Meanwhile...
Bai Ye had just left the Wish Mission area, fantasizing about a bright future, and then...
Bai Ye was headshotted!
A box suddenly fell from the sky, smashing Bai Ye to the ground.
"Damn it!"
Bai Ye cursed, looked up at the sky, and indeed, it was the Big Mouth Gull Express again.
Bai Ye opened the box and found it was the gene cell modification fluid.
Bai Ye should have received this item earlier. Back then, Bai Ye had received the mechanical regeneration and the undying flame, with the gene modification cell fluid being the remaining payment.
Gao Ming should have already opened the forbidden zone, but the Big Mouth Gull Express couldn't deliver items into the Wish Mission area, so it had to wait until Bai Ye came out.
Intermediate Gene Cell Modification Fluid (Item) (Black) x3: A gene potion that can strengthen the body by altering gene sequencing. After consumption, all physical attributes will randomly increase by 10-50 points. It has a 100% chance to unlock the first gene gate, a 70% chance to unlock the second gene gate, and a 35% chance to unlock the third gene gate. If unlocking a gene gate fails, there will be a side effect of gene sequencing reconstruction and modification.
Bai Ye had actually obtained gene modification cell fluid before, but it was the initial, blue-quality version, which could only unlock the first gene gate.
Gao Ming's was intermediate, capable of unlocking up to three gene gates, and the random attribute increase range was improved from "5-30" to "10-50".
The rather tragic part was that the side effects still existed; failure to unlock a gene gate meant suffering the side effects.
However, Gao Ming also provided a bottle of Gene Modification Restoration Fluid, which could negate one side effect.
Strengthening the body, naturally, there was nothing to say. For anyone, it was a dream of power increase.
But this thing was painful to use. The last time, Bai Ye had passed out by the roadside and was picked up by Mulan.
This time, Bai Ye naturally learned his lesson and had to find a neutral area to use it.
While Bai Ye was thinking, the den den mushi suddenly rang.
Bai Ye smiled and answered, "Gao Ming, are you very free? Staring at me all day to see if I'm back, and then calling me?"
"No, I've been trying to call you for two or three days, but I couldn't get through," Gao Ming said with a hint of anxiety. "Something's happened."
"Hmm?" Bai Ye frowned. "Is there a problem with the forbidden zone intel I gave you?"
Gao Ming replied, "Not at all, otherwise I wouldn't have sent the stuff."
"Then why are you looking for me?" Bai Ye pouted. "I only provide intel. If you guys can't handle it, that's your own ability problem, not mine."
Bai Ye didn't bury his own mess, and it was logically sound.
Bai Ye sold intelligence. As long as the intelligence was correct, it was fine. It was like buying a movie. Even if you wanted a beautiful woman, but they sent you a cross-dresser, you couldn't deny it was still a movie.
Gao Ming said, "Bai Ye, I'm not trying to assign blame, and if it were just about not being able to handle the forbidden zone, I would have no face to contact you. This matter is a bit complicated."
Bai Ye asked, "How complicated?"
Gao Ming replied, "We've run into them."
Bai Ye asked, "What do you mean?"
Gao Ming explained, "We've run into people from the Hidden Dragon Association."
"Ah?" Bai Ye paused, then asked, "The Primordial Domain?"
"No, the Primordial Domain is going smoothly, and we should have it in about half a month. Something's happened in the virtual game forbidden zone. The Hidden Dragon Association has also found that place and entered the virtual game. There have already been two conflicts, and we... we... haven't gotten any advantage."
Gao Ming's thick skin still needed practice. The way he said it made his face flush with shame.
Because it wasn't that they hadn't gotten any advantage, they were directly crushed by the Hidden Dragon Association.
Bai Ye wasn't stupid and could naturally understand the meaning behind his words, but he wasn't surprised.
The Evil Spirit group was the type to accumulate strength and then explode. In his previous life, it took them about two years from their inception to be on par with the Hidden Dragon Association, progressing from the early to the mid-to-late stages of the world battlefield before they had the qualifications to contend with the Hidden Dragon Association.
Moreover, at that time, there were a series of internal conflicts within the Hidden Dragon Association, which gave the Evil Spirit group an opportunity.
With Bai Ye's intervention this life, the Evil Spirit group had much less time for initial accumulation, and the number of members was currently increasing rapidly.
However, in terms of hard power, they still couldn't compare with the Hidden Dragon Association.
Especially in terms of the number of experts, the two sides were not on the same level. To put it bluntly, the people willing to join the Evil Spirit group now were of two types.
The first type was those with insufficient strength who wanted to find a backing.
The second type was those who had been bullied by the Hidden Dragon Association and were thus attracted to the Evil Spirit group's ideology of banding together against the Hidden Dragon Association.
To summarize the commonality of these two types: they were weak!
The Evil Spirit group was in a period of rapid development, and its main focus was to recruit more members, so it accepted anyone.
Therefore, the Evil Spirit group seemed very glorious recently, and its member count was even comparable to the Hidden Dragon Association.
But it was like two towers. Although they were the same height, one was made of wood, and the other was made of paper. Could they be the same?
Harvey Stanson, as the leader of the Evil Spirit group, indeed had some skill.
This kind of seemingly impressive performance didn't delude Stanson, hence the deal for the Primordial Domain.
On the one hand, it was the old rule, to collect the rewards from the forbidden zone and the God Stone fragments from other chosen ones, but on the other hand, there was a hidden layer of meaning, which was to discard the dross and keep the essence.
Cruel as it was, Stanson was well aware that his foundation was not solid, and he was using this method to select elites. Otherwise, with the current overall strength, the Evil Spirit group would not be qualified to covet the Primordial Domain.
But even though Stanson was already working in this direction, he was still far from being able to confront the Hidden Dragon Association head-on.
Therefore, it was normal for the Evil Spirit group to clash with the Hidden Dragon Association and get beaten. It would be strange if they didn't.
Gao Ming said, "This matter is very serious. We have already raised our banner and gained a certain reputation, but if we are defeated by the Hidden Dragon Association this time, it will be a great blow."
"Although our reputation has just begun to emerge, we do not have the capital to recruit experts. After this battle, even fewer experts will be willing to join us. They will think we don't have the qualifications to compete with the Hidden Dragon Association."
"There is an even more important matter. Our main force is in the Primordial Domain, and the ones sent to climb the tower in the virtual game are the experts in the group. If they get trapped in the virtual game, it will undoubtedly be a severe blow to the Evil Spirit group."
Gao Ming had actually considered whether Bai Ye was setting him up, crippling the experts of the Evil Spirit group, or even if Bai Ye was actually part of the Hidden Dragon Association.
But the leader, Stanson, had not expressed his opinion, only asking Gao Ming to seek help from Bai Ye.
The logic was actually quite simple.
If Bai Ye acted, it would mean Bai Ye was not part of the Hidden Dragon Association, and future cooperation could be deeper.
If Bai Ye refused, then whether Bai Ye was part of the Hidden Dragon Association or not would not matter. The Evil Spirit group would have suffered a severe blow this time, and they would certainly need a long period of recovery before they could get back on their feet.