The male supporting character was actually myself.

Commands are issued from the virtual world, and everything in reality is executed simultaneously without a delay of even half a minute.

So, while Ji Linyan was busy clearing levels and killing monsters to rush towards the false information about the Qilin Temple, all the backup plans he had made were cut off at the same time.

"Splash!" As soon as Lin Ruochu floated up in the lake that spanned the slum and was enclosed by the water treatment plant, she saw a helicopter parked on the shore.

The imposing successor of M Technology Company, whom I had seen in the news, was standing by the helicopter. He smiled slightly, bent down, and extended his right hand. "Welcome to my team. You are safe now."

"How is Xiaoyun?" She grabbed the other person's hand and, disregarding everything else, asked while taking off her diving suit, "Did you find the internal information?"

Jiang Chen handed over a tablet. "Fortunately, the situation didn't get out of control. Everything went smoothly with Xiao Yun. After the signal was cut off, a miniature eavesdropping device was found in her body during a scan. It has now been removed and taken to the technical department for analysis."

According to internal documents sent by an undercover agent, G Technology's nanorobot technology is only limited to simple functions such as positioning and listening, and it is not yet able to achieve remote and precise control.

Currently, there are only two finished product shipment records. One is with Xiao Yun, and the other signal is inside G Technology Company. Based on the monitoring information, Ji Linyan probably put the earliest prototype on his own son, probably fearing that he might betray him and seize power.

Lin Ruochu breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt incredulous.

Is Ji Linyan truly insane to use even his own son as a guinea pig?

"If we change our strategy and escape at the last minute, Ji Linyan will definitely be notified immediately. The key in his hands is now completely useless." She sighed, feeling a little regretful.

We shouldn't leave them any hope!

Otherwise, if information leaks out from the team and they manage to get through the second level and obtain the key before M Technology Company does, it would pose a huge hidden danger.

Jiang Chen draped a bath towel over her and, holding her hand, helped her onto the helicopter, saying, "Don't worry so much. With the key you handed over as bait, I've already locked onto Ji Linyan's account."

The service of banning accounts, taking away keys, and deleting accounts—a one-stop shop—would cause even Ji Linyan's team of hard-earned gaming experts to lose a batch of fully-developed accounts.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Journey of Redemption

"Having control of 'Perfect World' is so awesome!!" It would be a lie to say Lin Ruochu wasn't envious.

After all, 60% of the world's population currently owns an account in Perfect World, and more than 80% of people rely on this virtual world for their livelihood.

Mastering this game is equivalent to holding the lifeline of so many people in one's hands. Isn't G Technology Company so envious that it's desperate to steal the core secrets and create a new virtual game to replace it?

"It's not as fun as I imagined; in fact, it's quite tiring." Jiang Chen piloted the helicopter, not returning to the M Technology Company's headquarters immediately, but instead flying through the slums towards the edge of human habitation. "The gold coin system in 'Perfect World' is closely related to the human world, and in order to maintain balance, we have to consider all aspects."

But look at these slums… they're expanding year after year. People are drowning in the virtual world to escape reality. If this continues, even without G-Tech's digital life conspiracy, humanity will eventually head down the path of self-destruction.

A black helicopter flapped its wings and flew overhead, heading further and further into the distance.

Si Anrui shaded his eyes with his hand and looked up, his face full of envy. "That helicopter is so big, it's so damn cool!"

"Our M Technology Company's helicopters." Du Xuerui looked up and showed an envious expression. "I've never been on a plane before. I really want to take one and fly up into the sky to overlook the scenery outside. It must be magnificent!"

"Outside?" Si Anrui looked somewhat bewildered.

She looked at the other person strangely, "Didn't we all learn in elementary school history that after a disaster, humans hide in the corners where they survived and build high walls to isolate themselves from the outside world?"

We were both protected and completely locked up, and we never knew what the outside world was like.

Si Anrui pursed his lips and muttered under his breath, "It's probably not a good place either. It's nothing like the beautiful, imaginative, and fantastical virtual world."

He recalled his limited gaming experience, the dazzling scenes and all sorts of cool motorcycles and weapons, the beautiful and handsome people of different races and their different clothes. Compared to the drab and tattered clothes he wore in reality, there was really nothing to compare.

“Virtual games are also created by humans.” Du Xuerui seized the opportunity to guide the discussion, “Human imagination and creativity have no limits. Although the world before the disaster was not as beautiful as in ‘Perfect Country,’ people still had wonderful lives.”

War has destroyed so much, but as long as humanity survives and actively strives to improve the world, making it better little by little, one day we can transform the real world into a perfect nation!

Si Anrui shook his head in strong disapproval.

But he didn't argue anymore. After all, although she had feelings for him and was always bickering, she was also very beautiful. However, she was too brainwashed and too stubborn. He felt that he couldn't have a girl who was so strong, argumentative, and pretentious.

Since he didn't want to develop a romantic relationship but needed her to provide the job to earn money to buy a helmet, Si Anrui planned to keep her calm, non-committal, and non-responsible for now, and wait until he had saved enough money so he would have the confidence to simply dump her if he didn't want to continue the partnership.

He prefers girls who are gentle, charming, meticulous, and considerate.

We must never be like Si Suduan, who is domineering, tyrannical, and ruthless like a dictatorial tigress!

A woman who reaches that level is the most unsuccessful; no wonder no man wants her.

Si Anrui glanced at the pretty girl driving beside him and sighed inwardly. If she doesn't repent, she'll become the second Si Suduan sooner or later, living a lonely life with no man wanting her!

Having no idea what the other person was thinking, Du Xuerui was too lazy to find out.

She drove aimlessly, occasionally stopping to take a few symbolic photos, use the equipment for 3D scanning, and upload the data. But in her mind, she was thinking that once she finished the task and received the bonus, she could consider setting aside a portion to fulfill her dream—to take an expensive Dream Express flight to see the vast world!

"My God, is this what the post-disaster world looks like?" This was the first time Lin Ruochu had ever seen the outside world.

When the doctor was still alive, she and her younger brother were still young. They only knew that the outside world was full of devastation, but they had never seen it with their own eyes.

Later, the doctor passed away. Although she left behind enough wealth, she needed to live a low-key life with her younger brother and did not deliberately learn about the outside world. Later, she was focused on finding the doctor who had suddenly disappeared without a trace. She kept an eye on G Technology Company and worked diligently in "Perfect World". She didn't have time to think about looking further ahead.

Sitting in the helicopter, flying over the chaotic slums, over the long buffer zone, and over the high walls, Lin Ruochu was completely stunned.

As far as the eye can see, the earth presents various irregular color blocks.

The gray areas represent the ruins and remnants of the original city buildings;

The brown areas represent the collapsed factory, with massive steel structures that are not yet covered.

More prevalent is the varying shades of green. Over the past century, vines have climbed, saplings have grown into large trees, and even the original highways have been overtaken by weeds. Cracks in the cement pavement resemble scars from which vigorous plants grow, presenting a primitive and wild beauty of nature.

"Tetetetete~"

The helicopter flew low overhead, its loud roar making it impossible for her to hear anything on the ground, but she could see traces of animals running and scurrying away in the tall grass that had been blown down by the strong wind.

“When I was thoroughly investigating the area around the human settlements, I discovered a small laboratory that was entirely controlled autonomously by AI.” Jiang Chen said as he flew toward the place he had discovered when he entered the mission world to gather information. “I suspect that’s a secret base left behind by the Doctor.”

She has been secretly cultivating various wild plants and animals, and once they reach maturity, she will release them, sow seeds by machine, and perform a series of other operations.

The fact that the outside world has so many diverse plants growing so abundantly and wild animals roaming around must be the doctor's doing; she wants to completely change the world.

Lin Ruochu was so shocked that she couldn't speak.

Is the doctor's wish to lead humanity out of the high walls and start anew to continue civilization?

But now people rely on the virtual world for survival, completely contradicting her original idea.

Thinking of this, Lin Ruochu turned to look at Jiang Chen with mixed feelings, "M Technology Company is able to compete with G Technology Company now entirely because of 'Perfect World,' right? If we can really beat the game and you get the core AI secrets left by the doctor, what will you do?"

The two tech giants are locked in a fierce battle. G Tech focuses on real-world industries, while M Tech relies almost entirely on "Perfect World." If the doctor's legacy is to be carried on, allowing people to step out of the virtual world and confront and transform reality, M Tech will be the first to be impacted.

Carrying out his last wish is tantamount to cutting off his own escape route, and he will also be suppressed in every way by Ji Linyan, who is determined to implement the digital life plan;

Failing to fulfill his wishes and allowing people to continue indulging in the virtual world is tantamount to drinking poison to quench thirst...

From a personal perspective, Lin Ruochu naturally wanted the regrets left by the doctor to be fulfilled by the new generation of successors; however, from a realistic perspective, fulfilling the last wish was too idealistic.

From another perspective, it would be difficult for me to choose who would succeed me in the future of M Technology Company.

After all, it's not just a matter for one or two people. The entire tech company has tens of thousands of employees working internally, plus their families, which means there are at least hundreds of thousands of people whose livelihoods depend on it. If one decision goes wrong, everyone will suffer.

Not to mention that Perfect World has now become the center of human life, and even a small problem with the gold coin system could have a chain reaction that makes it impossible for tens of thousands of people to survive.

With such a heavy responsibility falling on one person's shoulders, he must have been very troubled and had a difficult time making a decision.

"Me?" Jiang Chen thought for a moment and smiled faintly. "I need to see what the doctor's core secrets are first. Although she is a genius that comes along once in a millennium, we must admit that human thinking is sometimes limited by the times."

The kernel she creates may not be a perfect match for the current state of the world.

Therefore, I must inherit this legacy and see what the probability of its realization is. It involves the future direction of almost all mankind, and I cannot make a decision lightly.

If you want to know, I can tell you my next goal—to stop Ji Linyan's Digital Life Project; to acquire G Technology Company, I must ensure that the manufacturing rights are in the hands of M Technology Company; and once I have a way out, I will gradually cut off people's dependence on "Perfect World".

Starting with hiring more people in the real economy and providing them with job opportunities, we can gradually expand outwards to allow games to return to their original role—providing temporary entertainment for humanity, rather than treating games as reality.

"Acquire G Technology Company?" Lin Ruochu couldn't help but twitch her lips. After fighting for so many years, the mortal enemies must want to bring each other under their control, but how easy is it to do such a thing?

But at least there's some hope. After all, if M Technology Company could have a real business to back it up, maybe the doctor's last wish could really be fulfilled...

“I wasn’t entirely sure before, but after rescuing you and Xiaoyun and getting solid evidence of Ji Linyan’s digital life conspiracy, with multiple measures combined, the collapse of G Technology Company is only a matter of time.” Jiang Chen landed the helicopter on a huge, flat area covered with vines, opened the cabin door and smiled, “Let’s not talk about those things anymore. I’ll take you to visit the wildlife museum that the doctor created.”

While taking a break from his busy schedule to stroll around, he also kept busy planning the main quest.

Du Xuerui took Si Anrui around everywhere, preventing him from entering the virtual world and unleashing his mindless, exhilarating aura.

While Ji Linyan was engaged in a fierce battle at the Qilin Temple, he glanced at the numerous unread messages that were set to "Do Not Disturb." His virtual avatar, the green giant, turned even greener. "Damn it, Lin Ruochu actually ran away?!"

The messages sent in the game were too brief, and he was completely bewildered as he couldn't understand the whole situation.

Lin Xiaoyun's decision to be sent as a hostage was made and carried out immediately by herself, and there was no leak of information. The villa where Lin Ruochu lived was surrounded by a large number of people, and staff members were also placed inside the villa to monitor her movements at all times. How did she manage to escape?

And why did they suddenly run away?

Where could Lin Ruochu, a helpless woman, possibly run off to?

According to the information obtained from Lin Xiaoyun, M Technology Company was unaware that he was an imposter...

A barrage of questions rushed to Ji Linyan's head, making his brain buzz. He had suddenly lost the guaranteed reward and hadn't even gotten his hands on the Awakening of Insects. The only good news was that he had the key to the first level. He could only gamble that the second level was located underground in the Qilin Temple and that he could pass it smoothly in one go to get the clues.

In that case, even if Lin Ruochu temporarily gains the trust of M Technology Company, issues such as leaks and lost keys will marginalize her. At that point, activating an undercover agent at the higher levels will allow her to try again...

Just as Ji Linyan was sorting through the chaotic information to make sense of it and ensure that the fight for the core secrets would go smoothly, the game scene in front of him suddenly became blurry, and a message suddenly appeared in front of him: This account has violated the fair competition principle of "Perfect World" by using cheats without authorization, and has been banned!

“Fuck you %*@#*&…” He blurted out a barrage of extremely high output, but it had no effect on the account ban. Apart from the exit game button being lit up, both the inventory and message buttons were grayed out. Ji Linyan couldn’t even transfer the first level key out of his backpack!

[System Message: The following accounts have been found to have used illegal cheats and have been banned. These ID cards can no longer be used for game registration. If you have any questions, please send an email to the Perfect World customer service department to submit data evidence. Players are urged to learn from this and play the game fairly and justly, and not to seek personal gain through illegal means. M Technology Company reserves the right to sue. Once it is verified that the following accounts have violated game laws and disrupted the gold coin market, they will be prosecuted and held accountable.]

A striking blood-red system announcement appeared before all players, followed by the account names of a group of professional players from G Technology Company, led by Ji Linyan.

"I hate people who use cheats the most, they're disgusting!"

"Yeah, especially those who use cheats to steal monsters and gold coins, they're practically robbers!"

"M Technology Company does a great job in this area, compared to G Technology Company's games, which are much worse. I bought one of their games a few days ago because I couldn't resist, and not only are there few players, but some of their employees are openly using cheats to sell in-game currency. Damn it, if you don't spend money, you can only get beaten up. I will never buy their games again."

"Usually, banning the account is enough. In reality, these people are using fake IDs they bought, and they've already made a fortune."

"In this world, even playing games can be divided into different classes. Those without skills can only earn a meager living; those with skills make big money by using cheats, and even if their accounts are banned, they can just buy a new ID and start over. In reality, they are still much richer than us..."

.........

The news of Ji Linyan and others being banned did not cause much of a stir except for a barrage of criticism. However, the big news that followed made many players excited – the new regulations were passed and officially promulgated!

Effective immediately, lawsuits will not be subject to statute of limitations. Even cases from decades ago can be appealed and prosecuted as long as they comply with legal procedures. Furthermore, the new law allows for the reopening of old cases, and as long as the procedures are followed and there is sufficient evidence to support the case, a more severe and just verdict can be obtained.

Given the limitations imposed on plaintiffs by the jurisdictional distinctions between the inner and outer cities, starting today, a new map—the Court of Justice—will be launched after the update of Perfect World. Players can organize and bring their materials to file appeals directly in the virtual world. The online and offline offices are unified, and typical cases will be broadcast live across the entire network to bring justice to the wronged and serve as a warning to others.

"To all the victims and their families of the fire fifteen years ago, the time has finally come for us to seek justice!"

"We're filing a joint lawsuit; we demand fairness and justice!"

"The culprit has escaped fifteen years of punishment; he got off too easy! We must see a fair and just outcome!"