The frenzied assault of the Redundant Army transformed every corner of the game space into a chaotic battlefield.

Players, system guardians, and the Redundant Army engaged in a fierce struggle across various dimensions.

Those NPCs and redundant soldiers who were killed turned into data fragments, while the deceased players dissolved into white light.

However, those who turned into white light did not return to the login space, nor did they log off…

No one knew where they had gone…

Many players who had fled back to the login space after the invasion attempted to contact their recently deceased friends through the social functions, but the relevant system menus were unusable.

Of course, trying to contact the outside world via the touchscreen's network function… was equally impossible.

Even more strangely, all the timing devices within the game had stopped functioning…

Time, it seemed, had frozen permanently at midnight.

…

Mall, Zone 1.

“How is it? What’s the situation inside?”

[Yu Zhongjichang] had just stepped out of the elevator when [Qiufeng Se] turned to ask.

At this moment, the two strategists from the “Tian Di” and “Shan He” studios had led their respective guilds to form a temporary alliance. They had created a defensive position in Zone 1, where the player population was the highest and the overall quality was also very high. With the help of the NPC guards, the players had seemingly gained control of the situation, suppressing the Redundant Army outside the defensive perimeter.

“The storage rooms are still usable…” Yu Zhongjichang replied with a solemn expression, “But most of the functions on the touchscreen are out of order, so logging off is naturally impossible.”

“Then… is the login space still safe?” Qiufeng Se asked again.

“Not safe.” Yu Zhongjichang shook his head helplessly, giving a disheartening answer, “Just as I was inspecting the storage room, several monsters (they didn’t know the term ‘redundant soldiers’) tore through the outer wall and charged in. I think… whether it’s the login space, the conference room, the storage room, or the Scare Box, they’re all the same as here – they can all be ‘invaded.’ It’s safer to be in this wide-open environment than to hide alone in a confined space.”

“Tch…” Qiufeng Se spat upon hearing this, “This is really bad.” He looked up at the battle line on the edge of the defensive circle, “The enemy’s rate of deployment has started to slow down, but it hasn’t stopped yet, and the proportion of those ‘humanoid powerful monsters’ is increasing… God knows how long we can hold out.” He paused, “Also, the ten people I sent to investigate the other mall dimensions… only three returned; according to them, the other zones… have basically not established any large-scale resistance. Most players are just acting in groups of three or five, scrambling to escape back to the login space…” At this point, he lowered his voice and said, “What I’m worried about now is… after the monsters in the other zones have cleared out the players on their side… will they transfer dimensions and continue the attack.”

“In that case…” Yu Zhongjichang’s forehead broke out in a cold sweat when he heard this, “Even if we withstand this current wave of monsters, the enemy will still have a massive amount of reinforcements pouring in from other phase spaces…”

…

Meanwhile, in the mall, Zone 13.

Perhaps because the number of this location was unlucky, twenty minutes after the invasion began, the players here… were all wiped out.

This “wiped out” naturally didn’t mean that all the players in this area had been killed.

In fact, less than half of them had “died” here; the other half had fled back to the login space after the conflict broke out.

However, whether they escaped or died, in any case, at this point in time… there wasn’t a single player left in this zone.

According to the system's principle of preserving phase spaces, a mall dimension without any players present would be directly shut down.

Thus, in that instant, all the system guards who had not yet been killed, as well as the space itself, began to automatically disintegrate… all the concrete objects were reversely converted into data form.

At this time, if a player in the login space tried to enter Zone 13, the operation would fail… the door to this space could no longer be opened.

And those redundant soldiers and sweepers that existed in this area, like all the other surrounding matter, turned into data and re-entered the data layer… moving towards their next destination…

…

On the other hand, in addition to the malls, countless individual login spaces… had also been invaded by redundant soldiers.

After all, not everyone was like Shiva, who had received Feng Bujue’s warning. The first reaction of most players in the malls upon seeing the terrifying scene of the dome being torn apart and monsters invading… was to run back to the login space.

But soon after returning to the elevator, they discovered… that the login space was not safe either.

Just as Yu Zhongjichang had said to Qiufeng Se, whether it was the elevator, the storage room, the conference room, or the Scare Box… the redundant soldiers could invade them all.

As long as they detected signs of “data activity,” they would rush in.

Thus, a large number of players were ambushed in the elevator shafts they used most often. It was obviously disadvantageous to fight against the hulking, beast-like redundant soldiers in such a confined space… many players who were low level or not skilled in combat ended up dying there.

Even if some players could survive in this environment, as the walls of the elevator collapsed on all six sides, they would gradually lose their footing and fall into the data layer outside the walls…

So, the question is, after falling into the data layer, where would they go?

There were roughly three outcomes: First, they would be directly annihilated in the data stream; second, after drifting along for a short time, they would “fall out” of a larger data interface. To put it more specifically… they could suddenly appear at a gap in the dome of a certain mall dimension, and then experience a high-altitude free fall; third… although the probability was small, after falling into the data layer… players had a certain chance of entering the inner world.

…

Also twenty minutes after the invasion began, in [Waste Chai Uncle]’s storage room.

Bang—bang—crack—

After a burst of impact and tearing sounds, two redundant soldiers climbed into this white room through the cracks in the wall.

At this time, Waste Chai Uncle was undoubtedly not here; he was still in a competition…

Then why would the redundant soldiers come to a space where no one was present? The reason was simple… there was “active data” here.

Viewers with good memories should remember… it was mentioned earlier that in the early stages of the game, Waste Chai Uncle had, by chance, captured a Boss-level creature.

Although this creature could not be summoned by him in a scenario, it could survive in his storage room and provide him with a lot of help.

It can be said that Waste Chai Uncle's unfathomable strength is inseparable from the support of this mysterious creature.

And today, some uninvited guests disturbed this one’s peace…