You Were the One Who Played Me First

On the viewing deck of the ship, Lin Ze and East Sea King Ji Kan sat facing each other over a game of chess.

Ji Qingyan sat upright to one side, quietly watching.

Though Lin Ze was only a beginner who barely understood the rules, he had actually managed to match Ji Kan move for move.

It was hard to say whether Ji Kan was just bad at chess but loved playing, or whether he simply knew how to handle people.

Ji Kan set down a black stone and narrowly won the game. Then, as if remembering something, he smiled at Lin Ze. "We've been so caught up in enjoying ourselves that I nearly forgot the real reason I invited Zi Yi here. Some time ago, Zi Yi swept through the bandits of the Distant Moon Mountain Range. By rights, the court should reward him."

"On behalf of the court, I hereby grant you one manual of the Stars Swordplay, a peerless martial art, and one scroll containing the formula for the Heaven Essence Qi Sea Pill, a secret medicine. I hope you'll practice diligently after receiving them, and bring us more good news in your future campaigns to suppress bandits and drive out criminals."

As he spoke, Ji Qingyan brought out a brocade box and opened it. Two jade books lying inside appeared before Lin Ze.

The jade books were densely engraved with tiny characters.

Lin Ze glanced at them and could tell they contained a profound martial art and a medicinal formula.

Writing a martial art and medicinal formula on jade books took a long time, from selecting the material to carving the text. This proved they had not been hastily altered, ensuring their authenticity.

At that moment, Ji Kan explained:

"The Stars Swordplay was created many years ago by a Peerless Expert named Stars Celestial, who drew inspiration from the constellations. It aligns the constellations with the body's acupoints. Not only is it a powerful sword art for fighting enemies, it also has remarkable effects on cultivating the acupoints throughout the body and can greatly increase one's maximum inner strength."

"As for the Heaven Essence Qi Sea Pill, it's a secret medicine that aids cultivation. Its medicinal power can directly increase one's Inner Breath, and it can also greatly strengthen the functions of the internal organs, improve the body's ability to digest food, and speed up the recovery of one's vital energy and blood. It can greatly increase the speed of internal cultivation."

Peerless martial arts ranked just below peerless divine arts.

Cultivating a peerless martial art to the peak could give one a chance to become a Peerless Expert. This showed just how precious such a martial art was. Add to that a secret medicine that could help a martial artist cultivate, and the two together were all the more valuable.

Lin Ze didn't stand on ceremony. He took the brocade box and bowed in thanks. "Thank you for this generous gift, Your Highness."

Though Ji Kan had offered him such a valuable gift to win him over, Lin Ze didn't feel he owed him anything.

He had rid the people of harm and made outstanding contributions to the security of Great Zhou. He had also opened coal mines, creating many jobs and generating tax revenue to help the court develop.

He deserved this reward.

Seeing that the moment was right, Ji Kan pressed his advantage. "Since Zi Yi is committed to serving the country, why not join the court while you're still young and serve His Majesty?"

Lin Ze smiled. "I'm currently reviewing my books and preparing to take the Imperial Examination next year."

Ji Kan looked deeply at Lin Ze, unsure whether he was playing dumb or genuinely didn't understand.

He decided to get straight to the point.

"Foreign tribes beyond the border raid our passes and pillage our people year after year, causing many casualties and heavy losses of property. I've heard that Zi Yi possesses a unique skill for making firearms. His Majesty wishes to establish a Firearms Army to sweep away the foreign tribes. Since Zi Yi has the passion to serve the country and drive out its enemies, why not present the court with the complete firearms manufacturing technique? What do you think?"

At his side, Sixth Princess Ji Qingyan chimed in, "Zi Yi, if you offer the complete firearms technique, you'll deserve the greatest credit when our army sweeps away the foreign tribes. You could be made a marquis or even a duke. And by then..."

As she spoke, a hint of shyness appeared at just the right moment on Ji Qingyan's cool, beautiful face, inviting all manner of speculation.

The allure of a man of the Sixth Princess's exalted status was beyond compare.

After they finished speaking, both watched Lin Ze, waiting for his answer.

Given the fondness Lin Ze had shown Ji Qingyan yesterday and today, their words should have been highly persuasive.

"Not enough."

The delight on Lin Ze's face at receiving the peerless martial art faded, replaced by calm.

Even when facing a beauty like Ji Qingyan, his emotions remained steady, without the slightest ripple.

"What isn't enough?"

Ji Kan asked instinctively. Lin Ze lifted the brocade box in his hand. "The price you're offering still isn't enough for the complete firearms manufacturing technique."

"The firearms technique is my unique skill. It was forged by generations of brilliant minds, who devoted centuries of effort to it. It can't be compared to a single peerless martial art and a scroll of secret medicine."

"You'll have to pay more!"

Lin Ze wasn't making things up.

Gun Technology had gradually taken shape in the Main World through the accumulated improvements of countless scholars over a long period. It involved knowledge from many fields, including physics, chemistry, machinery, and energy. It represented the power of industry.

Yesterday, Lin Ze had thought selling the firearms manufacturing technique was no big deal.

He could use the opportunity to build a good relationship with the Great Zhou Imperial Family and make it easier to operate in Great Zhou. But last night, after returning to the Main World and calling Zhang Hai to learn the details of the firearms manufacturing process, his thinking had completely changed.

For Great Zhou to fully master Gun Technology, it would first need the necessary knowledge: iron smelting, machine tools, assembly lines, electricity.

A country built on agriculture could use these things to transform itself into an industrial nation.

Martial arts and secret medicines were precious, but compared with an industrial system, their value was far lower.

After all, Ji Kan wasn't asking for one or two guns. He wanted the complete method for producing firearms.

That meant bringing an industrial society's far more advanced productivity to an agrarian society, like a dimensional blow. No small sum of money could settle it.

Ji Qingyan looked at Lin Ze, who was utterly calm and unmoved by her beauty. Only now did she realize that this young man had never once lost his composure because of her looks. He had said exactly what he wanted to say—and what he was willing to say.

Ji Kan's expression didn't change. As a prince, he had grown up surrounded by intrigue.

It was only natural for a promising young man to have some cunning and calculation. Surely he hadn't really expected him to be a fool who lost his head at the sight of a beautiful woman.

If he wanted more money, that meant there was room to negotiate.

That was still better than treating the firearms technique as something that couldn't be bought. Otherwise, obtaining it would be a hassle.

"His Majesty has long looked forward to acquiring the firearms technique and is determined to obtain it. What would it take for Zi Yi to agree to present the complete firearms technique to the court? Please, tell us."

Ji Kan spoke and gestured for him to continue.

"Ten trillion taels of silver, or gold and jade of equivalent value. I can give you the complete firearms manufacturing technology."

Lin Ze said.

"Ten... trillion taels of silver?"

Ji Kan and Ji Qingyan both repeated his words without thinking.

The entire Great Zhou Dynasty brought in just over a hundred million taels in a year. It would take the dynasty ten thousand years to save up ten trillion taels of silver without spending a penny.

At that moment, both Ji Kan and Ji Qingyan looked at Lin Ze's calm, carefree expression and felt their fists clench. They wanted to punch him in the face.

"Zi Yi, are you joking?"

Ji Kan asked with a strained laugh.

"I'm not joking. If you want to buy a few firearms, that's fine. I can sell you some for a few hundred taels of silver each. But if you want the complete firearms manufacturing process, that's the price."

"Ten trillion taels of silver. Not a tael less."

Lin Ze spoke seriously.

Firearms manufacturing was not just a matter of making a gun. It represented an entire industrial system.

With this industrial system, Ji Kan could establish an industrial power of his own and reach roughly the level of the Main World after its Second Industrial Revolution. His productivity and military strength would increase exponentially, and his ability to control this Other World would reach an unimaginable level.

That kind of productivity represented dominion over an entire world. If that happened, would Lin Ze still dare to come to this Other World to make money?

If so, he might as well make as much as he could before he ran for it.

He was harvesting the leeks, roots and all.

Ten trillion taels of silver was worth roughly two hundred quadrillion in the Main World. Lin Ze estimated that he could obtain that much by spending many years stripping the world of its resources.

It would be a shame to give up this world, but if Ji Kan really could produce wealth worth ten trillion taels, Lin Ze wouldn't mind choosing to live in another world instead.

With that enormous starting capital, he could develop much faster.

Clearly, Ji Kan couldn't produce that much money.

Forget him—even selling the entire Great Zhou Dynasty wouldn't raise enough. The total wealth of an agrarian society was utterly insignificant compared with that of an industrial society.

So Ji Kan felt that Lin Ze was playing him, and attacked outright.

Ji Kan, now a Super-Class Expert, followed his instincts and swung his fist at Lin Ze's face from across the table.

He didn't intend to kill him, but he definitely wanted to teach him the price of talking nonsense.

They were barely a meter apart. In almost an instant, Ji Kan's fist was just three inches from Lin Ze's face. The next moment, it would have smashed into him.

But those three inches seemed like an uncrossable abyss. Ji Kan simply couldn't bring himself to strike.

Because the moment he moved, a silver-white handgun had already aimed at Ji Kan's forehead.

At the same time, another silver-white handgun was aimed at Ji Qingyan's forehead. Seeing Lin Ze act, she had been about to rush to her brother's aid.

Neither of them had ever seen a handgun and they didn't know how powerful one was, but they could clearly sense the cold killing intent and confidence in Lin Ze's eyes.

Though his internal cultivation was weak, not even reaching the True Qi stage, he was confident he could kill them both before their attacks landed. The thousands of bandits who had died at Lin Ze's hands in the Distant Moon Mountain Range were the best proof of his combat power.

That crystal-clear instinct, unique to martial artists, kept Ji Kan and Ji Qingyan from moving as they prepared to teach Lin Ze a lesson.

They knew that if they insisted on attacking Lin Ze, he would strike first.

"Your instincts are right. Under normal conditions, the firearms in my hands can punch through steel plates an inch thick."

"What's more, I specifically replaced the ammunition with extra-powerful rounds loaded with more gunpowder, making them even stronger. Even if your protective True Qi is powerful enough to withstand one bullet fired at two hundred and sixty zhang per second, could it withstand the fifth one that followed?"

"Besides, that's just one of the methods at my disposal."

The gust from Ji Kan's punch stirred Lin Ze's hair.

Looking at the two of them frozen in place, he calmly put away his firearms and spoke.

Ji Kan and Ji Qingyan's martial arts were indeed several major realms above his, but Lin Ze didn't need the strength to fight them head-on. He only needed to draw his guns.

His Second-Rate Peak Inner Breath and strengthened physique, combined with the two enhancements to his mental and reaction speed from activating his Personal Space, gave Lin Ze enough time to draw his gun from the Personal Space.

"Thunderbolt Young Master truly lives up to his reputation."

Ji Kan withdrew his hand and relaxed his tense body. Ji Qingyan did the same.

There had been only Lin Ze and the Ji siblings on the viewing deck, but now, somehow, an old eunuch in a court attendant's uniform had appeared.

As expected, he was probably a Peerless Expert, a bodyguard for the Ji siblings.

Lin Ze glanced at the old eunuch. As his awareness spread around him to stay on guard, he focused his mind on the molten Tungsten Water he had prepared some time ago, ready to use the nearly six-thousand-degree liquid metal to hold the opponent off before opening a door and escaping.

"All right, the prince and I were just sparring, Brother Lin. Stand down."

A stiff smile appeared on Ji Kan's face as he waved the old eunuch away.

Ji Qingyan nodded as well, and only then did the old eunuch withdraw.

The three of them fell silent for a moment. The tense, hostile atmosphere eased, and Ji Kan and Lin Ze sat down facing each other again.

"Brother Lin, why make an impossible demand? If you have no intention of presenting the firearms manufacturing process, you could have simply refused. Why toy with me like this?"

"Do you think the blades and swords in the hands of Great Zhou's Armored Soldiers are dull? With a single order, I could make all the businesses under your command vanish into thin air. There'd be nowhere in this world for you to hide."

Ji Kan was no longer polite. He spoke coldly, threatening Lin Ze.

He was referring to Lin Ze's demand: ten trillion taels of silver for the complete firearms manufacturing process.

In other words, if they couldn't reach an agreement, he would send his army to flatten Lin Ze's businesses and dispatch experts to hunt him down.

"You're the one who played me first."

Lin Ze raised a hand and nudged the brocade box on the table, the one containing the martial art and medicinal formula.

They wanted to trade a pittance for the chance to transform an agrarian nation into an industrial one. They were dreaming.

It was like Ji Kan offering Lin Ze one coin for a gold mine. Lin Ze had nearly fallen for it, so it was no wonder he felt a little angry.

How much blood and sweat had Qixia Country shed to transform itself from an agrarian nation into an industrial one?

It had taken years of effort from the entire country.

After a pause, Lin Ze continued, "Believe me, if you won't let me do business in peace, the greater loss won't be mine. It'll be yours."

"All my businesses together are worth only a few hundred thousand taels. Losing them all would hardly matter to me. But if our relationship turns hostile, I might be able to cause you a hundred or even a thousand times that much damage."

"You can send Peerless Experts, Heavenly Experts, or even stronger beings to hunt me down. Let's see whether you can stop me from retaliating."