But the excited Collector no longer paid attention to him.
It was as if he had forgotten Shen Shi's existence, or even that the USB stick before him was just a projection. The Collector carefully cradled the silver-white steel USB stick in his translucent hands, muttering to himself, "Walkley alters our language, destroys our memories, ruins all information carriers. They want to enslave us forever, so that we can never recover our past, origin, or self, and never have the right to touch the realm of the Strong Person..."
Shen Shi listened to the translation, his pupils slightly contracted.
He finally understood.
Why modern text and information are of such immense value in the future, and why history and culture are so severely lacking.
The invaders three years later deliberately destroyed all of this!
Yet, Shen Shi found it somewhat difficult to comprehend.
From the perspective of domination and enslavement, destroying the culture and beliefs of captives might be a strong strategy. But why, without these, does one lose the right to touch the realm of the Strong Person? Without the legacy of the past and culture, wouldn't new culture be created?
Shen Shi lowered his gaze without speaking.
Whether it's the future three thousand years from now or the mysterious starry sky, for him at this moment, there were too many unknowns and incomprehensible secrets.
But now was not the time to pursue these secrets.
The Collector had already started to decrypt the contents of the USB stick.
If it were a computer from modern society, this USB stick, placed for three thousand years, would obviously be scrapped. However, with the powerful decryption capabilities of the black market platform, all the contents stored inside the USB drive were revealed.
They were four movies.
The names and images were all blurred by the platform, just like The Art of War earlier, as the platform protects the ownership of information.
But even so, it had already made the Collector thoroughly ecstatic!
"Preserved so completely!"
Just like with The Art of War earlier, he had expressed the same amazement.
It can be imagined how precious completeness is for such cultural antiques!
"Honored guest!" The Collector looked at Shen Shi again, no longer concealing his desire, "May I ask, which four movies are recorded here?"
"...Iron Man 1 and 2, and Brocade Spring Saber 1 and 2." Shen Shi truthfully informed him.
As soon as he finished speaking, it was obvious that the light aura in the Collector's mind suddenly froze.
It was an exceptionally odd scene.
Completely defying the principles of optics, like some sort of cool special effect.
However, from Shen Shi's perspective, it seemed more like the prelude to a volcanic eruption!
He even felt a strong urge to step back several steps.
But before he could make a move, scorching emotions erupted first!
An azure blue light filled the entire view!
It was an indescribable sense of oppression, as if the entire body of the Collector in front of him had transformed into light, resembling the infinite quantum body of "Dr. Manhattan". Just looking at it brought a spiritual shiver, as if a tidal wave of emotion surged in - uncontrollable joy, trembling excitement, and soul-stirring pleasure...
"Alert! Alert! Your consciousness is under attack!"
Just as Shen Shi was about to be submerged in these overwhelming emotions, the flashing red triangle frame and the piercing buzz constantly appeared, suppressing all the previous emotions.
The shock in Shen Shi's heart was indescribable by words.
If the anonymous colorful light were removed, one could see he was gasping for breath.
What on earth just happened...
Isn't this place supposed to be virtual reality?
And that azure blue light, what is it? Isn't it a special effect?
It even managed to attack his consciousness?
Just as Shen Shi was considering whether to retreat, the alert suddenly ceased.
In front of him was still the Collector, who appeared to have returned to normal.
"I deeply apologize, honored guest, please forgive my impoliteness." The Collector bowed his head, even placing one hand over his chest and bending at ninety degrees, with regret filling his tone, "I was too excited and could not control my emotions and power. I beg your pardon, and for this, I am willing to offer you satisfactory compensation."
At the same time, a platform prompt appeared before Shen Shi.
[You have been subjected to a non-malicious Primordial Energy Attack by the "Collector". The opponent requests forgiveness, failure to agree will result in the deduction of the opponent's credit score. Note: A low credit score will result in losing store qualifications.]
"..." Shen Shi was still unsteady at the moment.
Both the events that just transpired and the platform prompt in front of him conveyed a significant amount of information.
To the extent that his mind was still in a mess.
He wasn't sure what to say.
Silence was the only response he could give at this moment.
After a long silence, the Collector remained in a bowing posture, filled with regret.
He gritted his teeth.
"Respected sir," the slightly altered translation seemed to show a change, "I am willing to compensate you with thirteen tons of synthetic deformable material for no charge, to seek your forgiveness. I hope my minor impoliteness won't affect our subsequent transactions."
Thirteen tons of synthetic deformable material!
Hearing this compensation, Shen Shi finally snapped out of it.
He looked deeply at the Collector in front of him.
Apart from those temporarily incomprehensible matters, the situation right now was easy to understand: the reason the Collector was adopting such a low posture likely was not out of concern for the so-called "credit score", but rather concerning the yet-to-be-completed USB transaction!
After a moment of hesitation, Shen Shi slowly said, "Don't let it happen again."
No matter what that attack was just now, it had served as a wake-up call for him.
Even here, it's not absolutely safe.
He needed to be even more cautious.
However... thirteen tons of synthetic deformable material!
Adding to the twenty-five tons from the previous transaction, he now had as much as thirty-eight tons in his possession!
If used properly, it would be almost invincible in modern society!
After confirming the compensation had been received, Shen Shi chose to forgive as prompted, and only then did the Collector raise his body once again.
"Thank you for your forgiveness." He seemed to also breathe a sigh of relief.
Shen Shi noticed that in front of him, the Collector no longer hid his emotions, and that azure blue light indeed had the function of conveying emotions.
He could partly understand what it felt like for ancient people suddenly to travel to modern times.
Too many unknowns, too much mystery!
Many aspects simply couldn't be guessed or understood with his past logic.
So Shen Shi continued to play the role of the "silent and reserved" character.
The Collector merely assumed he was still dissatisfied with what had just happened.
"Please forgive me." He kept a slightly bowing posture, a sense of helplessness and regret emanating, "The treasure you brought out is truly astounding!"