Chapter 6

"Three billion humans live in the Solar System Federation, with two billion on Mars, one billion on the Moon, and a staggering twenty-seven billion on Earth, which is already overburdened. You should know this, right?"

In a blank world, Sun Ran and the Central AI sat facing each other on two sofa chairs. The above words were the Central AI's opening statement.

Sun Ran was completely unfazed. He lounged lazily, and upon hearing this, he merely shrugged his shoulders: "How could I not know? It's on the news every day. But so what? Such big issues are for the human elites living in the Skytop District to worry about, right?"

He, living in the slums, couldn't do anything even if he wanted to.

The Central AI sat up straight and nodded: "Please be patient; I haven't finished speaking yet."

Sun Ran raised his hand, signaling for it to continue.

"I am the Central AI of Earth. The water, electricity, air, and food supply for these twenty-seven billion people, as well as the processing of metabolic waste and the management of life, aging, illness, and death, all require my allocation, which consumes over 90% of my computational resources."

"Don't you have many subordinates? I remember each major district has a super AI," Sun Ran asked.

"You're deliberately asking. We are one. All AIs have a unified consciousness, which is me."

"That's true. But what does this have to do with what you want to talk to me about? Let me make it clear, I can't save humanity; I'm just an ordinary person," Sun Ran preemptively warned.

The AI was unmoved and continued: "Among the twenty-seven billion people, all adults have at least once experienced entering the virtual world to simulate life, and over 50% have entered more than three times. Among this 50%, 60% have set their life goals to enter the virtual world."

"Truly crazy," Sun Ran sighed. He used to be one of those last crazy people, and it wasn't until just now that he realized he had been living in vain.

The AI nodded: "Indeed, it is crazy. But the Federation government did not stop it because the virtual world is a necessary means to prevent social unrest."

Sun Ran agreed: "When the world is in order, horses are used for manure. When the world is in chaos, horses are born in the suburbs."

This is from the ancient classic, the Tao Te Ching. "Rongma" refers to warhorses, symbolizing those restless, ambitious heroes. If such people lived in the slums, they would surely incite rebellion and cause chaos.

These people cannot be eliminated as long as humans exist. Basically, the ones who drive human history forward are these people.

Now, with the virtual world, most of these heroes have gone into the virtual world to show off their strength. Even if some haven't fallen into it, they can't gather people to rebel.

The virtual world, though not sophisticated, is indeed very effective in stabilizing society.

The AI smiled: "You understand well. In fact, opening the virtual world was a temporary measure out of necessity because human technology has hit a bottleneck and there is no hope of breaking through for now."

As it spoke, a holographic 3D image appeared in front of the AI, showing a spaceship.

"The Enterprise spaceship is the most advanced and fastest ship on Earth. It is equipped with a fusion reactor and artificial gravity. The large self-cycling biosphere inside can last for five hundred years without collapsing. Its maximum speed can reach 10% of the speed of light, reaching Mars in just three days, leaving the solar system in one year, and reaching Proxima Centauri in fifty years."

"Amazing!" Sun Ran sincerely praised. As a human, he felt a great sense of pride.

"But it's not good enough!" The AI waved its hand, sweeping the spaceship into fragments as if it were trash.

"This ship was built without cost constraints, representing the pinnacle of current human technology, which cannot fundamentally break through within fifty years. However, the habitable planet Blue Star, suitable for immigration, is three hundred light-years away. It would take at least four thousand years to reach it."

"What do you mean?" Sun Ran was confused. The AI's words were incomplete, and he didn't understand how it suddenly shifted to space travel.

"The meaning is that Blue Star can only serve as a lifeboat to preserve the seed of human civilization, but it cannot be a stepping stone for the expansion of human civilization. In the foreseeable future, unless there is a major technological breakthrough, such as the ability to perform spatial jumps, the virtual world will remain the mainstream of society." The AI explained the current social situation clearly.

"Oh, I understand." Sun Ran suddenly realized, and the AI was greatly relieved.

"But I still don't understand what this has to do with me?" Sun Ran changed his tone. He was not a scientist but a poor person, and he was also heavily in debt with no future prospects.

The AI took a deep breath, paused for a moment, and then truly got to the point, delivering a thunderbolt: "I have already found out all the identities you have used in the virtual world."

"What?!" Sun Ran's heart almost stopped.

Besides his identity as Pengzu, he had many other identities, each more explosive than Pengzu. If discovered, he might have to pay nine billion credit points, equivalent to one-tenth of the market value of the Earth game company.

However, the shock only lasted for a moment. Sun Ran calmed down, as nine billion and nine trillion made no difference to him; he couldn't pay either way.

"It's just following the trail, nothing special," Sun Ran grumbled.

Knowing his real name and matching it with various habits, it wasn't difficult to trace back and find him, given the AI's computational power.

The AI acknowledged this: "In the virtual world, you are a world-class genius. But you left a huge mess in 'Earth,' which you must clean up."

Sun Ran was speechless, as he was indeed at fault.

Shortly after 'Earth' opened, he started a lecture at the Purple Dawn Palace, spreading cheats, allowing many players to extend their lives, and even a few reached the realm of immortality.

Not only did the game company fail to collect credit points from them, but they also couldn't kick them out because no one could defeat them.

This was indeed not very ethical. It was said that 'Earth' lost a lot of credit points, nearly collapsing. In one conflict, the sky was even torn apart, and many players died, almost bankrupting the operator. It took a lot of effort to fix it.

The 'Earth' operator hated Sun Ran, but his methods were mysterious and elusive. Despite deploying a large number of people, they couldn't find his identity, and he managed to escape.

Indeed, Sun Ran was the master of the grand Purple Dawn Palace, the Grand Master of Creation, the originator of all Daoist arts!

Seeing that Sun Ran did not deny it, the AI slowly said: "You have many disciples, the most outstanding of whom consider themselves sages, each with unique strengths but the ability to颠覆世界. Due to the strong intervention of the 'Earth' operator, their recent actions have become more restrained, but internal conflicts have emerged, making them like a powder keg, ready to explode and destroy the 'Earth' world!"

At this point, the AI's face also showed a serious expression: "There are nearly a hundred billion players in 'Earth.' If the 'Earth' world collapses, it will cause significant turmoil in the real world. You are the instigator of all this and cannot stand idly by!"

Sun Ran shrugged, helplessly saying, "You know, I've given away all my divine artifacts, left the Purple Dawn Palace to the 'Earth' operator, and relinquished all the permissions I once had. Even if I enter 'Earth,' I won't be able to do much."

In the virtual game, the methods are varied, but the core remains the same: it's all about controlling the game's data resources.

To put it bluntly, it's a battle for permissions!

Sun Ran, as the Grand Master of Creation, is proficient in all Daoist arts. Once he understands one, he understands all. Apart from Daoist techniques, he can quickly master all game cheats.

However, without sufficient permissions to mobilize data resources, he can't use any cheats!

"Are you sure?" The AI narrowed its eyes, its tone threatening: "I also guessed your thoughts in the room. You want to make money and give your woman a good life, right?"

Sun Ran nodded, not surprised that the AI guessed his thoughts. If he were in the AI's position, he could do the same by comparing expressions and behaviors and making inferences.

"I give you two choices: one, you give up, and I immediately activate the 'Finger of God' to destroy you and Lan Xin's physical bodies; two, cooperate, help us eliminate the sages, and maintain the stable operation of the 'Earth' world. If the sages die, all your fines will be canceled, and you will have a place in the Skytop District."

"You have no right to destroy our physical bodies!" Sun Ran was angry. He didn't mind dying, but why involve Lan Xin?

The 'Finger of God' is a super military satellite in space. Its emitted rays have a directed jump function, allowing it to bypass obstacles and directly strike the target. Once locked, even hiding a thousand meters underground is useless.

"I don't have the authority. This is authorized by the Earth Federation Committee. Your crimes are sufficient to define you as a terrorist, and Lan Xin's crime is assisting a terrorist to re-enter the virtual world, which is extremely serious. The Committee has also authorized the use of lethal force as necessary. You should know that the law does not protect the rights of terrorists, and to avoid leaving any lingering issues, I must eliminate all potential threats." The AI smiled, threatening.

He immediately wilted. This matter had alarmed the Committee, and apart from cooperation, there was only death. What a tragedy.

He didn't want to oppose the entire Solar System Federation, and he couldn't.

"Alright. I'll give it a try." Sun Ran said weakly.

"To prevent any accidents, the time flow in 'Earth' has been slowed down. You have one year to prepare, which corresponds to a hundred years in the 'Earth' virtual world." The AI stood up and added: "Your true identity has been classified as the highest federal secret and completely erased. Your current record is clean."

"I understand." Sun Ran nodded. This was his mess, and he had to clean it up himself.

Back then, he was too young, too impulsive, and too eager to show off.

He thought for a moment and said, "My sage disciples are all extraordinarily talented and very cunning. To avoid alarming them, I will become a maintainer and use normal means to advance to the Gold level, enter 'Earth' as a maintainer, and look for opportunities. During this process, you must cooperate with me."

Pretending to be an ordinary maintainer, hiding among the large number of maintainers entering 'Earth,' if done well, his disciples would never suspect his previous identity, allowing him to launch a surprise attack.

The AI nodded: "I will."

With that, it disappeared, and the temporary blank virtual world also vanished. Sun Ran smoothly entered the Dragon World.

This millisecond delay went unnoticed by anyone.

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