Fate's Choice: Livestream at the Start Summoning Billions of Ravens

The simultaneous advancement of three advanced skills brought an energy surge far greater than ever before.

Jiang Ming stood there with his eyes closed, taking a full half minute to adjust before he could completely digest the power that was surging and roaring in his mental world.

He slowly opened his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the system panel, taking stock of his assets.

[Host: Jiang Ming]

[Physical Fitness: 20]

[Soul: 4]

[Abilities: Raven Summoning (Advanced), Telepathy (Advanced), Plant Control (Advanced)]

[Emotional Value Balance: 611,945 points.]

[1,000,000 Emotion Points are required to unlock the next "Choose One of Three Destinies" event (not yet met).]

It burned through 525,000 emotion points in one go.

But in return, they gained a completely transformed level of strength.

Jiang Ming returned to the living room with satisfaction and sank into the soft sofa.

He picked up his phone, unlocked the screen, and was bombarded with messages: countless @ mentions and private messages, as well as more than a dozen missed calls.

The phone had barely been lit up for three seconds when a new call came in.

Caller ID: Zhao Lin.

Jiang Ming swiped to answer the call.

"Jiang Ming! You finally answered the phone!"

Zhao Lin's voice carried a sense of relief and barely suppressed excitement.

"My God, did you know? Last night's live stream peaked at 8.13 million concurrent viewers! The total number of viewers exceeded 100 million!"

"Yes, I saw it." Jiang Ming said calmly.

Zhao Lin on the other end of the phone was taken aback by his reaction, and all the celebratory words she had prepared got stuck in her throat.

She took a deep breath, forced herself to calm down, and switched to work mode.

"So, what are your next live streaming plans? Just tell us, and the platform will use all its resources to pave the way for you!"

Jiang Ming shifted to a more comfortable position and looked at the ceiling.

"There's no rush for the next plan."

"I need to rest for a while."

"Also, could you please compile a list of all the recent large-scale, official, and public events in Jiangcheng? The more detailed the better. Send it to me once you've compiled it."

Although Zhao Lin was puzzled, she immediately agreed.

"No problem! I'll have my team get it done right away!"

……

a few days later.

In a separate office at the Jiangcheng City Public Security Bureau.

Chen Jianguo solemnly placed a file folder into the locked metal cabinet.

On the cover of the file folder, four large characters were written in red marker.

"Long-term monitoring".

Target name: Jiang Ming.

He turned around and looked at the four young police officers standing in front of him.

"Starting today, the four of you will form a special analysis team."

"There is only one mission: to collect, organize, and analyze all publicly available information related to the target 'Jiang Ming,' including every live stream he did, every social media post he made, and all his public statements online."

"I need you to find patterns in it, build behavioral models, and I need to know what he really wants to do."

……

That noon, in the upscale villa area.

Jiang Ming closed his eyes, and the ability of [Voice of the Mind] was activated instantly.

A familiar, languid yet authoritative signal immediately responded to him.

It is General Yu.

Through the mental connection, Jiang Ming "saw" General Yu lying on top of a tall shipping container, like a king inspecting his territory.

Below, hundreds of stray cats are eating in an orderly fashion around the feeding point set up by Douyin (TikTok's Chinese version).

"General Yu."

Jiang Ming conveyed a clear thought.

"Select twenty cats from your subordinates. The requirements are: the best physical condition, the fastest reaction time, and the smartest."

"I want to form a 'Royal Guard'."

A hint of confusion crossed General Yu's mind, but more than that, there was absolute obedience.

It immediately jumped off the container and began to survey the group of cats.

Jiang Ming opened his eyes, picked up his phone, and skillfully opened the food delivery app.

He ordered twenty of the latest pet collars with GPS tracking and remote data transmission capabilities from the website of a large pet supply store.

The address directly points to the feeding point in the Chengxi Industrial Zone.

After placing the order, Jiang Ming sent a message to Zhao Lin.

"Send your men to the industrial zone to pick up a package, and then cooperate with General Yu to put it on the twenty brothers he designated."

Zhao Lin replied quickly, with only one word.

"it is good."

She had gotten used to Jiang Ming's various strange requests.

Not long after, a well-organized document was sent to Jiang Ming's email address.

[List of key public events in Jiangcheng City in the second half of the year]

Jiang Ming opened the document and scanned the names of the various activities.

[Jiangcheng International Animation Festival], [Qinghe Rock Music Festival], ["Light of the Future" Technology Exhibition]...

His finger finally stopped on an activity.

[Jiangcheng International Flower Expo].

The event description states: Hosted by the Jiangcheng Municipal Government and jointly organized with top horticulture companies and associations from more than ten countries, it is Jiangcheng's most important cultural exchange project of the year.

It is it.

Jiang Ming dialed Zhao Lin's number directly.

"Zhao Lin, I want to participate in that flower expo."

"Huh?" Zhao Lin felt her brain malfunction again. "Attending the Flower Expo? Are your fans... interested in gardening?"

"I want a separate booth."

Jiang Ming did not answer her question, but directly made his request.

"As a 'new media artist'."

There was a full five seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

"...I understand, I'll go and coordinate."

Although Zhao Lin's mind was filled with a million whys, she still agreed.

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Ming walked to the garden in the backyard of the villa.

He fixed his gaze on a Virginia creeper vine in the corner of the wall.

[Plant Control] ability activated.

Under his will, the tenacious vine began to twist, weave, and coil on its own.

A few minutes later, an intricately designed nest, large enough to support the weight of an adult crow, appeared in the recess in the wall.

Jiang Ming looked up at the sky.

A circling raven received the command, landed precisely, and settled steadily into its new home woven from vines.

From today onwards, this will be the villa's permanent guard post.

Zhao Lin's efficiency is astonishing.

She called within just one day.

"It's all settled. We've secured a 50-square-meter independent booth for you in the core A exhibition area of ​​the Flower Expo. The platform will cover all expenses."

"I've already endorsed you with the title of 'Douyin's Most Influential New Media Artist of the Year' from the organizers."

Soon, an electronic invitation was sent to Jiang Ming's email address.

He opened the invitation and saw a name in the long list of organizing committee and judging panel members.

Chairman of the Jury: Sun Peiwen.

His titles are: Renowned Chinese botanist and honorary professor of the School of Life Sciences at Jiangcheng University.

Jiang Ming closed the email, his consciousness sinking back into the sky, establishing a [mental link] with the Raven Watchtower above the villa.

The field of vision switched instantly.

The entire city appeared in his mind from a God's-eye view.

He gave the raven a new instruction: fly to the deep mountains outside the city and find a tree that fits a specific shape.

The ravens flapped their wings and took flight.

With Jiang Ming's powerful soul supporting him, it was as if he were playing an open-world game with ultra-high-definition graphics.

An hour later, in a remote valley fifty kilometers from Jiangcheng, the raven found its target.

It was a huge ginkgo tree.

It is dead.

Most of the tree trunk was charred black by lightning, and the carbonized bark resembled solidified black lava, devoid of any life.

Jiang Ming dialed Zhao Lin's number again.

"I've found my exhibit."

"What is it?" Zhao Lin asked curiously.

"A tree."

Jiang Ming sent the coordinates of the raven's shared field of vision to Zhao Lin.

"I need you to find a professional landscaping team to transplant this... dead tree to my booth at the Flower Expo."

On the other end of the phone, Zhao Lin fell completely silent, but still informed the rest of the team.

The result was that her team members were in an uproar.

"Mr. Zhao, this...this must be a joke, right?"

"Bringing a dead tree to a flower show? Wouldn't that make us a laughingstock?"

"What exactly is he trying to do?"

Zhao Lin pinched her brow hard, and finally said only one sentence.

Do as he says.