Chapter Ten: Drawing Talents

“Virtual world?”

After watching the video seven or eight times, Xu Zhi rubbed his temples, trying to ease the chaos in his mind.

Knock, knock, knock...

“Come in.”

“Chairman, according to your schedule, you have a luncheon engagement. Are you planning to…”

At that moment, Xu Zhi’s secretary walked in.

Before the secretary could finish, Xu Zhi waved his hand and interrupted, “Cancel everything.”

“Yes, sir.” The secretary responded briskly, dutifully sticking to his responsibilities without questioning the reason behind the cancellations.

Seeing the secretary about to leave, Xu Zhi suddenly recalled something and called out, “Wait.”

“Do you have any further instructions, Chairman?” The secretary stopped.

“Book me a flight to Magic City, the next available one.”

With that, Xu Zhi rose from his seat.

Though the whole affair seemed absurd, after repeatedly watching the Huazhan video, he didn’t dare make any rash decisions.

He needed to personally visit Xu Hao to get to the bottom of this.

Meanwhile, the internet was ablaze with discussions about Hanlan OL, the fervor spreading rapidly.

Soon, the video caught the attention of the authorities.

In an obscure research institute, a temporary investigation team was assembled, and the technical staff were analyzing the video frame by frame, examining its authenticity.

Simultaneously, the team accessed the Huazhan backend to retrieve information on the uploader.

“Chief, the video was shot on a Guomi 8 smartphone with no evidence of special effects.”

“Local authorities have located the person who posted the video and found the virtual helmet mentioned in the footage.”

“Transport just reported in—Xu Zhi, chairman of Xu Mining, has arrived in Magic City. The ‘Young Master Xu’ mentioned in the video is his only son, currently residing in the Greenland Villa District in Magic City.”

...

Information kept pouring in.

Through cross-referencing and filtering through the bullet comments, Su Jianbang grew increasingly alarmed.

From the massive barrage of comments on Huazhan, the tech team pulled out over a dozen IPs from different regions—individuals who had provided solid evidence supporting the uploader.

Preliminary investigations by local authorities revealed no connections between these people and the uploader, and their backgrounds were entirely ordinary.

Based on the information they provided, the internal team made some key summaries.

Three points stood out for special attention: the Gene Blood Pool and its function, the invitation to the virtual helmet manufacturing facility, and the discrepancy in time between the two worlds.

An afternoon on Hanlan Star equated to a night on Earth—a 1:2 time ratio.

“Chief, Ning Province reports a man brought the virtual helmet mentioned in the video to local authorities seeking protection. He claims the helmet contains the control program for the production line. Experts are urgently verifying its authenticity.”

“Chief, Magic City reports that Xu Zhi and his son Xu Hao have also sought protection from local authorities for unknown reasons and request a higher-level response.”

With these two pieces of news, Su Jianbang immediately sensed the gravity of the situation.

He paced the research lab for a long while before finally issuing a directive: “Take over the Huazhan backend and lock the video’s popularity. Ban this video and all related keywords on every platform except Huazhan.”

Unsure of the intentions behind the scenes, Su Jianbang dared not act recklessly.

But the situation had to be controlled. The reason the video wasn’t banned on Huazhan was to keep an emergency measure in place.

While Earth was roiling with undercurrents because of Hanlan OL, Ye Han had already returned to the Liyang Star Domain.

“Huh? A missed call?”

Stepping out of the sleep pod, Ye Han noticed a new record on his wristwatch.

The name left as a note belonged to his predecessor’s parents.

In his memories, ever since his predecessor started high school, this couple had vanished, with no contact for two years.

Were it not for this message, Ye Han would have nearly forgotten these convenient ‘parents’.

“Are they contacting me for something important?” Ye Han stared at the message, hesitant to return the call.

After all, he was occupying someone else’s body now. Having the ‘parents’ reach out inevitably made him feel guilty.

“Oh well, I’ll have to face them sooner or later. It’s just a remote call—they can’t eat me.”

Ye Han paced around the sleep pod seven or eight times before finally steeling himself and tapping his wristwatch.

As he did, a cluster of light burst from the watch, floating through the room.

Within three seconds, the call was connected.

As soon as it connected, the drifting light formed a three-dimensional projection.

In the projection stood two people—a woman who appeared to be in her thirties, and a man who bore a striking resemblance to Ye Han.

Both wore broad smiles, but whether it was just a trick of perception or not, Ye Han felt their expressions were a little forced.

It all seemed a bit too deliberate, as if they were putting on a brave face.

But, feeling guilty himself, Ye Han didn’t dwell on it, keeping his head bowed to mask his expression.

“It’s been two years. Did you miss Mom and Dad?” the woman started.

Ye Han’s gaze wandered and he absentmindedly murmured, “Mm.”

“Tomorrow’s the university entrance exam, isn’t it?” his mother asked again.

“Yes. What’s the matter?” Ye Han’s voice trembled slightly.

“Can’t we call you for no reason at all?” his father interjected.

But as soon as he spoke, his mother shot him a sharp look and pinched his arm subtly. In a soft voice, she continued, “How’s your exam preparation going?”

“It’s alright,” Ye Han replied, feigning ease as he lifted his head.

He felt that keeping his head down didn’t fit his predecessor’s character.

From his memories, the family had always been harmonious.

“That’s good, then,” his mother said with a smile, nodding.

Yet, under Ye Han’s frank gaze, though her smile remained warm, her grip on his father’s arm unconsciously tightened.

“Ahem… well…” his father coughed awkwardly under Ye Han’s stare.

Ye Han obligingly turned his attention to him.

After a moment’s hesitation and with a hint of shame on his face, his father said, “You know your mother and I aren’t very capable, and the Entanglement Planet is a mess—we can’t do much to help…”

Sensing the conversation drifting toward sentimentality, Ye Han hurriedly interrupted, “It’s fine, don’t worry. I’ll do my best on the exam.”

If they started reminiscing about family matters and dragged out the call, he’d be in trouble.

Every second felt like torture, afraid he’d slip up.

He just wanted to end the call quickly.

“Good, that’s good.”

His father sounded relieved, and seeing Ye Han had no questions, he quickly added, “Your mother and I have saved some Source Energy over the years. We’ll transfer it to you shortly. If your planet needs anything, just buy it from the Faction Store—don’t be stingy.”

“Alright, I got it.”

Hearing he’d be receiving Source Energy, Ye Han considered it and did not refuse.

From an identity perspective, a father giving his son money is only natural—why turn it down?

“Alright, then your mother and I won’t disturb you further. Focus on your preparations.”

Seeing Ye Han didn’t refuse, his mother breathed a sigh of relief, said a few brief words, and ended the call.

As the connection ended, the projection coalesced back into a speck of light and returned to his wristwatch.

“Finally, that’s dealt with!” Ye Han exhaled in relief.

On Earth, Ye Han was twenty-two years old.

His parents had disappeared when he was two, and he’d been raised by his grandmother, who passed away in his junior year at university.

Since then, he’d lived alone.

Having never experienced parent-child relationships, Ye Han had no real idea how to interact with his parents.

Even with his predecessor’s eighteen years of memories, he still found it awkward and unnatural.

“Enough of that. Time to go to the Hall of Inheritance and draw a talent!”

He lingered in the room for more than ten minutes, calming his nerves, before finally opening the door.

Space assigned by the Faction to citizens could be entered freely from anywhere within the main realm, but to leave, one had to use the floating platform.

“The Liyang Star Domain is so vast—how magnificent must the Pan-Human Faction be?”

Opening the door to the vast expanse of the universe, Ye Han felt his mind waver.

He seemed to stand atop a colossal blue-gold ‘hive’, stretching out as far as the eye could see, with countless rooms arranged in perfect order.

No one could say how many such hives there were across the entire Liyang main realm.

Behind every door on these hives was a private space.

Not far away, he saw a neighbor step outside, instantly dissolving into a flash of white light.

Ye Han took a deep breath.

“Please input your destination.”

After standing at the door for ten seconds, a metallic voice sounded, and a prompt appeared on his wristwatch.

“To the Hall of Inheritance.”

Murmuring softly, Ye Han inhaled deeply, anticipation glowing in his eyes.

His two current talents, ‘Enlightenment’ and ‘Space Jump’, had been inherited from his predecessor.

This time, he was going in person—who knew what talent he might obtain?

“Command received.”

The mechanical voice sounded again, and a barrier emerged from his wristwatch, enveloping him tightly.

Immediately, Ye Han felt his body grow suddenly light. Though he was ascending, a strong sense of weightlessness overtook him.

“Welcome to the Hall of Inheritance.”

The process lasted about ten seconds before a pleasant voice greeted him.

The barrier retracted into his wristwatch, and the world around him gradually came into focus.

He was standing on a plaza carved from white jade, gazing up at a vast, boundless dome overhead.

Beneath the dome, countless faintly golden bubbles floated in midair.

Each bubble contained an unclaimed talent.

“Through this crystal sphere, your consciousness will be released to absorb and integrate the talents within the bubbles!”

Staring at the floating crystal sphere before him, Ye Han rubbed his hands together in excitement.

All around, flashes of dazzling color shot up from the plaza, streaking toward the bubbles above.

Each streak was a consciousness.