Chapter 61: Chapter 57: Online Shock: The 2 Billion Whale is Dead? (Part 2)

"Everyone, calm down!"

"Just stay put tonight! Don’t go running around!"

"The beginning is always the most chaotic. Wait until things settle down a bit tomorrow before you go outside!"

"The first ability inheritance takes seven days. After those seven days, we’ll discuss our next move!"

Facing the exploding group chat, all Shen Fei could do was try to calm everyone down.

He knew that in a future version, Neutral Cities would descend. Humans could then seize these cities, live in them, and even gain special buffs. My plan for the Heaven-Reaching Gang is to capture one of them. However, since the game abilities are just beginning to be inherited, I certainly can’t spill the beans just yet. Besides, this group is a motley crew right now. I’ll have to use the passage of time to let the cream rise to the top and purify their ranks.

"We can still log into the game. When you have free time, you can keep leveling up in there!"

"That way, you’ll inherit a little more!"

"You can keep improving any ability in the game that hasn’t started the inheritance process yet!"

"As long as you’re safe, play the game as much as possible!"

"And everyone, keep a low profile online. Don’t reveal too much information, or you might get kidnapped and sent to Northern Myanmar..."

After confirming that he could still log into *Tower Defense of Ten Thousand Realms*, Shen Fei typed a few more lines into the group chat. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"Gun’Er, gather everyone’s information. Make it voluntary!"

"And if people are willing, get information on their families too!"

"As Tower Masters, our combat style relies on stationary Defense Towers. If we want to grow, we’ll need a permanent home base!"

After posting those instructions in the chat, Shen Fei contacted the group admin, Gun’Er, directly.

"Boss! Someone in the group is already posting videos of their Defense Towers online! Should I stop them?!"

While responding to Shen Fei’s instructions, Gun’Er, who was a streamer himself, brought up another issue.

Even though chaos had arrived, those content creators were still fearlessly posting videos. It was as if they wouldn’t stop working unless the Earth itself exploded. Faced with a sudden event like this that could net them a huge number of followers overnight, these creators were more eager than ever.

"Ignore them!"

"The group will have to be purged eventually anyway. You just take care of yourself. Don’t summon your Defense Tower if you can help it. Wait until you’ve inherited more of your abilities before you reveal your hand. We Tower Masters are too fragile in the early stages..."

Shen Fei quickly gave Gun’Er his instructions. Unlike him, who had his Soldier pawn for protection and a Tower Master’s Belt that let him summon Defense Towers at will, the others didn’t have it so easy. Right now, as the game abilities were just beginning to be inherited, the other Tower Masters’ physical bodies were no different from ordinary people.

"Got it!"

After a quick exchange with Gun’Er, Shen Fei ignored the still-exploding chat group and turned his attention elsewhere. Since the people in the group had chosen to follow him, it was only right for him to give them some guidance. Next, he wanted to investigate the changes happening to the world.

With the sudden, early arrival of Version 4.1, I need to gather more information. I need to see what’s different from my past life.

Closing the chat window, Shen Fei logged onto several major gaming forums.

Nothing!

To his surprise, however, there wasn’t much discussion online about Version 4.1. When it came to the version number, most people were more curious about why the game ability inheritance was designated as Version 4.0. Almost no one was talking about the subsequent Version 4.1.

After a while, Shen Fei finally found a plausible theory regarding the version update. This answer was quite similar to some of the research from his past life:

"If the emergence of organic life on Earth was Version 1.0, then the appearance of dinosaurs was Version 2.0, the rise of humanity was Version 3.0, and this game ability inheritance is Version 4.0!"

"According to leading physicists, such as Old Mr. Yang, God might not exist, but some kind of special rule does. Earth didn’t evolve naturally; there’s a mysterious, grand hand truly pulling the strings from behind the scenes..."

"Clearly, millions of years after humanity’s emergence, this rule has manifested again and updated Earth’s data."

"Just like the announcement for the Version 4.0 update, this ability inheritance is meant to help us accept this change more quickly..."

In a viral thread, Shen Fei found a post that said pretty much the same thing. The thread’s author was even a senior researcher from the Chinese Academy of Sciences...

"I DON’T F*CKING CARE IF IT’S 4.0 OR 5.0!!! WHAT I WANT TO KNOW IS, WHY DIDN’T I INHERIT ANY DAMN ABILITIES!!"

"I set up 58 private servers and 58 super accounts!! Why didn’t a single one of them let me inherit an ability!!"

The most popular reply to the senior researcher’s post was, ironically, a hysterical rant. The reply count on this rant shot up into the hundreds of thousands. What everyone loved to see most was this kind of situation: someone who spent a ton of money and prepared extensively, only to end up with nothing to show for it. Even in the apocalypse, there was no shortage of people who just wanted to watch the drama unfold.

"I’m a f*cking GM! I didn’t inherit any abilities either!"

"You damned cheat, you took my money and promised to mod my account, didn’t you?! I didn’t inherit anything either!!"

"I’m the owner of the game company, and even my super account didn’t inherit!"

Aside from those running private servers, every single privately modified internal account had failed to inherit any abilities. These people were all losing their minds, screaming in hysterics. When game abilities were truly being inherited, all these people who had made countless preparations, who thought they were smarter than everyone else, who had taken shortcuts—none of them inherited any abilities. Their anguish was infinitely more intense than that of people who had never even played the game. In the past, they were the ones who cut in line, took shortcuts, and gained unfair advantages. Now, they were tasting the bitter fruit of their actions.

Watching these cheaters roar in hysterics reminded him of an old joke: A government official and three workers were having dinner when they all passed out from a gas leak and were presumed dead. They were all sent to be cremated, but the line at the crematorium was too long. The official’s family used their connections to let him cut the line and be cremated first. Just as he was finished, the other three workers woke up...

"What you guys are going through is nothing!"

"At worst, you just didn’t get any abilities. At least you’re still alive!"

"I heard from a friend that the super Krypton Gold whale from the news a few days ago, the one who spent over a billion, is already dead!"

"You guys are still alive, so you should thank your lucky stars!"

"No matter how pissed you are, are you more pissed than the whale who spent two billion and then just dropped dead?"

"You ran a private server and modded your data, but did you spend two billion?"

"WHAT?!!! Before the inheritance, the two-billion-dollar whale was a legend! After the inheritance, he would have been a god! And you’re telling me he died right at the start?"

"What?"

"The two-billion-dollar whale is dead??"

"And here I was, f*cking bragging to everyone that the number one player in the new world would be the two-billion-dollar Krypton Gold whale... and you’re telling me he’s dead?"

"Weird. Hearing that the two-billion-dollar whale died, the pain of not inheriting any abilities myself has actually faded quite a bit..."

Quickly scanning the replies, Shen Fei was surprised to see information about himself.

I’ve been declared dead. Again. Clearly, in all of human history, I’m the only one who has ever spent two billion on Krypton Gold. The "two-billion-dollar Krypton Gold whale" they’re all saying is dead... is me.