Chapter 71

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Liu Rui'an had only intended to surprise Sky by bringing her into "Lost in the Star Sea," but he never imagined he had underestimated the "otaku" nature and curiosity of a top hacker.

After figuring out the situation with "Lost in the Star Sea," Sky was completely captivated by this virtual reality space sandbox game.

Thus, when Liu Rui'an took her to experience this game, which was not only visually realistic but also content-wise, he was the only one who exited the game.

As for Sky, after confirming that the game pod she was using could serve as a hibernation device and that the time flow ratio in the game was ten to one compared to the real world, she immediately decided to take on the task of testing the game.

Liu Rui'an, stepping out of the game pod, looked at the other pod still flashing with the running indicator light and shook his head with a smile, saying:

"Xingling, you must ensure her safety, understand?"

"Understood, Master," Xingling, instantly projecting a sweet little girl image, replied cutely.

It's not that Liu Rui'an was being overly cautious; it was just that Sky's method of entering the game was rather special.

The "Lost in the Star Sea" that Umbrella Technology was about to launch for the market abandoned traditional terminals like computers and XBOX, instead opting for virtual helmets and game pods.

Through biotechnology, they realized the virtual reality game that had only existed in web novels, allowing people to enjoy a game experience with up to 60% and 90% realism.

However, the method Sky used to log in was neither a virtual helmet nor a game pod, but rather, like the protagonist in "Tron: Legacy," she was a real person who had been quantized into the game.

The advantage of this login method was a 100% realistic game experience, but the downside was that any injury to the avatar would also be real.

The reason Liu Rui'an brought Sky to participate in the second phase of the "Lost in the Star Sea" internal testing was simple.

Apart from wanting to see if special abilities would carry over after real-person quantization, he also wanted to test the effects of using these abilities in the game.

Surprisingly, the virtual world technology from "Tron: Legacy" was indeed very advanced.

Sky's abilities not only carried over but could also be used in the game.

Liu Rui'an wasn't particularly surprised by this.

After all, in "Tron: Legacy," the protagonist's father, when he and Clu perished together, displayed abilities not far from what could be considered superpowers.

Moreover, this virtual world could even give rise to true electronic life forms, so compared to that, superpowers were nothing.

Liu Rui'an didn't hide this information, and after learning about it, Sky not only didn't refuse but was very cooperative.

Even if she didn't understand love as an otaku, or even after becoming wealthy and powerful, she didn't need to understand love, Liu Rui'an could still see her feelings for him, even without using his psychic abilities.

While being liked by a girl felt good, Liu Rui'an was somewhat regretful at the moment.

He wasn't making excuses; Liu Rui'an was very clear that with his powerful abilities, he couldn't be as devoted to a beautiful girl as he used to be when he was an otaku.

Not to mention, his穿越 ability couldn't be shared with anyone, not out of distrust, but to avoid any irreversible consequences.

But to give up on this would be too much of a waste.

Sky wasn't exactly a beauty, but she happened to suit Liu Rui'an's taste.

As the saying goes, money can't buy happiness.

Before, he didn't have the opportunity or conditions, but now, not only did he have the opportunity and conditions, but the girl was right in front of him. If he didn't take advantage of it, it would truly be a waste.

"Never mind, I'll think about this later."

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Liu Rui'an didn't idle.

Since he had decided to establish a base on other planets in the solar system, there was no need to wait for the right moment to handle things that were previously difficult to tackle.

After putting on the Kryptonian power armor, Liu Rui'an, once again transformed into a "thief," teleported away from Umbrella Technology's underground base.

When he reappeared, he was already above a training camp.

To be more precise, it was a training camp built in the 1940s that had been abandoned for a long time.

Liu Rui'an, appearing in the air, quickly locked onto his target, a military supply warehouse that shouldn't have been near the training camp.

Kicking open the virtually useless warehouse door, Liu Rui'an slowly walked into the abandoned SHIELD office hall, marked with the SHIELD logo.

Using the Kryptonian X-ray vision, Liu Rui'an quickly saw the photos of SHIELD's founding members, including Howard Stark, Tony Stark's father, and Peggy Carter.

Knowing what this place was, Liu Rui'an didn't waste any time.

He directly pulled aside the shelves blocking the secret elevator and entered the password from the original plot.

With a "ding," the elevator descended to the bottom of the military supply warehouse and slowly opened.

As the power was turned on, the previously dark underground space quickly became bright.

Once the entire underground space was illuminated, a data center composed entirely of antique computers and equipment appeared before Liu Rui'an's eyes.

This data center, which shouldn't have existed at this time, would be discovered by Captain America, Steve Rogers, and Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff, in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier."

In this data center filled with an ancient atmosphere, the only truly valuable thing was Dr. Arnim Zola.

Arnim Zola, a Swiss scientist working for Red Skull, was often mistakenly believed to be German but was actually Swiss.

In "Captain America: The First Avenger," this short scientist not only invented numerous black technologies far beyond the 1940s but also successfully extracted the energy from the Cosmic Cube and conducted extensive research and utilization of this powerful energy.

Unfortunately, this scientist, who was even more brilliant than Howard Stark, was first sent to prison by Captain America and later recruited by SHIELD. However, due to a terminal illness, he had to digitize himself and upload to this data center, becoming an AI.

It's unclear whether the plot hadn't reached that point or for some other reason, but the data access device that should have been on the main control panel in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" was not present.

Without this access device, communicating with the data center became a problem.

Fortunately, for Liu Rui'an, this was not an issue.

After a few teleports, the previously empty underground data center quickly became lively.

Once the smart robots connected the portable quantum network terminal to the control panel, the data center, which had been in hibernation, immediately "came to life."

As all the equipment started running, the antique cameras also came to life.

"Initiate system?" A row of green text appeared on the large rectangular display screen.

Knowing what this was, Liu Rui'an didn't even bother to stretch his hand, using his ability to press "yes" on the dusty keyboard.

After the last letter was pressed, the sound of the hardware system running quickly filled the air.

A green digital rain soon formed a face on the ancient display screen, a face very familiar to Liu Rui'an.

"Arnim Zola, a Swiss scientist working for Red Skull, first sent to prison by Captain America, and later recruited by SHIELD through the post-war Operation Paperclip."

"In 1972, you were diagnosed with a terminal illness, which the science of the time could not cure."

"However, your mind was worth saving and preserving, so it was stored in a database twenty thousand feet long."

"And I am standing in your brain, am I right, Dr. Zola?"

Faced with such clear and straightforward words, the newly activated Dr. Zola, after a moment of silence, asked:

"Who are you?"

"Who I am is not important. What's important is that I know everything about you and HYDRA," Liu Rui'an said, not even bothering to remove his helmet.

The digitized Dr. Zola, knowing that the other party could accurately state his background, understood that the statement was highly credible.

After spending some time comparing the person in front of him with all the personnel in the database and finding no leads, he asked:

"What is your purpose here?"

"My purpose is simple. I want to give you a chance, Dr. Zola, a chance to become human again," Liu Rui'an said calmly.

"Become human again? Are you joking?"

"Whether it's a joke or not, you'll know if you try it," Liu Rui'an said, patting the quantum network terminal. "This device can take you into a virtual reality digital world where you can have a human body again."

"As long as you can satisfy me, having a living body again is not a problem."

Actually, according to Liu Rui'an's character, he wouldn't waste time with Dr. Zola.

Unfortunately, the equipment used was too old. While it wasn't impossible to hack, considering Dr. Zola's value, it was better not to force it.

Otherwise, if any damage or irreversible consequences occurred, this trip would be for nothing.