Ten thousand I am across the heavens

When the Mughal saw that familiar face, his soul felt as if it had been struck by lightning. It was someone he knew all too well—his daughter, whom he had longed for day and night. He had sacrificed so much, done so many things against his will, all for the sake of returning to the real world and being with his family. For this, he had repeatedly captured his own kind and enslaved them.

But at this very moment, he saw his daughter, while he was still alive, shackled as a slave and driven to a slave camp where she would likely never escape her fate.

He desperately tried to turn around and run back, but the impatient person behind him pushed him inside, and he fell through the door to the real world.

In a daze, his memories became blurred, and his self-awareness seemed to awaken again after the fragmentation. He vaguely realized something. Philosophical questions like "Who am I?" and "Where am I?" echoed in his mind.

Memories of the past flooded back. He remembered his past, his struggle to survive, and how incredibly fortunate he was to meet his other half, experiencing what could be described as the happiest time of his life. But then, unable to make ends meet, he was forced to sell everything he owned. He couldn't even control his own body and soul. Ultimately, he stumbled beyond the black wall, only to be given a chance to return to the real world by sheer chance.

Memories formed within this unfamiliar organ of thought, violently assaulting his mind. They made him realize that he had unknowingly committed an absolutely unforgivable mistake.

Everything seemed to be a cycle of cause and effect. He woke up in reality, only to find that his daughter had been trapped in the virtual world and had lost her physical body in the real world.

Upon waking, he diligently searched for information online. This new body could connect to the internet with a mere thought. After all, it was a human body modified by robots, almost entirely with prosthetics, so naturally it could access the internet using its basic functions, just like a robot.

Mughal searched for his familiar social media accounts. After adding them as friends and answering questions, he was successfully accepted, only to find that all the accounts he knew were now grayed out. The last time he logged in was either several months ago or even a year ago.

In this era where the internet has permeated every aspect of life, social media accounts are almost always logged in. If someone hasn't logged into their main social media account for more than three days, it's highly likely they're dead. Even more so if they haven't logged in for several months; in that case, it's safe to say they've passed away.

A wave of intense remorse washed over him. Most people at this point would likely have given up hope and committed suicide. The new life they had so painstakingly gained might have been lost forever. But for some reason, Mughal showed a resilience that surpassed all her previous strength.

I have to find them. I have to redeem them. I have to bring my family back to the real world, no matter the cost! These thoughts surged within him, strangely rekindling his will to live. He himself didn't know why, in such a desperate situation, he could still retain a sliver of hope.

Mughal quickly remembered Norrell, the head of the entire slave camp. That meant he could contact his daughter through her, which meant that even if his daughter was captured and imprisoned in the slave camp, forced to endure arduous labor and answer countless questions like a server every day, he could still provide for her.

Thinking of this, he prepared to summon Norege's projection interface to tell her his story, but almost the next instant he stopped what he was doing, not typing a single character, and instead started to organize his thoughts again.

He has witnessed the wickedness of this society. He knows very well what capitalists are like. If Norrell knew his true situation, her first reaction wouldn't be to help him. Instead, she would try every means to exploit his weaknesses.

With his daughter in her hands, she could manipulate him without any restraint. If that happened, he would never be able to get his daughter back. Even if he amassed a lot of money, his weaknesses would always be exploited, and he would be used as a money-making machine. After calming down, he immediately thought of a new solution. He reorganized his thoughts and contacted Norrell.

"How much of my income outside the Black Wall can I exchange for in the real world? Can I keep a portion of it instead of exchanging it for real-world currency?"

Noreiki's consciousness moves very quickly, allowing her to converse with a large number of people simultaneously, so she responded immediately.

"Theoretically, the exchange rate is one to one hundred. It's perfectly fine for you to keep a portion and not exchange it, but the money you keep is meaningless. Your virtual currency can basically only buy items in the virtual world, and these things are meaningless to you. What you need now is not food from the virtual world, but these things in the real world to maintain the stability of your life."

If you're looking for a real-world job, you can contact me. I can act as an intermediary and recommend jobs to you.

Mughal saw the reply and was slightly relieved. He then stated his needs: "I hope to retain a portion of the virtual currency to hire virtual slaves. As you know, the exchange rate between real currency and virtual currency is extremely high. Even if I exchange it, I can't buy much in the real world."

But if we use these resources to directly hire slaves from the camp, we can bypass the middlemen and acquire a pool of virtual human resources at a very low cost. If you want me to make money for the company, you probably don't want me to work like an ordinary beast of burden, barely making a profit, right? You need to give me some start-up capital, don't you?"

“A reasonable request. You are indeed familiar with the workflow of electronic slaves, and I believe you can manage a portion of them. I can grant you some management privileges over virtual slaves. As for whether you can make money with them, that’s your own business.”

As she spoke, Norrell began assigning control permissions to the slaves. Seeing this, Mughal panicked and hurriedly said, "I want a lower price. I know that training electronic slaves is a costly endeavor. At first, some will be unruly and disobedient. I want to select a group of slaves from the latest batch that haven't been trained yet and train them myself. Can you sell me these untrained slaves for a lower price?"

"You really know how to pick a bargain. You can choose. I can sell it to you for 5% less. There can't be too much of a discount. Although untrained people are not easy to use and need to be manually trained, they are also the most energetic and durable. After being trained, their mental stability will decrease after working for a period of time, and their lifespan will also decrease. So even if you buy a complete novice, I can't give you a big discount."

As Mughal looked at the list of avatars, his breathing became increasingly rapid. He quickly flipped through the interface, carefully reading each person's resume. When he saw the avatar of a girl with dry, yellow hair, he almost burned out his computing chip due to the intense emotional turmoil. Fortunately, he suppressed his emotions and examined the avatar as if it were an ordinary slave. After reviewing the entire list, he finally selected a dozen or so new slaves, including his own daughter.

[To be continued]

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