Chapter 59: The Exclusive Support AI

Of the two rewards, one was citizenship in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire, and the other was a specialized auxiliary optical computer crafted exclusively for him by the system.

Once he fastened this auxiliary optical computer, which resembled a bracer, onto his arm, a virtual projection immediately appeared before Wang Kun’s eyes.

“Master, I am your dedicated auxiliary optical intelligence.”

From the information relayed by the auxiliary optical computer, Wang Kun quickly understood its purpose. It turned out that, since the system was aware of the existence of the all-knowing Virtual Universe Network in this world, it had created this evolving intelligent lifeform for him to conceal the secret of his ability to traverse worlds. Moreover, it was capable of preventing detection by the Virtual Universe Network.

Additionally, once Wang Kun activated the auxiliary optical computer, his Black Dragon Mountain Empire citizenship was immediately bound to a Virtual Universe account.

Now, he could access the Virtual Universe Network at any time. The 100 billion Qianwu coins previously awarded to him by the system had already been deposited into his Galactic Bank account.

“This time, the system’s reward is truly convenient. I haven’t even left Earth yet, and I can already enter the Virtual Universe Network,” Wang Kun thought, unable to contain his delight.

The next two days saw Wang Kun almost entirely immersed in the world of the Virtual Universe Network.

Thanks to his immense wealth—one hundred billion Qianwu coins—he purchased a large mansion on Black Dragon Mountain Island in the Virtual Universe. Thereafter, whenever he accessed the Virtual Universe Network, he would appear inside his own house rather than in a public area.

During these two days, Wang Kun also amassed a wealth of knowledge about the universe. Of course, all this information was available on the surface, such as brief introductions to the various universe nations under the Qianwu Universe Nation, the five major human factions, and some of the powers within the Black Dragon Mountain Universe Nation.

After this preliminary research, Wang Kun made his way to a wilderness area, retrieved his B9-class spaceship from his storage ring, and prepared for his next step.

“Welcome aboard, Master. I am the main control intelligence of this spaceship. Where would you like to go?” came the greeting from the vessel’s intelligence.

Since this ship was a reward from the system, its main intelligence had set Wang Kun as its default master.

A brief inspection was all he needed to realize that, whenever he wished, he could use this ship to embark on adventures throughout the universe.

However, Wang Kun had no intention of leaving Earth so soon. For the sake of safety, he decided that he would wait until he reached the Star level himself, or until Mo Yunvine advanced to the Cosmic level, before setting out to explore.

“Let’s go to Mars first,” Wang Kun quickly commanded the ship’s intelligence.

He knew that, in the world of Swallowed Star, Mars was home to a source of mysterious iron ore. In the original story, Luo Feng had discovered a considerable amount of mysterious iron on Mars.

Before long, Wang Kun piloted his ship away from Earth. This was his first time venturing into outer space, and at present, he was only at the Planetary level.

At the Planetary level, he could only fly within Earth’s atmosphere; his strength wasn’t sufficient to survive in the cold vacuum of space. Only upon reaching the Star level would he be able to travel through the universe relying on his own body, without concern for breathing or oxygen.

Of course, even the Star level would only allow for free movement through space. Long-distance interstellar travel was another matter entirely. Not even those at the Star or Cosmic level, or even Domain Lords, could traverse the vast distances between galaxies unaided. The universe was simply too immense—only World Lords and the Undying could truly cross the cosmos by their own power.

On the surface of Mars, a black, disc-shaped spaceship hovered above a massive pyramid structure.

“This must be the mysterious iron mine on Mars,” Wang Kun mused. In an instant, his figure vanished from the ship and reappeared beneath the pyramid through teleportation.

Immediately, the system in his mind responded.

Ding! Special location detected: (Activated. Current special location detected: Martian mysterious iron vein.)

Delighted by the system’s pleasant chime, Wang Kun silently recited the system’s activation phrase in his heart.

“Deep Blue, I want to check in!”

Ding! Check-in successful!

Ding! Host has checked in successfully. Congratulations, host, you have received: 100 billion tons of mysterious iron, 1 billion tons of refined mysterious iron.

The items obtained from this special location check-in were not as valuable as the previous rewards. Wang Kun merely glanced at them and paid them little further attention.

As for the mysterious iron mine on Mars, adhering to his philosophy of never leaving a bargain unclaimed, he promptly stored the entire mine in his spatial storage.

The storage ring he had acquired from the last check-in on the Fallen Ink Starship was vast inside; with any ordinary storage ring, even hundreds of times the amount of this iron would not fill it.

In the days that followed, Wang Kun entered what he called “sage mode,” spending his time exploring the Virtual Universe Network daily.

He also entered the Slaughter Arena for live combat training.

However, after several bouts of practical training, Wang Kun clearly sensed the gap between himself and other strong contenders of his rank.

At present, apart from his teleportation ability, Wang Kun had no real advantages over most of his peers across the universe. He had yet to comprehend a domain, nor had he grasped any laws; his mastery of secret techniques was also rather lackluster.

If not for his teleportation, even as a Spiritual Force Master, he would likely be evenly matched with someone like Thunder God in direct combat.

As for Hong, who possessed a domain, Wang Kun knew that without teleportation, he would stand no chance.

Although he was well aware that his strength was still far from sufficient, there wasn’t much he could do about it. His talent and comprehension were simply mediocre. Among all the secret techniques of the Fallen Ink Star lineage, he had only managed to learn a few rudimentary techniques for Spiritual Force Masters.

As for advanced spatial secret arts like the Thousand-Thread Flow, he was nowhere near even grasping the basics.

…