Chapter 680: Chapter 440: The Return of the Stranger

Polaris suddenly found that the scenery around him had changed.

He had arrived in a spacious square, under a bright sky, cloudless for miles, surrounded by a dense crowd. He could even feel the sweltering heat and hear the hysterical shouts of the masses, their voices mixed with fervor and devotion as they cried out in unison:

“Dazlert!”

“Long live Tresor!”

“Praise the eternal Sun!”

The resonance of human voices echoed in the sky above the square.

Polaris looked up and saw on the platform ahead, a golden-haired, blue-eyed youth standing upright, with a square column-shaped lectern and a vintage microphone set before him.

He was clad in a loose robe interwoven with white and gold, a bejeweled crown atop his head, and a smile on his face that appeared sacred and shining brilliantly in the warm sunlight.

At this moment, the female narrator’s voice in the background began to rise slowly:

“Prince Dazlert of the Empire orchestrated the Western War, seeming to embody the hopes and expectations of all the people, determined to reclaim the lands that belong to Tresor…”

The perspective of Polaris started to zoom in, seemingly moving forward continuously, until it fixed on the Prince’s face, giving a close-up of his near-perfect visage…

Still smiling in the sunlight.

The Prince began to speak softly:

“People of Tresor, please remember, this is also the punishment of the Sun upon the Anlong United Kingdom… I will let the world know, the Empire’s dignity is not to be provoked! All that is lost, shall be reclaimed!”

His calm voice, amplified by the speakers, resonated across the square.

He waved his hand, pointing straight at the Sun!

The crowd looked up as one, their fervor intensifying, men raising their fists and shouting, women waving silk handkerchiefs.

Screams, cheers, and noise mingled together, forming an almost deafening force that stirred on the square, making Polaris feel his blood boil.

At that moment, a background music that sounded even brighter emerged…

‘A cathedral pipe organ?’

Polaris was momentarily taken aback.

He had an interest in instruments of a bygone era and happened to recognize the rousing piece that was starting to play, produced by the sound of a pipe organ.

The Prince’s smile remained unchanged, he stood amidst the cheering crowd like a brilliant, constant star. With the breeze, sunlight, and melody of the pipe organ, Polaris felt a chill run down his spine.

Air flowing through the solid brass pipes made the pipe organ screech, while the piano’s tinkling accompanied on either side, like a torrent with fluttering elves dancing amidst it.

In the stirring and very epic melody, the entire scene began to slowly rotate around the Prince as its center, and Polaris gradually got a clearer view of the scenery above the platform.

Behind the Prince, several stern-faced royal stewards stood, among them a slightly petite blonde woman who particularly caught his attention.

‘That’s the character from the 1.0 version beta CG, Princess Anna of the Sun… That voice from the narration earlier, could it also be hers?’

Being well-researched in the game, Polaris naturally didn’t forget this detail.

And as the significant figures atop the platform were revealed one by one to Polaris, he didn’t recognize most, but could guess their allegiance and church from their attire.

“The Sun Church, Moon Church, Constellation Sect, Madman School, History and Ritual Association, Hailing Group, and… that’s Teacher Jack with the executives of the Circus!”

Polaris felt exhilarated.

Only then did he realize he had forgotten to turn on the comments section, so he virtually clicked the settings in the operations panel and swiped.

Immediately, messages streaked through his vision like shooting stars, all written by players watching the opening CG at the same time–

“Holy shit! Feels like a big-budget movie!” “I’m covered in goosebumps!” “Is 2.0 starting us off with a major battle? Thrilling!” “This Prince looks like an important NPC, long live the Empire faction!” “Praise the Sun!” “What do I see? Jack!” “Jack has become one of the Empire’s big shots now, youth well-spent!”

Polaris smiled subtly and moved his fingers, typing a string of text on the virtual keyboard:

“Foreigners, we are back!”

He then looked up, continuing to watch the CG immersedly, but Polaris soon noticed that some keywords began to pop up frequently in the comments…

“Look, Jack looks like he is zoning out!” “At such an important rally, only a nobody or a boss would be zoning out!” “Haha, dying of laughter here, Jack seems to be dozing off!” “Dead, he seems to be grinning stupidly.”

Polaris couldn’t help but look over, and sure enough, he noticed Teacher Jack in a black suit and top hat standing among the Generous Council’s camp, but his expression was slightly absent, a smile on his lips.

However, what nobody knew was that at this moment, Chen Lun was looking at his own panel, where the official opening CG was being played…

To Chen Lun’s surprise, the video displayed the scene as if it were a live broadcast, where he saw himself and those comments.

‘Well, well… From which angle is this footage shot? But they captured me quite handsomely, a ninth of the real deal.’

Chen Lun, judging by the angle of the video, slightly turned his head towards the sky, but there was nothing there.

What he didn’t know was that this casual gesture had exploded among all the players.

“What the hell?! Did Jack just see me?!” “Not you, he looked at the camera!” “All nonsense, clearly Jack has realized his NPC identity, he’s about to rebel against the game’s control and escape from this world!” “So freaking cool! Among all these big shots, he’s the only one who looked up and made eye contact with us…”