The Rise Of Otaku

Zhou Yu knew that Zhou Shuyu was making the behind-the-scenes footage. But he didn't stop her. Instead, he let her shoot anything at will. After all, the camera she used was not a cross-dimension camera, she wouldn't be able to discover that many tiny people were making a movie in front of her. However, he still didn't expect that the video of him burning ships still went viral on the internet.

Zhou Fu's distress couldn't be described in words. In order to make a strange movie, the ship models that were worth tens and thousands of Chinese Yuan, had been destroyed.

Although he didn't know the specific cost, seeing tens of thousands of Chinese Yuan disappeared like that, he who was also rich, still felt heartache.

"Oh my god, how long are you going to shoot this movie?!"

Having been in the business field for so long, this was probably the most regrettable investment that Zhou Fu had ever made. Having a partner who did not follow the common sense, the future of their park was really unpredictable.

Fortunately, after burning the ships, the shooting was finally over. But it still left with only a pile of broken ships, making people sighed with disappointment.

However, another partner - Xia Huan was very satisfied. Although Zhou Yu's shooting skill couldn't complete with the professional cameramen, the movie was able to be completed before the film festival. It was still a great thing.

This time, they could finally slap Nandou's face. And everyone was looking forward to it.

"Brother Zhou, thank you very much for your help. In the future, if you need anything from this brother, please do not hesitate to say it!"

Xia Huan was very grateful for what Zhou Yu did. If it hadn't been for Zhou Yu's help, Beidou would have probably been still struggling to survive now, let alone having a chance to slap Nandou's face. But Zhou Yu also didn't do it for free. The rewards of Moe Coins was the secondary, the main thing was that with little Niannian's stats, he was able to get a protagonist role of such a movie, it was already worth it.

However, after watching so many days of shooting, it was obvious that the supporting actor's scenes were also very interesting. It could even be considered that there was a second protagonist in this movie.

It could be seen that the peak of Little Niannian's acting career was probably in this movie. After all, the stats of little Niannian was limited, and Xia Huan must also consider the future of the company, so he should start raising the second leading actor who had better stats than little Niannian.

'I can only help Little Niannian to this extent." Zhou Yu thought while waving his hands to say goodbye to little Niannian, Xia Huan and his crew.

Xia Huan left behind an animated movie "Fruit Pirates", which was already edited by Ling Daoran, to Zhou Yu. On the evening of the same day, Zhou Yu watched the movie several times, and compared it with the movies that were produced by his own animation base, he could immediately feel the difference between the two.

The picture quality of the movies that were produced by the animation base was not bad, it could be considered as the top-notch quality. But the problem lay in the depth of the stories, and the way the stories were told. The stories in the movies that were produced by the animation base were relatively shallow and straightforward. It may be easy to attract young children, but if anyone watched too much of it, they would begin to feel dogmatism.

A good screenwriter indeed would make a huge difference in a movie.

Another problem was that the current animation base couldn't make 3D works, and the styles of the work were also limited. The style of Yang Kuai's work was very similar to Makoto Shinkai's style. Anyone would naturally feel tired if they watched the same style of animation for many times. Only by changing the styles from time to time, would he be able to make people feel refreshed.

Those two areas were the main disadvantage of the animation base. However, if he wanted to change it, it would depend on his luck. But so far, Zhou Yu hadn't found anything that he could use to improve the animation base.

Anyway, that was off the topic. Let's go back to talk about "Fruit Pirates"

Because of the participation in the production, Xia Huan gave the distribution right of this animated film in reality to Zhou Yu, as a way of saying "thank you" to him. He could do anything he liked to the movie. However, if he wanted to release the movie to the public, he had to wait until one week later.

If the movie was released earlier in reality, it would also affect the performance of the movie in the film festival.

To Zhou Yu, little Rat and other kids, one week was nothing. They were willing to wait.

.......................

Recently, the amusement park's business was inexplicably getting better. No one knew where did some young people hear about the water park here, they began to come to the park in twos and threes.

What made Zhou Fu even more confused was that they were all asking around if there was anyone selling ship models.

It turned out that after the behind-the-scenes footage was uploaded online, the ship model enthusiasts within the province all gathered in Luhua village, wanting to find out, if the ship making master Zhou Yu still had some models left, that he wanted to sell.

Mainly those ship models were too good, every small component was so realistic. Displaying any one of those ships in the room, and adding some soft light to it, it would definitely improve the décor of the room to another level. Those models that were produced in mass production, were not comparable to the pure handicrafts at all.

However, it was a pity that all the ship models were destroyed during the shooting. Zhou Fu had asked several times, but Zhou Yu did not intend to make any more, so he could only give up the plan of opening a gift store. The only thing left was a pile of ships' wreckage.

"Boss, we have spent huge efforts, coming all the way here, we can't go home empty-handed, you must have kept some, right? If you could spare me one, money is not a problem."

Those ship enthusiasts didn't want to give up. They just surrounded Zhou Fu, hoping that he would be able to sell them one or two. They had also asked Zhou Yu already. But they were rejected by Zhou Yu resolutely.

Unable to get rid of those enthusiasts, Zhou Fu brought them to the place where he had dumped the damaged ship models and broken pieces.

Pointing at the pile of wreckage, Zhou Fu said, "I really don't have any. Look, this is all I have. You can dig through that pile, maybe you will be able to find one or two that are still in good conditions. And it is free."

Originally he was preparing to burn the rest, and now that someone offered to clean them up for him for free. Of course, he would not mind it at all.

Needless to say, those ship model enthusiasts were also very persistent. After seeing the piles of broken ship models, they carefully dug through the pile, searching any models that they thought they would be able to fix.

Surprisingly, there were indeed some models that were only slightly damaged. Anyone with some decent repairing skills, would be able to repair those ships using the pieces they found in those piles of broken ships.

Speaking of real skill, those ship model enthusiasts were much better than Zhou Yu.

After all, repairing was a difficult task. It may not be possible to repair a ship in half a day. Mover, this place was not a guest house where they could stay for several days. So whenever someone managed to repair one, they would leave happily.

Those who had successfully repaired the models, would upload their works to their own little communities. It instantly attracted even more people to Luhua village. That pile of garbages soon became a treasure mountain for other people.

Because of this, the amusement park also attracted some more customers.

Looking at this group of enthusiasts, Zhou Fu shook his head and sighed with disappointment. With just some broken ships, it would attract so many people here. What if there were complete ones?

It was a shame that Zhou Yu didn't have the interest to open a ship model gift store. Otherwise, the business would definitely be prosperous.

Zhou Fu had also thought about getting some ship models from the city. However, the quality ones were too expensive, and the cheap ones were very bad. Besides, everyone all came here, looking for quality models. If they were looking for cheap ones, they wouldn't come to a village.

But what Zhou Fu didn't expect was that after the movie Fruit Pirates was released, the prices of those repaired ships were soaring rapidly.

Because those models were in the movie, it had a high collection value. A good one would be worth thousands or even tens of thousands of Chinese Yuan. And people still wanted to buy them. Especially the protagonist's ship 'Blackberry', which was sold at a high price of 100,000 Chinese Yuan in an auction. It made Zhou Fu regret that he shouldn't have given them away in the first place.

But who would think that a pile of garbage would turn into some expensive treasure?

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“Hm, right, I didn’t really pay attention when I released him” Qin Xiao Lou only now noticed and put the Frost Mist Mystic Tortoise back.

They stood up, wiping the dust off themselves.

After walking another while, Qin Xiao Lou pointed at a great hall, saying: “We’re here”

Gu Qing Shan looked up to see the three large characters on the hall entrance: Spirit Beast Hall.

Walking in, the entire hall was filled with numerous Spirit Beast tags tied to red strings that hung from the top down.

Using his inner sight, Gu Qing Shan scanned the nearest few tags, seeing a name of a spirit beast on each of them.

And the entire hall was filled with these kinds of spirit beast tags.

Roughly counting, the amount of tags is easily a couple thousands, making for a magnificent sight.

“To do good is spirit, evil is demon” Qin Xiao Lou couldn’t help but exclaim: “Truthfully, demon beasts are also spirit beasts, and spirit beasts are also demon beasts. Being good or evil is within a single thought, not that different from human beings”

“Shifu raised so many spirit beasts?” Gu Qing Shan was surprised.

“Quite a few of them aren’t raised, rather they hang their tags here to show gratitude to Shifu for helping them” Qin Xiao Lou answered.

“What did Shifu do?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

“Not much really, she helps whoever is in trouble”

“Trouble? What trouble would spirit beasts have?”

“Not enough food, being pursued by someone, demonic possession while cultivating, their 1000-year herb got stolen… things like that”

“The ones that hang their tags here all gave their words to Shifu that if there’s ever a problem, call them and they’ll answer” Qin Xiao Lou said.

“Seems like Shifu has helped quite a few spirit beasts indeed” Gu Qing Shan looked at the hall filled with tags, exclaiming.

“Right, junior brother, what kind of mount do you want?”

“I want a fast one” Gu Qing Shan thought, then replied.

If it’s for fighting, him alone is enough.

But when moving from battlefield to battlefield, even a difference of 1 minute might create an entirely different situation.

“You only want speed?” Qin Xiao Lou asked.

“Right” Gu Qing Shan answered.

Qin Xiao Lou then showed an expression that says ‘I get you’

“We’re brothers alright” he spoke in a low voice, “I hide and you run away, this way, seems like Shifu doesn’t need to care about our safety”

Gu Qing Shan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, so he decided to say nothing.

Qin Xiao Lou sighed a bit sorrowfully, then said: “This time we’re going out, there’s going to be a lot of danger, Shifu doesn’t limit us on what kind of mount we can use, so we’ll just get you the best possible spirit beast”

He thought a bit more: “Fast speed… then it would have to be the Blackmane Unicorn, Twilight Bluemoon Panther and Flamecloud Chasing Sky Crane”

Saying so, Qin Xiao Lou waved his hand and summoned three tags slowly flying towards him.

“Make sure to pay attention when you talk, spirit beasts all have their own temperament, not to mention these three are all Golden Core spirit beasts” Qin Xiao Lou advised him in a low voice.

“Yes” replied Gu Qing Shan.

Then Qin Xiao Lou released his spirit energy, tapping each spirit beast tag once.

Poof! Poof! Poof!

Three figures appeared in front of the two of them.

A majestic unicorn, a panther whose body slightly shimmers, and a completely white crane, with only a patch of red feather right at its neck.

The three spirit beasts stood there, exchanged looks, then looked at the two of them.

“What is it?” the unicorn spoke.

His voice was quick and fierce, almost like he was questioning them.

“Three seniors, we are about to go to the frontline and my junior brother here needs a mount, can any of the three of you help him?” right now, Qin Xiao Lou was speaking in an extremely polite manner.

“War?” the Blackmane Unicorn breathed from his nose in annoyance, “ there already dead bodies everywhere, and you humans still don’t feel that that’s enough?”

“Ahaha, seniors please don’t misunderstand, it’s the demons that are attacking us, we’re only looking to survive here” Qin Xiao Lou quickly assured them.

The shimmering panther spoke: “You don’t have much choice in war, but in such a place, we aren’t guaranteed to be able to protect ourselves, yet you want us to protect a Foundation Establishment brat as well?”

Qin Xiao Lou smiled: “Foundation Establishment is only temporary, humans cultivate very quickly, who knows, maybe my junior brother will very quickly increase his strength in the near future”

“Come, junior brother, give your greetings to the seniors there” he pulled Gu Qing Shan in front.

“My greetings to seniors” Gu Qing Shan said.

The three spirit beasts evaluated him.

“How old are you?” the Flamecloud Chasing Sky Crane asked, its voice was quite gentle.

“This humble one is 18, about to be 19 soon” Gu Qing Shan answered.

“Going to the frontline, will you be in the same place as Qin Xiao Lou?” the Flamecloud Chasing Sky Crane asked again.

“I won’t, I will be at the very front, fighting against enemies”

The Blackmane Unicorn and Twilight Bluemoon Panther listened and exchanged looks.

“Very brave, he’s also quite good, what do you think?” the Flamecloud Chasing Sky Crane asked its fellow spirit beasts.

“I’m putting my tag here just because I am willing to become the Fairy’s mount” Blackmane Unicorn turned around.

“He’s still too young, going to the frontline like this, he still doesn’t understand the cruelty of war” Twilight Bluemoon Panther said.

“That’s right, such a young child going to war, am I expected to be a nanny for him or something?” Blackmane Unicorn commented again.

Twilight Bluemoon Panther shook his head: “Troublesome, too troublesome!”

“Ahaha, seniors please ------“ Qin Xiao Lou smiled, about to say something.

But Gu Qing Shan suddenly pat his shoulder, gesturing him not to speak.

Gu Qing Shan looked at the two spirit beasts and said: “Perhaps you’re misunderstanding something”

The two of them stared at him.

“First of all, this war is fought by humans for the sake of this world’s existence, they’re fought by those who are willing to give up their life for the greater good, and not something for you to judge to be troublesome or annoying”

Gu Qing Shan continued: “If this world is destroyed, then you lot aren’t going to get off easy either”

“Brat…” Twilight Bluemoon Panther stared at him, growling in a low voice.

Qin Xiao Lou was trying his best to gesture for Gu Qing Shan to stop, but Gu Qing Shan ignored him and continued: “Second, I’m not here begging you to become my spirit beast mount, I’m only picking you because you hung your tags here”

“If you aren’t willing, then you are free to leave. Bai Hua sect doesn’t need your tags to be hung here, because you can’t even do what you promised to”

“Snot-nosed brat! How dare you!” Blackmane Unicorn neighed angrily.

“This place is Bai Hua Sect, and you would ask me if I dare?” Gu Qing Shan squints his eyes.

Instantly emitting killing intent, he grabbed the air as the Earth Sword came to his hand.

The Earth sword let out a ‘wu wu’ sound, also looking ready to fight.

Hoong!

A glow emitted from the entire sword.

“Would you care to say that again? Senior?”  Gu Qing Shan looked at Blackmane Unicorn, softly saying so.

All three spirit beasts took a step backwards.

All the hairs on their bodies stood up, as veterans of countless years of battle, they’re extremely sensitive to whenever the situation changes.

A sword cultivator

Every single sword cultivator is a psychopath.

Looking at him right now, you can tell he’s dead serious.

He definitely dares to fight ----even if he can’t match them, he will still fight!

This thought showed up in all their minds at the same time.

Blackmane Unicorn stared at him, but didn’t move.

“Brat...” Twilight Bluemoon Panther muttered, but didn’t continue.

“Ok, let me be your mount” Flamecloud Chasing Sky Crane suddenly said.

Gu Qing Shan was a bit shocked

“Why?” he asked.

“I originally felt that you were very brave, not to mention, being accepted by the Saint at such a young age, your talents must also be exceptional” Flamecloud Chasing Sky Crane said, “I’ve been stuck at Golden Core realm for over a hundred years, if I become your mount, one day you become a great cultivator, you might even be able to help me breakthrough”

“This is a great chance for me, a win-win situation” Flamecloud Chasing Sky Crane answered.

“You aren’t afraid you’ll die with me at the frontline?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

“Even a Foundation Establishment brat like you isn’t afraid, why should a Golden Core beast like myself be?” Flamecloud Chasing Sky Crane replied.

“Well said” a female voice was heard.

They all turned to look and finally noticed that Bai Hua Fairy was floating in the air, looking at them.

After Bai Hua Fairy left, white goose also took Xiuxiu away to cultivate, the only two left in the great hall were Gu Qing Shan and Qin Xiao Lou.

“Come, junior brother” Qing Xiao Lou said as he stood up and gestured to Gu Qing Shan.

“Yes” Gu Qing Shan smiled, took the badge in his hand, about to leave.

Just right as he took the badge, his expression changed.

A flash of light passed by the War God UI, turning into a large red letters right in the middle

[Detected user activating a special story scenario]

[Current conditions suitable for activation]

[Destiny Quest activated]

A Destiny Quest!

Another Destiny Quest!

The last time he got one was when he was with Gong Sun Zhi and Ning Yue Xi, being surrounded by the horde of elite demon beasts.

That time was so dangerous that he almost lost his life numerous times before being able to complete the quest, activating the [War God Thaumaturgy] button.

Then what about now?

Gu Qing Shan quickly looked down.

[Destiny Quest: Decisive battle]

[Breaking the shackles of destiny, changing the direction that history takes, user Gu Qing Shan has entered a Destiny Quest]

[Quest description: The cultivation world has done everything it could to prepare for the final battle with the demons. Victory and defeat will be decided on this single battle. If they succeed, cultivation world will be able to advance their army to Shen Wu world; if they fail, the migrating demons shall all come crawling back as humanity of this world shall continue their path towards the destruction]

[Quest objective: Only when standing high enough that you’ll be able to efficiently affect the direction of this war. You must increase your Military Rank to Zhao Wu Chaplain before the war reaches its halfway point]

[As this is an incredibly dangerous and difficult war, to ensure that the user does not die prematurely, the quest reward has been given early]

[If the Quest fails, the reward shall be rescinded, and the user will not be able to increase their cultivation in the span of 3 years]

After reading through everything, Gu Qing Shan felt surprised, and a heavy feeling of unease.

The Quest is called [Decisive Battle] -----yet it is only a half-mission.

In other words, he has to complete this first half before gaining to right to attempt the second half of the Quest.

Not to mention, the Quest reward has already been given early.

Gu Qing Shan doesn’t feel the least bit glad, instead he felt extremely heavy.

-----the mission before was to save Gong Sun Zhi and Ning Yue Xi, despite how dangerous it was, there was never a mention of a reward being given early.

But this time, the System outright told him that this will be a dangerous and difficult battle, and gave him the reward early.

This is unheard of.

In the entire history of the game, never has there been any Quest that would give the reward before it’s completed.

That is to say, the System predicted that even the player can die in this war.

Not to mention, if the Quest fails, he will be unable to increase his cultivation for 3 years.

He’ll live, but that’s the same as waiting for death.

At least if he tries his hardest and dies, he’ll be able to avoid having to watch things happen without being able to do anything about it.

After reading through the Quest description again, he silently sighed.

Gu Qing Shan felt like he was standing on a thousand-mile-high cliff, one wrong step is all it takes for him to die the most gruesome of deaths.

Then he tapped the [receive reward] symbol on the UI.

[Ting!]

[Destiny Quest reward has been received]

On the War God UI, a new golden symbol appeared at the bottom, in the same row as [War God Skills] and [War God Thaumaturgy].

Gu Qing Shan was slightly surprised, but confirmed that Destiny Quests are indeed to key to opening the black symbols on the War God UI.

He quickly checked it out.

A description showed on the symbol.

[War God Title]

[As the name of War God is renowned across all the lands, your title is the manifestation of your will]

[User Gu Qing Shan current owned titles: 2]

[Notice, you can only equip one title at a time”]

I already own a title?

Gu Qing Shan looked down in surprise.

[Title 1: Sword 15]

[Description: On the day of the semester examination, you used one sword strike to blow away 15 of the top cultivators there. So many sect’s newcomers have started to spread the name of Sword 15]

[Equipping this title grants you the specialist skill: Sound Shock]

[Sound Shock: when attacking, you’ll deal many minor damage to the opponent’s soul vessel]

[Title 2: Xiao Qi Chaplain]

[Description: Within the Humanity’s Alliance army, this is the 3rd officer Military rank from the bottom]

[Equipping this title grants you the specialist skill: Quick Attack]

[Quick Attack: The user’s attack speed is increased by 10%]

Gu Qing Shan breathed out as he looked, as expected of War God UI, the name War God isn’t just for show. Each and every symbol of the War God is incredibly powerful.

These two titles that he has right now are only primary-level titles.

But looking at the description of the skills, this is on the same level as Growth Skills.

Using [Shifting Flurry] as an example, you’d see how strong a Growth Skill is.

Gu Qing Shan can already guess what powerful effects it would gain as the titles evolves.

If one day, he reaches the level of the 3 Saints, just how strong would a specialist skill of the titles be?

No wonder the System gave him this reward early; this is quite the big boost of morale for him.

After reading through the Quest reward, Gu Qing Shan’s emotions calmed down again.

Can’t help it then, he can’t run away from what he has to face, so he might as well try his best to deal with the upcoming problem.

Going with Qin Xiao Lou, he went to an area behind Bai Hua Palace.

Qin Xiao Lou was speaking excitedly: “Junior brother, you have to carefully pick a mount for yourself ok?”

Although Qin Xiao Lou looked like a thoughtless slack-off, he actually noticed how Gu Qing Shan’s expression changed.

Then he complained: “Shifu has a close relationship with quite a few spirit beasts, but normally she is very strict with them, so I can’t come hang out with them”

Gu Qing Shan reluctantly forced a smile, asking: “Senior brother, what mount do you use?”

‘Me?” Qin Xiao Lou laughed and took out a Spirit Beast Bag.

“Check it out, brother!”

Then he tapped his spirit beast bag, releasing a giant shadow that descended on then from the sky, filling their visions.

Boom!

A giant tortoise that’s about 2 stories tall landed on the ground, shaking the earth.

This is a Frost Mist Mystic Tortoise, having awaken Water Elemental root to 2nd stage, it can be considered decent.

“His strength and whatever isn’t the main point” Qin Xiao Lou was excitedly explaining how great the tortoise was, “the main thing is that his shell has a layer of ice, to normal attacks are very likely to slide off and miss”

“Just look at the thickness of this shell, its defensive capabilities are insane!”

Gu Qing Shan was a bit doubtful: “But what does how strong its defensive abilities are have to do with you?”

“You don’t understand at all” Qin Xiao Lou pridefully said, “I spent a ton of effort to put 3 space formations on the shell, that way, even if demons make it to where I am, I can just teleport and hide inside the shell”

Gu Qing Shan very seriously looked at the shell, confirming that he wasn’t kidding.

Qin Xiao Lou was this kind of person, charming enough to unconsciously move your point of focus away, sometimes forgetting about your worries as well.

“Nice, it’s a really good idea, but first please put him back, second brother. He’s too heavy to be standing on the two of us” Gu Qing Shan said.

Gu Qing Shan bit his lip tight, then finally opened his mouth to ask again after a while: “System, just what exactly is the cause for this?”

[The System can only feel the change in space-time, but it does not know the reason behind it. The user must find that out by himself]

“I want to find it out, but you’re telling me to go to cultivation world!”

[If the user does not enter the cultivation world, the user’s time flow will experience severe unknown consequences]

Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help but shook his head, there’s no time left to even speak.

Because the System once again popped up a message.

[Please enter the cultivation world immediately, to avoid the change in space-time, final 30 seconds countdown begin!]

[30, 29, 28…]

Gu Qing Shan couldn’t do anything but turn around, patting Zhang Ying Hao and said: “I’ll leave him to you, I need to leave to do something urgent now, I’ll come back to see you guys later”

Then he nodded at Ye Fei Li, turned around and jumped away.

As he reached a street corner, Gu Qing Shan said: “Impartial Goddess”

[I’m here]

“Protect them for me”

[Very well, you can be assured sir]

A light flashed, as Gu Qing Shan disappeared from Reality.

On the other side, the basketball court.

Zhang Ying Hao shook his head, complaining: “We haven’t even finished speaking and he already left, what a worrywart”

But he resumed a smiling face and said: “Ignore him, let us go first ----brother, I’ll bring you to a good place, guaranteed to be at least the level of the kings of the past, I’m sure it’ll be unforgettable”

“I’ll be fine as long as I can rest” Ye Fei Li looked at the wounds on himself and said.

Zhang Ying Hao stepped forward, very enthusiastically: “Let us introduce ourselves, I’m the boss of the Confederate’s No.1 hitman firm, Zhang Ying Hao, to a happy partnership from now on”

He extended his hand.

Seeing his enthusiasm and his sincerity, Ye Fei Li also took off his sunglasses, revealing a pair of red glowing eyes.

Very seriously, he looked at Zhang Ying Hao and shook his hand.

“Nice to meet you, I’m the No.1 Man Killer Fiend in the world, Ye Fei Li”

Their eyes met.

Zhang Ying Hao opened his eyes wide, cold sweat running down his forehead.

Then everything that happened up until this point replayed in his mind.

This time, he finally understood.

As cold sweat ran down his forehead, Zhang Ying Hao couldn’t help but shiver.

He tried to retract his hand -----then stopped.

Ye Fei Li is shaking his hand tightly to show his seriousness and respect.

Zhang Ying Hao breathed in, making a smile that’s harder to look at than a frown, saying: “Ah, brother, I have confidence that you’ll be a very good partner, definitely so”

Cultivation world.

After the semester examination, the world’s situation is boiling up.

Bai Hua Palace.

A long streak of fire flew in, hovering in front of Bai Hua Fairy.

Taking the flame talisman, Bai Hua Fairy scanned it with her inner sight.

“What a strange piece of intelligence” she said.

“What’s the matter?” Xiuxiu asked curiously.

“All the strong demons and demon beasts that used to occupied Demon Cloud River is nowhere to be seen”

“Could it be they’ve entered human territory?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

“They couldn’t, we’re keeping very strict surveillance, if they ever get close, we’d definitely notice” Bai Hua Fairy said.

“After confirming many times, they seem to be going away, leaving our world” she added.

“That’s a good thing” Qin Xiao Lou smiled and said, “if they all leave, we’ve already won without needing to fight”

“But all the Beast Saints are still here, not even a single one has left” Bai Hua Fairy continued.

She contemplated for a bit, saying: “Even though we don’t know what happened, but this is the best chance for humanity”

“We originally only wanted to retaliate after the semester examination, but look like it can become a decisive all-out attack instead”

As Gu Qing Shan listened, his heart sank.

The demons are leaving ------but where?

If the corpse on the bronze pillar is telling the truth, then they are definitely looking for a softer fruit to pick.

And that means Reality.

At this point, the demons themselves still can’t go into Reality yet, but they’ve already had both the sea creatures and the Man Killer Fiends descend, what would they do next?

Reality is already very tattered, unfit to deal with a 3rd great calamity at the same time.

Damn it, I should be in Reality right now, checking exactly what happened!

Gu Qing Shan was a bit sorrowful, but he can’t help it.

Both worlds are changing too rapidly in this life that he really can’t do anything about it.

No need to talk about the changes in Reality, even the cultivation world is different.

In the past life, players can at least start with killing small and weak demon beasts, slowly gaining strength and levels, getting used to the cultivation world.

But this time, since humanity has found out the demon’s plan and Shen Wu world, on the basis that they have absolute tactical advantage, there wouldn’t be any more small-scale fights, only large, all-out operations.

And he himself will soon have to enter the fray!

This isn’t a game where you fight monsters to level up, this is actual combat that can and will cost you your life.

Facing the giant flow of war, the fate of any person is like a leaf in water, weak and fragile.

Then what… should he do?

Gu Qing Shan quickly glanced at the hourglass.

It’s still falling extremely slowly -----ever since he went into that strange space, his time flow has been messed up to no end.

He doesn’t even know exactly when he’ll be able to go back to Reality during this trip the cultivation world.

He silently sighed.

There’s no more room for him to worry about Reality, at the moment, the thing he has to worry about most is this time’s operation.

He can only hope that nothing too major happens during the time he’s at cultivation world.

Gu Qing Shan temporarily pushed his worries down, concentrating on what’s going on in Bai Hua Palace.

Then Bai Hua Fairy swung her hand, leaving two items on the table.

They were two identification badges. One in front of Gu Qing Shan, the other in front of Qin Xiao Lou.

Gu Qing Shan’s badge is still the same gold blue color, but it wasn’t as big as the one he had when he came here.

In the middle of the badge, a dark red string carved out two large and fierce characters.

-----Xiao Qi

Gu Qing Shan stared at the Xiao Qi Chaplain badge in disbelief: “I’ve become a Xiao Qi Chaplain just like that?”

Xiao Qi Chaplain is the 3rd rank within the “6 Chaplains”, it’s quite the status.

Humanity’s military officers use a “6 Chaplains, 4 Generals, Vice and Main Deputy” ranking system.

As for Lieutenant, Captain, Major, etc. they’re considered small team’s leaders within the ranks of soldiers, not actual officers (1)

A Chaplain, from lowest to highest in order are: “Pei Rong”, “Ren Yong”, “Yu Wu”, “Xiao Qi”, “Zhen Wei” and “Zhao Wu”

This system went through many times of correction and discussion before being born, universally recognized in the entire cultivation world.

For cultivators within this system, every time they want to advance a rank, they need to have the appropriate amount of Military Merits.

And for players, that means to kill demons.

In the past life, a player needed to kill 800 demon beasts to change their status from “Soldier” to “Pei Rong Chaplain”, and from Pei Rong to Ren Yong requires killing 2000 demon beasts.

After advancing each rank, the amount required to advance again increase by at least two fold.

From a soldier to a Xiao Qi Chaplain, a player would need to kill a total of 30,800 demon beasts.

This is such a ridiculous amount that very few are able to reach, but it’s how the System worked.

If they’re not players but rather real cultivators, people of this world, someone that was a frontline soldier like Gu Qing Shan would have to make 10 small contributions, or 1 large contribution in a battle to advance to Pei Rong Chaplain.

“Pei Rong” is the lowest rank within officers, and yet Gu Qing Shan’s badge says he was already a Xiao Qi Chaplain.

He skipped 3 ranks.

“That is what you’re supposed to get, no need to be surprised” white goose said.

Bai Hua Fairy smiled, also saying: “You save two Generals, got this Saint to personally handle the matter, help with uncovering the spy in Humanity’s top brass, even discovering Shen Wu world was a part of your contributions, and you still don’t think you deserve to be a Xiao Qi?”

White goose also said: “If it weren’t for the fact that you advancing too quickly would harm your cultivation, Shifu would’ve forced the army to give you a General title as well”

“Shifu can actually do that?” Gu Qing Shan was a bit unconvinced.

Within the Human Cultivation Alliance, the thing with the most weight is Military Merit. Each time anyone advance a rank, it’s always an extremely serious and impartial matter without any space for personal feelings.

Even if he contributed greatly to humanity’s cause, going from a normal soldier straight to being a General is still very unbelievable.

White goose explained: “Currently, there are no Deputy or Vice-deputy for the alliance army”

“There’s no Deputy? Then who’s in charge now?” Xiuxiu asked.

“After Blade Emperor’s betrayal, the people’s spirits aren’t united” white goose squints his eyes, “after much discussion, the current Human Cultivator Alliance’s army has three highest leaders, the 3 Saints shall personally handle control of the army”

“As there’s no chance for any of the 3 Saints to betray humanity, this is the most assured method”

“How is it?” white goose asked with pride, “third brother, as the highest leader of the army, do you think Shifu have the ability to directly promote you to a General?”

“Yes she does” Gu Qing Shan said in cold sweat.

Bai Hua Fairy cleared her throat and said very seriously: “Qing Shan, seeing that you’re still very young, Shifu believe you still need to train and better yourself, there’s still a lot of time for you to become a General later”

“Yes” Gu Qing Shan answered.

“Be a Chaplain first, after you get used to the battlefield and know how to control the troops then we can consider it later”

“Yes”

“Not to mention, with your talents, wouldn’t contributing and ranking up a simple matter?” Bai Hua Fairy very casually said, lifting her head in pride.

“…” Gu Qing Shan didn’t answer.

No it’s not simple, even contributing requires a lot of effort and accumulation, Gu Qing Shan silently complained to himself.

He’s almost sure that he understands the Military Merit and ranking system better than Bai Hua Fairy.

Because in the past life, this is something that players have become accustomed to and knows by heart, everyone heard it so many times that they’re all familiar with it.

But Bai Hua Fairy is a Saint, a person standing at the very top of humanity’s cultivation. Everything she has to think about are major matters, so she won’t necessarily study and understand the Military system as carefully as he had to.

“Third brother is quite talented, you’re only a rank below me” Qin Xiao Lou pridefully showed off his badge.

On it was the two characters for “Zhen Wei”

Xiao Qi, Zhen Wei, Zhao Wu, these are the highest 3 tiers of the Chaplain rank.

Gu Qing Shan smiled, saying: “Seems like we brother can fight side by side on the frontline this time”

As soon as Qin Xiao Lou heard that, he quickly hid his badge, embarrassed: “About that, erm, I’m actually at the backline”

White goose scoffed, saying: “How would he know about killing and battle. He’s getting by at the backline thanks to the 6 arts”

Gu Qing Shan then remembered.

Divination, Formation, Smithing, Pills, Talisman, Food. These are the 6 things that no cultivators can not use, and Qin Xiao Lou is an expert in all of them.

Thanks to that, he basically doesn’t need to be at the frontline, being in the backline is where he shines and contributes the most to strengthen humanity’s alliance.

Gu Qing Shan very serious said: “That’s also a tough job, demons are fierce and aren’t afraid of death, if it weren’t for the 6 arts, humanity would have been defeated long ago”

The 6 arts are the crystallization of this world’s civilization. A large part of why humanity can rival demons at all is thanks to having these things.

“That’s very correct, you’re not wrong” very rarely, white goose doesn’t push Qin Xiao Lou down and agreed, praising him.

Bai Hua Fairy explained: “Bai Ying Tian is a beast, so his position is a bit hard. While Xiuxiu is still young, so she can’t go yet”

“The two of you will represent Bai Hua Sect, at the frontline, make sure to do your best and don’t soil our sect’s name”

“Yes” they both replied at the same time.

“Very good” Bai Hua Fairy smiled, “Qing Shan is already a Xiao Qi Chaplain, but he doesn’t even have a spirit beast for a mount. Xiao Lou, you bring him to choose a spirit beast to use as mount”

“Leave it to me” Qin Xiao Lou appreciated how Gu Qing Shan followed up for him just now, so he was more than happy to do so.

Bai Hua Fairy nodded, then floated away.

Note:

(1) military ranks: “lieutenant, captain, major” are not the literal translation, but there’s no real equivalent to them in English. Essentially they are a leader of a team of 10, 100 and 1000 respectively.

I feel like I need to explain the “6 Chaplains, 4 Generals, Main and Vice Deputy” system a bit clearer.

1/ The system refers only to officers in the army, soldiers aren’t included.

2/ 6 Chaplains refer to the 6 mini-ranks within the Chaplain military ranking. Same goes to 4 General

In my opinion, the system makes no sense in a real military context aside from giving a game-like feel where you can climb the ranks and eventually make it to the top. Because there would be too many officers and not enough soldiers.

Zhang Ying Hao has already entered his “zone”, slowly started to speak: “How do I say this, personally, I think there are two kinds of aristocrats -----“

Gu Qing Shan almost couldn’t help doing a spit-take.

This was the very same reasoning Zhang Ying Hao used to win him over last time.

Ye Fei Li scoffed: “So there are now two kinds of aristocrats now?”

“Of course, the first are the rotten, corrupted old men, together with the young masters who knows nothing but to play around, becoming the cancer tumors of society” Zhang Ying Hao answered.

“I agree, aristocrats are like that” the young man crossed his arms and nodded.

“Then there’s the second kind of aristocrat, who don’t think of themselves as such. They think that the title of ‘aristocrat’ is absolute dog shit” Zhang Ying Hao continued.

“Ah? That can’t be true”

“Of course it’s true, just take me for example. I might look like an aristocrat to you, but I’ve already been kicked out of my home since I was 15”

“What for?”

“Because they wanted me to marry out! What bull shit! My to-be wife looked like a fucking sea monster, if I marry her, it’ll be hard to even say who is bedding who”

“And so, right then ------I put my house on fire”

“A mansion?” Ye Fei Li suddenly asked.

“Hm” although caught a bit off-guard, Zhang Ying Hao nodded.

“That’s easily worth a few millions, and you gave that up?” Ye Fei Li asked.

“Who cares about the money. The point is, you can’t compromise and make these kinds of dirty deals just to keep a damn status”

“It’s dirty indeed, but how did you live from then on?”

“I kill people for money, my targets are especially people whose sins knows no end” Zhang Ying Hao got more and more excited as he talked.

“Kill people?” Ye Fei Li was very interested, letting go of his crossed arms.

Gu Qing Shan silently felt that bringing Zhang Ying Hao with him today was the best decision he has made since his return to the past.

He silently stood there listening to the two of them.

“That’s right, afterwards, I created a hitman firm, called the Hunter Association”

“Hunter… that sounds nice”

…

“After that, I got to know my business partner here, Mr. Gu Qing Shan” Zhang Ying Hao finally concluded his spiel.

“Your name is Gu Qing Shan?” Ye Fei Li asked.

“That’s right” Gu Qing Shan said.

Ye Fei Li looked at Zhang Ying Hao, then at him, asking: “Then what exactly do you want when you came here today to meet me?”

Gu Qing Shan was silent for a bit, then said: “I don’t think killing is a really big issue or anything like that, the only thing is knowing to kill their people that needs to”

“Continue”

“And that is why I wanted to invite you to become our partner here”

“Me? But I’m ------“

“There’s no problem with that, truthfully, this is a good thing for both you and I”

“What’s good am I supposed to get from this?”

“Impartial Goddess told me, your mother is ill, extremely ill” Gu Qing Shan said.

Ye Fei Li’s expression changed, hurriedly asked: “Her illness is acting up again? Didn’t I transfer her some money already? Why doesn’t she use it?”

“Because she wanted to save it up, together with her pension, leaving all to them for you” Gu Qing Shan answered.

“You might want to take a look at what happened yesterday’s afternoon”

He snapped his fingers, then the Holo-Brain lit up again.

A screen is projected in the air.

An ambulance stretcher carried a thin, middle-aged woman out from a building.

Her hair has already started going grey, her skin was bone dry, there were even wrinkles that weren’t supposed to be there at her age. Obviously the pressure of her living conditions had left quite a few marks on herself.

A doctor was angrily walking next to the stretcher, chastising her: “I already told you to receive treatment, but you still insisted on not coming, just how much do you want to save that money?”

The middle-aged woman tried her best to smile, saying: “I’m an old woman now, how long I have left to live isn’t a big deal, I have to save it for my son”

The footage stopped, the screen shut down.

Ye Fei Li was shocked, took out his Holo-Brain wanting to do something.

Then a voice notified him

[User doesn’t exist, unable to operate Confederate account]

“Aaaaarrrgg!”

Ye Fei Li roared angrily, throwing the Holo-Brain to the ground as hard as he could.

He suddenly turned away, taking off his sunglasses and tilted his head upward.

“Oy, brother, we’re all grown-ups here, what are you crying for” Zhang Ying Hao loudly spoke.

Gu Qing Shan was a bit nervous, glaring at him.

Zhang Ying Hao thumped his chest, silently gestured “I got this” with his mouth.

“Listen to me, this isn’t that big a deal”

Zhang Ying Hao lit himself a cigarette, doesn’t mind that the young man had already put back his sunglasses on and stared at him.

He continued: “Currently, the best possible way to cure a person is to restructure and fix them up from the genetics level”

“The deep restructure and fixing of their gene will largely extend a person’s lifespan”

“But if that is kept up, people would die too slowly, the population would increase exponentially and place great stress upon the planet. That’s why it has always been strictly regulated and banned”

He drew another breath from the cigarette.

“Not to mention, a single time of deep genetic restructuring would cost an astronomical amount of credits, enough to buy off half a city”

“Impartial Goddess herself is the one enforcing the restrictions”

Zhang Ying Hao then leaned his elbow on Gu Qing Shan’s shoulder, suddenly shifting his tone: “But the two of us here, control both the light and the shadow. There’s no problem in this Confederate that we can’t handle”

“The price of tricking me will be very severe” Ye Fei Li cut him off.

“What I have is money” Zhang Ying Hao pointed at himself, then at Gu Qing Shan: “And he, has authority ------you saw it yourself just now, Impartial Goddess acted like she was his little lover”

“That means the two of us here have so much money that we don’t know what to do with, as well as privileges that none other has”

“We can use the Confederate’s technology to save your mother” Gu Qing Shan added.

“If you come with us, I’ll definitely make sure your mother gets back to full health” He looked at him very sincerely and said.

Ye Fei Li looked at him, silent.

“To become our partner means that your mother is my mother, so I’ll take care of her treatment!” Zhang Ying Hao suddenly raised his voice, thumping his chest in assurance.

Ye Fei Li frowned, a bit hesitant: “I’m different from you two. Every day, I have to kil----“

Zhang Ying Hao raised his eyebrows.

“There’s no problem with that!” Gu Qing Shan quickly cut him off, “there are many Man Killer Fiends that are getting stronger and stronger every day, we need your help to kill them”

Gu Qing Shan then continued: “To be honest, many of their evolutions are going on the wrong path. The only perfect evolution is when you’re able to keep both emotion and memories, and the only one that will be able to go exceptionally far”

“At your current level, you are probably able to suppress your ‘urge’ temporarily”

“Temporarily… that is true, just like someone that’s starving, I can use my will to suppress the urge, but not for long” Ye Fei Li answered.

Gu Qing Shan clapped his hand, saying: “The more you evolve, the longer you’ll be able to keep your sanity, of course, if you want to keep evolving, you’ll have to keep doing what you’ve been doing”

As Zhang Ying Hao listened to their talk, he felt like he understood something.

Evolve?

His ability evolves?

This guy’s ability has reached the Further Evolution level?

That’s already the highest rank of God's Chosens.

No wonder he was able to almost kill Gu Qing Shan.

What an eye-opener indeed.

Such a powerful ally, no wonder Gu Qing Shan is so sincere and tense about getting him on our side.

-----that’s right, such a powerful person must definitely be on our side no matter what.

“Come on man, we’re offering such an exclusive deal here, what are you hesitating for? Accept it, and we’ll crack open a bottle of champagne to celebrate. It’s all on me today, we’ll go hard all the way until midnight” Zhang Ying Hao put the cigarette in his mouth, spreads his arms and smile full of enthusiasm.

Ye Fei Li stood there, stunned.

He took out a jade medallion from his chest, rubbing it dearly.

“What will you have me do?” he stared at the jade, not lifting his head.

“To kill, or more precisely, kill the other Man Killer Fiends” Gu Qing Shan said.

Gu Qing Shan continued: “From now on, all the killing operations will be left to you, and I’ll handle all the aftermath for you”

“And I’ll be dependent on you?”

“No, this is a partnership, everyone gets a slice of the cake, and help with a part of the cleanup”

Ye Fei Li rubbed his chin, then asked again: “What if I can’t control myself, what then?”

“I’ll help you with controlling yourself”

“You will?” Ye Fei Li smiled, unconvinced.

“I have my ways; you just have to put a little bit more trust in me”

“And you aren’t afraid of being exposed that we’re working together?” Ye Fei Li questioned further.

“Everyone only have one life. No matter what, there’s always a risk you have to take” Gu Qing Shan answered.

Ye Fei Li listened, his eyes loosened behind the sunglasses, but stayed silent.

Gu Qing Shan continued: “We have Impartial Goddess here with us, we’ll be able to analyze you more accurately with your cooperation. If we are able to deal with your problem using genetic techniques, I believe you can even go back to a normal life with your mother”

Then his tone shifted to be slow and steady: “There’s no such thing as an obstacle that can’t be passed, even if the threats are eliminated, I can specifically make a giant slaughterhouse just for you”

“Alright, I’m in” Ye Fei Li finally agreed.

Gu Qing Shan’s heart was able to relax.

He was clenching his fist tightly, his emotions boiling, almost couldn’t help himself from shouting in joy.

The entire 10 years of the Apocalypse, there has never been a case where a Man Killer Fiend even agreed to a peaceful life with humans.

This is a historic moment, a choice that affected the fate of humanity, a miracle in the evolution of life, a change so drastic that billions of people in the past life couldn’t possibly fathom.

“And so, please save my mother” Ye Fei Li said.

Gu Qing Shan calmed himself down, then said: “Impartial Goddess”

[I’m here] his Holo-Brain lit up.

“You’ve heard everything”

[I did, but the authority, resources and manpower needed for a deep genetic restructuring is massive, I will need one week of preparation]

“Then first preserve Ye Fei Li’s mother’s life”

[That won’t be a problem]

“Use Merit from my personal account to exchange for the finance to give Ye Fei Li’s mother better living conditions”

[Understood] Impartial Goddess said, [currently preparing conditions corresponding to Aristocrats]

Gu Qing Shan looked at Ye Fei Li: “You’ve heard it, correct?”

Ye Fei Li slowly nodded.

“From now on, you can come meet her as well” Gu Qing Shan said.

“Good” Ye Fei Li answered.

“As for right now” Gu Qing Shan considered a bit, then said: “The people at my place already met you, going there would only create unnecessary trouble”

He looked at Zhang Ying Hao: “Do you have a place? Somewhere for him to rest”

“Leave it to me” Zhang Ying Hao lifted his head: “As a partner of mine, of course you’ll receive the royal treatment”

Suddenly, Gu Qing Shan’s expression changed.

A line of text flashed on the War God UI.

[The world’s space-time has been affected by an unknown force, affecting the user’s time flow. The user has to immediately enter the cultivation world to normalize his own time flow]

What does that mean?

Gu Qing Shan looked at the line of text in confusion, silently asked the System: “Why did the world’s space-time change? What are the specific symptoms of this?”

[Ting!]

The System replied: [An outside force, like the appearance of the sea creatures and Man Eater Fiends]

“Then why did my time flow not get affected when the sea creatures and Man Eater Fiends appeared, yet it got affected now?” Gu Qing Shan questioned further.

[Because this time’s force is greater than it has ever been]

Seeing his ulterior motive being called out, Zhang Ying Hao was a bit embarrassed, but shook his head and spoke: “I heard you have quite the good wine here, mind inviting me for a drink?”

“Come in” Gu Qing Shan turned around.

They sat down in the lounge, knocking their glasses together.

“Tell me what you want” Gu Qing Shan said

“It’s nothing much, nothing much really” Zhang Ying Hao’s face was plastered with the brightest smile he had.

-----looking Gu Qing Shan’s attitude, if I mention it now he’ll definitely refuse, let’s just wait a bit and see what happens.

“Then you can leave after finishing that drink, I have so much work over here. I’m about to head out so I won’t be able to entertain you for very long” Gu Qing Shan said very seriously.

“Hah, you want to shoo me away already? This wine really is nice, but you’re only giving me one cup here!” Zhang Ying Hao didn’t let it go.

Gu Qing Shan silently watched him, then pulled out a crate of wine from under the table.

“You can have all of it, bring it home and slowly enjoy it, can you leave now?” he pointed at the crate and said.

“Hah hah, you’ve shown your sincerity, but this isn’t a matter of the wine” Zhang Ying Hao laughed it off, “----what I’m saying is, whatever you’re doing, I can help”

“You want to help?” Gu Qing Shan glanced at him.

“Naturally, as business partners, whatever trouble you have, it’s my duty to give some aid” Zhang Ying Hao said as he puffed out his chest in pride.

Suddenly, Impartial Goddess’ voice was heard from the Holo-Brain: [Drafted target’s movement pattern, path of contact has been successfully established]

Gu Qing Shan immediately stood up, saying: “I need to leave now, you probably shouldn’t leave, just stay here, we’ll talk when I return”

Zhang Ying Hao stopped him, saying: “Then I’ll come with, no matter what mission it is, even if it’s wrestling with a Man Killer Fiend, I can fight alongside you just fine”

Gu Qing Shan stared at him, saying: “What are you doing now? My work is very dangerous”

“As business partners, I have to at least keep up appearance don’t I?” Zhang Ying Hao tilted his head slightly back, looking like a real hitman association’s boss, “Not to mention, no matter what sort of dangerous person it is, it’s no issue to this great young master”

Gu Qing Shan sighed, thought for a bit, then said: “Fine then, if you say so, then you’ll come as well”

“Where are we going? To do what?” Zhang Ying Hao asked excitedly.

Suddenly Impartial Goddess interrupted them, saying: [Zhang Ying Hao does not have the appropriate authority level, denied access to S-rank top-secret information]

Zhang Ying Hao shut off the Holo-Brain, then asked Gu Qing Shan: “Now you can tell me”

“Hmm, yeah, we’re going to meet someone that almost killed me” Gu Qing Shan thought about it, then answered vaguely.

“You really won’t tell me the situation?” Zhang Ying Hao asked, feeling hurt.

“I have to think about the other’s feelings as well” Gu Qing Shan sighed again.

Sure enough, the Holo-Brain automatically lit up as Impartial Goddess’ voice was heard from it: [S-rank top-secret information isn’t easily spread. Sir Gu Qing Shan’s actions are highly appreciated]

Not knowing why, Zhang Ying Hao felt like Impartial Goddess’ voice held a clear joyful tone.

“Fine, then can I come or not?” Zhang Ying Hao asked Impartial Goddess.

“Having someone to watch my back is also not a bad choice” Gu Qing Shan also explained to Impartial Goddess.

Impartial Goddess stayed silent for a bit, then spoke: [Zhang Ying Hao has been allowed participation in the operation. But Zhang Ying Hao can infer the corresponding intelligence by himself, Impartial Goddess and sir Gu Qing Shan cannot easily disclose them]

“So I can come help? We’re going to fight?” Zhang Ying Hao asked.

“That remains to be seen” Gu Qing Shan didn’t confirm or deny it.

“What is there left to be seen? From what you said, that guy almost killed you!”

“Fighting isn’t going to solve every problem in the world”

“Listen to yourself, you really have no fighting spirit what-so-ever”

“Just go” Gu Qing Shan chased him out, “I need to take care of a few things, you can go say hi to everyone, I’ll go look for you after I’m finished”

“Fine then” Zhang Ying Hao walked out, slightly annoyed.

After he left, Gu Qing Shan closed the door and went back to the table, speaking: “Impartial Goddess”

[I’m here]

“The situation has changed, aside from the Contact operation, draft another operation for me”

[Please elaborate]

“The operation will be named: Exterminate. Show me a map of the area”

[Understood]

After Impartial Goddess confirmed it, she showed a map of the city in front of Gu Qing Shan.

Gu Qing Shan looked at the map, carefully arranging the necessary measures.

“10km from our meeting point, at these points here, arrange a squad of Mech fighters in each place. Have them turn off their engines and wait for orders”

“30km from our meeting point, arrange the army and Professionists at these points to create a pincer formation. Gather two of the Generals and station them respectively at South East and North West directions, have them ready for battle”

“Do not reveal the actual situation, give them a mission to complete while maintaining the appropriate distance from us”

“If the Contact operation fails, when Zhang Ying Hao and I enter combat, have the Mechs arrive at the scene within exactly 1 minute, and the Generals within 2 minutes to commence the Exterminate operation and kill the Man Killer Fiend”

“Besides that, I want you to prepare some footage and records, be ready to send them to my personal Holo-Brain at a moment’s notice”

[Understood] Impartial Goddess spoke, [Sir, your preparation is exceptional, but I have a question]

“Go ahead”

[Why didn’t you do this before?]

“Before, if Contact were to fail once, I can still try it again”

“But now” Gu Qing Shan sighed, “I need to guarantee my business partner’s life as well”

[So that’s the reason]

One minute later.

A small-sized shuttle landed on an abandoned ball field at the edge of the city.

Zhang Ying Hao stepped off the shuttle and evaluated the area.

This was an open basketball field, quite a few large blotches of blood soaked the ground.

On one of the goal baskets hung half a corpse, obviously someone tried to hide their temporarily, but got killed anyways.

A flat basketball was sitting on the side of the court on the grass, covered in some sort of black substance, attracting countless flies circling over it.

“So, what are we here for?” Zhang Ying Hao asked.

He then went silent.

A very normal looking young man half covered in blood dragged his feet walking in from outside the court, leaving a trail of blood.

His complexion was pale, his steps staggering, wearing a pair of sunglasses on his face to hide his eyes.

Zhang Ying Hao glanced at Gu Qing Shan while reaching inside his coat pocket.

Gu Qing Shan quickly stopped his hand, afraid that it will alert the other party.

As he saw him stopping his weapon, Zhang Ying Hao understood.

So they really were here not to fight but to find him.

Zhang Ying Hao evaluated the young man in front of him.

-------what would they need this guy covered in wounds for?

Gu Qing Shan normally looks very down-to-earth and humble, but he’s extremely prickly and not easy to mess with.

And yet this young man was almost able to kill Gu Qing Shan? Looking at his appearance, you wouldn’t associate him with being a strong person.

While he was silently dissing him, Gu Qing Shan has already greeted the young man.

“Please wait a minute” Gu Qing Shan said.

The young man stopped, turned around to look at them.

“You again” the young man spoke in a low voice.

He was hesitating a bit, seemingly considering what to do.

But Gu Qing Shan had already spoke again: “I’m not here to fight”

He raised both hands up, showing that he was unarmed”

“Ah? How did you find me? You should know, even the military couldn’t track me here” the young man asked.

Still capable of being curious, that's a good sign, Gu Qing Shan silently muttered.

Gu Qing Shan answered: “That’s because you still have your Holo-Brain with you”

“What does that have to do with anything?” the young man questioned.

Gu Qing Shan snapped his fingers.

And the young man’s Holo-Brain lit up in his breast pocket.

[Greetings, former Confederate citizen Ye Fei Li, I am Impartial Goddess] a voice was heard from his Holo-Brain.

Gu Qing Shan snapped his finger again.

Ye Fei Li’s Holo-Brain shut down again.

Zhang Ying Hao opened his mouth wide, unable to say anything as he saw that.

Ye Fei Li’s face changed, himself also speechless.

Both of them know very well what that just now meant.

Because even the President can’t do what he just did.

“How interesting” Ye Fei Li blinked, then asked: “This seems to be a secret, so why did you tell me?”

“I and my friend here needs a business partner, and you seem to be quite an appropriate person for the job” Gu Qing Shan lowered his hands, his expression also relaxed.

Ye Fei Li was truly stunned this time.

“Ahaha, business partner?” He laughed like crazy.

How long has it been since he heard something like that?

This guy is really out of expectation, no, to be more precise, any normal person would not have the same way of thinking he does.

Ye Fei Li shook his head, face showing disdain: “For me, only my body is going crazy, but you, your brain is definitely crazy”

Zhang Ying Hao has already regained his composure, seemingly understood the intent behind this meeting.

First of all, Gu Qing Shan is very serious about wanting to get this person on their side.

Second, this person is exceptionally valuable for something.

Third, he said his body was going crazy… and God's Chosens at their 4th stage, Undergoing Change, certainly does have a symptom of not being able to control their body.

----very well, seems like this really is worth his cooperation.

“You -----brother Ye, please don’t mind it” Zhang Ying Hao cleared his throat and started to speak to the young man, “even though my business partner here speaks a bit too frankly, I assure you he’s a nice guy all around. If his friends ever need help, he’ll stop at nothing to help them”

“If he thinks you’re suitable to become our partner, then you definitely are exceptional without a doubt”

“Brother Ye, you can be assured” Zhang Ying Hao showed a smile, continuing: “You only need to become our partner, and all sorts of fortunes are waiting for you. Your life from now on, would only change for the better, you’ll be on your way to the very peak of life itself”

A strange silence followed.

Zhang Ying Hao kept up his friendly but not too excited smile.

He’s extremely pleased with his performance, and is currently thinking of the next words to say.

Gu Qing Shan and Ye Fei Li were both staring at him.

Gu Qing Shan showed a confused expression, but was also quite approving.

While Ye Fei Li was staring at him from behind the sunglasses, his eyes contained nothing but surprise.