Chapter 781: Silver Shadow
"This is the eleventh district of the Mundane Star System," Xu Xuan Ling continued.
A dazzling world of neon and indulgence, it felt no different to Bai Mo than Earth two hundred years prior, save for a more pronounced technological flair.
"This is our latest 'neural interface'," Xu Xuan Ling said, suddenly producing a micro-box the size of a fingernail and casually tossing it to Bai Mo.
"A smart terminal that replaces mobile phones, Tian Shu." Bai Mo's gaze swept over it, and he had already grasped its principles.
A century had passed, and the once-ubiquitous smart mobile phones were long gone. The various components that once made up a phone had now directly become a part of the Empire's citizens.
Regardless of gender, anyone who reached the age of six could go to a hospital and receive a small blue pill.
Inside the pill were countless micron and nano-sized robots. Once ingested, they would begin to follow a pre-set program, working in conjunction with the body's existing structures and their own components to construct an internal smart terminal.
Tian Shu had no display screen; all visual information was generated directly within the brain by stimulating the retinal nerves. Thus, one no longer had to worry about others discovering what strange things they might be viewing.
All information exchange for this smart terminal was completed via wireless transmission. After all, no one wanted to be like a robot, needing a data cable extending from some part of their body.
"Made to mimic a system?" From the terminal's structure, Bai Mo could discern many familiar traces; some ingenious mechanisms had even been designed by his own hand.
The Destiny System, which every Holy Progenitor on the Land of White possessed, was fundamentally similar in principle to the Empire's current smart terminals.
"Indeed, we developed it through reverse engineering." Xu Xuan Ling did not deny this.
Two systems were used on the Land of White: one was the Destiny System, and the other was the Silver Shadow System.
The Destiny System was exclusively for Holy Progenitors, containing mind-bogglingly comprehensive content, managing every aspect of society across the entire Land of White.
The Silver Shadow System, on the other hand, was the standard configuration for the Land of White's collaborators.
Silver Shadow's primary function was to serve as a platform for missions and transactions.
Issuing missions, exchanging and trading Contribution Points—the vast volume of trade conducted between the former Federation, now the Empire, and the Land of White, all transpired through the Silver Shadow System.
Goods transported from the Empire's homeland, upon reaching the designated receiving location, could be exchanged for the Land of White's Contribution Points. Traders would then use these Contribution Points within the system to purchase necessary supplies, which they would transport back to the Empire via spacecraft.
As the Empire's main fleet ventured further from the Land of White, the risks and barriers to trade increased, making such commerce increasingly lucrative.
Given the current distance between the two sides, it took, on average, ten years to complete a full trade cycle, round trip.
The sheer length of the flight time alone deterred the vast majority of those who wished to engage in such business.
...
Many within the Empire held a Silver Shadow System account, even if they conducted no trade with the Land of White whatsoever. After all, a currency system like Contribution Points, operating semi-outside the Empire's regulation, was also a haven for money laundering.
Yet, the Empire itself, and its various great noble houses, were highly wary of being associated with the shadowy influence behind Silver Shadow. Consequently, the Contribution Point system, originating from the Land of White—or rather, the White Domain—became the Empire's underground currency, intertwined with the Silver Shadow System.
The administrators of the Silver Shadow System maintained the nation's sole office in the eighth district of the Mundane Star System, providing free account opening services to everyone. Be they human or ghost, demon or monster, no identification was required; all could open an account.
It was precisely due to this near-zero barrier to entry that the Empire was able to gain the opportunity to mimic the Silver Shadow System's technology and establish its own "Tian Shu" smart terminal network.
...
"Quite a lot of functions, then." Bai Mo casually affixed the Tian Shu smart terminal to his avatar.
Strictly speaking, he had fooled the terminal with simulated signals, making it believe it was already inside a human body and prompting it to begin automatic assembly.
"Aura Concealment Art: 50 credits, Azure Wood Elemental Technique: 200 credits, Underworld King Scripture: 4000 credits..." Bai Mo tapped open the Empire's trading platform, observing the dazzling array of cultivation techniques. Most were quite cheap; at the income level of an Imperial citizen, one could easily buy twenty or thirty in a month.
Yet, their true significance wasn't particularly great.
While most of the cultivation techniques sold publicly were dirt cheap, the spiritual materials required for their cultivation were not something everyone could afford. It was akin to posting detailed instructions for building an atomic bomb online; few would be able to acquire the raw materials to construct a nuclear weapon.
Nevertheless, this was ultimately a form of progress. At least the cultivation techniques bought on the open market for a few thousand credits could lead directly to the Five Tiers, with clear and concise descriptions of the process from Tier One to Tier Five.
Of course, whether one could truly cultivate anything substantial after purchasing them was a matter of individual aptitude.
"Do you want to visit the eighth district? Silver Shadow's headquarters are there," Xu Xuan Ling continued.
"No need. Let's conclude matters concerning mortals here. Take me to your meeting place."
"Alright."
With a flicker of their figures, the two departed the Mundane Star System.
Although the Mundane Star System was equipped with a Grand Mystic Lock Array, capable of suppressing transcendent powers to the maximum extent, such suppression was effectively null and void for True Immortals standing at the apex of the pyramid. Not only could their power effortlessly tear through the mystic lock, but even the enforcement officers—their superiors' superiors—were more often than not True Immortals themselves.
Asking them to manage their superior's superior was simply too much to ask.
Of course, the Dharma-Ending Mystic Lock Array, personally set up by True Immortals, still imposed strict limitations on beings below the Immortal Tier. Only Immortals were qualified to operate outside its rules.
...
"Is this the location you chose?"
Xu Xuan Ling led Bai Mo to a hotel.
But instead of taking the stairs, they simply phased through several layers of ceiling, arriving directly in the hotel's inner conference room.
Over twenty True Immortal avatars simultaneously turned their gaze towards the two figures who had suddenly appeared.
"Gentlemen, good day," Bai Mo said, his voice remarkably calm, as he swept his gaze around the room.
Among those present, many ground their teeth in hatred for him, while others, like the Four Holy Beasts, had been forcibly confined to the Land of White for a century, their psychological trauma no smaller than a planet's surface area. Yet, none of this disturbed Bai Mo's serene composure in the slightest.
"Good day."
"I require a resonance altar. The Zerg Mother is very cunning; the coordinates it provided me are, in essence, merely a summoning beacon. Without its assent and my own volition, I cannot pass through."
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