The Five Colossal Powers

‘Sir, please proceed to the left, the second room from the end,’ the receptionist said. ‘Thank you!’ Luo Feng replied with a smile, leading his two Silver Guards to the left. The receptionist’s eyes lit up. She thought, ‘He actually said “thank you” to a service staff like me! Wow, this is the true demeanor of a well-bred scion from a prominent family. Even with two Silver Guards, he shows no arrogance!’Luo Feng glanced at the door, which bore a textual label. Knock, knock, knock. Luo Feng rapped on the door. ‘Come in,’ a clear, powerful voice responded from within. Luo Feng pushed the door open and entered a spacious room. Inside were two staff members, both lean, dark-skinned men with blood-red eyes. One of them casually looked up, but upon seeing the two Silver Guards behind Luo Feng, a standardized, enthusiastic smile immediately appeared on his face. ‘Sir, how may we assist you?’‘I wish to acquire Black Dragon Mountain Empire citizenship,’ Luo Feng said with a slight smile.Citizenship in a low-tier cosmic civilization nation was the worst. However, for a mid-tier civilization nation, Black Dragon Mountain Empire citizenship was quite good. At least while he was still weak, Luo Feng had no intention of leaving the Black Dragon Mountain Empire’s territory. Once he became a ‘Cosmic-level expert’ or stronger, citizenship would make little difference to someone of that caliber.‘Oh, may I ask what your previous citizenship was, sir? Do you have the release documents from your former nationality?’ one of the dark-skinned, red-eyed men asked with a smile.‘None,’ Luo Feng replied.‘None?’ The dark-skinned, red-eyed man was slightly surprised. He couldn't help but scrutinize Luo Feng for a moment, then glanced at the two Silver Guards behind him.Generally, ordinary people on a planet who had not reached the ‘Planetary level’ could not obtain citizenship. The prerequisite for obtaining citizenship was—one must reach the ‘Planetary level.’ This was why, during Earth’s catastrophe, Luo Feng had said that even if they left Earth, his wife and children would have to spend decades on a spaceship, growing to the Planetary level, before they could enter other planets. Non-citizens entering certain planets were not protected by the empire.If an ordinary person reached the Planetary level, they would acquire citizenship for the first time! But… the person before him had two Silver Guards as bodyguards. Could he be an ordinary person?‘He’s probably an elite trained by some powerful faction, just making his debut in the world,’ the dark-skinned, red-eyed man mused inwardly.‘Sir, please stand here and don’t move,’ the dark-skinned, red-eyed man said with a smile.‘Alright,’ Luo Feng knew exactly what the other party intended. The dark-skinned, red-eyed man pressed a device on his arm. Beep. A hazy, dreamlike light enveloped Luo Feng. Beep beep! The device emitted a sound. The dark-skinned, red-eyed man lowered his gaze to the screen, which displayed text in the universal cosmic language: ‘No record found!’‘Since you have never held any citizenship, sir, many steps can be directly omitted,’ the dark-skinned, red-eyed man said with a smile. ‘You only need to pay a processing fee of 50 Black Dragon coins, and everything will be settled.’‘On Qiulong Star, Black Dragon coins are used in many places,’ Luo Feng said, flipping his hand and tossing out a Ganwu coin. ‘Please break it down for me.’‘A Ganwu coin.’ The dark-skinned, red-eyed man secretly rejoiced. He quickly pulled out a stack of special, paper-thin banknotes from his pocket and handed them to Luo Feng. ‘Sir, here are 950 Black Dragon coins.’ At the same time, he slipped the Ganwu coin into his own pocket, then took 50 Black Dragon coins from his pocket and inserted them into the coin slot of the nearby machine, which promptly swallowed them.‘Haha, Big Brother, you’re treating tonight!’ the other dark-skinned man with slightly larger eyes shouted from beside him. ‘Alright,’ the dark-skinned, red-eyed man replied, overjoyed. He gave Luo Feng an enthusiastic smile. ‘Sir, please follow me. I’ll handle all the procedures for you; it will be quick.’Those who worked in official departments like them had extensive connections. Converting a Ganwu coin to Black Dragon coins could yield around 1400-1500. This meant that with just one exchange, he had earned several hundred Black Dragon coins (hundreds of thousands of Silverblue coins)! Even with his good job, this was equivalent to one or two months of his salary.After about 20 minutes, Luo Feng received his identification documents. From then on, Luo Feng had a record in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire’s citizen system.‘These banknotes are interesting,’ Luo Feng remarked.‘These banknotes have excellent toughness and hardness. On your Earth, only a Beginner Tier War God exerting full strength could tear one. Such banknotes typically last two to three millennia before gradually decaying with further use,’ Babata explained.‘Oh,’ Luo Feng nodded slightly. Luo Feng was in a good mood. With Black Dragon Mountain Empire citizenship, many things could now be accomplished. As the saying goes—without identity, one can’t move an inch.‘Babata, where can I open an account for the Virtual Universe Network?’ Luo Feng asked, full of anticipation.The Virtual Universe! Just by its name, one could tell that within the Virtual Universe Network, citizens from all human nations across the cosmos—the Ganwu Universe Nation and numerous other cosmic nations—frequently congregated in the ‘Virtual Universe.’ In terms of population… it could truly be described as ‘innumerable’! Far too many!‘It’s over a hundred kilometers from here,’ Babata began to give detailed directions. Luo Feng ascended into the air. Above Qiulong City, the density of flying individuals was not high due to the vast open space. Luo Feng was able to maintain a relatively fast flying speed.‘Babata, what kind of technology does the Virtual Universe Network use that allows people scattered anywhere in the cosmos to communicate instantly through the network?’ Luo Feng was shocked and curious. The cosmos was boundless; even with ‘cosmic travel,’ some distant places required centuries or millennia of dark universe flight. Yet, this Virtual Universe Network could enable people to meet and communicate. What kind of technology was this? What technology did this network employ?‘I don’t know what kind of technology it is either,’ Babata said. ‘This technology isn’t even mastered by the Ganwu Universe Nation; only the ‘Virtual Universe Company’ possesses it! All major cosmic nations have branches of the Virtual Universe Company.’‘This company must be incredibly powerful,’ Luo Feng exclaimed. Although his teacher, Yunmo Star Master Huyan Bo, was treated with courtesy by the Ganwu Universe Nation, even Huyan Bo wouldn’t dare easily provoke a cosmic nation, such an immensely vast high-tier civilization nation! Yet… the Virtual Universe Company possessed technology that even the major cosmic nations couldn’t master. And this company thrived so well!‘Of course!’ ‘Luo Feng, although the Ganwu Universe Nation and other cosmic nations are ‘high-tier cosmic civilization nations’ with immense power! However… in the cosmos, true power doesn’t lie solely with nations,’ Babata said. ‘Instead, it belongs to certain seemingly disparate, yet incredibly powerful, factions.’‘Which factions?’ Luo Feng asked, a little curious.‘The Cosmic River Bank, Universe First Bank, Giant Axe Martial Arena, Cosmic Mercenary Alliance, and Virtual Universe Company—these five are the five colossal powers of the cosmos!’ Babata declared. ‘They hold absolute monopolistic positions.’‘These two major banks cater to the wealthy. Even immortal beings typically deposit their money and treasures with them,’ Babata explained. ‘Your teacher’s assets were kept at the ‘Cosmic River Bank,’ and the three accounts he gave you are with the Cosmic River Bank.’Luo Feng nodded slightly.‘The Giant Axe Martial Arena is the fairest martial arena. As for its power, you will learn in due time.’‘The Cosmic Mercenary Alliance is a loose organization. Over 99% of warriors and spirit readers join the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance! Your teacher was also a member back then.’ This statement startled Luo Feng. Over 99% of warriors and spirit readers joined? How, how could anyone compare? Fortunately, it was a loose organization.‘As for the Virtual Universe Company, the ‘Virtual Universe’ is practically humanity’s second world. The company that controls it cannot be shaken by any cosmic nation. How powerful do you think it is?’ Babata exclaimed.Luo Feng understood… In this cosmos, cosmic nations like the Ganwu Universe Nation seemed to be the most powerful nations. But the organizations that permeated every nation were the truly formidable ones.‘Below the five colossal powers are the cosmic nations. Of course, there are also some hidden factions nearly as powerful as cosmic nations,’ Babata added. ‘However, within the Ganwu Universe Nation’s home territory, the Ganwu Universe Nation is still very strong, at most showing some deference to the five colossal powers.’Luo Feng nodded slightly. The vast cosmos… it now seemed that while his teacher was powerful back then, he clearly couldn’t afford to offend even the Ganwu Universe Nation, let alone the five colossal powers.Qiulong City, Virtual Universe Company.‘Sir, how may I assist you?’ a beautiful woman with a pleasant face, wearing a red uniform and a fluffy tail, asked with a slight bow and a smile.‘Account opening,’ Luo Feng stated directly.‘For account opening, how much Virtual Universe Network fee would you like to pay upfront? It’s divided into three tiers: 100 years, 1000 years, and 10000 years. The annual network fee is 10 Black Dragon coins or 0.008 Ganwu coins,’ the receptionist said fluently.Luo Feng listened. What a rip-off! 10 Black Dragon coins? That was equivalent to tens of thousands of Silverblue coins. Very few ordinary people on a planet could afford it; typically, it was mostly Planetary-level humans who used it.‘You have consciousness-sensing helmets here, right?’ Luo Feng asked. On Earth, the helmets manufactured by Earthlings themselves couldn’t access the Virtual Universe Network. However, intelligent lifeforms like Babata had ways to easily connect.‘A consciousness-sensing helmet costs 10 Black Dragon coins.’ A hint of surprise flashed in the receptionist’s eyes. Nowadays, anyone with a bit of status used an auxiliary optical computer, or even a higher-tier ‘intelligent optical computer.’ Who would still use a primitive consciousness-sensing helmet?‘What about anonymous accounts?’ Luo Feng pressed.In the cosmos, some planetary lords would purchase consciousness-sensing helmets for their planet’s citizens. These were usually anonymous accounts. However, anonymous accounts… typically had a validity period of 100 years. Upon expiration, a new account would need to be purchased. Such anonymous accounts could not be bound to specific users. This meant anyone could use them, for a maximum of 100 years.‘Anonymous accounts have a fixed validity of 100 years, and each account costs 2000 Black Dragon coins or 1.6 Ganwu coins,’ the receptionist said with a smile.‘Very good.’ Luo Feng nodded slightly. ‘I need 10 anonymous accounts and 10 consciousness-sensing helmets. For the account opening… a 100-year payment will suffice.’