I handed over the game to the gaming industry, and the government gave me a hacked version.

Chapter 425 Let's Get Useful

Inside the command center, the atmosphere instantly plummeted from joy to freezing point.

Sun Feng pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose, the lenses reflecting a cold light.

"Based on the synchronous comparison between Baiyujing and the real Qinling base, the error rate is less than 0.01 percent."

Zhang Yunhai added.

"Furthermore, Comrade Lin Miao also visited Baiyujing about two hours ago, and based on her feedback, she did not encounter any time acceleration."

"In other words..." Sun Feng tapped the table, "the real problem lies with the City of Gods."

The flow of time in the City of Gods is different from other places.

Chen You sat in the chair, his brows furrowed into a tight knot.

"That doesn't make sense," he shook his head and retorted. "My physical body has been in the training room in reality the whole time, and I didn't feel any time jump at all."

"The clone and the original consciousness are connected; it's impossible for me not to notice this time difference."

"It felt like I was just going to the bathroom; there was no sense of prolonged exertion at all."

Upon hearing this, everyone fell into deep thought.

"There's nothing illogical about it."

Li Guoan unscrewed the thermos, blew on the floating goji berries, and took a sip.

Even after drinking the warm tea, his voice remained calm and steady without any fluctuation.

"Xiao Chen, have you ever played single-player games?" Li Guoan looked up at Chen You.

"I've played it."

"In single-player games, is it difficult for the system to change your local time display or lock your status bar?"

A chill ran down Chen You's spine.

"This is the Source Realm. In a sense, the Source Realm's systems can do anything."

Li Guoan put down his thermos with a muffled thud.

"In its territory, it's incredibly easy to shield your senses, deceive your neurons, and make you think only ten minutes have passed."

Chen You swallowed hard, as if he had just thought of something.

"It can not only block your senses, but also steal your life silently." Li Guoan's tone was calm, but every word was piercing.

He held up four fingers and waved them in front of Chen You's eyes.

"Your trip to the toilet has taken up your entire day."

"Your newbie protection period has only four days left."

Four days.

Upon hearing those two words, Chen You instantly became alert.

We were too hasty, too hasty!

What utter nonsense about "moral depravity"! This system is the real moral depravity!

So underhanded, huh!

Li Guoan looked at Chen You and cut to the chase: "Can you break through to the Golden Core stage in four days?"

According to the think tank's previous calculations, only by reaching the Golden Core stage can one ensure that they will not be controlled by other players.

Chen You looked miserable and shook his head frantically.

"Director Li, I am currently in the early stage of Foundation Establishment, and I estimate it will take another day or so to reach the middle stage."

Chen You brought up his attribute panel.

"Four days is the most I can manage; at most, I'll reach the late Foundation Establishment stage."

The meeting room fell silent again.

Four days later, late stage of Foundation Establishment.

Compared to the level 90 masters on the leaderboard, this level of cultivation is probably not enough.

Once the protection period ends, even if the clones don't die, the gaming experience will inevitably be extremely poor.

Those big shots won't just stand by and watch Chen You overtake them like this; they'll probably find themselves in a very difficult situation.

"Understood."

Li Guoan nodded, showing no sign of panic.

He stood up and walked to the bottom of the landscape painting.

"No matter how the game changes, our core principles remain unchanged."

Li Guoan turned around and stared intently at Chen You.

"Uranus is letting you choose a reward, but I'm afraid he doesn't really want to reward you."

"Those rewards... were all bait."

Chen You was taken aback: "Barecloth?"

"That's right." Li Guoan sneered.

"These things are all products of the system framework."

"Here's a divine weapon for you, but it has level-restricted attributes."

"Giving you a Heaven-Rank cultivation technique won't directly raise your cultivation level."

"It uses these seemingly generous rewards to delay your time and drain your energy."

"If you hesitate for even a minute longer in the City of Gods, who knows how much time will have passed outside."

"By the time you choose your rewards, the newbie protection period may have already ended."

Chen You gasped.

It seems that's really the case!

"Then what should I do? Should I give up everything?" Chen You asked.

"Yes! And I want the most essential thing." Li Guoan placed his hands on the table.

"Forget about any magic weapons or equipment. Go back and ask him directly if you can extend the newbie protection period."

"Huh?" Chen You was dumbfounded. "This...this won't work, will it? Isn't the newbie protection period part of the system's underlying logic?"

"This is a test," Zhang Yunhai interjected. "If Euranos can modify the protection period, it means he has extremely high privileges and has touched the core code of the Source Realm. If he can't..."

"If he can't, it means his authority is limited, and he can't offer anything that can break the rules," Li Guoan continued Zhang Yunhai's words. "Then you're just wasting your life by hanging out with him."

Sun Feng slammed his hand on the table and exclaimed, "Director Li's move is called 'going straight in.' He doesn't play by the rules and gets straight to the heart of the problem."

Li Guoan looked at Chen You with a solemn expression.

"Xiao Chen, remember this. In the face of an absolute survival crisis, everything else is meaningless."

What we need is time, and life itself.

"If you stay in the City of Gods for even a minute longer, several hours may have passed outside."

"Don't waste time. Go back and state your requirements directly. If it's acceptable, great; if not, leave immediately. No dragging things out."

Chen You took a deep breath, his eyes regaining their resolve.

"Understood! No petty gains, straight to the point." Chen You took a deep breath. "Then I'll head back."

"Go ahead." Li Guoan sat back down in his chair. "Remember, safety first."

……

The City of Gods, Central Hall.

A ripple spread through the space, and Chen You's figure landed steadily on the ground.

The main hall remained silent, with two rows of ten-meter-tall guards standing like statues.

On the throne, Euranos rested his chin on one hand, calmly looking down at the reappearing Chen You.

To Juranos, Chen You really just went to the toilet, which took only a few seconds.

"Sangde, have you thought this through?" Euranos's voice echoed in the hall, carrying the ethereal and majestic quality unique to gods.

"Have you thought about what you want?"

Chen You straightened up and looked directly into Euranos's eyes.

"Lord of the City, I have thought it through."

Chen You's voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the empty hall.

"I need time."

He raised his hand and pointed to the countdown panel above his head, a panel known only to himself.

"My newbie protection period is about to end."

"Since you, Lord City Lord, are the embodiment of the rules, could you please extend this protection period indefinitely?"

The air inside the hall froze completely in that instant.

The armor on the two rows of level 100 guards creaked and scraped, as if they were about to draw their swords and chop this arrogant ant into mincemeat at any moment.

Uranus stared intently at Chen You, and deep within his eyes, a blue light, resembling low-level code, began to flash wildly.