In a blank world, Brian Clark and the Central Intelligence Brain each sat on a sofa, facing each other. The previous words were the Central Intelligence Brain’s opening statement.

Brian Clark was completely unmoved. He lounged lazily, half-reclining, and merely shrugged at the words: “How could I not know? The news reports it every day. But so what? Aren’t those human elites living in the Zenith District supposed to worry about things like this?”

For someone like him, living in the slums, worrying was useless anyway.

The Central Intelligence Brain sat upright and nodded. “Please be patient, I haven’t finished speaking.”

Brian Clark gestured for it to continue.

“I am the Central Intelligence Brain of Earth. The supply of water, electricity, air, and food needed for the lives of 27 billion people, the processing of metabolic waste, birth, aging, sickness, and death—everything must be managed by me. This consumes more than 90% of my computing resources.”

“Don’t you have a lot of underlings? I remember that every major district has a super-intelligence brain,” Brian Clark asked.

“You’re asking what you already know. We are one. All intelligence brains share a single unified consciousness, and that is me.”

“That makes sense. But what does all this have to do with what you want to talk to me about? Let me be clear: I can’t do anything like saving humanity. I’m just an ordinary person.” Brian Clark preemptively set his boundaries.

The intelligence brain was unfazed and continued, “Among the 27 billion people, every adult has experienced entering the virtual world game at least once to experience life. More than 50% have entered more than three times. Of this 50%, 60% have made entering the virtual world their life’s goal.”

“That’s insane,” Brian Clark sighed. He himself used to be among that last group of crazies, until just now, when he suddenly realized that he’d been wasting his life.

The intelligence brain nodded. “It is indeed insane. But the Federation government hasn’t stopped it, because the virtual world is a necessary means to prevent turmoil in the Federation.”

On this point, Brian Clark agreed: “When the world is governed by the Dao, horses are used for manure. When the world lacks the Dao, warhorses are bred on the outskirts.”

This was a quote from the ancient classic Dao De Jing. “Warhorses” referred to those restless, ambitious heroes. If such people lived in the slums, they would surely stir up trouble and incite rebellion.

Such people can never be eliminated; as long as humanity exists, so will they. In fact, it’s mostly this group that drives human history forward.

Now, with the virtual world, most of these heroes and ambitious types have gone to show off in the virtual world. Even those who haven’t gotten hooked can’t rally others to rebel anymore.

This “Dao” of the virtual world, while not particularly sophisticated, is indeed very effective at stabilizing society.

A smile appeared on the intelligence brain’s face. “I’m glad you understand. In fact, opening the virtual world was a helpless stopgap, because human technology has hit a bottleneck, with no hope of a breakthrough for now.”

As it spoke, a full holographic 3D image appeared in front of the intelligence brain—a spaceship.

“The Endeavor, the most advanced and fastest spaceship on Earth. It’s equipped with a fusion reactor and artificial gravity. Its large self-sustaining biosphere can last five hundred years without collapse. Its maximum speed is ten percent of the speed of light. It can reach Mars in just three days, leave the solar system in a year, and reach Proxima Centauri in fifty years.”

“That’s amazing!” Brian Clark exclaimed sincerely. This was the pinnacle of human technology, and as a member of humanity, he felt a surge of pride.

“But it’s still not good enough!” The intelligence brain waved its hand, sweeping the spaceship away like trash, reducing it to fragments.

“This spaceship was built regardless of cost. It’s the highest achievement of current human technology, and there will be no fundamental breakthroughs for the next fifty years. However, the only habitable planet suitable for immigration that we’ve observed—Hailan Star—is three hundred light-years away. To get there would take at least four thousand years!”

“What does that mean?” Brian Clark was getting dizzy. The intelligence brain hadn’t finished its explanation, and now it was talking about interstellar travel. He was completely confused.

“It means that Hailan Star can only serve as a lifeboat for preserving the spark of human civilization, not as a stepping stone for its expansion. In the foreseeable future, unless there’s a major technological breakthrough—such as the development of instantaneous space-jump technology—the virtual world will remain the mainstream of society.” The intelligence brain explained the current social situation very clearly.

“Oh, I get it now.” Brian Clark suddenly understood, and the intelligence brain was greatly relieved.

“But I still don’t see what this has to do with me?” Brian Clark changed the subject. He wasn’t a scientist, just a poor man from the slums, and one of those deeply in debt with no prospects.

The intelligence brain let out a very human sigh, fell silent for a moment, finished explaining the background, and finally got to the main point. Its first words were a bombshell: “I’ve already found out all the identities you’ve ever used in the virtual world.”

“What?!” Brian Clark felt his heart almost stop.

Besides taking on the identity of George Washington, he had many others—each one more explosive than George Washington. If discovered, and if compensation was calculated purely, he might have to pay nine trillion credit points, equivalent to one-tenth the market value of Earth’s gaming companies.