After the Genius War concluded, whether it was the lofty Nine-Sword Venerable or the 1008 powerful Immortals, they all departed directly.
However, the thousand young warriors, including Luo Feng, remained, as a staff member nearby called out, “Please stay a little longer. We have something to discuss regarding transporting everyone to the Universal Headquarters of my Virtual Universe Company.”
A moment later,
In a meeting room on the second floor of Restaurant No. 2 at the Central Plaza, Luo Feng and the thousand youths sat.
“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Mana,” said the man standing at the front of the meeting room. He was about 2.67 meters tall, with a patterned neck and a cheerful smile. “Since the Virtual Universe Company will arrange spaceships specifically to pick you all up, please write your exact planetary addresses on the papers in front of you so we can come get you.”
Luo Feng also picked up the pen and paper in front of him and began writing: “Qianwoo Cosmic Nation, Heilong Mountain Star Region, Milky Way Galaxy, Barten Planet.”
The thousand young warriors from various cosmic nations were all writing.
“Is this necessary? Just tell us the rendezvous point, and we can fly there ourselves in spaceships, right?”
“Yeah, no need to pick us up. It’s too much trouble.”
Someone in the crowd shouted.
The Mana on the stage smiled and said, “Because the journey spans many cosmic nations and is extremely, extremely distant, many civilian spaceships are slow in the ‘Dark Universe.’ Reaching the Universal Headquarters of our company would take a very long time. To save everyone’s time, naturally, our Virtual Universe Company will specially arrange the finest spaceships to come pick you up!”
“Among the thousand of you here today, the farthest one from our Universal Headquarters of the Virtual Universe Company is approximately 1.5 billion light-years away,” Mana smiled. “The distance ratio between the Dark Universe and the original universe is 1:10,081,000. Even traveling at 1x light speed in the Dark Universe, it would still take about 150 years to arrive.”
Silence!
The previously bustling meeting room suddenly fell silent, and even Luo Feng, who had been diligently writing his address, couldn’t help but look up.
150 years?
“Heavens, 150 years?” A feline humanoid youth in the corner exclaimed, “The farthest I’ve ever traveled by spaceship was only two months. A 150-year journey…”
The universe is indeed vast.
Back then, traveling from Earth to Yanlong Star was merely interstellar within the Heilong Mountain Star Region, which required ten days to half a month.
And that was just within a star region!
Above star regions are even larger ‘star zones,’ each cosmic nation’s star zone is incredibly vast! The farthest cosmic nation from the headquarters being 1.5 billion light-years away was not an exaggeration.
“If you all were to travel by your own spaceships,
1. It’s slow, taking too much time.
2. The energy consumption for such an ultra-long journey is tremendous.
3. Most importantly, traveling in the Dark Universe through certain special areas is unsafe, with cosmic pirates. Even other races might raid you. The safety of all of you here is crucial,” Mana on the stage smiled. “The best civilian spaceships in the Dark Universe only achieve several times light speed, making such an ultra-long journey still take an extremely long time.”
Luo Feng nodded.
In the original universe, reaching light speed, according to its operational laws, would directly transport you to the Dark Universe. In the Dark Universe, there is a lower limit for speed but no upper limit; as long as your spaceship can withstand it, you can continuously pursue the highest speed—1x, 2x, 3x?
The better your spaceship, the higher the speed achievable in the Dark Universe.
A Class-C Heilong spaceship’s maximum speed in the Dark Universe is 1.5x light speed. Even at maximum speed, traveling 1.5 billion light-years would still require 100 years of continuous flight in the Dark Universe.
“Beep!”
“Data collection complete.” Colorful lights fell on each person’s paper, and then a screen appeared at the front of the meeting hall. On the screen was a massive star map, along with some complex numerical symbols. After glancing at it, Mana turned to face the thousand people below with a smile: “Everyone, the addresses you’ve written have all been recorded. Based on your thousand different geographical locations and our spaceship resources, we’ve already calculated the optimal pickup plan.”
“How long will it take?”
“How long will the flight to the Universal Headquarters of the company take?” Many couldn’t help but ask from below.
Luo Feng also frowned, staring at Mana on the stage.
150 years? 100 years? Either way, it’s far too long.
“Because the distances vary, the speeds of the arranged spaceships will differ accordingly. We can guarantee that you will all arrive at the headquarters on the same day,” Mana smiled. “The estimated time is about three years.”
“Three years?”
“That short?”
“How is that possible? How fast must those spaceships be to cover 1.5 billion light-years in just three years?” Among the thousand people, including Luo Feng, most were highly experienced and not narrow-minded. Luo Feng had even participated in two Qianwoo auctions, yet he was still shocked.
A three-year journey in the Dark Universe covering 1.5 billion light-years meant achieving a speed of 50x light speed in the Dark Universe!
It was an inconceivable number.
Class-C spaceships usually only reached a bit over 1x light speed; even Class-E spaceships only achieved several times that. The spaceship Luo Feng obtained from the Machine Race had technology far surpassing human Class-E spaceships. Yet even that Machine Race spaceship could only approach 10x light speed in the Dark Universe.
“The Virtual Universe Company has arranged Class-F spaceships for each of you,” Mana on the stage smiled. “And not just the easily purchasable Class-F spaceships, but rather… special model Class-F spaceships from within our company, with internal technology far surpassing that of Class-F spaceships in various cosmic nations.”
Silence.
Stillness.
Stunned silence.
Class-F spaceships—when Hu Yanbo, the master of Yimo Star, spent countless efforts to obtain a single Yimo Star Class-F spaceship, and even many Immortal existences couldn’t afford one, it was evident how expensive and precious Class-F spaceships were. Many star-region-level empires, such as the Heilong Mountain Empire, didn’t even have a single Class-F spaceship in the entire empire.
As for cosmic nations, they generally had some, but most Class-F spaceships couldn’t reach a speed of 50x light speed in the Dark Universe.
“Monstrous!” To Luo Feng’s right sat the prince of Ranka Star.
Prince Wuka of Ranka Star stared at Mana on the stage, gritting his teeth as he muttered, “Absolutely monstrous! They actually dispatched a thousand Class-F spaceships at once, and with such incredible technology. My father once said… the Virtual Universe Company’s technological level is the pinnacle of human technology, but this is just too extreme.”
Among the human race, the Virtual Universe Company is number one in technology!
Even throughout the vast universe, among countless races, those capable of rivaling the Virtual Universe Company in technology could be counted on one’s fingers. It might only be a few monstrous races like the ‘Machine Race.’
“Mr. Mana, can we buy these Class-F spaceships?” Someone shouted.
“Yeah, can we buy them?” Prince Wuka of Ranka Star shouted.
“These are internal items of the Virtual Universe Company. Since all of you are core members of our company, of course, you can purchase them. However, they can only be used by yourselves and cannot be resold… If you wish to sell them, you must sell them back to the Virtual Universe Company,” Mana smiled. “However, Class-F spaceships are extremely expensive; many Immortals can’t afford them. So, please don’t rush. Focus on cultivation first. When you become super warriors of the Virtual Universe Company, the company might directly provide you with a Class-F spaceship for free.”
The group of young people below immediately made faces.
Super warriors? Being equipped with a Class-F spaceship?
To be provided for free, one must have reached an incredible level of strength. For this group of kids who were merely Stellar-Level, it was indeed too far away.
“Awesome,” Luo Feng couldn’t help muttering.
“Hey, maniac,” the Ranka Star youth, Wuka, leaned over and whispered, “Don’t listen to this guy’s bragging. There’s no such good thing in the world. If you gain something, you must have paid something in return. That’s what my father said! But let me tell you, the Virtual Universe Company is definitely a holy place for the human race, filled with countless treasures and secret techniques. Unfortunately, we couldn’t enter the Primordial Secret Realm, but it’s okay. We entered the Tai Chu Secret Realm, which also has many benefits. You’ll understand in the future.”
“Oh?” Luo Feng smiled and nodded.
“Just a notification for everyone,” Mana on the stage smiled. “The prize money for the top 1000 in the Genius War is currently being distributed. Everyone can check their accounts later when they return.”
“As for now, everyone may disperse and return. Later, our Virtual Universe Company will send out special letters to inform you of the exact time to pick you up. Please all be ready at the locations you wrote, don’t let us have trouble finding you.” Mana then smiled. “So, everyone, spend some time with your families and friends. Soon, you’ll all be leaving your hometowns for a long time.”
The once-bustling meeting room suddenly fell silent.
Indeed.
They would have to leave their hometowns for a long time. This journey to the Universal Headquarters of the Virtual Universe Company alone would take three years. This was only possible because the company dispatched precious Class-F spaceships to pick them up especially. It was undeniable that facing the vast universe… the time spent just on the journey alone was astonishing.
One by one, figures vanished from the meeting room, and everyone left.
…
At the moment of leaving, Luo Feng’s consciousness re-entered the virtual universe, directly appearing at the binding point, ‘Heilong Mountain Island, Nine-Star Bay Community.’
Whoosh!
Luo Feng appeared out of nowhere on the lawn, but his own lawn was empty.
“They’re not here?” Luo Feng shook his head and then smiled, “Right, I didn’t tell them the Genius War ended today.” The climax of the Genius War wasn’t broadcast live in real-time; instead, it was edited after the conclusion into a polished promotional video and some battle videos for rebroadcast. After all, many battles happened simultaneously and concluded quickly.
“My wife should be at her company now,” Luo Feng sat on a chair beside the lawn. “The company headquarters seems to have relocated to ‘Qianwoo Continent’ now. That’s pretty ruthless.”
Xu Xin had always been career-driven. Starting a business on Earth might not have brought much sense of achievement, so she entered the virtual universe to build her career. This virtual universe was the largest market for humanity, gathering nearly 100% of the elite from 1008 cosmic nations. So there were many companies operating in the virtual universe. With Luo Feng’s financial support, Xu Xin had a large starting capital and thus a fast start.
“Xiaohai and Pingping should be at the Qianwoo Dojo or in a virtual game,” Luo Feng muttered. “As for my parents, they should be in a virtual game too. I don’t know why, but my parents really enjoy those Chinese-style cultivation virtual games.”
In the virtual universe, there were millions of virtual games.
Games similar to Chinese cultivation themes might have slightly different names, but many were quite alike, which made his parents really enjoy playing them. His father even exclaimed, “I’ve always dreamed of this since I was a kid. To be able to experience various virtual games in this lifetime is truly exhilarating.”
Seeing his parents happy, Luo Feng naturally didn’t interfere much.
“I’m leaving. I’m going to be away from home for a very long time,” Luo Feng’s heart was complex. He somewhat understood Hong’s thoughts back then.
“Brother! You’re back?” Suddenly a voice rang out. Luo Hua was looking and shouting from the balcony on the third floor of a villa in the distance.
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