"I knew it. You must still be alive." Chen Qing turned around and smiled.
"How did you determine that?" Elder Liu, who arrived late, looked at Chen Qing with a complex expression.
"Because I'm still alive," Chen Qing laughed. "I'm of no value to those people. The reason they preserved Ziyue's genes is because those people are the game's designers. They're indispensable for both intelligence gathering and future world-building, so I'm not surprised they had their genes preserved. But I'm different."
"I was just a pawn used to win over Pu Yunchuan. Given my subsequent betrayal, they had absolutely no reason to preserve my genes. So after learning the truth back then, I wondered, if those people didn't preserve me, who else could have had the power to keep my genes intact until now and send them in without anyone noticing?"
"So it's just you, isn't it?"
"Indeed, you have a keen mind." Elder Liu clapped his hands and laughed, " Pu Yunchuan placed all his hopes on you back then, and it seems it wasn't entirely because of blood ties. Your performance has exceeded my expectations!"
"You are the same." Chen Qing looked at the other person, her eyes filled with the same complex emotions.
He recalled the memories from Pu Yunchuan's perspective. In that memory, the respected general before him was the most prestigious and positive military figure in the Eastern Federation at the time, and one of the most important forces in stopping those powerful and influential people.
I originally thought that he would disappear from the public eye after his failure back then, but it seems that this is not the case.
Not only was he hiding in the shadows like that group, but he also had the power to orchestrate his own plans. Was this Old General Liu truly the iron-willed soldier I remembered, single-mindedly dedicated to stopping their ambitions, willing to sacrifice his own life?
Is that really the case?
Chen Qing took a breath, feeling as if he had seen the truth of what happened back then, yet also as if he hadn't quite understood it.
"Do you agree with my approach?" Chen Qing asked directly.
"Of course I agree," Old General Liu sighed. "If it were that simple to end that world and trap those people there forever, I would certainly agree. But you can't do it?"
"Why?" Chen Qing frowned, but before he could ask further, the entire entrance to the New World suddenly expanded. The engineers there exclaimed in shock, "How is this possible? Wasn't the power cut off? How can the update still be completed?"
Chen Qing was taken aback, then darted over and grabbed the chief engineer, asking, "What's going on?"
"I... I don't know either." The chief engineer looked panicked. "It seems... there are other places where they've set up charging ports too!"
Chen Qing narrowed his eyes, then suddenly remembered something. " The Western Federation?"
Yes, back then, the reason I trapped myself on that West Island was because of those people from the Western Federation. Now...
"Such a significant project, with even the energy interface connected to the Western Federation, and you didn't notice at all?" Chen Qing turned to look at Nie Xingjun.
Nie Xingjun was also shocked. The Demon World was the most important project of the Eastern Federation Eastern Federation, which had been consuming a huge amount of energy. He could accept that some hackers had infiltrated such an important project, but the fact that the energy interface had been taken over was simply a fantasy to him!
"Don't be so shocked," Elder Liu sighed. "This world is different from the real world we knew before. The officials in Data City have too much faith in authority. When there's someone with even higher authority than them, they can do a lot of things behind their backs, especially in the real world."
With a wave of his hand, Elder Liu conjured a video that showed the vast underground network built by the Western Federation, which had somehow connected to this side.
"Why would officials care about what's happening outside? It's a place for poor miners and soldiers. When the higher-ups don't suspect anything, do you think the already miserable people at the bottom will put in their best efforts to protect the border? Even if a few people do discover something, for those in power, the deaths of a few soldiers and miners at the bottom are perfectly normal in the real world."
"I see." Chen Qing looked at the video and sneered.
Nie Xingjun's face flushed red. He remembered that in history, the Eastern Federation had leaders who went to the real world for investigation, but after one or two accidents, the rule was unknowingly canceled. Since it was no longer mandatory, who would be willing to risk going to the real world?
But he never imagined that the upper echelons' control over those below was so weak.
"But it seems you haven't done anything all these years," Chen Qing said, looking at the other person.
"I can't do it," Elder Liu shook his head. "The gap is too big."
"Which of the Four Great Guilds was your doing?"
" Divine Martial!"
" Divine Martial?" Chen Qing was taken aback. He remembered. Wasn't this old man famous for fighting the Red Sun back then?
Aren't all the members of the Divine Martial Guild Japanese?
"The people of Red Sun have always had a tendency to admire the strong. Morality, dignity, and etiquette are all superficial. The most important reason why the Western Federation was able to control them and make them obedient back then was because they had defeated them. Now, they work for me because they lost to me back then."
Chen Qing's face twitched upon hearing this, but after careful recollection, he had to admit that that ethnic group did indeed seem to be like that.
Back then, although Old General Liu had a high reputation in China, there were still many haters who slandered him. However, on the internet, the one who refuted these haters the most was Red Sun, which was forcibly incorporated into the Eastern Federation. Although he had never been there, he had heard some of his compatriots say that the people there seemed to admire Elder Liu the most.
No wonder.
After considering the previous intelligence, Chen Qing had a high probability of guessing some of the situation.
Back when the lab exploded, Elder Liu, as someone capable of ambushing those nobles, proved he indeed had the power to rival the Long Household. Afterwards, those nobles were among the first data beings in the Demon World, including Elder Liu. This group supported several major guilds, eventually ruling the world. Old Elder Liu secretly leveraged the fervent worship of the Red Sun Nation to also gather a force. In this sense...
Perhaps not everyone in that group is necessarily united.
Otherwise, why would there be Four Great Guilds instead of a unified force?
I see
It turns out it's still the same as before, the same group of chess players.
"Why are you only coming to find me now?" Chen Qing asked Elder Liu Laodao.
"I was only able to awaken Ancient Revival, and what I am now is just an avatar."
"Are you the Venerable?"
"What do you think?" Elder Liu sneered, "If you're not the strongest among the people of the Red Sun Nation, do you think they'll be loyal to you?"
That makes sense.
"So now," Elder Liu leaned closer to Chen Qing, "Will we still cooperate, young friend Chen Qing?"