"Tsk..."
Ming Po clicked his tongue, reluctantly logging out of the ga.
Raising a hand to pull off his helt, Ming Po asked tentatively, "Can I borrow this thing to play around with?"
"Mhm," Shen Yiqi replied. "Once you officially join the organization and beco a [Foundation Stone], you can."
"A [Foundation Stone]?"
Ming Po asked with piqued interest, "Am I still not considered an official mber?"
He opened the car door, only to find himself inside a colossal garage.
There were no lights, leaving the space pitch-black. Far off in the distance, a dazzling golden elevator stood out abruptly—the sole source of illumination in this entire expanse.
"...This decor is quite dreamcore," Ming Po comnted. "I almost feel like I haven't even left the ga yet."
He followed Shen Yiqi and Zhuang Yan forward. In this frigid space, the only sounds were the hollow echoes of their footsteps and Ming Po's voice bouncing off the walls.
"Right now, you've rely signed the contract. You're only considered a 'brick'," Shen Yiqi explained. "But once you officially join us, you can beco a 'Foundation Stone'—just rember to abide by those eight commandnts."
"What about you?" Ming Po asked in return. "Are you a 'Foundation Stone' in the organization, too?"
"Yeah, I am."
Shen Yiqi nodded in acknowledgnt. "I actually haven't been in the organization for very long myself... only about a month, I'd say."
Without realizing it, he had been led by Ming Po into referring to it as the 'organization'.
"And if you go higher..." Zhuang Yan chid in, "that would be a 'Pillar'."
"How does one beco a Pillar?" Ming Po asked bluntly. "Are there even higher ranks?"
Rather than feeling that Ming Po was biting off more than he could chew, Academician Zhuang appreciated his ambition.
He chuckled warmly and nodded. "There are indeed... Above that is the 'Do'. The Do Council consists of the upper echelons who can greenlight investnts in the trillions of dollars. They are bigwigs who, in the truest sense, can dictate the direction of the world based purely on their own will."
"Even..." The old man paused, a aningful smile curling his lips. "Even [the Authorities] wouldn't dare interfere too much with the 'Do'."
"...Are you talking about the governnt?"
"Oh, of course not. The state is the state, and 'the Authorities' are 'the Authorities'... The state might not even oppose our side. It's just that, on the surface, the higher-ups prefer to maintain stability.
"Hmph. They're nothing but a bunch of conservatives who call themselves orthodox, yet hinder technological progress at all costs. They're exactly like those environntalists in the West—they know absolutely nothing except how to hold people back and destroy the dreams of others... You'll understand in the future."
Clear displeasure laced Academician Zhuang's words.
Since eting the old man, this was the very first ti Ming Po had seen him reveal an expression of anger or disgust.
Ming Po also imdiately realized that the 'Authorities' Zhuang Yan ntioned was none other than Divine Cody.
He quickly composed himself and restored his amiable smile for Ming Po. "As for becoming a Pillar... Whenever you reach a point where you can set your own rules, you can be considered a Pillar of the organization."
"You sound like a riddler right now," Ming Po noted.
"Do I? Hahahaha..."
Academician Zhuang laughed heartily and clapped Ming Po on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll understand when the ti cos!"
Actually, Ming Po already understood perfectly.
The so-called 'becoming an official mber' ant passing the Preliminary Match and becoming a Deceiver of the World.
And 'being able to set your own rules' ant... becoming a Zhou's Azure Lead rank Deceiver of the World, obtaining your own palace, and gaining the authority level to design your own gas.
...Did that an Shen Yiqi hadn't reached Zhou's Azure Lead yet?
Whereas Academician Zhuang was, at the very least, at the Zhou's Azure Lead rank.
The Do... was that Silver of Moon, or Ti Gold?
It was probably Silver of Moon.
"What rank is my father?" Ming Po suddenly asked. "What kind of research does he do?"
"His research..."
Upon hearing this, the smile on Academician Zhuang's face faded slightly. "I cannot tell you until I have his permission. Because his rank is higher than ours, his security clearance is correspondingly higher as well.
"As for his rank—without a doubt, he is in the [Do]. Furthermore, I can tell you that he even has a chance to compete for the position of the next 'Keymaster'."
"The Keymaster... is that the leader of the organization?"
"Exactly."
Zhuang Yan spoke, patting Ming Po on the shoulder once more to encourage him. "You can't let your father down. You, my boy, are definitely a promising talent!"
"...How could an elder like you tell?" Ming Po asked, feeling slightly exasperated. "Was it from our earlier conversation?"
He had assud that so sort of 'aptitude' he displayed had caught the two n's attention... He never expected that he was actually getting preferential treatnt through family ties. What was this called?
A second-generation organization mber?
Who would have thought that his old man had quietly climbed almost all the way to the top!
This completely defied Ming Po's expectations. He had originally thought that even if that guy was in the organization, he'd be a senior executive at best...
Ming Po had initially viewed the Chinese Chamber of Comrce as a villainous faction that absolutely had to be eradicated... only to discover that it was his own family business?
Unexpectedly, Zhuang Yan nodded and gave a very serious answer: "It's your arrogance."
"...Arrogance?"
"That's right. It is the 'arrogance' of absolute self-belief, the 'obsession' that absolutely refuses to be altered by others, the 'bottom line' from which you absolutely will not retreat. In Buddhist terms, it's 'ego-attachnt'... This is what we call [aptitude]."
The old man spoke with solemn gravity. "You must rember these words. You must keep this in mind—never forget it! Us telling you this right now is already slightly bending the rules. But I truly cherish talent... Whether it's you or little Shen, you both possess extraordinary aptitude, and I really cannot bear to see your rough edges smoothed out..."
"We are going to change this era," Shen Yiqi chid in softly. "And to do so, we might have to fight against the entire world."
As they spoke, they finally stepped into the elevator.
Once inside, the two n stopped talking.
They simply maintained their silence.
The elevator ascended.
The ascent felt unusually long... but to Ming Po, it was as if a chunk of his consciousness had simply been deleted.
It felt just like blacking out after drinking too much or wiping out while skiing.
When he woke up again, the elevator had already reached its destination.
It was a lounge.
People were coming and going outside, but this area was cordoned off by glass doors.
There was only a single seat. In front of it sat a computer monitor lacking a keyboard and mouse, a steaming cup of hot tea, and a massage chair.
"Rest here for a mont; soone will be right with you."
After nodding at Ming Po, the two n hurried away.
Ming Po sat in the massage chair, feeling sowhat bored, but didn't turn it on.
Suddenly, a line of text popped up on the computer monitor in front of him.
"Drink the tea and start the massage chair."
...No way, right?
Ming Po suddenly understood.
All they had to do was have a Deceiver of the World who didn't know him routinely travel back to a certain point in ti, press a button, and send this exact sentence... and they could 'kill' him.
This was a ti traveler from further ahead than his current self.
Perhaps he was from January 2nd, or maybe just an hour in the future.
He and a Ming Po from two months in the future had returned to the sa point in ti, pressed a pre-prepared button, and sent this ssage. And this person didn't know Ming Po at all; he might not even know there was soone inside this room. To him, this was rely a 'job' that had to be done.
So... this was how they avoided causality?
Ming Po offered a helpless smile.
It was surprisingly simple. Much simpler than Ming Po had imagined.
Ming Po drank the tea and started the massage chair.
This high-end massage chair possessed a rather unique heating function.
Ming Po felt as if he were lying in a hot spring, his consciousness gradually lting away.
User Comments
0 comments from readers