Uncle, You're So Pretty!

Sitting in a dim sum restaurant, there was a cup of lukewarm soy milk on the table, which had long since lost much of its heat, and half a basket of steamed buns with a dish of chili oil. However, the only customer at the table had his eyes slightly closed and was not in a hurry to eat.

The owner of the kitchen would occasionally peek out from the window in that half-wall, looking like a college student who was forced to get up early to "start work" but was actually still half asleep and dozing off.

However, what the busy boss was thinking was irrelevant; the customer's thoughts were on something else entirely.

"To date, over 35 million virtual individuals have been included through direct or indirect access via the website. However, the correlation with cross-sectional comparisons is extremely low, and the absorption of mental energy by a single individual is less than 4% of that of a normal user."

At this moment, as his senses emanated, on a purely conscious level, what Li Yun could perceive was a seemingly boundless "network."

Rather than a spiderweb-like, layered structure, it's more like a single, unimaginably large "central hub," with countless illusory traces spreading outwards like long threads, each thread clearly connecting to a faint "halo" at its end.

Right now, countless extremely subtle "signals" are being transmitted all at once along these lines.

By casually moving one of the dotted lines, the will sensed the feeling within.

It originated from a black boy sitting in an unreasonably high, dilapidated adult wheelchair, with a gap between his left legs, gazing at the endless stream of pedestrians on the street in the distance, his eyes filled with longing, yet also extremely gloomy.

Why me? Why didn't Kent and the others break their legs in the same school bus accident?

Why can't legs be transplanted?

[Why--]

[God, if you really exist, please give me back my leg. I'm willing to give you all my pocket money and all the snacks in my box--]

The phantom pain that occasionally emanated from the severed limbs tormented this black boy, who was only twelve or thirteen years old.

He had clearly come to understand the fact that he would never be able to stand up independently again, but beneath that near-despair and despair, he still retained a sliver of hope, praying and yearning for a miracle.

Unfortunately, a miracle is a miracle precisely because, according to common sense, it is almost impossible for it to happen.

Withdrawing his gaze from this illusory world, without any further reaction, Li Yun simply stared quietly at this illusory net.

In fact, this is a trace belonging to the tens of millions of "visitors" who have logged into the Main God Website and thus left a connection with it, a subtle reflection in their hearts.

One or two on their own are fine, but given the sheer scale of this event, even a slight relaxation of the mind and a moment of active contact will be met with an onslaught like a tsunami!

The various fantasies, emotions, desires, and even the vague reflexes of bodily instincts contained within, though far less heavy and solidified than the traces in that "deep sea," can be described as "stubborn and unyielding."

Yet it appears even more agile and frivolous, like a bubble that rises and falls on the waves, impossible to fathom.

In Li Yun's own words, this was "something even more outrageous than standard 'shit mountain code'," something you wouldn't want to look at a second time after just one glance.

No one would want to leave any more room for contact with such a thing.

Those who frequently examine others' thought processes know that if you look too closely, what you ultimately find in their minds is often nothing more than a picture of hell.

With the active thought of "filtering" taking hold, the specific information within those signals becomes blurred. In their place, what remains are no longer such clear thoughts, but something more primitive and fundamental.

The vague imagery hidden beneath a multitude of emotions and thoughts is like multicolored fireflies, flowing freely along illusory lines, eventually evaporating into tiny halos that rise higher and higher.

Similarly, looking back, Li Yun can also see "herself" within this network.

A halo quietly settled amidst these myriad traces, its entire body flowing with a touch of sky blue, seemingly tightly bound within countless dotted lines like chains, yet also possessing the same seamless "aura" that controlled this vast, all-encompassing net.

Only at first glance, and upon closer inspection, can one perceive the peculiarity of this azure halo.

Unlike the faint "glow" at the ends of the surrounding long lines, this bright and clear blue light seemed to be truly trapped, yet it was subtly "higher" than all the traces, silently floating within them, unaffected and undisturbed.

Like a fundamental difference, from a higher level, looking down on all the other traces that seem particularly "thin" in comparison, it transcends the distinction between inside and outside, and between the grand and the minute!

Even completely detached from these traces, high above the dense net, the pure white, radiant "sun," absorbing these "spots of light" rising from between the dotted lines, appeared somewhat illusory when compared to this blue halo.

At this moment, this almost monotonous voice comes from that illusory giant star. "--It is estimated that the relevant transit costs can be initially balanced when they reach between 80 and 90 million, but some details may not conform to the initial booking plan. It is recommended that Administrator make secondary adjustments based on the actual load situation at that time--"

"The current visitor invitation process has slowed down from a group selection model, with several hundred to several thousand visitors expected to be randomly selected daily under normal circumstances. As instructed by Administrators, the selection probability from the 'vacant' group will be given a certain priority increase."

"--Currently, there are approximately 1.17 million Level-One Main God Users and 31 Level-Two Main God Users, among whom some are under special observation--"

"Guest, your rice noodles are here! -- Bubble, don't block the way, move aside and go play over there."

A cheerful greeting was given, and a steaming bowl was placed in front of him with a "thud," causing the chopsticks next to him to tremble slightly.

Having paused his "work," Li Yun slowly opened his eyes.

"--Thanks, boss."

He didn't even notice the little girl next to him, about seven or eight years old, who was sucking her finger and was probably the boss's own child, staring intently at him at this trivial matter.

The young diner simply thanked him in a low voice, casually pulled a pair of wooden chopsticks from the chopstick holder, habitually blew off the barely noticeable dust, and thus began his breakfast.

Since things have come to this, let's eat first.

Steam rose from the rim of the bowl, carrying the rich aroma of bone broth. The rice noodles were soaked in the red oil broth, and topped with thinly sliced braised beef, fried peanuts, bright green scallions, and shredded kelp. Just looking at it made one's mouth water.

In fact, Li Yun's physical condition is now far less affected than his mental state, but upon closer examination, not eating for several days is a minor matter.

But since he's too lazy to buy groceries and cook, he'll still occasionally go out for a quick bite.

--It wasn't so much about filling one's stomach, but more like deliberately following past lifestyle habits.

As they were slowly and methodically eating, picking up a steamed bun with one hand while using their chopsticks, someone noticed a movement near their legs.

Turning his head, he saw the little girl named Bubble gently poking his thigh. As if she'd seen something interesting, the child's eyes widened. "Uncle, you're so pretty! How did you become so beautiful?"

He didn't seem to mind the little girl poking herself with the finger she'd just taken out of her mouth; Li Yun just gave the little one a rather subtle look.

You'd think this silly child was stupid, but she could still tell that the long-haired stranger in front of her was a man. You'd think she was clever, but she insisted on calling him "pretty."

It's both laughable and pathetic.

He casually reached into his pocket, pulled out a piece of candy, and handed it to the little shop owner. Li Yun then patted her hair. "Little girl, Uncle is still eating. Go play over there by yourself."

Humans often have a remarkable amount of patience with their young.

With a flick of her wrist, as if using hairspray, she neatly combed the little girl's previously messy hair, without her even noticing anything amiss, only opening her eyes wide in confusion.

"Dad said we shouldn't accept candy from strangers, because there might be weird uncles who say they want to take kids to see goldfish and then kidnap Bubble."

--Li Yun's gaze became even more subtle.

He glanced at the cook busy in the kitchen, and helplessly took his things back.

After rummaging in his pocket again, the customer pulled out a small, palm-sized bottle resembling a baby bottle and handed it back to the little one. "Hmm, Uncle forgot, I took the wrong one. Is it alright to drink milk now? Little ones need to drink more milk to grow up beautiful and tall."

This time, he readily accepted the item, but the little guy took the bottle and examined it carefully for several moments.

As if afraid that Li Yun wouldn't understand, she carefully drew a square pocket shape on her stomach and made a familiar gesture of repeatedly reaching into it to take something out.

Those small eyes were filled with great confusion.

Clearly, more than the baby bottle in his hand, which was even bigger than his own hand, the eager little child was curious about how these things were pulled out of the seemingly flat pocket.

Li Yun fell silent.

Blue Fatty is really causing a lot of harm!

After finishing breakfast, the person who had paid the bill beforehand disappeared silently from the store.

The little girl, still unanswered, was left there pouting, squatting on the ground and drawing a circle.

The chef, who was also the owner, came out to clear the dishes and noticed the strange bottle his daughter was holding. He couldn't help but ask, "Bubble, what are you holding? Let Daddy see."

"--It was given to me by that handsome uncle from earlier."

The child hugged the item with a wronged expression, but under his father's "loving gaze," he finally had no choice but to obediently hand over the spoils he had "confiscated" from the strange stranger.

Looking at the words on the bottle, the shop owner couldn't help but scratch his head, feeling that they seemed somewhat familiar.

"Baby Milkshake --what is this--"