Chapter 459: Chapter 398: What was the organization I established called?
The private message from Liu Qi was brief, and Li Zheng finished reading it at a glance, then replied indifferently with two words: "Thank you."
Closing the private message, Li Zheng collected his thoughts and looked at everyone: "...Where was I just now?"
"You were saying ’actually...’" Phoenix Mountain reminded him.
"Oh, right." Li Zheng appeared a bit absent-minded, and after pondering for a while, he spoke again: "Actually, this isn’t a big deal. In the end, along with the event’s victory rewards, there were also a few tickets issued."
"Tickets?" Phoenix Mountain and the others spoke in unison, filled with curiosity about the so-called tickets.
What kind of tickets could cause Li Zheng to trade with Phoenix Mountain and the others in advance?
"What tickets? Some kind of special room?" Zhan Zhouzhou speculated but felt unsure.
"Could it be a treasure dungeon?" Yan Guang’s eyes lit up.
"Stop guessing blindly," Li Zheng said. "In fact, they’re tickets to the Matrix Terminal..."
Once these words were spoken, the entire room fell silent, as if the drop of a needle could be heard.
Yan Guang stared wide-eyed: "Matrix?"
"Terminal?" Phoenix Mountain was in a similar state.
"Did you quietly buy tickets to exit the Matrix from us?" The two realized and spoke in unison.
"Calm down, both of you," Zhan Zhouzhou restrained the two who were about to jump up and spoke calmly: "Li Zheng isn’t that kind of person. If he took the tickets from you, he must have his reasons."
"What reasons could there be?" Yan Guang shouted eagerly: "You heard it too, those are tickets to the Matrix Terminal! Isn’t that equivalent to tickets out of the Matrix? That’s the hope of returning to Earth!"
Phoenix Mountain was relatively calm: "Old Li, we’ve always been on good terms, but this move of yours was indeed out of line."
Tickets!
To the terminal!
What is the terminal?
Isn’t it the exit?
After knowing the final rewards of the event, did Li Zheng silently trade hope for a way out of the exit using items from the two of them?
Moreover, under the terminal’s agreement, this trade will definitely proceed!
"I think... you should let Brother Li Zheng finish speaking. I believe Brother Li Zheng wouldn’t harm us," Lin Fengjiao weakly said, her voice so quiet it was almost inaudible.
"Yes, calm down. Everyone has seen Li Zheng’s actions during this time. If that so-called terminal truly is the way out of the Matrix, I believe he wouldn’t block your path," Zhan Zhouzhou also stood by Li Zheng.
"Hiss~"
Phoenix Mountain and Yan Guang both took a deep breath, calming their agitated emotions.
Anyone who knew there was a way out of the Matrix in front of them would be so excited.
Especially when it seemed like this path was blocked by a good friend.
"Sorry, I lost my composure," Phoenix Mountain was the first to apologize: "But this matter, you must provide us with a reasonable explanation."
"Exactly!" Yan Guang nodded heavily.
As their most trusted old friend, Li Zheng must provide a reason for blocking others’ paths.
However, Li Zheng simply watched them with an inscrutable expression until they were completely calm, and only then did he smile and say: "Remember your reactions just now, because in a moment... once you understand everything, you’ll want to find a hole to crawl into."
After a pause, Li Zheng continued: "First of all, those indeed are tickets to the Matrix Terminal, that’s completely true."
"Don’t get excited yet!"
"Has anyone ever told you that once you reach the terminal, the game ends?"
"No!"
"From the first day we came in, the Matrix Terminal only gave us one piece of information, which is to keep surviving."
"It never said to what extent we can leave this game."
Upon hearing this, everyone thought carefully, and it did seem that way.
The terminal never promised to let them out, to return to Earth.
"As for me, being somewhat lucky, I learned about the terminal’s information from Luo Aiman a few days ago."
"Yes, exactly, that golden octopus. I asked you to exchange Valok’s Eye for it."
Li Zheng stopped Phoenix Mountain from interrupting: "It’s just that the first time I left Channel 879, I encountered it running around the Matrix looking for a supply channel for Valok’s Eye."
"Then, I exchanged the information about the Lost Castle possibly producing the Eye for the information about the Outer City, or the terminal of the Matrix."
"At that time, it told me the terminal of the Matrix is a place called the ’Outer City.’
Weren’t you curious? Why is the Matrix so large, with so many channels and rooms, yet it’s only us players here?"
"Have there never been other players in the Matrix before?"
"The answer is: there have been!"
"Where are they? In the Outer City!"
"So is the Outer City, which has gathered countless veteran players over the years, really safe for us?"
"At least from the intelligence I’ve gathered... the answer is no."
"Once we reach the Outer City, that’s when the game truly begins!"
"Now, please reflect on your recent actions." Li Zheng laughed exaggeratedly, "If I hadn’t traded away those two tickets in advance, would you have used them as soon as you got them?"
"This..." Phoenix Mountain turned to lock eyes with the just-looking back Yan Guang.
Both remained silent, thinking carefully, realizing that with their personalities, they wouldn’t care if the Outer City was safe or dangerous.
Chances are, once the tickets were distributed, even if Li Zheng had tried to stop them, they would have used the tickets and left immediately.
"Indeed, we’re both pretty reckless and don’t really consider the consequences," Yan Guang analyzed his and Phoenix Mountain’s personalities calmly after some thought, "It’s like my pursuit of Phoenix Mountain, which was also reckless. If he’d been the least bit ruthless, I’d have been devoured by those creatures in the Matrix by now."
"You know I wouldn’t do that," Phoenix Mountain blurted out.
"Yes, in retrospect, you wouldn’t." Yan Guang held Phoenix Mountain’s hand, "But at that time, I barely knew you. Sticking to you in such a complex environment as the Matrix was a very dangerous move."
"Even if that move was based on my absolute confidence in my abilities at the time."
"Thank you for trusting me," Phoenix Mountain unexpectedly felt a bit moved inside.
Even the strongest tiger has moments of drowsiness.
If Phoenix Mountain’s heart had been a little darker, he could have pretended to go along with Yan Guang, then, when Yan Guang was asleep at night, with just a slight strike, Yan Guang would have died without a trace!
This highlighted how Yan Guang didn’t really consider consequences in his actions, being particularly susceptible to emotions.
And Phoenix Mountain?
Anyone who has seen Phoenix Mountain in battle knows this guy is a brute!
If he hadn’t been lucky enough to buy a Flame Flower from Li Zheng on the first day, developing the "Burst" ability and significantly boosting his initial combat power.
If he hadn’t been naturally lucky enough to always turn peril into safety, acquiring plenty of medical equipment to treat bone injuries.
With his personality, he would have died countless times already.
Not to mention, this guy is inexplicably soft-hearted.
No matter how much Yan Guang annoyed him, he’d only verbally scold him a few times, never laying a hand on him.
Li Zheng, basing his plans on his deep understanding of the two, had traded away the two Outer City tickets from Phoenix Mountain in advance.
Compared to the unknown environment of the Outer City, the Matrix was temporarily more suitable for them.
"Don’t worry, those two tickets are ultimately yours. I’m just temporarily keeping them for you," Li Zheng said softly at this point, "Once there’s an opportunity to return from the Outer City, I’ll come back for you after I’ve settled in over there."
As for why the other two tickets weren’t collected?
Lin Fengjiao still had to fulfill her promise to protect Xiao Siyuan.
And Zhan Zhouzhou, she’s a girl with absolute opinions, knows what she wants, and knows what she should do.
Li Zheng wasn’t worried about them at all.
Phoenix Mountain and Yan Guang both stood up and bowed deeply to Li Zheng: "We apologize for our earlier actions, sorry!"
Li Zheng had their best interests at heart, yet they mistakenly thought he was deceiving them, an apology was indeed necessary.
Li Zheng smiled, "No problem, anyway, keeping your tickets isn’t exactly free. When I come back for you, make sure you have something good to trade with me."
"No problem!" Phoenix Mountain stood up, after thinking carefully, said, "I didn’t expect that the person who understands me the most would actually be Old Li, even now, knowing all the details, if the tickets were with me, I’d eventually end up using them."
Yan Guang turned to look at him, suddenly laughed, "Me too! I now suspect if my initial judgment was misguided, the most suitable partner for me is clearly Li Zheng; he understands me so well!"
"Watch out, I might just hit you!" Li Zheng joked, prompting laughter from everyone.
After a moment of levity, Li Zheng figured things should be about settled with the Demon Blade and became serious: "Next, let’s talk about something important. That private message just now was from Liu Qi Shao, telling me something..."
He revealed the contents of the message, causing the others to react strongly.
"Is this information reliable?" Phoenix Mountain asked with some concern.
"It should be reliable. Liu Qi Shao has no reason to deceive me." Li Zheng thought for a moment, then gave a firm answer.
Zhan Zhouzhou asked, "Do you need us to do anything?"
"Yes, raising soldiers for a thousand days, to use them in a moment." Li Zheng nodded seriously, "This time, I do need your assistance."
"I’ll contact Liu Qi Shao shortly to get some items from him, and when the time comes..."
Li Zheng explained his plan in detail.
Zhan Zhouzhou listened and nodded knowingly, "Indeed, only this way is the safest."
"But you can give me a few more of those items. I’ll also pick a few suitable candidates, and if they pass the test, I might end up with a few more apprentices in the future."
Li Zheng’s expression shifted, "You mean..."
"That’s right, I want to use this opportunity to form a force of our own."
"At the very least, we need to ensure that once we all reach the Outer City, we’ll have enough confidence to stand up to the veteran players."
Li Zheng smiled and extended his hand, "Let me introduce myself, I’m Li Zheng, and... eh? What was the name of the organization I started with Xiao Siyuan again?"