How can you become stronger if you don't build up bonds?

"Your Highness, the newly captured mutated lich has been successfully escorted back to Fengdu Prison. Would you like to go and check on it now?"

Inside the study, a fully armed guard knelt on one knee, his eyes burning as he looked at the young man in a magnificent robe sitting in the chair in front of him.

"Were there any casualties during this lich capture?"

The young man, addressed as Your Highness, put down the book in his hand and asked gently.

"Your Highness, thanks to Your Highness's blessing and protection, the Righteous Guard Corps has not suffered any casualties for four months!"

This operation to capture the mutated lich was meticulously planned, and the mutated lich's corrosive bombs failed to hit any of the guards!

The many brothers of the Aredai Guard and their families thank Your Highness for your long-standing blessings and kindness!

The sudden, excited shout of Ale, the leader of the Justice Guard and chief bodyguard of the Duke's mansion, made the entire study buzz.

"Is it because of me again...?"

The young man, addressed as His Highness, removed the gold monocle hanging in front of his eyes and subtly curled the corner of his mouth in a smile that was barely perceptible to most people.

"Okay, you can go and rest now. I'll go see you when I have time."

"Are is ready to serve at any time, awaiting Your Highness's itinerary!!"

"Didn't I tell you to go and rest?"

However, Ale remained silent, his face, still bearing traces of sweat, displaying only boundless fervor for the prince and unwavering loyalty etched into his very bones.

There was a 30-second silence in the study.

"Then we'll depart promptly in half an hour."

"Yes, sir!"

……

"call--"

With the troublesome Yare temporarily gone, Lin Wei finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The pretty maid, who had been standing quietly behind the chair, skillfully stepped forward and gently massaged Lin Wei's shoulders.

"Luya, do you think it's possible to reach the target for the Lich this time?"

"..."

"I think it's still impossible. This kind of thing is different from gacha games; there's no pity system at all."

"..."

The maid, Luya, continued massaging his shoulders intently, seemingly oblivious to Lin Wei's words.

Indeed, Luya was a deaf-mute maid, and also the only personal maid of His Highness Lin Wei, who was of noble status.

Lin Wei stopped Luya's hand and pulled her to the front.

With just one glance, Luya blushed and dared not meet Lin Wei's eyes.

She turned around gently, lifted the hem of her maid's skirt, raised her leg, and then gently sat on Lin Wei's lap.

Lin Wei skillfully embraced her, inhaling the fragrance of her long blue hair, and began his usual immersive contemplation.

He has been in this world for 18 years and has long since obtained his own cheat code.

This cheat system is called the "Bond Leader System." Its function is easy to understand: unlock bonds, collect all the bonds, activate the bonuses and rewards within the bonds, and improve the team's combat power.

This continent, called Alama, is completely different from his original home planet, Blue Star. It contains all sorts of extraordinary elements, and whether it's physical training or magic practice, one can elevate their personal combat power to an extremely high level.

But Lin Wei happened to have a team-oriented advantage; apart from that, he didn't have any other outstanding qualities.

If that were all, Lin Wei would at most complain and let things develop as they should.

However, the frustrating thing about this bond system is that it has a prerequisite task: you need to unlock a bond called "Nemesis" before you can access the subsequent content.

How do I unlock the rivalry bond?

One person needs to generate 1000 units of hatred towards Lin Wei.

At first, Lin Wei didn't pay much attention to the unlocking condition; his focus was on the effect of activating the bond.

【Nemesis 1/2 (Not Activated)】

[Effect: You and your nemesis share the talent buff, at the same level; unless both die simultaneously, they will have mutual health reduction.]

Lin Wei only needed to glance at it to know that this synergy effect was incredibly powerful.

But you call this a sworn enemy?

After the initial excitement, Lin Wei began to study how to reach 1000 hatred points.

This ordeal lasted for 18 years, from infancy to adulthood.

The good news is that he was born into a good family this time, becoming the second son of a duke in the Kingdom of Wallis in the eastern part of the continent.

His birth mother was a young cleaning maid in the Duke's mansion, who was deeply loved by Duke Eugene Credy.

Even though the Duchess kept a close watch on things in the mansion, Eugene still managed to find opportunities to have sex with the maid on several occasions and successfully got her pregnant with the Duchess's child.

Sadly, the maid mother died during childbirth due to complications, and did not live to see the day when Eugene officially recognized her.

Lin Wei thus became a marginalized illegitimate son in the Duke's mansion with no right of inheritance.

But none of that matters. Lin Wei's concern is that as long as he doesn't do anything reckless, there won't be any security issues.

As long as there are no safety issues, with his cheat-like abilities, he will eventually be able to develop into his full potential.

But he underestimated the significance of 1000 points of hatred.

As of today, the highest level of hatred Lin Wei has found is 399, originating from the Duchess.

When he was not yet a year old, he was held in Eugene's arms and felt the 350 points of hatred from the Duchess.

If you can still get this score even after your rival is dead, it means this task isn't difficult at all.

Even today, when Lin Wei recalls that peaceful afternoon, he still regrets missing out on that treasure of a duchess who once dared to talk back to him.

Compared to the sources of hatred that he desperately searched for but could hardly reach 100 in the later stages, the Duchess's overpowered stat of 399 was simply at the level of endless hatred!

The problem mainly occurred when he was six years old.

Six years old is the age when middle-class and above families in mainland China send their children to the Holy Church for testing.

The most authoritative Holy Church on the continent of Alama possesses a mysterious technology: the ability to quantitatively monitor individual combat strength and basic aptitude.

It is usually expressed in a simple and easy-to-understand way, such as by ranking.

In principle, everyone on the mainland has a real-time level and a level cap.

Real-time rating determines the current theoretical combat strength; both training and laziness will affect the real-time rating.

The level cap reflects basic aptitude, which is theoretically fixed from birth, and once the cap is reached, no amount of training can break through it.

Of course, there is also the unique and rather abstract concept of innate talent, which the Holy Church itself claims it has not been able to fully understand.

As the duke's real son, no one can deprive him of the right to be tested.

However, this earth-shattering test changed the course of Lin Wei's life.

Test results show that Lin Wei has no level cap.

Such test results have only been recorded four times in the thousands of years of written history of the continent of Alama.

These four individuals belonged to different eras, yet their historical records are remarkably similar—

"They possess unparalleled divine power; with a single thought, they could overturn the entire human world. They are incomparably great chosen ones!!"

When the middle-aged priest who was testing his qualifications trembled and knelt before him, starting to mutter incoherently, Lin Wei felt completely bewildered.

When his biological father, Eugene Creddy, stumbled and scrambled into the room, even uttering the word "son" with trepidation, Lin Wei felt utterly absurd.

But when his uncle, whom he had only spoken to once, His Majesty King Nado Wallis of the Kingdom of Wallis, set aside his busy schedule to personally visit the church's testing hall, and immediately removed his crown and took Lin Wei's hand to inquire about his well-being, Lin Wei finally realized that something was wrong.

He felt that the old king might place the crown on his head at any moment.

When he learned that the Duchess had fainted on the spot upon hearing the results of the talent test, and that after waking up she had tied herself up like a dumpling and hung in the air to await Lin Wei's return and judgment, Lin Wei finally understood the true value of having no level cap.

And, he fainted.

Over the past few years, he has racked his brains and devoted all his efforts to various impersonations and stirring up trouble, finally managing to reduce the Duchess's hatred towards him from 350 to 399.

At this crucial moment when you're about to break the 400-point mark, your score is reduced to zero. Can you handle that?

The simple and unadorned 0 points of hatred gave Lin Wei an indescribable sense of disorientation.

Who am I? Where am I? What have I been doing these past few years?

What's most amusing is that his dazed and speechless state was interpreted by the bishop, duke, and king around him as youthful composure and humility.

Without a doubt, this is the future glory of Wallis!

Lin Wei couldn't quite remember the details of what happened next.

In short, after he returned to his residence, he had an additional personal guard by his side.

It is said that they were personally selected by King Nado and were even more elite than his own personal guards.

Those around him officially changed their address to "Your Highness".

As for Duchess Laura, Lin Wei didn't make things difficult for her and personally untied her.

After all, her hatred level instantly dropped to 0; 0 is the lower limit of the numerical value, not her lower limit.

After finishing, Lin Wei felt his hands were sore, and he thought to himself that this woman probably had a lot of fun with Eugene when she was young.

Laila's state of fear and trepidation lasted for more than a month before it finally subsided.

What made Lin Wei even more uneasy was that, under the pressure of long-term training, Laila lost 30 pounds, and her youthful beauty was revealed again.

His previously arrogant and domineering personality was completely subdued under Lin Wei's intimidation, and he became docile and gentle, giving a completely new look to the long-standing atmosphere of walking on thin ice in the Duke's mansion.

Eugene, that womanizing old man, also rediscovered his former passion for Laura due to a series of changes in the Duke's mansion, and successfully got Laura pregnant with the Duke's third child when Lin Wei was 7 years old.

Now who can tell whether she's faking it or has really changed?

Although the news that Lin Wei was a chosen one of the gods was strictly kept under wraps, everyone in the Duke's mansion was shrewd, and even the servants could easily guess that the root of all these changes was Lin Wei's aptitude test results.

Without a doubt, the Second Prince of Duke Kreddy's Mansion possesses exceptional talent, and Wallis will have gained another pillar in the future!

In addition, Lin Wei has always been different from other nobles since childhood. He is gentle and kind to his servants and is kind-hearted and benevolent.

As a result, the Duke's mansion was filled with heartfelt worship for Lin Wei. Every maid kneeling on the ground wiping away the dirt would unconsciously puff out her chest with pride when she thought of that prince.

Lin Wei felt that only one word could accurately describe this situation.

Highly popular.

This is so amazing!

Lin Wei did absolutely nothing! And he couldn't do anything either!

Because of a strange test result, everything around him entered a non-stop positive cycle.

But the most exciting part is yet to come.

Typically, children from aristocratic families begin systematic training and development after passing an aptitude test at age six.

There are two main directions: power and magic.

Because the Holy Church monopolizes most of the technical means for qualification testing, one must pay money or other resources to the Holy Church to obtain further qualification information.

Nobles, by virtue of the resources they control, can obtain more in-depth and accurate assessment results and more comprehensive training programs than commoners.

As the son of the Duke, Lin Wei was also a chosen one of God, and his in-depth assessment was personally overseen by Cardinal Green of the Holy Church of Fengdu.

The physical test when he was 7 years old lasted for an hour. Green chanted various incomprehensible spells and shot several beams of magic into Lin Wei's body.

After the ceremony, Archbishop Green was sweating profusely, but he couldn't hide the smile on his face.

Just as Lin Wei thought that his physical body had the potential to become an emperor, he became somewhat excited.

Green immediately declared, "After dozens of repeated examinations, I have confirmed that Your Highness possesses no extraordinary talent in terms of strength or physique!!!"

Lin Wei: ?

Did I mishear you, or are you mentally challenged?

Is this something you can say with a smile?

Also, you're so tired because you keep repeating the same thing over and over again, just to prove that I'm just an ordinary guy.

The poet holds it.

But when Green told his biological father Eugene, who was waiting outside the door, about the test results, Eugene immediately said, "That's a good thing!" which made Lin Wei stop thinking.

Lin Wei finally came to the conclusion that the world had gone mad.

It took Lin Wei a full half hour to figure out these two incredible, heaven-defying thought processes.

Simply put, they believe that those favored by the gods should not have physical attributes.

To put it more simply, it's a shame for someone favored by the gods to have conventional aptitude.

The lack of physical aptitude means that the mysterious and great divine favor is being used correctly in more indescribable ways.

In summary: This is a world where numerical freaks don't deserve to eat at the table. The more ordinary Lin Wei's stats seem, the more overpowered and invincible the hidden mechanisms within him become.

So, buddy, you're here today to test if there's any risk of becoming stronger?

Lin Wei was starting to feel the strain.

……

Five years later, 12-year-old Lin Wei took a magic aptitude test at the same location.

Test result: A lump.

Subsequent impact: The Duke's mansion was decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, and the celebration lasted for three whole days. All the servants received a considerable amount of money from Lady Laura.

……

Four years later, 16-year-old Lin Wei was exceptionally baptized by the church.

Result: There is no risk of winning the Paladin and Priest professional promotion tournaments.

Impact: King Nardo of Wallis declared this day a day of celebration for Wallis and proclaimed a royal declaration: "It is our duty to restore the glory of Wallis!"

……

From this moment on, Lin Wei was completely certain that the unlimited potential shown in the aptitude test referred to his [Bonded Leader System].

Is the [Bond Leader System] powerful?

Strong, encompassing strength, with a visibly high upper limit.

Can it be used?

Hello, it doesn't work.

……

Lin Wei's amazing life continues.