Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!-Chapter 1594 - 1592: Marvelous Transformation
Although the Azure Fleet had already shown impressive strength before, when players saw those metal warships descending from the sky, they were utterly speechless.
"We’re surrendering, we’re surrendering. It’s futile! A bunch of medieval natives fighting an extraterrestrial civilization? That’s suicide!"
"Small country, few people, that’s what happens without vision. Sigh, is it too late to surrender now? Officer, this way, please."
"You’re all traitors leading the way. If aliens ever invade Earth, are you going to betray us too?"
"Beauty is justice. If the aliens are all cute little girls, I’d accept it!"
"The guy upstairs is a confirmed loli-con! Calling the cops now!"
"Well said. As humans, we are the masters of Earth... But this isn’t even Azeroth, it’s Outland (dog face)."
That’s right, if this were Azeroth, players might still consider their national pride and might firmly stand with the Alliance and Horde. But this isn’t even Azeroth, so the players’ resistance mindset was already weak. Upon seeing the terrifying power of the Azure Fleet, players decisively chose to surrender.
They’re not afraid of being killed by NPCs, but being killed by other players would be really embarrassing.
Not to mention the Azure Fleet’s equipment attributes and attack effects far surpass the Alliance and Horde. Sure, you can defend the Alliance and Horde, but be ready to get hammered by a bunch of players—it’s just like a Level Sixty player getting beat down by Level Eighty players. Even if they’re just wearing quest gear, you’re done in seconds.
For a time, a large number of players switched sides and chose to join the Azure Fleet faction. But some stubbornly chose to remain. Their reasoning was simple: a game can’t have an all-enemy faction. Joining something like the Azure Fleet means almost all Azeroth’s forces, including neutral towns, will turn hostile, which clearly doesn’t fit the game setting.
So, players posted on the forums, claiming, "The conflict between the Azure Fleet and the Alliance and Horde is just the first step of the new content. Eventually, both sides will face a common enemy and, after various reasons, will shake hands and make peace. By then, the Alliance and Horde will definitely also gain technical support from the Azure Fleet. You wouldn’t need to change factions and could still get reputation rewards from the Azure Fleet."
This player’s post was reasonable, but unexpectedly, things didn’t develop as they imagined. Soon, not only the Alliance and Horde, but even Shattrath and some Outland neutral forces cooperating with the Alliance and Horde, joined in attacking the Azure Fleet.
This left players utterly confused, feeling like these forces collectively lost their minds. No matter what, the opposing side has already demonstrated such immense power. Normally, one would think, even if you don’t surrender, you should avoid confronting them, right?
Or do you really think you can take down a cosmic warship with just your lousy catapult?
Is the writer an idiot?
Players couldn’t understand, but Fang Zheng knew the reason. Currently, this world was built on the Divine Corpse stuck between reality and spirit, but this Deity is dead. Simply put, like a vegetative state, there’s no awareness, only acting on instinct.
Fang Zheng and his group are like a virus. A conscious person, when realizing they’re sick, might choose to see a doctor, take medicine, or get injections. However, the world’s counterattack against Fang Zheng is purely instinctive, with no self-awareness control. This is why, in players’ eyes, they see this foolish headstrong behavior.
Nonetheless, players are still eagerly engaged, fighting in this "real-time game." In the days ahead, Azure Fleet players focused on building the vanguard fortress while fending off the Alliance and Horde armies.
As for the players on the Alliance and Horde side...
Most either went directly to do quests or embarked on reputation farming, wanting to max out their reputation while they still could, collect achievements and mounts, and then immediately switch sides...
Of course, a few stubborn players tried to sneak in and sabotage the fortress. Unfortunately, with the Crystal Tower’s anti-invisibility, upon being discovered, they were instantly shot by turrets. Even if someone managed to sneak in, they’d become walking points of honor swarmed by other players, leaving them utterly broken.
After a few attempts, these players also gave up.
But they didn’t choose to leave; they watched curiously to see how this war would unfold.
After all, all players realized this was a real-time "game progression." Unlike before, it wasn’t a quest everyone could simply rerun from start to finish and enjoy story progression. Miss a line, and you might never get it again!
Sure enough, while players idly chatted, farmed reputation, and exchanged gear, Azure Fleet issued another mission.
[Mission: Counterattack]
[An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. We will not sit idly by during attacks against the Azure Fleet. Any attempt to provoke war will be met with destruction]
With the mission issued, the fleet began to advance gradually, aiming for—Shattrath!
Upon hearing the news, players boiled with excitement.
Main city battle!!
Though the Horde and Alliance often raid one another’s main cities, those were player-initiated actions. Even if they raided Stormwind City bosses 180 times, it had zero impact on the Alliance—just venting rage. Often, players would say, if the Alliance (Horde) let them attack directly, Stormwind (Orgrim) would have fallen long ago...
Of course, back then, players were just whining and venting, never imagining they’d really get to fight a main city battle!
What else can be said, let’s go!
"Wow, these people are just like bandits."
Standing on the warship, watching the players charging into Shattrath for a mad battle, Little Hei couldn’t help but stick out its tongue.
"Players, well, this is normal."
Fang Zheng wasn’t surprised at all. On the contrary, seeing the scene before him, his lips curled slightly. Fang Zheng was not clear about which domain the deity managed before its death, but he was sure it was definitely not a game. Because of this, all the "game faith" divine power of these players has flowed to him.
And Fang Zheng was not idle either.
Those players resembled robbers, killing every NPC standing in their way, not even sparing the Tangram floating over Shattrath City. However, while they fought fiercely at the front line, Fang Zheng was busy behind the scenes. Each time a player killed an NPC, before the NPC could "respawn," Fang Zheng would insert a piece of code.
And this code wasn’t ordinary...
"Bang!!"
Finally, with the shattering of the Tangram, suddenly, the scene in front of all players changed dramatically, revealing a cutscene CG.
The Tangram, floating at the center of Shattrath, gently collapsed to the ground. At that moment, a radiance shone down, and Fang Zheng, leading the other girls, emerged and approached the Tangram.
"Is it you? Are you the ones who attacked our city?"
The Tangram’s voice sounded full of anger, while Fang Zheng silently watched it.
"The Azure Fleet never avoids any war. You made a choice, and now you have to bear the consequences. And now, these are the consequences you should bear."
"............"
Hearing Fang Zheng’s response, the Tangram sighed deeply.
"It seems we made a wrong choice."
"I hope there won’t be a second time."
After saying this, Fang Zheng turned and returned to the warship. Immediately, this cutscene CG came to an end.
Afterward, players were amazed to discover that Shattrath City was no longer in the previous hostile state but had returned to an allied status!
More than that, those NPCs also underwent changes.
Previously, those NPCs would only say some fixed lines when clicked by players, but after this war, players found those NPCs seemed to have become more "humanized." For instance, when they clicked on NPCs, they could even see the NPCs’ helplessness or anger at Shattrath City’s submission to the Azure Fleet, which intrigued the players even more.
For example, a Shattrath Soldier was extremely angry at the Azure Fleet forcing Shattrath’s submission, even openly condemning players as traitors.
But there were also some NPC merchants indicating Shattrath shouldn’t have been involved in the muddy waters of the Horde and Alliance, bringing their own downfall...
This immediately surprised and intrigued the players. In the past, clicking these NPCs would at most get a phrase like "Hello, adventurer." But now, when they went to talk to those NPCs, they’d find each NPC seemed to have developed its own personality. Some even refused to talk to players if they disliked them.
This was interesting!
In fact, this was the effect of the code Fang Zheng inserted. It wasn’t just ordinary code but a very rudimentary artificial intelligence — although, strictly speaking, this couldn’t really be considered real AI. At least, compared to something like Yui, it could only perform standardized, basic interactions with humans.
But for players, this was enough.
Some players were even bored enough to chat and argue with these NPCs, presenting facts and reasoning, and surprisingly, managed to persuade some NPCs... This made the players excited!
Why do they play online games if not for this kind of interactive experience?
Now that these NPCs are more humanized, naturally it’s become far more interesting for players!
Furthermore, after this, players also discovered that only the NPCs in Shattrath City had changed. Some players ran back to the Alliance and Horde to try and tease the NPCs, but found they remained the same as before.
So soon, players speculated wildly, could this be the official’s new "update" approach?
This would mean the Azure Fleet might attack Azeroth directly, eventually unifying the Alliance and Horde?
If so, wouldn’t the NPCs from both camps also become more humanized, which might mean they could tease the Queen or even have a shouting match with Thrall?
If that’s the case... that would be awesome!
