Qing Chen felt as if he were in a place where multiple worlds converged, with elements of Egyptian pharaohs, steampunk, Western cowboys, DC universe, Marvel universe, and Star Wars all mixed together.
The crocodile spoke up, "This new player is white! Steal him!"
Suddenly, Qingchen felt that he had been somewhat hasty.
So white people aren't very popular in the superconducting world?! I've just made the game harder for no reason; the experience is terrible!
Qing Chen turned and ran, familiarizing himself with his own strength as he ran.
Without a doubt, his A-level strength was not brought into the superconducting world, nor were any forbidden items. He is now only slightly better than an ordinary person.
However, though the strength is gone, the skills remain.
He was extremely experienced in killing and fighting back.
In an instant, Qing Chen's body came to a sudden stop while running. This transition from motion to stillness was so fast that it had a breathtaking beauty.
Qing Chen turned around and threw a punch, aiming straight for the opponent's vital spleen. Even if a normal person throws a punch, hitting the spleen will rupture it!
However, just as he turned around, he saw the steampunk player's air pump gun fire, and Qingchen's world suddenly went dark.
Holy crap.
He died.
A voice came from the system: "The player has died and will be forcibly logged out for one hour."
Qing Chen sat up from the virtual pod. The Lord of Daylight was playing a virtual world game in the Western Continent, but he got off to a bad start and was instantly killed...
This has nothing to do with whether he has skills or strength; he doesn't even know how the other party killed him!
Yi sat next to the virtual pod, propping his head up with his hand: "How did we get out so quickly?!"
"Ahem," Qingchen said, "My first step is to get a general understanding of what the superconducting world is like, and then I'll come back and share it with you. Aren't you curious about what it's like inside? I have to tell you."
Yi cheered up: "Qingchen, you're so nice."
"Um……"
Chapter 793, The Tiger and the Lamb
Yi, resting his chin on his hand, asked from the side, "So what's it like in the superconducting world?"
Qing Chen stood there, stunned.
Yeah, what's the superconducting world like? He hasn't seen much of it either...
Qingchen searched his memory for everything he had seen: "It was a huge futuristic city..."
Yi listened with great interest, but after five minutes, he realized there was no follow-up: "And then?"
And that was it!
Qing Chen changed the subject: "Yi, I suspect that in that superconducting world, there is an artificial intelligence life form just like you. I don't know its name yet, but when I asked it if it was lonely, it was silent for two seconds."
"You mean there's another AI just like me?" Yi asked incredulously.
Qing Chen said, "According to the progress of science and technology, if the Eastern Continent can give birth to artificial intelligence life, the Western Continent can naturally do the same. It's just a matter of the order in which they happen."
Previously, he had seriously considered how to define life.
Does it help with metabolism? No.
Can it reproduce or self-replicate? No.
Because this proposition is flawed from the start, what Qingchen really wants to ask is: Are you an intelligent life form?
He pondered for a long time before finally asking the question: How do we define intelligent life?
In Qingchen's view, the ability to feel loneliness is the standard for defining intelligent life.
Life is like a journey, and only when one is free from material needs will one seek spiritual sustenance.
Sometimes at a banquet, watching people come and go, you feel like nothing belongs to you.
Sometimes when you look back, there is no one left to walk with you.
Loneliness is probably when you look around and see a bustling crowd, but no one shares your feelings.
Humans may be able to endure various kinds of suffering, such as hunger or oppression, but it is very difficult to endure the most painful of all: utter loneliness.
Qingchen patted Yi's head and said, "Although I regard you as a real girl, I know that you have always longed for your own kind. This is a species difference that I cannot bridge. So I am quite happy today, perhaps you will have a new friend in the future."
However, Yi asked with concern, "But won't he be unfriendly, like Zero?"
At this point, Yi hesitated. She was used to interacting with humans while disguised, and now, as an AI, she didn't know how to interact with other AIs.
Qingchen thought for a moment and said, "It's okay. It's right that you're worried. I'm not sure if the other party has good intentions. How about I learn more about this AI before we talk about it?"
"Well, why don't you tell me what's in the superconducting world first?" Yi said.
Qing Chen: "..."
They didn't manage to fool us.
Qing Chen patiently said, "Yi, please wait a moment. I have some questions to ask those Black and Asian people. By the way, have any of them been behaving strangely?"
"No, I brought in all the drones from outside, so they didn't dare to do anything."
As Qing Chen stepped out of the virtual room, he was shocked to see hundreds of drones patrolling outside, giving Black and Asian people no chance to rebel.
Qingchen called over a small black dog: "I'll ask you a question. If you answer it well, I'll let you take one more thing with you when you leave the island."
Xiao Hei nodded quickly.
"Have you ever entered the superconducting world?" Qing Chen asked.
Xiao Hei said, "I've been in there before, Chang Jin."
"Huh, how come you can get into the virtual storage?" Qing Chen asked in confusion. "Aren't you from the lowest rungs of society? How come you have money to buy virtual storage?"
Xiao Hei explained, “We are slaves. Our ancestors committed crimes, and our descendants are all slaves. My slave owner is the King of the Kingdom Organization. He likes the Superconducting World. He will send us slaves into the virtual pods to help him obtain some materials, or to enter game instances to help him speedrun records... These things are ranked, and the top 100 can get money.”
Qing Chen thought to himself, "Isn't this just a low-cost power leveling service and gold farming group? As long as they provide food, they're happy."
Xiao Hei continued, "If we fail to obtain materials, or if we don't get enough, we'll get beaten up."
As he spoke, he took off his shirt, and Qingchen saw that his chest and back were covered in whip marks.
Unable to bear it any longer, she asked, "Is no one going to do anything about it?"
Xiao Hei said, "Slaves are the private property of slave owners; they can be killed at will."
Qing Chen asked, "What is the use of money in the superconducting world?"
Xiao Hei paused for a moment: "That's digital currency, which has long been pegged to the currency of the Roosevelt Kingdom. The Superconducting World has its own foreign exchange reserves, and can settle the cash you withdraw from the Superconducting World according to exchange rate fluctuations, so many people rely on the Superconducting World to make money."
"Who owns the superconducting world?"
“It’s a superconducting company owned by the Roosevelt family, or strictly speaking, it belongs to the King,” Xiao Hei said.
Qing Chen shook his head and fell into deep thought. A company with an owner cannot be completely decentralized, and no regime would allow a 'completely' decentralized world to exist, because it is a country within a country!
The metaverse has always been a false proposition. As long as someone can intervene and manage it, it cannot be called the true metaverse.
Qing Chen asked, "Let's put that aside for now. I have a question for you: what is the status of white people in the superconducting world? I feel like everyone seems to have a grudge against white people?"
Xiao Hei laughed: "You're not from the Western Continent, so you don't know, but white people have a high status in reality, but in the Superconducting World, everyone hates them."
According to Xiao Hei, the social classes in the Western Continent are divided into kings, nobles, citizens, free people, and slaves.
The kingship is a legacy passed down through the Roosevelt family, from one generation to the next.
Nobility is divided into dukes, earls, and barons.
There are only four dukes, each ruling one of the four cities. The Duke of Storm City is the hereditary ruler, and the title can be passed down from generation to generation.
Next are citizens. White people are born citizens, while Black people and Asians are considered inferior free citizens.
Citizens can hold public office, but free citizens cannot.
Citizens who serve one year in the military can directly become officers.
Black and Asian free citizens must serve ten years in the military before they can become citizens, and even then, they have to compete for a limited number of spots.
Slaves were either descendants of criminals or from the defeated side in an earlier civil war within the kingdom, and could be freely bought and sold.
Only citizens, nobles, and kings could possess slaves and private armed forces.
This is the class system in reality, but it's quite different in the superconducting world. Nobody knows anyone else, and you can't find anyone from the real world even if you fight them.
So when Black people and Asians meet white people, they settle all old and new grudges at once, and of course, they fight to the death...
Qingchen sighed, regretting that he hadn't known about this sooner.
This incident also demonstrates that the superconducting world is indeed decentralized. Otherwise, would the high and mighty white people and aristocrats tolerate being targeted like this in a virtual world? They would have already traced the IP address and killed people through the internet!
This made Qingchen feel even more that something was strange about this world; it couldn't possibly be under the control of the Roosevelt family.
When he thought about this, he realized that the matter was not so simple. Perhaps the relationship between the superconducting world and the Roosevelt royal family was more complicated, which led to the emergence of such a distorted product in society.
Qing Chen asked, "So, is the starting point for newcomers fixed?"
“Yes,” Xiao Hei nodded, “There is only one city in the superconducting world, and the city has 100 new player spawn points. Everyone has to start over after they die, even if they are an S-rank master. If they die, they become a new F-rank, and they lose their money, equipment, and level.”
Just like in the real world, life is only once, and it cannot be repeated.
Qing Chen muttered under his breath, "There's no safe zone or newbie protection or anything like that. This is just too realistic."
Yi asked doubtfully, "Is something wrong with you?"
"No," Qing Chen said casually, "I was just asking, don't overthink it. By the way, do all newlyweds have a key in their pocket when they are 'born'?"
His key has been stolen...
Xiao Hei said, "That's a free dungeon access given away by the Superconducting World. After you use it up, you'll need to buy a key."
"I see," Qing Chen nodded. Fortunately, the key wasn't anything particularly crucial. It seemed those people were guarding the spawn point not to kill him for no reason, but specifically to steal the Multiverse Key from the newbie gift pack and kill him along the way.
Does this superconducting world have no laws? People just kill each other like that?
"By the way, isn't there a punishment for intentionally killing someone?" Qingchen asked, puzzled.
“Oh, there are a lot of desperados. After they kill someone, they can’t buy things from the store anymore, but they can get their gangs to buy them for them…” Xiao Hei said thoughtfully, “Actually, the people guarding the spawn point are just small gangs. The big players don’t bother with this kind of thing, since the keys aren’t expensive.”