Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 499 The Players' Fig Leaf

How long is your freeze period?

Zhan Zhouzhou entered the transfer space and asked, "A fight has broken out outside, and they're just waiting for you to go out and put an end to it!"

Li Zheng was organizing his plans in the transit space when he heard Zhan Zhouzhou's words. He looked around the transit space for a while and asked, "Uh... a fight broke out? How come no one died?"

The entire transit space was empty except for himself, Sakura, the Red Porings, and Zhan Zhouzhou, who had rushed in earlier. It didn't look like a war had broken out at all.

Besides, are there any people in the Matrix who would dare to take the initiative to attack the Qidian Legion?

"If fighting breaks out within our legion and people die, then what's the point of waiting for you to mediate?" Zhan Zhouzhou rolled her eyes and said, "I can take charge of killing the troublemakers, okay?"

"Why are you contacting me if no one was killed... Wait, are you saying there's been fighting within our legion?"

Li Zheng suddenly realized what was happening, opened the legion channel, and found that it was already in an uproar.

After only a few quick glances, Li Zheng couldn't understand the whole story, only knowing that the incident was caused by a dispute instigated by some female members.

"Tsk~"

Li Zheng felt inexplicably annoyed. "Isn't it better for you guys to just enjoy fishing?"

Why did they suddenly start fighting?
Isn't this just asking for trouble?

wrong.

This is just making trouble out of nothing!
The fishing competition was too boring, so I just had to fend for myself!
Li Zheng pondered for a while and guessed that since they had been immersed in battles every day recently, the sudden absence of fights had made some people feel uneasy.

"What about Lao Xiao? He's more mature than those 'kids,' doesn't he do anything about it?"

No sooner had Li Zheng finished speaking than he saw Xiao Siyuan shouting in the legion channel: "Wang Chaoran, do you even know how to fight? Hand over command to me, and I'll lead you to victory!"

Li Zheng: "..."

You, Xiao Siyuan with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, where did you learn to betray others?
Fine……

If one deputy regimental commander has fallen, there are other deputy regimental commanders. Surely one of them can take over?
"Where is Yan Guang? What is she doing?"

Yan Guang and his wife were assigned the position of deputy regimental commander by Li Zheng. Psychologically speaking, the newly appointed leader should set a good example, right?
“Yan Guang… she was the one who started this conflict,” Zhan Zhouzhou replied quietly.

Li Zheng: "..."

Why are both the old and new deputy regimental commanders so troublesome?
"Where's Xiaofeng? I sent him to Penglai to collect some things. He should be back by now, right? Doesn't he know how to keep an eye on his wife?"

Fengshan may seem unreliable on the surface, but Li Zheng can tell that he is actually more steady than most people.

"Don't even mention it. One of the boys' teams turned traitor and defected to the girls' side." Zhan Zhouzhou said with a sneer, "That kid just came back from Penglai and joined the girls' side without hesitation. He's probably leading the charge right now."

Li Zheng: "..."

Look at what kind of junk my legion has collected?

"But you don't need to feel resentful. We also have a traitor in our girls' camp. Lin Fengjiao is loyal to Xiao Siyuan. We've tried to turn her against us several times but haven't succeeded."

Zhan Zhouzhou comforted Li Zheng.

As Li Zheng listened, he became increasingly uncomfortable. What did she mean by saying that "we" had tried to turn her over several times but failed?
So you got involved too?
Seeing Li Zheng's suspicious gaze, Zhan Zhouzhou smiled slightly: "Actually, besides informing you of the news of the fighting outside, I also have another purpose in appearing here: to stall you so that the boys' camp doesn't gain another general when the freeze ends."

Well done, Lady Zhan!
Even you betrayed the revolution and colluded with those people, right?
Li Zheng was utterly speechless. He never expected that Zhan Zhouzhou, who was usually the most reliable, steady, indifferent, and ruthless, had fallen so low. It seemed that he was the only 'outsider' left in the entire legion.

"Of course, if you'd like, I can step in and mediate to stop this conflict," Zhan Zhouzhou said understandingly, seemingly seeing through Li Zheng's thoughts.

"really?"

Li Zheng was deeply moved, but the female warrior remained composed, saying it was all a misunderstanding...

"All you have to do is say in the legion channel that you are surrendering to our female faction as the male representative," Zhan Zhouzhou said with a smile, finishing the rest of her sentence.

Ah!
Upon hearing this, Li Zheng sneered. The fox's tail has been revealed. So it turns out he's trying to take advantage of the situation to control the regimental commander and command the other lords!
Do you want to surrender as a representative of the boys?

I don't think about it!

Just as Li Zheng was about to refuse, a flash of white light appeared beside him, revealing a figure.

Li Zheng and Zhan Zhouzhou were both stunned. Could it be that the fighting outside had gone out of control and had escalated to a real conflict?
When the white light dissipated, Li Zheng saw the person's face; it was a player who had been following Li Chun.

I vaguely remember that not long ago when I went there, someone called him: Wang Erzhu?

Wang Erzhu was sweating profusely, clearly enduring immense pain. Seeing Li Zheng and the other man, he managed to speak: "Commander, we've been attacked!"

As soon as he finished speaking, more white lights flashed around him, all of them being members of the Origin team who had stayed behind in the Lava Mountain Range!
"Attacked? Who did it?"

Li Zheng's expression turned solemn. Was there really someone in the Matrix who dared to attack them?!

"I don't know, those people all wore the same bronze masks, so we couldn't see their faces."

Zhang Yue appeared in the transit space with a pale face and reported: "Those people seized the opportunity when Kunlun and Jiutian were suffering heavy casualties and lacking manpower in their attack on the Desert Oasis Boss, and launched an attack on the entire Lava Mountain range. The interception checkpoints set up by Kunlun at the entrance were broken in less than two minutes."

Those who launched the raid were all highly skilled, each possessing considerable strength. Furthermore, to conceal their identities, they avoided using distinctive close-quarters combat techniques, primarily relying on various genetic abilities and ranged weapons for their attacks.

Li Zheng's heart skipped a beat. He searched through the crowd but couldn't find Li Chun: "Where's Li Chun? Isn't she with you?"

If there's anything about the Lava Mountains that's worth risking one's life to attack, then "Li Chun, who possesses Boss's creations," is undoubtedly the most likely candidate.

"Li Chun?"

Zhang Yue was startled and looked around, but she couldn't find the little girl. "I... I don't know either. I was blocking the way and didn't notice her."

"Sister Chun is alright for now. I was next to her. Before she was knocked back, I saw a group of people rush over to protect us." Tian Liuya leaned closer and said uncertainly, "One of those people who rushed over to protect us looked very familiar. I feel like I've seen him somewhere before... Oh right, they were from Penglai!"

"Penglai?"

People sent by Liu Jiale?

How did he know that someone was going to attack the lava mountain?

Directed and acted by himself?

impossible.

I just helped him take over the tropical rainforest. I know exactly how many people died in Penglai. Where would he get the manpower to attack the lava mountain range jointly occupied by Kunlun and Jiutian?

Who else would do this?

Creation?

Takamagahara?
still is……

Without thinking twice, Li Zheng hurriedly said to Zhan Zhouzhou, "Go find Lao Xiao, tell him about the Lava Mountains, and then take some people over to help... wait!"

Halfway through issuing the order, Li Zheng suddenly realized something and abruptly stopped.

He asked Tian Liuya, "Before you were driven back, did you make sure you knew how many people were on the other side?"

Tian Liuya thought for a moment: "It was a bit chaotic at the time, but there were probably several thousand people, otherwise it would have been impossible to break through the blockade of the Kunlun family so quickly."

"Several thousand..."

Li Zheng muttered something to himself, then asked, "After they broke through the blockade, did they have a clear objective?"

"Target?"

Before Tian Liuya could speak, Zhang Yue said, "Speaking of which, after they broke through the blockade, although they killed a lot of people along the way, it seems that their ultimate target was us!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Wang Erzhu seemed to have thought of something too. "I made eye contact with one of the guys who ambushed me, and he seemed to have identified me as the target, so he came straight for me."

"He didn't just make eye contact with you," Tian Liuya corrected. "I saw it very clearly. That man clearly noticed Sister Chun behind you, but you happened to be in the middle, so he had to kill you first."

"Alright, I understand!" Li Zheng stopped their chattering discussion, and after a moment of contemplation, he said to Zhan Zhouzhou, "Change the operation. Go and persuade those kids to stay put and guard the Endless Ocean. Strengthen the blockade at the portal entrance!"

Zhan Zhouzhou asked, "Has someone discovered this...?"

"That's right!"

Before she could finish speaking, Li Zheng nodded immediately: "The approximate limitations of Boss's products are not hard to guess. Anyone who really wants to know can easily deduce them. Furthermore, the fact that we left a small group of people in the Lava Mountains further confirms some people's speculations."

"This time it was my fault. I was too clever for my own good and failed to bring Li Chun and the others back, which caused these brothers and sisters to die in vain."

When Li Zheng sent Zhan Zhouzhou to retrieve Sephiroth's core from Li Chun, he deliberately didn't instruct the remaining members to return together. His intention was to continue using this smokescreen to mislead others.

However, they overlooked the possibility that someone, after deducing the general characteristics, would target Li Chun and his group to verify their findings.

"After you've settled things in the Endless Ocean, head immediately to the Lava Mountains and do everything you can to protect Li Chun."

A strange glint flashed in Li Zheng's eyes: "Since someone wants proof, then we'll prove it to them!"

"Okay, I'll make the arrangements right away." Zhan Zhouzhou turned and walked into the portal to the Endless Ocean.

After seeing her off, Li Zheng tagged Li Chun in the Legion channel, telling her to be careful and informing her that Zhan Zhouzhou was on his way.

As he expected, Li Chun was probably too busy to reply to him at that moment.

This surprise attack was a well-intentioned strike, and the timing was exceptionally precise, coinciding perfectly with the moment when Li Zheng and most of the Kunlun, Jiutian, and Penglai forces were rendered incapacitated.

If Li Chun, the player most likely to carry loot from the Lava Mountain area boss, is killed by them, regardless of whether anything drops, the initiative will fall into the hands of others.

Do not!
Regardless of whether Li Chun was killed or not, from the moment the enemy launched their surprise attack, the initiative was already in their hands.

The chaos of the entire event may well come sooner than expected.

Li Zheng was deep in thought when he suddenly noticed the icon representing the event was flashing slightly in his field of vision. Out of curiosity, he clicked on it.

[New Feature Added: Live Stream Blocking]

If you don't want to be the first-person viewer of the streamers, you can choose this function. All players with the 'Special Correspondent' status will not be able to stream from your first-person perspective.

Tip: First-person perspective may reveal your identity; selecting this feature can effectively protect your privacy.

I'm crazy~
When Li Zheng saw this new feature, his eyes widened immediately.

When was it added?

This suggestion is absolutely devastating!

It's not noticeable at all; who would pay attention to an icon that's supposed to be useless?!

The appearance of the first-person perspective blocking function caused Li Zheng's defenses to break down completely, and he almost cursed out loud.

No wonder some people dare to openly attack the top-ranked legions like Qidian and Kunlun; it turns out their confidence comes from this!
In this way, the most effective means of identifying people is rendered useless, and even the viewers and streamers watching the live stream from an omniscient perspective cannot discover the identities of those masked players!

At this moment, Bai Xiaosheng, who was broadcasting live outside, also noticed something was wrong.

"Strange, how come so many people have the means to block? Could it be that my deduction was wrong, and that all players can actually enable blocking?"

Thinking this, Bai Xiaosheng decisively chose the last 'interview permission' to enter the event venue 'Desert Oasis', grabbed Tang Qianzang who was still searching for the masked man, and asked, "Tang Se'er, take a look and see if the terminal has enabled the function of blocking the first-person perspective for each player?"

Tang Qiancang was slightly taken aback, only then noticing the icon flashing in an inconspicuous corner of his field of vision.

Upon opening the link, his face instantly darkened.

"There is indeed a new feature, live stream blocking, which allows you to refuse to be featured in a live stream from a first-person perspective."

Upon hearing this, Bai Xiaosheng's heart skipped a beat, and he blurted out, "Such an important function, and you didn't even discover it?!"

This is a function that can determine the outcome of the event. How could so many of you not have discovered it?

Tang Qiancang's face darkened: "Nonsense! Which of us legions capable of occupying territory isn't busy to death? Who's like those legions stuck in the transit space, bored out of their minds to study activity icons?!"

Indeed, compared to people who are always busy, those who stay in one place and cannot move are the most likely to notice the 'inconspicuous' icon flashing.

It's true that when people are distracted, it's easy to overlook things that are right in front of them.

After all, almost all players are used to having a virtual 'viewbox' in front of them. These inconspicuous one-time icons can only be noticed when players are in a state of high concentration, thus revealing the new functions that the terminal has opened up.

"This is troublesome." Bai Xiaosheng looked at the desert oasis with concern. "At first, I thought that guy was arranged by you, Tang Se'er, but now it seems that he really is someone who came to steal peaches."

After all, only the Nine Heavens Legion initially possessed signal jamming capabilities, so it's not entirely incomprehensible that Bai Xiaosheng believed Tang Qianzang orchestrated the whole thing to steal the spoils from the Allied forces.

No matter what, those are still a few extraordinary blueprints!
Upon hearing this, Tang Qiancang nearly died of anger at Bai Xiaosheng: "Have you lost your mind? How could we, Jiutian, possibly do something that would betray our allies?"

As he spoke, he secretly glanced at Liu Qishao, who seemed completely unaffected, and said to Bai Xiaosheng with a dark face, "As a member of the Nine Heavens Think Tank, it's outrageous that you can make such a judgment. I will report this to the boss, and you can just wait and see how this unfolds!"

As a member of the Nine Heavens Legion, Bai Xiaosheng's words, spoken in public, tarnished the image of the Nine Heavens and must be severely punished.

"There will be plenty of opportunities to eat melons later."

Bai Xiaosheng glanced at the time and the live stream, then suddenly pulled out an electromagnetic pistol, pointed it at his feet, and abruptly pulled the trigger: "I'll make amends for my past mistakes first!"

Nourishing~
Electromagnetic attacks are ineffective.

Because of his status as a 'special correspondent,' Bai Xiaosheng was unable to attack or harm anyone or anything at the event, but the electromagnetic attack he just delivered was equivalent to marking the people present.

The first to react was the adjutant who had been protecting Liu Qishao. He stepped forward, pulled Liu Qishao away, and then raised his hand to the ground. The metal elements mixed in with the sand were controlled by him to levitate and condense into a long metal spear that gleamed with cold light.

With a flick of his finger, the metal spear pierced the ground where Bai Xiaosheng had just attacked, instantly disappearing into it and leaving only a shallow crater.

After a while, the adjutant pulled his hand upwards, and the metal spear returned along the same path, leaving a trail of blood.

The next moment, a yellowish-brown light shot into the sky from where they were!

A beam of white light accompanied it as it ascended into the sky.

Liu Qishao's lips curled down as he laughed, "This guy has some nerve, actually following us all this time. No wonder we haven't been able to find his trail yet."

The adjutant grasped the metal spear in his hand, and with his movement, the metal spear gradually turned into a sphere, finally collapsing into a cloud of metal powder that scattered across the sand around him.

"Judging from this strange phenomenon, it must be that the Boss's artifacts fell into the sand layer. Old Tang, you can find someone who can control the soil to dig it up."

Tang Qianzang's eyes twitched twice, and he forced a smile, saying, "Thank you for your hard work, Major Liu, and Lieutenant Guan, and also thank you to the brothers in Kunlun for helping with the search for so long. I will report this to the boss, and the payment we agreed on before will be settled in full once the freeze period ends."

"It's not urgent."

Liu Qishao shook his head and walked towards the portal to the desert oasis: "Let's deal with the chaos in the lava mountains first. Ever since this new feature was discovered, the world seems to have suddenly become chaotic."

Liu Qi and his men learned of the commotion in the lava mountains immediately, but at that time they still had manpower to guard the desert oasis, so they couldn't go there to deal with it for the time being.

Now that the loot has been recovered, it's time to end the chaos in the Lava Mountains.

[Live stream blocking] is just a fig leaf.

When people hide behind a fig leaf, things they wouldn't normally dare to do become less difficult.

The Matrix game has remained stable to this day, except for the fact that someone is keeping it under control.

The players' names, channel numbers, and avatars are also one of the reasons.

Because this information represents the players' bottom line.

It's a fig leaf for the players.

Without this fig leaf to restrain them, even with Li Zheng and others stabilizing the situation, the matrix would have long since descended into chaos.

Now, some people, hiding behind a fig leaf, have begun to act recklessly.

(End of this chapter)