Activation

Long Ming soon reached the entrance. Just as he was about to leave, an urgent shout came from behind him. "Sir, wait!" Long Ming instinctively stopped at the call, turned around, and saw the waiter Xiao Qi running after him. He asked somewhat doubtfully, "Something the matter?" "Sir, aren't you here for a game pod?" "Yeah, what's wrong?" "There's an empty game pod now." Xiao Qi quickly explained. "But you just said there were none left? How did one suddenly become available?" Long Ming furrowed his brow slightly, instinctively feeling something was off. "It's like this. A customer just canceled, and I immediately thought of you, so I ran out specially to tell you." Xiao Qi explained with a smile. Hearing Xiao Qi's words, Long Ming fell silent for a moment and didn't immediately reserve the machine. Seeing that Long Ming hadn't immediately decided, Xiao Qi hurriedly persuaded him. "Sir, we're having a 50 percent off event for the entire venue right now, a great deal! Don't hesitate, or someone else might reserve it soon." "Alright, I'll reserve three days!" Long Ming exhaled softly and said to Xiao Qi. "Great, sir, this way!" Seeing that Long Ming agreed, Xiao Qi was delighted and led Long Ming toward Xingyuan Star Café. Long Ming followed Xiao Qi into Xingyuan Star Café. His gaze glanced toward Luo Xue, who was being surrounded and flattered by everyone. "Our Xingyuan Star Café is mainly divided into three parts. The hall here is the viewing area, which will occasionally livestream footage of our club's experts exploring civilized worlds. Of course, if there are matches later, they will be broadcast as well. Floors 2-3 are individual private rooms, equipped with the latest helmets. As for safety, you don't need to worry—all rooms can be locked from the inside, and all corridors and walkways have security cameras and patrolling security personnel." Xiao Qi led Long Ming up the stairs. "Hmm." Long Ming glanced at the second-floor area with the corner of his eye. The entire second floor was divided into small private rooms. Security personnel could be seen patrolling the corridors. The environment was very quiet, as if no one was inside. "Floors 4-6 are the VIP area. The rooms here are all equipped with game pods." "So many game pods?" Hearing this, Long Ming was somewhat surprised. "Yeah, our boss and shareholders are very capable." "How many shareholders do you have?" "Five." Xiao Qi replied, quite talkative. "Not bad." Long Ming replied calmly. At this moment, Xiao Qi brought Long Ming to the sixth floor. The decor on this floor was more luxurious than the second floor. The ground was paved with black gilded tiles, various artworks hung on the walls, and there was a self-service bar with fruit, snacks, and drinks on this floor. "This is the self-service area. Everything here is free. If you're hungry, you can help yourself." Xiao Qi introduced to Long Ming. "Not bad." Long Ming glanced at it. The snacks and drinks on display were all relatively high-end brands. Xiao Qi led Long Ming inside, and they could soon see individual private rooms, each with its door tightly closed, and the "Do Not Disturb" indicator lights above them were all on. It could be seen that almost all the private rooms were occupied. "This private room is yours, sir." Xiao Qi stopped and said to Long Ming. Long Ming glanced at room number 666 and instinctively said, "Pretty auspicious." "As long as you like it. This is the room card." Xiao Qi handed the room card to Long Ming. After taking the room card, Long Ming swiped it on the electronic lock. Beep! The room door automatically opened. Long Ming walked into the private room. The room wasn't very large, about fifteen square meters. A game pod was placed in the middle, a single sofa beside it, and an independent bathroom in the corner. "This is the game pod. The switch is here. The specific usage isn't much different from the helmet." Xiao Qi gave a brief introduction. "Hmm. How do I pay?" "You don't need to rush that. You can settle up after you finish. That way it's convenient if you want to leave early or extend your time." "Alright." "Enjoy yourself." Xiao Qi bowed slightly to Long Ming and then exited the private room. Long Ming reached out and closed the private room door, then pressed the "Do Not Disturb" switch on the wall. After doing all this, he walked to the game pod. The entire game pod was 2.5 meters long, its outer shell made of gray matte metal with excellent texture. Long Ming reached out and pressed the power button on the game pod's surface. Click! The game pod lid automatically opened. Long Ming took off his shoes, lay directly into the game pod, and closed it. At this moment, a projection screen popped up before his eyes. "Start Civilization Paradise?" "Yes!" Long Ming confirmed directly. Swoosh! Accompanied by a flash of white light, Long Ming suddenly appeared in Fanxing City. Noisy and lively sounds echoed in his ears. Long Ming raised his wrist and tapped his wristband, taking out the M24 sniper rifle and its accessories. Immediately, Long Ming began assembling the accessories, pressing the bullets he had bought one by one into the magazine. Although bringing this M24 sniper rifle into the instance might result in death and losing everything, if he didn't bring it, he'd cry too late if he needed it one day. At this moment, players passing by saw Long Ming assembling the M24 and exclaimed in amazement. "Wow, what weapon is that?" "It looks so cool!" Long Ming ignored them, focusing on installing the four-power scope and silencer and other accessories. At this moment, a man wearing a leather jacket with a scar on his left face saw the M24 and his eyes lit up immediately. He came over and fawned on him. "Brother, your gun is not bad, looks really awesome." However, Long Ming didn't respond to him. "I'm A Tao. Others call me Brother Tao. I specialize in recycling equipment in this area and am somewhat well-known. I see your weapon is good. How about selling it to me? I'll pay a high price!" A Tao said very patiently. "Not selling." Long Ming didn't even raise his head and directly refused. "Brother, don't rush to refuse. I'm willing to pay 800,000 Yiwei coins or equivalent offline currency." "Not selling." "1,000,000!" A Tao immediately raised the price. Just by looking at the condition, he knew the durability must be very high; it could definitely sell for a good price. "I said, not selling." After assembling the M24, Long Ming equipped it and replied coldly. "Brother, listen to me. Not selling now makes you a fool. There's a saying: rarity makes things valuable. Right now, game production is low, and those tycoons have high demand. Your gun is valuable. After a while, production will flood the market, and your weapon won't be worth much anymore. In other words, every second you delay, this weapon depreciates a bit!" "Still not selling. I want to use it myself." "What's wrong with you? Are you really stupid? You bring the weapon into the instance, and if it drops, you lose everything. You'd better sell it to the tycoon now." Brother Tao tried hard to persuade Long Ming. In fact, the reason Brother Tao was so earnestly persuading Long Ming was that Long Ming's gun was, among all currently produced weapons, definitely a top-tier existence. Those tycoons would definitely be willing to spend a lot of money to buy it, and he could also make a huge profit himself. "No need." Long Ming turned around and left directly. Brother Tao watched Long Ming's departing back and cursed angrily a few times. "Damn, what an idiot. Just got a bit lucky and happened to get a good weapon, and really thinks his luck can be that good every time?" "Exactly! Doesn't appreciate kindness. He'll cry someday." "Sigh~ What a pity, such a good weapon. If it were me, I would have sold it long ago." The players watching on the side saw that Long Ming was so ungrateful and followed along in agreement. Meanwhile, Long Ming walked to a more open area and took out the invitation letter. The wristband interface immediately popped up a prompt. "Activate Anfa Civilization invitation letter?" "Yes!" With determined eyes, Long Ming chose to activate. Swoosh! Accompanied by the invitation scroll emitting dazzling light, Long Ming was wrapped in a beam of white light. When the light faded, Long Ming appeared on a small gyro-shaped mechanical platform. However, unlike last time, this small gyro-shaped mechanical platform was empty above, with no one else except him. Long Ming was a bit dazed and looked down at his wristband, only to see it displayed: Transmission Platform 867. Opened Civilization: Anfa. Civilization Level: Level 1. People: 1/1000. Seeing only 1 person, Long Ming's heart skipped a beat. This platform only had him alone. If the required number of people couldn't be gathered, would there be a bug? Would he be stuck here at that time? If it were really like that, he'd be screwed. The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became, but he still suppressed his negative emotions and patiently waited. (End of chapter)