To ascend, I had no choice but to create games

Knowing the reason behind it, Lin Nan couldn’t help but recall the time she was at Wolong, where she had only three hours off for Mid-Autumn Festival and didn’t even have enough time to get a haircut.

But wouldn’t running a business like this really lead to bankruptcy?

If this place went under, what would I do?

At that thought, Lin Nan finally understood why her colleagues were so motivated and serious, even keeping an eye on the studio’s game over the weekend and actively taking on projects.

This company simply couldn’t be allowed to close down.

Therefore, she went over Huang Ping’s planning proposal, reading it carefully before falling into silence.

It was… really well written.

A planning proposal is a planner’s basic skill, and although different planners have different writing habits, as long as one can effectively and directly explain their ideas, it is considered a qualified proposal.

Different companies will have different formats for their planning proposals, and Huang Ping’s format seemed easy to understand, with each module well-organized, making it quick for planners to grasp and for programmers to get started.

Such talent would be wasted at Wolong even as a lead planner.

Feeling the gap between them, a strong sense of tension overwhelmed Lin Nan, causing even her stomach to hurt.

Nonetheless, she controlled her nervousness and approached Xiao Douzi to engage in a slow and steady exchange.

While Xiao Douzi worked in a serious manner, he was quite amiable in private, and the two had no trouble communicating. New ideas emerged from their interaction, and Lin Nan gradually forgot her anxiety and started to blend into the studio’s work rhythm.

It was their first collaboration, but Lin Nan had already played the game for four days and had accumulated many thoughts, leading to substantive discussions and making Xiao Douzi realize that Lin Nan indeed had something to offer.

By next Monday, the game’s new version had also been updated.

The new event DLC, “Shadow Invasion,” went online free of charge.

In the new version, “Space Navigators” would link with “Shadow Builders,” allowing players to choose three different magical weapons from thousands and combine them into one, with the effects inherited according to certain rules, becoming usable magical weapons for the players.

Players could then place these magical weapons on their flagship, enhancing its power to resist the Shadows.

The magical weapons could also be swapped out with only a one-minute cooldown, allowing players to explore different strategies to repel the Shadows promptly.

During the week of preparation for the update, the situation in the galaxy had already changed.

Unknown Evil Gods began to invade, and the Demigods responsible for resisting them were retreating. To avoid being corrupted by the Shadows, these Demigods had no choice but to seal themselves into statues and wait for others to rescue them.

The corruption started from the outer arm of the 17th ring, where a breach had been opened in the Heavenly Tao network, allowing massive amounts of Shadows to pour in. Hundreds of planets’ residents began to flee, continuously leaving the region.

The Main Temples of various sects started to stay brightly lit all night, with devout followers praying inside, hoping for the Gods they worshipped to manifest and drive away the Shadows.

However, the Gods confined in the next-door cells indicated that they were powerless to act.

The power of the sects was still very strong, and although players continuously tried to free the imprisoned real-world interveners, the sects remained unwilling to release them.

They even claimed that the Shadow Invasion was the price paid for these real-world interveners’ presumptuous claim to be Gods, and only devout prayers to the Gods could earn redemption and save their people.

Seeing such stubborn followers, most Gods realized that perhaps they had been quite mistaken in the past.

Having faith is fine, but could they not use their brains when believing?

Yet, some earthbound Gods fared relatively well, such as the Goddess of Art from the Freedom Alliance.

Once the DLC was updated, Liuzi immediately logged into the game.

Compared to the previous period, the scale of the Freedom Alliance had expanded fivefold.

Some civilizations fled from the Shadow Invasion and reluctantly turned to banditry, being absorbed by nearby Interstellar Pirates.

As a nearby and wealthy entity, the Freedom Alliance absorbed the most pirates.

Unlike ordinary pirates, they always prided themselves on being an independent force with their own guiding principles. Their recent focus shifted to trading in artworks, with art pieces marked with anti-counterfeiting stamps garnering substantial market interest.

Moreover, Liuzi was diligent, rapidly producing four sets of artwork, and although each set contained only six pages, they sold extremely well.

They even recruited over a thousand players, and this large player team made them even wealthier. They had accumulated thirteen units of the Eye of Destruction·Light Version.

After logging into the game, Liuzi greeted the other squirrels and then immediately headed for the dock.

Compared to the previous crude dock, the Freedom Alliance’s dock had also undergone a dramatic transformation.

A small asteroid had been converted into a dock, where a dozen ships always entered and left, bringing in urgently needed goods and transporting their own goods elsewhere.

The recent emphasis had shifted to specialties brought by other real-world interveners. Some of these goods were luxury items that could be sold at high prices when transported out; others were consumables needed by players, like fried rice from a certain planet that was infused with extraordinary effects, temporarily enhancing bodily functions by 20%.

This type of item could be used by players as well as the half-Gods who joined them, making for a very affordable prop.

After confirming the recent state of the Freedom Alliance and finding no issues, he was about to choose the magical weapon he wanted when he saw the Goddess of Art squatting in front of his ship.

The spineless hedgehog sat bored on the steps, looking melancholic, occasionally glancing towards the door as if waiting for someone.

On seeing Liuzi running over, she immediately stood up and excitedly said, “Liuzi, you’re finally here!”

“Yeah, did Xiemen Waidao say when he’d be online?”

“…How about first showing concern for me? Didn’t you notice anything different about me?”

“Did you gain weight?”

“…Anything else?”

“Grew spikes?”

“…Really, there’s nothing else?”

“New clothes?”

The Goddess of Art finally sighed in relief and then proudly said, “Exactly, new clothes! Haven’t you noticed how sexy my clothes are? Do you like them?”

Looking at the Goddess of Art, who was dressed in an evening gown that fully accentuated her barrel-shaped figure, Liuzi said helplessly, “I want to emphasize again that we Angel Envoys don’t like this.”

“Really? Then this won’t do. I heard from a certain Angel Envoy that this was pretty good, you’d definitely go wild after seeing it.”

“Don’t tell me that guy was Xiemen Waidao.”

“He asked me to tell you that he isn’t.”

“…Don’t listen to that guy’s words from now on. Besides, didn’t you want to know what Angel Envoys like? You should ask a few more people, not just harp on me alone.”

The Goddess of Art rubbed her small hands together in confusion, “That’s true, I should ask more people. But strangely, why do I only want to know what you like?”

“Spit it out, are you craving my new artwork?”

“Yes, that must be it!”

After handing his new creation to the Goddess of Art, Liuzi opened the new DLC interface, starting to ponder which three magical weapons to fuse and load up.

Since it was DLC, all the magical weapons were unlocked, with a dazzling array of effects that were eye-catching, and when combined with the game’s spaceships, they could produce even richer effects.

As Liuzi was considering his options, the Goddess of Art had already finished looking at Liuzi’s work and began to look at Liuzi himself.

For some reason, she had been thinking about Liuzi a lot recently.

At first, she thought she was craving Liuzi’s work, but now upon reflection, it seemed she was actually craving Liuzi himself.

Because she soon stopped looking at the new work, but she wanted to keep looking at Liuzi.

After pondering for a while, she asked, “Liuzi.”

Liuzi, who was examining the effects of magical weapons, looked up and asked, “Hm? What is it?”

“Are you interested in becoming my High Priest?”

“What’s the difference between a High Priest and a Priest?”

“There is! A High Priest is the person closest to me. Once I regain my God Position, you will stay by my side and paint for me every day, alright?”

“What’s the salary?”

“You would be my High Priest, shouldn’t you be giving me money?”

“Get lost.”

“You Angel Envoys are so rude!”

While they were chatting, Xiemen Waidao was brought in by Mukuai 1234.

Looking at Liuzi and the Goddess of Art chatting, he stroked his chin and asked, “Have I come at a bad time?”

“No, you’ve come at just the right time. I’ve already chosen the magical weapons, do you have any suggestions?”

“Then you’ve certainly asked the right person!” Xiemen Waidao leaned in excitedly, “Back in the day, I also played a character who killed a Female Evil God, I know the combinations of various magical weapons like the back of my hand, just follow my lead and you’ll be set!”

“…Sheesh, isn’t this combination a bit too weird?”

“Is it? I think it’s quite normal.”

“Isn’t your brain a bit too weird?”

Nevertheless, Liuzi still chose to take Xiemen Waidao’s advice, augmented the magical weapons, and then contacted the other members of the Freedom Alliance before heading towards the direction of the Shadow Invasion.

Behind them, the online players took off in force, a fleet of Kuafu Spaceships flew off into the distance, charging towards the distant Shadows.

A fleet of refugee ships flew past them, and the players going against the current formed a stark contrast with these refugees, making them the current-defiers in the Star Sea.

When they arrived at the battlefield of the Shadow Invasion, the battle had already commenced.

Although it wasn’t their first time facing the Shadows, players with insufficient willpower still got goosebumps at the sight of them.

Some players commented that these things were clearly just a mass of black fog, but somehow they felt creepy no matter how they looked.

As expected of the Living Immortal who created “Spreading Traditional Culture Starting from Me,” even ordinary darkness possessed an eerie, horrifying sensation; he really understood psychological horror.

At the forefront of the battlefield, the Shadows blotted out the sky, and a massive number of them poured in from the rupture’s depth, with no known entrance point for the Shadows.

The Heavenly Tao network was originally a tool to resist the Shadows, but now, for some reason, these Shadows had gained the ability to go unnoticed by the network, rendering it virtually obsolete.

Ordinary spaceships simply couldn’t stand against the invasion of the Shadows, but there were still some local spaceships stationed nearby, casting a strong light to create a cage and binding the movement trajectory of the Shadows in order to reduce the area of resistance.

Governors from various places had already received support requests from Songta Planet, and a large number of ace pilots were converging here. Among them, some had old feuds, but they decided to put aside their grudges in the face of a greater cause and began to fight against the Shadows.

Every second, players charged at the Shadows; with new magical weapons loaded on their spaceships, shining with the power of the Great Heavenly Lord, they plunged into the fray, slicing through the Shadows and keeping chaos at bay.

There was no need for any rallying cry, as players arriving here immediately assembled and charged into the Shadows in squads until they vanished within them.

The wealth accumulated from before started to come into play, as players, fearless in the face of death, again displayed their calamitous nature, entangling themselves with the Shadows using their undying trait.

Outside the range of the Heavenly Tao network, an Evil God silently watched everything unfold.

After noticing the Shadows being held at bay, it wasn’t too surprised; instead, it extracted its own Demonic Qi and hurled it towards the Heavenly Tao network.

The Demonic Qi cut off its own existence and began invading the Heavenly Tao network, entwining itself and slowly merging into the network.