Famine 223: The Steps to Killing Gods

“It upgraded, upgraded?! So fast?!”

Supervisor Liu was petrified with shock.

Bian Xu hurried over, barely suppressing a laugh as he tried to comfort Supervisor Liu. Meanwhile, Si Zhiyan opened a new system interface.

[Life Crystal]
A deep green crystal imbued with silky, pale golden radiance, as precious as an emerald.
Within, golden, transparent, fluttering wings could vaguely be seen vibrating—the origin remained a mystery.

The saying that jade nurtures its owner was just a legend, but this truly could nurture you.

[Not forgeable as Tier One]
[Tier Two forging unlocked: Players carrying the Life Crystal gain a 50% boost to vitality. Beings become much harder to kill, with significant enhancements to damage endurance, immunity, and blood supply resilience.]

[Feather Crystal]
An ore that flowed like a gas.
Rather than a crystal, it resembled a vaporous white mist containing tiny, suspended fragments.

Impossible to embed in equipment, it preferred to coil around a person’s limbs, weighing only one percent as much as other gems of the same class.

[Not forgeable as Tier One]
[Tier Two forging unlocked: Something light is supporting the player’s body. Both movement speed and attack speed increase by 30%, and every attack has an added 25%-55% chance to dodge, with the exact value depending on the player’s affinity with the crystal.]

[Players selected by the Feather Crystal must also fulfill its unknown additional obligations.]

…

They had arrived!

Si Zhiyan felt his heart pound faster as he read on.

A quick glance at the rest—the [Crimson Blood Crystal] and [Golden Crow Stone]—revealed them to be top-notch attack gems, both extraordinary in their own right.

If the Life Crystal was simply outstanding, then the three newly unlocked Level Four crystals marked a fundamental leap in power—pure qualitative transformation.

Leaving aside the overtly lethal, aggressive gems—consider just the Feather Crystal: any attack had a chance to be dodged, with the maximum probability stacking up to 55%. Add to that the 15% dodge from the pool’s [Snow Monster’s Gaze]… For speed-specialized players, dodge chance could reach 70%.

Seventy percent!

There was no need for further explanation. No other effect could compare. In the days before the era of the Farm, such crystals would have driven high-level famine game elites to madness for a chance to seize them—they were game-saving treasures.

Take Nidhogg, for example; he would definitely have been willing to kill for the [Crimson Blood Crystal].

And now, in the farm, they were simply unlocked—and even… mass-produced.

And this was only the beginning.

Si Zhiyan lifted his head, exchanging a glance with Bian Xu; both understood perfectly what this meant.

Si Zhiyan said, “This is what we’ve been looking for all along.”

Bian Xu understood implicitly.

The famine game was a game, and in the end, the players were meant to win.
Only a game with winnable routes was worth playing from the start.

Thus, by all reason, if the players grew properly, one day they should have the chance to face the Lord God.

For the past seven years, this had sounded like the wildest delusion.

—But now, in the eighth year of the famine game, at last, through persistent striving, they glimpsed the first step of the staircase to killing gods.
This was an area none of the other world fragments—those that had perished under the Lord God’s hand—had ever reached.

“Come to think of it, the Level 4 mine upgrade condition is very intriguing,”
Si Zhiyan said slowly,
“It takes a genius to puzzle out the method for Tier Two forging. But even a genius like Alice, on her own, absolutely couldn’t reach the necessary output for the upgrade. She had to rely on others.”

Bian Xu responded instantly: “So the upgrade condition… was meant to encourage player cooperation?”

“Is this the real formula for challenging the Lord God?”

Everyone in the room held their breath, silent for a long moment.

As all knew, the Lord God’s game was a selection game.

Players pursued the ranking of chosen ones, scheming and fighting, battling for the right to ultimately face the Lord God.

And yet, now, the first channel to touch the realm of qualitative change…

Had been achieved through cooperation.

Supervisor Liu stood there, blankly clutching the blue crystal.

After a while, he said in apprehension, “…Us?”

The translucent Tier Two crystal felt cool and smooth in his hands, shifting softly like rippling water, with the occasional whisper of waves.

His name was Liu Yong; his whole life had been as unremarkable as his name. He was an average player, lacking special skills, who since the game descended had scraped by, sometimes hungry, sometimes fed. If not for the farm, he might have starved long ago.

His team—more craftsmen like him. Many couldn’t fight at all, surviving only with the help of Nie Du and the Bone Ferry, until the day they reached the farm.

Liu Yong was long used to currying favor. The only luck he’d ever had was arriving at the farm a bit earlier than others.

Even Si Zhiyan sometimes had to think before he remembered Liu’s actual name, not “Supervisor Liu.”

Geniuses were always rare. Of the game’s nearly one million candidates, most were people like Liu Yong. As for grand ventures like “overthrowing the Lord God”… maybe the best they hoped for was the farm’s protection, finding work and warm meals.

That’s why, in the moment of revelation, his first reaction was not joy, but fear.

Si Zhiyan regarded him for a while before smiling and patting his shoulder.

“Don’t think too much. Go on,” Si Zhiyan said. “No more slacking off, brother—get back to work.”

Supervisor Liu snapped to attention, immediately burying his face in his hands.

Ah! Vacation! My precious vacation!

Coming to report in!

Just yesterday, it had taken all the brothers every bit of effort to grab their own shares. How was he supposed to tell them, now that they finally had a shot at ten thousand units in production, they’d have to get right back to their posts and cry tears of joy while raking in massive processing fees?

Truly insane!

He grumbled internally even as the corners of his mouth twitched wider than a hammer, grinning like a fool as he left.

The farm wasn’t some fixed-salary canteen—artisans earned by the job, and everyone wished for as much work as possible. Idle days were only a last resort.

After a two-day break, right back to work!

Si Zhiyan said, “This time, we’ll delay the market launch for a few days and push everyone to maximum capacity, to find out what the Industrial Division’s real output ceiling is. Once we hit a certain stockpile, we’ll open sales. No lottery this time—available stock goes right on sale, aiming to arm as many players as possible while keeping prices reasonable.”

“Got it!”

…………
……

[Five Days Later]

Knock, knock, knock!! Knock, knock, knock!! Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock!!!

At seven in the morning, an urgent and aggressive knocking sounded at the door.

Qiu Hong yawned lazily and shuffled out in her slippers.

“Who is it? It’s the weekend—can’t you give it a rest?”

Life was treating Qiu Hong well now.

Ever since she’d avenged herself on the remnants of the Silver Ring Alliance, Qiu Hong and her teammates had built new lives. They settled on the farm, took homes in Fantasy Town, with several little houses not far apart. During the week, everyone teamed up for quests and world raids; weekends, they went their separate ways, pursuing personal hobbies and amusements.

Qiu Hong, unfaltering as ever, visited the amusement park every week, eating treats, solving puzzles, exchanging theories with fellow enthusiasts—she was full of energy, never bored.

For all this, Qiu Hong was deeply grateful.

She could eat her fill, dress warmly, had a pretty little house of her own, an ample supply of points, and hobbies worth her time and spirit… She could balance life and work…

On the surface, it was just about perfect. If she complained now, even she would call herself ungrateful.

Yet, even so, one thing still gnawed at her like a worm in a bone.
—They were still too weak.

Every time she closed her eyes, Qiu Hong remembered the day the waterpark opened: seeing her sworn enemy Qi Zhi transform into a giant serpent right before her eyes, while she herself, helpless and broken, couldn’t even protect a little girl who called her “Sister Qiu Hong.”

Though rescue came soon enough, that moment of utter impotence, of breaking down to the bone, was etched into Qiu Hong’s soul.

And again and again, in her dreams, the blend of blood, tears, and abiding bitterness pricked her nerves like needles.

The rewards for conquering worlds were rich—but the tests had only grown fiercer. To maintain peace and gain the support of the uncanny, one needed power far beyond simply slaying an enemy.

To grow stronger!
So desperately, desperately wanting strength!

But such things were never gained just by wishing.

…Still, on a day off, she wasn’t about to torment herself with these matters.

She opened the door to see a groundhog in a baseball cap anxiously circling, nearly digging up her doorstep.

Bang!

As soon as the door opened, Lü Buqing switched back to human form in excitement, rattling off a barrage of words:

“Finally! Captain!”
“Captain, there are new gems from the upgraded mine at the exchange! I checked—they’re all amazing, and one crystal is perfect for your speed-attack build!”
“Come on, Captain, let’s go check!”

While speaking, she moved to tug Qiu Hong’s hand.

Qiu Hong gave an exasperated sigh. “Aren’t you a bit old to get this jumpy?”

Lü Buqing said hotly, “But this time it’s different, once we get them—”

Qiu Hong kicked her and said, “What’s the rush? As if it’ll be our turn?”

Lü Buqing yelped in pain, clutching her backside.

Qiu Hong’s face stayed perfectly calm, sporting two black circles under her eyes and a toneless voice, as if entirely unaffected:

“We didn’t check the notice early. If we go now, it’s definitely already too late.”
“This batch will have sold out instantly, and the next will have its distribution done. Odds are, for the next three or five waves, we’re already too late. Even if there’s a lottery, there’s no need to rush.”

She recalled the first time she tried to buy a first-tier Red Crystal at market open—totally buried by the crowds, not even a glimpse.

“So, tell me, how many are for sale this time?”

Lü Buqing looked mournfully at Qiu Hong and muttered,

“Sales opened at eight. Along with the old Rubies and Azures, there are four new crystals—each with an initial batch of 15,000 pieces. After today, there’ll be a daily restock of 4,000 per crystal.”

“That many?!!?!”