Chapter Seven: Entering the Warehouse

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The transformation package for the Hanlan Star had now been activated for three days. The average physical strength of all plant and animal life on the planet had tripled, though this was merely the average. The planetary transformation package was divided into ten stages, unfolding over ten months; each month, a new stage would be unlocked. In theory, by the end of the first month, at least ten percent of all species on the planet would break through into the first tier of evolution. By the end of the ten months, the entire planet would shift from a technological paradigm to a mystical one, laying a solid foundation.

Already, within these three days, a few exceptionally gifted beasts had evolved to the first tier. The large white dog beneath Yan Qiluo was one such creature. And within this virtual helmet factory, there was yet another evolved beast.

This particular evolved beast had originally been a turtle. Three days prior, it had the good fortune to be struck directly by the package, transforming its entire body. In just a single day, its physical strength broke through the first-tier bottleneck, and its size swelled to a three-meter span.

Moreover, once a beast reached the first tier of evolution, an elemental crystal would condense in its head.

“In the mainstream mystical packages, the top tier is the Faerie package, next is the Profound Spirit, and the most inferior is the Fantasy package,” Ye Han mused as he controlled his avatar into the factory, fixing his gaze on the green-haired turtle by the production line.

The package provided by Luan Shuanyu was clearly the most inferior Fantasy package, and the planet’s developmental branch was elemental. “Once I’m wealthy, I must purchase another package to override this one!” Ye Han resolved inwardly.

The elemental branch has very limited potential—its support abilities can’t compare to the technological side, and in terms of combat, even if developed to the late stage, it can’t withstand a single blow from a Profound Spirit branch powerhouse, let alone compare with the Faerie branch. It’s entirely lackluster.

Within the sequence, the Fantasy branch isn’t even prioritized over Hanlan’s original technological information engineering. My predecessor must have been blind!

To think he had no defenses against Luan Shuanyu at all. Ye Han couldn’t help but complain inwardly.

Judging by the color of the old turtle, it must control the water element. A first-tier water attribute is limited in destructive power—probably not even as strong as its original body.

From the data gathered earlier by his consciousness scanning the entire planet, this green-haired turtle wouldn’t be difficult to deal with. Yet, seeing the production line beside the turtle, Ye Han hesitated. “If that green-haired beast loses its mind and spews water onto the production line, that would be a disaster!”

The virtual helmet is a precision device—the parameters of the production line are all finely tuned, requiring extremely high standards for each component. If it gets doused and water seeps into a key part, the whole batch would be ruined.

This was a bit tricky!

Ye Han rubbed his forehead in frustration.

“Bro, is that thing really a turtle?” Just as Ye Han was lost in thought, Chen Xu and Yang Qi had followed him in.

The mission prompt had mentioned that the factory was occupied by a group of wild beasts, which Chen Xu already found suspicious. From the remnants of the ruins, Hanlan Star’s level of technology was, in some respects, even more advanced than Earth’s—how could such a planet be overrun by mere beasts?

If it had been an AI crisis, that would have made more sense to Chen Xu. But now, seeing the turtle with a head thicker than a human’s waist, Chen Xu finally understood.

“Damn, could this thing really have lived ten thousand years?” Chen Xu’s voice trembled.

As the old saying goes, “A thousand-year king is a ten-thousand-year turtle.” Confronted with such a massive turtle, Chen Xu was stunned.

Yang Qi was also nervous. “With our puny bodies, in the eyes of that giant turtle, we’re just strips of meat!”

Ye Han glanced at the two cowering men, and as his body instinctively shrank back, he said calmly, “With a gene blood pool and enough manpower, we could overwhelm it. But according to the mission prompt, the production line is clearly more important!”

“So, we have to lure that thing away!” Yang Qi immediately grasped Ye Han’s meaning.

With that, the three men fell into a heavy silence.

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After a moment, Yang Qi and Chen Xu exchanged a glance, then instinctively avoided the green-haired turtle.

Yang Qi glanced furtively at Ye Han. Chen Xu caught on, edged over to Ye Han, and asked, “Hey, what should we call you? My in-game handle is ‘Ninth Sun.’ Want to add me as a friend?”

Ever since Yan Qiluo had brought them onto the platform, no one had used their real name while they were still uncertain about Hanlan’s situation.

Even Ye Han had adopted the alias “Night Phantom”—at least for appearances’ sake, it was better to blend in.

“Alright, I’ll add you,” Ye Han replied, pausing before sending a friend request through his player interface.

Since he was now personally involved, he would inevitably have to interact with the players. He had already observed Chen Xu, who had a cunning edge—just a little guidance could make him far more promising than those still hesitating outside.

After Ye Han added Chen Xu, Yang Qi also gave his handle: “QiQi Is So Cute.”

Hearing this, Ye Han felt a chill in his heart and glanced oddly at Yang Qi.

Yang Qi, embarrassed by Ye Han’s look, mumbled, “It’s just a nickname, you know, a disguise, a cover!”

“I get it, I get it,” Ye Han replied. He and Chen Xu exchanged a knowing smile.

After adding Yang Qi to his list, Ye Han pointedly ignored the green-haired turtle and gestured toward the warehouse. “I plan to check over there. Care to join me?”

The warehouse still held 18,688 virtual helmets and 857 virtual pods.

These items had yet to be recalibrated and needed to be moved so Yan Qiluo could adjust them. Once the production line’s parameters were modified, this step would no longer be necessary.

“Over there?” Yang Qi’s eyebrows lifted. In a low voice, he said, “From my experience, that should be the warehouse.”

“The warehouse? Are you sure?” Ye Han feigned surprise, then whispered, “If it’s the warehouse, we might find something useful inside.”

At present, the three of them were empty-handed.

“Eighty percent certain,” Yang Qi replied, pointing to the vacant ground before the warehouse, then at the production line. “In real life, I work as a warehouse manager. That open area is for transshipment. The space inside is larger than the production line area, and mostly empty—what else could it be but a warehouse?”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go check it out,” Chen Xu urged, seeing Yang Qi’s confidence and sensing little danger.

“Let’s go, then.” Ye Han exchanged glances with the other two, then led the way toward the warehouse.

With Ye Han in the lead, there was little risk.

Still, experiencing everything with his body was different from observing with his consciousness—the physical fatigue was something Ye Han wasn’t used to.

As a consciousness, he had been nearly omnipotent, able to scan the entire Hanlan Star with a single thought.

Now, controlling a physical body, he found he couldn’t keep up with the pace.

“But this is already better than most.”

Carefully skirting a nest of black ants, Ye Han rolled into the warehouse.

The time ratio between Earth and Hanlan Star was two to one, so sensory feedback was a beat slower than neural data transmission.

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To put it simply: when controlling a clone from Earth and making a cut on his hand, the pain would take a moment to register.

Though the delay was minor, Ye Han’s heightened awareness made it quite perceptible.

For most people, however, it would be entirely unnoticeable—their consciousness was simply too weak to sense such subtleties.

“Damn, aren’t these the same virtual helmets we got in real life?” Upon reaching the warehouse and seeing the neatly stacked boxes, Chen Xu was stunned.

He hastily opened a box, and upon seeing that the helmets inside matched the one he had received in reality, he plopped down in shock. “I knew this world was no ordinary place!”

“No ordinary place? Even better!” In stark contrast, Yang Qi was elated at the sight of the helmets.

He grabbed Chen Xu and, eyes blazing, said in a low voice, “Virtual helmets, the invitations from the mission—clearly, we’re not the last ones to come here. We’ve struck gold, do you realize?”

“If the helmets we brought with us were produced here, it means Earth is about to be completely reshuffled!”

Seeing Yang Qi’s excitement, Ye Han fanned the flames. “On Earth, we’re nobodies, toiling for others. But if we seize this opportunity, who’s to say we can’t rise above everyone else?”

Ye Han’s words only fueled their ambition.

Yang Qi glared at Chen Xu, eyes burning. “We should join forces—establish our advantage together!”

Chen Xu, still relatively clear-headed, replied, “According to the mission, once the beta ends, Earth will intervene here en masse. And this world is likely persistent—just the three of us can’t possibly establish lasting dominance.”

As he spoke, he looked at Ye Han, eager for his opinion.

Chen Xu was pragmatic—even faced with a massive opportunity, he could still weigh his options.

For this, Ye Han respected him.

Back when he’d crossed into the Liyang Star Domain, absorbing his predecessor’s consciousness, he couldn’t help but feel excitement even after inheriting all those memories. It had taken him all night to calm down and face reality rationally.

“That green-haired turtle alone is more than we can handle,” Ye Han echoed Chen Xu, cooling Yang Qi’s ardor. Ambition must be tempered, or it would burn out of control.

“That is a real problem,” Chen Xu replied, prying Yang Qi’s hand off and squatting down to draw two circles on the ground. “Hanlan’s order has already collapsed—supposing we reestablish order here, we’re still physically on Earth, bound by its rules. That’s a weakness, and right now, it binds us completely.”

“In that case, could we copycat that production line?” Having been doused with Ye Han’s cold water and swayed by Chen Xu’s logic, Yang Qi regained his composure.

“This world feels too real, nothing like a virtual world. If—and I mean if—we could copy the production line, wouldn’t that mean control over access to this world would be in our hands?”

Yang Qi’s idea was a wild one.

Yet, it seemed achievable.

Ye Han glanced at Yang Qi without revealing his thoughts.

Yes, this one had potential.

Virtual helmets were non-living objects—once their parameters were adjusted, they could be transported to Earth, leveraging Earth’s resources to scale up production.

This would also sidestep the need to mine Hanlan’s native resources, reducing unnecessary labor.

Perhaps he should drop a hint to the little girl—offer the production line blueprints as a reward?

Back when he’d brought the relay, the base station, and the helmets to Earth, why hadn’t he thought of this?

Ye Han frowned, growing lost in thought as his imagination began to soar.