Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 543 What else can he do?

"What strange thing have you found this time?"

Miriel complained, but her hand took the soft whip from her waist and flicked her wrist, making a crisp 'snap' sound.

"Let me confirm again, do you really want me to use the 'Ten Thousand Whips Return to Origin' technique on you? Although I don't have any strange fetishes, it still hurts a lot when a whip hits someone."

"What are you thinking? I just think I might have found a way to break your Phantom Whip Shadow..." Li Zheng didn't finish his sentence, staring intently at the soft whip in Miriel's hand: "Where did you get this weapon?"

"What? Where did this come from?" Miriel looked puzzled. "This thing has always been with me, haven't you forgotten?"

“Of course I know it’s been hanging on you, but the problem is… oh, I remember now.” Li Zheng recalled that when he went to register his weapon information, Xiaoying and Miriel were waiting for him not far away, so the soft whip that Miriel had left on him was overlooked.

Perhaps... those registrars mistook the whip for some kind of decoration or... organ on Miriel's body?

For example, something like a tail?

"Never mind all that for now, unleash your full power, Ten Thousand Whips Return to Origin!" Li Zheng stood focused, if he wasn't mistaken, he should be able to see through the whip shadows that Miriel created with her mental power.

"it is good."

With a flick of his wrist, Miriel unleashed a flurry of whip shadows that lashed and whipped around Li Zheng.

Li Zheng focused his attention and watched as the whip shadows in the air gradually diminished until only one remained.

"At this!"

Li Zheng reached out and grabbed the soft whip, actually managing to break through Miriel's most prized move.

The countless whip shadows vanished in an instant.

"This! How is this possible!"

Miriel froze, her face filled with disbelief.

This move, "Ten Thousand Whips Return to Origin," was something she had researched for decades to perfect, yet Li Zheng had broken it so easily.

"Xu has left me with a huge problem but also a treasure..." Li Zheng sighed and released the whip.

Miriel pondered for a moment and said, "Can your weapon blueprints still be made? If so, could you give me a whip with barbs instead?"

Li Zheng's expression froze. Was Miri about to become inhuman?

He looked for the blueprint page but couldn't find it, so he said to Miriel, "There won't be a system interface after entering the outer city. I'll replace your weapon when I go to the Matrix or leave the outer city sometime."

"Alright, it's almost time for dinner. I'll go cook." Miriel hung the whip back on her waist and walked towards the stove.

Li Zheng continued his learning process with Lao Pu, his fingers clicking on the handheld computer almost leaving afterimages.

Soon, Mirell came over and called Li Zheng to dinner. It was a classic meal of three dishes and a soup, each dish quite large. Li Zheng ate his meal, lost in thought.

"What's wrong? It's not to your liking?" Miriel asked.

"No, not at all." Li Zheng put down his chopsticks and pointed at Xiaoying: "I just feel that if we keep eating like this, we won't be able to replenish our food supplies, and we'll be running out of resources."

“But didn’t you just exchange a lot of money with that old man?” Miriel pointed in Kanger’s direction: “If we don’t have enough ingredients, we can just buy more, right?”

"Do not……"

Li Zheng shook his head: "I was just suddenly thinking that although there's fighting every day in the Matrix, you can get all your necessities with your own hands. But in the outer city, although it's peaceful, you can't get anywhere without money. For a moment, I actually missed the days in the Matrix. Tell me, if life is a survival game, which is more difficult, the game in the Matrix or the game in the outer city?"

“Of course it is…” Miriel was about to say it was in the Matrix, but then she thought about it again and realized that the outer city was more difficult, so she stopped talking.

“On my old planet, I never lacked food or drink, and as long as I had money, I could travel the world,” Li Zheng recalled. “But was that really freedom? If it was, why do so many people seek solace in virtual novels and online stories? Some people specifically choose to read so-called ‘survival’ novels, thinking that the world in those stories must be more miserable than their own, not realizing that the most miserable lives are always their own…”

"In their twenties and thirties, they have nothing. A house and a car are a huge burden, and finding a partner is still a problem. The daily work alone is enough to break their backs. If they are unlucky enough to get some chronic disease, they live in the shadow of death every day, afraid that they will fall asleep and never wake up again."

"Isn't this even more difficult than so-called survival games?"

Miriel lifted her eyelids and thought for a moment: "I haven't experienced any of what you're saying, so I don't really resonate with it. But if life is really as you say, the pressure to survive does seem a bit higher."

“Yes… I’ve never experienced it… How lucky.” Li Zheng sighed, “On our planet, there are some people who have never experienced it either. They are born with a silver spoon in their mouths and receive the highest level of education from a young age. They never know what pressure is. Even if their grades are not good, they can use money to buy the opportunity to study abroad and get a prestigious degree.”

"There are also some people whose elders are politicians with high social standing. With these resources, they can even get scholarships from universities or government subsidies for poor students. The most outrageous thing is that they spend the country's money, but they insult their own country abroad, as if the country owes them something."

"Tell me, with these people existing, what is the point of living for those who are inferior to them?"

“Whether it’s meaningful or not is another matter. Why do I feel like you’ve included me in your insults?” Miriel tapped the plate. “Just tell me if you’re going to eat or not.”

"Eat up." Li Zheng picked up his chopsticks again. "You've already made it, of course I'll eat it."

Watching Li Zheng eat his meal with gusto, Miriel said, "You see, life has no inherent meaning. As long as you're alive and can eat and drink your fill, that's the only meaning."

She picked up a piece of greasy meat and put it in her mouth, chewing as she said, "As long as I can still enjoy delicious food, as long as I can still breathe fresh air, as long as I still have... the love of those around me, doesn't this life have meaning?"

Li Zheng stopped what he was doing, stared blankly for a while, and then said, "When the mental storm is resolved and I find a way back, I must open a restaurant in my hometown, so that people can at least enjoy the meaning of food in life."

"..." Miriel's mouth was bulging, and after a while she asked, "If you leave the Matrix, will you lose your storage space? With your cooking skills, what kind of delicious food do you think you can make?"

Upon hearing this, Li Zheng's expression froze.

Yeah, my cooking skills are just so-so. The dishes that usually cause a sensation are all thanks to the stove. If I lose the stove, what am I?

What else can he do?

(End of this chapter)