Chapter 169: The Virtual Helmet

Publish a mission?

Although Qiao Sang was curious, she didn’t intend to ask.

After all, what mission someone posts is their private business. Some missions might not be entirely legal.

Besides, even though she and Shi Gaofeng seemed familiar, they weren’t that close.

They would chat a bit in school, but outside of that, their relationship was mostly just saying hello when they saw each other.

“Guess what kind of mission I’m here to post.” Shi Gaofeng lowered his voice, speaking mysteriously.

“What mission?” Qiao Sang instinctively followed up.

In that moment, curiosity overtook rationality. Since he’d already brought it up, there was no harm in hearing it out.

“It’s all because of that fat-sucking mission. You were right, that guy’s eight-pack abs were indeed the result of fat-sucking!” Shi Gaofeng, feeling deceived, was visibly indignant as he spoke.

Qiao Sang blinked, then asked, “What does that have to do with the mission you're posting?”

Shi Gaofeng scratched his head and awkwardly replied, “I failed the mission and got a one-star bad review. The next time we meet, Zheng Baolong definitely won’t let me off the hook. When that time comes, I’ll be mentally and physically scarred for sure.”

“So, I came here to rent a Phantom Water Baby, to have it take my place for a day during the next gathering.”

Qiao Sang froze at his words. Phantom Water Baby, a water-type pet beast, could change its shape to mimic others.

It was extremely popular among office workers and students.

The higher the level of the Phantom Water Baby, the more perfectly it could imitate others. But it had a fatal flaw.

“I remember Phantom Water Babies can’t imitate speech, right?” Qiao Sang reminded him.

“If Zheng Baolong finds out, you’ll probably end up cleaning the toilets for a month.”

“I know.”

Shi Gaofeng looked at her earnestly, “That’s why I need your help.”

She shouldn’t have been curious about the mission in the first place...

Qiao Sang sighed helplessly.

“How can I help you?”

With Shi Gaofeng’s tendency to get caught every time by Zheng Baolong, she could already picture the scene of the Phantom Water Baby being exposed, and Zheng Baolong turning into an actual raging dragon.

Shi Gaofeng’s face lit up with joy.

“It’s not a difficult task. All you need to do is not talk to me during the gathering and help cover for me. I’ve already talked to Xu Yajie, and he’ll help too.”

“I was going to message you to ask for help, but since I ran into you, there’s no need for that now.”

So, even if she hadn’t been curious about his mission, Shi Gaofeng would’ve still asked her for help...

Realizing this, Qiao Sang felt a bit more at ease.

“What about Wang Yao? Does she know?”

“She mustn’t know!” Shi Gaofeng said seriously.

“I’ve known her longer than you, and I know what she’s like. If she found out, she’d definitely laugh herself to death. Even if Zheng Baolong was right in front of her, she wouldn’t be able to keep a straight face. At that point, Zheng Baolong would definitely sense something was off.”

Qiao Sang couldn’t help but picture Wang Yao laughing uncontrollably upon finding out.

The mental image was too strong, and she had to admit that Shi Gaofeng’s concern wasn’t without reason…

---

Twenty minutes later, Qiao Sang walked out of the Beast Center dragging a somewhat shabby-looking suitcase.

The process of receiving the reward was much simpler than she had expected.

She had thought the staff would call or send a message to the Beast Badge owner, the old lady, to verify with a code or something.

But apparently, she had overthought it…

After verifying her information and the Beast Badge’s details, the staff simply handed her the suitcase.

However, it wasn’t as though anyone with a Beast Badge could collect items.

When verifying the Beast Badge, Qiao Sang discovered that the old lady had recorded a video inside it, specifying that the items should be handed over to the person who completed the mission for her.

This was also the first time Qiao Sang learned that Beast Badges could be used as storage devices.

---

Back home, the first thing Qiao Sang did was open the suitcase.

Yabao and Little Treasure curiously gathered around.

When the suitcase opened, inside was a silver-gray helmet and five discs, each labeled with different pictures and text.

Could this be... the legendary virtual helmet?!

Qiao Sang was stunned by the items in the suitcase.

In her previous life, a virtual helmet was a futuristic tool conjured up by the imagination, built from the concepts of virtual reality, games, and helmets, every recluse’s ultimate fantasy.

But here, virtual helmets weren’t just a fantasy; they were real.

By wearing a virtual helmet, the brain’s nerves would connect to it, allowing users to experience the virtual world more vividly.

However, in this world, virtual helmets weren’t created for gaming but to help pet beasts learn skills.

Pet beasts could learn skills not only through their Beast Masters but also through self-learning by watching images.

Later, researchers realized that images alone weren’t enough to engage pet beasts and help them learn effectively. Thus, the virtual helmet was born.

The virtual helmet worked by magnifying the images from small, two-dimensional displays through an optical system.

Each disc corresponded to a different skill, allowing pet beasts to immerse themselves in learning.

But soon, it was discovered that whether pet beasts could learn skills still depended on their natural talent.

While the virtual helmet increased the pet beasts' enthusiasm for learning, the actual probability of mastering a new skill remained much lower compared to being taught directly by someone.

Thus, after a brief surge in popularity, virtual helmets nearly became obsolete.

After all, they were expensive, and pet beasts could easily become addicted to using them.

If a pet beast could learn a new skill, that would be fine. But the problem was that most pet beasts still couldn’t.

Failing to learn but still wanting to play, when denied, the pets would throw tantrums, sometimes even refusing to eat.

The original intention of buying a virtual helmet was to help the pet beasts improve by learning new skills.

But with no improvement and a new addiction instead, who could tolerate that?

Looking at the virtual helmet in the suitcase, Qiao Sang felt both excited and hesitant.

With memories from her previous life, she had always yearned for a virtual helmet, but this one was designed for pet beasts to learn skills.

Judging by the size of the helmet, it was clear that only Little Treasure could wear it.

If Yabao could use it, that would be better. She believed that Yabao’s desire to grow stronger would keep him from becoming addicted, even if he didn’t learn any new skills.

But Little Treasure?

Not so much...

He had a naturally playful personality. If he couldn’t learn the skills and started throwing tantrums to play, it would be quite a headache.

The more Qiao Sang thought about it, the more she realized how likely this outcome was.

Even though Little Treasure had a high level of talent, there was always the risk of failure.

To be safe, she decided that Little Treasure must never touch the virtual helmet...

After some analysis, Qiao Sang calmed down and made up her mind. She turned around, only to see Little Treasure holding one of the discs, curiously inspecting it.

The disc bore two large characters:

Shadow Control.

Qiao Sang’s face instantly froze.