Aftermath

Qi Lin was completely baffled. Could this be some kind of hidden game mechanic too?

Unable to figure it out, Qi Lin gave up thinking about it and asked curiously, "Other than telling me, have you told anyone else about the Vision equipment?"

"Other than telling the sheriff sister, only that uncle called Hawkeye. He happened to see me obtain the Vision." Dun Qu Qi Yi blinked, understanding what Qi Lin meant. "Don't worry. Vision is one of the rare bound equipment items in the game. It can't be dropped or traded."

"Also, I made an agreement with Uncle Hawkeye. If he wants any equipment, he can come to me and have me make it." Dun Qu Qi Yi lifted her little face, her expression clearly saying, Praise me already.

Qi Lin smiled. Judging by her appearance, she was obviously still just a child, yet she differed greatly from her in-game avatar.

Dun Qu Qi Yi's game avatar was a female elf with waist-length white hair, exquisite features, fair skin, and azure eyes. She was simply breathtakingly beautiful.

Who would have thought that such a beautiful girl had such a pure heart?

"Then can you help me process these raspberries?" Qi Lin brought up the reason she had originally come here again.

"No problem. The only way I know to prepare raspberries is to make jam."

"Jam? What does it do?" Qi Lin asked curiously.

Without hesitation, Dun Qu Qi Yi replied, "Adding it to food improves the taste and gives some experience. Do you want some? I can make it."

"Then I'll trouble you. I have ten raspberries here."

Dun Qu Qi Yi accepted the raspberries Qi Lin handed over and explained, "These are enough to make three bottles of jam, but I'll take one bottle as payment."

"No problem. Then I'll leave it to you." Qi Lin readily agreed to Dun Qu Qi Yi's request.

Watching Dun Qu Qi Yi take out some wooden cooking utensils and rub her hands together to ignite a small flame, Qi Lin could tell this was not Dun Qu Qi Yi's first time doing this. The game's closed beta had only just begun, yet she was already so skilled.

Sitting beside an ancient tree in the forest, Qi Lin asked curiously, "By the way, including cooking now and blacksmithing earlier, how many secondary professions have you learned in total?"

"Sheriff sister, you got that wrong. Although I can blacksmith, what I traded with Uncle Hawkeye earlier wasn't a weapon I forged. It was an alchemy item." Dun Qu Qi Yi corrected her very seriously.

"Then doesn't that mean you've learned three secondary professions? Cooking, blacksmithing, and alchemy. Are you planning to learn skills from other professions too?"

"Can you even keep up with all that?" Qi Lin teased.

Dun Qu Qi Yi placed one hand on her hip and declared proudly, "What's so difficult about that? In the future, I'm going to become the server's first all-round scholar-class player."

Just as Dun Qu Qi Yi and Qi Lin were discussing their future career plans, the scene shifted elsewhere...

"Coulson, are the results out?" Hawkeye, who had just traded enchanted arrows with Dun Qu Qi Yi, looked curiously at his mission partner crouching nearby.

"Agent Hawkeye, how many times do I have to say it? We're on a mission. You need to call me by my codename. That's my game ID." As he spoke, Coulson pointed at the ID above his character's head.

"Ah..." Hawkeye let out a long sigh and looked at the ID above Coulson's head: Captain America's Loyal Fan. How was he supposed to say such an awkward name aloud?

Although everyone in the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division knew that Coulson admired Captain America, no one had expected the usually dependable Agent Coulson to have such a side to him.

Hawkeye wrestled with himself for a long time before finally saying, "Fine, you win. Agent Coulson, Captain America's Loyal Fan, how did your test go?"

Coulson's expression turned stern as he immediately entered work mode. "It's truly unbelievable. The physical constants here are roughly the same as in reality. Even every individual particle is distinct."

"So the result is?" Hawkeye seemed to already have an answer in mind, but he still asked uncertainly.

"This world has been simulated perfectly. If not for the IDs above every player's head and the system's logout option..."

"If those things weren't constantly telling me that this is only a game, I would think Elf Network Company had turned an entire world into a game," Coulson added.

"It seems another Stark Industries will emerge in the future. The investors who didn't invest in Elf Network Company are going to be upset." Hawkeye smiled. "At least we'll have a report for the director tomorrow."

"Looks like you saw it too."

"What's there not to understand? Virtual reality gaming and accelerated cognition technology—put those two together, and isn't that a different kind of immortality?" Hawkeye curled his lip.

"I reckon the major financial predators will soon set their sights on this company and swallow it whole."

Coulson shook his head, disagreeing with Hawkeye's view. "Before logging into the game, I investigated Elf Network Company's background. Guess what I found?"

Hawkeye stood silently beside him.

Coulson shrugged and continued, "According to my investigation, this company is extremely secretive. There are no fewer than a dozen families backing Elf Network Company."

"The oldest of them can be traced back five hundred years."

At that, Hawkeye laughed. "By the end of it, it's hard to say who will swallow whom."

"After hearing your analysis, I'm tempted to buy some shares in Elf Network Company myself."

"Unfortunately, you can't buy Elf Network Company stock." Coulson poured cold water on the idea. "Elf Network Company hasn't gone public yet."

"That really is a pity." Hawkeye waved a hand and quickly put the thought aside.

"Since we've already toured the safe zone, let's check out the dangerous zone marked on the map."

With that, Hawkeye and Coulson chose a route leading toward the dangerous zone.

On the way there, Coulson recalled the girl who had traded arrows with Hawkeye earlier and asked curiously, "Agent Hawkeye, how did you meet that girl you traded with?"

Hawkeye gave Coulson a strange look. Just as the stare began making Coulson's skin crawl, Hawkeye asked oddly, "Agent Coulson, I made an agreement with that girl. This has nothing to do with our mission, does it?"

Just as Hawkeye's gaze was about to become the sort one used for scum...

Coulson hurriedly waved his hands and explained, "No, no, you misunderstand. Since I already have an account for this game, I plan to develop it properly during my free time outside missions. After all, the time ratio is ten to one. I was thinking of asking that girl to make some equipment."

"So that's it." Hawkeye withdrew his gaze and continued onward. "No need to go through so much trouble. Just mention my name."

After that, Coulson and Hawkeye headed toward their destination.

What neither of them expected was that someone had been watching them from beginning to end.

On the World Tree, Cheng Jue withdrew his gaze and thought about Coulson and Hawkeye's conversation with an amused expression. Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division... It hasn't been renamed S.H.I.E.L.D. yet. I wonder what they'll manage to uncover.

But even if they saw through it, so what? Cheng Jue had never tried to hide anything.

His gaze shifted toward Cheng Yaowen, Ge Xiaolun, Zhao Xin, Liu Chuang, and the other super soldiers of the Super God Universe.

To be honest, aside from Qi Lin, who had graduated from the police academy, the rest could only be described as a pile of mud.

Speaking of Qi Lin, Cheng Jue's gaze turned in her direction again. This time, however, he was not looking at Qi Lin, but at Dun Qu Qi Yi beside her.

Cheng Jue's gaze softened.