The Daily Life Of A Cyberpunk Magician-Chapter 609 - 310: A World Without Me_2

Jiang Shu lay on the couch, and beside him was Sister Ruo, who showed no change of expression. She leaned against Jiang Shu, her head resting on his shoulder, eyes fixed on Xiao Ba’s display screen.

"Hmm? Aren’t you curious at all?" Jiang Shu also poked Liu Tingruo’s face, then turned her face towards him to ask.

Although he didn’t use mind reading technique, Jiang Shu could still feel that Liu Tingruo had anticipated this, as if the occurrence of this event was predestined.

"Liu Shengyu warned me before, don’t touch my face; it’s prone to breakouts." Liu Tingruo swatted away Jiang Shu’s hand, her eyebrows knitting slightly. She noticed that in such private spaces, Jiang Shu liked to touch her now and then.

She didn’t dislike it, but also felt that it somewhat damaged her queenly demeanor.

"Oh." Jiang Shu obediently withdrew his hand, "It looks like I’m the last to know."

Then, he turned his gaze back to Xiao Yi, "Tell me, how did it turn out like this?"

Alpha: It all started with Master voluntarily entering the Special Prison. We couldn’t help, so we secretly followed Thirteen District Police Station to eradicate the mechanical disciples. As we did that, quite a few people were willing to work with us, and that became the infancy of the Taigong Dynasty.

Alpha: But we’ve set strict rules. We won’t engage in illegal activities or drug trafficking, and absolutely no harm will come to innocent civilians.

"Mhm." Jiang Shu nodded, making a sound through his nostrils.

With that, he also felt relieved.

Indeed, these four Tablet Spirits were still following him and wouldn’t really do anything bad.

He also had one requirement: the wealth gathered up through the Taigong Dynasty by these Tablet Spirits must be clean, and at least not tainted with blood.

Investing in some grey industries was permissible, because those were the rules of the game in Lonely City anyway. Still, there are things Jiang Shu wouldn’t touch; he was indeed short of money but not desperately mad for it.

Alpha: The money we’ve earned these few months isn’t a lot, but it’s enough to start Master’s "Sky Tower". If we add the wealth confiscated from Evon Garcia, it should be sufficient to kick off all previous plans at the same time.

Worried that Jiang Shu might not understand, Xiao Alpha added an explanation of what "all plans" meant.

Alpha: Historical readings, dramas, and games can all be launched. If we’re quick enough, we could see significant results within two years.

"Two years?" Jiang Shu frowned slightly.

Honestly, that timeframe wasn’t long at all. In his projection, having results within five years would have been great.

If things didn’t go smoothly, ten or twenty years would be normal, since this was about implanting collective subconsciousness, something unprecedented. Jiang Shu wouldn’t expect the best-case scenario.

But if it took ten or twenty years, then he would be in his thirties or forties. With such a long timeframe, who knows what odd events might occur?

For no reason, the dream Jiang Shu once had in Liu Tingruo’s laboratory suddenly resurfaced in his mind.

Or perhaps it wasn’t a dream at all but something that would happen in the future.

He formed a Thought Link with an aging Sawada Kazu, seeing through Sawada’s eyes future events.

The distinguishable signs of the Three Major Groups had disappeared, a new Black Wall rose again, massive devices harnessing spiritual power as an energy source appeared throughout Lonely City, a great many humans became mere mental laborers content to lie flat, and Liu Tingruo became a figure the whole world watched. However, in that world, beside Liu Tingruo, he didn’t see himself.

He was very clear about Liu Tingruo’s character; she’s not someone who enjoys the spotlight. As such developments unfolded one after the other, it was hard for him to imagine the reasons behind them.

But he had an ominous foreboding.

He always had this déjà vu of the dragon-slayer youth eventually becoming the dragon himself—except that the dragon-slayer youth might not be him but Sister Ruo.

What sort of story development could lead to such a future?

The most likely scenario almost instantly formed in Jiang Shu’s mind.

At some future moment, he completed the implantation of the collective subconscious and somewhat paralyzed the entirety of Lonely City with the Sky Tower, leading him to the final boss battle.

Then, he died.

Well, he probably died.

Because Jiang Shu couldn’t think of any other reason for such a drastic change in Liu Tingruo, and attributed it to some kind of turn to the dark side, with his death being the likeliest triggering event.

Afterward, perhaps the Main Brain faded away, the Three Major Groups fell, but Lonely City became even more of a Cyberpunk city than before.

Thinking about this, Jiang Shu suddenly couldn’t help but shiver. He felt as if he’d glimpsed a script, experiencing the pain of being grilled on the flames called "fate."

"What’s wrong?" At that moment, Liu Tingruo patted Jiang Shu’s face. She looked at his eyes strangely, "You’ve been zoning out... for a long time."

"Hmm? Have I?" Jiang Shu blinked and tried to brush it off with a laugh, "I was just a bit distracted."

"Really? It doesn’t seem like it was just a simple distraction to me." Doubt lingered in Liu Tingruo’s eyes, "You wouldn’t zone out for so long when discussing matters with Xiao Alpha."