Chapter 124: Final Singularity and... Survival Combat Special Training?

Just as all the players were lamenting the tragic nature of this journey and preparing to take a good rest and lick their wounds...

--- Back to the game plot.

Accompanied by the weightlessness of the Rayshift, the white light dissipated, and the scene before their eyes transformed back into the familiar, high-tech, pure white control room of Chaldea.

"Great! You have finally returned safely!"

In the center of the screen, Dr. Roman was still wearing that slightly oversized lab coat, sporting heavy dark circles under his eyes.

He held a steaming cup of coffee and gave the returning protagonist group that iconic, gentle, yet slightly weary smile.

"To be able to defeat even the Evils of Humanity, you are truly worthy of being the last hope of Chaldea. All Singularities up to now have been repaired, and the cornerstone of humanity has been temporarily stabilized."

Dr. Roman let out a long sigh of relief, his eyes filled with gratification: "Everyone, you have worked hard. For the coming period, there are no missions requiring emergency deployment. I hereby announce that all Chaldea personnel are to enter a one-month paid vacation! Go ahead and relax!"

Looking at this smiling doctor on the screen announcing the holiday, if this had been a few days ago, the players, who had just been exhausted by the Seventh Singularity, would certainly have felt incredibly touched and warm.

But at this moment, after experiencing the brainwashing of Charles's ten-thousand-word "Di Hua Reasoning," the players across the net, looking at Dr. Roman's gentle smile, only felt a chill run down their spines.

In Charles's livestream room, this PhD student from Shangjing University was holding a magnifying glass, staring intently at Dr. Roman's micro-expressions frame by frame, and analyzing loudly into the microphone:

"Brothers, did you see that?! Pay attention to his hand holding the coffee cup; there is an extremely slight tremor! This is the guilt before a conspiracy succeeds!"

"Also, why did he suddenly announce a one-month vacation? It must be to get us out of the way so he can prepare his final plan to destroy the world behind the scenes without any scruples! This old fox, his acting is too good!"

On the other side, the wealthy player PD, who had just exhausted all his resources in the Underworld and was suffering from extreme nervous exhaustion, was now treating this like a major enemy.

He backed away frantically in the virtual control room, his hands pressing hard against the tactical deployment panel: "Act! Keep acting! Vacation? Vacation my ass! You are absolutely trying to make us lower our guard so you can pull the plug while we sleep! Brothers, put on your bulletproof vests; you need to keep one eye open even while sleeping!"

Meanwhile, Belle, who was always emotional and soft-hearted, looked at the doctor on the screen with his eyes full of concern, and was so anxious that she was about to cry.

"Doctor... are you really a bad person? You even told me to wear more clothes before so I wouldn't catch a cold..."

Belle sniffled indignantly inside her VR helmet, "I don't believe it! Old Thief Kirito must be lying to us. The doctor is so gentle and even secretly eats strawberry cake; how could he possibly be the final boss!"

However, this shred of hope Belle held was quickly and mercilessly drowned out by the frantically scrolling barrage across the internet.

"Don't be silly, Belle! In Old Thief Kirito's games, the gentler the NPC, the darker they are inside!"

"Sugar-coated bullets! This is nothing but sugar-coated bullets!"

"After fighting the most tragic battle, the mastermind is right in front of us, acting like a good guy. This immersion is top-tier!"

Just as players across the internet were immersed in this tense state of "pitting their wits against thin air" and discussing in the barrage how to uncover the doctor's schemes...

"Beep—beep—beep—!!!"

The lights throughout the entire Chaldea control room instantly turned a piercing, blood-red!

The highest-level air defense alarm sound tore through the tranquility before the storm without any warning.

"What's going on?! Didn't you say it was a vacation?!" PD, who was clowning around a second ago, was instantly startled and jumped up.

On the holographic screen, the figure of the genius scientist Da Vinci cut in abruptly. Her face, which usually wore a calm smile, was now filled with unprecedented gravity:

"Roman! The observation results from Sheba are out! Although the Seventh Singularity has disappeared, the collapse of human history has not stopped! The future is still a sea of flames!"

"What?!"

Not only the protagonist group in the game, but the hearts of all players across the net instantly jumped into their throats again.

"Not only that! At the end of the imaginary space, which is detached from the conventional timeline, a super-high-density mana aggregate with a scale surpassing all previous Singularities has been discovered!"

Da Vinci's fingers tapped frantically on the virtual keyboard, projecting a suffocating star chart coordinate onto the big screen.

Clatter.

The coffee cup in Dr. Roman's hand fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.

The gentleness and weariness on his face vanished without a trace in an instant.

Replacing it was an unprecedented, chilling, and majestic air that made people tremble.

At that moment, he no longer seemed like a timid medical officer, but a supreme king ruling over the world.

"Finally... have you revealed yourself?"

Dr. Roman raised his head and stared fixedly at the coordinate on the screen located at the end of time.

"Attention everyone! Vacation cancelled! This is the final battlefield, and the only hope for the continuation of human history—the [Final Singularity]!"

"However..." The doctor's eyes were as cold as frost.

"That temple is located outside the conventional timeline. With Chaldea's current resources, we need at least several weeks to analyze the coordinates and establish a stable Rayshift channel."

He turned his head and looked at the players in front of the screen who were completely stunned by his aura.

"Masters of Chaldea. During the long waiting period before this channel is opened, I demand that you undergo the most cruel [Survival Combat Special Training] that transcends human limits!"

"Prepare to face true... hell!"

Looking at the doctor on the screen, whose aura had changed drastically as if he were a different person, the players across the internet only felt a chill down their spines.

"Holy crap... he can't keep up the act! He's revealed his true colors!"

"Survival Combat Special Training, my ass! He absolutely wants to kill us legitimately before we go to the Final Singularity!"

Meanwhile, in the real world, on the top floor of Chaldea Studio.

Oriole leaned back in his large leather chair, watching the players screaming in fright, and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Curse, be on guard, and let your imaginations run wild."

Oriole's gaze turned to the second screen.

There, a set of code named [Rayshift Calculation Labyrinth] and [Alaya · Pruning Protocol] had finished packaging.

Delaying the opening of the Final Singularity by a few weeks was a decision he had made after careful consideration.

The shock brought about by Chapter 7 was too massive; the animation and fan works of "FGO" were breaking through the mainstream globally at a viral speed.

Hundreds of thousands of new players were flocking to this game every day, and he needed to leave enough time for this new blood to catch up on progress.

More importantly, before starting that unprecedented "Global Server Raid: Demon God Pillar Extermination," he had to let the players experience what it truly means to "suffer" during the long content drought.

"Since Dr. Roman has issued the order for survival special training, as the producer, how could I not satisfy everyone?"

Oriole smiled and pressed the Enter key, officially pushing this set of hellish high-difficulty levels—enough to make countless veteran players smash their helmets—to the servers network-wide.

"Enjoy your vacation and special training, Fourth Calamity."

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