[神裔系统 - 弑神者]
公元3100年8月6日,星陨城,艾瑞亚联邦,凌晨2点.一轮银月低垂在艾瑞亚庄园上空,月光穿透幽暗的树林,在12号别墅坚固的铁门上投下缕缕光痕.武装无人机的嗡鸣声充斥着寂静的夜空,别墅周围闪烁着红色的运动传感器——凯尔的私人安保团队仅用了两个小时就将这片曾经宁静的庄园变成了一座戒备森严的堡垒.
六名身着黑衣的保安人员笔直地站在前门,脉冲步枪斜挎在肩上.两名同伴正将昏迷不醒的刺客从树林里拖出来.那人的兜帽滑落,露出左眼上方一道疤痕,胸前一枚血红色的狼头徽章闪闪发光——凯尔的数据板立刻将其识别为"猩红部落"的标志.这是一个冷酷无情的外国游戏集团,与"天空屠戮"地下世界有着千丝万缕的联系,因非法贩卖GCV病毒和破坏虚拟游戏而臭名昭著.
"审讯在客房地下室进行,"保安队长说着,递给凯尔一块全息平板电脑.屏幕上显示着一个隔音房间,里面有一把金属椅子,一台测谎仪和一个神经探针——这是凯尔的命令,任何威胁莉拉的人都不得手软."初步扫描显示他的神经通路部分受阻,但我们会让他崩溃.他体内有部落的标准忠诚芯片,但我们可以覆盖它."
凯尔点点头,目光冰冷地盯着平板电脑上的狼头徽章."查清楚一切.他们在星陨城的联络人是谁?还有多少人会来?确认他们是否与伊芙合作."加雷斯站在他身旁,手搭在战斗匕首的刀柄上,目光扫视着树林边缘——自从安保小队抵达后,他就一直保持高度警惕,他作为精英士兵的直觉告诉他,第一个刺客只是个侦察兵.
"伊芙?"加雷斯的声音低沉,带着明显的认出之意.这位杀戮女神,在天空屠戮赛中保持了五年不败,直到他用[暗影]ID击败了她.他一直怀疑她在那场比赛后突然隐退与黑帮有关——她的战斗风格总是过于残暴,过于精于算计,绝非普通职业选手所能企及.
"她的名字最近频频出现在部落的旧版天空屠戮战记录里,"凯尔说着,轻点平板电脑调出一个加密文件."她现在是部落顶尖的虚拟战斗策略师.她恨你打败了她,也恨联邦把她踢出了官方的天空屠戮战.猩红部落付钱让她在'神圣降临'上线前干掉我们——她不想让两个前天空屠戮战精英主宰新的战场."
加雷斯咬紧了牙关."她会后悔的."
黎明时分,审讯结束.刺客在神经探测下崩溃,吐露了所有细节:一支由八名成员组成的猩红军团精英小队,配备等离子刀和能够瘫痪别墅安保系统的骇客设备,正前往以太庄园,计划在午夜发动袭击,距离"神圣降临"全球发布仅六小时.他们的任务是:杀死凯尔和加雷斯,绑架莉拉（GX-07解药的活体证据）,并摧毁12号别墅内所有"神圣降临"相关设备.
凯尔立即升级了别墅的防御——在大门部署了等离子炮塔,启动了神经干扰器来屏蔽部落的入侵信号,并在莉拉的卧室门口安排了两名特工."我们没时间打全面交火,"他一边吃早餐一边对加雷斯说,莉拉则在桌子对面吃着她最爱的星形煎饼."如果他们发动攻击,我们就速战速决.不能有任何差错——莉拉的安全是唯一的首要任务."
加雷斯咕哝着表示同意,眼睛始终盯着窗外.莉拉在安全简报会上一直沉默不语,这时她推开盘子,抬起头看着他们,眼神坚定而闪亮."我可以帮忙.我一直在练习你们昨晚教我的平衡技巧.我跑得很快,而且会躲藏——你们教过我怎么从里面锁上卧室门,我还知道避难室在哪儿."
凯尔和加雷斯交换了一个眼神,凯尔第一次没有看到一个柔弱的小女孩——他看到的是她多年前在酷热的街头跪在垂死陌生人身边的那份倔强,也是她几个月来与GCV衰弱抗争的那股劲头.加雷斯点点头,嘴角勾起一丝淡淡的微笑."你很坚强,小家伙.警报响了就待在安全屋里.你唯一的任务就是这个.如果有人试图开门——就用我放在你床头柜里的电击枪."
莉拉的脸上绽放出笑容,她用力地点头,头发都垂到了眼前."我不会让你失望的."
中午时分,别墅的训练室里虚拟战斗模拟器嗡嗡作响.凯尔和加雷斯身着配套的黑色体感防护服,脖子上挂着神经沉浸式耳机,正在进行"神圣血脉"战斗训练——校准他们的动作以适应游戏的物理引擎,这比"天空屠戮"的物理引擎要真实得多.凯尔的战斗风格残酷而精准,他的[幽灵]ID以游击战和远程狙击著称;而加雷斯的[暗影]风格则悄无声息,致命无比,擅长近距离无声杀戮.他们俩堪称完美搭档——凯尔是战略家,加雷斯是执行者.
他们花了几个小时进行练习,每次训练他们的动作都更加协调,直到模拟器的屏幕上闪现出"战斗同步:99%" ——这是机器记录到的最高分."我们准备好了,"加雷斯说着,摘下耳机,汗水顺着下巴滴落."现在去地牢."
凯尔在全息桌上调出了"神圣降临"新手区域的主地图,这是一张精细的3D渲染图,展现了余烬森林——艾瑞亚联邦玩家的出生点.森林北角隐藏着一个不起眼的小洞穴,地图上闪烁着红光:霜牙洞穴,一个联邦官方地图绘制员遗漏的早期隐藏地下城,由芬里尔之子守护——一个北欧神话中的小头目,外形似狼,拥有冰冷的獠牙和剧毒的撕咬,完美地替代了游戏中原本那个无法翻译的低级头目.
"芬里尔的幼崽是15级,"凯尔说着,点击洞穴图标调出首领的属性."我们出生时是1级,但如果我们一直刷余烬森林的哥布林营地,一个小时就能升到10级.洞穴有个秘密入口——只能穿过低语荆棘才能到达,大多数新手玩家都会避开那里.幼崽会掉落霜咬匕首 （加雷斯的传奇武器）和星落之弓 （我理想的早期狙击武器）,外加一箱生命增幅药水——足够我们在PvP的第一周生存下来."
加雷斯仔细研究着地图,手指在地图上划过通往洞穴的路线."双人突袭.我负责扛住幼崽,你负责狙击它的弱点——眼睛.没有治疗,所以我们要省着用药水.一出生就直奔洞穴.不绕路,不做支线任务.拿到装备后,我们就占领洞穴,把它作为我们公会的第一个据点."
这是一个冒险的计划——大多数新玩家在前24小时内都会待在安全区——但凯尔和加雷斯可没时间待在安全区.要想称霸神圣降临之地,他们必须速战速决,而霜牙洞穴就是他们的第一个优势.
夕阳西下,天空被染成橙紫交织的色彩,莉拉的训练也随之结束.整个下午,她都在院子里进行平衡训练,躲避无人机障碍,练习开锁（这是凯尔教她的一项非战斗技能,用于侦察）,而且每一项都做得完美无缺——她的反应速度之快,凯尔从未见过任何一个十岁的孩子能做到."我已经准备好明天的采集训练了,"她说着,举起一小袋她采摘的星花,脸颊被阳光晒得泛红."我能认出余烬森林里的每一种草药——你教过我地图,记得吗?"
凯尔笑着接过她手中的袋子."我记得.你会成为神裔之地最棒的采集者.没人会碰你的星花."
晚上十点,距离绯红部落的预计袭击还有两个小时,距离"神圣降临"系统上线还有六个小时,别墅里一片寂静.莉拉在卧室里收拾着游戏所需的小包（里面装着一个毛绒星花,她的采集袋,还有一张她和加雷斯的合照）,凯尔和加雷斯则坐在客厅里,他们的"神圣降临"装备摆放在咖啡桌上——哑光黑色的耳机,根据他们战斗风格校准的传感器套装,以及与莉拉生命体征相连的全息控制面板.凯尔已经确定了公会的临时名称:"弑神军团",这是对"神圣降临"系统名称的致敬.他还向联盟中最顶尖的工匠,治疗师和侦察兵发送了加密信息——所有人都回复了,表示一旦进入游戏就立即加入.
唯一的声音是保安系统的嗡嗡声,以及墙上时钟微弱的滴答声,它正倒计时到午夜.
然后,晚上 11 点 58 分,安全系统的屏幕闪起了红色.
神经干扰器已失效,等离子炮塔已瘫痪,探测到8名敌对目标——西侧树林100米处.警报:以太庄园遭到攻击
别墅的火警警报突然响起,灯光骤然熄灭,房间陷入一片黑暗.加雷斯瞬间起身,手中紧握着战斗刀;凯尔则从咖啡桌上抓起等离子手枪,启动了控制面板上的夜视功能."进入安全屋!"凯尔的声音盖过了警报声,朝着楼上喊道,"莉拉,快!"
楼上传来一声轻微的咔哒声——莉拉锁上了卧室的门,然后是她跑向避难室的脚步声.
加雷斯示意凯尔跟他去前门,他身子贴着地面,悄无声息.靴子踩在碎石路上的嘎吱声越来越近,等离子刀刃的微光划破黑暗——八个身穿猩红部落红色狼形盔甲的男人,脸上戴着黑色面具,正朝别墅冲过来.
Kael took position behind the door, his plasma pistol aimed at the lock, while Gareth pressed his back to the wall, his knife ready to strike. The Horde's men reached the gate, slamming their blades into the iron bars, and a voice yelled out—gruff, accented, the leader. "Kael Voss! Gareth! We know you're in there! Surrender the girl and the gear, and we'll make it quick!"
Kael and Gareth exchanged a glance, and Kael smirked. "Make it quick? That's cute."
He fired his plasma pistol at the gate's lock, and a burst of blue light exploded, melting the metal. The gate swung open, and the Horde's men charged forward—right into Gareth's trap.
Gareth struck first, moving so fast he was a blur, his knife slashing through the air to cut the leader's plasma blade in two. The man let out a scream, and Gareth drove his knife into his chest, the red wolf badge cracking under his boot as the man fell to the ground. Kael took out two more men with his plasma pistol, his shots precise, hitting them in the shoulder (a non-lethal shot, but enough to disable their arms), and the rest of the Horde's squad scattered, their tough-guy act fading as they realized they were facing two elite fighters.
It was over in less than a minute.
Eight men lay on the ground—three dead, five wounded, all their weapons destroyed. Gareth stood over them, his knife dripping with blood, his eyes cold, as Kael walked over and kicked the leader's broken plasma blade away. "Tell Eve," Kael said, his voice low and deadly, "that if she ever sends another squad after us, or after Lila, we'll hunt her down in Divine Descent. We'll destroy her, her syndicate, and everything she's ever built. And when we're done, she'll wish she'd never stepped foot in a virtual game."
The leader nodded, his face pale with fear, and Kael signaled to the security team, who dragged the Horde's men away to the basement.
The alarm fell silent, and the lights flickered back on. Gareth immediately ran upstairs to check on Lila, finding her in the panic room, the taser in her hand, her face calm—not a trace of fear. "They're gone," Gareth said, kneeling down to her level, his voice soft. "You did good, little one. You stayed safe."
Lila smiled, putting the taser down. "I knew you'd win. Now—when do we play Divine Descent?"
Kael walked into the panic room, a small smile on his face, and checked his watch. The time read 04:59 AM—one minute until Divine Descent's global launch.
"Now," he said, holding out a neural immersion headset to Lila, a small starflower decal stuck on the side (he'd added it that morning, just for her). "Welcome to Godslayer's Legion, Lila Elias. Let's make them regret ever crossing us."
莉拉接过耳机,眼睛闪闪发光,加雷斯拍了拍凯尔的背——这是他第一次真正表现出友谊.三人回到客厅,坐在沙发上,手里都拿着耳机,这时时钟敲响了凌晨五点.
"神圣降临"系统的全息屏幕在墙上闪现,一道金色的文字闪耀着光芒,全球每个角落都能看到:
神圣降临——全球上线.Spawn 启动.
凯尔,加雷斯和莉拉戴上耳机,世界渐渐陷入黑暗.