The fact that they stopped at such a crucial moment clearly shows that they still value Chen Qing's presence.
The King of Qin also realized that the Divine Path Style should be able to identify spirits rather than physical bodies. Once Chen Qing died, the Divine Path Style would most likely collapse, and the basic military force that Jiangnan had accumulated over the years, which he envied to the point of being somewhat jealous, might vanish into thin air. The key issue was Chen Qing's miraculous system.
According to Jiang Xiaoling, Chen Qing's Divine Path Style requires an official appointed by the Emperor of Human Dao to establish himself, and also requires a special imperial decree to be used. Given the current situation, with the Emperor's shrewdness, he probably won't easily grant him another official appointment from the Emperor of Human Dao.
It's not that it can't be replicated, but the difficulty of implementation is not only high, but the time cost is also probably not feasible.
"Oh?" Chen Qing looked at the other party with amusement. "Weren't you planning to kill me right away? If Zhang Zhengyuan hadn't refrained from doing so before he died, I'd be a pile of dead data by now, wouldn't I?"
"Your threat is significant enough to make you a priority target, but things are different if you're willing to assist me."
"Forget it," Chen Qing shook her head.
"Why?" The King of Qin glanced at Chen Qing: "I actually think we're quite similar, and what you're doing is what I'm doing too. Cooperation would be good for both of us."
"I don't think we're alike at all." Chen Qing shook his head. "I don't have your ambitions. If I were you, I'd probably consider hiding from the authorities for the rest of my life, rather than trying to achieve my ambitions by wiping out the entire population of Data City."
"Can you hide forever?" King of Qin chuckled. "Why has the Federation spent so much energy maintaining the Demon World for so long? Isn't it because those at the top still have undying ambitions? As long as their ambitions remain, they will enter that world sooner or later, and you will have to face them sooner or later. It's better to face them sooner rather than later. Do I have to teach you this principle?"
"I've learned a lot," Chen Qing sighed. "Then I wish His Highness the King of Qin success in unifying the world!"
The King of Qin gave Chen Qing a cold look, and finally nodded. "I will remember you, no matter who you are."
With that, he stepped into the passageway of the command center.
--
"General Hou Nanfeng, and who is this gentleman?"
At the entrance of the command center, Wu Qian wasn't too surprised to see General Hou Nanfeng. After all, they had done something so serious that it was expected that someone from above would come to hold them accountable. And Hou Nanfeng's current status, after Old Master Hou's incident, he was basically the head of the Hou Family, so it was perfectly reasonable for him to come and hold them accountable personally.
But why is there a stranger following behind?
That stranger, dressed all in white and ancient attire, must be someone who just returned from the virtual world?
He looks so young, whose son is he?
Wu Qian was somewhat puzzled. The command center held a very important position; generally speaking, they wouldn't bring younger people here to broaden their horizons, would they?
Moreover, the young man's attire made her uneasy. Dressed in white ancient clothing, he looked to be around twenty years old. Wasn't he exactly the same as Chen Qing, the target of that recent hot project?
The King of Qin glanced at her, not even bothering to speak. With a flick of his finger, the woman, still harboring doubts, was instantly decapitated, her head landing smoothly on the ground.
"Enemy attack!!"
Everyone in the command center tried to sound the alarm immediately, but they all ended up like Wu Qian.
"Aren't you worried about what kind of defenses are in place here?" Chen Qing asked doubtfully.
This guy's so decisive in killing instead of sneaking in... he's a bit reckless.
"No matter how well he tries to disguise it, Hou Nanfeng bringing outsiders to such an important place will arouse suspicion. If I'm not mistaken, that woman was already planning to contact the outside world immediately to report it."
"As for the defensive measures you mentioned," King of Qin said calmly, "This place is a special location that is heavily sealed off. The coordinates are encrypted and hidden every time, making it impossible for outsiders to access. It requires layers of access control to unlock, which is already the most secure measure in the world. Internally, to prevent private use, the focus is on maintaining balance. The ten people come from different family factions, and there are even some high-ranking officers who came from unofficial backgrounds. Under these circumstances, no one can allow anyone else to monopolize access. Every decision must be passed by vote."
"You've certainly done your homework," Chen Qing sighed. "Did you decide to do this from the very beginning?"
The King of Qin said nothing more, and strode inside, his hand connecting the dead Wu Qian and the others with a fine silk thread as he walked into the interior.
Time was of the essence; he needed to quickly use the Painted Skin technique" to turn the people into puppets in order to activate the command center, its most powerful weapon, as soon as possible.
"Feel sorry."
At the very back of the command center sat two people with utterly horrified expressions; they were the only two civilians among the ten commanders.
When facing them, the King of Qin's gaze softened noticeably, but he still showed no mercy in his attacks.
In just a moment, the two were decapitated.
"You've already killed them, what's the point of apologizing now?" Chen Qing's voice rang out again.
"These two are different from the scions of wealthy families. They were born commoners and managed to rise to this level without relying on their families' help. They are truly capable people. However, because of their abilities, they were ostracized and placed in a position with a very high status but not much real power. Under normal circumstances, I think the responsibility for shutting down the West China Region should fall on these two."
"They're already in such a terrible state, and you still went for the kill? Why not try recruiting some?"
"Would you risk using both of them?" King of Qin looked at Chen Qing and said coldly, "The plan is already shocking; I don't have time to wait for them to consider it."
"It seems that in your eyes, their abilities are less useful than gaining two more minutes."
Faced with Chen Qing's mockery, the King of Qin made no attempt to refute. The silk threads in his hands moved with the dexterity of human hands and feet, almost instantly stripping the skin and bones of the ten people. Then, runes appeared in the air, and the silk threads once again skillfully and swiftly carved pieces of wood that had been prepared beforehand into human figures.
"You actually used the East Sea Dragon King's trump card technique like this? I wonder what the old Dragon King would think if he found out?"
"You've been unusually talkative today," the King of Qin replied without changing his expression, while still controlling the device.
In just a few seconds of speaking, the ten puppets were sculpted to lifelike detail, almost like real people. Then, fine threads quickly attached the flesh to the puppets, and finally, the brain core was moved in as well.
The scene was eerie and cruel; the runes in mid-air flickered with a strange black light. Chen Qing looked at the runes and asked in confusion, "It's truly amazing. These are things from the virtual world, yet they can be used interchangeably here. What's the principle behind this?"
"Don't waste your time trying to understand things that even experts don't grasp. Humanity's initial choice of this path was clearly accidental. The wonder of data as a life form was probably far beyond what those people imagined."
"Right?"
"Alright!" As the King of Qin spoke, he gently pulled the ten people who had been decapitated. They came back to life one by one. If it weren't for the stark white bones and copious amounts of blood on the ground, it would be hard to believe that these ten people were actually dead.
"I'll ask you one last time, are you really not going to consider cooperating with me?"
"I'm afraid I couldn't do what you've done." Chen Qing shook his head with a wry smile.
"Is that so?" King of Qin nodded, and the next second, Wu Qian stepped forward blankly and started the shutdown procedure.
"An emergency shutdown of the Data City will cause it to cease operation completely. All activities within the Data City Data City highly likely to be irrecoverable, and all stored data may be corrupted. This operation requires authorization from ten responsible parties."
"Bite!"
Everyone pressed their fingerprints on the electronically displayed documents and had their pupils verified.
"Authorization confirmed. The system is again warning of risks. This choice will expose the Data City to unprecedented risks. This is the first large-scale shutdown since the establishment of the command center. Confirm?"
The King of Qin was about to take action, but then suddenly froze, instantly looking up at the speaking AI.
first?