In this cyberpunk era, why are you still playing the traditional villain?

"I've thought it over. If we're going to cast the net wide, we need to focus on restraint."

He said in a deep voice, "In other words, we should temporarily lower our stance at the beginning, for example, by trying to explore and contact other city-states under the guise of a caravan. Once we have a clear understanding of their situation, we can make adjustments accordingly."

Yes, since it's a dark forest, they need to learn something.

Appearing before the hunter as prey.

The caravan trade model was obviously more acceptable to most people, and exchanging goods was also the easiest way to know the strength of the other party.

As for whether there will be a significant disparity in strength, he is quite confident about that.

"First of all, the overall strength of Night Sin City is by no means bad."

He analyzed, "We can't say we're the strongest, but we're at least in the upper-middle range."

This is still a very conservative estimate.

"Secondly, the method of planning each region according to 'natural law' would absolutely prevent any significant discrepancies from occurring."

He said earnestly, "Because doing so would undoubtedly run counter to their ultimate goal."

The reasoning is simple: it is perfectly normal for city-states to have differences, but this is only to ensure the diversity of the experimental areas, so as to accumulate more samples for them and make it easier to find ways to remove the "rust fog".

However, if the upper and lower limits are too large, a fundamental problem will arise. To give a simple example, if there really is a region that controls some kind of heaven-defying technology like two-dimensional foil, then there is no need for it to go through all the trouble of doing these things. This one city-state is enough to crush the others and then become the king.

But in this way, the number of samples that "Tianli" can collect will continue to decrease. Will they eventually have to rely on this one place?

It was clearly not a risk they could take.

Therefore, in the initial planning stage, "Heavenly Principles" must have already defined all regions within a certain range, with varying strengths among them, but there would never be a significant imbalance.

Even between the City of Night Sin and the Hualan Empire, the same applies—although they claim to have a crushing advantage, the key to victory lies in the software advantages such as ideology and information gap.

As for their hard power, it was because they won over the royal family and suppressed the Papacy, causing divisions within them, which allowed them to win so easily.

But if the Papacy and the Royal Family were to unite and deal with this outsider, would it really be so easy? It seems unlikely.

Even if they manage to crack this bone, it's highly likely to result in mutual destruction or even a lose-lose situation.

Therefore, this is an issue that needs attention, but there's no need to be overly concerned.

Being in the median between zero and one hundred is a completely different concept from being in the median between zero and ten thousand.

"And we're not fundamentally driven by expansion and conquest, are we?"

The older woman broadened her thinking and said, "What we should establish is a model similar to an alliance."

"Now that we have the Hualan Empire as an ally, if we are pioneers in going to sea, that would already be a huge advantage."

She rarely put on a serious face, saying, "In this situation, if we can win over one or two more allied city-states, we will definitely be able to gain absolute dominance."

"As this alliance continues to grow, it is those regions that remain independent that need to consider the consequences of not standing on our side."

"Of course."

Xu Shiwen mumbled a sentence and patted her head, "My good daughter is so smart."

Who is your daughter?

The white-haired, mature woman gave her a sharp look.

"Oh, yes, yes."

Xu Shi quickly changed his tune, "You're not my daughter, you're a fool who wasted all your sincerity."

"...I'll bite you to death!"

The older woman instantly lost her temper; the little boy had even learned to throw boomerangs?

We're talking about something very serious right now, okay?

The two started bickering back and forth.

Xia Wuyou could only laugh when she saw this.

She still has some memories of her childhood. Ten years ago, probably no one could have done this, making the dignified second-in-command of "Zheguang" act like a little wife, throwing tantrums and getting jealous.

She really enjoyed the harmonious atmosphere; it was just playful banter, all for fun.

Xu Shi and Xia Ke'an laughed and joked for a while before stopping. The older woman, not good at running, weakly fell into Xu Shi's arms, still pinching his face with one hand.

If it's in loli form, this would be incredibly cute, but if it's in mature woman form... it's a bit childish.

I wonder who was just shouting in their heart that they don't care about acting like a child.

Xu Shi easily took her hand and let her rest her head on his lap.

The topic then returned to normal.

"Ahem, let's get back to the main topic."

Xu Shi suppressed his smile. "The most important thing in building an alliance system is not trade or diplomacy, but getting as many people as possible involved."

"Ok?"

"Or rather, we need to try to awaken more people."

Xu Shi said solemnly, "Let them realize that their lives are being manipulated, then we won't be afraid that they won't make the right choices."

Yes, his starting point was not actually to conquer other regions; that was merely a means, not the ultimate goal.

The ultimate goal is to overturn "natural law" and then clear away the "rust fog".

His trip to the Hualan Empire also gave him a lot of inspiration; he wasn't the only one in the world who was dissatisfied with "the laws of nature."

For example, Pan Ling, Lu Baiyan, and Dongfang Xiao, after learning the truth, all felt a deep hatred for the mastermind behind it all.

Having a yearning for the City of Night Sin and wanting to establish communication with it is an ideological issue and does not affect anything else.

They also cannot accept that their lives are pre-programmed, serving a specific target.

If this is used to attack the whole situation, do you think the people of other city-states will just accept it passively? It's highly unlikely.

It's just that we don't yet know what's really behind all of this.

So all that's needed is to reveal all of this at the right time. Such a well-documented bombshell would be enough to wake most people up.

And once they accept this fact, it goes without saying what they will do.

Of course, there will definitely be a small group that refuses to accept it, or that remains stubbornly unconvinced.

For example, the "protagonists" in each region, as beneficiaries, would probably not allow anyone to touch their promising lives. To give a simple example, even if people like Shen He or Luo Yu knew the truth, would they choose to give up? Absolutely not.

They will only become more closely bound to "natural law" because they are the chosen ones.

So, for such beings, simply eliminating them is sufficient. Boss Xu has already killed two "protagonists," and wouldn't mind having three, four, five, or six more.

However, even so, there's no guarantee that there won't be a "protagonist" willing to rebel. Just because you haven't encountered one doesn't mean such a person doesn't exist. Whether there will be a "protagonist" willing to give up a great life and seek a higher level of freedom is something even you yourself might not be able to say.

You can't condemn everyone else just because you've encountered two bad ones.

"In short, what we need to do boils down to screening."

He cleared his throat and concluded, "Selecting those who can stand with us is also a way to enhance our overall strength."

As for how to conduct the screening, that's something he'll have to adjust based on different situations.

Looks like you're going to be bothering me again.

Xia Ke'an volunteered, looked up at him and smiled, "Hurry up and coax me, or I'll go on strike."

She was well aware of how much of a role her abilities played in this kind of thing—to put it bluntly, it was pure cheating—observing the future of others, analyzing probabilities to determine whether they could be won over, and identifying the "watchdogs" hidden in each area.

This family will fall apart without me!

Xia Wuyou didn't speak, but sat up straighter and gave Xu Shi a look.

Even now, the tacit understanding between the two is unbreakable, and they don't need to speak at all to communicate.

Xia Xiaomao admitted that she couldn't think as much as Xu Shi or her aunt, but she had her own advantages—her combat skills were outstanding. Whether leading a fleet to sea or eliminating heretics, she was a master. She was willing to shine in these areas and contribute to Xu Shi's plans.

It seems that no one is really worried about how much danger lies in such a crazy plan, because everyone is quite in agreement on this point.

There are definitely dangers, but we shouldn't refrain from doing it just because there are dangers. Instead, we should try our best to develop more comprehensive and complete plans so that their plans can be successfully implemented.

"...This is just a preliminary plan; it's still a long way from being implemented."

Xu Shi laughed, "We haven't even gotten home yet, so it feels a bit premature to make a statement now."

"You should be secretly happy that we've made our stance clear."

Xia Ke'an rolled her eyes at him, "That's because you did pretty well... What, you're not planning to go out to sea again and find pretty girls, are you feeling really regretful?"

Is there anyone more lovable than you in this world?

Xu Shi was quite surprised by her strange and unsettling manner.

It has to be said that he knew how to coax people; the old lady visibly blushed, and the smile in her eyes was impossible to hide.

She loved hearing this.

Unexpectedly, the next second Xu Shi looked at Xia Wuyou and said, "Oh, so there is one."

Xia Xiaomao was taken aback, then couldn't help but laugh.

This man's skill with sweet talk is getting more and more refined, isn't it?

But she enjoyed it just as much, and moved closer to him as they spoke.

“I don’t care what you say; you have to do something to show for it.”

Hearing this, Xia Ke'an also moved to the other side and began to undress him like a female hooligan, "Xu Shi, I want to too..."

Why maintain the mature, sophisticated image all the time? Isn't it all for this reason...?

Tonight we're having rice bowls!

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 321 I am Chairman Xu's brick!

2023-11-19

The ten-day journey back home was not difficult for Xu Shi.

We brainstorm with everyone to discuss the next steps and plans. After the trip, we can also randomly select one or more lucky listeners for a deeper discussion. Such a journey is never boring.