Above the Star Domain lies something even greater, the "Star Region."
Each Star Region accommodates a single advanced human cosmic nation.
Every cosmic nation's Star Region is vast beyond measure.
It's no exaggeration to say that the most distant cosmic nation from headquarters is fifteen billion light-years away.
Luo Fan didn't feel much about this.
After all, his Space Wyrm clone could open a ten-light-year wormhole in the Dark Universe.
That meant he could travel a hundred million light-years in a short time.
With the current strength of his Space Wyrm clone, even performing twenty or thirty consecutive maximum-distance wormholes was no problem.
So, it didn't really matter to him.
But to the other geniuses, that was an unimaginably vast distance.
At this moment, on the stage, Mana continued speaking with a smile.
"If you choose to travel by spaceship on your own...
First, it's slow and takes far too long.
Second, on such a long voyage, the ship's energy consumption would be astonishing.
Third, and this is the most important point, traveling through the Dark Universe isn't entirely safe in some regions."
"There are cosmic star pirates, and even raiders from other races."
"The safety of everyone here is of utmost importance."
"Currently, ordinary cosmic ships in the Dark Universe can only reach several times the speed of light at best. Over long distances, the journey would still take a very long time."
To put it in perspective, even a C9-class ship generally can't exceed twice the speed of light.
A D9-class ship at most reaches five times light speed.
Even an E-class ship usually doesn't surpass ten times light speed.
For example, the D9-class Mechanical Clan ship Luo Feng obtained, even human E9-class ships couldn't compare to it.
Yet even that D9 Mechanical Clan ship only approached ten times light speed.
That meant even with a D9 Mechanical Clan ship, the journey would still take fifteen years!
At that moment, a genius raised a question.
"How long will it take us to reach the Virtual Universe Company headquarters?"
Many turned their eyes toward Mana on stage.
None of them wanted to spend years of their lives just traveling aboard a ship.
"Because the distances vary, the ships assigned will differ in speed," Mana said with a calm smile. "But rest assured, everyone will arrive at headquarters on the same day."
He then raised three fingers.
"The travel time will be about three years."
"Three years?!"
"That short?!"
"How is that possible?!"
"How fast must the ship be to cover fifteen billion light-years in just three years?"
Most of the thousand geniuses present were well-informed, not naïve country bumpkins.
Luo Feng and his two companions, for instance, had attended two Qian Wu auctions and one mid-tier auction.
Those three events had greatly broadened their horizons.
Most of the other geniuses had similar experiences.
Each had their own opportunities and had seen remarkable things.
Yet aside from Luo Fan and three others, none had ever heard of a ship that fast.
Three years... to traverse fifteen billion light-years through the Dark Universe!
That meant a speed of fifty times light speed!
Many of these geniuses were familiar with the speeds of F-class ships.
An F-class ship typically reached twenty to thirty times light speed, which was already considered very fast.
"The ships provided by our Virtual Universe Company," Mana said proudly, "are all F-class cosmic ships."
"And not ordinary ones you can buy on the market, these are special F-class ships designed exclusively within our company. Their technological content far surpasses those of any cosmic nation."
Silence.
Utter quiet.
Stunned faces.
At that moment, the geniuses were completely dumbfounded.
All except a few.
Luo Feng and his two friends exchanged strange looks at Luo Fan.
They knew that his ship could reach one hundred and twenty times the speed of light.
Even so, the Virtual Universe Company's special models, despite their cutting-edge technology, only reached fifty times light speed.
The three of them instinctively lowered their heads, not wanting others to notice their expressions.
F-class ships.
From the fact that Hu Yan Bo had spent nearly his entire fortune and countless resources to acquire a single F-class "Meteor Star," one could imagine how precious such ships were.
In truth, even many Immortal beings couldn't afford one.
Across numerous starfield-level empires, such as the Black Dragon Mountain Empire, there wasn't a single F-class cosmic ship within the entire empire.
High-level cosmic nations did possess them, but even then, most F-class ships couldn't reach fifty times light speed in the Dark Universe.
"Monstrous…"
Seated to Luo Feng's right was the prince of Manka Planet.
Prince Wuka of Manka stared at Mana on stage, gritting his teeth and muttering, "Absolutely monstrous. To deploy a thousand F-class cosmic ships at once, each with such insane technology…"
"My royal father said before that the Virtual Universe Company is humanity's sacred ground of technology... but this is beyond belief."
Mana's words had clearly shocked him deeply.
Among humanity, the Virtual Universe Company was second to none in technology.
Even across the vast universe and among countless races, only a handful could rival it.
Perhaps only races like the "Mechanical Clan" and a few others could compare.
So, Luo Fan wasn't particularly surprised.
Not only because he had read the original story,
but even if he hadn't, he possessed a Mechanical Clan clone.
He had all the memories of that Mechanical Clan member, including its vast technological knowledge.
Within those memories were designs for cosmic ships capable of reaching eighty times the speed of light.
However, Luo Fan dared not reveal such things.
Even the D-class ships he manufactured were stripped-down versions.
If he were to reveal a ship capable of eighty times light speed now, he wouldn't live to keep it.
After all, a mere Star-level cultivator possessing technology more advanced than the Virtual Universe Company's... he'd be treated as the ripest piece of meat in the cosmos.
Of course, the Virtual Universe Company must have even faster ships.
But ones reaching eighty times light speed were exceedingly rare, most being fused with metal lifeforms.
In fact, the company's ships were modified versions derived from the study of Mechanical Clan technology.
If Luo Fan ever intended to reveal his, he'd have to wait until he had at least the strength of a King-ranked Immortal.
Preferably, he should reach that level while still at the World Master stage.
After all, at that stage, even Chaos City Master could still discern whether one's soul belonged to a human.
Soon, the geniuses recovered from their shock.
Their eyes burned with excitement as they looked toward Mana, asking if they could purchase such ships.
"As core members of our Virtual Universe Company, you may indeed purchase them," Mana replied.
"However, they cannot be resold. If you wish to sell them, they must be sold back to the company."
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