Xu Yunzhou had already planned the path to the next peak. His voice came through the screen:
"Look, this is your new battlefield, and also... the necessary path leading to the 'Throne of the Goddess'."
"This time, we are going to enter an entirely new field, a golden track that can detonate the global capital market in the shortest possible time—AI + Medical Aesthetics."
Xu Yunzhou knew too well what kind of crazy, almost irrational pursuit and adulation global capital would show toward this imaginative intersection of artificial intelligence and consumer healthcare in the upcoming era of mobile internet and AI.
"We won't start basic research from scratch; that's too slow. We will use crushing capital power to rapidly acquire and integrate all relatively mature related technology patents and teams on the market, and polish out an epoch-making product with a disruptive experience at the fastest speed. And you—"
His voice carried a compelling sense of deeply captivating and soul-stirring power:
"What you need to do is shed the coat of the 'Milk Tea Queen' and stand at the very center of the world stage, under the spotlight! Use your unparalleled charm, your legendary story of starting from scratch, and your foresight into the future to depict and promise an exciting future to the whole world!"
Lin Ruoxuan understood tacitly. The bewilderment in her eyes completely dissipated, replaced by ignited ambition and a clear sense of purpose.
"However, before this,"
Xu Yunzhou's tone suddenly shifted, carrying an unexpectedly relaxed vibe,"I'm giving you a two-month vacation. The world is so big; let's go see it together."
Lin Ruoxuan froze, almost thinking she had misheard:
"But... those acquisition plans that just started, the integration of the technical teams..."
"Let them wait."
Xu Yunzhou chuckled softly,
"Do you know? True foresight and vision sometimes come exactly from temporarily leaving the smoke-filled battlefield. Go see the unmelting snow on the peaks of the Alps, feel the blazing sun on the shores of the Mediterranean..."
"These seemingly useless experiences will silently settle into your temperament, blend into your conversation, and allow you to possess a more moving story foundation and a more unhurried kingly aura when you stand at the peak of the world in the future, facing countless cameras and doubts."
His voice carried a rare, almost gentle soothing quality:
"For the next two months, we won't talk about business data, we won't talk about capital games. We'll just... purely go and see this world we aspire to change. After all, to conquer it, one must first get to know it properly and attentively."
Lin Ruoxuan was stunned, tears of being moved gradually welling up in her eyes.
At this moment, she suddenly understood that what the Tyrant wanted to cultivate was never just a merchant, but a creator who truly knew how to live and understood the world.
"Okay."
She replied softly,
"Let's go see this world together."
In front of the screen, Xu Yunzhou also couldn't help but be full of anticipation and curiosity about the upcoming "virtual global trip."
He speculated internally: Lin Ruoxuan actually didn't raise any realistic objections to this proposal. The game developers are so confident; can they really perfectly and highly accurately integrate famous real locations from all over the world, with their 2010 historical appearance, into the game?
What a massive asset library and rendering capability would this require?
The first stop of traveling around the world was the famous city in Shu, Chengzhou.
(TL: Shu [蜀] is the ancient historical name for the Sichuan region. Chengzhou here is a fictionalized name for Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province.)
This was specifically requested by Xu Yunzhou.
He wanted to see if the Chengzhou of 2010 in this game, those streets, could overlap with the appearance in his memory from that family trip with his parents many years ago.
Lin Ruoxuan did not travel alone. She brought a capable and low-profile small entourage, including a nutritionist responsible for health management, a body coach to maintain her best condition, and necessary security personnel, ensuring the journey was comfortable and worry-free, yet without overly disturbing her private space.
After the group checked into the hotel, she sent away her attendants and walked aimlessly alone on the extraordinarily bustling, antique Jinli Ancient Street.
The bluestone road wound forward, flanked by antique building shops with flying eaves, upturned corners, and wooden doors. Various snacks, handicrafts, and teahouses stood in great numbers.
Tourists rubbed shoulders, and amidst the clamor, there was a thick, un-dissolvable and vivid down-to-earth atmosphere of everyday life.
In front of the screen, Xu Yunzhou looked at this familiar yet unfamiliar scene, myriad emotions surging in his heart.
Sure enough, down to the smallest detail, the texture and wear marks of the bluestone slabs, the faintly drifting spicy aroma and the sweet scent of sugar-oil fruits in the air, and even the somewhat era-specific font and slightly faded paint on the roadside signboards...
It was almost exactly the same as what he saw in his memory when he came during the winter vacation of 2010.
This extreme level of restoration exceeded the scope of an ordinary game, bringing an almost transmigratory trance-like feeling, making him somewhat absent-minded for a moment.
Perhaps this familiar scene evoked deeply hidden emotions. He couldn't help but softly hum, carrying a bit of casualness and even somewhat clumsily:
"Walking with me on the streets of Chengzhou, oh...
Until all the lights go out, we still won't stop..."
The corners of Lin Ruoxuan's mouth lifted unconsciously, revealing a sweet smile.
"Tyrant, if you were in this world, relying on this voice, you could at least be a wandering singer who mesmerizes a whole crowd."
Xu Yunzhou chuckled on the other end:
"In the future, there will be many 0s here... Well, actually not just here, but even the whole world will accelerate into sinking into a digital ocean composed of '0's and '1's, where virtual and real intertwine. But you must remember, the more we are in such an era, those industries that can carry the temperature of real emotions and satisfy the deep resonance of human nature will appear more precious and irreplaceable."
(TL: "Many 0s" is a pun here. While Xu Yunzhou is talking about binary digital code [0s and 1s], Chengdu is humorously celebrated on the Chinese internet as a prominent LGBTQ+ haven, often called the "gay capital" of China, where "0" is popular slang for a bottom in a relationship.)
Listening to his words, Lin Ruoxuan's gaze thoughtfully swept over the surrounding crowd laughing clamorously, immersed in the real happiness of the present.
Suddenly, her footsteps abruptly halted, her line of sight freezing on a certain spot ahead, her face written with shock and disbelief!
And at this moment, Xu Yunzhou, in order to skip what he considered "unimportant" strolling time, had already casually clicked the fast-forward button.
Therefore, he completely missed what exactly Lin Ruoxuan saw in that fleeting, acceleratedly flowing footage that was like fragments of a dream.
He naturally couldn't hear Lin Ruoxuan suddenly turn her head, facing the direction of his 'perspective', and urgently say with a tone of disbelief:
"Tyrant! That man... he looks so much like you!"
Right on that bustling street, in front of a sugar painting stall, stood an elegant middle-aged man, accompanied by a gentle-faced wife and a little boy around ten years old, whose handsome features were already visible between his brows and eyes.
The outline of that middle-aged man, especially his brows, eyes, and demeanor, actually bore a shocking sixty to seventy percent resemblance to her "Daddy System"!
And that little boy was simply a living miniature version, a Tyrant who had not yet been polished by the years!
The little boy was standing stubbornly in front of the sugar painting stall, staring unblinkingly at the old artisan's nimble hands. The parents behind him were trying to pull him away:
"Xiao Zhou, it's time to go back, we still have to go to Dujiangyan early tomorrow morning."
"Just wait a little longer, just a little while! Grandpa said he can draw the most complex dragon right away! I want to see how he draws the dragon scales!"
Almost unconsciously, pulled by an inexplicable force, Lin Ruoxuan stepped forward, gently squatted down beside the boy, brought her line of sight level with his, and her voice unconsciously became extremely gentle:
"Little friend, do you also like watching them draw sugar paintings?"
Hearing the sound, the little boy raised his head, revealing a delicate and pretty face carrying a bit of stubbornness:
"Mhm! This grandpa is super amazing, he said he can draw a complete dragon without breaking the line!"
Lin Ruoxuan couldn't help turning her head, whispering to the empty air again:
"Tyrant, they... especially this little boy, his brows, eyes, and nose bridge are simply printed from the same mold as yours! You... you couldn't have used their family members as prototypes for character modeling, could you? This is too similar!"
Naturally, there was no response from Xu Yunzhou's end.
Under the fast-forward effect, his "existence" appeared somewhat unstable, the image illusory and blurry, rapidly changing, like a bad signal.
Lin Ruoxuan pouted, carrying a slight neglected reproach and helplessness as she muttered to herself:
"This guy, entering that damn 'energy-saving charging' state at a crucial moment again, he's really unreliable..."
—This was the excuse Xu Yunzhou casually made up for her before to explain his occasional "disconnections" or blurry images caused by fast-forwarding or leaving, claiming that maintaining his existence in her world required consuming energy, and therefore it was fragmented.
She pondered in her heart:
The world is so big, the population so large, looking similar is probably just a probabilistic coincidence, right? After all, no matter how human gene combinations change, sub-divided down, there are only a few dozen appearance templates.
But this thought didn't completely dispel her curiosity.
She stood up, adjusted her expression, turned to the couple, and smiled:
"Sir, Madam, sorry to bother you. Taking the liberty to ask, could we... find a quiet teahouse, sit down, and have a brief chat? Um, please don't misunderstand, I am definitely not a salesperson or a scammer, this is my business card."