Currently, there were six people who had become Deities.

Aside from the Player known as the Masked Monk, it was just the five of them.

From this, it was easy to see that the Chosen Group’s luck was indeed quite good.

But as the group was leisurely eating hotpot, they all froze at the exact same moment, their hands halting mid-air.

The five of them stared blankly, looking at each other before their faces broke into joyous expressions simultaneously.

"Well, I’ll be damned. We were just talking about the Chief, and here he is."

"And with something big, too."

Logical Genius said with a faint smile.

"The Chief really can’t sit still. It looks like he started preparing for the new map right after his breakthrough."

Little Ordinary Person mused, "After all, time waits for no one. Who the hell knows when the Darmarix’s Sword of the Oakland Star Realm will fall? This is how it should be."

"Since the Chief has awakened this time, we have to make sure that the next time he slumbers, he transfers the authority to open new maps in the True Game to us."

"That way, even if the Chief isn’t around, we can continue to explore new worlds, right?"

Can’t See the Bright Moon nodded.

"We should definitely bring up the authority to open new maps, but ultimately, we should go with whatever the Chief decides."

"After all, if we run into trouble, we’ll still need the Chief to bail us out in the end."

Brother Cheng Takes Off also nodded, saying excitedly:

"That’s true, but let’s not worry about that for now."

"This new map is an Interstellar Civilization! It looks pretty interesting. Let’s all hurry over and check it out."

"We can experience what it feels like to be interstellar citizens while we’re at it."

"..."

A moment later, after discussing the general plan, the five of them went their separate ways.

As Deities, all five had their own Divine Kingdoms. Therefore, upon deciding to enter another world to investigate, they naturally chose to leave their Divine Bodies within their respective Divine Kingdoms.

Although as Deities who even possessed administrative privileges in the True Game, it wasn’t difficult for their Spiritual consciousness to multitask, playing the game would still be a distraction. Thus, to prevent any potential risks, leaving their Divine Bodies in their Divine Kingdoms was the safest option.

And just as the five returned to their respective Divine Kingdoms.

In the True Game, nearly all three million existing Players received a server-wide announcement at the same time.

[Friendly Reminder!]

[The new True Game map ’Intelligent Machinery Civilization’ has finished development. In response to the long-standing anticipation of our new and veteran Players, the first phase of testing for this new map will soon be open to all online Players.]

[Test Details: In this test, all Players will receive a new, random identity in the New World. This requires a direct Descent of consciousness. All Players are advised to properly secure their real-world bodies and their current game roles before entering the new map for testing.]

[Main Quest: For this test, all Players share a common main quest: to gather all intelligence on the New World.]

(Any location a Player enters and anything they overhear during the game will be automatically considered part of the intelligence gathering process.)

[Test Duration: One hundred days.]

"..."

The moment the announcement echoed through the entire player base, all three million Players went wild!

"FUCK!!! It’s been fifty-two years!!!"

"A new map is finally open!"

A "retired" Player, who had been lazily basking in the sun, shot up in surprise the moment he heard the system’s voice.

At the same time, the game forums absolutely erupted.

"It’s been five years! More than five years in the real world have passed, and the True Game is finally opening a new map. It hasn’t been easy!"

"You know, if it weren’t for this sudden notification inside my head from the True Game, I would’ve almost forgotten I was playing a game."

"Huh? Forgot you were playing a game? How does that even happen? The game is once every ten days, plus the hundred-day simulations. How could you forget you’re playing a game with all that?"

"The poster above must be a newbie, right? But you shouldn’t be this clueless. Are you living under a rock? Don’t you know that fifty-two years have already passed in the Game World? Players at Saint Tier and above haven’t needed those hundred-day simulations for a long time."

"Forget hundred-day simulations. Saint Tier Players can even merge their physical bodies with their game roles and exist as both simultaneously. Do you know what a merged body is?"

"Sorry, I was in a vegetative state for several years because of a car accident. I just woke up a few days ago and managed to snag a Player slot, so I don’t know about all this. Please forgive my ignorance, experts."

"???!!!"

"Someone in a vegetative state managed to grab one of the only one thousand or so rotating Player slots? Your luck is simply heaven-defying. You’ve hit the jackpot, my friend."

"Speaking of which, why does the True Game’s announcement have such a different tone this time?"

"’Development of a new map’? A civilization war is a civilization war. Why are they being so cryptic about a preliminary recon mission?"

"Tsk, now that you mention it... I remember for the last two war recruitment missions, the True Game was very direct. Why is it ’testing a new map’ this time?"

"Could it be that this newly discovered civilization isn’t suitable to exist as a ’game map’? Is that why they’re calling it a test?" 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"You’ve got a point... Take a good look at the announcement’s description of the other world. It’s a tech civilization with no magic. Do you think that could possibly be a map for new players?"

"We can’t all just upgrade into silicon-based lifeforms, can we? So this map is clearly a transitional one. After all, its technology is good, which both Blue Star and the Star Empire seem to need right now."

"..."

The Player forums were lively, but the excitement quickly died down.

Because the fastest-acting Players had already begun their second game life at the earliest opportunity.

Therefore, in less than half an hour, no new posts appeared on the game forums, which became unusually quiet.

Meanwhile, the news that the True Game was opening a new map for the first time in over five years spread across the internet instantly.

And so, at that moment, the nearly ten billion people of Blue Star once again began to watch the official channels of the True Game with eager anticipation.

There wasn’t much to say.

Everyone was just waiting for the True Game to release new Player slots.

Unfortunately, for the time being, the ordinary people of Blue Star were doomed to be disappointed.

After all, the Intelligent Mechanism Star was indeed unsuitable as a Player map at present. Therefore, in a sense, this civilization could only serve as developmental fodder for the Star Empire and even Blue Star.

---

「A few days later.」

On the main planet of the Intelligent Mechanism Star, on the ground level that the central intelligence all but ignored.

In a certain Southern region, a fierce battle was underway.

"Damn it!!! Brothers, charge! Fight our way up to the Floating City District!"

"We have the right to live with dignity too! We are not trash!!!"

In the sky, a large number of Octopus piloted flyers, continuously bombarding the giant pillars above the district and the killing machines.

At the same time, other Octopus clad in steel exoskeletons swarmed up the giant pillars like a tide.

While firing their guns at the dense swarm of killing machines pouring down from the ’sky’, they were also simultaneously bombarding a garbage disposal chute at the very bottom of the Floating City District!

The battle was incredibly fierce.

Over a hundred thousand Octopus were participating in this battle, but compared to the floating city, their numbers were like an egg smashing against a stone.

The Intelligent Mechanism’s central intelligence was so used to such scenes that it wouldn’t even waste processing power paying attention to such a small-scale, ground-level resistance.

Unfortunately, this time the central intelligence had somewhat underestimated this ’war’.

Because, in the midst of this small-scale war, the killing machines that had been defending the Lower City District suddenly ceased all movement.

Then, a moment later, these same killing machines all reversed course and swarmed towards the garbage chute above the Lower City District.

Seeing this, the Octopus in the midst of the battle were overjoyed.

"The vice-chief succeeded!!! She really hacked the city’s defense system!"

"Quick!!! Everyone, get through the shaft! Today, we’re going to experience what it feels like to be official citizens!"

"Charge! Kill all those despicable parasites! Overthrow the rule of the central intelligence! The world belongs to us, the entire Octopus race."

"..."