【Night River Civilization Announces Shocking News: Bai Ye is the Only Official Player in the Entire Server】
Upon seeing the latest and hottest cosmic news, Ye Bai's heart sank, as if doused by a bucket of cold water.
This lurking worry had only just surfaced in her mind, and now, before she could even process it, it had abruptly "settled"!
Ye Bai opened the news to read the detailed backstory.
Now, the entire universe was trying to contact 'Bai Ye,' but without leaving an active contact method on the Stellar Network, it was naturally impossible to reach someone.
As for the game 'Boundless,' real-time communication wasn't possible either. In Ye Bai's design, to maximize the realism and fun of territorial wars, as well as gameplay mechanics like resource escorting and ambushes that relied on information asymmetry, there were no private chats or regional channels like in other online games. Instead, players could send mail through the courier stations in villages or player territories. A spirit bird, immune to attacks, would deliver the letters like a carrier pigeon to the recipient.
This secret, which shouldn't have been discovered so quickly, was exposed because a player from the Night River Civilization, who had joined a small town and elevated their status to 'Freeman,' used the town's courier station to send a letter to 'Bai Ye,' spending a hefty sum on postage to request a guide on becoming a lord.
Then, they received a notification that the mail had been returned:
【Mail delivery failed. You are not an official player and cannot send mail to official players.】
"..." Ye Bai stared at the screenshot in silence.
Although some interstellar players had exploited the game's faction favorability system to gain a minor advantage, becoming something akin to the lowest-tier NPCs and upgrading their status from 'Wanderers' to 'Freemen,' the essence of their 'guest accounts' remained unchanged.
In the online games of her era, it was common for spam bots promoting shady advertisements—like selling pirated content or gambling—to infiltrate the game, with unregistered guest accounts being the primary culprits.
Thus, in 'Boundless,' guest players couldn't send mail to official players.
This seemingly 'thoughtful' feature from her time had now pushed Ye Bai into an even more precarious situation.
The previous server-wide announcement had already revealed that Ye Bai's location was on Blue Star in the Milky Way.
Soon, another news headline surged in popularity.
【Deciphering Faction Publishes Major Research Findings: The Key to Becoming an Official Player Lies in Deciphering the Initial Secret Key】
Indeed, the powerful civilizations of the universe, capable of expanding from planets to the stars, possessed resources, strength, and wisdom far beyond any individual's capacity.
【Night River Civilization's Diplomatic Spokesperson Expresses Desire to Purchase the Deciphering Code from Bai Ye】
【Ancient Yin Civilization's Diplomatic Spokesperson...】
Even the two major New Human civilizations, the Kirin Empire and the Pan-Stellar Federation, issued purchase requests under the name of the 'Blue Star Council.'
One after another, news of offers to purchase the 'deciphering code' from Bai Ye flooded in, pushed to the top by their respective users at a pace even faster than the spam advertisements of Ye Bai's era.
These seemingly lucrative offers now felt more like death warrants to Ye Bai.
The appearance of two new purchase requests made her eyelids twitch uncontrollably.
【Rui Lan Empire's Diplomatic Spokesperson...】
【Kai Yin Federation's Diplomatic Spokesperson...】
The cosmic-level civilizations had entered the fray!
These two cosmic-level civilizations were the founders of the Stellar Alliance, the true rule-makers. To put it bluntly, the Stellar Alliance existed as a result of the political maneuvering between these two powerful civilizations, with other civilizations merely developing within the framework they had established.
'Stay calm! Stay calm!'
Ye Bai paced back and forth in her personal space.
Originally, she had assumed that interstellar players in 'Boundless' were operating under normal player mechanics. She had planned to sell game resources, hard-to-obtain dungeon guides, and other items, relying on the Stellar Network's anonymity to leverage her knowledge of the game to improve her situation and potentially make a fortune.
But now, with the revelation about official players, the stakes surrounding Ye Bai had grown exponentially.
Psychic energy was a fundamental force pursued by all intelligent life in the universe.
This pursuit wasn't just about personal strength or lifespan extension; more importantly, it could influence the advancement of a civilization's technological level.
As technology advanced, its sophistication was increasingly reflected in the utilization of energy and microscopic particles. The measure of a civilization's military power wasn't the size of their warships but rather how small they could make them.
With sufficient psychic power, intelligent beings could observe and manipulate the microscopic world without the need for instruments.
In short, once psychic energy reached a certain level, one could possess 'the hand that rolls the dice of the universe.'
In the past, despite some deranged factions conducting cruel biological experiments, there had never been a systematic or fully effective method for enhancing psychic energy postnatally. It was largely determined by genetics, with differences between species and even among individuals within a species. At best, gene therapy could provide a slight boost, but it was unstable, and overuse could lead to genetic collapse.
'Boundless' was currently the only known method where leveling up in the game could enhance psychic energy. Thus, any method to grow stronger in the game would drive the entire universe into a frenzy.
Wait, leveling up in the game could enhance psychic energy...
Ye Bai suddenly paused, exiting the Stellar Network and returning to the real world.
"Ugh!"
As soon as she opened her eyes, Ye Bai was greeted by a smiling face mere inches from her own, no more than ten centimeters away.
Already on edge, Ye Bai was utterly startled. Her body reacted before her mind could, curling into a perfect ball and rolling swiftly to the side.
Only then did she turn to see who had nearly given her a heart attack—
It turned out to be a 'sculpture' holding a product advertisement. This intangible sculpture was actually a form of 3D advertising.
Before entering the Stellar Network, Ye Bai had sat down on a public bench. The benches of this era were quite advanced, offering free basic massage services. The only downside was that after a while, they would start playing various ads...
"Whew..."
Wiping the cold sweat from her forehead, Ye Bai suddenly froze, realizing what she had just done.
Looking down, she estimated that she was now about four meters away from the bench.
A roll!
She had unconsciously used the talent skill she had just unlocked in 'Boundless'—in the real world!
Ye Bai's eyes narrowed. She had spent over ten hours in the game, and it was still nighttime in the real world. The streets were deserted, and the planet's intelligent surveillance system wouldn't alert authorities unless a citizen posed a threat to others—
After rolling twice more, Ye Bai confirmed it: she had truly mastered her game character's skill, 【Roll】, in real life.
With the premise that 'Boundless' could enhance psychic energy, Ye Bai wasn't about to chalk this up to rolling too many times while fighting dungeon bosses.
【Detect Psychic Energy】
Ye Bai issued the command to her personal terminal. This function was as simple as checking her heart rate on a smartwatch in her era.
【Quantifying Psychic Energy Level... Current Range: 6-10 Nan, Rating: F】
Her psychic energy had indeed increased!
All living beings had psychic fluctuations. Under the Stellar Alliance's standards, Ye Bai's previous psychic energy range was 0-5 Nan, barely qualifying her as an intelligent being. Anything below that was considered too weak to be recognized as intelligent by the Stellar Alliance.
The 5 Nan figure made Ye Bai want to joke about being a 'weakling,' but if her psychic fluctuations hadn't fluctuated within that range, she might have spent the last three years as an exhibit in an interstellar zoo.
Previously, under various shocks, Ye Bai had overlooked the fact that, like other interstellar players, she was one of those who could "enhance their mental power through the Myriad Realms."
Although she didn’t know why the game she had designed but not yet released had turned into a Stellar Network game, or why it possessed such miraculous power, even cosmic-level civilizations hadn’t figured it out, so it was futile for her to ponder over it now.
For Ye Bai, the more pressing matter was how to maximize the use of the special effects brought by the Myriad Realms.
As her blood slowly flowed back, this slight yet tangible improvement gave Ye Bai a strange sense of courage. At this moment, she truly calmed down completely and began to think rapidly.
[Search for the latest news on the planet]
[Search for the latest news in the galaxy]
Apart from the increase in foreign tourists in the solar system and the notification about orderly spacecraft passage... everything seemed normal. At least on the interstellar public level, Blue Star showed no significant anomalies, and there were no restrictions on leaving the solar system or interstellar travel as Ye Bai had anticipated.
It couldn’t be that the information hadn’t reached them. Ye Bai had no doubt that numerous civilizations among the stars, and even the Stellar Alliance itself, were closely monitoring Blue Star.
Such powerful forces had not immediately resorted to more aggressive measures to uncover Bai Ye’s identity.
The Stellar Alliance... was wary of Bai Ye?
Ye Bai realized that she might have underestimated the significance of Bai Ye becoming the first lord. She began to organize her thoughts one by one, trying to sketch out the image of Bai Ye as seen by interstellar civilizations from their perspective.
Bai Ye had deciphered the "code," demonstrating strong research capabilities. In the general interstellar understanding, technical prowess was linked to mental power. For example, the cosmic-level civilization known as the [Kain Federation], composed of oligarchic scientists, had members who were all top-tier scientists and nearly all A-level mental power users.
Similarly, Bai Ye, who had progressed ahead in the Myriad Realms and become the first lord, must have also gained a significant boost in mental power.
Combining these two points, Bai Ye was likely a powerful mental power user, possibly at the A-level.
An A-level mental power user was considered a dominant force in the universe. When Aurora described the strongest being in the Phantom Sea Star to Ye Bai, she mentioned that if an A-level mental power user were to unleash their full power, destroying a planet and all life below A-level on it would not be an issue.
Cosmic-level civilizations certainly wouldn’t fear a single A-level powerhouse, but judging from their current attitude, perhaps an A-level mental power user had the ability to escape when facing them?
Ah, there was one more thing... the time difference!
The Myriad Realms first appeared three years ago, and most players in the universe entered the game a few months ago. Under normal circumstances, Bai Ye, as the one who deciphered the code, should have entered the game much earlier, not just thirteen hours ago, which was the actual time Ye Bai entered the game.
With this step, the chances of her being discovered could be further reduced.
Moreover, it was possible that Bai Ye had entered the game from Blue Star but had since left.
Ye Bai meticulously sorted out her thoughts. Next, she needed to figure out how to respond.
Ignoring the turmoil and responding passively wouldn’t work. It wouldn’t achieve her goal, and the increasingly impatient cosmic civilizations would eventually resort to forceful measures, digging up all available information on Blue Star. It was even possible that some were already speculating whether the reason Bai Ye deciphered the code was related to Blue Star... Under such scrutiny, Ye Bai’s anomalies would surely be exposed.
Selling the "code" to any cosmic civilization was also not an option.
Leaving aside whether any cosmic civilization would dare to buy it or how they would handle it afterward, the issue wasn’t the lack of benefits but the inequality of distribution. Once major civilizations started competing, Ye Bai, as the seller holding the information, wouldn’t be able to extricate herself.
The flow of funds through the Stellar Network might not be monitored, but the Stellar Alliance could track real-world spending records.
If an ancient human from Blue Star spent beyond their means, it would definitely attract attention.
Yet, Ye Bai’s current situation made it impossible for her to avoid spending, as the issue of environmental purification hung over her like a sword.
Therefore, in summary, Ye Bai needed to accomplish three things.
First, maintain the image of Bai Ye as a powerful figure, separate from Ye Bai’s identity.
Second, ensure that no one knew Bai Ye had complete knowledge of all the Myriad Realms strategies.
Third, simultaneously solve the real-world need for environmental purification.
...
Stellar Network, Stellar Alliance Headquarters.
After all, the primary function of the Stellar Network was real-time communication across the universe. Major forces, civilizations, and organizations had all invested energy to establish official branches on the Stellar Network to handle various external affairs, which could be narrowly described as physical "official websites."
A featureless glowing orb drifted through the empty gates of the Stellar Alliance Headquarters.
It wasn’t that the Stellar Alliance Headquarters was truly deserted, but on the Stellar Network, visitors were divided into independent channels, so they wouldn’t encounter each other. In reality, the actual number of visitors to the Stellar Alliance Headquarters numbered in the trillions.
The AI at the reception desk addressed the glowing orb: "What brings you to the Stellar Alliance Headquarters?"
As it asked the question, the reception AI automatically uploaded the information it could gather from the orb, initiating a series of subsequent intelligent classifications to assess the level of reception and handling required.
All activities on the Stellar Network were essentially data streams, and users could freely choose to reveal their information. Once revealed, this information was guaranteed to be authentic.
At the moment, the glowing orb displayed only one piece of information.
[Myriad Realms Character: Bai Ye]
Yet, this simple piece of game character information, once uploaded, was immediately filtered into the highest priority sequence.
In less than a second, the AI receptionist’s formulaic expression changed, instantly becoming more lifelike, replaced by a real person.
Seeing the additional information of [Stellar Alliance External Affairs Minister] appear on the other party, the glowing orb, Bai Ye, spoke:
"I’m here to make a deal with the Stellar Alliance."
