Calling for monthly votes, anyone? Anyone at all?

…… After several hours of hauling, Xu Tianguo had procured the corpses of monsters from several large warehouses, all transported into the city of Atlantis for clandestine refining beneath the surface. In this relic space, there was no sun; the sky was perpetually overcast gray.

However, outside, darkness had fallen. As night descended, many returned from hunting monsters in the wilds.

Weary from a day's toil, those without kin plunged into entertainment venues, roaring atop the women who sold themselves to vent their frustrations. Those with family, however, would take their day's haul, purchase some provisions, and head home for a celebration.

Ye Chen was one of them. After finalizing the arrangements for the refining process, he bought some grilled Ironclad Ox and made his way to his sister's residence—Apartment 602, Building B-23, West Street, Atlantis City.

Ding-dong. Ye Chen pressed the bell.

Before long, the metallic door slid open, revealing a delicate face framed by raven-black hair and an oval jawline. Her eyes, like lustrous pearls, shone brightly.

"You're here?" Ye Zhu chirped, already expecting him since Ye Chen had messaged her the address beforehand. "Brought you dinner," Ye Chen said with a slight smile, raising the grilled Ironclad Ox in his hand as he stepped inside.

The room was quite bright. On the ceiling hung a crystal stone, about the size of a fist, which, infused with energy, emitted a soft radiance that illuminated the space like daylight without being harsh.

Moreover, this light was beneficial to the body, capable of smoothing the skin and slowing aging. The room was quite spacious, many furnishings having been replaced.

It was still furnished with modern tables and chairs, featuring special patterns on the walls and lifelike, metallic flowers placed around the windowsills. Ye Chen glanced around and suddenly noticed a nutrient pod and a helmet near one wall, leading him to ask in surprise, "The virtual network?" Ye Zhu giggled, "There's a Virtual Combat Tower in this city.

It's quite interesting; you can set up your own character and your opponent's character to fight in any map." Ye Chen looked at her. Behind that innocent smile, there seemed to be a faint trace of exhaustion and steely resolve.

His heart warmed, and he chuckled, "Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Here, eat this first." Saying that, he opened the plastic bag, took out pieces of the Ironclad Ox, tore them in half, and began eating, his hands instantly becoming greasy.

He didn't mind at all. Ye Zhu was equally unreserved.

They sat on the living room sofa and devoured the meal, their mouths smudged with oil. After finding a cloth to wipe themselves clean, Ye Chen walked over to the virtual helmet and casually inquired, "Have you bound this helmet yet?" Ye Zhu was clearing away the bones while answering casually, "Not yet.

I figured you’d want to play too, so I didn't apply for binding." Ye Chen smiled faintly, then sat cross-legged, placed the helmet on his head, and pressed the switch on its side. A weak current permeated his entire body, connecting with his brainwaves.

Swish. The scene before Ye Chen shifted.

He was no longer in the room but standing before a sacred golden hall. Beside the hall stood a girl, exquisitely proportioned, clad in a sheer gauze gown, with an ornate hairpin adorning her hair, making her appear ethereal, like a peerless beauty from antiquity.

A light veil obscured her features, but her pair of bright, dark eyes were undeniable. Floating above her head was a line of text: Bao'er Bei.

Ye Chen gave a wry smile. This woman was naturally the character his sister, Ye Zhu, had created in the Virtual Combat Tower, where one could create a character and arbitrarily set its strength level.

"Hmm?" Ye Chen's gaze sharpened as he looked at the girl's brow. There was a small, crimson dot there: "Crimson-Tier Warrior." Ye Chen was slightly astonished.

The Virtual Combat Tower had seven tiers: Crimson, Orange, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, and Purple. Among them, a Crimson-Tier Warrior was defined as one who could exert 10 points of combat power single-handedly.

An Orange-Tier Warrior could exert 20 points single-handedly. Advancement occurred every subsequent 10 points.

Ye Chen hadn't expected that his sister, whom he had always protected and who had rarely needed to slay monsters, could actually exert 10 points of combat power on her own. This was an extremely formidable level in the early stages, typically a qualification only possessed by professional assassins.

Yet, his gentle and demure sister had reached it? Furthermore, judging by the color concentration of that dot, she seemed to be in the late stage of the Crimson Tier, likely able to exert sixteen or seventeen points of power alone.

If this were known, it would make most generals in the base city feel ashamed. After a moment of reflection, Ye Chen also created a character, making him look ordinary and plain, dressed in ancient style—all black clothing with a black cloth covering his face, resembling a silent assassin.

"Name: Phantom." "Enter combat field," Ye Chen commanded. The scene before him changed instantly, transporting him to a barren region.

A window appeared before him, offering settings for enemy count and self-strength level. After adjustments made by Elvira, the self-level here was designated by "Level." "Self Level 100," Ye Chen set casually, then configured the enemy race as "Human," the quantity as "100," and each individual's strength as "Level 100." He also set the battle location to a planet called "Tal Star." The scene shifted again.

The surroundings were fiery red, the ground rocks glowing like blood, seemingly about to melt. Intense heat rushed toward him, and from fissures in the ground, magma occasionally erupted with high damage potential.

Ye Chen had a weapon selection option before him, as well as a custom weapon choice. He selected a six-foot-long broadsword, which instantly materialized in his hand with a flash of light.

The window closed, and a countdown sounded in his ears. "Begin!" Swish swish swish.

As the command finished, over a hundred figures suddenly materialized before him. All were clad in black clothes and possessed black hair, their appearances nearly identical to Ye Chen's.

Their weapons, too, were six-foot-long broadswords, meaning Ye Chen had to defeat a hundred versions of himself, each possessing his own strength. "Kill!" Ye Chen moved, his broadsword tracing a mysterious arc in the air, like the smile of the Grim Reaper.

Two nearby black-clad Ye Chens hastily swung their blades to defend, but that mysterious arc seemed to travel like a sound wave, ignoring the blades and slicing directly through the skulls of the two black-clad Ye Chens. Death: 2.

The heat rushed over him. Ye Chen's eyes were cold, tinged with a hint of bloodlust.

He moved again, charging toward the remaining 98 foes. Although these enemies were all Level 100, their combat strength level was the lowest tier, capable of exerting only 5 points of combat power single-handedly.

"Kill!" Ye Chen moved like slaughtering lambs, his broadsword flashing ceaselessly as he employed every sword technique he knew. His movements were elusive, distributing his strength across every limb.

With a slight slide of his foot, he darted into a cluster of black-clad Ye Chens. He lifted his upper body, swung his broadsword, and struck down several more.

Splat. Suddenly, the ground cracked open, and a jet of magma erupted, lunging toward Ye Chen's back.

While dodging a blow from a black-clad Ye Chen's sword, Ye Chen frowned. He twisted his foot, tapped the ground with his toe, and forcefully pushed his body sideways by several feet, narrowly avoiding the trajectory of the magma jet.

Then, he plunged back into the slaughter. Ten minutes later.

Whoosh. A flash of cold steel, and on the blood-red ground, a smear of crimson blood splashed down, rapidly evaporating.

The last black-clad Ye Chen slumped to the ground with a look of indifference, a sword gash across his neck. Ye Chen sheathed his battle saber.

The scene shifted, and he was back before the golden hall. A window descended before him, displaying: F-Rank.

This was the rank assessment for group battles. Group battles were divided into seven ranks, each corresponding to the seven single-combat tiers: Crimson, Orange, Yellow, etc.

"Not bad; reaching F-Rank even for a warm-up," Ye Chen said with a slight smile. He then exited the Virtual Combat Tower without further testing.

He was well aware of his own single-combat capability and had no need for assessment; he just couldn't resist playing a couple of rounds for old times' sake upon seeing this familiar device. He recalled that in his previous life, even the Ten Super Soldiers had only reached B-Rank during the late apocalypse, after much civilization knowledge had been unearthed and absorbed.

Given how strict this assessment was, achieving G-Rank in a group battle during this early stage would already mark someone as an exceptionally talented elite. "How was it?" Ye Zhu's smiling voice sounded beside him.

Ye Chen lowered the helmet and chuckled, "Just stretched my muscles a bit. Didn't expect you to have reached Crimson Tier already; that’s really good." Ye Zhu stuck out her tongue playfully.

Ye Chen paused, then opened his Runic Space, retrieving the crystal sphere containing the Heart Realm cultivation technique. Inside, there were numerous light points.

He channeled his vital energy into it, and the crystal sphere immediately brightened. The points inside began to move, gathering slowly and drifting upward until they condensed into a ball of light the size of a fist.

"What is this?" Ye Zhu asked, her face full of curiosity. Ye Chen smiled, "This is a cultivation method for the Heart Realm.

Practicing it can strengthen the Heart Realm, and upon reaching the Saint Realm, one can foresee the future and divine the past..." The more transparent the cultivation of the Heart Realm, the clearer one's perception of heaven and earth becomes, allowing one to sense temporal tunnels and view the future. This is why some individuals can predict anomalies like the alignment of the Nine Stars or temporal rifts—some calculate based on ancient texts and data, while others sense it through the "heart." At this moment, the aggregated light points radiated a gentle, benevolent, and warm feeling.

Streams of profound intent flowed into the minds of Ye Chen and Ye Zhu, forming an article that their minds began to understand and analyze. True articles are not defined by beautiful words; rather, true knowledge cannot be constrained by script but is a transmission of intent, feeling, and spirit, unconstrained by worldly characters.