice changer. “There have been a lot of incidents recently. Tell the people below to be on their toes. If something goes wrong, no one gets away.”

Gold Mask: “Yes!”

Inside the game—

“I can’t control it for too long.”

Just as Chi Yao finished speaking, a wall suddenly disappeared.

The more abnormal data there was, the easier it was for the game’s AI to detect.

Jing Xi’s gaze swept the area. There were no other players nearby.

“Release it. Let’s follow them.”

The words had just left his mouth when the scenery before him flickered, and his perspective suddenly elevated.

He looked down and was suddenly speechless.

They were now on top of the beastified people’s heads. Chi Yao had bound their data to the beastified people, so they went wherever the creatures went.

They were like kites released into the sky.

“Come on, big brother will take you for a ride.” Chi Yao smiled with his legs crossed, treating the pack of beastified people below as if they were sled dogs.

Jing Xi muttered softly, “It’s not yet certain who the ‘big brother’ is.”

Chi Yao: “What did you just say?”

Jing Xi: “Start recording, quickly.”

Chi Yao: “…”

What a completely natural and not-at-all-stiff change of topic.

The beastified people moved quickly, as if heading straight for a target.

Jing Xi noted the changes in the betting amounts and found that the number of people betting on the beastified people was increasing instead of decreasing.

The day broke exceptionally fast in the game. About an hour later, the light of dawn appeared on the horizon, and the number of beastified people they had locked onto had increased from eight to eighty.

“ROAR—!”

The gathered beastified people were extremely destructive. Everywhere they passed, all vegetation was destroyed.

They stayed one kilometer from the finish line, and other players didn’t dare to come half a step closer.

Chi Yao pressed enter. The position of the last batch of beastified people was confirmed: still the 110 Western Medical Research Base.

He yawned. “It’s time to end the game.”

Jing Xi recorded the information of the eighty targeted beastified people and shared their location with Xiao Hong.

“They’ll arrive in ten minutes.”

When Li Yuan and the others arrived, they saw the mass of bizarre-looking creatures from afar, and their spirits sank.

“The journey is so short, why set such a long game time? Couldn’t they just have us fight it out right here?” Li Yuan said, swinging the combat knife in his hand.

Fang Liang: “You have to consider the entertainment value. If the area is too small, there’s no fun in the chase.”

Li Yuan had a sudden realization. “That makes sense.”

The two chattered idly, pretending to walk casually toward the target location.

Jing Xi checked the time. There were only three minutes left in the hour.

In the main control room, the programmers were all sweating profusely.

“Report! Failed to repair the abnormal data!”

Gold Mask roared in frustration, “Continue!”

Another programmer said, “It can be automatically repaired in three minutes, or we can shut down for one minute for a closed system self-check.”

Gold Mask kicked him.

The programmer fell to the ground, curling up in pain.

“Useless!” Gold Mask panted, fuming. “Shut down for one minute? Do you have any idea how much we would lose?!”

The programmer struggled to his feet and said, bracing himself, “This virus is different from the previous ones. There’s really no way—”

Gold Mask slammed his fist on the console, his eyes fierce. “Lock on first! All suspicious targets, indiscriminate annihilation!”

In the game, Chi Yao sensed Xiao Hei approaching. He looked up and was momentarily speechless.

The two AIs, wearing the facades of a pretty boy and a cold goddess, were openly holding hands and even swinging them as they walked.

“So stupid,” Chi Yao complained.

Jing Xi glanced at him. “It’s normal for three or four-year-old children to like holding hands.”

“Xiao Hei is also three or four?” Chi Yao asked.

Jing Xi watched the final ten-second countdown, preparing to switch the data.

“He’s twenty. His rebellious phase came late.”

Chi Yao: “…”

Suddenly, I don’t want him anymore.

[Five… Four…]

Fang Liang and the others hid in the bushes, pretending to evade the beastified people.

Jing Xi and Chi Yao crouched beside Xiao Hong and Xiao Hei, ready to switch the data.

Just as the countdown reached one second, a line of static suddenly flashed across Xiao Hei’s face.

At the same time, a window popped up on Chi Yao and Jing Xi’s screens.

[Locked by game AI, attempting to break through—]

The back of Xiao Hong’s hand also flashed.

[Game AI is attempting to erase data—17 targets locked.]

Chi Yao sneered coldly. “Save every single one of them for me.”

Xiao Hei: [All data has been copied—Copied data has been erased.]

The instant he saw Xiao Hei’s prompt, his image suddenly showed a double, which quickly disappeared.

Main control room—

Gold Mask stared at the back-end data and asked, “Still not done?”

The programmer beside him was pale.

“Already deleted—”

Before Gold Mask could let out a sigh of relief, he heard the programmer add, “But those people are still, still there!”

“What?!” Gold Mask swiped open the surveillance feed. When he saw “Call Me Big Sis,” he couldn’t believe it and checked the others one by one.

Of the 17 targets, not a single one had been successfully eliminated.

“You call that fucking deleted?” Gold Mask punched the programmer to the ground. “Keep deleting!”

As time ticked by, his expression grew worse, his fingertips trembling slightly.

If this matter wasn’t resolved smoothly, he probably wouldn’t live to see tomorrow.

In the game, just as Chi Yao was about to swap with Xiao Hei, a bizarrely-shaped rabbit appeared at his feet.

The rabbit was only the size of two fists and at first glance looked like a white mouse.

“Master, boss, the data has been successfully saved,” the rabbit spoke, but the voice was Lin Yuheng’s.

“Well done,” Chi Yao smiled.

It was very difficult to move data under the game AI’s surveillance. Even if they succeeded, the data would only be safest in a bound terminal.

If they were locked on by the AI, it was possible to be tracked back to the moved data, or even have it destroyed.

To ensure their trip wasn’t for nothing, they had made two preparations.

They used Xiao Hong and Xiao Hei to move the data, then had Lin Yuheng save the data to a location outside the terminal.

All objectives had been achieved. There was no need to switch back to player mode.

Jing Xi said in a low voice, “Xiao Hong, activate the destruction program.”

Xiao Hong: [Activating—]

Forcibly quitting the game carried a huge risk. Once an anomaly was detected, the access pass would release a strong electric shock, powerful enough to be fatal.

Even if they succeeded, if only the two of them logged out, it would make it easy for the enemy to lock onto them.

“When did you write a destruction program?” Chi Yao asked.

It had been less than three hours from when he told Jing Xi to when they entered the game. How could he have had so much time to prepare?

Jing Xi said without expression, “This program was written for Extreme Shadow’s AI. I didn’t expect it to be used somewhere else first.”

Chi Yao: “…”

Main control room—

Warning alarms blared continuously in the several-hundred-square-meter hall.

All windows displaying back-end data turned red, popping up with danger alerts.

“What’s happening?!” Gold Mask’s emotions were on the verge of collapse.

The programmer he had grabbed by the collar looked panicked, his limbs weak with fear.

“The… the game is self-destructing. We are already trying to control it.”

“Self-destructing?!” Gold Mask staggered back several steps. “Impossible, impossible!”

He came to his senses and screamed frantically, “Activate the highest defense mechanism! Even if it means shutting down for a few minutes, ensure the game program is undamaged, or none of you will leave here alive!”

The programmers shivered. “Yes, yes!”

Inside the game—

After Xiao Hong released the bomb program, everyone prepared to run.

Just a moment before cutting the connection to the game, Xiao Hong and Xiao Hei both sounded an alarm.

[Under attack by game AI—Attempting to break through—]

[Breakthrough successful—]

A sharp pain shot through Chi Yao’s temple, making him frown tightly.

Sensation gradually returned, and he snapped his eyes open.

The first thing he saw was himself, sitting opposite him.

He rubbed his temple and looked again. It was still himself.

Chi Yao: “…”

Fuck.

Jing Xi opened his eyes a moment after Chi Yao and first tore off the access pass from his neck.

“Be gentle with me.”

Hearing his own voice, his movements paused, and he looked up at the person opposite him.

The “himself” across from him was resting his chin on one hand, smiling as he watched him.

Jing Xi was stunned. He looked at his own hands.

Long and strong, with terribly trimmed nails that were jagged and angular.

This was Chi Yao’s body.

Chi Yao pulled his hand over, double-tapped the terminal, and a Xiao Hei floated out.

He said in a cold voice, “Go blow up that damn server for me.”

They were already free from the constraints of the access passes, so there was no need for any more reservations.

A line of text appeared above the Xiao Hei.

[What’s in it for me?]

Chi Yao: “If you complete the mission, I’ll let you and Xiao Hong skip stones for an hour.”

The Xiao Hei wobbled.

[Deal.]

Jing Xi: “…”

Main control room—

The data in all windows was being deleted at an incredible speed. The game screens on the monitoring windows flickered, and all the players’ movements froze.

The programmers’ skills made Gold Mask despair. He shouted, “Bosait! Get out here!”

“I am Bosait.”

A hoarse, boyish voice echoed in the space.

Gold Mask had no mental energy to notice if the AI’s voice was correct. He said urgently, “Secure the data!”

“Executing, please wait—”

“Beep—Backup database has been cleared.”

A breath caught in Gold Mask’s chest, the pain making him unable to speak.

“I told you to secure the data, not delete the data!”

The Xiao Hei version of “Bosait”: “Understood. Executing, please wait—”

“Beep—Prize pool data has been cleared.”

The prize pool was cleared too?!

Gold Mask’s head roared.

“I didn’t tell you to clear this data!”

“Bosait”: “Understood. Executing, please wait—”

“Beep—All prize money has been returned via the original payment routes.”

A rush of heat went to Gold Mask’s head, blood spurted from his nose, and he fainted, collapsing to the ground.

“Boss?!”

In the study, the terminal on Jing Xi’s wrist suddenly vibrated.

He casually swiped it open. A balance change notification.

[Your account has been credited with 352,800…0. Current account balance is 134,827,570…0.]

Jing Xi: “…”

Chi Yao glanced at it and laughed out loud.

“As expected of my AI.”