Chapter 8

Sitting by the panoramic window of the yacht, Wu Chen and Die Wu had a long conversation, finally getting a general understanding of things.

First, what is the Shelter?

According to Die Wu's understanding, the Shelter is a high-dimensional creation. It envelops the material world we live in. Its concrete feature is a cylindrical nebula. The black hole at the center of the vortex is the domain of the Supreme Being, and the stars surrounding the black hole are the permanent residents of the Shelter—players.

As representatives of low-dimensional four-dimensional beings, those entering for the first time will exist in a 'gaseous' form. To obtain a physical body, one must first have a dedicated Shelter.

The creator of the Shelter world is called 'Zero.' To this day, the origin of Lord Zero remains unknown. Everything about Lord Zero is still a mystery. She calls herself the Architect. The only thing that can be confirmed is that she indeed created the Shelter world.

Second, in the Shelter world, a dedicated Shelter is the prerequisite for all activities.

Whether it's trading, socializing, obtaining information, or even recruiting and dismissing NPCs from movies, all must be done within the Shelter. Of course, the methods for achieving these functions vary depending on the attributes of the world. For example, time travel in a fantasy world is through a magic portal, while in a sci-fi world, it's through a stargate.

The process of obtaining a dedicated Shelter is called 'homogenization.' Simply put, it involves transferring creations from the plot world to the Shelter world. This transfer process is colloquially called 'removal' by players. Lord Zero poetically describes it as 'becoming a star.'

The definition of a dedicated Shelter is quite broad. It can be a car, a hotel, a castle, even a continent or a planet. In Lord Zero's eyes, the three dimensions of length, width, and height, and even the three-dimensional space itself, are all the same.

Third, if players are the core of the Shelter, then NPCs are the foundation of the Shelter.

Without these adorable NPCs, what would we play? Just like in a movie, there are leading roles, supporting roles, and extras. The importance of NPCs must be treated differently. Killing a main character and killing an unnamed hero who never appears in the credits have different impacts on the plot world. The more important the NPC, the stronger the rule protection they receive. When you encounter them, don't let your head get hot, because it's said that each world has a powerful guardian.

Fourth, the role of players.

Players entering the plot world, in essence, is a role-playing process. Like the division of NPCs, players in the plot world also have different levels. Typically, new players entering the plot world are extras. So, young man, try to get your name on the credits!

Fifth, plot worlds can merge with each other.

Like overlapping time and space, plot merging often means an expansion of the world view. Experience has shown that worlds with similar plots are more likely to merge. For example, racing movies like "Initial D," "The Transporter," "Fast & Furious," "Need for Speed," "Death Race," and "The Cannonball Run." After merging, the characters and their relationships from the original plot worlds are mostly retained, like different racing teams in Formula 1: the "Initial D" team, the "The Transporter" team, the "Fast & Furious" team, the "Need for Speed" team, the "Death Race" team, etc., all starting on a larger starting line.

Sixth, the classification of plot worlds.

The classification of plot worlds is closely related to the classification of movies. Movies are generally divided into: Super Blockbusters (S-level), A-level, B-level (Hong Kong movies are all B-level), C-level (everyone loves C-level movies, right?), and so on. Therefore, the world view of an A-level plot world far exceeds that of a B-level movie, and a B-level movie far exceeds that of a C-level movie. By the time you get to D-level, the entire world view might just be a mattress (or sometimes a sofa, tatami, desk, office chair, etc.).

So when plots merge, it's always B-level merging into A-level, A-level merging into S-level, and so on.

If two A-level worlds unfortunately meet, well, that's a dimensional war!

Seventh, the starter kit issued by Zero is the bridge connecting Zero and the movie world.

Like all advanced intelligences, Wu Chen's N9 can perform many tasks such as information collection, complex calculations, and uploading and downloading. The only way to obtain a starter kit is to complete the starter task. The purpose of Zero sending Wu Chen into the Transformers world was also for this reason.

However, many people are too greedy and don't understand the background of the movie world, so they fail to complete the task and receive the reward. Wu Chen remembered Die Wu's advice and thus achieved a good result.

Finally, the currency circulating in the Shelter is called 'Resource Points.'

The ways to obtain Resource Points are very limited. You can only get them by completing tasks issued by players who have Resource Points or by completing bounty tasks issued by Zero. In most cases, the Resource Points that can be collected in the movie world are very limited, even scarce.

In other words, defeating monsters doesn't drop money.

Of course, some valuable special items can be exchanged for money. Zero also has an 'Energy Recycling' system that can convert players' idle items into Resource Points.

Of course, similar functions are also available in some movie worlds, but which specific movies have these tools is a closely guarded secret of some lucky players.

Wu Chen's most urgent task right now is to build his own dedicated Shelter. Otherwise, he will always turn into a gas cloud when he enters, or he will have to freeload on Die Wu's yacht.

As Wu Chen's guide, Die Wu has the obligation to help him adapt to the Shelter. As the saying goes, the beginning is the hardest. However, it seemed that the leather-clad woman, who had almost talked her lips raw, had no more patience to deal with Wu Chen and outright refused his request to set up a teleportation point on the yacht.

It took Wu Chen a long time to understand that Die Wu was actually doing this out of kindness.

Of course, that's all for later.

The starter task can only be done once and cannot be repeated. So the only beacon for Wu Chen in the entire Shelter world is the 'Time Node' he obtained by activating the S-level major villain task.

This is easy to understand; it's just a save point.

Convenient for continuing from this save point next time.

But, but—

Teleportation costs money!

And Wu Chen's Resource Points, like the name of the Supreme Being, are a big zero!

After much pleading, Die Wu finally agreed to lend Wu Chen 10 points.

What can 10 points do? One point for a one-way trip, two points for a round trip. In other words, Wu Chen can only enter the movie world five times, and if he doesn't gain anything, he will have to pack up and leave.

But, but—

How do you earn Resource Points!

No one will tell him the answer.

Being kicked off the yacht, Wu Chen instantly turned into a gas cloud and was slowly sucked into the central black hole of the Shelter.

aimless drifting was bound to be fruitless. Although he didn't feel tired or hungry, the snake of loneliness slowly devoured his heart.

Finally, Wu Chen called Zero.

"20150326-Y player, what service do you need?"

"Send me to the tofu shop."

"Okay, deduct 1 Resource Point, locate the Time Node, teleportation begins..."

The moment his body was sucked into the black hole, Wu Chen suddenly asked, "How many points does it take to turn the AE86 into a star?"

"10 points."

"Damn..." With immense resentment, Wu Chen was flushed into a toilet bowl.

When he opened his eyes again, he was back at the tofu shop. Instinctively, he reached into his pocket, and the N9 was still there.

Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he was hit on the head.

"Brat, you didn't even call out when you came back! I thought the mafia had come to settle scores!" His father, dressed in short sleeves, a headscarf, an apron, and wooden clogs, didn't look like he was preparing for a fight at all!

Sniffing the air, the room was filled with the aroma of tofu.

"Father, are you grinding tofu?"

"Of course! Do you know how much tofu I've ground all day?!" His father, with bloodshot eyes, snorted.

Is he keeping himself busy because he can't help worrying about me?

Wu Chen suddenly felt a bit of a lump in his throat.

"Did you deliver the goods?"

"Delivered." Wu Chen nodded forcefully.

"I saw the news, was it a BMW?"

"BMW F30 335i. Full carbon fiber body, 3.0-liter TwinPower Turbo single-turbo dual-scroll, turbocharged six-cylinder engine, 306 HP maximum power, 40.8 kgm peak torque, 0-100 km/h acceleration in just 5.5 seconds, quite impressive." Wu Chen recited the details: "For the exterior, I chose the M aerodynamic kit, including the front bumper, side skirts, and rear bumper, added Performance carbon fiber mirrors and rear wing, and installed MachtSchnell wheel spacers, with the headlights covered in high-strength tempered glass, very aggressive."

"Pfft! Still ended up as a pile of scrap?" His father snorted, "The M aerodynamic kit is more for show than function. Any fool would choose the S carbon steel crash protection kit!"

Seeing his father, who was spouting nonsense, completely lose his composure, Wu Chen rolled his eyes, "Father, which side are you on?"

"Of course, I'm on your side!" Shrugging and laughing, Brother Qiu Sheng strode upstairs. "Dinner is tofu! Tomorrow is tofu! Every meal is tofu!"

See, too much tofu...

"Hey, Father, isn't this Japanese tofu?"

"Brat, you just figured it out! I'm making genuine Chinese tofu!"

"Support you!" Wu Chen gave a thumbs up.

When he woke up, it was already noon. After hastily washing his face and going downstairs, he found his father already busy with the AE86.

Wu Chen looked around at the neatly arranged upgrade parts and quickly noticed something: "Supercharger (mechanical supercharger)!"

"Yep." His father slid out from under the car. "Besides the Supercharger, I also plan to install an EFI (electronic fuel injection system). After tuning, it should reach around 300 horsepower."

The advantage of a mechanical supercharger is its small size, no need to modify the engine, and easy installation, making it popular in the modification world. However, mechanical superchargers are generally the first choice for large-displacement cars. Compared to the compact and streamlined body of the AE86,