Chapter 3

The first level of District 55, though known as a slum, is still part of a high-tech era, and it is equipped with all kinds of basic facilities.

The hovercar carried the two of them through a steel jungle of skyscrapers for ten minutes before arriving at the destination hospital.

The car door opened, but Lan Xin showed no intention of getting out. She casually said, "I applied in advance to use your stem cell bank, and the central AI approved it. The hospital has already cultivated a new heart for you, and I've already paid the credit points. You just need to report your name when you go in."

"Alright, thanks then." Sun Ran, with his carefree demeanor, showed no trace of gratitude on his face.

Getting out of the car and entering the hospital, half an hour later, Sun Ran emerged with a radiant complexion, his steps light and bouncy, as if he were about to take off from the ground. He looked nothing like his previous weak self.

In modern society, medicine is highly advanced. Replacing a heart is as simple as a circumcision, of course, provided you have the credit points.

Opening the car door, Sun Ran plopped into the seat, leaned back, and closed his eyes, quietly feeling the strong heartbeat in his chest.

After a long while, he let out a long breath. He no longer had to live cautiously as before. The feeling of being healthy was truly wonderful.

He sighed to himself for a while, then turned to look at the beautiful woman sitting beside him, who had been waiting quietly. He straightened his expression and said solemnly, "Lan Xin, you are my savior. From today, no, from this moment on, my life belongs to you. I will never let your investment go to waste."

Lan Xin was slightly taken aback. In her memory, Sun Ran had always been carefree and indifferent, rarely showing such a serious expression.

"Stop talking nonsense. The law doesn't support indentured servitude," Lan Xin turned to look at him, her heart skipping a beat. She quickly averted her gaze and hurriedly instructed the car to start, merging back into the traffic.

Sun Ran didn't mind. He was the type of person who, once he made a promise, would never go back on it.

"Where are we going now? The Maintainers' headquarters?"

Lan Xin nodded. "The headquarters of the Maintainers is an independent virtual world. We'll go to my place first, then connect to the headquarters."

...

Lan Xin's home was also on the first level of District 55. The hovercar flew along the main road at 200 kilometers per hour for ten minutes, then turned into a residential alley. It continued to fly through the narrow, spider-web-like alleys at high speed for another half an hour before finally arriving.

A door seamlessly integrated into the high wall of the alloy wall silently slid open. The two of them got out of the car, entered the room, and the alloy door quietly closed behind them, leaving no trace from the outside. Not a single space was wasted.

Sun Ran looked around the room, his mouth making a clicking sound in admiration. "Xin'er, this place is really nice."

There was even a small living room, which was clean and tidy, much better than his doghouse.

After all, the first level of District 55 housed nearly 100 million people, and having a living room was quite rare.

"Who gave you permission to call me that? Don't call me Xin'er in the future. Call me Lan Xin," Lan Xin scolded, glaring at him.

"Haven't we been calling each other that for over fifty years? You forgot about the game?" Sun Ran asked innocently.

As he spoke, his eyes involuntarily scanned Lan Xin's body, inwardly praising her figure, which was even more attractive than in the game. In the Earth virtual world, they were still in the initial civilization, wearing handmade skirts that fluttered in the wind, not like the tight, figure-hugging leather outfits here.

Lan Xin knew Sun Ran very well. One look at his eyes, and she knew what he was thinking. She wanted to scold him, but the memories of their life as a couple on Earth flashed through her mind. They had been together for so long, and her heart softened. She just said coldly, "Don't waste time. Let's eat first, then connect to the headquarters."

"Alright," Sun Ran was also hungry.

A minute later, he held a bag of snot-like nutritional paste, looking at Lan Xin, who was enjoying the same food with relish, speechless.

"Can we not eat this stuff?" The sight of the basic nutritional liquid made him feel nauseous.

Lan Xin had already eaten most of her food and looked up at him. "You're still picky at your age? I've been eating this. If you don't want it, fine."

"Aren't you tired of it?" Sun Ran was speechless.

"Tired? Yes, but you can enjoy gourmet food in the virtual world. Why waste credit points?" Lan Xin finished her food without wrinkling her brow once.

Sun Ran was speechless, pinched his nose, and ate the nutritional liquid, his sense of debt increasing significantly. It seemed that the 300,000 credit points for his heart transplant were all the hard-earned money Lan Xin had saved up.

Seeing Sun Ran finish eating, Lan Xin quickly cleaned the table and said, "Alright, let's connect to the headquarters."

This was serious business. Sun Ran immediately put away his lazy smile and nodded seriously. "Let's go, Xin'er."

Lan Xin glanced at him and corrected him weakly, "Don't call me that in front of others."

"Understood, no problem," Sun Ran gave a somewhat informal salute.

Lan Xin's sensory equipment was in the bedroom, much more advanced than Sun Ran's old, self-assembled machine. It even had a life monitoring system and a nutrient tank, allowing continuous operation in the virtual world for a month without leaving.

"Great stuff, is this mine?" Sun Ran praised, his eyes shining.

"This one is mine. Yours is in the living room!" Lan Xin pointed to a regular sensory device in the corner of the living room, explaining calmly, "The budget was tight, so you'll have to make do with that one."

That was a real blow. Sun Ran dragged his feet back to the living room, and the bedroom door slid shut behind him, not leaving a single gap.

Sun Ran pouted, "We've seen each other for over a decade, what are you shy about?"

Lying on the sensory chair, he skillfully started the device, selected the virtual world address Lan Xin had reserved on the screen, and pulled the brainwave grid over his head, closing his eyes.

After a moment of dizziness, Sun Ran opened his eyes to find himself in another world.

This was an endless grassland, with blue skies and white clouds. In the sky, a row of large characters made of clouds read: 'Maintainers' Alliance.'

On the grassland stood a gigantic cube-shaped building. The cube was tilted on the ground, towering into the clouds, made of deep blue translucent material. Looking closely, you could see faint human figures inside.

A figure appeared in the air beside him, and Lan Xin arrived. She looked at the building with a slightly proud tone. "This is the headquarters of the Maintainers' Alliance: the Order Cube. The Alliance has over five million resident Maintainers who maintain the balance in various virtual worlds."

"Really impressive," Sun Ran's face showed admiration, but he was not truly convinced.

No one knew the Maintainers better than he did.

Most of these five million people were quite ordinary, just making a living. There were not many true experts.

He knew the top few, but their skills were not impressive to him.

Lan Xin knew Sun Ran inside and out and could see through his pretense at a glance. She didn't dwell on it and led the way. "Follow me, I'll introduce you to my teammates."

"Teammates?" Sun Ran was puzzled.

Lan Xin explained as they walked. "Yes, the Maintainers' Alliance is a civilian organization with a loose structure, composed of various small Maintainer teams. My team is called Thorny Rose. Including me, there are three members, and you will be the fourth."

"But you already have teammates, why are you recruiting me?" Sun Ran was a bit curious.

"I need someone with real strength," Lan Xin looked back. "Like you."

Not everyone could use cheats in 'Earth' for eight hundred years. Although Lan Xin never saw Sun Ran use any special means or get into conflicts with others in 'Earth,' she believed in his strength.

Sun Ran was flattered by her words and chuckled, "Then you've chosen the right person, Xin'er."

Lan Xin pretended not to hear the last two words.

The two of them entered the cube building, walking through corridors and alleys. Along the way, Lan Xin began to introduce the internal situation of the Maintainers' Alliance to Sun Ran.

Within the Alliance, each team was ranked based on seniority and achievements, from the lowest Black Iron to Bronze, Silver, and Gold, corresponding to the levels of various virtual worlds.

Black Iron teams could only enter Black Iron virtual worlds to maintain order. These worlds were rough and full of loopholes, so there were many tasks, but the rewards were not high.

The 'Earth' where Sun Ran had been was the first virtual world to appear, with the longest development time and the most complete rules. Its level was the highest, Gold, making it extremely difficult to use cheats.

Thorny Rose was currently just a Black Iron team, only able to take on small tasks in Black Iron worlds to earn a little money.

However, the overall reward level for Maintainers was relatively high, so even this small amount of money should be decent, otherwise, Lan Xin wouldn't have been able to come up with 300,000 credit points.

Ten minutes later, the two arrived at a small room.

At the door, Lan Xin stopped and warned, "The team members are all my good friends. If I find you touching them inappropriately, don't blame me for being harsh."

Sun Ran grinned, "What if they come to me on their own?"

Lan Xin paused, her face turning cold. "That's not allowed either!"

Sun Ran pouted, "Alright, I'll listen to you."

Lan Xin then opened the door, and a clear, pleasant voice came from inside the room.

Lan Xin walked in, and Sun Ran followed behind. When he saw the situation inside, his eyes widened in shock.

"You... this... how are you all here?"

It turned out that the two members of Thorny Rose in the room were actually his former wives from his time as Pengzu. Lan Xin was his first wife, and the two in the room were his 48th and 49th wives, their appearances and smiles as vivid as yesterday.

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