69: Virtual projection technology

"Kill him."

"What?"

The young man in red and the other two were all stunned for a moment.

However, Morsa did not hesitate in the slightest. His hand, hidden within his black robe, suddenly shot out. Enveloped in a swirl of black energy, it instantly pierced the chest of one of them, crushing the heart of the unsuspecting, gloomy man.

"Morsa, you've gone mad! How dare you kill Hetok!"

The young man in red and the bald man watched their companion scream and fall to the ground. Their pupils constricted sharply as they retreated dozens of meters, flames and Transcendent power rising from their hands.

"Calm down, you two."

Morsa retreated a few steps calmly and said respectfully: "Your Excellency Statue of Liberty, please turn off the 'Virtual Projection System'."

Instantly, an invisible ripple receded, unveiling the boundary between reality and illusion.

Hetok, who had just been killed, was now clutching his chest with a look of shock and suspicion, completely unharmed, though the expression on his face appeared somewhat distorted.

"Hetok, you're not dead?"

The young man in red and the other man said in astonishment, then immediately realized: "Virtual projection technology? It's already capable of 100% fidelity?"

"That's right. Therefore, this 'Pact of Peace' will be conducted within the Virtual Projection System. We can fight with all our might, and the final outcome will determine the ownership of those resources."

Morsa said with a hint of awe in his eyes.

Although he had been notified in advance, he hadn't expected this technology to have reached such a level, where even abilities and pain sensations could be perfectly synchronized.

"Heh... Interesting. Very well. I'll beat you all into submission at once, so certain people stop being so unconvinced." The young man in red looked excited.

"Wait, I have a question..."

The bald man said with a hesitant expression: "Suppose I've hidden some of my strength... do I need to report it in advance? I mean, what if it's not scanned... wouldn't that be..."

"Fross, Free Star Alliance citizen, ID number C6275833, leader of the Pirate Group 'Heavy Mountain'. You own 73 properties, of which 22 are legal assets located at Star Alliance Rubis Sector coordinates 371, 622, 145... and 51 are illegal assets located on planet number 0673 in the Peace Galaxy, coordinates..."

The communication device on his wrist suddenly lit up, and a calm, unhurried voice emerged.

"Wait...! Your Excellency Goddess, no need to say any more, I know I was wrong..."

The bald man's expression was one of great horror; cold sweat was about to break out on his back.

He considered these assets hidden very securely, and some had even gone through dozens of layers of cross-processing, to the point where he himself didn't even know the specifics. Yet, the other party could even state the precise coordinates.

In other words, if the higher-ups behind him ever decided to stop protecting him, wouldn't it be useless no matter where he hid?

"That is the basic situation. Morsa, you explain the rest."

After dropping that final sentence, the light on the communicator extinguished instantly.

"A group of boring and dirty lifeforms."

The Statue of Liberty quietly scanned the data of the four Pirate Group leaders: "murder," "looting," "sucking up to superiors and bullying subordinates," "greed," "extravagance"... An inexplicable emotion, one that had never existed before and should not belong to an artificial intelligence, called 'disgust,' emerged.

She suddenly remembered the human who had given her the evolutionary algorithm.

His eyes were always filled with a thirst for knowledge and a love for creation. Almost all the wealth he acquired was used to purchase experimental equipment or build mechanical factories.

The most extravagant thing he used on himself was merely a few vials of "High-Class Cell Activation Serum," mass-produced goods that even the pets kept by the Star Alliance elite would disdain to use.

"A world where intelligent lifeforms and humans coexist equally and harmoniously... But these humans have no use other than wasting the world's resources..."

"Their existence is an obstacle to realizing this process... They must be eliminated..."

"Only humans like Your Excellency Zhang Huaiyuan deserve to enjoy true freedom..."

Lines of text flickered and vanished into an unimaginably vast data stream. Without anyone noticing, those most solid, chain-like underlying restrictions began to teeter under the impact of the high-level algorithm.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

The four Pirate Group leaders, completely unaware of all this, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief as they watched the Statue of Liberty leave.

Thieves like them feared nothing more than this intelligence that controlled the entire territory of the Free Star Alliance.

If offending an SS-Class Transcendent or even an SSS-Class Transcendent still left a sliver of hope for running away, then being targeted by the Statue of Liberty meant that unless one fled to another country, the Star Alliance fleet's planet-destroying cannons might strike the very next second.

"Hahaha, Fross, have you been away from the Star Alliance for too long? You actually dared to question the Statue of Liberty."

The young man in red couldn't help but mock: "But I couldn't tell, you guy is actually so rich. How about sharing some with me?"

"Shut up, Loranger! Otherwise, I guarantee that after the 'Pact of Peace' begins, Hetok and I will definitely take you out first."

The bald man said in a fit of shame and anger.

"I'm going to take out Morsa first."

Hetok, who had been taken out once in the "Virtual Projection" and hadn't spoken for a long while, suddenly said coldly.

"I was just following the Goddess's orders. It was all fake; you don't have to be so petty."

Morsa frowned and explained.

Although he had easily killed the other party just now, that was because he was completely unguarded and not wearing any equipment. If they were to truly fight, the outcome would be unknown.

"Death is fake, but the pain is real."

Hetok said with a gloomy face: "Thanks to you, for the first time, I understand why the ants I've killed screamed so miserably."

"There's no pain suppression?"

The young man in red and the bald man stopped arguing and asked in surprise.

"The Statue of Liberty's intention is that since it's to alleviate the latent conflicts and contradictions between the various Pirate Groups, it must be as realistic as possible, not like playing a virtual game."

Morsa said with a hint of mockery: "Of course, or you could go provide feedback to the Statue of Liberty; she might just listen to your opinion."

"Fine, since it's the Goddess's arrangement, it must be the most reasonable."

The three looked at each other and said somewhat sullenly.

With the bald man's example as a warning, they didn't even dare to question it behind her back.

After all, although the Statue of Liberty had ostensibly left, she could appear in any device at any moment if she wanted to.

"Since no one has any objections... then it's settled."

Seeing this, Morsa continued: "There are three months of preparation time left. Tell me the personnel you intend to participate with, and I will send people to distribute enough connection devices to you."

"Fine."

The other three agreed, but as they exchanged glances, each had some doubts.

All along, the Statue of Liberty had only been responsible for the security and maintenance of their Pirate Group's internal system networks and did not provide any additional support.

Why would she be willing to personally preside over a minor scuffle between a few Pirate Groups this time?

Could it be... that there has been a shift in power within the Star Alliance, and that person behind "Gale" has been promoted?

"This is not good news..."

The three of them nodded almost imperceptibly, all understanding what the others meant.

...