“You really don’t know? So, does that mean the T-virus wasn’t your doing either?”
Ning Yu furrowed her brow, realizing that things were indeed not as she had imagined.
“Some of your and William’s records were hidden in the metadata of the T-virus serum.”
She stated this fact but didn’t explain how she had decrypted it.
Upon hearing this, Lacy was momentarily stunned, then suddenly laughed in relief.
“So that’s how it is. It seems Lord William did some other things as well.”
“Now everything makes sense.”
Ning Yu also stepped closer to her, glancing at the screen beside her.
“Why don’t you elaborate?”
Lacy took a deep breath, the light wings behind her flickering twice before dimming.
She began to speak slowly.
“To bring happiness to all humanity—this has always been Lord William’s dream.”
“He wanted to eradicate sickness, disaster, and the inevitability of aging and death, allowing everyone to continue existing in some form forever.”
“The method he chose was cyberization.”
Lacy raised her arm, the sophistication of her body far surpassing what Ning Yu and Shen Yiyue could have imagined.
The skin on her hand spread apart in perfect arcs, revealing intricate structures beneath—delicate circuits and transistors arranged like stars in the night sky.
Then, all the structures in her hand rearranged themselves, transforming into a small, adorable mechanical rabbit before shifting back to her hand.
“However, in many voluntary human experiments on critically ill patients, cyberization encountered unprecedented failures.”
“It seems humanity is bound by a genetic shackle.”
Hearing this, Ning Yu blurted out:
“51%?”
“Correct.”
Lacy nodded, knowing that Ning Yu must have also obtained this information from the virus metadata.
“Then how were you able to break through this limitation?”
Ning Yu felt puzzled.
“This body of mine once belonged to Lord William’s fiancée.”
“She suffered from an incurable malignant disease. In a moment of utter despair, Lord William attempted the first human cyberization on her.”
“But this cyberization succeeded on the first try.”
“It was also the only successful one.”
Lacy opened her palm, lifting it and gazing at it with an unfamiliar expression.
“She? Aren’t you her?”
Ning Yu seemed to have noticed a detail.
“After the transformation, I completely lost all my previous memories. Sometimes, I wonder if I’m still her.”
“If you replaced a part of your body or some of your memories with something else, would you still be you?”
She murmured, as if lost in thought.
“But based on his gaze and reactions, my rational judgment tells me that Lord William doesn’t believe I’m still her.”
“No matter how much I wish…”
She was about to continue but suddenly stopped, her eyes returning to normal as if some mechanism had triggered a reset.
“Never mind, it’s not important.”
She shook her head, seemingly refocusing on the main topic.
Ning Yu, however, clearly sensed something unusual about Lacy. She recalled a recording in which William had once said to Lacy:
‘You will always be my beloved.’
Was this statement true or false? And who exactly did the ‘you’ refer to? Perhaps only William himself knew.
But judging from the current conversation, it seemed William had indeed…
“To solve the issue of humanity’s genetic shackle, William experimented and created the Utopia serum.”
Lacy pointed to a small vial that appeared on the screen, engraved with the letter “U.” The liquid inside shimmered with a faint, multicolored glow.
“Isn’t this…”
Shen Yiyue had a strong impression of this Mary Sue-like liquid, and Ning Yu also seemed to recall it.
“What you’re seeing now—the phenomenon of zombification—is what occurs when the Utopia experiment fails.”
She clicked on a video on the screen:
Inside a sealed laboratory, a creature that could no longer be called human wandered aimlessly.
Its face contorted grotesquely, its limbs flailing wildly under the shackles, its mouth agape as if trying to bite something.
Yet, it was far less terrifying than the current zombies. At least its skin didn’t have the sickly grayish hue, and its body showed no signs of decay.
“Utopia doesn’t have the horrifying effects of the current T-virus. Its primary purpose was to completely transform the human body to resolve the rejection effects caused by cyberization.”
“The T-virus was Leon’s creation, based on Utopia.”
At the mention of Leon’s name, Lacy’s eyes instantly sharpened, filled with unmistakable hatred and a desire to kill.
“He and Lord William were students of the same teacher, and Leon was the teacher’s biological son.”
“Although both were students, the teacher imparted all his knowledge to Lord William and sent Leon to the Clock Tower Magical Association in the Fog City.”
The screen displayed a man with long black hair, wearing round glasses, his features handsome and gentle—a classic image of a beautiful man.
He stood in front of a massive clock tower, dressed in a black robe, facing the camera with an expressionless face.
This was likely Leon.
“Unfortunately, in this era, magic has long since declined. Leon is the last student of the Clock Tower in Fog City.”
“He is known as the greatest magician of the present age.”
Ning Yu and Shen Yiyue didn’t quite understand what magic was, exchanging confused glances.
“Magic, in essence, refers to artificially created mysteries or miracles that can be achieved with current technology.”
Noticing their expressions, Lacy added an explanation.
“These magicians spend their entire lives pursuing a single goal.”
Hearing this, Ning Yu’s heart skipped a beat.
“Could it be… reaching the Root?”
“Correct.”
Lacy confirmed Ning Yu’s guess.
“It is said that in that place, you and I are one, past and future coexist, and it contains all supreme knowledge and truth.”
“In a way, magicians are also pitiful philosophers. The Root, to them, is like a flame to a moth—irresistibly fatal.”
“If one could reach it, all questions would be answered, all worries and delusions would vanish, and ultimate happiness could be attained.”
“That’s how they describe it.”
Lacy’s tone was filled with disdain for what sounded like a lofty ideal.
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
