Five Frozen Centuries

Wei Huo planned to find a place to read the Codex Revised Edition. However, he had to read it soon. Otherwise, his points would be deducted.

Wei Huo flipped through it briefly. Most of the laws recorded in the Codex Revised Edition were normal laws. The most serious crimes were murder and theft. As long as one committed one of these crimes, 100 points would be deducted. There was no room for negotiation.

The laxer laws were the more ethical ones. For example, if one did not take care of one’s children, did not care for the elderly, threw rubbish, cut in line, and stole seats, one would lose a few points.

There were also some things that had nothing to do with laws and morals. They were purely policies. For example, if one did not get married by 25 years old, did not have children despite having the ability to reproduce, escaped, or avoided taxation, one would lose 100 points for this violation.

This was probably to prevent people from not getting married or having children and causing the people in the city to go extinct. This was not unusual. It was known that before the time halt, some places had collected a singles tax. Times were different, and people had different views. If people did not get married or have children, humanity would go extinct.

Apart from that, there was another law in the Codex Revised Edition that was very weird. One was not allowed to change the name of a newborn. Once the name of a newborn was determined, it could not be changed. Regardless of whether one was called Li Goudan or Wang Ermazi, as long as a name was registered by an official, one could not change it. If one changed their name, 100 points would be deducted.

Wei Huo was confused. He wanted to conduct an experiment, but now was not the time.

“Let’s find a deserted place first.”

Wei Huo led his team away from that place. No one took a look at them on the way. This city was a highly-civilized community. Almost no bad things happened there, so no one meddled or attacked them.

Wei Huo observed his surroundings as he walked and said, “Although the robots on the sixth level looked like robots, their behavior was human-like. Although the people on the seventh level are no different from real humans, they look more like robots.”

The golden armor replied, “This is probably the consequence of civilization’s high development. Freedom and safety can’t be combined. If one wants absolute freedom, one might be in danger. If one wants absolute safety, one has to give up one’s freedom. This has been the case since ancient times.”

Wei Huo led his team to an alley. No one was walking there. There were no cameras in the city either. According to the rules, one would lose points as long as one violated the law. There was no need for cameras.

Wei Huo had gone there to avoid being noticed, but he came across an air-conditioner. There were air-conditioners everywhere, but they were all blowing hot air. There was air-conditioning both inside and outside. It was cool inside and hot outside. There was an alley there, so it was easier to install air-conditioning.

Wei Huo glanced at the air-conditioner and threw a punch at it, flattening it.

Wei Huo picked up his ‘Gao Huo’ card, but the score on it had not changed.

The golden armor was shocked. “Why didn’t your points decrease when you destroyed public property?”

Wei Huo said, “It seems like I was right. The name is indeed the key.”

Wei Huo suddenly thought of a disciple he had accepted not long ago, Xiao Bin. Xiao Bin had once said that one should not reveal one’s real name when one was out and encountered special situations like transmigration, rebirth, or reincarnation.

Xiao Bin’s name was probably not his real name, but Wei Huo did not care too much about it. After they’d gotten familiar with each other, Wei Huo had not asked for his real name. He had only asked him why he was so careful that he did not dare say his real name.

Later, Xiao Bin had started explaining. He had said that he’d had a weird dream. He had dreamed that he had gone to the underworld and met a few ghosts there. He was very good at socializing and soon had gotten along well with them. They had asked him for his name, and Xiao Bin had told them his real name. However, things had turned out badly.

Upon hearing his name, the little ghosts had asked about Xiao Bin’s birth year and a few past events. In the end, the little ghosts had gotten furious and said, “You’re the black-hearted CEO of a company. You owed people their salaries and even paid to have people murdered. We will beat you to death!”

Confused, Xiao Bin had explained, “I’m only 10 years old. I’m still a student. I’m not the CEO of a company!”

The little ghosts had said, “That was when you were in your fifties. We’ll kill you now to prevent you from harming others in the future!”

Xiao Bin had woken up in shock and broken out into a cold sweat. He had been unable to calm down for a long time. From then on, he had warned himself not to reveal his real name when he went to an unfamiliar place.

Xiao Bin had believed that this dream had warned him about the future. His goal had been to prevent Wei Huo from saying his name under special circumstances. He had shared this dream with his two friends, but they had not believed him.

However, during the time halt, something unexpected had happened. They thought that they had transmigrated. Xiao Bin had suggested that people could not say their real names, and the other two had had no choice but to believe him. They had learned from Xiao Bin and changed their names.

Xiao Bin believed that he would become a powerful existence in the future. He was so powerful that he could go against time and send messages to his past self. After meeting Wei Huo, he had become more determined. That was why he had decided to follow Wei Huo and even become his disciple.

At first, Wei Huo had not believed Xiao Bin, but he did now. If someone understood the rules of time, they might be able to send a letter to his past self.

Perhaps Xiao Bin had come to Kunlun Mountain when he was older and suffered greatly on the seventh level. That was why he had sent a message to his past self.

The golden armor flipped through the Codex Revised Edition carefully and saw the rule that did not allow one to change their name. It then cursed. So the loophole is in the name. How could a staff member at that level mishear a name? How could my name be right and Wei Huo’s name be wrong?

Wei Huo had once again proved that any creature with a brain could not say his name. However, a brainless creature like the golden armor could say it. The world was really weird. It seemed like no one had said his name ever since he had become a Legendary creature.

Wei Huo closed the Codex Revised Edition and said, “It seems like I have to take this flawless Rule Equipment. It’s all thanks to the staff member who misheard my name.”

The golden armor took a closer look at the Codex Revised Edition. There were a few forbidden areas residents were not allowed to enter. Only powerful people or security personnel could enter those places. There was even a place only the incumbent registrar could enter. It seemed like that was the place where the Rule Equipment was hidden.

The golden armor said, “It seems like you’re the only one who can obtain this Rule Equipment. Our names have been recorded. We can’t step into that area.”

Wei Huo said, “There’s no hurry. There are still seven days left. Let’s collect some intelligence in the city. If you know thyself and your enemy, you will never be defeated. We don’t want a Legendary-level expert to suddenly appear.”

Upon hearing Wei Huo’s words, the golden armor thought of the law that forced one to get married at the age of 25. It then said, “Everyone is equal before the law. Let me get a wife first.”