1.8 This Is a Fragmented World

"Alright," Wu Chen informed Baili Yan and the others again.

As they drove along, towering skyscrapers rose densely around them. Though tightly packed, with buildings seemingly squeezed into every available space, energy shield fluctuations—similar to those encountered at checkpoints—were omnipresent. Passing through the street between two skyscrapers, these fluctuations became especially pronounced. The intelligent brain analyzed the scene: although all situated within the sci-fi faction’s spiral storyline belt, each skyscraper bore a distinctly separate branch of the plot. To put it concretely, each skyscraper represented a fragment of the storyline carried by an individual player.

Though seamlessly connected to form the main narrative of the sci-fi spiral belt, every skyscraper was an independent storyline fragment belonging to its respective player.

As its name suggests, the Shattered City appeared unified but was actually composed entirely of these player-carried "fragments."

Later, the intelligent brain’s search revealed that every "skyscraper" without exception was a vehicle from various sci-fi plot worlds.

They could be land aircraft, space shuttles, or even starships and space warships. As sanctuaries, these "skyscrapers" shared another common name: Exclusive Shelters.

As previously understood, within the Shelter World, an Exclusive Shelter was the foundation of all player activities. By using the Exclusive Shelter to traverse different plot worlds, one could gain rule protection and immunity from penalties.

Whether trading, socializing, gathering intelligence, recruiting or dismissing plot characters, all could be conducted within the Exclusive Shelter. The process of obtaining an Exclusive Shelter was called "homogenization," which simply meant transferring creations from the plot world into the Shelter World. Players colloquially referred to this transfer as "removal," while Architect Zero poetically described it as "transforming into stars."

The definition of an Exclusive Shelter was broad. It could be a car, a yacht, a hotel, a castle, or even a continent or a planet. In the high-dimensional creative realm—the Shelter—Architect Zero regarded length, width, height, and even three-dimensional space itself as indistinguishable.

In short, this refuge for redeemed players before them was a fragmented world.

Their squad parked temporarily at a roadside spot. As the four disembarked, a swarm of parking drones immediately lifted their vehicle to the skyscraper’s helipad.

Before them stood a skyscraper at No. 9 Nathan Road, soaring 1,600 meters high. From base to peak, it took the form of a perfect isosceles triangle:

Equipped with 60 Taim & Bak XX-9 heavy boosted laser cannons, 60 Brewster NK-7 ion cannons, 10 Felon Q7 tractor beams, and other weapons, it housed a crew of over 36,000 and could accommodate 72 TIE/IN space superiority starfighters, 8 Lambda-class T-4A shuttles, 20 AT-AT walkers, 30 AT-ST or AT-DP walkers, and 15 Imperial troop transports. This Imperial I-class Star Destroyer hailed from the Star Wars storyline world and had been "removed" by a major player and converted into an Exclusive Shelter. Subsequently, it was successfully uploaded to the Shattered City and vertically integrated into the skyscraper at No. 9 Nathan Road.

To save space, the sharpest part of the ship’s spine faced the street. The ship’s internal compartments had likewise undergone vertical modification to match its current posture.

---

Indeed, as the intelligent brain had surmised, nearly all skyscrapers within the sci-fi spiral were starships or space warships from various plot worlds. They all shared the name: Exclusive Shelter.

Looking up at the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer skyscraper, rental advertisements were everywhere. Wu Chen wondered aloud, “Is this really necessary?”

Through fuzzy calculations, the intelligent brain Ai Yi provided a convincing answer: “Master, just as the shelter shields on the 404 Wasteland constantly combat fragmentation and annihilation, entering this world means continuously battling fragmentation and destruction. This incessantly consumes shelter coins. Even top players must earn enough shelter coins to maintain their skyscrapers; otherwise, their structures will shatter along with the storyline.”

“That makes sense,” Wu Chen nodded. Simply put, the seemingly whole four-branch spiral and the Shattered City were actually pieced together from countless small “player fragments.” The fragments carried by players were embodied through Exclusive Shelters. The skyscrapers they saw were, in fact, individual fragments.

Take the skyscraper at No. 9 Nathan Road as an example. As a recycling station within the Shattered City, it was a pieced-together fragment—the Star Destroyer. Its player owner had to continuously accumulate and spend resource points to sustain its existence and prevent deletion by the system (Architect).

Shelter coins were the sole embodiment of these resource points.

Upon deeper reflection, this fragmented world architecture maximized the protection of the Shattered City from total destruction.

The principle resembled a gecko’s tail-shedding survival tactic: when destruction approached, the player who first depleted their shelter coins would see their fragment (branch storyline) separate from the city and be destroyed first. Specifically, if the major player occupying this place ran out of shelter coins, the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer would shatter, vacating No. 9 Nathan Road for a new player’s Exclusive Shelter to occupy. This cycle repeated endlessly.

This was the true meaning of “fragmentation.” It could be seen as the Shelter World’s version of “survival of the fittest.” The weakest fragments were eliminated first, rotating continuously without damaging the city’s core.

Wu Chen’s task was simple: first establish a foothold, then steadily improve until reaching the peak. Break the fate of inevitable fragmentation, return to the Shelter, and complete redemption. An imperfect analogy: as long as one outpaces their companions, one might escape with their life.

When Wu Chen could return to the Shelter remained unknown.

The four gathered at the bar counter, where the attentive waitress took their orders: “Alright, four Hawk roasts, four Barulu spring rolls, and four mocha coffees.” The youthful and charming waitress smiled, “Would you like to try the ‘Traveler’s Set’? Just one coin.”

“That sounds good,” Wu Chen agreed.

The minimum meal cost was one coin.

When the set arrived, the waitress informed them that booking a month’s worth of sets would cost only ten coins, with deliveries on demand. However, the four were short on shelter coins and had to spend cautiously, so they politely declined.

---

The waitress smiled and didn’t press further.

After the meal, she asked about matters in the city and then led them upstairs. “Masters, new guests have arrived.”

The second floor resembled a player’s lounge. Instead of booths downstairs, groups of circular sofas filled the space. Vending machines like those at the 404 Wasteland highway service area were even more abundant here. At the stair landing, inside a curved bar facing the holographic street view of Nathan Road, a handsome young man greeted them with a smile, “Good day, everyone.”

“Good day, Boss Chu,” Wu Chen greeted, already having learned the café owner’s surname from the intelligent brain. What he did not know was that the entire Mocha Café was actually the central bridge of the vertically towering Imperial I-class Star Destroyer.

The young man capable of renting out the entire command bridge had to be either extremely wealthy or powerful.

“Boss Chu, where should we start?” Wu Chen felt a natural closeness to this man, who appeared about his age.

“Let’s begin with food, clothing, shelter, and transportation,” Boss Chu was well practiced in such questions. For newcomers to the Shattered City, he had almost entirely taken over the guiding role from Architect Zero: “The Shattered City is a gathering of fragments; without shelter coins, you cannot survive even a moment. Earning and maintaining shelter coins to cover daily consumption is nearly the only way to avoid being cleared when ‘Cleanup Day’ arrives.”

“Cleanup Day?” Baili Yan frowned.

“As you can see, this Shattered City is already broken into pieces. Every twelve shelter days (safe days), a cleaning occurs; every 120 shelter days, there is a major cleaning. Players call this ‘Cleanup Day.’ Those who run out of shelter coins and cannot sustain their branch storylines are the first to be removed.”

“Like Judgment Day,” one male player understood.

“You could say that,” Boss Chu nodded gently.

“So, everyone, your first pot of gold is very important,” the waitress chimed in with twinkling eyes.