Chapter 388: Vicious Dog

Chapter 388: Vicious Dogs

"Rebuilding Takamagahara."

Su Ce’s gaze turned murky as he locked a massive draught of smoke deep within his lungs. After a long silence, he exhaled and spoke, yet not a single wisp of white smoke emerged from his mouth.

"How many years has this torrential downpour been raging? Even if those pirates had any sort of inheritance left, it would have been soaked through and rotted away long ago. And only now do they remember to hold an umbrella over themselves?"

Su Ce sneered. "Too late!"

"It is indeed a bit late, but they have no other path left to choose."

Ghost King Da spread his hands and smiled. "Whether those pirates ultimately want to pick up those unrealistic delusions of restoring their nation or not, at least after building Takamagahara, they will have one more hiding place, and one more path of retreat."

"Going into those tin cans made of scrap metal to become lonely ghosts and stray souls—what kind of retreat is that?"

Su Ce’s face was filled with disdain. "If I die one day, I'll be burned to ashes in a single fire, leaving clean and quick. There is absolutely no way I would upload myself into the Yellow Millet Dream. If you can't beat others in reality, can you really escape the fate of being kneaded and crushed by hiding in the Yellow Millet Dream? That kind of thinking is just too laughable."

"Therefore, the reason they are so desperate to restart Takamagahara is probably so that they still have the power to strike back even after they retreat into the Yellow Millet Dream."

"If Tokugawa Hiroshi and his lot are truly that naive, then things are simple. When they finish building Takamagahara with all their huffing and puffing, I’ll just wipe them out all at once, root and branch."

Su Ce’s brow furrowed slightly. "What I am worried about now is that these pirates might be acting as someone else's spear without us realizing it, and we'll foolishly enter the game ourselves. Once we step into a trap, it will be troublesome."

Ghost King Da looked horrified. "You mean, there is still a hidden hand behind them pushing the waves and adding fuel to the flames?"

"I'm afraid there's more than one."

Su Ce snorted, turned to sit in a horseshoe armchair, narrowed his eyes slightly, and lightly tapped his fingers against the armrest.

"During the Second Technological Revolution, the Zhu Ming Imperial Family mobilized the strength of the entire nation to forge the Yellow Millet Dream. The banner they raised was to change the lives of the common people, allowing the whole world to share in the blessings of the Empire's development."

"But anyone with a discerning eye knows they did it to thrust the tentacles of their rule into the minds of the populace, consolidating their royal way. Those half-dead Lawkeepers within the Three Judicial Offices' 'Great Ming Law Realm' are the most obvious example."

"Moreover, within this, there was also the malicious intent of the Imperial Family to kill the donkey once it left the grindstone."

Su Ce’s tone was calm. "Martial artists do not install brain-computers, and flesh and blood do not wear shackles. We have no need for the Yellow Millet Dream, so naturally, we do not need to put on this collar carefully prepared by the Imperial Family."

"In order to drive those of us who refuse to be controlled off the stage, the Zhu Ming Imperial Family sat idly by and watched the Buddhist and Daoist factions instigate the 'Sundering of the World's Martial Arts,' and even pushed things along from behind the scenes, catching us completely off guard."

Although they were currently within the Thousand-Household Office, Su Ce’s treasonous and presumptuous words still caused Ghost King Da’s heart to leap in terror.

"Regrettably, the Zhu Ming Imperial Family still overestimated their own ability to control their subordinates, and underestimated the ambition of those people."

A mocking smile hooked the corner of Su Ce’s mouth. "After the 'Sundering of the World's Martial Arts,' the Martial Sequence existed only in name. The meat of the martial sects was carved completely clean. The Imperial Family itself didn't manage to eat many pieces, but instead fattened up three even more vicious dogs."

"By the time they sensed something was wrong and wanted to snatch up the 'Yellow Millet Dream' as a dog-beating stick, they discovered that only a section of the handle remained in their hands. The rest of the stick had already been split up and devoured as bones by those vicious dogs."

Su Ce snuffed out a cigarette butt, lit another, and shook his head. "The affairs of the world are treacherous, truly unpredictable."

Ghost King Da was utterly shocked. The secrets flowing from Su Ce’s mouth were things that a mere Deputy Thousand-Household of the Brocade Guards had absolutely no way of knowing.

Hearing them now caused his hands and feet to turn completely cold, and even the mechanical heart within his chest cavity unconsciously slowed its beating frequency to the absolute limit.

"Thus, by the time the Imperial Throne was passed down to the Emperor Longwu, the Imperial Family was already in the embarrassing predicament of being besieged on all sides. Although he used a series of methods, including launching foreign wars, to divert the internal conflicts of the Empire, the effect was limited. It treated the symptoms but not the root cause, still powerless to reverse the increasingly declining fate of the Imperial Family."

"After his passing, the Imperial Family collapsed completely, gradually becoming nothing more than clay Bodhisattvas and fake deities dragged out to bask in the sun only during festivals."

"Emperor Longwu, Zhu Pingyuan, was indeed a sovereign of restoration, but what a pity..."

Su Ce exhaled white smoke, tilted his head back, and let out a long, drawn-out sigh. "By Heaven's mandate, may he lead a long and prosperous life. These eight words are easy to say with the mouth, and easy to hear with the ears, but to truly do it with one's hands is far too difficult."

Ghost King Da completely forgot that he no longer possessed the function to secrete saliva, yet he still swallowed air out of conscious instinct, barely alleviating the shock in his heart.

He remained silent for a long time, and finally asked the question that had lingered in his heart for many years, one he had never dared to voice.

"My Lord, since... since the Imperial Family has already fallen to this state, why does it still continue to exist..."

Su Ce glanced at the hesitating Ghost King Da and said candidly, "The current situation is already a balance formed by mutual constraints after all sides have played their hands. Once it is broken, it will benefit no one."

Snap.

Su Ce raised his hand and snapped his fingers. The map of the Japanese Territory that occupied the entire wall behind him rippled like the surface of water.

The undulating mountains, rivers, and seas, along with the ten great cities of the Japanese Territory, sank into the depths of the water together. In their place, a bright yellow character for 'Zhu' remained in the center of the wall.

"Though the decline of the Imperial Family was inevitable, Emperor Longwu was, after all, a heroic sovereign of his generation. Before his death, he forcefully snatched back twenty percent of the Yellow Millet authority from the gaps between the teeth of that pack of vicious dogs, leaving it as capital for his descendants to save their lives. This is one of the reasons why the Zhu Ming Imperial Family can still survive."

"The second point is the assistance of the Legalist Sequence."

The fingers Su Ce used to hold the cigarette tapped lightly. "To put it nicely, those Legalist people are firm-minded; to put it bluntly, they are wooden-headed and stubborn. They only recognize their own set of principles, completely incapable of adapting, and are ready to perish together with their enemies at the slightest provocation."

"But it is precisely because of this trait left behind in their genes that many of them still choose to remain loyal to the Imperial Family."

"Coupled with the fact that they hold ten percent of the Yellow Millet authority in their hands, sustaining the entire Great Ming Law Realm and possessing a certain suppressing ability over all of Ming bloodline, they still retain some right to speak."

Following Su Ce’s words, a mysterious black character for 'Fa' leaped out of the water on the wall, pressing tightly against the character for 'Zhu'.

A circle enclosed these two characters, forming the inner core of the entire image.

"Of course, the most critical point of all is still because the Confucian Sequence, the current head of the Three Teachings, has no murderous intent toward the Imperial Family."

A pure white character for 'Ru' emerged, hovering above the core circle.

"The Confucian Sequence still requires the system of the 'Imperial Court' to satisfy the needs of their promotion rituals. Therefore, they have merely hollowed out the Imperial Family and have no desire to replace them."

Su Ce chuckled. "Otherwise, this Empire would have stopped bearing the surname Zhu long ago."

Ghost King Da listened with jaw-dropped astonishment, unable to resist pressing further. "According to what you say, wouldn't it be simplest for the people of the Confucian Sequence to advance their sequences? Since the court is entirely controlled by them, isn't a ritual just a matter of a single word?"

"How could that be possible? No matter what resource it is, it is limited. Furthermore, things like official titles are all hollow; only true merit is the real focus."

Su Ce spoke unhurriedly. "Their Confucian Sequence can hand out hats to themselves, but could they possibly fabricate cultural and martial achievements that are clearly witnessed by the entire Empire?"

"What is fake cannot become true, and what is true cannot be faked. Flowery and brilliant essays can deceive the eyes of the ignorant masses, but genes will not recognize such methods. Only when the mind and body of the sequence follower truly ascend to the critical point..."

Suddenly, Su Ce’s expression became a bit awkward, and even the words in his mouth paused for a moment.

He suddenly shook his head and cursed, "Damn it, that rotten scholar Li Bufeng—these theories he told me are far too twisted and tongue-tying."

No wonder...

Ghost King Da’s expression froze, and realization dawned in his heart. It turned out that these words, which had left him utterly bewildered, were merely Su Ce relaying someone else's commentary.

Though he dared not show it on his face, secretly, Ghost King Da’s heart suddenly felt a lot more comfortable.

"Forget it, I’ll just use my own words to explain. To put it simply, only at the exact peak moment when your body and mind feel utterly 'exhilarated' will the genes awaken from their dormancy. That kind of self-deceiving 'fake exhilaration' has no effect whatsoever."

Ghost King Da’s expression turned peculiar. "Exhilarated?!"

"Yes, exhilarated!"

Su Ce crossed his legs, his face filled with bandit-like roughness. "As for that damn sequence ritual, to put it bluntly, it’s just that the predecessors wrote down the 'method of exhilaration,' teaching the people who follow how they ought to get exhilarated."

"So that's how it is!"

Ghost King Da’s eyes shone with light, and he nodded along with an air of mock seriousness.

"In the current domain of the Yellow Millet Dream, the Imperial Family holds twenty percent of the authority. They neither move it nor use it; they just damn well clutch it tightly in their arms as their life-saving weight. The Legalists hold ten percent, barely maintaining the operation of the entire Great Ming Law Realm."

On the wall, large characters of various colors continuously emerged following the cadence of Su Ce’s voice.

"The Confucians took twenty percent, the lion's share of which is used on the New Donglin Academy, groping out a new path of advancement called 'Scholarly Government' outside of the 'Official Career.' The remaining portion is used for the operation of the various ministries and offices of the court, serving as the Empire's final fig leaf."

"The Daoist Sequence, as one of the main forces that constructed the Yellow Millet Dream back then, also holds a full thirty percent of the authority in its hands, establishing the White Jade Capital."

Su Ce smiled coldly. "As for the remaining twenty percent of the authority, the Mohist and Yin-Yang sequences, who were played for fools by the Daoist Sequence, together account for ten percent, each building an 'Eastern Emperor Palace' and a 'Hall of the Grand Master'."

"The final ten percent has been split into who knows how many small, fragmented pieces of authority, scattered across the hands of the other sequences."

The Demon King Da stared at the wall, his eyes fixed on the scattered circles of varying sizes. He blinked, feeling something was missing, and suddenly asked, "Master, something's wrong. Where are those bald donkeys?"

"When the Huangliang Dream was being built, the Buddha Sect wanted to participate, but the Tao Sect, along with the Mohists and Yin-Yang, forcibly kicked them off the carriage, leaving the Buddha Sect with nothing."

Demon King Da raised an eyebrow. "Could the Buddha Sect have agreed to that?"

"Whether they agreed or not, it wasn't about words—it was about fists."

Su Ce laughed heartily. "Those big bald heads couldn't afford to fight anyone back then."

Upon hearing this, Demon King Da felt a chill. He vaguely understood why the Buddha Sect couldn't start another conflict, and it probably had something to do with the Martial Sect.

"The Buddha Sect's people were forced to do their own thing."

Su Ce spat out a mouthful of smoke, wringing his hands in frustration. "Who knew they'd come up with a new way and create a Huangliang Buddha Kingdom? It's completely unreasonable."

A 'Buddha' character appeared on the right, enclosed in a square box, distinct from the other circles, forming a separate entity.

From then on, no new characters appeared on the wall. A complete picture of the distribution of Huangliang Dream permissions, or the general relationship between various forces within the empire, was presented before Demon King Da.

The snow-white 'Confucian' character was at the highest position, overlooking other forces.

'Tao' was on the left, and 'Buddha' was on the right.

The Zhu Ming imperial family and the Legalists huddled together for warmth, struggling to survive in the cracks.

Others such as 'Yin-Yang' and 'Mo' undoubtedly had to stay at the very bottom.

Whether it was the square box or the circles, they were not stationary—they floated and moved restlessly below, as if there was a meaning of lurking and watching in them.

They helped each other, yet also checked each other.

"So, Old Ghost, don't think that this time the four Japanese companies killed so many Tao Sect members. In fact, the permissions they stripped out are nothing compared to the whole Tao Sect."

Su Ce sneered. "And do you really think the Tao Sect members would be so stupid? With so many people missing and clues all over the place, they could just use their brains to figure out where the perpetrator is hiding. Why do they need to make such a big fuss and search for the murderer all over the empire? They are playing this game a bit too hard."

"So, Your Lordship, do you think Bai Yujing is behind this, deliberately allowing the four companies to hunt down the Tao Sect members?"

Demon King Da looked startled. "Why?"

Su Ce frowned and extinguished the cigarette butt in his hand.

This time, he didn't light another cigarette. Instead, he slowly stood up from the chair, standing before the wall with his hands behind his back.

"They are probably also waiting for this group of Japanese pirates to repair Takamagahara. This eternal dream built using Tao Sect permissions cannot escape Bai Yujing's eyes. And the Tao Sect members who were killed gave them the best excuse to act."

Su Ce said gravely. "As long as Bai Yujing swallows Takamagahara, it means they have extended their hand into the Japanese region."

"What benefits do they gain from doing this?"

Demon King Da still looked confused. In his view, Bai Yujing's actions were completely meaningless.

Compared to the empire's two capitals and thirteen provinces, the Japanese region was a barren land where not even birds would defecate. Even as a breeding ground for genetic populations, it had little value.

If it weren't for the New Donglin Party's whim to implement a new policy in the criminal zone, the empire's people would probably only know about the existence of the Japanese region through various reports of Hongwu attacks, labeling it as a 'Hongwu nest' in their minds.

Poor mountains and bad waters produce cunning people—that's reasonable.

But if Bai Yujing really wanted to annoy the New Donglin Party's old leader, they would have to sacrifice their own people's lives. That would be absolutely insane.

Demon King Da was stunned. "Is this Bull Nose really going to practice immortality to the point of losing his humanity? Killing without any benefit?"

"It doesn't have to be beneficial to yourself; it just needs to be disadvantageous to others."

Su Ce smiled coldly. "It seems that Bai Yujing doesn't want the New Donglin Party's old leader to take another step forward."

"Stop! This is a restricted area of the Jinyi Wei. Unauthorized personnel are not allowed to approach. Take one more step, and you will be shot on sight!"

At the Osaka Castle Hundred Households, the on-duty Jinyi Wei officer looked cautiously at the figure standing under the umbrella. The flower-faced guards had already silently raised their guns.

The wind and rain were dark, and the lightning flickered.

"Brother, I have a question. Is Jiao Muxiao in the household now?"

The Jinyi Wei officer, who thought he was just a passerby who had taken the wrong path, suddenly felt a sense of alarm when he heard the other person call out the name of their hundred households.

In recent times, there have been many incidents of Hongwu attacking Jinyi Wei households.

The Jinyi Wei officer squatted slightly, with his right index finger on the trigger, and coldly asked, "Who are you?"

Before he finished speaking, a silver light flashed in the night rain and flew towards the Jinyi Wei officer.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The gunshots rang out like thunder!

The highly tense Jinyi Wei officer pulled the trigger without hesitation. But the scene after the gun flames extinguished left him stunned.

He saw a hideous and powerful black armor standing behind the man, with a single red eye in the helmet that was chilling to behold.

Hush!

The Horse King's arms shook, and the deformed bullets fell to the ground.

"Young master, don't be nervous. Check if it's one of your own people before shooting."

"One of your own people?"

The officer stammered and suddenly lowered his head to look at the silver light that had fallen in front of him.

Suddenly, the officer's pupils constricted. What lay at his feet was actually a Jinyi Wei badge!

The front was facing up, with five large characters written on it: Kenzan Castle, Hundred Households.

"Go and ask Jiao Muxiao if he wants to come down or if I should go up."

The umbrella was slightly raised, revealing a half of a sharp-featured face.

The Jinyi Wei officer, covered in cold sweat, picked up the badge from the ground, turned around, and pushed aside his colleague who had come running after hearing the gunshots. He rushed into the household.

If the rumors from Osaka Castle earlier were true, then what this gentleman was saying was not about going up or down.

It was clearly a question of whether to seek death or want to live!