Chu Tian stared blankly at the retreating backs of the four women.
He had originally intended to gather some information from the Ninth Branch Office.
But now!
It seemed he had offended someone.
Fine, he would just proceed with his own business.
He already had more than enough information.
Knowing the origin of this thing, he had to find a way to eliminate it before it matured.
The Ninth Branch Office had already started targeting ordinary people.
It could be inferred that these ordinary people were no longer ordinary.
Once infected by the spiritual energy entering their bodies, there was likely no way to save them.
Otherwise, a department like the Ninth Branch Office, which was built on the foundation of serving ordinary people,
Would absolutely not have resorted to harming ordinary people, especially with lethal intent.
It was likely that they, too, were out of options when they chose to act this way.
However, Chu Tian still believed there had to be a way to counter that thing.
Let them do their research.
He would find his own way.
Otherwise, in the Liaozhong region,
With millions of inhabitants,
If that thing successfully hatched to its adult form,
It would mean millions of insectoid troops.
And after they matured, their attack power, as seen in the videos, was something ordinary people could not contend with.
These millions would quickly double their numbers.
At that point, Blue Star would rapidly head towards ruin.
The outside had not even been attacked, and the inside was already collapsing.
"Let's go!" Chu Tian turned around.
"Where are we going?" Miao Zuo asked.
"To do what we were originally supposed to do!"
As he spoke, Chu Tian cast his gaze towards the city center.
From their location, they could see the massive projection of the spiritual energy sphere.
That was merely a projection, though.
The actual source emitting the spiritual energy was impossible to locate. The next step was to see if Miao Zuo and Lin Ran could find, through formations, how this spiritual energy was leaking into Blue Star.
Chu Tian believed this must be some kind of formation.
Otherwise, what would be the purpose of the Divine Sea Palace?
It was likely that they had established some kind of formation here, connecting that space to the Void Spirit Realm.
This was what caused the spiritual energy from the Void Spirit Realm to leak over.
And mixed within the spiritual energy was the "Gu" that Feifei mentioned.
But whether it was truly Gu was still uncertain.
The most recently given name was "invading substance."
This name did not sound like it referred to a living entity.
Chu Tian did not want to bother with these details.
He would focus on eliminating this outpost first.
The people from the Divine Sea Palace must be eradicated from Dragon Country!
However, Chu Tian did not approach the area directly.
Instead, like any pedestrian, he strolled along, step by step.
Gradually, he meandered towards the spiritual energy sphere.
It was like he was just walking the streets.
As he walked, Chu Tian’s divine sense spread out.
He observed the people within his divine sense's coverage.
These ordinary people exhibited no unusual behavior.
But it was precisely this lack of abnormality that made Chu Tian feel something was amiss.
He pondered left and right but found nothing.
Everything here was peaceful, yet the appearance of the Dark Division of the Ninth Branch Office
Made Chu Tian believe that a grand conspiracy lay beneath this calm.
He still couldn't understand.
Why, when he had scanned this place with his divine soul from the sky some time ago, had there been no life signs at all?
His divine sense had been released from the Shattered Star and amplified countless times by the Flying Star.
It had completely encompassed the entire Liaozhong region.
This area had been devoid of life, not even a single insect.
This time, it was bustling with people.
This was what he couldn't understand.
"Strange, aren't these people playing the Heavenly Dao World? Why are they all outside so late at night?"
Chu Tian walked ahead.
Lin Ran and the other three observed their surroundings.
As they passed by another residential area,
It was also crowded with people on the streets.
Some were chatting and gossiping.
There were also elderly folks dancing in the square.
And many children playing and frolicking together.
Everything appeared perfectly normal, just like the everyday lives of ordinary people.
But... Lin Ran's comment,
Unintentionally spoken, struck a chord with Chu Tian.
Chu Tian was contemplating what was wrong.
With the Heavenly Dao World released,
Normal people who would usually be active at night
Should be playing in the Heavenly Dao World at this hour.
He raised his hand and checked the time.
"It's past one in the morning?"
The streetlights were bright.
He hadn't paid attention to the time before.
Only now did he realize it was already past one in the morning.
"This is what's wrong..."
Chu Tian murmured softly.
"Tian Ge, what did you say?"
Chu Tian was walking ahead, and his voice was too soft.
Miao Zuo, trailing behind, was like Grandma Liu visiting the Grand View Garden.
The surrounding music and noise were too loud, and he hadn't heard what Tian said.
Chu Tian ignored him.
Instead, he asked Lin Ran,
"Has the Heavenly Dao World been shut down?"
He hadn't logged into the Heavenly Dao World since his return and didn't know its current state.
"No, it's normal! That's why I find it strange, are these people primitives?"
Lin Ran looked around.
Chu Tian narrowed his eyes.
"Primitives... At this hour, past one in the morning!
Even before the Heavenly Dao World was released, normal people wouldn't be awake dancing in the square or chatting at this time.
These children playing in groups!
Don't they have school tomorrow?"
Chu Tian scanned his surroundings.
He had finally found what was out of place.
The lifestyle of these people
Completely contradicted that of normal individuals.
Upon hearing Chu Tian's words, Lin Ran also checked the time.
"It is indeed strange! What is it that has made them like this?"
Lin Ran also found it peculiar. Only Miao Zuo seemed unconcerned. Seeing Chu Tian stop, he actually went into the midst of a crowd.
There, two old men were playing chess.
The two elders sat upright,
Exhibiting the demeanor of seasoned players.
The onlookers, however, did not understand the saying, "Do not speak while watching a chess game."
Everyone was chattering incessantly.
"Move your knight!"
"Attack him with your cannon!"
"What's the point of your attack, you can't capture him!"
"I can't capture him, but I'll still attack. What of it?"
"Tsk... you lousy chess player, stop giving blind advice. If it were me, I'd advance my pawn!"
"You call me lousy? You're the lousy one... Come, come, if you disagree, let's play a game. See if I don't crush you!"
The two players remained unfazed, but the onlookers were on the verge of a fight.
Miao Zuo watched with great interest.
Until...
One game ended, and another began.
"Move your knight!"
"Attack him with your cannon!"
"What's the point of your attack, you can't capture him!"
...
Miao Zuo was startled!
What happened next was exactly the same as what he had seen and heard before.
Moreover, according to his memory, the moves of the two chess players were identical, with the elder playing red winning in the end.
Seeing this, Miao Zuo felt a chill down his spine.
He quickly squeezed out of the crowd and hurried to Chu Tian's side.
He even cast furtive glances around, his face a little pale.
"What is it?"
Chu Tian was still discussing with Lin Ran.
Seeing Miao Zuo's appearance, he was naturally curious.
"It's uncanny, those playing chess..."
He recounted what had happened in the past few minutes.
Chu Tian and Lin Ran exchanged a glance and walked towards the chess stall.
Ten minutes later.
Chu Tian, Miao Zuo, and Lin Ran.
All three looked astonished.
The location of the chess stall seemed to be programmed,
Indefinitely looping.
"Holy crap, what is going on!"
Even Chu Tian couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
In Chu Tian's eyes, these people had all become like NPCs.
At the chess stall, one game cycle ended, and another began.
The square dancing was one music cycle.
The group of children playing was one loop of running around.
Everything here could no longer be explained by common sense.
Suddenly, the sky seemed to flash.
The time was exactly two in the morning.
The streetlights on the side of the road suddenly went out.
The sky began to show signs of brightening.
In summer, the sun rises around four in the morning.
However, as the sky became dimly lit, the streetlights would turn off.
This was due to light-sensitive switches, set to save electricity.
It was at this moment that the people around Chu Tian underwent a change.
Everyone stopped what they were doing.
As if their night of entertainment had ended, they began to head home.
In groups of three or two, they walked, chatting as they went.
They seemed completely unaware that they were engaging in repetitive, cyclical activities.
Just like NPCs in a game, they would never know they were NPCs.
"Let's go..."
Chu Tian decided to follow someone to see what was happening.
It was a person who looked like a homeless man.
He was covered in dirt and had been rummaging through trash cans.
Chu Tian hadn't paid attention to him at first. Only after Miao Zuo discovered that everything here was repeating did Chu Tian notice that he kept repeatedly checking the same trash cans.
Even though he had just looked a few minutes ago, he would check again.
Now, these people, active at night and returning home at dawn, seemed to be controlled by some force.
Chu Tian couldn't follow these people into their homes, so he set his sights on this homeless man.
This guy clearly looked like someone living on the streets.
However, such a person would also have their own dwelling.
While others returned home, he would also return to where he stayed.
Indeed, not far away, they arrived at an old park.
This park clearly had very few visitors usually.
There were no recreational facilities, nor any rivers or lakes.
It was just a patch of woods and a few pavilions.
The homeless man entered a pavilion, which was surrounded by discarded items.
Various bottles and scrap materials...
These were what he had collected to sell for survival.
He swayed as he entered the pavilion, where there was a very worn-out sofa bed.
It was likely also something he had salvaged.
He headed straight for the sofa bed and lay down on his back.
The way he lay down...
It wasn't the slow settling of a normal person.
Instead, he simply dropped onto the bed.
He shifted his body on the bed, closed his eyes directly.
In the blink of an eye, his breathing became steady.
Everything happened normally, except for the way he lay down.
However...
Chu Tian's eyes suddenly widened.
Because the moment the other person closed his eyes,
This guy vanished from his divine sense.
He seemed to have merged into the worn-out sofa bed.
His life aura was completely gone.
"This..."
Chu Tian exclaimed in shock.
"What is it, boss!" Lin Ran and Miao Zuo asked in unison.
"I know, I know... So that's how it is. No wonder when I came last time, I scanned the area with my divine sense and found it to be an empty city.
Because... I came during the day.
They were all in a dormant state, and once in this state, their auras were completely synchronized with that thing that Feifei and the others dug out.
That thing... when viewed by my divine sense, was like an empty void!"
Chu Tian understood everything.
"Diurnal and nocturnal habits... It truly resembles Gu insects!"
Lin Ran frowned and said slowly.
Chu Tian nodded.
He knew that Lin Ran was not just a Taoist priest.
He had learned many things.
Although he had never seen Lin Ran dabble with Gu, he must have had some knowledge of it.
"There shouldn't be such Gu insects here, right?"
Chu Tian asked.
"As far as I know, according to the books my master collected, there aren't," Lin Ran replied.
"Mm!" Chu Tian stopped asking. If Lin Ran knew, he would definitely say so and wouldn't conceal it.
"Alright, let's find a place to rest!" Chu Tian suggested at this point.
"Rest?" Miao Zuo and Lin Ran asked in unison.
"Mm!" Chu Tian nodded affirmatively. "I want to see what happens tonight, and also contact Old Yang to see if this situation is occurring on their end."
"Okay!" The two had no objections.
Chu Tian was thinking that he had heard that Liaozhong was the first place on Blue Star where a spiritual energy sphere appeared.
For some reason, he felt that this might be a very crucial location.
He knew that the appearance of this spiritual energy sphere was closely related to his actions in the Heavenly Dao World.
It was as if a hand was pushing him.
It was he who occupied the four major fortresses surrounding Shengjing City,
Which led to the activation of the spiritual energy system.
This spiritual energy system inexplicably linked to the real world.
The moment all Heavenly Dao World players exited their virtual pods,
Spiritual energy leaked out from the virtual pods,
Causing spiritual energy to gradually appear throughout the Liaoning province.
And along the border of Liaoning province,
A law also appeared that isolated the spiritual energy and prevented it from leaking elsewhere.
This caused the spiritual energy within the Liaoning province to steadily increase.
The edges of Liaoning province also included coastal areas.
When the spiritual energy here became sufficiently dense,
The people from the Divine Sea Palace landed.
They were unable to leave the sea's confines because there was no spiritual energy on land.
And in the unfathomable depths of the ocean,
There existed dense spiritual energy, akin to the apex of the Antarctic region.
The place where the demon race resided.
It was just that there was no barrier in the deep sea.
Because apart from them, humans could not reach it, even with the current advanced technology.
Sometimes Chu Tian wondered.
If the deep sea of Blue Star could not be explored,
What were those scientists thinking, still wanting to explore outer space?
The three found a place.
Similar to where the homeless man lived.
They casually sat on chairs in a pavilion.
Miao Zuo and Lin Ran immediately entered meditation and cultivation.
Chu Tian, meanwhile, contacted Old Yang.
He explained the situation here.
Old Yang on the other end also found it very strange.
Because they hadn't discovered such a situation.
On their end, the nights appeared very normal.
People were normally at home, playing the Heavenly Dao World.
They had launched a surprise attack and dismantled a Divine Sea Palace outpost.
Now, they were heading to the next location.
Chu Tian simply told them to slow down and rest.
He needed to figure out what was going on here first.
After ending the communication,
Chu Tian also sat there and submerged his consciousness within himself.