The sound of a wild cat outside the window woke Lu Yao up from his nap.

He rubbed his forehead and rubbed his face.

Looking at the time, it was half past two in the middle of the night.

Better go back to sleep.

With this thought in mind, Lu Yao reflexively glanced at the computer screen.

There were a few lines of text on the game interface.

“Mu Ke invented ‘War Chess’.”

“The Garlic Tribe has learned to make and use ‘War Chess’.”

“The Garlic Tribe has obtained its first specialty, and everyone’s intelligence has slightly improved.”

“The gift is complete, and the dice has merged into the world.”

——Great deity, a believer has made a remarkable achievement that surpasses the rest of the group. Do you want to transform him into a hero?

“Yes” or “No”

Unlike before, this prompt brought a new resource icon.

A new “specialty” appeared in the long bar at the top left corner of the screen.

Lu Yao moved the mouse and found that there was only one item in the specialty details, which was “War Chess”.

He became interested in the inventor.

Mu Ke.

…Isn’t he the kid who was rejected before?

Lu Yao clicked on the temple.

There was a new character in the temple, with the name “Mu Ke” and the age of 13 displayed above his head.

Lu Yao immediately transformed him into a hero.

In the personal illustration, Mu Ke was a teenager sitting under the sunset. He drew a cross-shaped path and chessboard on the sandy ground, and he was rolling the dice, playing the game alone.

Under the illustration was his quote.

“Only ‘War Chess’ will always be with me.”

…

[Hero Lv1] Mu Ke

Attack 0 Defense 1 Knowledge 3 Mana 0 Luck 0 Morale 0

[Abilities]

Wisdom Lv1: Wisdom is the key for the apostle to listen to the will of the deity. The higher the level of wisdom, the easier it is to improve and comprehend various abilities.

Gamer Lv1: Skilled in games, with a certain probability of inventing new games.

…

After the birth of “War Chess,” it quickly spread throughout the tribe.

In the past, the little people would eat and reproduce after their labor every day, leading a monotonous life. Now, they would take out the war flag in their free time and play with others anytime, anywhere.

The smiles on the little people’s faces gradually increased.

“War Chess” improved the atmosphere of the Garlic Tribe and provided entertainment and leisure for the hardworking little people. Especially in the cold winter, everyone gathered to play war flags, and the fights and brawls that used to happen frequently became less common.

Lu Yao achieved his goal and felt a sense of relief.

It’s not difficult for a working man to take care of his fellow workers.

Buddy, I’m working hard to give you benefits.

But when it’s time to play, you better support me.

Winter turned into spring in the pixel world.

During this winter, many wild people left the forest and joined the Garlic Tribe. In the spring, a tribe of cave dwellers also voluntarily came down from the mountains to join.

The population of the Garlic Tribe suddenly increased by hundreds.

At the same time, there were major achievements in the Ghost City of Sanilo. Commander Alexis found a continuous coral reef to the west of the sea, where there were many shipwrecks and sea spirits.

He brought back nearly three hundred ghosts at once.

As a result, Lu Yao’s population of believers officially exceeded twenty thousand.

The simulator displayed in the top right corner.

Population: 20,018 Faith: 3,935

Following this, Lu Yao’s body underwent a series of strange changes.

He felt the presence of a scorching fluid in his body.

It was like a new circulatory system had appeared in his body, spreading throughout his skin and muscles, surrounding the bones and nerves inside.

These indescribable flows of heat seemed to be a collection of some kind of microscopic product. They constantly circulated around the bones, muscles, and nerves, opening up certain hidden channels and restrictions in the flesh, making Lu Yao feel comfortable all over.

In a daze, he saw a creature squatting on the messy bed.

The creature was completely black, as if it was made by mixing paint and syrup. Its body seemed to be constantly secreting black crude oil, maintaining a moist and smooth feeling, making it impossible to see its specific form.

And the surface it was sitting on was not a bed, but a dry riverbed covered in broken stones.

The creature was squatting on a stone, supporting its upper body with its hindquarters, as if gazing into the distance like a feline or canine animal.

Lu Yao was slightly stunned, and the black creature disappeared without a trace.

There was still only the open blanket and the wrinkled bedsheet on the bed.

Could it be… glimpses of other dimensions?

Lu Yao was a little surprised.

But fortunately, the creature didn’t notice him. Or rather, the other party couldn’t gaze at him.

This change left Lu Yao somewhat puzzled.

He focused his mind and fixed his gaze on the bed.

The petroleum creature appeared again.

It was completely unaware that it was being observed, just turning around and moving on the riverbed like flowing liquid, gradually disappearing.

After some attempts, Lu Yao gradually grasped the knocking.

This almost otherworldly vision could be actively closed and opened, but he could only see a very small area, which would quickly become blurry and vague.

The key was the flow of heat in his body. As long as he stimulated them and accelerated their movement in his body, he could see scenes and creatures that didn’t belong to the real world.

But it was only seeing, and the duration was extremely short. He couldn’t touch anything, and there was no substantial interaction between the two sides. It was more like a localized mirage.

Just as Song Shiyi said, the safe zone is still safe.

Lu Yao moved his fingers a bit, remembering her words.

Population is just a shell.This was the qualitative change brought about by the population breaking through to 20,000.

Lu Yao focused his attention on his own body. This time, he could feel that these heat flows seemed to converge outside his body, forming some kind of external closed loop.

He turned his head to look.

Behind him, a halo-emitting ring had formed, much like a ring around a planet. It maintained some kind of synchronization with Lu Yao’s body, slowly rotating.

Lu Yao could clearly feel that this ring was not some external projection or light. It was a special material or energy that actually existed, a product of a large amount of heat flow converging outside the body to form a stable cycle.

When Song Shiyi revealed her identity to Isabella, she also revealed a ring behind her, which was basically the same as his.

It seemed that when the population of the simulator reached a certain level, the bodies of the god players could generate this ring.

So, what was its use?

Lu Yao began to carefully experiment.

His hand could touch it, and he could feel the feedback between his fingers and the heat flow.

The ring was like an extension of his body.

Could it be damaged?

He tried to hit it with his fingers and fists, and even tried to poke it with a clothes drying rod, but he didn’t feel any pain. His fingers and the clothes rod went straight through it.

Lu Yao suddenly realized.

The ring formed by the heat flow would only react to the same heat flow. Anything else touching it was like air, as if the two were not in the same space at all.

The tactile feedback from his fingers did not come from the skin nerves, but from the heat flow in his fingers.

Lu Yao tried to bring a pen close to the ring.

The pen fell directly to the ground.

There was no gravity, nor any field-like effect.

But in front of a mirror or a lens, its image existed.

What on earth was this thing used for?

It was just for show, making it look like the Buddha’s light after the Buddha’s manifestation…

After a series of patient experiments, Lu Yao finally made a discovery.

In addition to reacting to the heat flow that created it, the ring also had an effect on the items in the simulator.

Items like the “Energy Wand” could float on the ring and rotate slowly with it.

But that was not all.

Lu Yao only needed to concentrate and slightly accelerate the ring, and it would swallow the “Energy Wand”, sending it into a special space. When needed, accelerating the ring could spit out the designated item.

That subtle sensual experience was hard to describe accurately.

The space inside the ring was a dark void, like pure nothingness, unable to perceive anything except the items put into it from the simulator.

Lu Yao had always had a question.

As the number of items increased, how did old players like Pray to the Gods, who entered the Hall of Gods, store their items?

Lisa fell from the Hall of Gods and still retained three items, the gods like Pray to the Gods would only have more.

Now he understood.

Old players who entered the Hall of Gods, or the crawling area, probably stored their items in the ring for easy access. This ring was the space bag of the god players.

When Song Shiyi revealed her identity, a silver shield with a bonfire imprint emerged from the ring. That must have been some kind of item, perhaps a work permit from the committee?

Lu Yao stuffed all the items he had in his hand into it.

No need to worry about being robbed anymore!

He lay on the bed, sleeping more soundly than ever before.