Fantasy Game: Infinite City

"The remaining members of the Deer Faction have been settled, and I've had Sophia sent back to the safe house,"

With Han Zu's tacit approval, Christina gained access to some of the base's equipment. She possessed exceptional learning abilities with these cutting-edge technological creations belonging to the contractors, quickly mastering the operation of most of the equipment. As for whether Christina would discover the contractors' existence through these devices, Han Zu wasn't worried. After all, the contractors weren't pushovers; if they hadn't intentionally contacted him initially, Han Zu might not have been able to maintain contact with them for a long time.

Christina walked to the control panel, picked up an energy drink from the table, took a sip, and said in a somewhat languid tone, "The Griffin Faction is still wandering around on the Gozeri 4, probably still looking for the clones."

Han Zu looked up at her, his fingertips hovering on the table: "Tell me about the Infinite City. What exactly are the other methods you mentioned?"

Christina put down her drink can, her languid expression fading, replaced by a serious look. She reached out and manipulated the control panel, instantly switching the view on the holographic screen. The area that had been displaying the terrain of Gozeri 4 was replaced by a yellowed old map, with a small town in Eastern Europe marked in the center—Pljevlja. "This is an old instance from the early days of Infinite City. The instance's name seems to be... 'Silent Corridor'," she lowered her voice, as if recounting a taboo subject. "You should know that when Infinite City was first released, there were very few instances available to players. This 'Silent Corridor' was almost a must-pass for all early players. At its peak, the number of players entering the instance every day could exceed ten thousand."

Han Zu nodded slightly. Although he had not personally experienced the early stages of the Infinite City, he had heard and learned about some rumors about the early instances during his "employment" at the Infinite Company. However, he had no recollection of the name "Silent Corridor," presumably because related records had been deliberately erased.

"Since it's a popular dungeon, why is it being blocked?"

“Because something terrible happened.” Christina tapped the small town of Pljevlja on the map, and blurry photos appeared on the screen. The scenes in the photos were horrific—collapsed buildings, scattered corpses, and some people with crazed expressions and bizarre behavior. “About three years after the release of Infinite City, the ‘Silent Corridor’ suddenly started acting strangely. Players entering the instance began dying in large numbers, with the mortality rate soaring to 98%. Even more bizarrely, those survivors who managed to clear the instance all developed severe mental problems after leaving Infinite City. Some fell into permanent comas, while others became insane, losing even the most basic ability to speak.”

She paused, then added, "What's even more terrifying is that these survivors also have a large number of injuries that cannot be repaired by the Infinite City system. You know, the Infinite City's repair system, even the early version, can basically restore even fatal wounds to their original state as long as the player is alive or hasn't been dead for too long. But those who came out of the 'Silent Corridor' have wounds that keep festering and rotting. Medical staff, and even medical research departments, have tried every possible method but have been unable to control it, and most of them eventually die in agony."

Han Zu frowned slightly. The early repair system of the Infinite City, relying on advanced gene recombination technology and energy repair principles, could cope with most physical, chemical, and even energy-level damage. Unrepairable injuries meant that such damage had exceeded the scope of the existing technology at the time. Although it could not compare with the mystical power currently used by the Infinite City, it was at least not helpless.

How did the unlimited company handle it at the time?

“Blocked, completely blocked.” Christina’s tone was tinged with regret. “To cover up the truth, the head of public relations at the time immediately closed the entrance to the ‘Silent Corridor’ dungeon, prohibiting any players from entering. At the same time, the company launched a large-scale memory modification program, using an early model of the memory modification force field device—the kind you saw in the company’s research area back then. However, the model back then was far inferior to the current memory modification force field device; the effect was unstable, and the coverage was limited.”

The image of that enormous metal device instantly flashed into Han Zu's mind. It was dark gray in color and released a pale purple energy field when activated, capable of distorting the memories and perceptions of surrounding creatures. He had only happened to pass by the research area years ago and caught a glimpse of the device being tested; he had never seen it again since, presumably because it had been completely phased out.

"Since the results were not good, there must have been some who slipped through the net."

“That’s right.” Christina nodded. “In the end, some people’s memories were not completely erased. They were either far away from the force field device at the time, or they had exceptionally strong mental power and resisted the memory modification. These people were later discovered by the Griffin Faction and were all captured and taken back.”

Her voice turned cold, carrying a hint of chill: "The Griffin Faction used the cruelest methods, subjecting them to forced treatment to try to alleviate their mental problems and injuries, while simultaneously subjecting them to severe torture to extract all information about the 'Silent Corridor' from them. After more than half a year of this ordeal, we finally managed to get a general understanding of the old instance from a few survivors whose mental state was relatively stable."

"This instance is different from the other instances in the Infinite City?" Han Zu keenly grasped the key information. Most instances in the Infinite City are copies of a certain region, which are then placed into independent spaces built on parallel planes, without interfering with the real world. This is the core principle behind the existence of most instances.

“Completely different.” Christina’s tone became more serious. “It doesn’t exist in a separate plane, but in a copy of the Infinite City. It’s one of the few places in the real world that actually exists. It’s not a copy—it’s the small town of Pljevlja on this map. Strictly speaking, the entire town and the surrounding ten-kilometer radius belong to the copy area of ​​the ‘Silent Corridor’.”

This conclusion surprised Han Zu somewhat. A copy in the real world was extremely rare in the history of the Infinite City. According to Han Zu's understanding back then, the Infinite Company chose parallel planes when constructing the copy system precisely to avoid copy anomalies affecting the real world. The existence of the "Silent Corridor" itself violated this core principle.

"After the Griffin Faction obtained the location, they immediately sent people there?"

“Yes, but it didn’t go smoothly at first,” Christina explained. “Back then, the Griffin Faction didn’t have as much power in Infinite Corporation as it does now. Although Infinite Corporation’s blockade of the ‘Silent Corridor’ had loosened somewhat, the core area was still controlled by the company’s security forces. The people we sent tried to enter several times, but were all stopped and turned back. We even lost several elite squads, and in the end we had to give up temporarily.”

Until a year ago, the Griffin Faction, through collusion with other forces and internal maneuvering within the company, finally seized enough power to successfully take over the control of the "Silent Corridor" from Infinite Corporation. "The Griffin Faction immediately dispatched a large number of armed forces into the small town to search for the thing that had attracted Infinite Corporation to build the instance and caused its anomalies. But the result was the same as the players back then. The soldiers who entered the instance area either disappeared without a trace or barely escaped with severe brain damage and fragmented memories, making it impossible for them to piece together a complete experience."

"No results at all?" Han Zu asked. If that's all, the Griffin Sect might not continue to invest manpower and resources, since even with its considerable strength, it can't withstand such a drain.

“It’s not entirely without them.” Christina operated the control panel, pulling up a blurry video clip. The image was shaky, and only dimly lit streets, collapsed houses, and some rapidly flashing shadows could be vaguely seen. “Those soldiers all carried personal terminals. Although most of the terminals were lost with the soldiers’ deaths, a few were brought back by those who escaped, recording some fragmented information. The Griffin Faction confirmed from these records that what they wanted was inside, which is why they’re sparing no expense to continuously send more soldiers in.”

Han Zu stared at the black shadows on the screen, trying to glean useful information from them, but the images were too blurry. Even with Han Zu's powerful visual abilities and the contractor's equipment for repairs, the images, or rather the equipment used, were too "unstable." In the end, all that could be seen was that the black shadows had strange shapes and moved extremely fast, unlike humans.

"Don't you know what they're looking for?"

Christina's face showed a hint of helplessness: "I don't have access to these secrets. Even though I was a core member before I defected, all the intelligence about the 'Silent Corridor' is strictly controlled by the Griffin Faction, and only true confidants can access it."

She paused, then added, "Think about it, back then, Infinite Corporation went so far as to use an early memory-modifying device to cover up the truth; now, the Griffin Faction is fixated on this old copy in this chaotic situation, even at the cost of sacrificing a large number of people. Something that can make both sides value it so much must be extraordinary."

Han Zu understood her meaning. Christina wanted to weaken the Griffin Faction to ensure the survival of some of the Deer Faction's forces, and he also needed to uncover the secrets of the old instance to gain more initiative in the fight against the Griffin Faction. This old instance was undoubtedly a key breakthrough point. If he could find what the Griffin Faction wanted in advance, whether to use it to restrain them or to completely disrupt their plans, it would play a decisive role. More importantly, he himself had developed a strong desire to explore this anomalous area that violated the principles of instance construction—what kind of existence could make the Infinite Corporation so wary, and the Griffin Faction so persistent?

"Do you think I can do it?" Han Zu looked at Christina, his tone indifferent.

“No one but you could do it.” Christina’s eyes were unwavering. “Your strength is beyond question. Whether facing clones or dealing with the Griffin Faction’s armed forces, you can handle it with ease. Moreover, you have an extremely thorough understanding of the Infinite Corporation’s technological system—I know you secretly obtained a lot of classified intelligence back then, which might help you find a breakthrough in the anomalies of the clones. More importantly, your body has undergone multiple evolutions, making your resistance to mental shocks and unknown damage far beyond that of ordinary people. This is also the most crucial point for entering the ‘Silent Corridor’.”

She was right. Most of the survivors who emerged from the "Silent Corridor" died from mental breakdowns and irreparable injuries. Han Zu's body, however, had undergone multiple evolutions. Not only was his physical body virtually indestructible, but his mental strength had also far surpassed that of ordinary people, reaching an unimaginable level. His body's self-healing ability was also extremely powerful. Even if he encountered unknown injuries, he might not be as helpless as those soldiers. More importantly, his physical attributes had already broken through the limits of his stats. His strength, speed, and reaction speed had all reached terrifying levels. Even without any weapons, he could handle most dangers. In other words, he had already passed the stage where he needed weapons. Although Christina didn't know exactly what Han Zu was capable of at this moment, her perception of energy convinced her that this guy was now an absolutely terrifying monster that she couldn't handle.

"Tell me everything you know about the 'Silent Corridor.'" Han Zu's tone finally softened, clearly indicating that he had decided to accept the task. He longed to find the secret hidden deep within the instance, and even more so, he wanted to confirm whether the thing that the two major powers were so eager for was worth such a large-scale operation, and whether it could become his bargaining chip against the Griffin Faction.

Christina nodded and immediately began to sort through the intelligence. She took out a data storage chip from her pocket, inserted it into the console's interface, and a large amount of information instantly flooded the holographic screen. "This is all that I've collected through various channels. Although it's not much and quite rough, it should give you some reference."

The information on the screen was chaotic and disorganized, including fragments of survivor accounts, pieces of Griffin soldiers' terminal logs, and historical materials about the small town of Pljevlja. Han Zu browsed through the information one by one, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper. This intelligence was far too scattered, mostly vague descriptions such as "heard strange whispers," "saw distorted shadows," and "felt like his body was being eroded by something," making it impossible to piece together the true situation of the instance, let alone determine what the Griffin's objective was.

The only valuable information was a vague record from a survivor: "There's a clock tower in the center of the town, and the sound comes from there; it's calling us... Those shadows are afraid of light; only flames can temporarily repel them..." A soldier's terminal log also mentioned: "There are unknown energy fluctuations in the air, eroding our nerves. Communication equipment is malfunctioning, and the positioning system is completely broken..."

"That's all?" Han Zu looked at Christina after reading all the information, his tone tinged with disappointment. This intelligence was practically useless, and might even mislead their judgment. But he also knew that gathering this much information was already Christina's limit.

“I’m sorry, this is all I could find.” Christina’s tone was somewhat apologetic. “The Griffin Party controls information too tightly. I used all my hidden connections and only managed to gather these fragments. Moreover, most of the survivors from back then are already dead, and the rest are under tight guard by the Griffin Party—but I know they have actually been executed. As for the others who know this information, they are all Sebastian’s true confidants, many of whom are high-ranking members of the Griffin Party. With my current status, I have no way of contacting them.”

Han Zu didn't blame her. He agreed with the Griffin Faction's style of operation; they would always ensure absolute security for such core secrets. If it were him, he probably would have done the same. "Well, it's better than knowing nothing." He leaned against the control panel, starting to organize his thoughts. "The problem now is, how do I get into the town of Pljevlja? The Griffin Faction has definitely set up a tight blockade there; it won't be easy to get in silently. More importantly, I don't even know what I'm looking for; I can only explore step by step, searching for clues from the anomalies in the instance."

“I’ve already investigated. The Griffin Faction has set up three layers of blockade around the town, deployed a large number of soldiers and surveillance equipment, and has an energy barrier covering the entire area. It’s almost impossible to break through by force,” Christina said. “However, I’ve found a weakness. There’s an abandoned industrial area on the west side of the town. It was a weak point when Infinite Corporation blocked the area. Although the Griffin Faction has also stationed people there, the defense is relatively weak, and the terrain is complex, making it easy to hide their movements.”

She marked the location of the industrial area on the map: "Also, the town of Pljevlja is located in Eastern Europe. At this time of year, the sun sets very early, and it gets dark quickly in the evening. The dungeon area experiences more unusual activity at night, and the Griffin Faction soldiers tend to consolidate their defenses and concentrate in their camps at night, which will be advantageous for your infiltration. Moreover, the dim lighting at night will better conceal your movements, making you less likely to be detected while exploring."

Han Zu nodded; nighttime operations were indeed more in line with his style. "I need to prepare," he said. "Connect the base's main control system to my... personal terminal. Monitor my location and status throughout. If there are any abnormal energy fluctuations in the instance area, or if the Griffin Faction makes a large-scale mobilization, notify me immediately. I need to focus on exploration and concealment and don't want to be disturbed by the outside world."