337: virtual reality

Hearing Lin Tianwei’s words, Luo Ji was immediately stunned.

He never expected that a prominent figure like Lin Tianwei would apologize to him.

Moreover, he was willing to offer him protection for such a minor matter.

An invisible sense of gratitude filled Luo Ji’s heart, and he said with great conviction:

"Udo? Giving him face by calling him ‘sir’ and he actually dares to act so presumptuously."

"Daring to offend Zeta, he truly seeks his own demise."

"Zeta, rest assured, the Lotus Slave Market is, after all, one of the top powers."

"As a member of the Lotus Slave Market, as long as I, Luo Ji, don't make mistakes, there's no need to be afraid."

"The one who truly should apologize is me."

"It was my poor judgment that allowed an idiot like Udo to offend Zeta's ears."

Just then, the familiar communication sound rang out again.

Luo Ji looked down and saw that it was Udo calling.

It must be said that Udo was truly thick-skinned.

Even after being scorned by Lin Tianwei, he still had the audacity to call again shamelessly.

However, what responded to him was Luo Ji's ruthless hang-up.

He would not allow Udo's voice to continue polluting Lin Tianwei's ears.

Not only that, Luo Ji even blacklisted Udo right in front of Lin Tianwei.

Clearly, in Luo Ji's eyes, Udo's importance couldn't even compare to a single tiger hair of Lin Tianwei.

The astute Luo Ji knew who was truly worth currying favor with.

Facing Luo Ji's resolute answer, Lin Tianwei merely shook his head slightly.

In this dangerous universe, strength is the foundation of everything.

Although Udo was foolish, since he was capable of hunting Cosmic Level Tier 3 Cosmic Beasts, his strength couldn't be too bad.

Even with the protection of the Lotus Slave Market, the methods he could use to deal with Luo Ji were simply too numerous.

A few subtle obstacles, both overt and covert, would be enough to make it impossible for Luo Ji to survive in the Lotus Slave Market.

Thinking of this, Lin Tianwei said: "My promise is long-term; I hope you, Luo Ji, don't gamble with your life."

"No matter when, where, or what kind of opponent you face, as long as you seek my protection, I will guarantee your safety."

Luo Ji was moved, incredibly moved.

If he didn't feel unworthy, he would have truly wanted to express that he no longer wished to strive and only wanted to cling to Lin Tianwei's leg for protection.

Ultimately, Luo Ji did not refuse Lin Tianwei's kind offer, but merely nodded vigorously, saying:

"I will remember!"

Quite clever.

Lin Tianwei made a judgment about Luo Ji in his heart, saying: "Alright, this acquisition ends here."

"Be patient; the Lotus Auction is what truly deserves attention."

"The treasures at the auction are the real targets worth focusing on."

After the interlude with Udo, Lin Tianwei no longer had the mood for shopping.

No one would have an appetite after being disgusted by a fly while eating.

Taking out a massive head from his Tiger Tooth Space, Lin Tianwei intended to continue eating.

He would reinforce his body through this most primitive method.

There was still some time before the Lotus Auction officially began, so he could fully continue to enjoy the delicacies he had acquired this time.

The moment Lin Tianwei took out this head, a vast pressure instantly arrived, making the entire space feel heavy.

That was the pressure of a strong individual, the pressure of a Cosmic Level strong individual!

Even though the body was dead, even while being suppressed by a formation, there was still lingering power,

Enough to make the weak tremble in fear.

Most notably, Luo Ji's body visibly trembled.

Clearly, he was resisting the lingering power emanating from this head.

It's just that he didn't know why, when facing another body remnant, the previous arm didn't put as much pressure on Luo Ji.

The answer might lie within this head.

This head, riddled with holes yet still incredibly ferocious.

Dense, spiky bones covered this head, making it look quite intimidating.

Wounds of various sizes covered the entire head; clearly, this was a head that had endured a great battle.

The owner of the head ultimately did not win this battle.

Not only were the spikes on its head shattered, with ferocious wounds everywhere, but its very being also became the victor's spoils.

Sold at a high price, it was utterly miserable.

The universe is such a brutal battlefield where the strong prey on the weak.

Not strong enough? Then sooner or later, you will become the enemy's food.

However, this terrifying head could not exert any pressure on Lin Tianwei; instead, it made Lin Tianwei's appetite grow.

Although this head had a poor appearance, Lin Tianwei had a premonition that its taste would be even better than the previous arm.

Talent: Giant Maw (Extraordinary)!

Lin Tianwei opened his mouth into a terrifying arc, like an abyss, and directly swallowed the head in one gulp.

Unlike snakes that slowly devour their prey, Lin Tianwei, with his Sharp Teeth Talent, was not afraid of the head being tough to chew,

And immediately began to chew loudly.

For a moment, crunching sounds were incessant, exceptionally loud in the quiet space.

At this moment, Luo Ji recovered from the lingering power of the head, looking at Lin Tianwei with lingering fear.

He never expected this Cosmic Beast to be so powerful; merely the remnant of a head was enough to terrify him.

However, such a powerful entity was now being devoured by Lin Tianwei like mere food.

Thinking this, Luo Ji became even more apprehensive of Lin Tianwei.

Weak Cosmic Beasts like himself didn't even qualify to be devoured by the lord... This meal took much longer than Lin Tianwei had imagined.

The owner of this head might have been a Cosmic Level Tier 4 entity, or an even more powerful Cosmic Beast.

Even though it was already dead, and even though Lin Tianwei possessed a powerful Talent, it still took him some effort to completely chew up its head.

Eventually, it was completely absorbed, all transforming into his own energy.

"Ding, congratulations Host! Talent: Mental Food (King) takes effect. After eating, Strength attribute +500,000! Constitution attribute +500,000! Agility attribute +500,000! Mental Power attribute +200,000!"

Although this head gave Lin Tianwei a bit of trouble, the effect was also extremely significant.

The attribute boost for Lin Tianwei was even five times that of the previous arm.

It seems that the principle of 'you get what you pay for' doesn't always apply.

In comparison, the previous arm seemed terribly diluted.

It's truly unknown where Udo got the courage to demand three thousand units of origin from Lin Tianwei; it was incredibly foolish.

After devouring this head, Lin Tianwei had little time left.

Without continuing to consume other food, Lin Tianwei chose to wait patiently for the Lotus Auction to begin.

It would be a great loss if he missed the most important event of this trip for such trivial gains.

Fortunately.

The Lotus Auction did not make Lin Tianwei wait long; the time for it to begin soon arrived.

This led to the initial scene, where Lin Tianwei used Zeta's identity to access the auction through a dedicated network.

Although it was a virtual network, this palace was incredibly real, exuding an unusual sense of authenticity.

Touching the surrounding architecture, he could even feel a real texture.

It was as if the moment Lin Tianwei connected to the network, his body had already traversed into another world.

However, Lin Tianwei knew this was completely impossible.

The Lotus Auction dared not, nor did it have the ability, to do such a thing to his body.

Sure enough, after briefly closing his eyes and meditating for a moment, Lin Tianwei sensed another self.

Himself, still in Luo Ji's reception room.

The seemingly real scene before him was merely a virtual one, and his current self was nothing more than a projection of consciousness.

After discerning all of this, Lin Tianwei also gained the ability to return to the real world.

With just a thought, his consciousness could return to his body, and his safety was greatly enhanced.

After all, a body without conscious protection is the most vulnerable thing.

However, one still had to marvel at the Lotus Auction's virtual world technology.

If he hadn't known beforehand that he had entered a virtual world, Lin Tianwei might have found it very difficult to discover his true situation.

Touching the stone table beside him, a real sensation came, and Lin Tianwei felt that this place was unbelievably real, just like a genuinely existing world.

This was the virtual reality technology that Blue Star humans dreamed of, yet it had been easily realized in the universe.

Not only that, but it could also connect so many powerful Cosmic Beasts, which was quite impressive.

This kind of virtual reality-like technology also gave Lin Tianwei some ideas, some thoughts for the future development of Blue Star.

Allowing Blue Star creatures to directly enter the universe was extremely dangerous.

In that case, it would be better to train them first in a virtual world.

Using a method like playing a sci-fi virtual reality game to help them quickly adapt to this completely changed world.

Thinking of this, Lin Tianwei said meaningfully: "This technology of the Lotus Auction is truly quite good."

"It even made me feel the illusion that this is reality."

"If my perception wasn't exceptionally strong, even knowing the truth here, I still wouldn't be able to see through it."

Speaking of this virtual network established by the Lotus Auction, Luo Ji, as a member of the Lotus Slave Market, was also incredibly proud, saying with pride:

"Of course, this virtual universe is a product born from the painstaking efforts of countless Cosmic Beasts."

"For many Cosmic Beasts, it is a completely real existence."

"In fact, even after knowing this is a virtual world, I can't feel any difference between it and reality."

"If it weren't for many auxiliary functions and a logout backdoor, if I stayed too long, I might even think this was the real world."

"And precisely because the virtual world is incredibly real, it's also used for Slave training."

"In fact, if it weren't for such a realistic virtual world, the Lotus Slave Market might not have been able to train so many suitable Slaves."

"Slaves are, after all, Slaves, incredibly cheap. If too many resources are spent on them, it would become a losing business."

"If it weren't for the grandeur of this auction, the Lotus Slave Market would truly be unwilling to bring out such a treasure."

"Maintaining the virtual world consumes an terrifying amount of energy every second."

"Not only that, but the virtual world itself is also extremely complex; in the Sirius Star Region, only the top forces possess it."

"It is said that initially, Cosmic Beasts did not master the method of building a virtual world; they only had the simplest virtual technology."

"However, after killing a sovereign-level Mech Clan member and obtaining a segment of Core Code, this changed."

"Inspired by the Core Code, simple virtual technology was elevated, and the virtual world was born, giving Cosmic Beasts a second world of their own."

"Of course, very few Cosmic Beasts can enjoy this second world; the virtual world is more of a forbidden treasure for various major forces."

At this point, Luo Ji paused and added:

"There's another theory: the reason the virtual world is so real is because it is a true world, a true world of consciousness."

"It's precisely because the Mech Clan has a special physical structure that allows them to materialize consciousness into code, which is why they were able to access the existence of the virtual world earlier than Cosmic Beasts."

"Even the virtual world we are currently using is only a small part of the Core Code's power, not the complete form of the virtual world."

"After all, this is a spoil of war obtained from the Mech Clan; even if the Cosmic Beasts were incredibly bold, they wouldn't dare to fully trust it."

"They can only use it cautiously, ensuring that it poses no harm to the Cosmic Beasts."

At this point, Luo Ji seemed to suddenly realize Lin Tianwei's thoughts and immediately said in a terrified tone:

"Zeta, you absolutely must not think about purchasing a virtual universe; that is simply impossible."

Facing the frightened Luo Ji, Lin Tianwei asked with a hint of amusement: "Impossible? The word 'impossible' is not in my dictionary."

"Tell me, then, why can't I obtain a virtual world?"

"Why can the Lotus Slave Market obtain one, but I cannot?"

As he spoke, a powerful confidence emanated from Lin Tianwei, immediately causing Luo Ji's body to tremble, and he even began to believe Lin Tianwei's idea.

The idea that Lin Tianwei could obtain a virtual world of his own.

However, he quickly sobered up, expelling this ridiculous thought from his mind, and said in horror:

"Zeta, please be careful with your words!"

"Due to its connection with our mortal enemies, the Mech Clan, the virtual world is a very taboo existence."

"This isn't a matter of money, but another very serious issue."

"If you cannot guarantee that you are unrelated to the Mech Clan, and possess the ability to monitor the entire virtual world to prevent your virtual world from being exploited by the Mech Clan, then even if you possess hundreds of billions of units of origin, you will absolutely not be able to obtain a virtual world."

"There was once a powerful sovereign-level Cosmic Beast who tried to apply for a virtual network of his own."

"Even after paying a price of ten trillion units of origin, he still did not succeed."