Chapter 117: Loving the Beauty Over the Empire

Chapter 117: Chapter 117: Loving the Beauty Over the Empire

Buddy certainly knew how crazy his actions were. Threatening the entire world with an era-changing product. But this was a high-stakes gamble with an extremely high return rate.

After the revival of Spiritual Qi, he had obtained a secret. It was a fragmented chip—whether from ancient times or extraterrestrial origins, he didn’t know—that contained equally fragmented knowledge. Realizing that the knowledge inside, if restored, would change the world, he made his first gamble: betting that the world order would collapse.

When ordinary humans gained power surpassing others, the taste of plundering would drive the Cultivators to push the world step by step into darkness. After all, the most fundamental purpose of martial force was to plunder. Therefore, he unhesitatingly resorted to the most primitive crimes to quickly acquire a lineup of scientific researchers capable of restoring the chip’s knowledge.

But he lost this gamble.

He lost because he didn’t understand China well enough. As the country with the most Cultivators and the greatest overall strength, it unexpectedly didn’t collapse first. Instead, it gradually restored order.

Six Golden Cores.

Not a single one of them was stirring up trouble! They were even selfless and noble enough to bring out the legacies they had obtained, share them with everyone, and use them to drive the reorganization of societal order.

Whether they were fools or not no longer mattered. What mattered was that from the day of the global Cultivator arena tournament, the moment Shen Yun announced the establishment of the Cultivation Alliance and offered legacies for everyone to learn, Buddy knew his first gamble was a bust.

This brought severe consequences. A reckoning.

Because the order hadn’t collapsed, the things he had done previously would face a joint reckoning from various nations. This forced his hand, leaving him with no choice but to make a second gamble.

Betting on the allure of capital!

"I am not a greedy man," Buddy said, looking at the camera with a charming smile curving his lips. "I certainly know what kind of profits this era-changing product will bring, and what kind of covetous eyes it will attract. However, I will not share the profits with other capitalists. They would exhaust every means to plunder my capital using hypocritical morals, lie-filled justice, and sugar-coated greed! The only person I am willing to share everything I have with is you, Mr. Shen!"

He extended a finger, pointing confidently at the camera. In this setting, an occasion where the whole world marveled at him, he called out to Shen Yun across the airwaves. It was time for him to feel the charm.

"I know you must be watching this broadcast," Buddy said with absolute confidence. "I told you that if you and I join forces, we will own the entire world. Can you feel it now? My capital, my abilities, combined with your future—just imagine it. You can have endless power and wealth to help your people. You can become an Emperor. You can effortlessly do anything you wish to do.

"But if I fail...

"All of this, even this era-changing product, will vanish into thin air.

"Make your decision. I await your reply."

He firmly believed that human nature was greedy. Given the opportunity to acquire such wealth and status, no one would casually give it up. Shen Yun had only appeared so selfless because he wasn’t a match for the military—at least, not by a long shot right now. Perhaps there was also a bit of vanity and a touch of idealism mixed in.

As long as Shen Yun agreed, Buddy had countless ways to make him—someone who was previously just an ordinary person—sink deep into the allure of capital. He would make Shen Yun realize his importance until the Cultivator couldn’t live without him.

The press conference ended there.

But the storm it kicked up was already surging across the internet, growing more massive by the second. Buddy’s final words finally made people realize what kind of impact it would have if the most profitable project of the century joined forces with the world’s most powerful man.

Buddy was right. If Shen Yun possessed wealth rivaling a nation, he could gradually become a hidden Emperor—and not just of one country, but an Emperor of the entire world.

In the eyes of many, although Buddy called it cooperation, it was actually submission. Betting everything on Shen Yun’s future, and crowning him as an Emperor.

The temptation was too great. At the very least, a significant number of ordinary people, just by putting themselves in his shoes, felt they would definitely be swayed.

Online, many people were already tagging Shen Yun’s social media accounts.

"Master Shen, let’s just go take out this Buddy and bring the Power Furnace back home."

"Is the commenter above an idiot? Or do you think they’re idiots? That place is practically a military base."

"I think we might as well take it. Never look a gift horse in the mouth."

"Is Master Shen really going to be an Emperor? How long would he rule? He’s definitely going to live a super long time."

"Let’s not. We don’t want to kneel, do we? That would be so awkward and gross."

"Give us a response!"

"Grabbing some popcorn and sitting back to watch the drama. Anyway, as ordinary people, we can’t control how the era changes."

Even though the public image Shen Yun had previously built was quite good, when faced with this kind of situation, the vast majority of netizens held opposing views. However, people were also very nervous deep down. They could feel the weight of this temptation.

Xiao Jiu watched the entire broadcast with a giggling smile. In her view, Buddy had been a dead man walking ever since he sent people to her master’s home. No matter what kind of product he brought out, it would definitely end up belonging to her master in the end.

The results weren’t bad. A brand-new energy source.

When she saw his invitation at the end, her eyes filled with absolute disdain. She knew her master. He would never be tempted by such meaningless, empty promises. Or rather, the fact that this man actually dared to look down on her master so much... Excellent. That was just one more reason for his execution.

Only after seeing the netizens’ comments did she saunter into the room and pounce to her master’s side.

"Master, let me tell you..."

It took Shen Yun nearly half an hour to finally understand what exactly had gone on in the recent press conference.

Why did all Western supervillains want to rule the world? What was so good about that? He just couldn’t understand it. Cultivating immortality for longevity, living a carefree life, and helping out one’s own nation to find spiritual fulfillment—wasn’t that great enough?

However...

"There are two things I don’t understand," Shen Yun said, holding up two fingers. "First, what makes him think that if he destroys the data, no one will be able to recreate it within a century? He’s selling a product. Once the item is in people’s hands, would reverse-engineering the principles really be that difficult? Second, what makes him think that if I cooperate with him, I won’t just slap him to death and then hire a professional manager to run his company?"

These were indeed difficult points to understand. Two hundred professor-level scientists made for a very formidable lineup. But if it was something they could develop within three years, then with a finished product available, pooling global scientific research capabilities should surely be enough to replicate the results quickly.

"Maybe..." Xiao Jiu put on a serious expression and tilted her head. "He’s an idiot?"

"..." Shen Yun pinched her cheek in mock ferocity. "No swearing! Be serious!"

"Hehe, Master." Xiao Jiu rolled right into Shen Yun’s arms and said in a sickly sweet voice, "We won’t know the answer to the first point until we get the product and try to crack it. But for the second point, he must have some reason to guarantee that he’s indispensable. Plus, I’m guessing he definitely wants to prop you up as a figurehead, tempting you with glory, wealth, and the desire for power, while he acts as the minister holding the actual authority."

The second point wasn’t actually hard to guess. Buddy hadn’t even tried to hide it much. Hadn’t he been constantly emphasizing the allure of capital? "Capital" here didn’t just mean money; it also included power. His ambition was never concealed.

Shen Yun had... nothing much to say to this. He simply wasn’t the kind of person interested in such things.

"Master, do you want to reply to those goofy netizens?" Xiao Jiu said, laughing again. "A lot of people are discussing whether you’ll be tempted."

"Hmm..." Shen Yun thought for a moment. He suddenly looked at Xiao Jiu seriously and patted her on the shoulder. "Get up."

Confused, Xiao Jiu sat up.

"Straighten your legs and just sit like this. Yeah, exactly. Straighten up your clothes a bit."

Shen Yun watched as Xiao Jiu followed his instructions. Then he lay down, resting his head on her lap. He extended his tablet out and—SNAP—took a picture. He captured the smile on his face, along with Xiao Jiu, who was looking down at him with an infatuated gaze.

He took a look. Perfect.

"Master," Xiao Jiu’s voice trembled slightly. "Are you planning to..."

"Yeah, post it," Shen Yun said, comfortably shifting his posture with a smile. "I figured it’s about time I introduce you to everyone. Once the cities return to their former prosperity, I’m even thinking of taking you out shopping."

"As long as I’m by Master’s side, anywhere is fine," Xiao Jiu replied. At this moment, she actually seemed a bit timid and shy, her voice becoming extremely soft.

She certainly knew the significance of posting this picture.

"But I’m really looking forward to the day I can take you out," Shen Yun said, giving her a gentle smile.

"...Mhm!"

Xiao Jiu was silent for a moment before suddenly nodding vigorously. Showing a devastatingly beautiful smile, she murmured, "Whatever Master says goes."

Then, with a thought in her mind, the photo was posted online.

In the photo, Shen Yun was gently lying on Xiao Jiu’s lap, looking at the camera. Meanwhile, Xiao Jiu, dressed in a maid outfit, had her head lowered. Her gaze, full of infatuation and affection, was fixed intently on Shen Yun’s face. Her breathtakingly beautiful face and tender eyes were enough to leave anyone utterly stunned.

There were also captions attached. Two sentences.

"Just to let everyone know, this is my little maid, Xiao Jiu."

"@Buddy, This Seat prefers beauty over an empire."

The moment this picture was posted, the servers practically froze.

There were simply too many people commenting! Not just domestically, but even abroad, countless people posted comments of absolute amazement.

"Holy crap, she’s gorgeous!"

"Is she computer-generated?"

"Why is she in a maid outfit? Are they roleplaying cosplay?!"

"Ahhhh, my Miao Yun is going to get her heart broken! And it feels like she completely lost. What do we do?!"

"I knew it! Screw your filthy money, @Buddy."

In everyone’s eyes, this was Shen Yun flat-out rejecting Buddy, while conveniently packing on the PDA and showing off his girlfriend. As the world’s strongest expert, having such a beauty by his side wasn’t all that surprising.

Buddy, however, wore a stiff expression.