When Yun You opened her eyes again, she had already left the grand and magnificent Ethernet, and returned to the real world, lying in her dark and dilapidated rented room.

The smell of oil and smoke wafting in from outside, along with the sizzling sound of frying meat patties, reminded Yun You that it was probably late.

She casually took off the virtual reality glasses and grabbed her phone to take a look.

The current time was one in the afternoon.

She had entered the Ethernet just after nine in the morning, which meant she had spent a full four hours in the virtual network.

This was quite astonishing.

Because, in Yun You's own perception, she had stayed in the Ethernet for just over an hour at most, buying a few things and listening to Yuanbao's information.

Yet time passed so quickly that she didn't notice at all.

"No wonder the manual for the virtual glasses said that during the first time entering the Ethernet, one would lose the ability to perceive real-world time... The discrepancy in time is so exaggerated, if I chat with Yuanbao a bit longer, by the time I wake up, it'll probably be the next day."

The little girl rubbed her sore neck and silently thought, "Next time, I must be careful."

Yun You had heard long ago that in Nest City, people often played virtual games until they starved to death.

She thought it was just a joke back then, but now it seemed if one used pirated virtual equipment, this might really happen.

"One must maintain awe for virtual technology, because it's not just a mere technology..."

This was the first line on the first page of the glasses manual, and although it looked a bit like self-promotion, it wasn't without reason.

...

Yun You slightly moved her stiff limbs and got up to prepare to go outside to pick up the delivery.

Items traded within the Ethernet would naturally be handled by the Ethernet terminal for delivery and after-sales service.

Generally, it would charge a fee of 0.5% of the transaction price from both the buyer and seller to cover delivery costs.

Afterward, the Ethernet would contact a subordinate shipping company, use cargo drones to pick up goods, then deliver them to the nearest vending machine near the buyer, providing a unique pickup code for the buyer to use.

During this process, the drone and goods will advance in a special flight mode, never coming into contact with any real "person," thus ensuring logistics anonymity and safety, and achieving a "fully anonymous" transaction model.

People don't know exactly how the Ethernet achieves this, but since its first transaction occurred, no cargo under its escort has ever gone missing.

Not once.

Although the Ethernet official never claimed to be a giant enterprise... its capability and operational scale were comparable to any giant corporation.

As for whether anyone might try to pry open a vending machine after the goods were delivered to steal them...

That did happen.

Yun You read a news article long ago saying a gang of famous thieves had appeared in the lower regions of Nest City, named the [Heaven-Stealing Squad], who did not steal from the rich nor rob gangs, but particularly liked to pick locks, especially those on vending machines.

This group committed crimes by traveling around, prying open sixteen vending machines in just a month, illegally profiting over ten million.

No one knows exactly how they managed it, even the vending machine manufacturer "World River" Group had no solutions for dealing with this group.

"World River" tried strengthening the vending machine's systems, hired an entire team of hackers, and mobilized SWAT team members in attempts to stop the thieves' rampant actions.

But eventually, this rule-breaking group remained at large, defying giant enterprises and prying open more than thirty vending machines, even using "reverse hacking" methods to change the World River Group's logo—a flowing river—into a moving purple banana.

That's the arrogant nature of Heaven-Stealing Squad, who prided themselves on their strength, even ignoring giant corporations.

This era's mercenaries and hackers are like this, relying on their abilities to freely trample rules set by corporations.

But always remember, Nest City hides gifted talents; never be too arrogant and claim to be "the strongest."

There will always be more powerful figures one should not provoke indiscriminately, which is Nest City's second survival law.

Unfortunately, it seemed Heaven-Stealing Squad disregarded this rule.

Thus, they inevitably provoked someone they shouldn't have.

In 2074, during an operation three years ago, Heaven-Stealing Squad pried open another vending machine.

But this time, besides money and goods, they discovered another special pouch inside the machine.

A parcel from the Ethernet.

According to official Nest City journalist reports, this parcel wasn't valuable; even with fees included, it was only worth 30,000 Silver Cannon, being a small piece of jade for decoration.

Its value compared to the money in the vending machine was negligible and should not have been taken.

However, Heaven-Stealing Squad had a bad habit: they wouldn't give up any goods already in their hands.

So they opened the parcel and kept the jade for themselves.

And this... naturally enraged the Ethernet.

Nonetheless, the Ethernet's temperament was quite good; it didn't immediately resort to force but announced for Heaven-Stealing Squad to return the goods on their own.

As long as the goods could be returned in full, along with a negligible packaging fee, it wouldn't pursue other liabilities against Heaven-Stealing Squad.

This was already quite generous.

Regrettably, returning stolen goods obviously didn't fit Heaven-Stealing Squad's worldview.

So they ignored Ethernet's warnings once more and boldly started an anonymous livestream, heading outdoors for a city tour.

In response, the Ethernet issued no further ultimatum nor opinions.

And thereafter...

About two days later, the entire Heaven-Stealing Squad, three men and two women, suddenly appeared simultaneously in the Ethernet's hall.

Subsequently, the leading man respectfully returned the jade to its owner, and alongside his companions, read a twelve-hour long apology speech.

They displayed no signs of external injuries nor captures or subjugations...

But upon closer examination, it could be observed that these individuals... especially their leader, while reciting the speech, would occasionally stutter, dribble a few drops of saliva, and their consciousness appeared unclear, different from their previously extreme arrogant attitude.

If viewers had medical knowledge, they would recognize this...

This is a symptom of complete removal of the prefrontal lobe, a brain area responsible for controlling "cognition" and "emotion."

Two days, forty-eight hours.

Within such a short time, the Ethernet captured Heaven-Stealing Squad and then, in a cold and swift manner, excised part of their brains.

This was the Ethernet's response.

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