Chapter 829

“Remember when we first entered Zero City? How terribly envious we were?”

Inside the conference room, Chen Xiaolian was smiling at his guild members, including Tian Lie – who recently woke up – and Nicole.

After receiving Chen Xiaolian’s confirmation, Lun Tai had forwarded a guild invitation to the two of them, making them formal members of Meteor Rock Guild.

Roddy, too, had returned, along with Xia Xiaolei, who had been revived using a metal sphere.

At present, everyone was seated around the conference table, looking at Chen Xiaolian.

“For us back then, the size and power of Zero City completely surpassed that of our imaginations. As for the resident guilds inside Zero City, they were but existences that we could only look up to. But now… we have finally achieved this goal, rather, it would not be an exaggeration to say that we have surpassed it!”

“I don’t think we can say that yet…” Roddy responded with a wry smile. “Xiaolian, you have indeed become abnormally strong. In the past six months, all of us here have also grown greatly. In terms of elite combat power, we shouldn’t be weaker compared to those of the resident guilds in the past. However, our foundation is still far lacking. All else aside, we can’t even compete with them in the number of members. Additionally, there’s also their vast resources…”

“That’s what I want to talk about.” Chen Xiaolian smiled. “Now, we too have our own Zero City!”

“Huh?”

Roddy blinked, oblivious to what Chen Xiaolian was talking about.

“GM, help open a door for me.”

Chen Xiaolian said to thin air. Right after that, a curtain of faint light appeared in an empty corner within the conference room.

Although their base originally had a clone of Zero City, it was not the main body. And after the Oddity fragment that had been maintaining it was stripped away, the base had collapsed and disappeared.

And with the GM here, Chen Xiaolian could let him manage Zero City.

More importantly, this way, the GM could exist both inside and outside Zero City at the same time. At any given moment, regardless if Chen Xiaolian was inside Zero City or outside, he would be able to give the GM orders.

At present, Chen Xiaolian’s attitude towards the GM was no longer the same as before.

He had met so many old monsters, learned so many secrets of this world’s origins and had even gone to the third world and met Osgiliath… after all those adventures, Chen Xiaolian had gained not just power, but also vision.

In the past, Chen Xiaolian had been but an ignorant person who could only accept it, manipulated by the GM. Bluntly put, he was being used.

But now, in his eyes, the GM was merely a pitiful existence controlled by the Development Team, someone who wanted to break free but could not.

Even his predecessor, Taiyi, was only on the same level as Mr San and the others.

With this level of confidence, it was only natural for Chen Xiaolian’s tone to be different.

“This is…”

Roddy stared at the curtain of light laid out before him.

This was clearly the same thing they had seen before entering Zero City in the past.

But Zero City… wasn’t it already destroyed?

“This is my surprise for you all!”

Chen Xiaolian revealed a faint smile. “Do you not want to hurry up and see our new home?”

Qiao Qiao, who was standing beside them, had already strode into the curtain of light. The curtain of light completely enveloped her body and she instantly disappeared.

She was immediately followed by Tian Lie, Lun Tai, Bei Tai…

Roddy gave Chen Xiaolian a look of disbelief before quickly walking into the curtain of light as well.

…

The curtain of light dissipated and they found themselves standing in a circular plaza, with four metal passageways leading to four different directions.

This was none other than the central square that their Meteor Rock Guild had arrived in when they first entered Zero City.

However, with the exception of the central square, the surrounding area was empty, without a single building in sight.

Qimu Xi had never entered Zero City before. Thus, she simply looked around curiously. But the others immediately recognized the panorama.

“This… this is…” Nicole’s voice quavered. “Zero City?! But why did it become like this?”

“You sure did a good job cleaning it up.” Tian Lie looked around. “Wasn’t it all ruins before this? Right, what about those old monsters?”

“This is not Zero City.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head. “I simply used the Oddity I took to rebuild a new space. Right now, the space of the original Zero City should still be in a state of collapse.”

“Newly built? Then why insist on making it look like this?” Tian Lie rolled his eyes. “It’s not like you’re someone from Zero City. Surely, you’re not like this idiotic girl, harbouring some feelings about the place, do you?”

“I can’t say I do, but… many would have such feelings.” Chen Xiaolian smiled. “At the very least, the people from Zero City would.”

“Hold up, Xiaolian!” Qiao Qiao finally realized something and exclaimed. “Xiaolian, this Zero City… you built it?!”

In the previous instance dungeon, everyone in Meteor Rock Guild had realized that their Guild Leader had become much stronger. But they did not have a clear grasp on just how much stronger he had become.

Not long ago, Meteor Rock Guild was only a small guild with average power. It was only by chance that they were able to form a relationship with a resident guild like Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild.

Only, after Skyblade’s disappearance, Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild fell into a marginal position amongst the resident guilds of Zero City.

But now… they actually have a Zero City?

“Don’t get so excited.” Chen Xiaolian took Qiao Qiao’s hand and squeezed it gently. He said with a smile, “Don’t think that our new Zero City is the same as the former one.”

“Of all the strengths of a resident guild in Zero City, the most important one is the fact that they could obtain resources and equipment through Zero City’s operations.

“Know this, the Zero City that we’ve seen is not how it actually looked like in the beginning. The original, the Thirty-three Heavens that Mr San and the other old monsters built was a vast world. Additionally… they also had the assistance of Taiyi, the second-generation GM.”

After saying that, Chen Xiaolian turned and waved his hand towards the sky. “I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but from the things they’ve said, the authority that Taiyi possessed and his understanding of this world’s structure far exceeds yours.”

“It’s nothing. I have been refreshed who knows how many more times since then. After every refresh, the Development Team would naturally add more shackles on me.” The GM’s voice came from the sky in an impassive tone. “Moreover, that was originally me.”

“This fellow is quite open-minded.” Chen Xiaolian smiled. Lowering his head, he then continued talking to Qiao Qiao. “The vast energy that the original Thirty-three Heavens possessed also equals to a near-limitless number of resources. Even after facing so many refreshes, it was not utterly destroyed. When Zero City was abandoned, the resident guilds came to occupy the place. Through regular operation mode, they were able to obtain those resources via the quests that Zero City issued.”

“Just like the Star Sand mine…” Roddy understood. “In other words, this new Zero City of ours do not have this ability? It’s just an empty shell?”

“Naturally, it’s not that bad. I have spent so much effort building this new Zero City. Overall, it cannot be worse than our previous base. At the very least, it has the functions that our base originally had.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head. “It’s like this… the Oddity is part of this world’s inceptive template. Theoretically, it can recreate the original Zero City again, even the Thirty-three Heavens.

“The issue here, however, is that I am still far lacking in my understanding of the Oddity. At any rate, those old monsters… there is no telling just how long they had to figure out the Oddity. And how much longer did they spend to build the vast world known as the Thirty-three Heavens? As for me… if we have to compare, I am far behind them.

“For now, the energy reactor can draw energy from the Oddity to perform repairs on equipment. We no longer have to collect and smelt scraps for it. In addition… slowly, I may be able to figure out how to release the stored energy and convert it into various materials and supplies. I might even be able to directly manufacture weapons and equipment. But… I still can’t do that for now.”

As he said that, Chen Xiaolian felt a twinge of pain in his heart.

Back then, inside the previous Zero City, he had been so very close to obtaining those near-limitless resources and equipment.

The various rare materials that amounted to over tens of millions of tons.

And the equipment that – by dint of their names – were absolutely awesome.

But because of that crazy Bai Qi, everything was ruined.

Chen Xiaolian decided against informing Qiao Qiao and the others about this. If not… knowing that a vast fortune had been laid out before them only to disappear into the wind before they could lay their hands on it might cause them to cry to their deaths on the spot.

“Then… what do we do?” Roddy hastily asked. Although this Zero City was a far cry from the previous Zero City, it was already enough to excite him.

Chen Xiaolian shook his head. Putting his distressed emotions aside, he smiled. “We wait for the arrival of a guest.”

“Guest?” Roddy grew puzzled. “Who?”

“The guy you fellows just met not too long ago, Aderick.”