Chapter 8

The viewers were speechless for a long time after watching the video.

This was followed by an explosive surge of bullet comments and messages.

[I never imagined that Acheng disappeared because of this—double leg amputation! How could someone who loves traveling and exploring the country on foot accept this?]

[Acheng is so strong! Keep it up, Acheng!]

[I really cried. I can't imagine how Acheng got through this period.]

[Has no one noticed the spatial ring in the video? It's been really popular lately; I've seen it so many times on my homepage. The advertisers are really pushing it too much.]

[Does a seller even need to advertise such an amazing product? These days, people can't keep up with how fast sellers restock!]

[My recent hobby is watching buyer review videos of the Space Ring. I've seen people use it to go home, travel, and for long-distance couples to meet. Watching these videos makes me happy—happy for the reunions and for seeing new scenery. But today, after watching Acheng's video, I'm thinking that the Space Ring's function might not just be to bring convenience to our lives; it might also carry the hope of people like Acheng who have suffered accidents and can no longer walk normally on the streets.]

I am a disabled person like the blogger. A serious illness in high school caused nerve necrosis below my waist, leaving me confined to a wheelchair. I completely understand the blogger's despair and helplessness. If it weren't for my worries about my parents, I might have already chosen to leave this world. My favorite thing to do is watch videos of people traveling or hiking online. I long to be like a normal person, to leave home, to experience different cultures, to climb mountains to watch the sunrise and sunset, and to breathe the fresh air of the forests. But I know I can't do it. Even now, with a wheelchair and public transportation staff to help me, I still don't want to go out. I don't want to trouble the already hardworking staff, nor do I want to suffer from strange looks. So I stay at home, living off the meager income from painting. Just when I thought my world was limited to my small, square home, I saw videos of online social media. I saw hope, I saw light. Perhaps my life can be vast, perhaps I can also see the sea and mountains like ordinary people. My excitement is something my friends with similar disabilities can understand. My life has been confined by this small wheelchair for far too long. Unfortunately, all the money in my family has been spent on my medical treatment. But it's okay, the price of the space ring isn't too expensive. As long as I work harder, I'll soon be able to achieve my dream and walk in the sunlight like a normal person.

This comment immediately attracted many comments, some offering comfort and encouragement, some sharing their own stories from people with similar experiences, and others wanting to send the poster a virtual ring.

In today's era of rapid technological and economic development, despite the country's unremitting efforts to ensure the quality of life for people with disabilities, it is undeniable that their inner struggles and various inconveniences in life still objectively exist.

It was this video that made the public realize how groundbreaking the space loop mode of transportation is for people with disabilities.

Xia Ke felt a pang of sadness after watching this video.

She is a sentimental person who can't bear to see people suffer. Even when she was still a working-class person and not well-off, she would still donate money to disaster-stricken areas and girls in mountainous regions.

Although it wasn't much money, it represented her small token of appreciation.

She immediately left a message:

[After reading your message, I felt deeply sorry for what you've been through. You are very strong; after going through so much hardship, I'm sure your future will be bright and peaceful. Please tell me your address; our shop would like to send you a virtual gift ring as a small token of our appreciation. Please accept it.]

After posting this message, Xia Ke thought that she was now earning money and would have the opportunity to earn even more money in the future, and the ability to help more people in need. So she wrote a message on her shop's homepage.

To help more people who need a space ring but lack the financial means, our shop will launch a "Love Spreads, Worry-Free Travel" campaign starting this month. During the campaign period, we will select three eligible participants each month to receive a free space ring.

Event period: From this month until Hongqi Piao goes bankrupt.

Target audience: 1. Seniors aged 60 and above; 2. Individuals holding a disability certificate.

We hope that our small act of kindness can be of help to your lives.

Xia Ke's shop has been very popular recently, and it was discovered by many netizens as soon as the announcement was released.

I left a comment under her video introduction on her social media page: "[The shop owner is righteous]".

Xia Ke realized that she was really not cut out to be a streamer. Since her popularity rose, she stopped streaming and only left a video introducing the use of her personal ring on her homepage. Even so, her number of fans soared to 300,000.

This is in stark contrast to the pitiful single-digit number of fans a week ago.

Zhao Yan and her roommates held their phones, their faces flushed with excitement.

"The buzz has grown again. People on other platforms have already reposted our videos, and it's even trending on social media."

"Yanyan, you're famous now. A lot of people were secretly watching you when we were eating in the cafeteria just now."

After hearing her roommate's words, Zhao Yan first chuckled foolishly, then frowned.

"People are afraid of becoming famous, just like pigs are afraid of getting fat. My relatives also saw the video and even saw the shop owner's comments under our video. Now many of my relatives are asking me to help them buy space rings at a discount."

"Don't even mention your relatives, we also get a lot of private messages in our back-end asking us to buy things for them."

"This is unacceptable. It's fine for us and our closest family members to buy things with the discounts offered by the shop owner, but helping others buy things is just taking advantage of the shop owner, which is extremely unethical."

The four girls quickly reached an agreement.

Just as the group was talking, there was a knock on the dormitory door.

Upon opening the door, the counselor was standing there.

"Are you four free? The leader wants to talk to you about the space ring."

The four followed their counselor to an office. When they arrived, the office was already occupied. In the center of the office sat two men with cold and aloof demeanors, while their dean accompanied them.

The two men's gazes were fixed on Zhao Yan and her group of four ever since they entered the room, until the four of them sat down at the dean's prompting, looking somewhat bewildered.

"Are you the ones who posted the online video?"

Zhao Yan and the other three looked at each other, feeling a little uneasy.

What's going on? Why did the counselor and the college leaders suddenly talk to them? They just posted a video; they didn't do anything to harm the school or the country.

"Yes."

"Please explain in detail how you discovered and used the space ring."

Although the two didn't introduce themselves, their demeanor clearly indicated they were not ordinary people. Moreover, with the school's teachers and leaders present, Zhao Yan and the other three honestly and thoroughly recounted how they discovered the live stream, how they realized something was amiss, how they gritted their teeth and bought the first spatial ring to experiment with, how they were amazed by the spatial ring's effects, and how they decided to recommend it to everyone—their entire thought process.

After listening to Zhao Yan and her roommate, the two men didn't say anything. After a long pause, they smiled slightly at the four of them and said, "Thank you for your cooperation, everyone."

Perhaps sensing the unease of the four, the person who spoke thought for a moment and then reassured them, "It was just a routine inquiry, everything is fine now. Don't worry, students, go back to class."

After the four students left, the two men also stood up and said goodbye to the dean and counselor.

I left the school and got on the bus.

"These students weren't lying; they just stumbled upon the live stream and bought the first spatial ring out of a desire to verify it."

"Um."

Have we received the space ring we bought?

"We've got it. It's been tested and confirmed to be able to traverse space, just as the video says. However, the time frame is too short, and the specific experimental data isn't available yet."

"Go back and report first."

The black car merged into the traffic and quickly disappeared from sight.

Meanwhile, Xia Ke continued to diligently complete the tasks assigned by the system.

Various review videos online have made the space ring a huge hit, and the ability to traverse space has clearly become a new fashion trend.

Xia Ke turned on the light screen.

The task progress section shows that her sales have reached 19,800. She only needs to sell two more to complete the system task.

"The host can choose to independently develop a space ring. Many of the fields involved in the data are beyond the current level of technology. Perhaps during the research process, you can have a flash of inspiration and create a new product."

Xia Ke was a little surprised by the system's sudden voice. Apart from talking a lot at the beginning of the binding, the system rarely spoke after the binding except when it assigned tasks.

"How could I possibly understand the data about the space ring on my own? System, you overestimate me."

If the host can develop new products by learning from research materials during the entrepreneurial process, both the host and the host will be rewarded with a considerable amount of points.

The system didn't want to give up, so it continued to persuade, "If the host doesn't know how, they can choose to recruit talent."

"Commander, do you know where the most outstanding talents are?"

The system, of course, is unaware of this. Although it is bound to the host, it does not care about the host's environment.

Whether it's an opportunity or a crisis, these are things the host should accept and resolve. It traveled billions of light-years to earn points, not to understand the national conditions of the host's country.

Xia Ke didn't expect an outside system to be interested in understanding it.

She answered the system's questions.

"In a nation, only the nation has the capacity to support top researchers to conduct experiments, and only the nation can inspire these talented and ambitious individuals to dedicate their lives to their work. No matter how much wealth and power an individual possesses, it is difficult to attract those top talents."

The system was baffled. "This is just a small research project. The host has already obtained the research materials and ideas. Wouldn't it be easy to simply copy it and create something similar? Why do we need to attract top talent?"

This is a classic case of "Why not eat meat porridge?" The spatial ring might be just a trinket in the system's world, but it's not in her world. It represents an insurmountable technological gap in the current world. Even if she obtains the bridge to cross that gap, ordinary researchers still won't be able to figure it out.

"It's not that simple, and the people who can develop it may already be on their way. What we need to do now is wait."

The system didn't understand. Although it was an intelligent mechanical life form, there was a barrier between the human brain and the machine brain. Just as its brainwaves had never been in sync with the previous 563,818 hosts, it still couldn't understand the new host's thoughts. It was a pity that it had lost its points.