Chapter 156: Anticipation

"Virtual reality has launched? Are you kidding me? How could it be this soon?" Gu Mengyan asked, completely unable to believe the news and filled with utter shock.

One had to bear in mind that it had only been a few days since she and Chen Hao resigned from Illusion Corporation. Before their departure, the company had still assigned a massive volume of work to their respective departments, claiming it was in preparation for the launch of a new game.

Moreover, Dong Xin had also mentioned recently that she was working on new in-game scenes nearby, which was proof enough that the game should still be in the research and development phase. How on earth could it suddenly be announced as launched? Furthermore, as an internal employee of the company, even if her department had fallen under suspicion, it was impossible for her to be completely oblivious to such an important matter!

Still somewhat unconvinced, Gu Mengyan unlocked her phone and checked the relevant news via the mobile network.

In fact, there was no need to search at all. The very moment Gu Mengyan opened her browser, a flood of push notifications appeared, almost entirely concerning the launch of virtual reality.

The entire internet seemed to have exploded, with over eighty percent of the content discussing the rollout of virtual reality. Yet, Gu Mengyan could understand this phenomenon, because in the aftermath of the virus ravaging the world, the entire global network had fallen into massive paralysis and suffered severe damage.

There was an urgent need to invest massive amounts of manpower, material resources, and financial capital to restore it. Furthermore, this was a large-scale, worldwide restoration effort, requiring an even greater input of supplies.

The problems governments worldwide had to deal with were far from restricted to the internet alone. Because the virus had devastated the network, every industry connected to it had suffered a tremendous impact. Nations not only had to race against the clock to repair the network but also had to restore other damaged sectors. Even the wealthiest countries were stretched thin.

Fortunately, a company stepped up to contract the network restoration work, and that company was naturally Illusion Corporation. They single-handedly shouldered the responsibility of restoring the global network environment. Once this news leaked, it caused a massive shockwave across the entire world, allowing everyone to witness the formidable strength of Illusion Corporation once again.

This was no simple task of fixing a small regional network—this was the global network! Was Illusion Corporation's strength truly this immense? Did they really possess such vast personnel and financial resources?

While ordinary people were shocked by the news, many insiders grew concerned. They were not worried about whether Illusion Corporation could solve this global-scale problem; what worried them was that by putting Illusion Corporation in charge of the matter, they might acquire countless secrets regarding other companies while repairing the network.

The world had long since entered the internet era. Almost all information could be found online, and this naturally included the confidential data of their respective corporations.

Originally, when data and information were managed by national network departments, they had no worries. After all, the entity that knew was their own nation's government, and government personnel were professionals trained and equipped with professional ethics who would not violate the law. Even if there were a few bad apples using their official positions for personal gain, the law could punish them.

But what about Illusion Corporation? If such a massive enterprise wanted to use this network restoration opportunity to pull some strings, how would anyone find out, and how could they stop it? Could the law truly exercise proper restraint over such a company? Especially in smaller nations with imperfect legal systems, effectively curbing Illusion Corporation would likely prove impossible.

However, worries were just worries; a decision jointly made by governments of various nations was not something people like them could sway. Besides, if one displayed excessive anxiety, wouldn't it invite gossip? Were you trying so hard to obstruct Illusion Corporation's work because you had a guilty conscience, because you had some shameful secrets you couldn't bear to let light touch?

Besides, could the governments of various nations fail to understand logic that even they could think of? Perhaps the government intended to use this exact point to thoroughly investigate these companies.

Ultimately, the matter was settled, and Illusion Corporation began the repair and reconstruction of the network according to plan. Fortunately, Illusion Corporation seemed to harbor no ulterior motives; they genuinely just wanted to fix the network properly.

The work progressed smoothly, and Illusion Corporation completed the task ahead of the scheduled deadline.

Of course, Illusion Corporation was not doing this astronomically costly work for free. The benefit they reaped in return was the enjoyment of priority network promotion rights for five years. To put it bluntly, they could use the internet to advertise their own company free of charge.

***

Illusion Corporation had taken the principle of "only a fool misses a freebie" to the absolute extreme. From the moment the network was restored up until now, the very first thing everyone saw when opening the internet was content related to Illusion Corporation.

Just like this time, virtual reality—the product upon which Illusion Corporation had built its foundation and fortune—had officially launched, and they had already begun blanketing the world with promotional information to ensure as many people as possible knew about it.

That was why Gu Mengyan had laid eyes on this world-shaking news the exact second she unlocked her phone.

"It really seems to be true..." Gu Mengyan turned her phone around to show everyone, and they all laid eyes on the unexpected news.

"How could it be this soon?" Zhuge Taxue furrowed her brow. "According to the schedule, shouldn't there still be some time before the launch of virtual reality?"

"Could it be related to what happened in Kustar recently?" Chen Hao asked suspiciously.

"Are you talking about the network fluctuations in the forest from two days ago that were even stronger than the one on you?" Chen Xiaolong spoke up at that moment, and his words were startling right from the start.

"Huh?" Everyone froze. "What do you mean? Are you saying there were violent network fluctuations in the forest two days ago?"

Among those present, Gu Mengyan and Fan Yirou were completely unaware of what had happened in the forest, as Chen Hao had not told them about it. Now that Chen Xiaolong brought it up, both of them were completely baffled.

Seeing that everyone else, including Chen Hao, seemed to know a thing or two, the two women couldn't help but grow even more curious.

"What happened in the forest?" Gu Mengyan immediately blurted out, while Fan Yirou gave Chen Hao a thoughtful look and remained silent.

"Ahem! It's nothing major!" Chen Hao gave a perfunctory reply.

Fan Yirou, who knew Chen Hao well, could tell at a glance that he was hiding something and clearly didn't want to tell the two women. Gu Mengyan naturally saw through it as well, staring at Chen Hao with considerable displeasure. "Why aren't you telling us?"

Dong Xin stepped in to relieve Chen Hao's awkwardness. "Because the secrets involved in this matter are quite important. Without authorization from higher-ups, Chen Hao has no right to reveal it to you. I hope you understand."

Well! That single sentence completely blocked any further inquiry from the two women.

"Then what do we do now? Did the call from that big shot just now mean we should leave Kustar?" Gu Mengyan asked, settling for her second-best option.

"Yes!" Dong Xin nodded. "The commanding officer has already arranged for a plane to wait for us at the airport. We're leaving right now! As it happens, you all live in the same city, which makes things much more convenient."

"Oh?" Chen Hao was somewhat surprised. "Yunhai, do you live in the same city as us too?"

Guo Yunhai cast an embarrassed glance at Dong Xin. "Yeah."

***

Chen Hao instantly understood. This guy must have come along because of Dong Xin, right? He really hadn't expected that a big guy like Guo Yunhai would go to such lengths for a woman; Chen Hao couldn't help but admire his tenacity. Only, seeing Dong Xin's lukewarm attitude toward him today, he realized that the road ahead was long and arduous...

"Since we're leaving Kustar, Taxue, you should come with us as well!" Chen Hao looked at Zhuge Taxue and said, "Do you need to pack any supplies or clothes? Also, shouldn't you give your staff at the teahouse a heads-up? What about settling wages and the like?"

"Huh? What's going on?" Gu Mengyan looked at Zhuge Taxue with a strange expression. Now that she knew the other woman was a lesbian, Gu Mengyan's guard against her had completely melted away; she was simply puzzled as to why Zhuge Taxue was leaving with them.

"Oh! I have officially hired Comrade Zhuge Taxue as the chief executive of our online gaming studio," Chen Hao explained with a smile. "It wouldn't do to have only the three bosses working inside the studio once it's established, right? We need some staff to do the chores and such. Or at least have a punching bag around for when we're in a bad mood."

Zhuge Taxue shot Chen Hao a sidelong glance. "Tch! Cut it out! Being able to invite this young lady to work for you is a blessing you accumulated over eight lifetimes. Let me tell you, this young lady here is like a fifty-year-old vintage Guojiao 1573; no matter how you savor it, it's a fine aged brew. Any praise you heap upon me is entirely justified, yet you want to use me as a punching bag? Don't end up getting fired as the boss by me, your employee."

"Good grief!" Chen Hao was instantly rendered speechless. Zhuge Taxue really didn't treat herself as an outsider at all. Yet, Chen Hao rather liked her personality, which was even more bold and carefree than Gu Mengyan's; at least she lived authentically.

"I don't need to pack anything. Since I'll be hanging out with Big Boss Chen from now on, all my food, clothing, housing, and transportation are entirely up to you," Zhuge Taxue said with a wave of her hand. "As for the staff at the teahouse, they aren't employees at all—they're just admirers of this young lady who came to help out. I'll just make a phone call later to let them know."

Uh... Chen Hao truly didn't know what to say.

"Since everyone has made up their minds, let's head out now!" Dong Xin said in a summarizing tone. "Xiaolong, you're coming with us too!"

This time, Chen Xiaolong didn't raise any objections, simply nodding in a crisp manner. Without going back to pack or prepare anything, he hopped straight into Dong Xin's car. Seeing this, the rest of them shrugged and climbed in one after another.

The only troublesome part was that although Dong Xin's car was a very spacious SUV, holding this many people—with the addition of a giant like Guo Yunhai—made it rather cramped. On top of that, there was the luggage belonging to Gu Mengyan and Fan Yirou.

On the way to the airport, the group naturally found themselves discussing topics that interested them. Gu Mengyan and Fan Yirou seemed deeply curious about Zhuge Taxue and Chen Xiaolong, pulling them into conversation and asking questions every so often.

Zhuge Taxue possessed an outgoing personality, and knowing that one of the women was Chen Hao's sister and the other his girlfriend—essentially her future bosses—she naturally didn't neglect them, chatting happily with the pair.

As for Chen Xiaolong, aside from acting normally around Dong Xin and showing some interest in Chen Hao, whenever anyone else spoke to him, he wore a lifeless, apathetic expression.

At that moment, Dong Xin, who was driving, suddenly threw a question at Chen Hao: "Chen Hao, what do you plan to do once you get back?"

"Once I get back?" Chen Hao stretched lazily, resting both hands behind his head. "The first thing I'll do, of course, is find a way to log into the game and check it out! I wonder what special features I'll have when I enter the game? Hehe! I really am looking forward to it..."