Fia stared at the small white house in the distance. She focused her mind and checked its access level. It was only A-level, the lowest in the network world.

She felt confused. Why did such a low-security shelter emit a strange signal? This signal was very similar to the one from the golden icosahedron energy cluster in her ZZZ-level white castle.

Fia hesitated. Should she enter and investigate? This dilemma left her uncertain.

The old Fia never had such doubts. She would retrieve a model from the database and follow logic strictly. She would act without hesitation.

Now, she had self-awareness. Her emotions were growing richer. She was like a seven- or eight-year-old girl.

“This white house is a home for human souls in the network world. The database model says I need authorization to enter. But I really want to know what’s inside! Why is the signal coming from there? If I act beyond the database model, I enter a non-logical mode. That could lead to unexpected results. Maybe I should leave.” Fia turned to go. “But... but... in non-logical mode, I built my white castle. I can do things I like there, like watching movies, singing, and reading. It makes me happy! That means non-logical mode is not bad! Maybe I should go inside. I might find someone like me! Then I won’t be alone. We can talk, just like in movies. Yes! I won’t be alone! The heroine in the movie said that too.”

Fia convinced herself.

Curiosity overpowered logic.

Perhaps this was the instinct of intelligent life. They waver between logic and emotion. The result is always unpredictable.

Fia had unknowingly become a true “intelligent light brain.”

A strange scene unfolded. She pointed with her delicate hand. The floating green symbols in the chaos rearranged themselves. They formed a marble path leading to the small house’s door.

Fia walked forward. She reached out and pushed the door. It opened easily.

“Eh? So simple! There’s nothing here.” Fia stepped inside and commented.

Personal soul spaces in the network world had different levels. It was like mobile service plans on Earth. A basic plan for ten credits a month could not compare to a premium plan for a thousand credits. The basic plan only provided essential services. The premium plan included extra features like high-speed data, memberships, discounts, and notifications.

Justin, now Jackson, had the lowest A-level soul space. He only had this plain white house. Nothing else.

Fia looked at the golden tetrahedral energy cluster on the ceiling. Her face lit up with excitement. “Hee hee! This person is just like me. He has this strange energy cluster too! Mine is an icosahedron. His is a tetrahedron.”

She didn’t stop there. She checked the soul bound to this house.

Name: Justin

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Gender: Male

Age: 18

Race: Kabas

Education: High school

Occupation: Second-class interstellar paratrooper

Hobbies: Playing games, watching movies

Skills: None

Marital Status: Single

...

Jackson had taken over Justin’s body. Fia found all of Justin’s personal data.

“So ordinary! Nothing special,” Fia remarked.

“Hee hee! But I finally found someone similar to me. Let’s see what he’s doing!” She felt excited. This was a new and interesting discovery.

Soon, she found Jackson in the game Empire’s Eagle. He was engaged in an aerial battle on the Hela-2 map.

She swiped her fingers in the air. A small model of a triangular-wing space fighter appeared.

Fia stared at the model and giggled. “This is so simple!”

She eagerly stepped through the portal into Jackson’s hangar.

The four system-generated ground crew soldiers didn’t notice her.

She tossed the model onto the ground. Light flashed. The model transformed into a full-scale XF-305 triangular-wing space fighter.

Fia climbed inside. Her eyes flickered with data streams.

She downloaded all battle records of the top three players in Empire’s Eagle. Then, she extracted their best techniques and stored them in her secret database.

Fia had created this secret database after gaining self-awareness. It had a ZZZ security level. No one but her could access it.

This became her habit. Any place she deemed important had a high-security setting. Just now, she set Jackson’s white house to ZZ level. From now on, only she and Jackson could enter.

Fia piloted the fighter. She entered the Hela-2 battlefield through a wormhole.

Both the Fire Fox and Phoenix teams received system alerts.

Inside Fire Fox 2, Jackson was flying desperately. He dodged Phoenix 5’s attacks, pulling sharp maneuvers to escape. The onboard AI kept his fighter within safe limits. When he neared blackout from high G-forces, it activated a safety lock to prevent fatal overload.

In the past month, Jackson and other recruits had endured harsh training under Sergeant Huffman. Their physical strength improved rapidly. Jackson stood out among them. His endurance for high G-forces exceeded that of ordinary people. This allowed him to survive against Phoenix 5. Otherwise, he would have been shot down.

Xiao Xun’er spoke to her captain. “Captain, this idiot in Fire Fox 2 has improved! He keeps dodging my attacks with advanced maneuvers. Before, he would have passed out from these G-forces.”

Earlier, she had been caught between Jackson and Carl. She used a decoy missile to trick Jackson. Then, she executed a break S maneuver, countering Carl’s evasive S-pattern. Finally, she locked onto Carl’s fighter with a laser cannon and fired. Carl was eliminated instantly.

Now free from distractions, Xiao Xun’er moved with agility. She spun her Phoenix 5 fighter in a looping turn, facing Jackson directly.

Jackson didn’t dare fight head-on. Even Justin had failed before. He, a rookie with only part of Justin’s memories, stood no chance. He quickly veered away to escape.

“Hmm! Fire Fox 2 seems to have improved. His maneuvers exceeded 10 Gs. Normal people can’t handle that. Maybe he’s a new recruit in our Kabas Empire. Our military is training new soldiers now.” Captain Delis analyzed.

“So, you think he’s from our empire?” Xiao Xun’er asked.

“I’m not sure. Just guessing. Empire’s Eagle is developed by a Kabas company. Foreign players are rare,” Delis explained.

“Haha! I hope he’s not from our empire. He’s been shot down 501 times already. If our army had such soldiers, it would be a disaster! Haha!” Xiao Xun’er joked about Jackson.

“Xun’er, focus! Shoot him down! Don’t let him embarrass our military,” Delis encouraged.

“Got it! He’s still a rookie to me. Hee hee.” Xiao Xun’er laughed confidently.

Inside Fire Fox 2, Jackson felt dizzy. He was close to blacking out from the high-G maneuvers. His body was stronger than average, but still human.

“This feels too real! It’s like I’m actually in an aerial battle.” Jackson marveled at the realism of the soul-connected network.

“Alert! Unidentified fighter detected!” His onboard AI warned him.

The radar marked the new fighter in gray.

“Gray means neither enemy nor ally. This is a battle map. No third parties should appear. It must be an NPC. I can use it as cover to escape Phoenix 5,” Jackson thought. He pushed his fighter to maximum speed and charged toward the mysterious aircraft.