I really don't want to date a girl addicted to the internet!

……

Cheng Fei was busy with real technology matters until late at night when he returned to his rented room. Not long after he finished washing up, a message popped up from the official members of the Corridor Research Department.

"Everyone log in. Let's begin exploring the outer perimeter of the Great Portal today."

Subsequently, the boy received a private message from a netizen named Xiao A.

"Trash, how long are you planning to disappear?"

"Don't mention it, Teacher Shen, I'll be right there."

After replying, he put on his infiltration helmet, lay down, and entered the corridor for the first time in a long time.

……

The familiar cockpit of the Miriam was where the members of the Corridor Research Department gathered as usual.

Upon seeing the boy appear, the bright eyes of the young girl with light purple hair lit up, "Brother...!"

Cheng Fei greeted Kato Ai, then looked around and found that all the members of the Corridor Research Department were present except for Ye Shuang.

"Where is Master Ye?" the young man asked calmly.

Not long after Lin Xuanqi left in the afternoon, the obedient girl also walked away with her head down, looking sad, and even Nagasaki Asuna couldn't stop her.

"I asked, and Shuangshuang said she's not coming today?" Nagasaki Asuna tilted her head.

"Okay." The boy smacked his lips, realizing he'd have to use tutoring as an excuse to appease her again this weekend.

"It doesn't matter if she doesn't come. Let's set off now, target the third-level teleportation portal." Shen Xi said coldly, then swiped to activate the teleportation.

Seeing this, the others followed her and teleported as well.

The third level of the corridor is a sparse grassland.

A once inconspicuous remote teleportation point is now bustling with well-equipped players, making the wilderness feel safe.

"Teacher Shen, it seems you've already scouted the way?" Cheng Fei stood on a high place, shading his eyes with his hand, and looked in the direction the players were moving.

"Stop talking nonsense and follow behind." The silver-haired, aloof girl kicked him and led the way.

Looking at the groups of players hurrying along, Zhou Han exclaimed, "So many people are coming! Are the rewards from the large portal really enough to go around?"

Cheng Fei shrugged, “Don’t worry, even if you go through the big portal completely, you’ll be sneaking in. It’s like a maze inside, and the enemies are much stronger than outside the third level. Only the top guilds can make it to the end and kill the BOSS. Other players are just here to join the fun and get killed.”

"Wouldn't a lot of equipment drop if we went in and picked it up? Wouldn't we be rich?" Zhou Han thought about it seriously.

The boy nodded. "Theoretically, yes, but cleaning up the battlefield involves two things: guarding against runaway machines and being wary of other players backstabbing you, so the risks are considerable."

"Oh, I see. Cheng Fei, you know the most." The petite girl looked at him with a smile.

"It's just common sense for anyone who's completed the first two levels," the boy said, shaking his head dismissively.

"Trash, you've been asking me to log on for so long without actually logging on, but you're most eager to show off when you're just pretending." Shen Xi leaned over and lightly kicked him, her little face inexplicably annoyed.

Zhou Han subtly shifted her gaze.

"So you're really that resentful that I haven't been online lately? Sigh, you internet addict." The boy could only shake his head and sigh.

Holding the healing staff, Nagasaki Asuna turned around with a gloating smile. "When Cheng Fei isn't around, Shen Xi always finds a chance to scold you. But is that because she holds a grudge or because she misses you?"

The sweet young girl lightly tapped her chin with her fingertips, her smile not without a hint of teasing.

"Teacher Shen?" The boy turned around, surprised.

Shen Xi took a deep breath, her expression blank, her tone unreadable, "You vixen, you talk too much?"

"Wrong." Nagasaki Asuna zipped up her mouth.

During this conversation, the group arrived deep in the grassland, where a bottomless canyon appeared before them, cutting across the land.

"According to intelligence, the entrance to the great portal is below." Shen Xi observed from the edge.

Cheng Fei nodded seriously, "The control device for the large teleportation portal is buried deep underground in the corridor. Every time we need to find the entrance, we have to dig three feet into the ground."

"No need for the obvious platitudes, let's get started." Shen Xi waved her hand, leading the group along the treacherous path explored by the players towards the bottom of the canyon.

After much effort, they arrived at their destination safely, the bottom of the canyon shrouded in dim light.

A deep passage made of some kind of solid material appeared before them, with indicator lights flashing on the floor and a cool breeze blowing out, leading to an unknown destination.

Zhou Han looked around and discovered a series of passages leading deep into the earth arranged at the bottom of the winding canyon, resembling both the vent of a giant air conditioner and a crack in the rock strata, waiting for players to enter. "Wow, we can go into all of these?"

"The corridor is just a surface covered with natural scenery. In fact, each floor is a cavity for housing control devices. This is one of the backup maintenance passages, and all of them lead to the interior." Shen Xi said coldly, looked around, and randomly chose one to walk forward.

"In short, welcome to the Protoss Queen's underground anthill," Cheng Fei said in a low voice, unsurprisingly receiving a glare from the person in front of him.

Upon entering the passage, the group felt as if they had stepped into another dimension of constant temperature and silence, isolated from the outside environment.

As they went deeper, the game interface in front of them disappeared, and their senses became exceptionally clear.

"Eh, does this mean I'm being smuggled in from here?" Nagasaki Asuna looked down at her hands.

"So be careful." Cheng Fei nodded.

"Today's mission is just a preliminary exploration. We just need to retreat in time if we encounter any danger." Shen Xi gripped the staff in her hand, and her pace unconsciously slowed down. She went from leading the way to walking side by side with Cheng Fei.

The boy noticed this, glanced at her sideways, and smiled.

The girl turned her face away, pretending to be wary of her surroundings.

The group continued on their way through the empty passage without encountering any enemies.

After some time, they reached the end of the passage, passed through a heavy gate that was open, and the space in front of them suddenly opened up.

"Wow... the underground of the corridor is actually like this?" Zhou Han tilted her head back, her round eyes widening slightly.

Before them lay an exceptionally vast underground world, the ceiling so distant it resembled a pitch-black sky, with thick pipes vaguely visible, like mythical serpents winding and crawling across the night sky, and a dim, soft white light illuminating the earth.

The entire space is supported by man-made pillars, each comparable to a real skyscraper, with tiny lights shimmering on them, as if there is another world inside. The pillars are distributed on the ground in a certain pattern, stretching all the way to the unseen distance.

In this underground world, you can also see huge buildings of unknown purpose. Most of them are completely black and have no windows, standing like huge stone monuments, or like giants looking down on the players. Some are also strangely shaped and still in operation, emitting a low rumble.

Occasionally, unmanned aircraft can be seen flying high in the sky along fixed routes, seemingly transporting goods without any intention of attacking.

"Teacher Shen, were you a hardcore gamer before? Otherwise, how could you have cultivated so many things?" Cheng Fei asked with a serious expression of curiosity. After a moment of contemplation, he nodded to himself, "That makes sense. An introverted kid like you might have spent tens of thousands of years in your own little garden, studying how to set up conveyor belts every day."

Shen Xi glared at him. "Nonsense. Building such facilities is a piece of cake for the Protoss. With just one command, they can make low-ranking apostles self-reproduce and complete the mission."

"I see. So she really is the ruthless and cold-blooded Protoss Queen who treats her own kind as expendable resources." The boy nodded, then continued to be glared at.

"So where should we go now?" Nagasaki Asuna asked, tilting her head with her hands behind her back.

“All the unions are in the early stages of exploration right now, so let’s just wander around for now.” Shen Xi thought for a moment and raised her chin.

902. Antarctic Study Trip Plan

In the silent underground world, the background noise of the Protoss facilities in operation is the only melody.

The group traveled through this space, occasionally encountering other player teams. The two sides would observe each other from a distance like wild beasts meeting in the jungle, and then go their separate ways without any communication.

"Sister...it's so dark here." Kato Ai shrank her neck and hugged her staff to her chest.

Perhaps due to her personality, despite undergoing constant special training to adapt to the game since joining the club, the naive girl still felt a sense of fear and unease.

"Don't worry, Cheng Fei is here, so you're safe." Nagasaki Asuna smiled and gently patted her head.

"Don't worry, Miss Kato, I will protect you too!" Miriam stood up straight and patted the smooth composite armor plate on her chest.

On the other side, Cheng Fei walked around, looking around. "Teacher Shen, don't you have a map or something to help us explore?"

"No." The aloof girl who had somehow walked up to him remained expressionless.

"You don't have this either? You are the Celestial Queen, the master of the Corridor."

"I already asked Isena, and there's no answer. What do you want?" Shen Xi turned her head and glared at him.

"Don't be angry, it was just a casual question. If you're scared, why don't you carry me?" the boy said nonchalantly.

"Nonsense, no one here is afraid." The girl frowned slightly and stared elsewhere, as if trying to prove something, and moved slightly to create some distance between herself and him.

"Actually, I feel the outer area is quite safe, so there's no need to be so nervous," the boy said.

"Shut up, nobody's nervous here." The girl grew impatient and attacked him with her white boots.

"Alright, I've got nothing else to do anyway. By the way, I've started planning my trip to Antarctica." The young man said seriously, "I feel like a week off isn't enough. Two weeks might be more flexible. Besides, the necessary preparations are surprisingly troublesome, so I might need to find someone to help me."

"You made grand promises before, but now you're complaining about the hassle. You really are just a smooth talker, Cheng Feiyu." Shen Xi glanced at him and let out a cold laugh.

"Teacher Shen, I'm just reporting to you about my work, so you won't think that I'm fooling around with other girls when you can't see me." The boy said helplessly.

"Heh, Cheng Feiyu had better be really that self-aware." The girl turned her face away, leaving him with his thick silver hair at the back of his head.

"Anyway, the three of us can take this opportunity to go on a trip. It sounds pretty good," the boy nodded to himself.

"Three?" Shen Xi was stunned for a moment, then turned around, displeased. "Trash, you really want to bring that vixen along?!"

"Teacher Shen, it would be more convenient to bring Nana along, wouldn't it? Could you please skip the tiramisu?" the boy said earnestly.

"Besides having a bit of a knack for reading people's minds, this vixen is just a burden the rest of the time. I don't know what use it is to take her to such a remote place. Stop making excuses for her there." The girl gritted her teeth.

"Don't mention it. Besides, we're a team. Don't you think it's too cruel to abandon her like this?" The boy shrugged.

While the two were talking, Miriam, who had been absent-minded, caught a key word and perked up her ears to listen. Then, she quietly moved closer and asked, "Miss Nagasaki, where are you going with them?"

"Eh, so it seems like we're going to Antarctica?" Nagasaki Asuna tilted her head and said casually.

"Antarctica?" Miriam exclaimed in surprise.

“It’s so far…” Kato Ai looked up and stared blankly.

“Yes, there are some things to investigate about Shen Xi’s mother.” Nagasaki Asuna nodded.

“Miss Nagasaki, Antarctica is not a tourist destination; it’s far too dangerous,” Miriam said with genuine concern.

"It's okay, Cheng Fei is here anyway." The sweet girl smiled and shook her head.

“This…this…” Miriam bit her nail and started thinking quickly.

"The current plan is to find a reliable guide, pay him enough, then land on the Antarctic Peninsula as a tourist, and then go to Cape Hope to conduct research..." the boy gestured earnestly.

Shen Xi nodded after listening, "Cheng Feiyu was somewhat useful this time, let's do it this way."

"Junior." Miriam quietly stood up on the other side of the boy.

"Senior? When did you arrive?" the boy exclaimed in surprise.

"Junior, if you're going to Antarctica, I can actually help you. You don't need to go to all this trouble." The blonde girl lowered her voice, looking mysterious.

"How can you help?" Cheng Fei looked at her cautiously.

“My relative happens to own a piece of land on the Antarctic Peninsula and runs a travel agency. I can help arrange it, how about it?” The blonde girl started winking at him frantically, sending him signals.

Of course, the boy couldn't understand her meaning; he could only guess from her animated expression what she was planning.

"Really?" the boy asked, still somewhat doubtful.

Given her status, it wouldn't be out of place for her to say that her relatives have territory in Antarctica.

"Junior, come here!" Milian grabbed the boy's arm and pulled him away from Shen Xi.

This made the aloof girl narrow her eyes and take a deep breath, her face showing a look of wanting to kill someone but holding back for the time being.

Away from Shen Xi, Milian could no longer hide her excitement. "Junior, listen to me. Your school trip for second-year high school students happens to be this semester. How about we all go to Antarctica together?"

"This is too much trouble, isn't it unnecessary?" Cheng Fei hesitated before speaking.

"No trouble at all! Leave all the fees and paperwork to me. You just need to get everyone's approval. Then you and Shen Xi can go and investigate." Milian rubbed her hands together, her eyes sparkling, and her tone became more vivid. "Just think about it, the rest of the time we can all enjoy the icy scenery of Antarctica together, watch penguins during the day, and see the romantic aurora borealis at night. This is the perfect opportunity for a public confession. You can be with Shen Xi, and I can be with Miss Nagasaki and Miss Ye Shuang. We can just play it by ear and succeed in one fell swoop!"

So they were plotting something again, those laughable British lesbians.

Cheng Fei understood, and after a moment of silence, asked, "Senior, but there's the midnight sun in Antarctica during the summer, so you can't see the aurora, right?"

Miriam opened her mouth, but resolved the issue in a second. "That's not important. Anyway, this is a fantastic opportunity. Since we're all going anyway, why not have fun together?!"

"I don't object, but senior." The boy nodded tentatively, then looked at her again.

"Junior! What's wrong?" Miriam looked at him with starry eyes.

“We do have school trips, but if I remember correctly, you’re repeating your senior year this semester. Is it really okay for you to spend time organizing this kind of activity?” Even though he knew that her academic qualifications wouldn’t affect her future, the boy couldn’t help but feel a little worried.

"It's okay, junior! There are still more than half a year until the college entrance examination. You'll have more energy to study after you've had a good time, right?" the blonde girl said without hesitation.