The system had started updating on the morning of the 11th and had been updating for a full 24 hours before the login opened at 9am on the 12th.
In the next five minutes, Li Shuoxing was all set up and logged in to the game.
Reality faded away and virtual regenerated.
In the blink of an eye, Li Shuoxing had re-entered the game and found a brand new decoration, a large globe placed in the lounge, that had appeared after the game was updated.
The large globe was placed next to the sofa, opposite the record player, one on the left and one on the right.
Additionally, the surface of the globe also had special effects, like a small tornado, several dark flickering clouds carrying thunder and lightning, and a few vibrations that dropped clumps of dirt the size of fingernails.
Li Shuoxing and Su Mingqian watched these special effects with amazement.
After he had watched for a while, he suddenly realised. âArenât lightning, tornadoes, and earthquakes the disasters that Earth experienced after its encounter with the third civilisation in my article? Did the system even create that?â
He said, tapping on the globe.
A vast universe spread out in a flash, and a series of nine planets popped out in sequence.
When the first planet of the Cthulhu civilisation rose, the murmur of the abyss suddenly sounded in Li Shuoxingâs and Su Mingqianâs ears. The murmur was uneven, like a crazy roar, like low persuasion. At the same time, both unprepared peopleâs hearts had jumped, their spirits shaken. It was also at that moment that the planet that had emerged from the void and risen above the globe suddenly changed.
Its hard outer shell turned into a thin membrane. Something was struggling inside it, stretching the planet in all sorts of strange shapes, making it look like the womb of a monster about to be born. Listening carefully, the murmur of the abyss that sounded in their ears was definitely the heartbeat of the monster that was being birthed by the planet!
But the terror only lasted a moment.
After a while, the special effects ended, the sound disappeared, and the film disappeared. The grey planet was hanging safely in the sky with a line of text displayed on it: âThe First Coming Civilisation: The Cthulhu Civilisationâ.
After that, there was calm for a few seconds. Then, the second planet leapt out of the void, along with special effects.
Mighty and magnificent mage towers rose from the ground. Ferocious dragons and angels fought, the losers falling from the sky to the ground, smashing towns and villages and smearing purple blood over the earth. Solid soil suddenly loosened and skeletons crawled back to the human world from it. Magma gushed out behind them, and demons bathed in it as they came to the human world.
This was, âThe Second Coming Civilisation: The Magic Civilisationâ.
The third planet appeared.
It appeared unobtrusively, just like a giant subway ball, slowly emerging from the void.
In an instant, it was surrounded by a dense, ant-like cosmic fleet guard. These cold war machines guarded the iron ball as it continued ascending.
The iron ball changed again halfway up. A circular light screen appeared around it.
This light screen showed Earthâs cities and mountains. Its cold surface was coated with a protective layer of the moonâs hazy and gentle yellow colour. In contrast to this, disasters were becoming more and more frequent on Earth⊠Finally, as it rose to its position, a neat explosion appeared on the screen. The fire and smoke from the explosion annihilated the entire earth, but it was like the firework satin that burned around the âmoonâ celebrating its return to the sky.
Finally, a few large iron letters appeared on the planetâs surface:
âThe Third Civilisation: The Mechanical Civilisationâ.
All of the three coming civilisations written about in Nine Crossings had appeared now, and the remaining six civilisations were all empty. There was only the outline of a planet, and three question marks directly inside it to indicate that the author hadnât set anything yet.
To be honest, Li Shuoxing was a bit surprised by this design.
In his article, he described nine civilisations that had died in the process of evolution coming to Earth in silhouette, rather than two planets meeting and unfolding directly in the universe.
However, it was obvious that producing it this way was more in line with the form of a game.
It could be imagined that when the game for Nine Crossings was really mature and developed, there would be ten newbie villages, including Earth, for players to choose from, each with a different style of civilisation. Players could level up on their own planets and experience the fun of different civilisations. When the game reached a certain stage, it would directly open the battle between planets. Successful planets would advance to the next level. Failed planets would have their civilisations dead, with players wandering and directly entering the revenge mode from their nationâs destructionâŠ
Thinking about it, it was actually a bit sensational.
Thinking about it more, sheesh, wouldnât this be making detailed and specific settings for all nine planets? The level of detail in the setting of each civilisation couldnât be beaten by that of the main world of Earth he wrote about in Nine Crossings .
Li Shuoxing was a little stunned.
He felt that the amount of work wasnât easy and couldnât be done casually.
ButâŠ
It was all worth it.
This was a chance to see the world he had written come to life!
Li Shuoxingâs mind was in the clouds, and he was in high spirits. His brain was alight with a lot of inspiration for several other civilisations for a moment. He quickly found a pen and paper, and, after jotting down some important sentences, continued to study the globe in front of him.
In addition to the nine planets surrounding the globe, there were many other planets of various sizes scattered throughout the universe, all of which looked dead.
Li Shuoxing tried tapping on them, and a prompt popped up on these planets that read: âDead Civilisationâ.
Inspiration came again, as it always did, coming whenever it wanted to, without reason.
He thought to himself:
These planets are dead, but, since civilisations exist, there must be remnants of civilisation on them. In this way, it could be made into an adventure system, which would allow players to independently develop these âdead civilisationsâ and collect treasuresâŠ
After seeing the coming civilisations, and after seeing the dead civilisations, all that was left was Earth itself.
When Li Shuoxingâs finger tapped on the globe, there was finally an interaction option this time.
A few lines of text floated on the globeâs surface.
[Progress: The third civilisation, the mechanical civilisation is coming]
[Overview: On Earth, disasters are frequent; in the universe, the supernaturals will confront the mechanical civilisation. The war is about to begin.]
[Do you want to enter? Yes/No]
[Will you use the protagonist template? Yes/No]
Li Shuoxing chose yes for both.
They were engulfed by the light that erupted from the globe. When the light disappeared, Li Shuoxing and Su Mingqian were standing in the streets of downtown.
This was a large city that looked very similar to reality. Their difference was probably that the city had a post-disaster look, with many small buildings collapsed on the streets, fallen trees, and cracked roadsâŠ
âHey, you two.â
Li Shuoxing and Su Mingqian, who were standing by the street and sizing up the city, were suddenly called by someone.
They looked back and found that the person who called them was a middle-aged traffic cop.
This middle-aged traffic cop looked frosty and stern. âYou two, get out of the spirit beastsâ exclusive passage! Canât you see that youâre blocking the spirit beasts that are trying to pass behind you?â
Li Shuoxing: â???â
He didnât even realise what was happening for a moment. He subconsciously turned his head and saw a huge Persian cat the size of a tank, squatting on the ground, looking at him and Su Mingqian with blue and gold mandarin duck eyesâŠ
Li Shuoxing looked into the lantern-sized catâs eyes for a moment. He took Su Mingqianâs hand, leaned in close to him, took a step back, and then another, until he got all the way from the spirit beast passage back to the pedestrian passage. Then, he saw the Persian cat that had been squatting on the ground stand up and continue on with a graceful gait. But as it passed them, it flicked the tip of its tail at the ground, stirring up a handful of dust which fell down on their heads.
This tank-sized cat actually swept dust at them with its tail?
Li Shuoxing was shocked.
He remembered that this was a small plot point in his article, but he didnât find the cat that obnoxious at all when he wrote it?
At that moment, Li Shuoxing even forgot about their size difference and had the urge to rush up and grab the catâs tail.
But, Su Mingqian stopped him just in time.
Su Mingqianâs voice sounded slightly surprised. âXimu, we look likeâŠâ
Li Shuoxing: âWhat is it?â
He said, looking back, and only then did he clearly see the change in both of them.
Their appearances had changed to those in the novel.
Su Mingqian, with a cane in his hand and a pocket watch on his chest, had the style of a medieval Western gentleman.
As for himself, he had long tied-up hair, a long robe, and an ancient black lacquered bracelet wrapped around his left wrist. It looked plain at first glance, but was actually constantly flashing with subtle and mysterious glimmers of light, which flickered brightly and faintly, just like stars shining in the night sky.
Li Shuoxing looked at his own bracelet, and then at Su Mingqianâs pocket watch chain. He was satisfied to find that the two looked the same, clearly a coupleâs set.
The system was really powerful, and even such tiny details were perfectly in line with the novelâs setting.
In addition to the clothing, their faces had also undergone some transformations. It was obviously based on the original, with a lot of game beautification added to ensure that they werenât clearly recognisable.
Li Shuoxing was very satisfied with this change.
His own cub was his to watch. His own cub was not for others to watch!
He continued to study his surroundings, and soon found something even more novel: several small buttons that hovered in front of his chest.
These buttons seemed to be the characterâs skills.
Li Shuoxing looked around and eagerly tapped on one of the skills named [Fog].
When he used the skill, Li Shuoxing felt his body lighten, and he had transformed from a human figure into a cloud of fog.
His sense of self also changed at the same time.
He was light, soft and boneless, like a ball of water or a feather.
He tried to push forward, and his body that had turned into fog flew straight out and hit Su Mingqianâs body.
Su Mingqian raised his hand, trying to hold down the black fog in front of him.
But Li Shuoxing didnât let the other catch him. He deftly passed through the gap between Su Mingqianâs fingers, leapt down around his well-defined knuckles into his cuffs, and then slid upwards in the tight gap between his clothes and his skin, all the way up to his collar. He slowly poked his head out, rubbed against the otherâs chin and neck, until he heard Su Mingqianâs uncontrollable laughter. Then he jumped out in front of Su Mingqian and twisted his fog body, transforming into a shape.
Li Shuoxing: âThis is for you! Can you see what it is?â
Su Mingqian: ââŠâ
He looked at the black mosaic that had appeared in front of him and didnât understand what Li Shuoxing had conjured up.
In the midst of his pondering, he suddenly realised that there was a skill in front of his chest called [Mind Reading], which explained that he could read what the other person was thinking.
Isnât this exactly what I need right now?
He couldnât help but use that skill.
In an instant, Li Shuoxingâs voice sounded clearly in his ears, speaking his thoughts:
âRose rose rose this is the rose that loves you, praise me praise me quick tell me that Iâm really romantic!â
Su Mingqian was amazed.
This skill is really useful. I can actually hear Ximuâs thoughts like this?
He stared at the black fog. âI guess itâs a rose. Am I right?â
The twisted mosaic crumbled apart.
Li Shuoxing spun with pride. âThatâs right! Did I make it look like that?â
Su Mingqian kept smiling and didnât comment, but Li Shuoxingâs happiness successfully infected him. Su Mingqian, who wasnât yet fully accustomed to the game, felt a trace of joy spreading from his heart at this time.
He could do things that he couldnât do in reality.
He could experience things that couldnât be realised in reality.
He could place himself in a whole new world, to experience a whole new life.