The Bad People and the Net

Yan Lingji raised her peach-blossom eyes slightly and looked at Tide Enchantress.

"Little sister, I'm leaving the Net in your hands."

Tide Enchantress raised an eyebrow. "Are you really comfortable handing such a huge undertaking to me, big sister?"

"You're good at this," Yan Lingji said bluntly. "Intelligence, infiltration, reading people—you were one of Nightfall's Four Fiendish Generals. Surely you can handle something this simple."

A smile curled at the corner of Tide Enchantress's lips.

She was good at it.

Back in Nightfall, she had turned Korea upside down with her silver tongue and quick wits.

Now she was in a different world, serving a different master, but her skills were the same.

What was more, her power had grown even stronger. Completing this task would be easier than ever.

"Choose three thousand people from the disarmed noble private troops." Yan Lingji held up three fingers. "I've already planted mental suggestions in them, so their loyalty won't be a problem. You can decide how to train and deploy them."

"Use an eight-rank hierarchy: Heaven, Kill, Earth, Death, Fiend, Charm, Wraith, and Specter." Yan Lingji paused.

"Leave Heaven and Kill vacant for now. We can fill them when we find people worthy of the ranks. Use spiders as the symbol. Whether it's tattoos or tokens is up to you."

A gleam flashed in Tide Enchantress's eyes.

Spiders wove webs to trap their prey and lurked in wait to kill. It was fitting.

Yan Lingji turned to Xiaomeng, who stood nearby. "Big sister, besides the Net, I want to establish another organization—the Bad People."

This Bad People organization was naturally another oversight system among the vast amount of information the original owner had poured into her.

Xiaomeng set down her teacup and looked over with cool eyes.

"The Bad People will be on the same level as the Net, keeping each other in check," Yan Lingji said. "The Net will operate outside the empire, infiltrating enemy states, assassinating important figures, and gathering intelligence.

"The Bad People will operate within the empire, monitoring officials, purging traitors, and protecting the foundations of the empire.

"Neither will answer to the other. Both will be accountable only to me."

"Didn't you say before that you were only creating the Net?"

"So they only know about the Net, not the Bad People. With another sword hanging over their heads, they won't dare misbehave." Yan Lingji smiled brightly.

Xiaomeng fell silent for a moment, then gave a slight nod. "You want me to lead the Bad People?"

"You're cool-headed and impartial, and you don't show favoritism. You're perfect for the position."

Yan Lingji smiled. "We'll also choose three thousand people from the noble private troops.

"Use a twelve-rank hierarchy: Grand Bad Commander, Bad Commander, Ministers, Generals, Colonels, Commandants, Officers, and Soldiers,

"plus the Thirty-Six Heavenly Dipper and Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends as the core covert operatives.

"Use masks as the symbol, half black and half white."

"Besides, power must not be concentrated in one hand.

"The Net is a blade, and the Bad People are a shield. The blade and shield work together, but they also keep each other in check."

"We are our master's blades, but we can't hold on to this empire forever. As our master nurtures us, we'll climb to even greater heights, and may even leave this world."

"If we leave the empire, concentrating oversight in one person's hands will inevitably cause problems."

Xiaomeng thought for a moment, then said calmly, "That will work."

She accepted the responsibility not for the power, but because she knew Yan Lingji was right.

Any organization without checks and balances would eventually spiral out of control.

The Daoists valued balance: yin and yang gave rise to each other, and all things followed the same principle.

Yan Lingji nodded in satisfaction, her nine fox tails swaying gently behind her.

"Build the Net and the Bad People within three days.

"I want to see that no secret in Heaven Dou City can hide from my eyes."

At that, Tide Enchantress's smile deepened.

It meant that the power in her hands would stand above every ordinary institution in the empire.

She bowed. "Rest assured, big sister. The Net will be every enemy's nightmare."

"Big sister, what should Na'er do?"

Na'er, who had been listening obediently nearby, blinked at Yan Lingji.

"Don't rush, Na'er. Once your big sister has arranged everything, you'll have plenty to do."

Jiang Ce's tentacle patted Na'er's head.

"Yes, big brother."

Snow Maiden stayed quietly to one side.

In the main hall, Yan Lingji sat on the throne, her black-and-red gown spread around her, her nine tails fanned out behind her.

Several military ministers and the head craftsmen of the Armory Department knelt in the hall, along with more than a hundred craftsmen they had brought with them.

Their foreheads pressed to the floor. None dared to look up.

"Starting today, the empire's army will be renamed the 'Heavenly Strategy Army.'"

"All soldiers will receive new armor. The flags and insignia will all be remade."

"We obey, Your Majesty," the military ministers replied in unison.

Yan Lingji raised a hand. Scroll after scroll of blueprints flew out of her Storage Soul Tool and landed in front of the head craftsmen of the Armory Department.

"These are the blueprints for new armor and weapons—heavy armor, large shields, spears, and powerful crossbows."

She paused. "The first batch of equipment must be ready within half a month."

The head craftsman trembled as he opened the blueprints, his eyes widening with every passing moment.

He had never seen armor like it: black iron, with joints fastened by steel rings and a breastplate polished from Soul Beast shell set over the chest. It was more than twice as thick as the old light leather armor.

The spearheads were triangular, with grooves to carry blood.

The shields were incredibly heavy.

The crossbows were even more ingenious. Their arms used a composite construction, giving them a range far beyond ordinary bows and arrows.

"T-This blueprint for the crossbow..." The head craftsman's lips quivered. "We've never made anything like it..."

"And, and Your Majesty, half a month won't be enough to make so many things."

"I'll give you entirely new methods of forging."

"As for some of the blueprints, you don't need to learn them." Yan Lingji rose and walked down the steps, blue light flashing in her peach-blossom eyes.

Heavenly Illusion.

The head craftsmen felt their minds explode. Countless unfamiliar memories flooded into them like a surging tide:

Metal ratios, forging temperatures, component measurements, assembly sequences...

The manufacturing process for each blueprint was implanted in their minds in its entirety.

Jiang Ce had copied Gongshu Chou's memories.

To master the Tyrannical Mechanism Art, they also needed certain metals.

Together with the metal ratios, iron-smelting, and forging methods he had once read about in modern technology guides, combined with some of the Soul Guidance Technology of this world,

they could certainly make sturdy alloys.

They could also greatly reduce the time needed to smelt the metal.

Moreover, to create a complete modern assembly line and improve production efficiency and speed,

the finest techniques, containing the full essence of the Tyrannical Mechanism Art, were transmitted—

but divided into separate modules and implanted in different people's minds.

Some would handle the gear system for Earth-Breaking Three, some the crossbow-arm structure of the Hundred-Battle Divine Crossbow, and some the mechanical framework of the Three-Zhang Bat Wings...

Each person would know only one component, without knowing what the others were making or what the finished product looked like.

The relevant skills for each craftsman were organized so that they would work on only one component.

A moment later, Yan Lingji withdrew her gaze.

The head craftsmen slumped to the ground, gasping for breath, their eyes filled with shock.

Yan Lingji looked down at them. "When you return, everyone will work together.

"Each person will forge only one component. No trespassing on others' work, and no discussing it.

"Once the components are finished, hand them all in together. A designated team will assemble them."

"Understood?"

"W-We understand!" The head craftsmen kowtowed repeatedly.

"One more thing—" Yan Lingji's voice turned cold.

"There are mental restrictions in your minds.

"If you dare leak the blueprints to outsiders or try to build a complete piece of equipment on your own, the restrictions will detonate your sea of consciousness."

Dead silence filled the hall.

The craftsmen knelt on the ground, cold sweat dripping from their brows onto the blue stone floor as they trembled uncontrollably.

Yan Lingji looked down at them. The chill in her peach-blossom eyes eased slightly, and the corners of her lips curled up.

"But—"