Chapter 219 Artificial Man!
On the fifth floor of the maze, under the gray dome is an endless wasteland, and the turbid air exudes a slightly decayed atmosphere.
That's the smell of spores.
They are like a thick fog that cannot be dispersed, occupying a large area of land in the vast wilderness.
And on the land shrouded in thick fog, thick roots undulated slowly like wriggling pythons.
And right next to that root, strange "fruits" grew vigorously like mushrooms growing on the roots of trees.
That is not an ordinary mushroom.
They have pale skin, empty eyes, and stand silently. They look like human beings, but also like soulless empty shells placed in a wax museum.
"Welcome to visit my masterpiece, respected Lord Demon King. According to your request, these soulless bodies were created on my roots through the "grafted" branches."
Standing next to Luo Yan, "Helen" spoke words that did not belong to her in a hoarse and slow voice.
There was a peaceful smile on her soft-lined face, with a dark green light flashing in her pupils. Her stiff movements and voice were exactly the same as when her father was possessed by Gray Wind.
· Appreciating the masterpiece belonging to Gray Feng in front of him, Luo Yan showed an expression of appreciation on his face.
"You did a good job, this is exactly what I need."
These artificial humans are completely created according to the characteristics of the Kaa people.
They are highly adaptable and able to grow in extreme environments, just like hardy fungi.
More than that, the most important thing is that they are not as self-aware as the Kaos, but they have a nervous system that is not inferior to the Kaos, and can be used as a perfect "container" to accommodate the players' soul mirrors.
This not only solves the player's consumption of "containers", but also avoids ethical disputes.
There is no more ideal tool than this!
"I'm glad to satisfy you," Helen, whose eyes flashed with green light, nodded with a smile, turned her gaze to the unconscious artificial human body in front of her, and continued speaking slowly, "Thanks to your help, in this incredible work During the work, I not only saw life forms that I had never seen before, but also gained a deeper understanding of myself." Standing next to her sister Helen, Shirley stepped forward curiously and poked one of the artificial humans in the face.
The strange touch was like a pine mushroom that had been soaked in the rain, with a touch of slipperiness in the wetness, and a touch of fleshy rebound as her index finger moved.
With his face rubbed, the artificial man did not react or make any sound.
"It's so strange...are these guys really human? There's no reaction at all." Shirley withdrew her hand and walked around the artificial man several times, stroking her chin and marveling.
While she was commenting curiously, Arakdo could not help but opened his mouth and took a bite, biting half of the body of one of the androids, raising his head and swallowing it.
The remaining half of the artificial human is like a cucumber that has been broken open, revealing the gelatinous fungus flesh inside.
Not long after, it began to wither, and then was absorbed by the undulating roots on the side.
"It tastes pretty good." Arakdu muttered his evaluation while chewing, and burped after a while.
"Helen" standing aside looked at it with a peaceful smile and said in a slow and gentle voice.
"I don't recommend that you treat my children as food. The energy I consume to synthesize them is far greater than what you absorb from them. If you are hungry, I can treat you to other pulps... which will be much easier to digest than them."
What Gray Wind said is actually correct.
The nutrients required to produce an artificial human require months of "nutritional surplus" from several acres or even ten acres of forest work. It is no exaggeration to say that this guy ate up a ginseng fruit in one mouthful.
Cheap is only relative.
As food, this kind of artificial human is not cheap at all, and it is not easy to digest, but compared with the resources consumed to raise a baby to an adult, it is very cost-effective.
Looking at Shirley who blinked curiously, Luo Yan answered her previous question.
"Of course they are not human beings, not even animals, and they have no souls."
Shirley tilted her head and said in confusion.
"What's the use? They can't speak, they can't move, and they can't do any work."
"How could it be useless?" Luo Yan's lips curled up into a smile, and he said pleasantly, "Rather, it's just right for me."
"Helen" looked at the respected Demon King quietly with a smile on his face, waiting for his next move.
As if responding to the expectations of Gray Feng and Shirley, Luo Yan stepped forward and stretched out his right hand.
At the same time, he said silently in his heart.
"Yuyou, are those test players ready?"
The ethereal entity floated beside him like a shadow, and then an energetic answer floated into his ears.
"Already prepared, Lord Demon King!"
"Then let them take the number."
"Received!"
As Yunyun's voice fell, dozens of soul mirrors were released from Luo Yan's fingertips and poured into the empty shells without souls.
These soul mirror images are all prepared in advance.
As early as a few days ago, the official website of "Calamity OL" opened the channel for making reservations to test the new race, and as expected, tens of thousands of people signed up.
Both players and cloud players are full of expectations for the new races being tested in "Calamity OL". After all, before this, the characters that could be played in "Calamity OL" were either undead, demons, or elemental golems, but there were no humans.
If you can look a little more like a human, maybe you can sneak into the NPC town and have fun!
With the world background currently displayed in "Calamity OL", players' activity radius and explorable content will increase exponentially!
Such an exciting test, not to mention those cloud players who are still waiting for support, even some players who have qualified for the closed beta are jealous!
It is precisely because of this that after receiving the pop-up private message that the test was about to begin, almost all the lucky ones who got the activation code put on VR glasses and sat on their chairs obediently waiting.
Many people even watched the cutscenes over and over again just to get more details about the game before entering the game.
As the soul mirrors completely merged with these soulless containers, almost at the same time, a scene happened that surprised all the demons present!
I saw a dozen androids suddenly opening their eyes, as if they had come to life!
Shirley, who was standing nearby, was startled and exclaimed.
“They moved!”
Not just moving!
They also made strange clattering noises from their mouths, and spoke in a language that the demons present could not understand.
It’s a good thing that Shirley, who was standing nearby, didn’t understand. Otherwise, she would definitely have beaten these rude people with fists as big as puddings until their noses were bruised and their faces were swollen.
Of course——
This is not guaranteed to make some guys with brain problems happy. After all, there are all kinds of players in "Calamity OL".
"Fuck! Elf!"
"Haci Haci...hehehe."
"Sister, why are your ears pointed? "
"Woohoo, this light! This water! This ash! Isn't this too real?!"
"Wake up, this is obviously a maze, where did the light and water come from?"
Some people lay down and kissed the ground, some screamed with excitement, and some danced.
An even more unintelligent guy stretched out his hands towards Shirley, but was deprived of control of his legs, staggered and fell to the ground, and was forced to chew a mouthful of mud.
In fact, even if Luo Yan turns a blind eye, that unintelligent guy can't do anything.
After all, these guys are newbies who have just entered the game. Their level is still a blank slate, and their speed and strength are not even comparable to those of the veteran farmers in the empire.
The basic panel of the artificial man is a little higher than that of the skeleton soldier, but only a little.
"Hey! The look in this guy's eyes is so disgusting!" Shirley looked at the unintelligent guy with wary eyes and dodged away more than ten meters away.
Her face was full of disgust, but she couldn't hide a trace of surprise. She obviously didn't expect these guys to move and act like real humans.
It was not only Shirley who was surprised, but also Gray Wind.
Although its emotional expression was not obvious, Luo Yan could still feel the violent fluctuations of magic power emanating from "Helen".
"I feel...my children are becoming independent individuals. They are taking the initiative to leave my arms. This has never happened before!"
Luo Yan certainly knew what it was.
This is when his players took the lead.
"I gave them souls." Luo Yan said in a gentle tone while looking at the artificial humans jumping around in the wasteland.
The gray wind clinging to Helen cast a surprised look at him, with a hint of brilliance flashing in his dark green pupils, as if he was suddenly enlightened.
"It seems you are even more surprising than I thought... Manipulating souls is the domain of gods."
After a pause, it lowered its voice and asked tentatively.
"Have you awakened your godhead?"
The demon god Bayali was once the demon king.
As the direct subordinate of the Demon God, the Demon King is exposed to the power of faith and the Faith Crystal all day long, so it is reasonable for him to awaken his godhead.
There was a hint of excitement and a hint of worry in its voice.
Luo Yan smiled and said nothing, neither nodding nor denying, but just turned his attention to his minions.
"This statement is not accurate."
"Based on my understanding of the gods, I am more inclined to believe that... this is everyone's choice."
While Luo Yan and Hui Feng were communicating quietly, these players who had logged in to the game for the first time had already begun to explore the mysteries of the game world.
One of the players tried to leave this "birthplace" and go to the mushroom forest in the distance.
However, the unlucky guy didn't go far when he encountered the demon wolf wandering on the fifth floor of the maze. His head was bitten off with a "ouch" and he was sent back to the Quality Square at the entrance of the maze to be "reincarnated" again.
Since he is a newbie, his contribution value is 0, so this unlucky guy can only be reborn as a skeleton soldier. The opportunity to test a new race, which was obtained through all the hard work, was just wasted.
Seeing the miserable situation of this unlucky guy, the other players became much more honest and restrained their attempts to provoke the Demon King or the Demon King's mount Arakto.
"Calamity OL" does not have a true protection mechanism for novices. Players need to judge safety and danger based on their own IQ.
Although it was their first time to enter the game, after all, after spending a long time on the official website of "Calamity OL", they understood some of the hard core of the game.
The distant area is too dangerous, and the nearby NPCs are even more difficult to deal with. These newbies do not dare to continue to seek death, and can only play with themselves.
"It's great to be a human being! Those skeletons and zombies are too ugly! Looking at the pictures, the little devil is more aesthetically pleasing."
"It's okay, anyway, after you die, you will be resurrected. It's a skeleton."
"The brother has been resurrected in the Quality Plaza just now. I saw that he posted on the forum that the real gameplay can be unlocked by dying. Let's send it to him quickly."
"Really or not?!"
“You’ll know after you deliver it once.”
“I almost believed it!”
“Fuck, why are your models so ugly?”
"You're so embarrassed to accuse me! You're not one yourself!"
"That's right! Go look in the mirror!"
h "Open a plastic surgery hospital, it will definitely become popular! 》
· "Or wear a leather sheath! I heard that the NPC merchants in the necropolis are selling magic masks that can change the shape of the face!"
· "How can I upgrade? Don't have novice equipment? Give me a sword!"
· The new version has given birth to a new industry. It is foreseeable that with the arrival of the new version, the economy of the necropolis will usher in a new round of growth!
certainly.
Compared to the current economic size of the necropolis, this increase is probably very small.
Luo Yan watched them quietly, waiting for them to vent their strong energy before starting the next plot.
After all, if you don't do this, they won't listen to you because they haven't made enough trouble yet.
He has already learned about this.
Not only him, but also the acolytes who brought newbies into the game for him have also learned the lesson, and have written these experiences in the "Employee Handbook".
While the players were studying each other's bodies, Shirley, who was hiding next to Luo Yan, was also curiously secretly observing the various confusing behaviors of these artificial humans.
Including but not limited to squatting on the ground, digging in the soil, exploring one's crotch, and then suddenly starting to cheer inexplicably and suddenly feel frustrated.
After looking at it carefully for a long time, Shirley suddenly looked at the Demon King curiously and asked curiously.
"What do they usually eat?"
Luo Yan did not answer, but looked at "Helen" aside.
Gray Wind, who was possessed by Helen, smiled slightly and continued in a gentle tone.
"They are like fungi, they can eat anything that fungi can decompose, but some things will be digested faster, and some things will take longer to decompose."
Simply put, most organic matter can be eaten. Just like the undead in the necropolis, they are "scavengers", and their diet is even wider than that of the undead.
After all, things like zombies and ghouls cannot eat wood, but these artificial humans can even eat wood.
What kind of top-notch cow and horse is this!
It’s simply perfect!
"It would be nice if they could grow faster."
Helen heard the Demon King's emotion, "Helen" nodded slightly and continued.
"This is just the initial experimental subject. If you need me to improve it, I will further improve the bodies of these artificial humans. Of course, if the cultivation time is shortened, their physical functions may be weakened... The results you see so far are the compromise choices I made between the cultivation period and physical functions."
Luo Yan said immediately after hearing this.
"In this case, let's produce according to this template for the time being. I hope you can shorten their breeding cycle as much as possible while keeping their attributes unchanged, but if you can't, don't force it."
Speaking of this, he paused for a moment and continued.
"In addition, their lifespan does not need to be designed to be too long. Ten or twenty years is enough. They can't live that long anyway. As long as they can play their greatest role during this ten to twenty-year life cycle." Hearing this, Shirley looked at the Demon King in surprise, her bright eyes shining slightly, like agate in the forest.
As expected of the Demon King!
This is too hellish! ?
As for Arakdo, he didn't react at all. After all, the earth-mud spiders in Shadowweaver's lair were bred according to this "design idea".
Those "articulate" little spiders usually only have a lifespan of two to three years, and often burn out in less than six months.
It even feels that the lifespan of these artificial humans is too long.
Given the frequency with which "players" commit suicide, it doesn't take that long for their souls to return to the embrace of the Demon King.
Gray Wind, who was attached to Helen, nodded slightly and remembered the Demon King’s instructions.
"Follow your orders."
...
As the newcomers finally finished exploring the pitiful content around them, they took the initiative to cast their expectant eyes on the Demon King not far away.
As the Demon King, Luo Yan finally no longer just stood quietly, but fulfilled the obligations of the Demon King, went into battle in person for the first time in a long time, and starred in the cutscenes of the players.
In addition to emphasizing loyalty to the Demon King and the Necropolis, he also prepared a unique "novice mission" for these newcomers.
"My minion "Bond" will take you to the Mist Town on the fourth floor of the maze in a moment. You will report to the Adventurer's Guild in the former Mist Town and register as an adventurer there. Then go to a nearby tavern or on the surface to find teammates and form a team with other adventurers."
"While playing the profession of adventurer, I allow you to attack each other with other players in neutral areas, but you are prohibited from attacking neutral and friendly NPCs."
"I will engrave more detailed rules into your souls. When you open the "Player System" to the mission interface, you can check whether the rule is activated. Remember, don't take any chances, your gods will always be watching you! Or, you are ready to pay the price for your actions..."
In order to facilitate their integration into human society, Luo Yan distributed unique novice equipment-human skin masks to these newcomers for free.
It is of course not made of real human skin, but as long as you put it on, you can have a human face. As long as you don't take off your clothes, you won't be wearing anything.
And the most important thing is that these artificial people are not afraid of the Holy Light like the corpses, and can even be nourished in the Holy Light like humans.
After explaining these matters, Luo Yan clapped his hands gently, motioning for Bond, who was carrying a sword, to come forward and handed him the task of escorting Mengxin.
"Let's explore this world——"
"My minions!"