Business Trip

"We don't need to explain game consoles and online games to you, right? In short, before the quantum network connecting the entire universe became commercially available, virtual gaming pods were all the rage for a while. After all, these things were originally warship command modules retired by interstellar fleets. They were not only quantum computers but also gene repair pods. One person could pilot them, like cruisers and battleships. They were military-grade."

However, after the military was defeated by the companies, the warships could still be converted for civilian use. But the tens of millions of command modules that had already been produced needed to be cleared out to recoup costs. So the military enterprises jointly pushed for amendments to the law, turning the command modules into civilian equipment. Citizens could also buy them with interest-free loans and dispose of them like game consoles. For a time, game consoles were very popular among the public. It was a waste of their potential to use them for virtual online games when they were originally used to command fleets.

Of course, now game pods, like legions, are relics of the past. The most advanced technology now is the system, the ultimate intelligent auxiliary chip, with system permissions and quantum networks. As long as there is a signal, it can connect to the internet. Commanding fleets is all done through the system; citizens only need to provide kill permissions, so there's no need to maintain expensive terminals like game pods."

"However, these vintage items still hold significant sentimental value for some nostalgic gamers. They were often used for interstellar leagues in the past, so there's room for speculation regarding their collectible value. Moreover, the game pod offers a single-player mode, preventing interference from hackers and cheats online, allowing players to play on their own, which gives it some market value. It also avoids attracting the attention of the Tax Bureau."

Look, take it apart like this, take it apart like this, take it apart like this... Okay, this part is the central processing unit. The system chip we ordered is packaged here by the company. Ideally, you can send the game pod to the logistics company for customs clearance. If there is an emergency, such as a communication interruption, you can just remove the circuit board and run away, then send it to our logistics company. This is the order number. The money has already been paid. Just find an automatic storage hatch to drop it off, and we will handle the rest."

Inside the celestial realm, Li Kun and Li Gan projected the game pod's design blueprints using 3D lighting and shadows, explaining to Li Fan how to disassemble it. They also had him memorize the city map.

A group of engineers, operating Mechanical Puppet, gathered around to watch, pointing and marveling at the complex and intricate wiring of the game pod. They all expressed that although they didn't know what it was, it seemed quite impressive.

Xuan Tian also came over to join in the fun, "Can I go with you? I want to go too!"

Li Fan couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Aren't you going to forge swords anymore? Aren't you going to check on the cooking pots?"

"I've seen it, I've seen it, I don't understand it at all. I couldn't possibly process this thing with the junk from Ink Bamboo Mountain, but the system took it away in no time. Tsk tsk, it seems the technology in your hometown is indeed more advanced than that of the Central Plains. I also want to go and see it. A world without cultivation? It's truly unimaginable."

Li Gan shook his head. "You don't have a chip installed, so you can't connect to the public internet. Besides, the smuggling fee for non-citizens is too expensive. Maybe next time, to save some money. If you just want to see another world, I can connect a monitor for you to watch."

Li Kun nodded in agreement. "That's simple. There's not much to see. The place we're going to isn't even the main plane of the system; it's more like a rural-urban fringe area. But places with big companies are always dangerous, so be careful. Once you've finished, retreat immediately."

Li Fan was stunned for a moment, watching as the two guys actually started projecting the screen, and then a group of Mechanical Puppet came over to watch the movie.

"No, shouldn't this kind of operation be kept secret?"

"It's alright, it's alright. I told them it's a method of the Luo Sect that allows one to see into the Vacuum Home."

"It's good to let these engineers see real modern technology and broaden their horizons. You can't make progress by working in isolation."

"Alright! This pot is selling quite well, the first payment has arrived! We're all ready on our end, let's get started!"

So, as planned, Li Fan first jumped into the machine-made mummified corpse factory of the Shanshan branch of the Divine Cult and found the underground surveillance facilities.

There's only one Mummified Corpse King stationed here, so of course he couldn't have detected Li Fan's infiltration. The previous legion's apostle was scared to death, and for the time being, no one has been assigned to guard the area, and the warehouse is sealed off.

Under the system's guidance, Li Fan skillfully powered on the device, activated the Blood God Child as a precaution, and then put on the electronic ghost shell helmet. The system then handled the various virtual gateways connecting to the Quantum Network. For Li Fan, it was just a normal astral projection and possession.

In the blink of an eye, the 'time travel' was complete.

Li Fan blinked and looked at his hands. Metal hands.

This is a human body, but not entirely human. More than 70% of it is mechanical metal. The liver, kidneys, hands, legs, eyeballs, and skin have mostly been replaced with metal prosthetics.

Surrounding them were rows of humans, all asleep and sealed in liquid capsules. Some had their bodies cybernetically modified, some seemed to have been genetically engineered into half-human, half-human hybrids, and others looked like normal humans, but with exceptionally outstanding looks and physiques.

Holy crap, what is all this stuff...?

'These are containers for rent. These people are bankrupt citizens who rent out their bodies to others to pay off their debts. This is how the visitors outside the door cross over.'

We went to great lengths to find you a vessel in SIDE2 with experience serving in the PAA Planetary Assault Forces. This enhanced human has undergone physical modifications and is quite agile. Moreover, he has multiple modification slots, allowing him to wear various versions of SBS available on the market.

By the way, this is a chain store. Remember the logo. When you return it, take the container to a nearby recycling facility, and it will be linked to the recycling chain. Be careful not to damage anyone, or you'll have to pay compensation! Also, don't break the law! Fake identities won't stand up to scrutiny!

'Alright, let's get moving and start looking for people! Beep beep beep! Every second is costing us money!'

Li Fan tried to loosen up his muscles and bones, or rather, his golden bones. This body was really stiff; it creaked and groaned when he walked. His bones had been replaced with alloys, and there was an air pump and various enhancement drugs inside his body. He had been completely transformed into a bio-robot.

After a brief test, I found that this body's speed and strength are only slightly better than that of an ordinary person. Of course, with the addition of body modification equipment, it's even possible to raise various physical parameters to the level of Golden Core cultivator in a short period of time. If I wear a mobile suit of armor, I could probably hold my own against the Nascent Soul Realm.

Of course, those enhancement potions and equipment enhancements all require money to unlock and are available for a limited time. After all, people aren't having an easy time; they're risking their lives to earn some money to pay off their debts.

However, to Li Fan's surprise, he discovered that despite the severe interference, his primordial spirit and divine Divine Sense still existed! He could also sense the fluctuations of Divine Sense in the sleeping containers around him Gu Guan Method!

What surprised him even more was that, although there was no immortal energy, no evil energy, and no Dao Breath, the Blood God Child Great Law of the Divine Sect seemed to be usable!

It really works! After all, it's an organic organism! Wow! It seems there's a reason why cults have a place in the future!

Li Fan tried it out, using his primordial spirit to temper the blood in his body, flowing through his meridians and strengthening his bones and muscles. He discovered that he could actually use this container, combined with the primordial spirit technique, to cultivate the Divine Sect's Body Domination Technique! Cultivating to the Divine Essence Body realm, or even the Martial God Body realm, should be no problem!

It allows humans to cultivate themselves to the level of cyborgs! No wonder the Legion wants to join forces with the Cult!

However, Li Fan also discovered that the 'humans' in this world were generally very weak, extremely weak. Their primordial spirit fluctuations were almost negligible, on the verge of their souls being scattered, making reincarnation impossible. Therefore, normally speaking, it was unlikely that they could cultivate the primordial Cultivation Method of the Divine Sect, let alone use primordial spirit techniques to assist in the cultivation of the Body Domination Technique or even the Blood God Child Great Law.

Of course, Li Fan wasn't here to stay in this transmigration for long. No matter how fast he cultivated, he could only enhance the physical Body Domination Technique to facilitate movement. In a real fight, he would still have to spend money to unlock enhancement agents and combat prosthetics. It's just a pity that he doesn't have citizenship right now, and in order to avoid being scanned and exposed by the Public Security System, he can't carry firearms or other self-defense weapons.

After changing into a civilian spacesuit and stepping out of the container rental center, Li Fan saw the world on the other side of the 'door'.

A future world bustling with people...

Even so, Li Fan intuitively felt that the sense of technology wasn't particularly strong, and it didn't seem that different from his previous world. Perhaps it was because everyone on the space station was wearing those latex-like civilian spacesuits.

Yes, judging from the holographic road sign, this should be a space station in the Sun-Earth Lagrange L2 region. The overall style is roughly like 2.077, a cyberpunk style. The surrounding air is quite murky, with a pungent smell of disinfectant. It smells like repeatedly circulated synthetic air.

Therefore, in addition to spacesuits, they also have to wear gas mask-like hoods, completely covering their faces so that it's impossible to tell at a glance whether the person next to them is human or machine.

However, the surrounding holographic images do show a map of the space station, and you can also switch to an exterior view to see hundreds of space stations and port centers densely packed in the surrounding space. On the large screen, like bees returning to their hive, spaceships of all sizes take off and land under the guidance of tractor beams. At a glance, it looks like countless hourglasses hanging in the shadows of the universe.

This is the SIDE2 colony, a rural-urban fringe area in another world...

'Alright, stop spacing out. Follow our instructions to the airport. Your ferry tickets are ready.'

Go to Earth?

"Dream on! Going to Earth, you illegal immigrant, are you looking for death? You'll be blown to bits as soon as you get close to orbit. Go to the OP173 orbital factory and drag that company dog out and beat him up."

Didn't they say he didn't steal it?

"No, but we can't contact the middleman. We need to get the delivery person's information from the company's 'dog' before we can track them. You're not a law-abiding citizen, so he won't do business with you at all; it would damage the system's reputation. Just resort to force and rob them."

'Yeah, those dogs deserve a beating. It's definitely the right thing to do to beat them up first.'

It seems the chip was overpriced... But isn't that illegal?

"Don't worry, we were prepared for this. We've already planted the puppet and taken over access to his apartment to disable the security alarm, so there's no need to break into the company; we can just ambush him at his place."

Sometimes I really don't know if you guys are reliable or not.

So Li Fan followed the system's instructions all the way, boarding the plane and transferring to another location, and for a moment he even thought he was on a business trip.

There wasn't much to see around there; it was clearly not in some wealthy area. Both space stations were probably factories or docks, with a strong industrial feel, made of 904 stainless steel. There weren't even any advertisements.

None of the pedestrians or passengers around him gave Li Fan a second glance. The system said they were all in a state where their consciousness was linked to the virtual network. In other words, their bodies were working automatically, while their consciousness was elsewhere, playing online games or watching dramas.

What? You're worried about twisting your ankle while walking and looking at your phone? No problem, there's a navigation system and autopilot...

As long as they don't connect to the virtual network, they won't be censored by the system. So, stowaways like Li Fan can mingle among these zombies and use the public transportation system with nothing to do.

Because the technology in this rural-urban fringe area is relatively weak, and Li Fan cannot buy a high-class ticket to directly jump to his destination, he has no choice but to take those outdated junk passenger ships and use the acceleration orbit set up by the Solar System to fly to the OP173 orbital factory, which is probably near Jupiter's moon.

Bored on the way, he decided to use the Body Domination Technique to train his temporary body.

Most of his organs had been replaced with mechanical ones. From a cultivation perspective, he was not only disabled, but also had weak meridians and blocked energy channels, making his aptitude extremely low. However, Li Fan could use the Blood God Child in conjunction with the Body Domination Technique to cultivate and successfully develop a tiny bit of blood essence.

Furthermore, he tried using some enhancement drugs, and with the system's assistance, he analyzed the components of the enhancement drugs and used his blood breath to synthesize similar drug molecular formulas to ensure that the effects of the drugs could enhance his entire body at all times.

Having finally arrived at OP173, this space station clearly exudes a new-era corporate vibe, with smooth, silver curved surfaces reminiscent of atomic punk, and even a holographic virtual blue sky. At first glance, it feels like stepping into an upscale, wealthy residential area. It truly is a gathering place for company executives.

The system probably made a lot of adjustments on the unseen battlefield. Anyway, everyone around was focused on connecting to the internet and playing on their phones, and no one paid any attention to the stowaway next to them. So Li Fan, this guy whose style didn't quite fit in, also swaggered off the ship, passed through the drone security check, entered the space station, took off his mask and took a breath of fresh air... ugh, it was synthetic, and with added ingredients, it smelled like the toilets in office buildings and commercial streets.

So Li Fan lost interest in wandering around this artificial space station, admiring the blue sky and genetically synthesized landscape plants on the display screen. He went straight to the company dog's apartment, studied the companion robot in the lobby for a while, and finally waited for the person. He then took the elevator to the guy's 200-square-meter loft.

After a long day of overtime, the "office worker" returned to his apartment and had just stepped inside.

Having already completed the "Foundation Establishment" stage and waited impatiently, Li Fan immediately pounced from the shadows. The instant the system used the puppet to shut down the "company dog's" personal protective terminal, he kicked out, breaking the man's thigh. He then brandished his elbow blade, severing both arms and a kidney with three cuts and six holes, and snapping the man's spine with a single blow. The man didn't even have time to scream; he could only collapse onto the velvet carpet, vomiting blood.

Li Fan squatted down, stepping on the broken neck of the 'company dog'. "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. You have medical insurance, right? I heard that as long as a life alarm is detected, the emergency medical team will arrive in five minutes. They can even save brain-dead people. It's really worth it... Oh, and you also have an emergency blood pump and a spare heart, right? Then this injury can at least last another ten minutes!"

The "company dog" was trampled until its eyes rolled back, and blood gushed out from its mouth, nose, neck, and the gaping wounds from its severed limbs, splattering all over the wall.

"Alright, then I'll save some time too," Li Fan said, pulling the steel needle from his middle finger and inserting it into the brain socket of the company dog. "Who stole my goods?"

The "company dog" electronic eye flashed for a moment, then handed over a large number of lists, data, and ledgers.

Good heavens, how many shady deals have you made! And you even dared to keep records! You're not being good!

'Got it! Let's go! The property management is about to spot us!'

No, you don't even care about planetary security networks, yet you can't handle property management?

"They're a big company called Xingyu Lianlu! They wiped out all the surveillance footage!"

'In progress!'

Li Fan shrugged, removed the needle, and left. In reality, the direct contact probably didn't even last a minute. He spent the entire time traveling and staking out. He just didn't know how much longer it would take to find the thief...

"Found it! Damn! What an idiot! He dropped the game pod while loading and unloading cargo, and fearing a fine and a deduction from his bonus, he ran to the junkyard to find a replacement shell, only to be caught and detained by the junkyard guards!"

"I just found out, the middleman died. Oh, it has nothing to do with us. They say there was an implosion on the space station, probably a production accident, or maybe an attack by a rival company. Anyway, a whole space station crew died."

"That's fine, no need to deal with him specially. I've already found the parking lot for the transport truck and the game pod. You just need to get to these coordinates, pay a fine, and we'll drive the goods to the logistics company, then it'll be over."

Huh? That's it? That's it? What's going on here...? This is so bizarre...

'... Something's not right, it seems like this isn't over yet, the company dog died.'

What? Wasn't there supposed to be a medical team? Did we go too far just now?

'The medical team didn't receive any reports, and his medical insurance was canceled... Damn! He was laid off! Something's not right. This guy just closed a big deal, still has a lot of debt and residual value, the company has no reason to lay him off...'

'Damn it! The company found my backdoor! Where would such a skilled hacker come from in this rural area! This guy must have been on the radar of head office for a while now! This is bad! They've located you!'

Okay, what did I say? Anyway, not a single mission has ever gone smoothly according to plan. What do we do now? Go head-on?

Plan B!

Oh, there's a Plan B?

Then, Li Fan heard a loud bang, and the beautiful 'blue sky' above his head shattered. The false, crystal-clear sky poured down, and the silver dome disintegrated on its own, revealing only the despairing, silent, eternal, and dark Void Abyss that had always existed behind the scenes.

The OP173 track factory has autonomously dismantled.

"Damn it! You said that middleman really had nothing to do with you! What happened to being law-abiding?! I'll get you!"

'No, no! That's none of our business!'

"So what's your Plan B, holy crap...?"

Then, in that instant, Li Fan saw his own reflection stand up in the large, fallen glass mirror.

Damn, Plan B...