World in Flux

The difference between geniuses and ordinary people was this: when faced with difficulties, ordinary people thought they were impossible to overcome, so they stopped in their tracks.

Geniuses overcame those difficulties, which was why they got so far ahead of everyone else.

Qin Yunhai's mind was racing.

"There's a very real problem, Weiwei. Believe me, none of the major powers want to see a lone wolf rise. Once your idea takes shape, all the conglomerates might treat you as an enemy and do everything they can to suppress you. Even countries might get involved."

When all was said and done, a country was simply the most powerful conglomerate.

And no individual could possibly stand against a country.

Wu Wei smiled and calmly said four words: "The world has changed."

Qin Yunhai's eyes lit up at once.

Although he didn't understand the world as deeply as Wu Wei did, he still knew a great deal about it.

"They couldn't hold back anymore?"

"They never could. The Federation just can't keep a lid on it anymore."

"Over the past two years, there have been more than a hundred paranormal incidents of all sizes across the Federation, an average of one every week, affecting millions of people. In some novels, the government can always suppress these things and keep ordinary people in the dark. But we both know the truth: they can't keep it hidden."

Qin Yunhai nodded.

The country's power was certainly formidable, especially since the Federation was an alliance of six countries. Its strength was beyond question.

But millions had been affected, and hundreds of thousands had even died. Without a world war to blame, there was no way to explain it to their families.

Even if your side had powerful hypnotists or people who could alter memories, it still couldn't be done.

Because a million people had social ties to tens of millions more.

No one with special abilities could be powerful enough to pull that off.

And that wasn't even mentioning the fact that the million people who had died all had jobs, some of them critical ones.

There was no way to keep it hidden, and there was no way to make up for the losses.

You could reach these conclusions through simple logic.

"Under pressure from the Empire, the six countries formed the Federation. Instead of thinking about defending against foreign enemies, they foolishly decided to deal with the Empire and Night Emperor Academy first. Then came the biggest war the Dark World had ever seen. The Five Emperors appeared, shaking the world. The Federation was utterly defeated. Half of their upper-tier experts were killed outright, and only one Heaven-tier expert survived. Naturally, they couldn't hold back those monsters anymore."

Wu Wei wore a mocking smile.

Qin Yunhai glanced at him with some concern.

He knew about this.

Two years ago, the six countries had suddenly announced that they were forming an alliance, creating two global superpowers: the Empire and the Federation.

Then, starting in the Dark World, the six countries launched a campaign against Qin, throwing everyone into a panic.

At the critical moment, the Five Emperors stepped forward.

On the East Sea Coast, beneath a blood-red sunset, the Federation's experts' blood dyed the entire sea red over the course of a day and a night.

The Five Emperors were at the height of their power.

But to those in the know, that civil war had actually left both sides badly hurt.

The heart of the Five Emperors, the figure everyone acknowledged as their guiding spirit—God Lin—had been targeted and assassinated in that battle by nearly every Heaven-tier expert in the Federation.

So afterward, all the Empire's upper-tier experts lost their reason and threw all talk of the greater good aside.

Of the Federation's Heaven-tier experts, only one survived—the one who hadn't taken part in the assassination of God Lin. All the others were killed.

Half of the Federation's upper-tier experts were slaughtered.

The Federation's Dark World was nearly crippled beyond recovery.

Even the Federation's leader was killed when Madman Gu stormed into his home and took his head with a single stroke.

Officially, the leader had died suddenly of a heart attack.

In reality, it was because he had signed that assassination order.

Afterward, the Federation didn't dare say a word. It had been unusually quiet for the past two years, too.

But things were far from peaceful within its borders.

The experts who had been strong enough to suppress those monsters had all died beneath the Empire's experts' fury.

"Within the next week, the Federation will reveal the truth to the public, redirect their anger, and shift the blame onto Great Qin."

Qin Yunhai frowned.

"What good will that do? As long as Night Emperor Academy and the Great Qin army are still here, our borders will be safe. And what about the people in those six countries? They aren't stupid. Don't they want to immigrate to Great Qin?"

"Yunhai, you always underestimate the shamelessness of Federation politicians, and you underestimate those demons' intelligence, too. They'd rather make peace with foreign powers than with their own people. The Federation may refuse to bow to the Empire, but that doesn't mean it won't submit to those demons."

Qin Yunhai stiffened.

"Holy shit, it can't be that bad, can it?"

"Why not? If they can gain enough, what's wrong with making a deal with demons? And those monsters have never been able to do much against the Empire. Why wouldn't they want to use the Federation as a puppet? Demons aren't stupid. They'll offer temptations—enough to make those politicians and the people of the six countries yearn for what they can get. Great Qin is going to face an enemy more powerful than any in its history."

Wu Wei paused, and his expression grew complicated. "As bad as it is to say, the world is going to become extremely dangerous. Ordinary people will have a very hard time. But for the truly powerful, it'll be a far more exciting world. Knowledge and force will be valued more highly than ever before."

Qin Yunhai understood at once.

The monsters would surely help the Federation's experts grow stronger, so they could fight the experts of Great Qin.

More and more people would awaken, and superheroes would inevitably appear before the public. Urban society might well become a playground for monsters.

In that kind of world, those capable of protecting ordinary people would be gods.

They would be worshipped by all.

Those capable of doing that would be the military, the police, the awakened—and scientists.

"Without God Lin, there would be no Five Emperors. Night Emperor Academy has already proved that scientific research can help the awakened advance, and can even transform ordinary people into the awakened." Qin Yunhai took a deep breath, forcing down his excitement.

"In the future, we may well control the key to human evolution."

Genetic modification, gene recombination, gene splitting... The secrets of longevity, even immortality, might well lie among them.

And the secrets of special abilities almost certainly did.

Qin Yunhai began to realize that Wu Wei's plan was highly feasible.

The biggest obstacle was gone.

"The most advanced knowledge has always been the greatest power. And those who master that knowledge have always been the most powerful people, too. Yunhai, if we break through the bottleneck and raise human life expectancy to a whole new level—even if we achieve longevity or immortality—then it's only natural that a single expert could be worth as much as, or even more than, a company with a century of history."

"I don't know if I can do it, but I really want to try." Qin Yunhai's heart surged with excitement.

Wu Wei reached out with a light laugh. "Let's do it together."

"Together."

Their hands clasped tightly.

As though they had taken hold of the whole world.