After entering the holographic network, Lu Qiao became a virtual avatar. He hadn’t put much effort into customizing his face, so his virtual appearance was extremely ordinary, the kind of face you could find anywhere. Even his voice had been automatically adjusted by the system, giving him a soft, youthful boyish voice.
The network was indeed somewhat laggy today. Clearly, everyone had flocked online.
Just as Lu Qiao and Yan Qiu took off from the Central Star, the C1 Star Domain Administration held an emergency press conference to explain the situation.
By then, Xingbo had completely exploded with activity. Almost all the trending posts and top searches were discussing this matter.
Netizens were actually quite optimistic about the existence of the World Core System. Mainly because the World Core System was simply too powerful. There was no way everyone could do anything about it, so all they could do was joke around and entertain themselves.
The netizens were having a great time, but Lu Qiao was starting to question his entire existence as he scrolled through the posts.
Among the people who had been locked together, there really were quite a lot who secretly had feelings for each other. The scholars at the C1 Star Domain Administration hadn’t even reached a conclusion yet, but some netizens were already convinced that only people who secretly loved each other would be locked together.
“I’m in exactly this situation myself. Seeing that everyone else is like this too, I guess it’s probably true.”
“Hahaha, what is this? A massive matchmaking event?”
“The little virus has gotten cute again, 23333.”
“If anyone who’s been locked together is still completely confused, come online and take a look. Get to know yourself a little, hahaha!”
Lu Qiao: “……”
He absolutely did not need this kind of “self-discovery”!
But when he thought of Yan Qiu holding his hand, the way he had looked at him in the mirror, and a few other things he had done, Lu Qiao couldn’t help having the tiniest little doubt arise in his heart……
The next second, he crushed that tiny doubt.
Although Yan Qiu’s behavior had been somewhat subtle, he had always maintained that calm expression. A few times, it had been obvious that he was teasing him.
Maybe he was just overthinking things. Or perhaps after five years, Yan Qiu’s personality really had changed somewhat.
After all, he simply couldn’t imagine what it would look like for that man to secretly have a crush on another man. The two of them should both be straight men!
Saying that he and Yan Qiu secretly loved each other was simply absurd.
Yan Qiu had definitely seen all those comments online too. He was probably speechless about them.
Lu Qiao muttered under his breath.
Fortunately, there were also plenty of people online refuting those claims.
“I got locked with my mortal enemy. What do you have to say about that? [Smile] I want to smash his head every second of every day. [Dog Head]”
“Same here. Oh my god, everyone else got locked together with someone they like, so why did I get stuck with someone like this? My heart hurts……”
“I was adopted. I just got locked together with my older brother, and after my adoptive parents saw what everyone was saying online, they’ve already started discussing moving my household registration out so it’ll be more convenient for me to marry my brother in the future. But I only see him as my brother! [Pouting]”
“My roommate and I got locked together. Things are pretty awkward in the dorm right now.”
Lu Qiao read a few more comments, then put the matter aside. He exited Xingbo and entered the Xiyue Online Complex.
The Xiyue Online Complex combined commercial retail, dining, education, and entertainment. Lu Qiao had registered his name at an online training center in the education district. As long as he went online and someone specifically requested him as a sparring partner, he could make money.
Of course, not just anyone could register their name at an online training center. Generally, they had to pass an official online assessment first. Although Lu Qiao’s genetic stability was poor, his physical combat skills were absolutely top-notch. His fighting style was known for agility and speed, so quite a few people who needed to hone their physical combat skills liked finding opponents like him to spar against.
He stayed at the training center for an hour and took on two clients, about the same as usual.
One of the two today was a military academy student nearing graduation. He should be able to enter the military without a hitch, which made Lu Qiao a little envious.
The other was only fourteen years old and was just there because he thought it was fun. During the match, he spent more time showering Lu Qiao with exaggerated praise than actually fighting. Even after Lu Qiao pinned him to the ground, he was still shouting, “Wow, you’re amazing!” and “You’re so awesome!” It left Lu Qiao both amused and exasperated.
After an hour, he could only count it as a little stretching of his muscles and bones.
After leaving the training center, he checked the time. It was still early, so he transformed into a white Java sparrow and began flapping his wings with little “pat-pat” sounds as he flew toward the game arcade.
After entering the holographic network, Yan Qiu first entered the military’s internal network and trained there for a while.
He simply couldn’t concentrate his thoughts. After stopping, he glanced at the time and thought for a moment before switching to the external network.
It had been a long time since he had gone onto the holographic external network. Faced with the various app entrances his parents had downloaded earlier, he fell into deep thought.
Suddenly, a window popped up. It was a message from a friend.
The virtual account he was using had been registered after he entered the military. There weren’t many friends on his list.
The message was from Luo Ye.
“You’re actually on the external network? Weren’t you locked together with someone? Why are you online at this hour just to kill time? ……A beautiful night is short, Marshal [Smiling].”
Yan Qiu glanced at it and waved the dialog box away, continuing to stare at the apps in thought.
Less than two seconds later, Luo Ye sent another message.
“Want to come over? I’m at Xiyue. [Portal]”
Yan Qiu was silent for a moment before clicking the portal, transferring to an extremely noisy place.
There were all kinds of arcade machines and game rooms not far away, with crowds gathered around them. Music, shouts, and laughter were all mixed together. Yan Qiu frowned slightly.
A few meters away, a blond man stood up from a sofa and waved at him.
There were several other people sitting on the sofa, chatting animatedly.
Yan Qiu paused, then walked over.
The Xiyue game arcade was actually much like a general chatroom. Because there were plenty of sofas and the atmosphere was lively, people who came out from other areas liked to rest here. Lu Qiao had been at Xiyue for a long time and had gotten to know several people. They had never met each other in real life, nor were they online every day, but whenever they happened to run into each other, they would always chat casually for a few minutes.
Just now, several of them had been talking about the World Virus. As the two girls chatted, one of them suddenly laughed and said, “I have a friend who really wants to know whether Yan Qiu got locked with someone. She’s his fan!”
The other girl excitedly said, “I want to know too! He looks so cold and indifferent. He doesn’t seem like the type who would have someone he secretly likes!”
The moment before, Lu Qiao had been chatting enthusiastically. The moment after, he instinctively muted himself.
The girl continued, “I wonder if he’s gotten even more handsome. There are only pictures of him from when he was at school online. So many years have passed. He must have become even more manly!”
The other girl said, “Aaaah! Men always get more handsome after training in the military! Yan Qiu was already a total dreamboat. Now he must be the ultimate dreamboat!”
As Lu Qiao listened, he unconsciously nodded his little bird head.
The two girls immediately whipped their heads toward him.
Lu Qiao came back to his senses and thought, Oh no.
One of the girls was already covering her mouth and laughing.
“Hey, Qiao Qiao, did you just nod?”
Lu Qiao felt guilty. “I-I didn’t!”
The other girl said, “You did, you did! I saw it! Qiao Qiao, you always refuse to admit you’re a brainless Marshal fan, hahaha!”
Lu Qiao retorted, “I’m not some brainless fan!”
“Okay, okay, we know. You’re never going to admit it, hahaha!”
Lu Qiao flared up in embarrassment. “I said I’m not!”
He flapped his wings hard twice, wobbling in the air, and accidentally bumped into someone behind him. When he turned sideways to look, he saw an unfamiliar, extremely handsome man with an expressionless face.
The handsome man gave him nothing more than an indifferent glance before walking toward the sofa and taking a seat beside one of the blond men among them.
That blond man’s username was “Luo Ye.” Everyone knew that “Luo Ye” was the name of the Empire’s current Third Prince.
Of course, the Third Prince Luo Ye was a refined, handsome man with black hair and blue eyes. This Luo Ye, on the other hand, was a blond punk with a ridiculous hairstyle who laughed and joked around all day. As for his appearance in the real world, needless to say—it definitely couldn’t be the real person!
The Empire had no restrictions in this regard. There were countless people online using the same names, and everyone was used to it.
One of the girls casually asked, “Luo Ye, your friend?”
Luo Ye had someone beside him make room for Yan Qiu. After Yan Qiu sat down, he smiled brightly and said, “Yeah. Let me introduce you guys. His name is Yan Qiu.”
Everyone froze for a moment.
They looked at the handsome man who, although good-looking, didn’t resemble that “Yan Qiu” in the slightest, and burst out laughing!
Lu Qiao secretly thought to himself that probably no one could guess that Yan Qiu himself was lying right beside him.
The girl covered her mouth and laughed as she said to Luo Ye, “Are you and your friends all into this kind of style? You’re called Luo Ye, he’s called Yan Qiu. What other celebrities are there among your friends?”
Luo Ye cooperated fully. “Plenty. I’ll introduce you guys some other time.”
“Hahahaha! Then when you all make a group appearance someday, try your best to make yourselves look like the real people so you can shock us, okay?”
Luo Ye smiled like a fox, while Yan Qiu remained expressionless.
After everyone had laughed, they stopped taking it seriously and went back to discussing their previous topic.
Luo Ye had just witnessed the white Java sparrow bumping into Yan Qiu. He nodded toward the white bird and lowered his voice with a suggestive smile.
“You came at just the right time. All three of them are your fans, and that little bird is especially famous for being a true fan of yours. His name is Qiao Qiao. They’re all online friends. Some of them met at Xiyue’s online casino. Qiao Qiao has a name registered at the training center. I’ve sparred with him before. He’s pretty good.”
Hearing the words “Qiao Qiao,” Yan Qiu raised his eyes and looked at the little white bird again.
The white Java sparrow was tiny and chubby, flapping its wings at an extremely fast rate and refusing to stop. Yet it kept flying crookedly and wobbling all over the place, looking as though it particularly enjoyed flapping around aimlessly in midair.
Noticing Yan Qiu’s gaze, Luo Ye smiled ambiguously.
“Ah, not your ‘Qiao Qiao’ with the wood radical. It’s ‘Qiao Qiao’ without the wood radical.”
Yan Qiu’s eyes shifted, and he gave him a cool glance.
Luo Ye immediately raised both hands in surrender and laughed.
“Okay, okay. Don’t stab me with your eyes. Even Father Emperor knows that you got locked with someone. He was just asking me about it earlier.”
Yan Qiu had no intention of discussing this matter with him. He activated private chat mode, so the conversation that followed could only be heard by him and Luo Ye.
He asked, “Have you recruited any new consciousness controllers recently?”
Luo Ye immediately looked troubled.
“You finally came online to have some fun, and you still insist on talking business with me.”
He sighed and said, “Yes. We recruited another batch. After some time, your various legions can come and pick the people they want. But I’m guessing that’s not actually what you wanted to ask. If you’re asking whether there’s anyone particularly outstanding—no.”
Yan Qiu leaned back against the chair, lowering his eyes in thought.
Luo Ye poured him a cup of tea.
Although everything on the holographic network was fake, the sensory experience was real. Since they were sitting down to chat, they might as well have a cup of tea.
Yan Qiu also humored him. After Luo Ye finished pouring, he picked up the cup absentmindedly and took a sip.
“You know it too. The consciousness controllers we have right now are all around the same level. Even the more capable ones don’t stand out by much,” Luo Ye said.
Yan Qiu looked at him. “How is Ye Lan doing recently?”
Luo Ye shrugged. “Still working hard, but not there yet.”
Yan Qiu withdrew his gaze.
Luo Ye said quietly, “Take good care of your father. I believe there will come a day when he wakes up.”
Yan Qiu stared at the tabletop and slowly nodded.
Private chat mode was lifted.
Suddenly, a quarrel reached their ears.
They looked up and saw that the two girls who had been chatting happily with the white Java sparrow had somehow gotten into an argument. It seemed that a drunken man had barged into their conversation.
The two girls themselves hadn’t joined the argument. They were merely standing to the side, awkwardly laughing and trying to mediate.
The ones currently going at each other were the man and the white Java sparrow.
Lu Qiao knew the guy in front of him. His name was Irritable Rabbit. They had crossed paths several times before and had gotten along reasonably well.
But there was one thing about this guy that Lu Qiao especially couldn’t stand: whenever he saw a handsome man, he got jealous. He was particularly prone to envy.
The guy had once drunkenly revealed that he had gone prematurely bald. Perhaps because of that, he usually couldn’t stand men with thick hair. If the thick-haired man also happened to be handsome, his sour remarks would become even worse.
That alone would have been tolerable.
But the guy also always liked doing one thing that particularly irritated Lu Qiao—
Irritable Rabbit raised his voice.
“Am I wrong? Yan Qiu isn’t that amazing either, hic. There’s a guy who joined the military just two years ago and already got promoted to major general. Isn’t he even more impressive than Yan Qiu? What legendary figure? Hic, stop blowing him up so much!”
Lu Qiao was furious and argued back relentlessly.
“I have a friend in the military too. He said that because of the Rose Galaxy battle half a month ago, several officers got huge promotions! If Yan Qiu had encountered a war on that scale when he first joined the military, with his abilities, he absolutely could’ve become a general instantly! And don’t forget, the most important battlefield in this Rose Galaxy battle was won by Yan Qiu! It’s just that he’s already in such a high position that he ranks first even among the marshals. It’s impossible for him to get promoted by a huge amount like the soldiers below him!”
Luo Ye became excited. He grabbed Yan Qiu’s arm.
“Wow, look, look! Qiao Qiao’s true-fan mode has activated! You have no idea. He’s seriously hilarious. Whenever someone criticizes you, he gets angry. It’s practically a conditioned reflex! And yet he absolutely refuses to admit that he admires you. He always says he’s just stating the facts. But he only gets this worked up whenever it’s something about you, hahaha!”
Hearing this, Yan Qiu casually glanced over and took another sip of tea.
Irritable Rabbit was somewhat dizzy from Lu Qiao’s rapid-fire barrage. He swayed before steadying himself and rolled his eyes.
“You’re blowing smoke all the way into the heavens. And you’re saying he could become a general instantly?!”
Lu Qiao puffed out his chest.
“I’m not bragging! Yan Qiu really is strong! Across the entire Alliance, among the more than thirty star nations, he’s the strongest of his generation! If the military hadn’t rigidly enforced the age limit of twenty-two, who knows, he might have been able to join the military at ten!”
Irritable Rabbit looked at the two girls in shock.
“And he still says he isn’t bragging?! Hic. He refuses to admit he’s a brainless Yan Qiu fan even now? He’s so brainless he’s reached this level!”
The two girls blinked and shook their heads.
“He doesn’t admit it.”
Lu Qiao flapped his wings hard.
“I’m not! I’m just stating the facts!”
What did “brainless fan” and “idol worship” have to do with anything?
His feelings toward Yan Qiu were the appreciation one had for a rival. It absolutely wasn’t the kind of obsessive relationship between an idol and a fan!
He was perfectly rational!
Luo Ye was laughing so hard he was practically shaking. He continued speaking to Yan Qiu.
“You know, although everyone calls him your brainless fan, I don’t think he even quite qualifies. After all, he isn’t completely talking nonsense. It’s just that his reactions are seriously too cute! Aren’t you moved when you see a fan like this? Hahahaha!”
Yan Qiu couldn’t be bothered to respond.
Irritable Rabbit rolled his eyes again. He glanced at the white Java sparrow arguing breathlessly in front of him, then suddenly lowered his voice and quickly said,
“Yan Qiu looks like that, so he’s definitely attracting women left and right. Who knows how many women he’s fooled around with in private. Maybe he even has illegitimate children.”
Lu Qiao’s feathers suddenly exploded.
He widened his eyes and roared, “Don’t slander him!!!”
With that, he charged at the bald man like a cannonball and bit him!
Irritable Rabbit turned around and ran. As he fled, he shouted provocatively,
“Just look at your reaction! I’ll bet Yan Qiu’s hair that you’re a brainless Yan Qiu fan!”
Lu Qiao chased after him, shouting,
“I’ll swear on Yan Qiu’s pecs that I’m not a fan! I’m just stating the facts!”
With a “clack,” Yan Qiu put down his teacup and quietly stared in the direction the two of them had disappeared.
Luo Ye was completely doubled over with laughter.
Five minutes later, the white Java sparrow finally flew back, swaying unsteadily. Its little chest was rising and falling, and it was still huffing angrily.
The two girls secretly exchanged amused glances. One of them deliberately asked,
“Qiao Qiao, who’s the strongest person in the military?”
Lu Qiao: “Yan Qiu!”
“Do you admire him?”
Lu Qiao: “I don’t!”
“Who’s the greatest genius in the whole world?”
Lu Qiao: “Yan Qiu! Yan Qiu!”