This World Wasn't Romantic

My distrust of you was not the problem at all.

Your distrust of me was where the problem lay.

On the way back to the Juxia, Lian Feng kept recalling those two words Wang Ji had said, along with his youthful face and calm expression.

She knew they had indeed taken too much for granted.

Because of his youth, because of the "naivety" of his ambitions, because of how he had seemed to let loose recently, they had forgotten what kind of mind it took for a boy forced to become independent at nine years old to grow into what he was now.

He might have been lonely, suspicious, or pitiable, but he was unquestionably mature.

More mature than almost every child in the Super Soldier Company, even though he was the youngest among them.

He must have known exactly what he was doing at all times. Ability and desire could not possibly have overwhelmed his heart so quickly.

He clearly knew how much suspicion he could reveal, what kind of response it would earn him, and what information he could obtain from that response.

Moreover, he had grown even faster than Lian Feng had expected.

He truly seemed to understand much of the knowledge he should not have grasped so quickly, and he took the significance of people like them extremely seriously.

He understood that his Super Gene had a different origin from everyone else's, and he understood the potential risk of hidden genetic permissions—a Super Gene of unknown origin might well have a backdoor left by the god who created it, granting that being the authority to control the Super Soldier's genetic system at any time.

It was hard to say whether Wang Ji's existence might expose crucial information about the Super Soldier Company, or whether he might be controlled and turn against them at a critical moment.

Wang Ji's conduct made it seem as though he truly understood all this.

That also reminded Lian Feng of the information sent over by the Super God Academy: he borrowed a vast number of books every day. Although she had heard that he seemed to skim through them at a glance, the bearing he had displayed now made Lian Feng wonder—perhaps he had not merely been browsing.

If he did not genuinely understand a great deal, his conversation with her could not have been so smoothly matched, with every exchange concealing a subtle contest.

When it came to specialized knowledge, not understanding meant not understanding.

The Super God Academy's library might not contain any advanced knowledge or technology, but it certainly had every kind of introductory knowledge and most common knowledge.

He also knew they were concerned about him and wanted to test him, and he understood that genuine risks might be involved.

Though they believed they had nothing to hide, only ghosts could trust others completely.

Like that native god, who had gone through thousands of years and who knew how many events before developing even a measure of trust in them.

Yet the proper distance still had to be maintained. Even General Du Kao deliberately kept his distance from that being.

What could they demand of a child? If he had been ignorant and unaware, there might still have been some chance of eliminating that risk.

Indeed, when all was said and done, even if Wang Ji suspected them, he posed no risk to them as long as their consciences were clear.

But their suspicion of him had brought him a risk concerning his fundamental safety... and a relationship of trust that might have remained intact if he did not understand, but might immediately grow distant once he did.

Yet he had remained calm throughout, without any particularly emotional reaction.

As for the hidden risk... it was not actually all that great.

"I'm arranging a Gene Serum for you to advance to the Second Generation. If you've learned enough, you should understand the concept of First Generation and Second Generation Super Soldiers. Your physical strength is not high, and that has always worried me."

She could not help recalling her final words before they parted, nor could she help recalling his reply:

"There's no need for that. Not now... and not in the future."

Wang Ji had not forcibly taken a dose of Super Serum. Although it also counted as a type of Super Gene, in the end, he had not used it.

It was incompatible.

According to the information he had scanned at the end, not only were those serum reserves extremely low in quality, they were also incompatible with the God River Super Gene system.

If he used them, there would be trouble to deal with later.

After considering everything, he chose not to take them.

He chose another path.

The night was already past its midpoint.

A gentle night breeze blew through the campus, making the leaves rustle.

It brought a trace of coolness to the stifling heat. In the first room of the row of dormitories, the light was still on.

Before the computer desk, Wang Ji's fingers flew across the keyboard. His eyes occasionally flashed with Golden Light as streams of code and images surged through his mind.

Several computers sat on the desk. One displayed images, while another scrolled line after line of code.

The world of data could sometimes be perilous, a clash between evenly matched opponents. Yet at other times, the world was vast enough to go anywhere.

If one side completely crushed the other in both hardware and technology—even across generations, to the point that it could neither be blocked nor detected—then the weaker side's home was nothing more than the other side's backyard, free to be plundered at will.

There was no morality in victory or defeat in the world of data.

Of course, if someone followed the network cable over and beat you up, you had only yourself to blame.

Wang Ji had morals. It was just that those belonged to his original era, and they had kept him from doing much bad.

But now, he could no longer restrain himself with his old morality, because every resource on this planet already had an owner's name on it, while he had only seventy thousand yuan or so in his bank account.

When he had wanted to stir up trouble, he had mentally prepared himself, instinctively considering whether it was immoral. Later, he considered invading Country A, treating all its departments as though they were nothing, and taking its resources—was that moral?

Then he realized that his moral education had probably made him stupid.

This world had always been one where the strong preyed on the weak and the fittest survived. Then the strong made the rules and redefined morality.

This was an era in which order was about to shatter. He would still uphold the bottom line in his heart, but these things did not fall within that bottom line now.

Otherwise, he could only sit around clutching his seventy thousand yuan and doing nothing.

"Mine, mine, it's all mine~"

Wang Ji muttered as he gathered every piece of information and technology he could obtain, along with every resource he could quietly allocate.

Yet he could not stop sighing inwardly.

The more he understood this world, this universe, the more he felt that this world was not romantic.

Time could shatter every talent. Everything seemed to have been planned long ago, and it left people even more helpless than the order of the Earth era.

Civilizations, gods, technology, tens of thousands of years, Super Genes.

He seemed to foresee a mottled, shattered future, unpredictable upheavals, and savage, brutal wars that would bring grief and disaster to his compatriots in his homeland.

This world was not romantic at all. Mortals with no possibility of accessing Super Genes did not have even the slightest chance to struggle against fate. Their destinies had long been decided.

At least in the original world, people could still take civil service exams and climb upward.

Now, backward civilizations could only endure beatings because their civilizations were young. Mortals could only watch Super Soldiers with envy, and could only envy them helplessly.

"Good thing I have a system. Looks like this world is still fair." Wang Ji clicked his tongue and continued enjoying the life of a night owl.

Otherwise, no matter how exceptionally talented he was, no matter how hard he worked until he coughed blood, it would not compare to even a trace of fate's favor. He would not be able to see the slightest hope.

Even further up the ladder, those whose Super Gene potential was weak already had their fates decided.

"Good thing my system seems strong enough. Looks like this world is still fair."

Actually...

He knew this world had never been fair. He did not want to secretly delight in it, because that would make him feel shallow.

He only knew that no matter what happened today, whatever might happen tomorrow would come from what they did today, and what they would suffer themselves.

Himself, the people he loved, and the people he protected.

The world had changed. He had to exhaust every possibility and prepare for what lay ahead.