1.12 The First Card Acquired

Whether something counts or not depends on the person.

After all, the cards come from the seller. And the player who crafted this card, whether out of personal preference or self-promotion, might have intentionally or unintentionally elevated a minor character from an obscure storyline, then sold it at a high price. It’s only natural—no one wakes up early without a profit in mind.

For the buyer, whether it’s worth the price depends entirely on their needs.

The synthetic android, praised by T850 as a rare beauty, only requires the accompanying “Universal Database” provided by the seller, allowing backups of various “simulated personalities,” making it truly versatile. Unlike ordinary players who might recklessly load personalities without advanced programming skills and risk losing control, the onboard AI, Ai, effortlessly manages this B-level storyline android.

With multiple assistants for daily base management, Wu Chen can venture out without worries. The question remains: is the steep price of 80 coins really worth it?

Seeing Wu Chen hesitate, T850 racked its CPU to try another approach: “If you order today, esteemed guest, you will also receive a can of ‘T-800 Terminator Synthetic Consumables’ as a bonus.”

“What do the synthetic consumables do?” Wu Chen asked with a smile.

“They’re used for printing synthetic organ tissues,” T850 replied honestly.

The T800 and enhanced T850 Terminators both have a layer of synthetic tissue that looks so human it’s indistinguishable from the real thing. “Consumables” usually refer to printer ink cartridges. By extension, “synthetic consumables” are the molecular 3D printing “cartridges.” Wu Chen’s previously purchased Pan-Three tablet came with a drone station. Simply replacing the “T-800 Terminator Synthetic Consumables” allows the biochemical android to print new synthetic tissues.

Moreover, appearances and organs can be changed at will. Changing to a limited-edition skin every day isn’t just a dream. T850 had certainly grasped the customer’s desire to buy.

Fearing Wu Chen might not fully appreciate the value of the gift, T850 asked with a smile, “Do you know what the largest organ of the human body is, esteemed guest?”

“Skin,” Wu Chen answered naturally.

“Exactly,” T850 nodded with satisfaction. Although its metallic skull face betrayed no smile, the tone revealed its pleasure. The term skin here has a double meaning. The first is the largest human organ, as Wu Chen said. The second is well understood by gamers: the skin system, a feature that changes the character’s appearance in the game.

“Alright, I’ll buy it.” Wu Chen handed over his campus card.

T850 took it with both hands and swiftly deducted 80 points. The card was boxed, and the “Broken Traveler Universal Database Elite Edition USB” along with the “T-800 Terminator Synthetic Consumables” can were neatly packed. Wu Chen took the card with him, while the gifts would be delivered later by drone. Learning this was Wu Chen’s first card, T850 also included the “Sanctuary Card Beginner’s Usage Guide.” The service was thorough.

Seeing that over half of the sanctuary coins earned on the 404 Destruction Road had been spent, Wu Chen dared not squander any more. The four of them made a quick tour, then turned back the same way. Baili Yan and the others were curious about how to use the cards, so they returned with Wu Chen. With access authorization granted by the AI in Wu Chen’s wristwatch, the four-winged airship landed steadily on Tablet 0326.

Besides its built-in modules, the bare tablet had only an AE86 parked in the central bay and a red telephone booth standing at the rear. Nothing else.

Baili Yan and the player couple immediately used the tablet’s universal modeling system to print their respective camp facilities. After all, the Broken Traveler camp’s technology was strong enough to have a built-in firewall that was hard to breach. Without a super AI, it was also difficult to optimize the code specifically.

The delivery drone had already arrived ahead of them.

They first inserted the USB drive gifted by T850 into the drone’s terminal interface. The AI, Ai, quickly read and analyzed it. After confirming everything was in order, Wu Chen entered the telephone booth with the card.

Upon inserting the card, the coin-and-card-operated telephone’s reader immediately activated. The barcode display on the phone refreshed with long strings of code. The scanning sound of the reader followed as the card was slowly swallowed inside.

Waiting silently for the code to finish executing, only flickering characters remained on the LCD screen.

Soon, the still from the card appeared on the entire glass wall behind the telephone booth. The woman blinked gently, and the still “came to life.” She smiled sweetly at Wu Chen, pushed the door open, and stepped out to stand face to face with him inside the cramped booth.

“Master?” the woman spoke first.

“Yes, I am,” Wu Chen leaned back slightly, avoiding her enticing scent.

“The Cocktail Waitress is at your service,” she said with an enchanting smile.

“Cocktail Waitress?” Wu Chen was momentarily taken aback.

“That’s me,” she said, not finding the title strange. Indeed, she was just an insignificant, unnamed character from some obscure sci-fi storyline, without even a real, believable name.

“Alright, Cotel Vitris,” Wu Chen said, transliterating “Cocktail Waitress,” which didn’t sound out of place.

As Wu Chen and the woman stepped out of the telephone booth, Baili Yan and the others waiting outside were thrilled. Wu Chen’s red telephone booth not only minted sanctuary coins but also had the ability to manifest cards!

After scanning with the drone, the AI Ai made another astonishing discovery: Cotel Vitris possessed a highly advanced simulated personality, even meeting the standards of sentient life. With experience and time, her potential was formidable. Reaching a three-star rating was not out of the question.

Seizing the momentum, Wu Chen instructed the AI to print a dedicated base on Tablet 0326.

The ground floor was set as a garage and workshop, with living quarters upstairs. Using high-polymer nanomaterials, the structure was printed and sprayed into shape in one piece. It integrated a self-circulating system, wireless communications, backup batteries, wireless power transmission, and a drone station.

The drone, personally operated by Ai, worked swiftly. Though called a repair drone, by swapping different “consumable cans” and modules, it could perform multiple functions: construction, repairs, dismantling, transport, cleaning, defense — all with ease.

If the tablet wasn’t a native object of this world, printing it and expanding the base wouldn’t be difficult for the AI.

Chatting and laughing, Wu Chen’s exclusive base on Tablet 0326 was completed. It was a two-story, roughly cubical structure, equipped with living and working facilities. Simple and practical, yet futuristic.

Especially notable was the multifunctional hall upstairs, surrounded on three sides by a U-shaped panoramic display wall — a breathtaking sight.

After finishing the mocha set delivered by drone, the group discussed how to earn money.

Wu Chen then instructed the AI to sequentially display the collected data. Within the camp’s local network, veteran players posted all kinds of diverse bounty missions. But most were unsuitable for Wu Chen and his team at this stage. After sifting through massive data, only a few remained.

At the top was a transport mission Wu Chen knew very well.

They were to deliver a package somewhere in the city. The client warned that the route passed through the fantasy spiral zone. Though players’ exclusive sanctuaries came with affinity immunity, driving an AE86 recklessly into the fantasy spiral and meddling with the storyline would provoke a massive assault from fantasy players. One wrong move and it could mean death and destruction.

Because of the extreme risk, no one had accepted the mission so far. The client’s offer had been raised repeatedly.

“99 coins plus a one-star card,” Wu Chen asked the AI, “Who is the client?”

“0427, Ren Shifei,” Ai had already retrieved the client’s information: “She’s the camp’s most famous middleman.”

“So, there’s someone behind the mission,” Wu Chen realized.

“That’s likely,” the AI gave a tentative judgment.