[Greetings, respected Platinum Member Mr. Li Chen. Welcome to our company’s aerial vehicle rental service.]

Swish.

A brand-new aerial vehicle slowly docked at the landing pad, stirring up waves of airflow.

[Your destination is: Thunder Martial Arts Hall, Platinum Member Mr. Li Chen. Our company also provides a full range of premium services including top-tier private security, concealment and stealth travel, medical emergency response and organ transplantation. If you have related needs, please refer to the following pricing list…]

With the arrival of the aerial vehicle, Li Chen’s face lit up and the tension in his expression gradually eased.

“That’s enough, right, Miss Lu Mingming?”

Glancing at the girl beside him who was still sticking close and showed no intention of leaving, Li Chen scratched his head helplessly, “I really am not going to meet some shady woman for a date…”

Pointing at the prominent logo on the aerial vehicle and the constantly flashing itinerary list on the projected screen, Li Chen resisted the urge to roll his eyes and said aloud, “Or do you think I actually have the means to hack the FlyBird Car Rental Company’s backend servers and alter my personal travel data?”

“Thun—der—Mar—tial—Arts—Hall.” Lu Mingming softly read out the destination word by word, suspicion still flickering in her eyes, “That famous martial arts hall? But big brother, you’re a man. Is there really a need to torture yourself at that kind of devil training camp?”

The girl’s clear eyes carried an untouched innocence as she muttered in a childlike tone, “Besides, big brother already has such an amazing wife. Why go there to suffer at the hands of instructors? I heard from a sister who went there that Thunder Martial Arts Hall isn’t a place fit for humans.”

Lu Mingming sneakily glanced at Li Chen’s naturally flawless face—so perfect that even top painters couldn’t fully capture its charm. The thought of him being tormented in that notoriously harsh training ground made her heart ache.

‘Cruel, not fit for humans?’

Listening to Lu Mingming’s criticism of Thunder Martial Arts Hall, Li Chen found himself at a loss for words.

Should he tell her that as long as one endured hardship, there was a chance to obtain precious martial arts?

That compared to other consortiums’ brutally harsh terms—selling one’s life to the company like a loyal dog, trampling on dignity and conscience at any cost, with no guarantee of obtaining high-level martial arts in return—this was already a mercy?

Staring into the girl’s lively eyes, Li Chen couldn’t utter a single sound.

He couldn’t bear to tell someone her age how cruel reality was.

Besides, with her mother being a vice president at an entertainment company, if nothing unexpected happened, Lu Mingming would likely live her entire life amid the prosperity and bustle of Hive City, never needing to worry about where her next meal would come from like many peers in the Lower City, nor dying in the streets over scraps considered trash by the upper class.

So, faced with the girl’s sincere curiosity, Li Chen chose not to give the correct answer.

He simply reached out and firmly pinched Lu Mingming’s chubby cheek.

“Silly girl, in your eyes, can boys only be protected by others and never rely on themselves?”

“Ah, n-no, that’s not what I meant. Our biology teacher said that boys are naturally physically stronger than girls and our history teacher said that in ancient times, men were the dominant force in the world. But, but…”

Lu Mingming muttered softly, “But according to the modern gender ratio, boys are rarer than girls, so they should be cherished and protected by women.”

“Haha, looks like you do pay attention in class. Who would’ve thought, little Mingming, you’re such a good kid~”

Amused by the dorky tone in her voice, Li Chen couldn’t help pinching her tender cheeks even harder.

“But you know, little Mingming, you might not understand now, but when you grow up, you probably will.”

Li Chen patted his chest lightly.

“When you truly love someone, you won’t think about who should protect whom anymore. You’ll only have one thought—absolutely…”

Li Chen’s gaze sharpened. In that instant, Lu Mingming felt that the kind, friendly big brother she’d been chatting with was gone, replaced by someone brimming with imposing presence—someone even her high-level executive mother at the entertainment company couldn’t compare to, like a legendary top-tier martial artist who had fought his way back from mountains of corpses and seas of blood in pre-civilization ruins.

‘Must be… must be my imagination, right? Big brother Li Chen is a martial artist, but I just checked the training records. He’s only an ordinary second-tier quasi-martial artist. That sister who suffered terribly at Thunder Martial Arts Hall and withdrew in less than a week was already a fourth-tier martial artist at twenty. What if… what if big brother’s face, prettier than any celebrity’s, gets hurt by those wild women at the training ground who only understand martial arts and can’t appreciate beauty at all…’

Lu Mingming’s small head filled with worry for Li Chen.

“Alright, little girl. I’m really happy chatting with you today, but my appointment with the martial arts hall staff is almost here, so…”

Li Chen gently flicked Lu Mingming’s forehead, then walked stylishly toward the aerial vehicle that had been waiting for some time.

“Wait, big brother Li Chen!”

Just as he was about to step onto the aerial vehicle, Lu Mingming suddenly called out and handed him two gleaming cards with both hands.

“These are… invitations?”

Li Chen examined them and saw written on them: “Ten Years to Sharpen One Sword. Starry Sky Entertainment sincerely invites you to attend the debut of our newly developed songstress AI.”

“Yes. This is a project Mom and the others spent many years completing. I heard even executives from the parent company—the Solares Consortium—are very interested in it.”

Lu Mingming awkwardly twirled her ponytail, “I-I heard Sister Bai Wei say she’ll be relatively free over the next few months, so I thought, big brother, maybe you could invite big sister to attend together. Hehe, it’s called a launch event, but it’s basically a concert.”

‘This little girl… no wonder she made Bai Wei so happy with just a few words.’

“Alright. I’m also really looking forward to seeing your results, Lu Mingming.”

“N-no, not really.”

Having her little thoughts exposed, Lu Mingming hurriedly lowered her head, mumbling, “I-I’m just an intern, responsible for handling some basic code.”

‘That’s already very impressive.’

Although Li Chen wasn’t particularly interested in virtual idols, in this era, real idols couldn’t compare to virtual idols crafted at great expense by entertainment companies using cutting-edge technology.

After all, no matter how perfect a person was, they would always have flaws. But to most fans, idols shouldn’t have human emotional desires, whether good or bad.

What they wanted was simply a projection of their longing for beautiful dreams.

Thus, virtual idols that never tired, never collapsed, possessed flawless professional abilities and could truly “deeply and equally love every fan” naturally became the perfect substitute.

Of course, building a mature virtual idol was extremely costly. In this ever-changing information age, precisely capturing consumer preferences required training massive datasets—far beyond what pre-transmigration slapdash operations could achieve.

‘Could this girl really be that future super hacker? Or the counterintelligence minister from the original work who, alongside Xiao Mengya, stirred up corporate wars and carried blood on her hands? Maybe I should… No.’

Thinking of his fiancée’s worried face, Li Chen shook his head slightly.

‘Even if she really is that hacker, what does it have to do with a bottom-tier guy like me earning three thousand credits a month? Besides, I already promised Xiao Wei.’

Waving goodbye to Lu Mingming, Li Chen sat down in the luxurious leather seat inside the aerial vehicle.

‘I’ll just listen to some news.’

Li Chen casually tapped the screen.

Crackle.

[Breaking news. The legendary mercenary group <Judicators> has once again conquered a pre-civilization ruin. According to the Mercenary Guild spokesperson, Ms. Lin Caining has excavated a complete technological chain. Whether it qualifies as singularity technology remains pending City Hall confirmation.]

[Next, in economic news: the Solares Consortium officially submitted a lawsuit to the Supreme Tribunal this morning, accusing Newborn Pharmaceuticals—a strategic subsidiary of the Montmorency Consortium—of patent infringement.]

[Additionally, according to our exclusive report, the CEO of Newborn Pharmaceuticals allegedly fell into a river embankment while jogging near his home early this morning. He is currently undergoing emergency treatment in a medical pod. Interestingly, according to his relatives, their extremely expensive medical insurance transferred him to a medical center under the Solares Consortium.]

[And in social news, another gang war erupted in the Lower City. According to local correspondents, a mid-sized gang was wiped out overnight with no survivors. The Public Security Bureau reminds Upper Hive citizens to avoid the Lower City unless necessary.]

Listening to the news broadcast inside the cabin, Li Chen’s expression turned subtle.

‘Newborn Pharmaceuticals… don’t tell me that young miss has set her sights on them?’

Crossing his arms, Li Chen let his thoughts wander.

‘Come to think of it, I taught her this crap myself. Fake corporate warfare is lawyers battling in court and preparing capital to snipe stock prices and acquisitions, while real corporate warfare… Is using physical means to violently eliminate the opponent’s board members? Good thing I was kicked out of the company early… If she really angers everyone someday, it won’t have anything to do with me.’

[Dear passenger, your destination—Thunder Martial Arts Hall—has arrived. Please collect your personal belongings and disembark…]

Shaking his head and clearing his stray thoughts, Li Chen looked out the window at the towering building standing in the most luxurious district of the Upper City.

The civilian holy land of martial arts—Thunder Martial Arts Hall—had arrived.