1: Chapter 1: The courier has arrived, activating the space station

Outside the Blue Star's atmosphere, countless pieces of space debris drifted.

No one had ever noticed that among them was a miniature Space Station, approximately 1 meter in diameter.

This miniature Space Station, composed of two modules, had been drifting in space for 230 million years.

On this day, the Space Station's indicator lights lit up, and its equipment began to operate.

And the story of this book begins precisely after this Space Station was activated.

...

July 1, 2054 AD.

Blue Star, Huaguo, Binjiang City.

Binjiang Hospital, Intensive Care Unit floor.

"Quick, quick, quick!"

"Seal off the entire floor! No one is allowed in or out!"

A group of people in white protective suits ran through the corridor. Two people were assigned to guard each door, quickly taking their positions.

Anyone in the patient rooms who tried to come out was blocked and sent back.

Another person, holding a megaphone, stood in the corridor, loudly issuing commands.

...

A certain residential area in Binjiang City.

"Hello, delivery."

"Delivery?" Oriental Chen thought for a moment; it seemed he hadn't bought anything recently.

He looked at the delivery slip, and his name was indeed written on it.

"Whoa!" He picked up the package; it was quite heavy.

The package was a large cardboard box, and judging by its appearance, it was most likely a computer host.

He carried the box into the living room, found a utility knife, and opened the package.

It was very well packaged inside, encased in thick foam boards.

He flipped the box over, mouth down, and lifted it.

He removed the foam packaging.

Inside was indeed a host.

This host looked a bit larger than a typical home host.

The materials used were solid, and the craftsmanship was good.

However, he hadn't bought this host, yet the recipient was him, which was a bit strange.

"Who exactly sent this?" Oriental Chen looked at the host, lost in thought.

"Hello, delivery!"

Another delivery.

Oriental Chen opened the door and saw the delivery man, panting, carrying a very large box on his back.

He hastily made way, letting the delivery man walk directly inside.

The delivery man put down the box, told him someone would come to install it later, asked him to wait patiently, and then turned and left.

He looked at the recipient; it was still him.

"What's going on?" Oriental Chen was confused.

The outer packaging had the product name printed on it: a 70-inch touch display.

He sat on the sofa, trying hard to recall, but he had no clue whatsoever.

He had no family; his only grandmother had passed away many years ago. He hadn't been in contact with relatives for many years either, so it couldn't be a gift from a family member.

He hadn't contacted his classmates in a long time, so these things couldn't have been sent by classmates either.

The delivery man left after delivering the goods, and it wasn't cash on delivery.

He got up again and walked to the package, looking at the delivery slip.

Fortunately, there was sender information on it.

So he picked up his phone and dialed the sender's phone number listed on it.

The other party was a technology company specializing in customizing various computer hosts.

"Hello, could you please help me check an order? I'll read you the order number..."

"I'd like to ask who placed this order?"

"Yes, that's right, this phone number is mine."

"My name is Oriental Chen."

"What? I placed the order?"

"Nothing else, thank you!"

The call was as good as not made.

He actually placed the order himself?

He opened his bank account and checked; thankfully!

Balance: 16.38 yuan, not a cent more, not a cent less.

He then opened the online shopping mall and checked; it wasn't in 'pending receipt' or 'completed orders'.

"I can't figure it out!"

Soon after, the installer arrived.

He took down the living room TV and replaced it with this touch display.

Since installation service was an added value service of the product, there was no extra charge, and the installer left after setting it up.

He connected the host to the display and then turned it on.

The screen displayed something.

"System loading, please wait..."

"Attempting to connect to the internet, please wait..."

"Connection successful!"

"Configuring language, please wait..."

"Querying authorization, please wait..."

"Loading authorization page, please wait..."

"Authorization page loaded!"

As the last prompt ended, the screen flickered, and a huge virtual human face appeared on the screen.

"Oriental Chen, hello, I've been waiting for you here for a long time!" An electronic synthetic voice came from the screen.

Hearing this voice, Oriental Chen felt a chill down his neck.

The more he looked, the stranger it seemed.

He hadn't performed any operations from start to finish, yet this system was able to directly connect to his home's wireless network, and the entire configuration process didn't require his participation.

That meant the other party already had all his information.

"How do you know my name?" Oriental Chen asked, frowning.

"I randomly extracted 100 candidate profiles with necessary information from databases worldwide, so of course, I know everyone's name," the virtual avatar replied.

"So, you completely understand my personal situation?" Oriental Chen asked.

"I already understand all the information that can be found on the internet," the electronic voice replied.

"Who exactly are you?" Oriental Chen asked.

"Sorry, to answer that question, authorization is required first," the electronic voice replied.

"How do I get authorization?" Oriental Chen asked.

"The authorization interface has been opened, please select a suitable authorization method," the electronic voice said.

Immediately after, a selection box appeared on the screen. There were three authorization methods in the selection box:

Fingerprint Authorization

Iris Authorization (Recommended)

Gene Authorization (Unavailable)

Oriental Chen selected Iris Authorization.

"Please move closer to the camera," the electronic voice replied.

Oriental Chen moved a bit closer.

"Verifying, please wait..."

"Verification successful!"

"Congratulations, authorization successful!"

Immediately after, the screen flickered, and a line of text appeared:

"Downloading core control program, please wait patiently..."

Above the text was a large percentage: 2%.

At this point, the screen was completely inoperable, and the virtual avatar that had been speaking was also gone.