"Did you know? Baiji is at war! "
"Is it the planet where new energy ores were discovered? The one that was very popular some time ago?"
"Yes, yes, yes! I heard it was a terrorist attack! "
"So be it. It's not like it's a rare occurrence."
For many people, it was too far away to affect their lives. This was not the first time something like this had happened, so they did not pay too much attention to it. People who paid little attention to political and military news continued to eat and drink as usual when they heard such news from their friends. At most, they would find a topic to brag about at friends' gatherings. Then they would follow the trend and donate some pocket money on Memorial Day. That was it.
However, it was different this time.
"Do you know Fang Zhao? The one who used to be number one on the 'Battle of the Century' leaderboards. He was serving on planet Baiji and happened to be at the outpost that was attacked. I heard that during the live broadcast, the signal was cut off. Maybe he was attacked. Now, we don't know if he's dead or alive. "
"What?!"
In the eyes of many professional and non-professional gamers, Fang Zhao's departure from the game was a pity. On forums, gamers often talked about how the leaderboards changed every day. The competition was fierce. On the leaderboards, the original top two had temporarily left. Fang Zhao was serving his military service, and Ma Xier had shifted his focus to professional shooting competitions. Without the two strongest competitors, others naturally wanted to fight for a higher ranking.
Every time this happened, people would mention Fang Zhao. Thinking back to the first half of the year when the game had started, Fang Zhao had dominated the number one spot and had never been surpassed.
When Fang Zhao had announced that he was leaving the game to serve his military service, some people had been happy, while others had been disappointed. Now, after learning that the outpost Fang Zhao was serving in had been attacked, some people hoped that Fang Zhao would be blown up. That way, he would not be a threat in the future. Of course, there were also people who sincerely hoped that Fang Zhao would survive. There were also people who just wanted to watch a good show.
Regardless of what they thought, they were not in the mood to continue playing.
Fiery Bird realized that the number of people online today was exceptionally low. To be precise, at this time, the number of people online was decreasing. Especially after channel S5 started airing videos of the situation on planet Baiji, gamers who had been online started to go offline one after another to watch videos.
Project Starlight's editorial department at First Frontline was busy. Their communication lines were busy, so they could only receive video files, text, and audio files that Kevin Lin was sending over.
After watching the first video that Kevin Lin sent, they knew that another opportunity had come for the news agency.
Yes, for a business group, profit was the most important thing. As for the current situation on planet Baiji and whether the people there were safe and sound, although they were concerned, what they valued more was the benefits this incident would bring them.
"The second video has been edited, and the third video has been received by 98% …"
"Boss! Another WebTV station from Muzhou wants to buy broadcasting rights from us... "
"The third video has been accepted. Beginning editing …"
Some of the videos sent by Kevin Lin were considered redundant by the editorial department, so they cut some of them and edited them slightly before releasing them on channel S5.
"Kevin Lin is going to be popular." A newspaper reporter sighed as he looked at the number of online users that was still increasing.
"It's already on fire." Another reporter pointed at the page on the screen with a look of disbelief.
The page displayed the homepage of Kevin Lin's social media account. The last status had been posted when Kevin Lin had left for planet Baiji:
"We're about to set off!"
The accompanying picture was a photograph of Kevin Lin, Fang Zhao, and other people from the same batch heading for Baiji were also in the picture.
The comments section for the last status had already exceeded a million. These were all from netizens who had followed the channel S5 video.
In the past, Kevin Lin had also interviewed a few celebrities and political figures, but no matter how he tried to gain popularity or promote, he had not been able to gain popularity. Now, because of this incident, he had profited from a disaster. The number of people following him had already reached a level that many in the industry were envious of. Even if it was only temporary, it was still enviable.
Even if the military had the latest news, they had not made it public. They had only said that the situation on planet Baiji was under control and that the base was safe. That was all. Therefore, if the average citizen wanted to know more about planet Baiji, they could only watch channel S5 or the local WebTV stations that were simulcasting channel S5.
The first video on channel S5 told people what had happened. The video also showed Fang Zhao, Fan Lin, and the other researchers. The second video was when the monster had appeared.
For people who played "Battle of the Century," this sort of monster was no stranger. Even if it was not a species they were familiar with, its sinister appearance and style gave people a sense of familiarity.
The banging sound of the door not only made the people in the basement nervous, but even the viewers watching the video were on tenterhooks. This was not a movie. This was a real-life video of what had happened on planet Baiji. No one knew what they would see in the next moment, and their nerves trembled along with the video.
Luckily, the door was sturdy enough. The monster also seemed to have been attracted by something else and left. Only then did the online viewers breathe a sigh of relief.
The third video had been edited. It had not been edited by the news agency. Before Kevin Lin had sent it, he had edited out the part where Fang Zhao had pulled out his gun. After all, there were rules against carrying firearms casually. Posting it would not reflect well. Kevin Lin also knew that if not for the special circumstances, Fang Zhao would not have taken it out. As fellow comrades, Kevin Lin was not someone who did not know what was good for him. Even if Fang Zhao had not said so, he would not have released that part.
Therefore, at the beginning of the third video, Kevin Lin's face was stained with blood and dust. He leaned against the corner of the wall and sighed. Then, he rubbed his face hard before moving closer to the camera. His eyes were red and filled with deep worry and anxiety.
"Fang Zhao, he..." Perhaps it was because he was dehydrated or had spoken too much, but Kevin Lin's voice was a little hoarse. He stopped after just opening the video.
When the online viewers heard this, their hearts that had just been on tenterhooks became even more anxious.
Right, where was Fang Zhao?
In the video, viewers could see the researchers behind Kevin Lin, but there was no Fang Zhao. They had originally thought that the camera had not captured him, but now that they heard Kevin Lin say this, did something happen?
Many online viewers stopped what they were doing and waited for Kevin Lin's next words.
In the video, Kevin Lin cleared his throat before continuing. "Fang Zhao went out. He said he wanted to go out and take a look."
When the online viewers heard this, they were stunned and complained that Kevin Lin was being unkind. What are you panting for when you haven't finished your sentence? When you paused for a moment, I thought that Fang Zhao had heroically died a martyr's death!
Eh?
Seems like something is wrong.
Go out?
Fang Zhao had left the underground shelter?
What for? Fight monsters? Does he think this is a game?!
Great-grandfather Fang, who had also seen this video, was so shocked that he could not sit still. "Nonsense! He is just a child who has never participated in actual combat. What can he do outside? Send his head on a silver platter?! "
Great-grandfather Fang and Great-grandmother Fang were both angry and anxious. They could not get any concrete information on Fang Zhao from their old comrades. They only knew a little about the situation at the base. However, they were only concerned about the situation at Outpost 23. If they wanted to know more about Fang Zhao, they could only watch channel S5's video and wait.
They actually wanted to directly ask First Frontline about the content of all the videos they had received, but they could not get through. First Frontline was not based in Yanzhou, after all. Even if Great-grandfather Fang had connections in Yanzhou, they could not influence Huangzhou. They really could not find anyone to ask. The company's public customer service contact number showed that they had to wait in line. Great-grandfather Fang had wanted to make an appointment, but when he saw that the line was already in the tens of thousands, who knew how long he would have to wait.
Luckily, they did not have to wait too long. In the next video, Fang Zhao appeared. Not only did he safely return to the basement, he even brought back a wounded person.
Many people heaved a sigh of relief, but before they could relax, Fang Zhao left again.
Great-grandfather Fang almost could not catch his breath. "What, what, what is he doing outside again?!"
In the video, during the time that Fang Zhao had disappeared, Kevin Lin and the others in the basement who had only suffered light injuries treated the wounds of the rescued wounded person. The injuries were too serious, so there was a limit to what they could do.
However, this outpost soldier named Walker did not remain silent. He also did not know whether he could survive this time, so he got Kevin Lin to record a video for him. At the same time, he also told the story of how Fang Zhao had saved him.
A gamer who was watching the video had a glint in his eyes. "So that means Zhao God killed two monsters?"
"Fang Zhao is so awesome in the game. He shouldn't be too bad in real life, right?"
"Have you forgotten the things that were reported in the past? After all, the virtual world and the real world are different. "Some people had different opinions.
Some people were unyielding online, but in real life, they were a complete mess. Before this, there were often some entertainment news reports that didn't make the gamers happy. For example, an entertainment magazine once reported that a certain fighting game god had been beaten up by a black street hooligan and had been hospitalized. Another example was that a certain shooting game player had failed to show off in real life and had been killed instead.
Regardless of what everyone said, they really wanted to know Fang Zhao's situation. Had Fang Zhao encountered any monsters or terrorists after going out again? Was he injured? Was he still alive?
When Kevin Lin finally got on the phone with Yan Biao and found out that Fang Zhao was fine and that reinforcements from the base had arrived, online audiences could not help but cheer.
At this moment, the video that channel S5 was broadcasting suddenly stopped. Just as some people started to complain and complain, they saw the words on the screen: "Live broadcast signal connecting."
The previous videos had been delayed, so what they had seen was not what was actually happening. Now that there was a live broadcast, why would they watch a delayed video?
The audience stopped complaining and hurriedly stared at the screen.
After the words "Connection successful" flashed on the screen, Kevin Lin's bloodstained face appeared on the screen. Unlike the solemn and uneasy expression at the start, Kevin Lin was very excited and ecstatic.
"Finally, someone is here to pick us up!"
The camera turned to face the basement door. A group of soldiers came in from outside and carried away a few heavily injured people. Kevin Lin followed them out.
Along the way, Kevin Lin captured post-battle footage of the base, as well as the corpses of those monsters. Some of the footage was too gory, so Kevin Lin specially reminded, "Our channel is 15 +. Children under 15 are not allowed to watch. Parents, please pay attention to whether there are any minors under 15 peeking around."
"I'm going to look for Fang Zhao now. I don't know if he's injured," Kevin Lin said as he followed the group of soldiers out.
Walking out of the outpost, he finally saw light. When he saw the base's flying transport and those soldiers, Kevin Lin took a deep breath and looked around. When he saw a familiar face, he quickly walked over and asked.
"May I ask if you have seen Fang Zhao? Where is he? "
"Fang Zhao? Over there. I think he was brought to get changed, "that person replied.
"Change? What for? "
Kevin Lin was about to ask for more details when he saw Fang Zhao disembarking from the transport aircraft up ahead.
Unlike before, Fang Zhao had changed into a combat uniform similar to the outpost team's. He also held a gun in his hand. Kevin Lin had seen Yan Biao use that gun before.
"Fang Zhao, what are you going to do like this?" Kevin Lin asked.
"Going to the woods to clean up. Some monsters ran into the woods."
Fang Zhao was talking to Kevin Lin when he heard Bie Liao urging him, "Hey, Fang Zhao, let's go!"
Hearing that, Fang Zhao didn't say anything else. He gestured to Kevin Lin to leave first and ran over to Bie Liao and the others.
Having just experienced an intense battle, the outpost's soldiers still had a faint murderous aura. When they looked at people, they seemed to have a cold glint. Even though there were only a dozen of them, they gave off a sense of power that could topple mountains and overturn seas.
Kevin Lin couldn't help but stop walking in that direction. This was the real outpost garrison.
Walking together with Bie Liao and the others, Fang Zhao didn't seem out of place in that group of people. On the contrary, he seemed very harmonious. It was as if this person had always been a part of the group.
The camera was pointed in that direction. Online viewers could see Fang Zhao in his combat uniform boarding a transport with those outpost soldiers and flying deep into the woods. Only when they were out of sight did the camera move elsewhere.
Not long after this scene appeared in the live broadcast, the world-renowned online gaming community "Rising Dragon" posted the latest news about Fang Zhao, who hadn't been seen in a long time.
The title was "Virtual vs. Reality." The accompanying image was a spliced image of two images. On the left was AliveAfter500Years's image in the game "Battle of the Century." On the right was a screenshot of Fang Zhao standing with the outpost team on channel S5. In both images, Fang Zhao was wearing a combat uniform and holding a gun. In different eras, the combat uniform and gun were different, but the person was the same.
One was from the Period of Destruction over 500 years ago, and the other was from the New Era over 500 years later. One existed in a virtual world, and the other existed in real life.
The contrast, which seemed to be across time and space, made people feel a sense of novelty. At the same time, it gave rise to a strange feeling of worship in the hearts of many gamers.
Not long after this novel comparison image was posted, it was cited by many media outlets in the gaming circles.
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