Chapter 243 The Adventures of Philip
"Has it been done at Polaris..."
Chen Lun was sitting on the sofa in the living room of the villa, taking a sip of milk and focusing on the wonderland.
He was secretly observing the fifty players in the lakeside hut from an overlooking angle.
‘In the past, the upper limit of players that could be accommodated was only 10, but after I was promoted to the mid-level, this upper limit has been increased... Now it can maintain 50 people existing in the wonderland at the same time. ’
Chen Lun thought.
'The number is still too small, but there is no way... I can only wait for my sequence to be promoted, so that Wonderland can handle more players. ’
He then linked his attention to the Maggie statue by the "Gazing Lake" and sensed that the sanity value stored inside was rapidly increasing at a rate of 48 points per minute.
The reason why it is not 50 points is because maintaining the fairyland also requires sanity points.
After such a long period of exploration, Chen Lun also found some rules about this mechanism. If there are no living people in Wonderland, it is actually in a process of "evolution" on its own, but it will not consume any sanity.
However, once someone exists in Wonderland, regardless of whether they interact with the environment or not, the reserved sanity points will be consumed.
And this consumption does not increase based on the number of people, but the "active" area. In other words, these fifty players concentrated in the lakeside cabin area only "activated" this area, so the consumption was very small, only 2 sanity points per minute.
If a player enters the Natural Forest or Kazite Town, the consumption will become 4 to 6 points per minute.
Overall, Chen Lun is very satisfied with the current situation.
‘Based on the current situation, I can at least get a few thousand sanity points from these players today...’
At this time, Chen Lun suddenly discovered something and let out a light sigh.
He cast his gaze to the other side, but his face suddenly turned dark.
In the lake house area, some players had left and some were new, coming in and out, having a great time.
Some people were PKing in the battle area on the lawn in full swing. Some people were sitting on the ground chatting and laughing. Dongyang and others were surrounding the Jack statue and exchanging some items.
But there are a few bold female players who are tampering with the Jack statue.
Especially Su Keying and her best friend Wei Yin, the two of them were in tandem, flanked by each other.
Su Keying poked and prodded the statue's face, and even tentatively put her hand on its chest, as if she wanted to measure the size of the muscles.
The last voice slapped the statue's butt hard, giggling with every slap, and muttering strange words such as "plaything" and "your male god".
Dongyang and others showed a cold expression on their faces and quickly took a few steps away.
Chen Lun sighed in his heart and put his hand on his forehead.
‘I was really stupid...I naively thought that players would respect this statue. These guys are just fun-loving people with no bottom line. ’
His original purpose of asking Connie to find someone to customize the statue was not only to create a medium for releasing tasks and exchanging items, but also had another small thought, that is, he wanted players to be able to admire it every time they entered the lake house. own image.
But now it seems that the ending went a little off.
‘Forget it… let’s just provide them with a check-in point. Taking photos with the statue and making pranks can also increase team cohesion. ’
Chen Lun shook his head and comforted himself.
He continued to observe the "mission hall" he created.
I wonder if Howard's incarnation was too powerful. After being wiped out by Oscar, his power was completely absorbed by the "Jingzhe" bookmark. "Phillip's Adventures in Wonderland" is even more closely related to the bookmark.
Players spend money at the statue, and Chen Lun can obtain the currency in real time.
‘Huh…? ’
He also noticed that all the "Sombra Series Consumables" in the redemption catalog he had left on Jack's statue had been exhausted.
‘It seems this thing is still very popular. ’
Chen Lun nodded secretly.
Lake house.
Wei Yin then hugged the neck of "Mr. Jack" from behind the statue, leaned against its face, made a scissor hand gesture, and made a face.
“Keying, have you taken the screenshot?”
"Hmm... everything is done. After I go offline, I will post it and then send it to the group for other Jimeis to see."
Su Keying smiled and made a no problem gesture.
The last note reluctantly came off "Mr. Jack".
"These 'black crystal bullets' are new products from the circus. They feel very easy to use. The power of the musket has been improved by more than one level."
Dongyang on the side said, stuffing the small steel ball inlaid with black crystal into the musket.
Then he aimed at a big tree not far away and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
Zizi——
A fan-shaped red-black gun flame spurted out, directly punching a big crater in the big tree, leaving traces of scorch on the surface of the trunk.
Faintly, the squeaking sound of arc beating can still be heard.
"Hiss... this power is comparable to us using extraordinary power. It would probably be enough for an ordinary low-sequence extraordinary person to take a shot."
The dog-headed gold walked to the big tree to inspect it and exclaimed.
Soon, the scars on the big tree were restored to their original state in a few breaths, but the purpose of Dongyang and others' test had been achieved.
"Indeed, with this kind of 'black crystal ammunition', we can save a lot of energy. In general battles, a musket loaded with this kind of ammunition is more than enough."
Polaris also joined the discussion.
Several male players were more interested in these new equipment. They turned back and glanced at Su Keying and others, and found that Chen Xi and Honey Yuzi also ran over to take a photo with the statue.
They were laughing and joking, not knowing what they were talking about.
The men looked at each other and saw speechless expressions on each other's faces.
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The next day.
Dongyang and others formed a group and came to Jack Manor.
Their "token upgrade" task has been successfully completed. Yesterday everyone completed the "30-minute stay at the lakeside cabin" requirement for 10 people.
But the upgrade of the silver snake ring still needs to be completed by Mr. Jack himself, so they must make this trip.
Chen Lun met these twenty players in the backyard of the villa.
He secretly checked the sanity point reserve of Maggie's statue. After yesterday's "extraction", it had accumulated almost 6,500 sanity points, far exceeding his expectation.
Create a "Jingzhe Seed" for each player here. Based on the consumption of 100 points, the total required sanity points is more than 2,000 points. I can still have a lot of surplus, which is considered a big profit.
Since the sanity value is no longer a problem.
So what Chen Lun has to do now is to gradually upgrade all the tokens of all circus players.
This is not something that happens overnight.
But I believe that after other players learn about the existence of the "Lake House", they will actively go to Dongyang and the others to collect the mission requirements, and then run to Chen Lun to ask for a token upgrade.
‘When there are more players in the circus in the future, I only need to sit in the manor and gain sanity points every moment... The more active they are in the lake house, the more gratified I will be. ’
Chen Lun thought to himself.
He took the silver snake ring from Dongyang and others, and then used the power of [Jingzhe] on the spot to create new "Jingzhe Seeds" and fused them to the ring.
On the surface, he pretended to be tired.
But in my heart, I thought of a funny scene, that is, the players wanted to enter the "Lake House", but found that they couldn't squeeze in.
Because the number of people is limited to 50, you still need to queue.
'If that's the case, it would be interesting, wouldn't it...'
Chen Lun chuckled secretly.
After a while.
He returned the silver snake rings belonging to Dongyang and others, took off his hat and waved his hand.
Bang!
White smoke rose, and Black Hat transformed into a motionless little hippopotamus.
Chen Lun sat down on the back of the little hippo, panting heavily and wiping sweat with a tired expression.
The other players were stunned by this magic at first, and then respectfully expressed their gratitude.
"Well, the circus token has been upgraded. In the future, everyone can use it to contact other members, and can also participate in real-time activities in the 'Lake House'..."
Chen Lun waved his hand.
"Thank you Mr. Jack."
Dongyang took the lead in saluting.
Immediately, these players took the brand new silver snake ring and left, leaving only Polaris alone.
"What's wrong, Polaris?"
Chen Lun asked aloud.
Polaris stepped forward, took out a book and handed it over.
"Teacher, this is what I accidentally discovered yesterday...the work of your enemy, the 'tragedy writer' Howard."
"Huh?"
Chen Lun took it in surprise.
He looked down and frowned.
Because the book cover is a cartoon character, a very common hero, a blond man wearing armor, holding a sharp sword, fighting a huge sea monster.
The title of the book is "The Adventures of Philip"!
Chen Lun resisted the strong urge to read, took a deep breath, and first said to Polaris:
"Where did you find this book?"
"Teacher, this is a common children's book in bookstores. It is considered a fairy tale and is very popular with children..."
Polaris answered honestly.
Chen Lun frowned.
‘I remember that Howard has been included in the ‘Empire S-Class Wanted List’ by the asylum. Why are his books still circulating in the market...? Could it be that His power has invisibly affected mortals? Blinded the inspection of the shelter? ’
He raised his head, took out a [Snake Hand] scroll, and said with a smile:
"Polaris, you did a good job. This book is very valuable... This is a reward for you. In addition, there are 50 contribution points."
Polaris had a look of surprise on her face.
He quickly received the task prompt on the panel. The side task "Investigation" showed that it was completed once, and the circus contribution points were also entered into his panel in time.
"Thank you, teacher!"
After taking the [Snake's Hand] scroll, he saluted respectfully.
"Okay, if there are any clues about Him in the future, please tell me in time... You should go back first."
Chen Lun waved his hand.
When Polaris saw this, he didn't wait any longer. He responded obediently and turned around to leave.
Chen Lun sat alone in the courtyard and looked through the book "The Adventures of Philip" in his hand.
Probably because it is a "children's book", the text inside is very large, and each page is also equipped with cute cartoon illustrations.
The story is not long. It roughly tells the story of a brave man named "Philip" who, in order to save the world, apprenticed himself to a master and traveled around the world to kill monsters.
There are two places that caught Chen Lun's attention. One is the world in the story. The biggest crisis comes from the "dark world", which exists deep underground and is filled with terrible monsters.
One day, these monsters will return underground and rule the world.
The protagonist "Philip" once went to the dark world and killed the devil there.
'This dark world... reminds me of the dark world mentioned by Arnold, and according to Mr. Bottle, it actually exists on the second level deep in the spiritual world, but in this fairy tale, it is in Deep underground? ’
Chen Lun didn't know if it was true or if Howard was just making it up, but he always felt that there was some connection between the two.
The second thing that caught his attention was that the protagonist Philip had a woman named Princess Mimi who loved him deeply.
Chen Lun easily connected her with Maggie Milner.
But what surprised him was that the story didn't have a happy ending.
On the contrary, it is a complete tragedy.
Although the protagonist Philip defeated the devil in the dark world and saved the world, he also suffered from the recurrence of old injuries due to his battle with sea monsters in the Far East Ocean, and eventually became a monster covered with fish scales.
In order to prevent himself from becoming the "new devil" who would harm the world, Philip committed suicide on the beach, fell into the abyss of the sea, and slept forever.
Princess Mimi also chose to marry the prince of a neighboring country because she did not wait for her hero to return.
Chen Lun had a strange expression on his face.
'What is Howard's purpose in doing this... He wrote such a fairy tale with Philip as the protagonist, which also explained some things in the mysterious field.
But those are plausible and have a sense of absurdity in them. ’
Chen Lun turned to the last page of "The Adventures of Philip". In the author's introduction column, except for the words "Howard, the Tragedy Writer," there was nothing more.
The source of review and publication is a publishing house called "Arkham Book House".
Chen Lun looked at the name and was silent for a long time, with deep eyes.
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Two days later.
A handsome young gentleman was walking in a remote alley in the outer city. He lowered his head slightly and his face was covered by a black hat.
The silver cane struck the ground, making a rhythmic thumping sound with the steps.
Not far in front of the gentleman is the industrial area that has stood here for decades.
This person is Chen Lun who came to investigate.
After two days of exploration, he had obtained a surprising result through various channels. The "Arkham House" publishing house went bankrupt decades ago, and even the former company building of this publishing house has become an abandoned building.
But there are still those brand-new fairy tales circulating in the market, which is a question.
Chen Lun came here based on the divination prediction.
Someone is still secretly printing it and delivering it to various bookstores.
Just as Chen Lun expected, the whole thing revealed something strange, hiding a profound and extraordinary power, which blinded the shelter's understanding, causing them to directly ignore this fact and turn a blind eye to these published readings.
'Let me see who is still printing The Adventures of Philip. ’
Chen Lun walked slowly through the streets.
Some poorly dressed children with dirty faces saw him and timidly hid behind door panels and piles of debris, quietly watching with awe in their eyes.
I don't know if they were the children's parents, but some adults quickly pulled the children into the house. After scolding them a few times, they turned around and bent down towards Chen Lun without daring to raise their heads.
Chen Lun was wearing an expensive black dress, a large and exquisite windbreaker, a flat top hat and a silver cane, and he looked like a big shot in the inner city.
These lower-class civilians in the outer city did not dare to offend, and even spoke in a much lower voice, for fear of causing Chen Lun's dissatisfaction.
Chen Lun didn't look at them twice, he just threw a few copper coins and accurately fell into the hands of a few cute children. He winked at them and left with a smile.
"Thank you!"
One girl smiled brightly.
Chen Lun felt that a few copper coins in exchange for a smile was a very cost-effective thing.
After entering the industrial area on foot, he followed the guidance of the stick and went straight to an old factory building.
There was no one around, as if no work had been done here for a long time.
But his powerful perception told him that in a certain room on the second floor, there was still a faint sound of machine vibration.
Climbing the rusty stairs, Chen Lun arrived at the second floor of the factory. In a room at the end, he saw a room full of paper and ink, as well as seven or eight workers with numb expressions, working mechanically.
The still-warm copies of "The Adventures of Philip" were stacked in the corner of the room like building blocks. The works in the Amber City Bookstore are circulated from here.
Even when they saw Chen Lun's arrival, the workers turned a blind eye and continued to do their own work sluggishly without being affected at all.
‘These people...their destiny has been tampered with, and printing day after day has become their mission. ’
Chen Lun's eyes were filled with mist, and he saw through the true nature of the workers.
He sighed secretly, turned around and left.
Because Chen Lun already knew about this matter, he had nothing to do.
He was certain that this was Howard's handiwork, but he was not yet able to eliminate the impact on the workers, nor could he change their fate.
This is Howard's high-level power playing with fate. Although he can see it, he can't do anything about it.
'Perhaps only if Howard dies can they return to normal...'
Chen Lun thought again that this might be just a microcosm.
In other parts of the empire, there are probably countless similar workers who are constantly printing stories for Howard and distributing them to the market for the general public to read.
Then an idea appeared in his mind.
'This is most likely a mysterious ritual... Perhaps the influence of the work can give him strength, or the emotions generated by the work can be absorbed by him... In short, Howard will not go to great lengths to do such a meaningless thing things. ’
Chen Lun took a deep breath.
Through this glimpse, he roughly saw the tip of the iceberg of the power of those in high positions in destiny.
'There is still a long way to go to defeat Him...but at the very least, I will not let Him cause trouble under my nose. ’
Chen Lun made up his mind.
After he returned to Jack Manor, he wrote a letter directly and anonymously delivered the matter of "The Adventures of Philip" to the asylum, the Church of the Sun, and the Church of the Moon.
In fact, Chen Lun also knew very well that even if the authorities cleared out these reading materials in Amber City, they would still be unable to do so in other parts of the empire.
But this was only the first step in the counterattack. Although the intensity was small, it also affirmed his determination. Thank you for your rewards during this period, 500 points from GoodNight, 500 points from Greenland Sunshine Music and Me, 500 points from Xi Mu_, 200 points from MoonQuake, 100 points from Book Friends 20210809131907834230118 and Mortal Kun!
And everyone’s monthly tickets, I’m really grateful, I’ve seen every one!
(End of chapter)