Worldwide Awakening: My Soul Kinds Are Lost-Chapter 491: Drinking Poison to Quench Thirst Method_1
"The Absolute Heaven-Linking Array, interconnected with the Calamity of the Last Law... this thing is indeed quite good."
Wang Linchi dispatched numerous memory bodies. Drawing upon the memories of Type-33, he quickly identified all the nodes of the Absolute Heaven-Linking Array. After performing deductions using the Thought Mirror, he confirmed there were no issues with its effectiveness.
Now, there’s just one problem: how do I extract my benefits from the Absolute Heaven-Linking Array?
As for civilizational collapse? What does that have to do with me? I’m not even from this world. Besides, with the Calamity of the Last Law in effect, the world is already dying a slow death. The Absolute Heaven-Linking Array merely postpones the inevitable. For a world, dying in ten thousand years versus one thousand years makes no real difference.
Of course, aside from the Absolute Heaven-Linking Array, the framework of the Six Paths of Reincarnation was still replaying Type-33’s life. This time, however, it wasn’t simulating the future but starting from Type-33’s "birth"—that is, from the Ancient Era when he joined the Palace of Nine Nine Extremes.
Wang Linchi had wanted to start from Type-33’s actual birth, but discovered no such record existed. Moreover, the memories of the Ancient Era were extremely vague, likely due to the immense passage of time. By Wang Linchi’s estimation, at least several hundred thousand years must have passed. It was normal for many memories to be forgotten over such a vast expanse of time. Furthermore, Type-33 had died numerous times during these eons. After all, previous eras weren’t like the Jing Dynasty; back then, powerful experts filled the skies. Getting caught in battles often meant a high mortality rate, especially since most of the missions they undertook were far from simple. On several occasions, they were discovered and besieged. However, thanks to the incredibly profound foundation of the Nine Extremes Divine Palace, they always emerged victorious.
"These battle maniacs! They really don’t collect any knowledge at all." Wang Linchi scanned Type-33’s memories. The content was either plotting against someone or endless killing. They didn’t collect any information about the era’s systems at all... No, that’s not quite right. It’s not that they didn’t collect anything; they did gather a lot of countermeasures.
However, this was useless to Wang Linchi. By now, those methods from the Ancient Times were completely unusable.
After some further effort, Wang Linchi let the process continue to Hang Up. There was no rush; he could slowly review all the memories once they were fully collected. This time, unlike with the investigative probe, he didn’t need to worry about Type-33 detecting anything. Type-33 was merely recalling his own memories, so there was no concern about logical inconsistencies. These were his genuine recollections, not fabrications woven by Wang Linchi. It was as if Type-33 were journeying through his own subconscious.
"Unfortunately, the timing is really not right. I can only let the memory bodies handle things for now."
The End of the Dynasty for Dajing had begun, and Wang Linchi’s power was advancing by leaps and bounds. His body had now transformed into a cocoon-like Colorful Stone. He had entered the late stage of Cicada Molting, continuously assimilating the core divine authorities of life and death. The System of god road he created was also being perfected. Therefore, he simply could not leave his current location. Unless he retrieved his "human skin"—his game character—he could only operate externally by remotely controlling the memory bodies, the Saint Master, and his game character.
This didn’t mean Wang Linchi was currently in a Weak state; on the contrary, he was exceptionally powerful. So powerful, in fact, that if the Game System from the game world, Ye Tian, and the "Hospital Director" were to confront him, Wang Linchi could devour them whole.
The reason he didn’t go out was his fear of inadvertently affecting others and ruining his carefully cultivated "leek field." Newborn infants provided him with the Divinity of life, while the dying offered him the Divinity of death. The living, in turn, supplied him with vast amounts of faith from incense offerings as sustenance. As events unfolded and public sentiment grew, eight out of ten people in the entire Jing Dynasty came to believe in him. He was the Heaven Equivalent Benevolent Holy Emperor. With such a vast base of believers, Wang Linchi naturally received a continuous stream of sustenance to perfect his underworld.
"Unfortunately, the efficiency is still far too slow." Wang Linchi remained dissatisfied. After all, he was accustomed to operating with Plug Ins. In the real world, when you use Plug Ins, you don’t complain that the Plug In is too powerful and ruining your "experience" of getting thrashed; you complain that the Plug In is too weak to let you go on a killing spree. Therefore, Wang Linchi was, naturally, far from satisfied.
"Speaking of which, the Great Families seem to have met a rather tragic end." This thought crossed Wang Linchi’s mind as he reviewed intelligence relayed by a memory body.
The Five Surnames and Seven Hopes had been devastated. Not completely wiped out, but their ancestral lands were burned, and their ancestral tombs desecrated. Only the branches that had remained in the Capital survived. The foundation of a Great Family lies in its population and its monopolies, which allow it to consolidate power. But with their people slaughtered, leaving only a scattered few—mere "big cats and kittens"—how could they still be called Great Families?
The major Big Aristocratic Families were in this sorry state, and other medium and small aristocratic families had suffered similar fates. However, some reacted swiftly, directly transforming into Rebel Armies. They joined the fray, eager to see who would prove tougher.
The Southern Zhang Clan fared slightly better. When Zhang Lin sensed trouble, he promptly relocated all his people to... the foot of Mount Tai.
Yes, not the Capital, but Mount Tai.
All Rebel Armies fought under the banner of Wang Linchi, the King Heaven Equivalent. Since the vast majority of their members were also Wang Linchi’s followers, no one dared to recklessly deploy Blade Soldiers near Mount Tai. Thus, Mount Tai became a sanctuary amidst the chaos, with large numbers of commoners seeking refuge there. It was also thanks to Wang Linchi’s indirect assistance that at least half of these people didn’t starve to death.
Of course, this ’indirect help’ didn’t mean I simply handed over money and grain to the Temple Master to distribute. That would be ill-advised. As the saying goes, ’A measure of rice is a kindness; a bushel of rice can breed enmity.’ Give too much, and they’ll take it for granted. Then, the day the giving stops, they’ll resent you for it. So, while giving is possible, it must be done in a way that fosters continuous gratitude. This approach would ensure a continuous supply of abundant faith for me. Otherwise, why would I bother endlessly taking in refugees from all over? I do it precisely because there is profit to be made. The primary purpose of raising pigs is for their meat, not to pamper them like masters.
"Still, this Zhang Lin is clever, and there are no fools in the Southern Zhang Clan either," Wang Linchi noted. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
After settling down, the Southern Zhang Clan didn’t exhibit the arrogance or pampered nature typical of a Big Aristocratic Family. There were some initial frictions, but they integrated quickly and thus avoided drawing attention to themselves. Drawing attention to oneself at a time like this would not be wise.
As for Zhang Lin himself, he remained in the Capital. He couldn’t have escaped even if he had wanted to. The entire Capital had been surrounded long ago.
"Food supplies are about to be cut off. I’m afraid there’s going to be trouble in the Capital," Zhang Lin said, his face pale.
Li Zheng, looking no better and his expression weary, replied, "How long can we hold out? I recall a shipment of grain is due from the north in three days. I’ll go receive it myself."
At this moment, there were hardly any capable individuals left in the imperial court.
"It won’t arrive. It’s been intercepted by the Northern Jiang Army," Zhang Lin stated, having just received the latest intelligence.
Li Zheng froze for a moment, then recovered. "Then let’s flee. There’s no chance left anyway."
Emperor Jing? He gave up long ago. Nowadays, he just amuses himself in the palace all day. It’s only because he’s the emperor that his food and drink haven’t been cut off, though the quality has plummeted. Fortunately, Emperor Jing doesn’t seem to care. As long as there’s something to eat, he’s content. But once the grain supply is truly severed, his fate is easy to imagine.
So, Li Zheng’s immediate thought was to leave. He had already given enough for Dajing. Martyrdom was out of the question. If Emperor Jing were truly sharing their life-and-death struggle, he might have considered dying for the country. But with the Emperor feasting and reveling in the palace while they fought desperately outside, such thoughts were naturally absent.
"The city is besieged. Breaking out won’t be easy," Zhang Lin replied. "Besides, where would we even flee to?" He, too, wanted to escape, but saw no way out.
"Tonight, gather enough dried rations and fresh water," Li Zheng declared. "At midnight, take your trusted men, and we’ll fight our way out. As for where to go, we can figure that out after we break through."
He continued, "Either we gamble on a chance to live, or we wait here to starve." Li Zheng could be ruthless, especially when his own life was at stake. Previously, to save his own skin, he had been willing to run errands and deliver messages, even if it meant his authority was completely undermined. Now, again for his own life, he was willing to gamble everything on a breakout.
If the gamble fails, it’s no great loss, Li Zheng reasoned. Death during a failed breakout would be quick, just a single blade stroke. Staying in the city to starve, however, would be far more agonizing than being killed on a battlefield.
Zhang Lin pondered for a long time before finally nodding. "Alright, I’ll take that gamble with you."
Neither of them had any remaining ties in the city. Zhang Lin’s entire family was at the foot of Mount Tai, and Li Zheng had no wife, children, or other relatives to worry about.
Next, naturally, they had to decide who to include in the breakout party. Two people alone wouldn’t get far. They would need at least ten, but no more than a hundred, men.
