Jiang Baimian didn't bother to watch the gladiators' entrance. Controlling the speed of her turn, she casually glanced back at the place where the conflict had occurred:

At the entrance and exit, security personnel were gradually returning to their original positions, and the surrounding audience occasionally glanced over there.

All of this indicated that someone had indeed rushed out earlier, unless the person in the shadows had influenced several thousand people in that area.

If she weren't in the VIP box, Jiang Baimian would have liked to check if there were bullet holes on the ground and if the brownish-yellow rope was still there.

Her intuition told her that these things were likely there.

Vaguely, she seemed to grasp something, forming some speculations.

When she turned her head back, she heard the noble's companions laughing at him:

"Haha, you almost became the first person in high society to choke to death on water."

"Only that guy was more embarrassed than you just now."

"How was it? Tell us about your feelings just now."

The noble said with a gloomy face:

"This was an assassination attempt on me!

"I don't even know who I offended!"

He paused, took a breath, and said:

"Let's watch the gladiatorial combat first, we'll talk about it when we get back."

Only then did Jiang Baimian truly pay attention to the noble's appearance:

He was probably twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, also an Axsen, with his black hair tied into a small braid, and his blue eyes were still relatively clear, without a sense of being immersed in alcohol and lust.

He seemed to have undergone genetic optimization. Although his facial features were not particularly outstanding individually, they combined to create a considerable temperament, giving off a sense of an artist.

As for his height, because the other party was sitting, Jiang Baimian couldn't accurately judge, but could only use her experience to guess that he wasn't shorter than Long Yuehong.

"Dino, don't use assassination as an excuse," the noble's companions replied with laughter.

They had all seen Dino choke on water and almost die... And based on a normal reaction, Dino definitely wouldn't have been able to hold the glass, causing it to fall to the ground... Dino insisted that he had been assassinated, but didn't deny choking on water... The glass was intact on the table, and the remaining water hadn't spilled... Jiang Baimian extracted one detail after another, trying to deduce the possible truth.

And the one who was even more "embarrassed" than Dino, she had heard of:

A certain noble suddenly had diarrhea in the suburbs, hurriedly found a farmer's house, borrowed their outhouse, and accidentally fell in, dying young.

At this moment, Jiang Baimian saw Aure's grandson, Marcus, once again reveal that slightly mocking smile.

Then, he turned his gaze to the arena.

The next second, Jiang Baimian heard Shang Jianyao chuckle softly:

"Virtual Machine..."

Virtual Machine... Jiang Baimian's past research direction wasn't in the field of electronics or computers, but she had been exposed to these things since she was a child. After installing an auxiliary chip in her biological prosthesis, she even did a more in-depth understanding, naturally understanding what a Virtual Machine was.

A Virtual Machine is a computer operating system simulated by corresponding technology. Its function is the same as the original, and there is no difference in using it and using the original.

And everything that happens in the Virtual Machine will not affect the original, after all, it is just a mirror image, which can be used to do some more risky operations.

Shang Jianyao used the Virtual Machine to compare what happened just now, meaning that after everyone entered the VIP box and the surrounding area, they were actually synchronized to a virtual world, or a large illusion. Everyone's data and reactions were copied over, and communication took place inside. The results of the communication were then filtered by the powerful Awakened who created this illusion, and fed back to their real selves.

In other words, the "Old Task Force" now sees people, hears words, all have gone through three transformations: Someone speaks in reality - the corresponding words, expressions, and actions are synchronized into the virtual world - the images of Jiang Baimian and others in the virtual world hear those words and see the other party's expressions and actions - the data information received by the images is synchronized to their real selves.

Thus, this seemingly normal and ordinary exchange has an unusually complex mechanism underneath.

And the purpose of the complexity is to ensure safety.

Simply put, all communication between people and people, and between people and things, in this area has been pre-filtered in the virtual world.

This reminded Jiang Baimian of the old-world online games: she and others were manipulating an account belonging to themselves, jointly constructing a virtual world with other players and props. What they saw and heard came from it, but their emotional changes were real.

The only difference is that most people in attendance were not aware of "playing a game," believing that everything was real and normal.

And no matter how much damage they received in the game, as long as their emotional fluctuations did not exceed a certain limit, they would be fine.

The current situation is that this game also has a "harmony mechanism" installed, filtering out anything bloody, dangerous, or violent, so as to ensure the players' physical and mental health and emotional stability.

Previously, Jiang Baimian had been wondering how "First City" would protect Aure's two descendants, preventing them from being assassinated by someone sent by an organization.

You know, Awakened abilities are diverse, hidden, and bizarre. To assassinate someone, there is almost no warning, and even kindred strongers who are at a higher level may not be able to detect it.

Just like just now, the noble simply took a sip of water and almost choked to death.

According to Jiang Baimian's idea, the most effective way to prevent Awakened assassinations is to delineate a safe zone, not allowing strangers to approach. If they need to travel, clear the area in advance and filter the personnel coming and going.

However, in her observation of Marcus and Aviya, she found that the two often went out, either attending gatherings or watching gladiatorial combat, never deliberately keeping a distance from others.

This left Jiang Baimian full of doubts, yet unable to find a suitable explanation.

Now, she roughly understood the reason:

The Marcus and Aviya that everyone sees and interacts with are actually in a Virtual Machine!

In this way, anyone who wants to do something bad will definitely be discovered by the owner of the virtual world during the triple transformation and stopped in time.

"This ability is really interesting...

"In the virtual world, that noble ultimately choking on water shows that the first transformation, which synchronizes real data, is an unconscious, purely instinctive replication, so it failed to directly filter out the dangerous information... This also explains why I can sense bioelectrical signals and Shang Jianyao can capture human consciousness. This is a rigid mechanism of completely copying and imitating every detail...

"Afterwards, the matter of choking on water didn't feed back to reality, so that noble was fine, and his water glass was also fine...

"Here, the owner of the virtual world discovered something was wrong. In other words, data filtering is actually at this layer..."

"He synchronized and fed back this matter to us, wanting to see everyone's reaction? Hmm... The subsequent performance of that noble choking to near death is purely virtual, with no real basis anymore... This shows that the owner of the virtual world has a strong control over this illusion...

"And by tracking dangerous information, he easily locked onto the Awakened using the ability and found his location... This can explain most of what happened just now..." Jiang Baimian flashed through one thought after another in her mind, stringing together all the details.

Long Yuehong also knew what a Virtual Machine was, and after a little thought, he roughly understood what Shang Jianyao meant.

This made his eyes involuntarily widen slightly, making him feel that the Awakened were both terrifying and bizarre.

Jiang Baimian then glanced at Shang Jianyao, not mentioning her own guess, nor communicating with him.

She knew very well why Shang Jianyao used the relatively professional term "Virtual Machine" to refer to the current situation, because their every word and action would enter the virtual world and be subject to monitoring and filtering.

And if the owner of the virtual world hasn't received formal education, it's normal not to understand the meaning of "Virtual Machine".

"This should be a kind of illusion ability, most likely belonging to the 'Shattered Mirror' domain... Previously, there were also Awakened in the 'Shattered Mirror' domain around Aviya... But the 'Mirage Dragon Cult' mainly prevails in areas where Greylanders gather... In the information given by the company, there are no traces of 'Mirage Dragon Cult' activity in 'First City'...

"One alone can be a special case, but two appearing is not necessarily a coincidence. Could it be that they come from a Red River religious sect that worships 'Shattered Mirror'? Does this sect have very close cooperation with 'First City'?" Jiang Baimian knew that only the thoughts in her mind were safe at this time. Therefore, while turning her gaze to the arena and watching the match, she was making various speculations.

In fact, they had also said some things they shouldn't have said just now, but overall it was okay. It could be explained that the two had a certain understanding of Awakened, were relatively familiar with General Fogg, knew Dukes and Kashir, the two city defense army majors, hadn't met Marcus, had only heard a little rumor about him, and thought he lived a very oppressed life.

Such conditions, placed in the upper class of "First City," could filter out a pile, not particularly unique.

And with the discovery just now, Jiang Baimian felt that today's action was very rewarding and not in vain.

In the midst of the neat and intense clapping, the tall gladiator, wearing leather armor, holding a shield, and carrying a spear, walked out. The black two-headed tiger leaped out even more, looking at its prey with violent and bloodthirsty eyes.