"It’s all because of your actions that our transport team suffered heavy losses, nearly all of us buried in the rear carriages!" the man questioned Xu Xiaoyou loudly.
"Don't think we don't know you've been privately communicating with the nobles in the front carriages. What kind of deal did those people from the Traidy family make with you?"
Inside the room, the high-ranking members of the Resistance cast hostile glares at Xu Xiaoyou. If looks could kill, the blonde girl would have been roasted over a bonfire long ago.
【Clue 'Traidy Commercial Alliance' has been added to the notebook and can be consulted at any time.】
Traidy Commercial Alliance?
It seemed these were the nobles in the front carriages the Resistance members mentioned. Xu Xiaoyou used the brief moment to parse the man's information.
【Ivan, Leader of the Dawn Resistance.】
【Affiliation: Dawn Resistance.】
【Alignment: Relatively Neutral.】
【Health: 100%】
【New Federation Human · Male · 27 years old.】
【New Federation citizen, a refugee from the 'Dawn of the Golden City' incident. After the disaster erupted, he fled the Golden City and came to the eternal train, the St. Punier, as a member of the transport team. He gradually led the refugees in the lower carriages to build a front for resistance and grew into a reliable resistance leader.】
This way, the two major factions on the train were quite clear, Xu Xiaoyou judged.
They were the Traidy family, representing the nobility and controlling most resources including electricity, and the Dawn Resistance, representing the will of the refugees in the lower carriages.
It wasn't hard to deduce from the background information that the world-building of this novice dungeon wasn't independent of Oasis; there were thousands of threads connecting them.
Both the New Federation and the Traidy Commercial Alliance were major powers in Oasis. The Golden City was a new energy city belonging to the New Federation's territory, destroyed seventeen years ago during the descent of the Golden Mother Tree, becoming a nest for 'golden creatures'.
The Golden Age was the theme of the previous season in Oasis. Every time a season began, Oasis would undergo server maintenance; perhaps only a year passed in the real world, but a century of time in the Oasis world had already turned into dust, slipping through people's fingers.
What exactly was the position of the 'Dr. Xu' she was playing between the two major factions on the train?
...
"The vaccine development is in its final stages," Xu Xiaoyou said after some deliberation. "Give me two more days, and I'll successfully develop the viral vaccine."
As soon as those words were spoken, everyone in the room was shaken, their expressions varied.
The meaning behind the girl's words was self-evident. Seeing this, Ivan found it hard to question her further, letting out a frustrated huff and dropping the subject.
"Those nobles are demanding confirmation on the progress of the vaccine. Gru, Caitlin, organize a squad and depart at midnight. Escort Dr. Xu to meet their virologists."
"It had to be now, right when the vaccine is almost finished!" Gru's expression was one of indignation.
"Someone must have leaked the news to let them know..."
Hostile gazes fell upon Xu Xiaoyou once again, and she shrugged helplessly.
"It can't be helped. Those nobles control far more resources than we do. The Resistance still needs time to build up its strength. Completing the vaccine doesn't mean the crisis on the train is fully resolved. Clearing out the remaining infected is no small task."
Xu Xiaoyou observed the attitudes of those around her and realized that the fact she had 'lost her memory' was seemingly known only to her assistant, Tang Qing. Even the researchers in the laboratory knew nothing about it.
The subsequent discussion didn't concern Xu Xiaoyou much. The high-ranking members of the Resistance engaged in a heated debate over resource allocation and the living conditions of the lower-class refugees.
After an unknown amount of time, the meeting concluded in a heavy atmosphere. Judging by the expressions on everyone's faces, the results of the discussion were clearly not optimistic.
"Today's meeting ends here. Dismissed."
Everyone left the meeting room with different thoughts. Before walking out the door, Ivan issued a low-voiced warning.
"Don't try any tricks with me. I'll be watching you constantly."
【New Main Quest: Meet with the virologists sent by the Traidy Commercial Alliance. Quest accepted. Three hours remaining until the quest begins. During this time, the player is free to explore.】
The once smoke-filled meeting room was suddenly left with only Xu Xiaoyou. A cold atmosphere began to spread.
At that moment, a prompt about excessive play time popped up. Xu Xiaoyou chose to log out, ending her first journey into Oasis in a hurry.
In the blink of an eye, she returned to reality. Xu Xiaoyou took off the immersion device. An indescribable discomfort washed over her body and then back into her mind. A soft, numb sensation filled her limbs, making her feel momentarily dazed.
Is this the feeling of 'consciousness sea offset'?
Xu Xiaoyou thought, observing her surroundings.
Inside the carriage, it was pitch black. She could faintly hear the rushing of the waves and the cries of seabirds. Moonlight spilled across the deep blue surface of the sea, and the expensive gold-plated frames glinted in the darkness.
Looking down, she found the dark-red-haired girl leaning against her shoulder, sleeping soundly and snoring softly. Her face was clean of dust, showing a healthy flush, looking like a beautiful doll in the fragmented moonlight.
"Excuse me, is there anything I can help you with?"
A bionic attendant approached her, asking with a smile.
Recalling the scenes that occurred in the dungeon, this bionic robot now had a colored filter over it in Xu Xiaoyou's eyes.
"No, thank you."
Seeing Akabane Tsubaki sleeping so soundly, like a quiet little kitten, Xu Xiaoyou didn't want to wake her up. She silently draped her coat over the girl's exposed shoulders and began browsing the official Oasis forum through her curtain.
Before long, a particularly eye-catching post caught her attention. Over a million likes, hundreds of thousands of shares, and tens of thousands of comments—it had surged straight to the top of the trending list!
【Shocking! Witnessed with My Own Eyes! Has Dark Gold Rose Formally Entered Oasis?】
Opening the post, the content was mostly about the original poster's experience starting an account in Oasis. They had run into a novice player with the ID Dark Gold Rose in the Sisyphus Train dungeon, accompanied by a video of her performing dazzling maneuvers to kill zombies.
[L: It really is Dark Gold Rose. I still can't forget how she cursed at Belvedere in the Star of Art's Grand Theater. She practically choked that old vampire out!]
[L: Who else but Dark Gold Rose could kill The Artist twice in a head-on confrontation?]
[L: Correction, the second time it was Abyssal White Flower who did the killing.]
[L: ↑ Everyone knows Abyssal White Flower is basically Dark Gold Rose's dog, right?]
At the same time, atop the Kui-niu, Angelina, who was lazily holding her head, sneezed.
[L: She's so cool, I'm so in love.]
[L: This is the first time I've seen Dark Gold Rose from such a close distance. I feel like another layer of that mysterious veil has been peeled back...]
[L: Does a luminous prism grade fixer even have the spare time to register an Oasis pass?]
[L: Don't forget, the brain-dead number one on the Wild Red Name list is Deep Blue Tide. He specifically hunts down solo players to torment!]
[L: To be honest, I feel like Dark Gold Rose in the video is just okay. My evaluation is 'average'. Those moves aren't that difficult. I think you guys have just turned her into a god.]
[L: ↑ If the poster has the guts, go open a level zero account and try those moves yourself. Isn't the fact that Dark Gold Rose could adapt to this body so quickly even more proof of her strength?]
[L: Exactly! Acting all 'sober' like you're so noble, but you're actually nothing but a stray dog on the side of the road!]
[L: I have to admit, Dark Gold Rose's fanatics are quite aggressive.]
Xu Xiaoyou scrolled down expressionlessly. After a quick scan, she hadn't expected that just showing her face would cause such a stir in Oasis. It seemed the influence of 'Dark Gold Rose' was even greater than she thought.
【Offering a huge reward! Does anyone have Dark Gold Rose's contact info or in-game friendship!】 —— Posted by the 'We All Have a Bright Tomorrow' guild.
【Excellency Dark Gold Rose, we have sent people to surround Oasis City. Don't force us to accumulate sin points to break into NPC houses. We have no ill intent; we just want to talk to you face-to-face.】 —— Posted by the 'King's Clan' guild.
[Nanjiamu: The King's Clan is so shameless. Who doesn't know what you want? You're so eager to drag Excellency Dark Gold Rose into your little corner?]
【ID: 0E1697, Player Nanjiamu has been permanently banned from this thread.】
[L: Seeing the big guilds on the leaderboard fighting over one person is quite a joy.]
[L: It hurts, it hurts so much. Desolation everywhere, my love lost forever. Dark Gold Rose, why, oh why won't you join us!】 —— Posted by the 'Age of the Dead' guild.
[L: Age of the Dead, when did you get here?] —— Highly upvoted comment.
【Excellency Dark Gold Rose, join us. We will send people to escort you through the leveling process. From grade 1 onward, all guild resources will be tilted in your favor...】 —— Posted by Lu Shuhang, Guild Leader of the Assassin's Creed.
[L: Assassin's Creed is in on it too...]
[Nanjiamu: Fine, fine, fine. Even the leader of Assassin's Creed showed up personally. That's how we're playing, huh?]
【ID: 0E1697, Player Nanjiamu has been permanently banned from this thread.】
Somewhere in Saint Cecile, a youth soaking in a bath cursed and threw a rubber ducky into the distance before standing up. Several attendants nearby respectfully handed him a bath robe.
"Vice Leader Nanjiamu."
The youth threw on the robe and held a fist over his head in a victory pose.
"I will go personally. I'll definitely bring Dark Gold Rose under the banner of the Golden Navigator. It's time to let the people of Oasis know that the foundation of an old guild is not something those nobodies can compare to."
An attendant said expressionlessly, "Vice Leader, the 'Silent Sequence' guild also just extended an olive branch to Dark Gold Rose on the world forum. Judging by their tone, they seem to value Excellency Dark Gold Rose very highly."
Nanjiamu sneered, threw off the robe, and silently returned to the bath in his birthday suit.
"Cancel the trip. Tell the other Navigators to just go about their business."
"Yes, understood, Vice Leader."
Nanjiamu snorted, his gaze fixed on the ceiling through the rising steam.
Silent Sequence, the behemoth ranked second on the Oasis guild point leaderboard. Their guild score of 110,371 left the guilds behind them in the dust. Almost every somewhat famous solo player had been recruited by them.
This season, they had even monopolized the grade 3 and grade 4 leveling maps. Aside from monster-tier solo players like 'Deep Blue Tide' or 'Arbiter Jingbai', almost anyone who wanted to level up had to deal with them and pay a toll.
The Golden Navigator might have seniority, but wanting to fight a behemoth of that level was nothing more than a pipe dream. It had been too long since a truly powerful entity had been born in this era.
He was looking forward to what kind of butterfly effect a newly born luminous prism grade fixer joining Oasis would trigger.
The dazzling array of 'missing person' notices on the forum made Xu Xiaoyou feel overwhelmed. The only thing she could confirm was that they were all looking for her.
Although she wasn't sure of the gap between these guilds, she could tell that most of those currently extending olive branches were famous, top-tier guilds—entities that reigned supreme in Oasis.
The big families in reality knew their own limits; they wouldn't be so overconfident as to try to recruit a luminous prism grade fixer.
That was an existence that could sit as an equal with the Association. A single person was a ultimate weapon, enough to overturn a hive city. The power to refract the world's light was not just talk.
None of this was important to Xu Xiaoyou.
She had no intention of joining any guild.
'Dark Gold Rose' didn't need to join any guild.
She also didn't plan on being a loner like 'Deep Blue Tide' or 'Arbiter Jingbai'. She would use her influence to create a guild and gain more voice and control over matters.
But that would all happen after she cleared the novice dungeon.
She closed the content-heavy world forum.
"Angelina," Xu Xiaoyou whispered.
On the carriage above her, Angelina had stood up at some point, her eyes calm. She lightly twirled the Abyssal White Flower in her hand, her black shawl-collared fleece coat fluttering wildly in the wind. Like an undead hidden in the night, she watched over this silent, cold sea.
"What is it?"
"How is your consideration going?"
"If you're talking about joining 'Team Yuzu Is Always Right' to play in some boring competition, don't even think about it."
A brilliant belt of stars stretched across the sky. The low, mournful song of whales echoed over the open sea. A silver-white celestial body rose halfway above the horizon, the craters on the lunar surface clearly visible. Half the moon was hidden beneath the deep sea; the reflection on the water and the half-moon in the sky formed a perfect full moon, silvering everything in the world.
The shimmering surface of the sea was churned by turbulence as a massive shadow swam beneath the Kui-niu.
"Don't misunderstand. It's not just about that; I'm not interested in anything you propose," Angelina added. "I've decided that no matter what request you make in the future, I will refuse. That will definitely be fun."
"Quite the resolve, Anya," Xu Xiaoyou's voice rose playfully. "Then I promise you your freedom."
A vein popped on Angelina's forehead, but she said stubbornly, "I don't need it."
At that moment, the pitch-black sea was sliced open by a long, single tusk, rapidly swimming toward the Kui-niu—specifically toward where Angelina was standing!
In the next instant, the shadow in the water broke the surface and leaped out, kicking up dozens of tons of waves. A torrential rain fell, splashing white blooms of spray atop the train.
Under the white moon, the creature was gargantuan. From afar, it looked like an arched bridge connecting the sea and sky, its body covered in scales and barnacles. It was a flat-fronted tusk whale, its pectoral fins like islands exposed to the sea, sweeping away the clouds hidden in the sky.
Angelina took a throwing stance and then fired her lance with an explosive burst. Her body took a step back from the shockwave of the sonic boom.
A brilliant streak of light flew rapidly across the sea surface, raising a massive spray.
A sharp edge accumulated at the tip of the spear. The distance of a hundred meters vanished in a flash, colliding with the belly of the flat-fronted tusk whale. In the moment of impact, it turned into a rainbow piercing the vast night sky, dissipating at the junction of the stars and the sea.
A long, pained whale song echoed. Angelina, having completed the hunt, dragged the massive carcass of her prey across the sea away from the moonlight. The overlord of the ocean held no more of its former majesty in the silver-haired girl's hands, looking like a heap of dead cloth.
"I am no longer a beggar who compromises."
Ignoring the thick scales, Angelina used her sharp teeth to ferociously tear off a chunk of the whale's meat, chewing it simply before swallowing it down.
"I don't need your charity."
Rate on N.U.
