【Welcome to the Inner World, neural connection secondary calibration in progress...】

【Calibration complete, data reorganization has begun...】

【Reorganization successful, error correction in progress...】

【Correction rate has reached 100%, recreating the game menu...】

【Creation complete, Inner World character module ready, system limit adjusted to 30%】

【Good luck.】

A series of system prompts appeared directly in Feng Bujue's consciousness.

The instant his hearing returned, he heard the sound of his own ragged breathing.

The instant his sense of touch returned, he felt the touch of a gentle breeze on his cheek.

The instant his sense of smell returned, he smelled a faint metallic odor.

The instant his sense of taste returned, he tasted the coppery sweetness of blood in his mouth.

And the instant his sight returned, he found bright light stimulating his eyelids, so... he suddenly opened his eyes.

At this moment, the transmission and assembly of data fragments had been completed, and Feng Bujue's five senses were gradually restored.

A brand new world unfolded before his eyes...

Here was a blue-gray world. Everything within sight was a metallic substance. Whether observed visually or on a data level, it was impossible to determine the actual size of this space. For example, that expanse of gray-blue in the distance... it was difficult to tell whether it was a wall or the ground.

The sky above was cyan, without clouds, sun, moon, or stars; the firmament itself emitted a moderate amount of light.

In the sky floated a few strands of crimson data streams, a palm's width, shaped like ribbons… resembling rosy clouds, resembling colorful clouds. Their length was impossible to estimate; both ends extended into the horizon. They seemed to be a kind of intangible substance. When viewed from different angles, their shape would change due to the refraction of light.

"Is this the Inner World..." Ruoyu's voice suddenly rang out, entering Jue-ge's ears.

Feng Bujue turned his head and saw that she was standing not far from him, seemingly having just regained consciousness as well. "Ah... yes," he replied, then asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Ruoyu's demeanor and tone returned to their usual state. "This kind of teleportation doesn't seem to cause any damage."

"Yeah... that's good..." Feng Bujue said as he brought up the game menu.

In the next second, a completely new interface floated within his consciousness (no longer just appearing before his eyes).

Although this was the first time he had opened this interface, the system did not provide detailed explanations of the various details of the new menu. It seemed... that it was prepared to let the players figure it out for themselves.

"Hmm... the status bar has completely disappeared..." Feng Bujue murmured the first second he saw the new menu, "Is that really a good thing..."

"It's not a big problem," Ruoyu replied. "Feel it..." After saying this, she paused for a few seconds, then added, "Here, our perception of our own injuries and physical strength has become more detailed. Basically close to... reality."

"Understood," Feng Bujue nodded. "We now need to judge our remaining health, stamina, and Spiritual Energy based on our own physical sensations."

"And those abnormal states too," Ruoyu added.

"Ah~" Feng Bujue said, "That is to say... fewer restrictions, but also fewer auxiliary functions."

Even Jue-ge had to admit that some things only become valuable after you lose them.

For example, the "100% System Limit" of the Surface World. Although the players were tightly controlled and subject to various restrictions, the corresponding auxiliary programs helped them a lot. At least the players could directly see how much health, stamina, and Spiritual Energy they had left through numerical values. When they were hit by an abnormal state, they could immediately see the type of state.

But now... it was basically like the song says—follow your feelings.

When you want to use a skill, you'd better think clearly and feel it carefully... how much stamina (Spiritual Energy) you have left. Otherwise, you might "overspend" and cause very serious consequences.

"Speaking of which... where did that Derivate go?" After a few seconds, Ruoyu belatedly remembered v1-God of War, who had been teleported with them, so she asked.

"His data properties are very different from ours, so the coordinates he arrives at after teleportation will also be very different from ours," Feng Bujue said. "To give an example, we are like two files of similar size, with the same first letter, and the same type, while v1-God of War is a completely different file from us. When these three files are dragged together into the 'Inner World' folder, the optical brain will automatically mix these three with all the original files in the folder, which involves a problem of sorting." He shrugged. "This is a natural law of the binary world. With v1-God of War's strength, he can't defy this arrangement, so..." As he said this, he gestured a "flying away" with his index finger.

"Okay..." Ruoyu didn't fully understand what Jue-ge was saying, but of course, she didn't care about the details. "So... can you tell me now, what exactly are you doing?"

"Hmm... this... where should I start..." Feng Bujue slightly turned his body, lowered his head at an angle, and gently stroked his forehead to the bridge of his nose. "Let's start from when I met Zero during the Peak Tournament..."

…………

Speaking of other matters, several minutes later, another place in the Inner World.

Accompanied by a bang, a burly figure emitting a white-gold light landed with a crash.

"Tch... just playing petty tricks." As soon as v1-God of War landed, he muttered in annoyance.

Due to the consumption, he transformed back into his ordinary form almost immediately.

"Hoo... oh well." After canceling the Limit State, v1 let out a long breath (under normal circumstances, he doesn't need to breathe. If he is breathing, it's either to adapt to the new environment or to adjust the density of his body), "If I return to the Inner World, all injuries and restrictions will no longer exist."

Thinking of this, he had already restarted the self-check system, and white data streams quickly occupied his giant eye.

Internal data identification:

——Simulating the last normal scan...

——Simulated detection is safe, officially starting the scan...

——Scan complete, unknown fault has been cleared, virus has been isolated....

【Warning, unable to generate an antivirus program for the invading virus, now enabling a permanent isolation policy and adding it as the highest risk level】

——Checking the status of the middle-layer firewall...

——Checking the status of the external firewall...

【Firewall repair rate has reached 100%, stopping emergency isolation program.】

【The entire system has returned to normal.】

"What a disgrace..." After completing the self-check, v1-God of War's mood did not improve. On the contrary, the suppressed anger in his heart was stirred up again. "To actually be made so embarrassed by a mere player..." He raised his head and roared, then gritted his teeth and muttered, "Feng Bujue! I will definitely kill you with my own hands..."

…………

At the same moment, Feng Bujue, who was n kilometers away, had finally finished explaining the pile of crap between himself and the Derivate to Ruoyu.

And then...

"Achoo!" He sneezed.

"Could you turn your face away when you sneeze?" Ruoyu said, wiping her face with her hand.

"Eh? You're not even angry about this?" Feng Bujue laughed.

"I slapped you earlier, so that should even things out, right?" Ruoyu said.

"Huh? Is that how it works?" Feng Bujue replied, "If I'd known, I should have gotten closer and sprayed it in your mouth."

Jue-ge's words were just him habitually acting like a jerk, he never expected that...

"Ptooey." Ruoyu actually... spat in his face without warning.

Even more coincidentally... that mouthful of saliva flew right into Jue-ge's mouth.

"Ugh..." Feng Bujue inadvertently swallowed it.

Two seconds later, he shouted, "Hey! What's the meaning of this!"

"I thought about it carefully, that slap was your own fault," Ruoyu replied calmly. "So I have to spit in your face to even things out."

"Then you should have spat on my face!" Feng Bujue shouted with wide eyes.

"Sorry, I've never spat like this before, I can't control it," Ruoyu said lightly. "I'll pay attention next time."

Feng Bujue's mouth twitched, and he responded with a strained voice, "Well, thank you very much!"

Rumble—Rumble—

Just as Jue-ge was complaining, two loud noises suddenly came from afar.

The two immediately turned serious and looked in the direction of the sound.

But they saw...