Chapter 139: My Very Life Belongs to You!

Ji Cheng had only paused in thought within his mind for a mere moment.

"I have another important task for you," he said, without proposing any conditions for exchange.

Clearly, equivalent exchange was neither a long-term nor a rational scheme. If every interaction felt like a business transaction, it would only diminish his own aura of majesty.

"Please command, Master. Ruyue will certainly accomplish it."

Ji Ruyue seemed entirely unaware of Ji Cheng testing her bottom line, her demeanor both respectful and excited.

Opposite her, Nie Yuanlong and Niu Xin, though seemingly as still as mountains, had actually pricked up their ears in secret, listening with intense concentration.

"The experimental subjects must be selected from low-tier ability users, and their bodies must not have undergone any mechanical augmentations, so as to guarantee the stability of their personality anchors. Furthermore, do not deploy too many subjects at once."

Ji Ruyue listened intently. Though she did not quite understand, she memorized every single word and repeated it like reciting a script.

"Once the research and development of data ascension enters the human experimentation stage, submit the above suggestions to the Royal Academy of Sciences. Can you do that?" Ji Cheng asked in a deep voice.

"I can! Ever since my coming-of-age ceremony, those people at the Royal Academy of Sciences have been coming to me every day with various progress reports asking for advice."

Ji Ruyue experienced a sudden flash of insight, figuring that Ji Cheng must have known this and intentionally helped her out of her predicament.

"Thank you, Master. Ruyue feels deeply ashamed."

He called it a task, but in reality, he was entirely looking out for me.

The Master always helps me, favors me, and bestows grace upon me in so many ways... I truly do not know how I could ever repay the Master!

***

Once the conversation between Ji Ruyue and Ji Cheng came to a temporary pause, that mid-level military officer named Nie Yuanlong could no longer sit still.

The contents revealed during the just-concluded conversation made him feel a chill creeping down his spine.

The Royal Academy of Sciences... A coming-of-age ceremony... Academic hypotheses...

Could this person possibly be royalty?

Good heavens, this seemed to be a terrifying organization pulling the strings of the entire empire from the shadows!

He tentatively asked Ji Ruyue:

"This... Your Excellency, may I ask if our identities need to be kept confidential from one another in this place?"

"You actually thought the Master wouldn't know who you are?"

Ji Ruyue changed her expression as fast as turning the page of a book, making it impossible to associate her with the spoiled, doting puppy attitude she had shown toward Ji Cheng just moments ago.

She cast a cold glance at Nie Yuanlong, exuding the innate arrogance of imperial royalty. "As for me, I have no interest in knowing who you are."

"Very well..." Nie Yuanlong glanced sideways at Niu Xin, who was standing beside him looking equally nervous and whose facial features were blurred.

"Then what should we do?" he asked again.

"Sit down first," Ji Cheng said, gesturing toward his left side.

Once the two newcomers had taken their seats opposite Ji Ruyue, Ji Cheng spoke at a very deliberate pace, articulating every single word with care:

"First of all, I am not a deity."

"What is truly worthy of worship and belief is knowledge, sacred knowledge."

He continuously recalled the doctrines of the Mechanicus and calmly articulated them one by one.

***

Within the grand and desolate council chamber, Ji Cheng suddenly raised his voice.

"Therefore—"

"I have a grand plan, and this plan requires a great deal of time, requiring many people to work together. In the process of its completion, there may be many detours, and we might even be forced to resort to certain means. Of course, the starting point and the ultimate outcome are noble."

Noble? Noble for whom? For the poor, for the rich, for all life, or for the entire universe? Nie Yuanlong tasted a hint of meaning from Ji Cheng's words.

It seemed that big figures always liked to speak in such ambiguous ways.

Niu Xin, meanwhile, narrowed his eyes, his thoughts spinning: What does nobility or lack thereof have to do with me? I only care about getting rich. If you can make me rich, I'll call you father.

Noticing the expressions of the individuals present, Ji Cheng pointed toward the remaining empty seats: "You, and several others who will join in the future, will play crucial roles in this process."

He deeply understood the principle of the carrot and the stick; blind high-pressure tactics often yielded counterproductive results, and sometimes a bit of praise and encouragement could achieve marvelous effects.

Sure enough, Ji Cheng's words left them somewhat excited.

"Really? I thought I'd never make anything of myself in this lifetime," Niu Xin blurted out.

"Are you doubting the Master?" Ji Ruyue retorted with a grim tone.

"No, no, it's a misunderstanding." Niu Xin shrank his neck; the other's tone made him dare not be too presumptuous.

Ji Cheng said slowly, "It is true."

"Then may I ask why we were chosen among all others?" Nie Yuanlong posed a fatal question.

*Uh, because when I opened the black spot portal, you guys were the first ones to connect.*

Such an explanation was obviously unreliable... Ji Cheng felt a slight itch on his head, but he quickly thought of a solution.

"Because I saw the fire burning within your hearts."

Ji Cheng spoke with an unfathomable and profound tone, delivering a line that could be interpreted in any way imaginable.

"..."

Niu Xin leaned back against his chair; saying that was essentially saying nothing at all.

Nie Yuanlong, however, clenched his fists tightly.

He hailed from a military family, with multiple generations of fathers and ancestors serving in the armed forces, possessing aristocratic status from the very day he was born.

Yet deep down inside, he was not satisfied with this.

Nie Yuanlong held a grand ambition: to be enfeoffed as a marquis!

And now he suspected that the figure upon the throne might have thoroughly perceived his inner thoughts.

"However, I do not wish for your goal to merely be becoming a marquis," Ji Cheng suddenly looked directly at Nie Yuanlong.

What? He actually knew!

Nie Yuanlong excitedly pinched his own thigh, though his illusory body failed to provide a more direct tactile sensation.

Niu Xin glanced at Nie Yuanlong. Although facial expressions were obscured, the continuous trembling and the act of pinching his thigh both revealed the lethal impact of those words.

"You ought to become one of the Kings, ruling over the Shuofang Province," Ji Cheng added.

Looking at Nie Yuanlong's unique three-handed design and recalling that he hailed from the Shuofang Province, Ji Cheng could not help himself from painting a massive, grandiose picture for him.

*Shuo* simply meant north.

In the original plotline, the Mechanicus governed three stellar alliances, among which the North Sea Alliance was located precisely in the present-day Shuofang Province.

And the original leader of the North Sea Alliance was known in the game by the title 'Six-Clawed Octopus', possessing six mechanical arms.

*I'll find an opportunity to install a few more mechanical arms on him later and knock off that Six-Clawed Octopus,* Ji Cheng thought with a rather mischievous sense of humor.

Whoosh.

Nie Yuanlong shifted his seat slightly backward and bowed respectfully to Ji Cheng in a deep salute.

"If you can truly grant me the title of Marquis... or even King, my life is yours!"

Ji Cheng had accurately voiced Nie Yuanlong's greatest inner desire, causing his level of trust in Ji Cheng to skyrocket by several tiers.

Following this, the group exchanged a few brief words, and Ji Cheng kicked Nie Yuanlong and Niu Xin offline.

Trust and loyalty were cultivated gradually; he was not in too much of a rush, nor did he wish to lavish benefits upon them at the very first contact lest they develop spoiled expectations.

"Is there a reason the Master kept me behind alone?"

Ji Ruyue asked with a mix of excitement and nervousness, sensing that she had been given exceptional attention.

This instantly dispelled the sense of crisis she had felt earlier due to the arrival of new members.

"You can probably guess that my enemies are formidable—formidable far beyond ordinary comprehension."

Ji Cheng spoke casually and untruthfully.

An imaginary external enemy helped foster internal solidarity and reduced mutual suspicion.

"Yes, I understand! I am willing to do my utmost to help you!"

"Very good," Ji Cheng said with satisfaction.

"Then, just as before, help me investigate all the data regarding this genetic progenitor."

He recited the code name of Luo Rao's 'Phoenix' progenitor.