【Peach Blossom Spring】in Future City

"So, Shu, what exactly happened to you just now?" Kallen cut herself off mid-sentence, skipping over the rest of what she was going to say, and just voiced her initial concern.

Shu rubbed his forehead, probably standing up so suddenly made him a little dizzy.

That sea of flowers was still burned into his mind, refusing to fade, and that flower basket… it was like it was still swaying right in front of his eyes.

Trying to organize his jumbled thoughts, Shu finally spoke, "It's nothing, just… I think I entered some kind of weird state just now and saw some things."

The three of them, two adults and a little girl, exchanged glances. Fu Hua took the lead in asking.

"Saw what?"

Shu didn't plan to hide anything, "A sea of flowers that stretched on forever, all roses… and there was a cradle made of flowers…"

"Did you really see it? Or was it just an illusion?" Fu Hua pressed, wanting to know for sure.

"Feels like an illusion, a place like that probably doesn't exist in this world." Shu mused, rubbing his chin.

"Yeah, in the real world, probably not, but… in the virtual communities of Future City, you never know…" Kallen thought for a moment, confirming to herself that there really wasn't any endless rose sea in the real world before speaking.

"Future City's virtual communities?" Shu was totally lost.

"Yeah, there are always people who like those kind of endless environments, right?" Kallen nodded, her expression completely natural, "So, there are people who pay to have someone build them a virtual little world that suits their tastes."

Whoa, black technology alert!

Shu's eyes widened. He'd thought this world's tech level was roughly the same as his! How did a Future City suddenly pop up?!

And virtual communities, and creating virtual little worlds… isn't that like, full-dive VR or something?!

Shu suddenly felt like this world's power level just shot up a whole bunch.

But even if there is a place like that in the virtual world, why would he be seeing it?

Shu didn't think there was any connection between the two at all.

"Could you tell me more about this Future City?" Shu asked Kallen, brow furrowed as he thought.

"Oh, that place…" Kallen looked up, thinking for a moment before sitting down on the doorstep.

Fu Hua hesitated for a second, then sat down next to her with Li Sushang. Shu also sat back down. Thankfully, the doorway was wide enough that they all fit comfortably without being cramped.

"It's a really amazing place, you can see so many things there that you can't see anywhere else!" Talking about it got Kallen excited, "The streets are full of robots, some of them look really weird, and some look exactly like real people, you can't even tell the difference!

"And the buildings! They're all so bizarre and unique, like buildings that are shaped like springs, huge stadiums stacked on top of each other, and even restaurants that fly in the sky! Their cakes are seriously delicious…

"But the most famous thing there is the virtual society I mentioned! You just need a device that looks like an egg, you get inside, and you can enter that place. In there, everyone is a completely new version of themselves, and there are so many unbelievable things you can do!"

"That's Future City's pride and joy, their [Peach Blossom Spring], and that egg-like device is called the [Ship]." Otto arrived just then, speaking in his usual calm, slightly mocking tone, bringing with him the aroma of food.

Shu turned his head. Otto was carrying three servings of food in his hands, and a small table was hooked over his arm.

He slowly set up the little table in front of Shu and placed the three portions of food in front of Fu Hua, Kallen, and Shu respectively.

For me? Hey, Otto, you're not so bad after all…

Otto sat down next to Shu, pulled out a spoon, and scooped a spoonful from the food in front of Shu and put it in his own mouth.

Shu: "..."

Wait, that's for you?!

Shu mentally raged at this inhuman jerk Otto, then focused his attention back on the [Peach Blossom Spring]that Otto had mentioned.

One sentence was particularly clear in his memory.

That muttered whisper he'd heard when escaping Nagazora City, while he was unconscious.

"Head to… Peach Spring…"

Shu had been wondering what this "Peach Spring" was. Now, Otto suddenly mentioned a [Peach Blossom Spring], how could he not be excited?

He had a feeling, deep down, that this Peach Spring was the place he was meant to reach.

Otto paused in his eating, turned his head to look deeply at Shu, swallowed the food in his mouth, and then slowly began to speak again, but this time, Otto's tone was a little more serious.

"[Peach Blossom Spring] is what they call it here in Shenzhou [China], in Europe and other places they call it [Utopia], and those guys in Future City are even more arrogant, they call it the [Garden of Babylon]."

"Those guys think they've created a whole new world, and some extremists are even calling for all of humanity to move into that new world to live, claiming it's a better place for humans to survive."

"But isn't it just a virtual world? If you stay inside all the time and never come out, can your body even handle it?" Shu shook his head, doubtful.

"Heh." Otto chuckled softly, turned his head, and gazed intently at Shu, "Your body can't handle it, but your mind and brain can. That's what they're advocating."

Shu was shocked, "Isn't that like a brain in a jar?! Are they trying to create digital life?!"

Otto raised an eyebrow, "Exactly. Becoming digital life, changing the essence of life from carbon-based to being made up of 0s and 1s. They believe that is evolution."

"So that means you can't eat food anymore!" Kallen quietly leaned closer, saying seriously to Shu.

Jeez. That's terrifying.

The tension in Shu's heart instantly deflated, and he couldn't help but mentally complain about these white-haired people's priorities.

He had a feeling that if Kiana was here, she would have reacted with a dramatic change in expression upon hearing Kallen's reminder.

"This idea was rejected, right?" Shu sighed, he was now thinking that place probably wasn't where he was supposed to go.

He couldn't imagine wanting to become "digital life"…

"Who knows?" Otto said with a smile, saying something that made Shu's heart sink. "Those realistic robots are just too human-like, aren't they…"

Whoa, soul transfer?! How many more surprises are you hiding from me?!

"Oh right, after analyzing things, the unexpected twist in the Honkai outbreak in our civilization, that you mentioned earlier, is very likely connected to this Future City."

"Does it have an Umbrella Corporation there?" Shu blurted out. Otto was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled, "Maybe there really is an evil organization there spreading the Honkai virus."

"Uh, Master Shifu, what's an Umbrella Corporation?" Li Sushang quietly asked Fu Hua.

"It's the evil organization behind everything in the horror movie Homu Crisis." Fu Hua whispered back.