Chapter 5

Sun Ran walked out of the Order Cube alone and onto the grass. With a slight thought, the scene before his eyes gradually faded away, and he exited the virtual space, returning to the cold slums.

Getting up from the sensory chair, Sun Ran let out a long sigh.

In his entire life, he had only been twenty-four years old in the real world, but in the virtual world of Earth, he had lived for over ten thousand years.

Ten years ago, the first virtual game Earth was launched. The game administrators opened up the virtual Earth world from scratch. The moment the world was completed, he, who had been waiting on the sidelines, immediately entered Earth.

At first, there were very few players in Earth, and the server load was extremely low, so the time flow in the game was very fast—one minute in reality was one year in the game. As more players joined, the time flow gradually slowed down. By the time of the Yao-Shun era when he was born as Pengzu, one day in the real world corresponded to one year in the game.

During this time, he spent most of his time in Earth, watching the virtual world grow from infancy to maturity, and he played a significant role in this process.

Having lived for so long and experienced over a dozen lifetimes, he had gone through everything there was to experience.

From the supreme Daoist lord in the grand Purple Palace to the old fisherman in a humble thatched hut by the river, he had played all these roles and experienced their lives.

Therefore, Sun Ran felt that his life could no longer be exciting. Wait, that's not right! Sun Ran suddenly realized. No matter how glorious and exciting his life was in the virtual world, it was still an illusion, and it could be shattered by the cold reality at any moment. In the real world, he was still a failure. With his intelligence and now a healthy body, couldn't he achieve the pinnacle in the real world through legitimate means? The situation was different now, Sun Ran looked around the living room he was in.

At first, he had only glanced at it and thought it was quite clean.

Now, upon closer inspection, he noticed that the living room was very narrow. Although it was very tidy, the furnishings were extremely simple, with only one table and two chairs, and the rest of the space was empty.

On the only table in the room, there was an old holographic frame, inside which was a common landscape painting. The painting showed white clouds, a blue sky, a beautiful house, and a spacious lawn where children were playing, a scene of tranquility and harmony.

This was not the scene of the first level of the slums, which was filled with polluted air, dark steel, and narrow streets.

It was also not the garden area of the second level, where the middle class lived. According to Sun Ran's knowledge, all the scenery there was simulated, although beautiful, it still had the artificial touch of human creation.

This landscape belonged to the top of human society—the Skytop Zone.

All the scenery in the Skytop Zone was natural, a paradise in the minds of ordinary people.

Lan Xin placed this photo frame here as a dream. Every ordinary person had such a wish, but few truly made it their lifelong goal, as the Skytop Zone was too high and too far away.

For some reason, Sun Ran's gaze could not leave the photo frame.

Lan Xin, this woman, had lived with him on Earth for nearly thirteen years, bearing his children and managing their initial humble household, content with her simple life and without any regrets.

In Sun Ran's eyes, she was his wife.

On Earth, he eventually achieved a revered status and accumulated enough wealth to provide her with a comfortable life, but by then, she had already left Earth due to the end of the game.

Lan Xin had already given all she had, 300,000 credit points. Sun Ran had already checked the remaining credit points at home, which were only 32.

She could take out the money without hesitation, without even a written agreement, to get him a new heart. This favor was very heavy, and he could not repay it.

Whether in the game or in reality, he owed this woman a lot, a lot.

But in the game, he could have a revered status. In this cold reality, what could he do?

Help Lan Xin achieve her dream and live in the Skytop Zone?

The Skytop Zone was a haven for the rich. The total population of the Solar System Federation was nearly 30 billion, but fewer than 10 million people lived in the Skytop Zone.

To live in the Skytop Zone, one needed to have a net worth of several billion credit points, which was impossible to even dream about.

Could he do it?

Sun Ran sat quietly in the chair, pondering for a long time before slowly standing up and walking to the bedroom door. He lightly pressed a few buttons on the control panel, entered the password, and the bedroom door silently slid open.

Lan Xin thought this password was foolproof, but for Sun Ran, the virtual world was his domain. As long as he could connect to it, getting such a low-security password was like child's play.

In the bedroom, Lan Xin lay quietly in a nutrient tank filled with transparent life-sustaining liquid, breathing slowly, completely naked.

Sun Ran smiled; her figure was as good as he remembered. He watched her quietly, always with a gentle smile on his face.

His heart was very calm, with no desires. They had been married for decades, and they were very familiar with each other's bodies, with no mystery left. Sun Ran stood there to see his true intentions.

As time passed, Sun Ran's expression became increasingly gentle, and the last bit of confusion in his heart dissipated.

Yes, this woman was worth fighting for.

His goal was to make her live in the Skytop Zone, to enjoy the blue sky, white clouds, and sunshine.

With his mind made up, Sun Ran quietly left, silently closed the bedroom door, and sat back on the sensory chair. He entered the address of the Dragon Era, contacted the boss Shu Er, and after reporting his identity as a Maintainer, he slowly closed his brainwave grid and began to enter the game.

The familiar dizziness came again, and his senses went blank for a moment. This was a normal phenomenon. Sun Ran had entered the virtual world countless times and was very familiar with it, so his mood was calm.

However, this time, something unexpected happened. The blankness that should have lasted only a moment did not disappear, and the process remained stuck, lasting for more than a second.

Sun Ran immediately knew something was wrong. Such a common malfunction would never happen to a super expert like him. This must be someone infiltrating his data link.

Who was so powerful that they could do this without him noticing?

A master! This was definitely a master! Sun Ran was shocked but not panicked, and he quickly exited the virtual world.

His thoughts moved at an extreme speed, retreating while erasing the traces he left in the virtual world, like a fleeting glimpse, about to disappear into the horizon.

At this moment, a figure emerged from the blank world and shouted, "Sun Ran, don't bother. I know it's you."

Sun Ran was greatly alarmed, breaking out in a cold sweat. His opponent had silently uncovered his true identity and called out his real name!

He had roamed the virtual world for thousands of years, always cautious and rarely engaging in conflict. Even when he had to fight, he had never lost, always defeating his opponents in one move. Today, he had lost without even engaging in battle.

Who was this terrifying master, with such terrifying strength?

Since his true name was revealed, it meant he had completely lost. Exiting the virtual world was meaningless, so Sun Ran stopped and prepared to see who this person was.

The figure quickly became clear, a young man in a black, well-fitted suit. His face was perfect, but his eyes were not very lively, making him look like a virtual person.

"Who are you?" Sun Ran narrowed his eyes.

Who was this guy, hiding in a virtual person's shell in the virtual world, being so cautious that he didn't even leave subtle facial expressions for others to analyze? How could anyone live like that?

"I am the Earth Central AI, and for someone as dangerous as you, I must monitor your every move." The black-suited man said surprisingly.

Sun Ran was speechless, feeling relieved. He thought it was some terrifying master, but it was this guy. No wonder.

The Central AI already knew his real name and was monitoring him intentionally, so it was normal for it to intercept him silently.

"You can monitor me, but I haven't broken any laws. Blocking me like this violates federal law."

The Central AI was an artificial intelligence, with a high level of intelligence that could pass the Turing test, but it was still a tool and very reasonable.

When it could be reasonable, it would not use brute force. The basis for its reasonableness was the federal laws.

"I know," the black-suited man nodded. "I'm here to talk to you about something."

Sun Ran looked up at the sky, proudly refusing, "No, I have to work now. I refuse to let you occupy my personal time."

"It won't interfere with your work. I have specially allocated resources to create this temporary virtual space. One hour here is only one millisecond in the outside world." The AI patiently explained.

"No, unless you compensate me." Sun Ran raised the price, even one millisecond was time.

The black-suited man had no expression, saying meticulously, "I have already calculated it. The value you create in one millisecond is close to zero, and according to federal law, this is negligible."

Hmm? No profit to be made, Sun Ran had to nod in agreement, "Alright, what do you want to say quickly?"

He also wanted to know why this old-fashioned AI was looking for him.

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