Chapter 54 Soul Swap Upgrade

Three days later.

"Little Xuan, come and try this. King crab with caviar—I actually quite enjoy it."

Just as Lu Xing returned to Earth, he heard a certain wealthy beauty speaking to him in her charming, gentle voice. Her serene and flawless face, paired with the high-fashion couture dress she wore and the bustling night view of Haicheng shimmering behind her, showcased her beauty, nobility, and elegance to the absolute limit.

In front of Lu Xing sat an enormous plate—large enough to hold a meal for three—yet it contained only a single, thumb-sized morsel of crab meat, delicately garnished with a touch of caviar.

"Why aren't you eating? Don't you like this dish?" the wealthy beauty sitting opposite him asked again.

Lu Xing picked it up with his chopsticks, nodded, and agreed that it was indeed quite good.

"What else would you like to eat, Little Xuan?" she asked again with a gentle smile. "Lu Xing likes heavy flavors; I wonder what kind of flavors you prefer in the virtual world?"

"Haha."

Lu Xing couldn't help but laugh out loud.

His expression betrayed him. Abandoning her previous gentleness, Xiao Yu glared at him playfully and scolded, "Why is it you?! I rarely treat her to a meal, and you're back before we even finish eating!"

"I couldn't help it either."

Saying this, Lu Xing looked around his surroundings once more. The restaurant was decorated with extreme elegance, and judging by all the details, the prices were by no means low.

"You even dressed up specially. Are we on a date tonight?" Lu Xing looked at her.

The ambiance of the restaurant strongly suggested a date, and Xiao Yu's attire and makeup had clearly been meticulously put together, making anyone's heart skip a beat.

"I went to a party and knew she hadn't eaten yet, so I invited her to this restaurant," Xiao Yu said, a faint blush on her cheeks.

Setting down her chopsticks, she picked up a napkin and dabbed at her rosy, glossy lips. "I'm almost done eating. If you're still hungry, go ahead and eat, and by the way, tell me what big things you did in the virtual world."

Lu Xing didn't stand on ceremony. He picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a fried shrimp ball, dipped it into some unknown sauce, and bit into it.

"Delicious! I'm finally having a proper meal after these past few days!"

He immediately gave it a thumbs-up.

Xiao Yu, sitting across from him, burst out laughing. "Aren't the foods in the virtual world supposed to have richer flavors?"

"Don't even mention it. The subtle textures of real-world food simply cannot be simulated in the virtual world... Didn't she tell you?"

"Yes, she did."

Xiao Yu briefly recounted what Jiang Xuannü had done that day.

Actually, she hadn't done much. In the morning, she went to classes on Lu Xing's behalf, and in the afternoon, she observed various small animals on campus.

"She asked me over the phone if she could do anything as long as it wasn't illegal. I asked her what she wanted to do, and she said she wanted to lie on the ground and smell the fresh scent of grass and soil. I quickly stopped her and told her to smell flower fragrances instead, otherwise you'd be sent to a psychiatric hospital tomorrow!"

Xiao Yu giggled softly, followed by a hint of heartache. "Only after hearing what she said did I deeply realize that people in the future don't actually have it good; the virtual world isn't real at all."

"I told you so before." Lu Xing ate another shrimp ball, which was wonderfully crispy and savory.

"I brought her to this restaurant and watched her carefully savor every dish, telling me how different it was from the virtual world... and then, right in the middle of the meal, you came back!"

Xiao Yu still looked somewhat aggrieved.

Lu Xing couldn't help but laugh dryly. "I suppose I'll just have to treat her next time."

He then filled Xiao Yu in on what had happened in the virtual world.

"You became a hacker over there?"

"Everyone is a hacker in the virtual world."

"I've been thinking about something," Xiao Yu said, raising a doubt. "Even if the virtual world's computing power is insufficient to fully monitor every human action, where does the computing power you use for your hacking abilities come from? Just from the auxiliary chip?"

Lu Xing thought for a moment and shook his head. "Currently unknown."

Xiao Yu continued, "Besides, even if humans conquer the virtual world, the ultimate deciding factor is still reality. The bodies of humans in the future world are still under the control of artificial intelligence."

"True, that's also a problem," Lu Xing said. "I haven't figured out any good solutions yet, so I can only try to find a way for Jiang Xuannü to contact the regular human army."

Xiao Yu hummed in agreement and smiled at him. "You've already made friends with a synthetic human; perhaps you can find support among them as well. Didn't the great leader say? Politics means having many friends and few enemies. Fighting artificial intelligence is pretty much the same."

"We can give it a try. Let her make contact first."

As the two chatted, Lu Xing finished a few more dishes, sipped his soup, and smiled at her. "I've been wondering how to bring back some data from the future world. Do you have any good ideas? Don't tell me to memorize it by rote!"

He had considered using the system, but after looking into it, he gave up—it was simply too expensive!

He had completed the friend-making task this time, pushing his experience points to five thousand, so he could afford to spend a little.

"What about Little Xuan?"

Xiao Yu smiled at him. "Her learning ability is super strong, and her memory is also excellent. What kind of data do you want to bring back?"

"I originally didn't want to touch artificial intelligence, but I can't understand other disciplines and don't know if they can be applied in this era. Plus, artificial intelligence is quite important, like for implanting chips."

"You shouldn't touch that just yet."

"I know. What I mean is, I want brain-wave technology!" Lu Xing said.

Implanting auxiliary chips was extremely useful, but the timing wasn't mature yet. Research related to brain waves had always been ongoing; if the technology matured, it could help paralyzed people walk again, and human-computer interaction could reach a whole new level.

The two chatted for a while longer. Lu Xing finished his soup and praised, "This soup is really good, fresh and rich. How much is a portion?"

Xiao Yu shook her head. "It's my first time eating here too. Probably around three or four hundred, I suppose."

"For a meal?"

"For a bowl of soup!"

"Hiss! Then I'd better finish every drop—every sip I miss is dozens of yuan down the drain!"

"Hmph, why are you feeling the pinch when I'm treating?"

Too lazy to look at his miserly expression, Xiao Yu couldn't help but smile at the sight.

Half an hour later, Assistant Zhang came over to settle the bill. Lu Xing glanced at the receipt: the total for the meal came to over five thousand, averaging about twenty-five hundred per person.

"Dozens of yuan a sip" was an understatement; the king crab with caviar Lu Xing had eaten earlier cost over two hundred yuan for less than a single bite.

"Shall we bring Annie along tomorrow?"

Before getting in the car to leave, Xiao Yu asked Lu Xing. She still remembered the lively and cheerful duchess, especially how amusing it was when Annie made various expressions using Lu Xing's face!

"Probably. She'll call you."

After bidding her farewell, Lu Xing rode in Xiao Yu's other car back to the school.

Sitting on the sofa in his hotel room, with no other matters to worry about, he finally had the time to carefully consider how to improve himself.

To have a pleasant life-swap gaming experience, he still lacked many things.

Among the most important was the ability to communicate with them during the swaps!

Especially the Ice Fairy and Jiang Xuannü!

Annie could wait; he could muddle through with the Goddess of Light, and there were maids to help on her side as well.

"System, allocate experience points to character upgrades!"

Lu Xing first spent one thousand experience points to upgrade himself to Level 2.

According to typical games, level is the foundation of everything!

"One thousand experience points consumed. Your level has increased to Level 2."

"Your attribute panel has been updated. Please view it."

Seeing the prompt, Lu Xing felt a surge of mental energy and immediately opened the panel.

"Player: Lu Xing
Age: 20
Level: 2
Skill Points: 1
Skills: Soul Swap (Passive, currently swappable characters: Jiang Xuannü, Annie Wise Swinton, ???, Xiao Yu. Note: Prompts will appear when swaps begin and end.)
Experience Points: 4100"

The panel had actually gained a skill point, but no new skill had been unlocked!