Chapter 611 - 53: Factions and the Moon Landing

My name is Su Zhou. I’m twenty years old, a model student from a strict upbringing. My dream was to be a Dark Knight who plays the fool by day and becomes the bat by night. The ideal plan was to follow family tradition and become a Patrol officer, join the major crimes unit, and then get assigned to my own cases. That way, I could get paid for investigating myself and perfectly mislead everyone, so no one would ever suspect me.

This was the perfect wish, and I’d been working toward it since I was a child. The Spiritual Energy Revival brought me an immense opportunity, and it seemed like my dream was just a moment away from being realized.

But things don’t always go as planned. First off, I seem to have gotten too strong. The authorities found me and gave me law enforcement powers directly. Now I don’t even need to be a Dark Knight to arrest people. I can even arrest officials just by filing an application. This has fundamentally robbed me of the chance to create any sort of conflict or intrigue. In a way, I guess this is still being a Patrol officer, but it just feels... a little off.

Besides, doesn’t this mean I can’t kill anyone at all? But I’m not a *real* Dark Knight; I don’t mind using lethal force, you know.

I’ll admit, it’s pretty damn cool to openly lead a team of fully armed Security Bureau special Patrols, kick down a door, and haul someone away while they look on in terror, too afraid to resist. If the target is a major underground group near the border, I can even call in a few helicopters to add to the spectacle. And having a dedicated team to clean up my mess is definitely a plus. But no matter how you slice it, this is a little different from my dream.

As time went on, I started to think this life wasn’t half bad. After all, I had a free meal card for the cafeteria. When I was bored, I could lead a team out on patrol and look for a few lucky Evil People to play the "criminal detention" game with. And on days I worked at the Academy, I could spend my time after Cultivation training arguing with people online. Life was pretty sweet.

But then one day, I was at an internal meeting when the Thirty-Six Saints said to me, "The committee has decided. You will be the director of this ’New World Exploration Department’."

I replied, "You should really find someone more qualified. And I’m not just being humble. How can a twenty-year-old like me possibly become a director? People my age are still studying at the Academy. The negative impact on the nation’s youth would be immeasurable."

But the Artifice Sage said that this was the decision reached by the Thirty-Six Saints Central Committee. "It’s a good thing for young people to enter new fields!" he said. "None of us know what the future holds; we’re all just feeling our way across the river. We need a young person’s drive."

I tried to refuse a few more times, insisting I wasn’t cut out for the job. But the committee brought up several examples, proving not only that I was, but that I would do an excellent job.

I was defeated by the well-prepared committee. Unable to refuse any longer, I had no choice but to accept.

So then, I recited two lines of...

"And then what happened?"

Shao Qiming asked enthusiastically. He was holding a glass of aloe juice. The juice from Spirit Plant aloe had a gentle, nourishing effect on the body and a refreshingly sweet taste, making it one of the most popular Spirit Plant juice products in the world.

Similarly, other popular products included Spirit Plant Coconut Juice and Spirit Plant Green Grass Juice. Because a Transcendent’s palate triggered different dopamine releases based on the amount of Spiritual Power present, they loved anything containing Spiritual Qi, even if ordinary people found the taste unremarkable.

「The time was 4:39 PM on September 25, 2016.」

As it happened, today was Su Zhou’s twenty-first birthday. After a lunch celebration with family and friends, Su Zhou and Shao Qiming had found a private room in a teahouse to discuss matters concerning the Continuous Prayer Meeting, as well as some topics related to Great Beings.

Shao Qiming had noticed a new model of personal proxy terminal that had suddenly appeared on Su Zhou’s wrist and casually asked, "Did the higher-ups give you that?" Upon seeing Su Zhou’s sour expression, he couldn’t help but press for more details.

And that was what led to the conversation.

"What else could have happened?"

Facing his friend’s questioning, Su Zhou said grumpily, "I recited two lines of poetry—’A profession has no high or low, one’s will must be strong; a man with ambition, how can he be idle?’ Since the committee decided, I accepted. Anyway, they were right about one thing."

"And that is: this task really can only be done by me."

With a sigh, the private room fell much quieter.

After a long moment, Su Zhou picked up his teacup, a complex look in his eyes. "New World development," he began, "is without a doubt a project with enormous interests and plenty of shady gray areas. The Thirty-Six Saints aren’t all perfect, flawless Saints. Take the Yu Saint, for example. He appears to have mechanized half his body for his job, but his family occupies all the key high-level positions in the East Asia Aviation Group. And that’s not to mention the Zhengguo Aerospace Bureau, which he runs like an iron fortress. It’s only human nature, so you can’t really blame them. Besides, they do their jobs exceptionally well, leaving no room for criticism."

"Right now, the Thirty-Six Saints are divided into four main factions. The first, led by the Daoist Saint, is the ’Cultivation Faction.’ It has the strongest Sect-like atmosphere and is focused on Cultivation. They manage Zhengguo’s affairs concerning the Spiritual Energy Revival, the handling of Transcendents, and the opening of Secret Realms. Their primary spheres of influence are the Security Bureau, the Daoist Discipline Bureau, and parts of the Education Bureau. The Math Saint and Artisan Saint are also part of this faction, which is why they presided over the last Kunlun Mountain expedition."

"Then there’s the ’Authoritarian Faction,’ which is the Zhengguo military bloc led by the Military Saints. I don’t need to tell you what their sphere of influence is. The Craftsman Saint hasn’t officially joined them, but he supports them in secret. Their goal is to use any means necessary to ensure Zhengguo seizes the advantage in the coming tide of the New Era."

"Next is the ’Development Faction,’ led by the Agricultural Saint. There’s not much more to say. They’re the type of people whose motto is, ’If you don’t mess with me, I’ll farm. If you don’t let me farm in peace, I’ll make sure you don’t live past this year.’ And so far, it seems no one is interfering with their farming."

"As for the last faction, that’s the ’Technology Faction,’ also known as the Reform Faction, led by the Life Saint and the Artifice Sage. They are committed to using new technologies in this New Era to forge a new form of society. The Yu Saint and the Plague Saint are both part of this group. Their core belief is that humanity’s current biological form is no longer suitable for developing multiple worlds and space. They’re the most radical faction of them all."

"—That’s amazing, Azhou! You figured all that out? That’s not something the average person could piece together!"

Shao Qiming’s eyes went wide as he listened. He stared at Su Zhou in amazement, as if seeing a hidden side to his friend for the first time. "Or did someone tell you about all these factional dynamics?"

"This stuff? I just scan them with the Divine Techniques of the Evil-Devouring Demon Lord and look at the light over their heads, you know? Their feelings of goodwill or animosity toward each other are as obvious to me as traffic lights."

Even though he’d used his Divine Techniques to cheat, Su Zhou hated that look of surprise. It was as if he was being treated like some barbarian who couldn’t read people or understand social cues. He slapped the table and declared emphatically, "My Emotional Quotient is very high! Even without the Divine Techniques of the Evil-Devouring Demon Lord, I could have easily figured out their disagreements!"

Ignoring Shao Qiming’s "I *guess* I believe you" expression, Su Zhou continued confidently, "In short, New World development is a ’major project, a grand plan’ that all four factions are eyeing. Whether for personal profit, benefits to Cultivation, Zhengguo’s future hegemony and development, or the advancement of new technology, it’s all immensely valuable. No faction is going to give up their slice of this massive cake, especially since this cake belongs to all of humanity, and we’ll have to compete with major foreign powers."

"Of course, they have their own huge internal problems and have to deal with the same kind of factional infighting we do, but at the end of the day, everyone is in competition with each other."

At this point, the problem became very simple.

Since no one could possibly give up on it, and no one would ever let another monopolize it, there were only two possible outcomes: either the Saints would fight a cold war amongst themselves for control, or they would all let it go, with no one claiming it.

And Su Zhou was the ’middleman’ ultimately chosen after countless rounds of backroom dealings.

His personality, strength, and past experiences all led everyone to believe that if he was in charge of this department, he wouldn’t be biased toward any single faction.

Secondly, he had no affiliated power base that he could use to turn the entire New World Exploration Department into his personal fiefdom, as the Yu Saint had done. Perhaps he could build one with his own strength, but that would at least be an independent, neutral faction, not an extension of one of the existing, conflicting ones.

In short, due to many political considerations—some public, some not—Su Zhou became the youngest department-level cadre in Zhengguo’s history.

Unfortunately, the record for the youngest official of an academy-head rank belonged to the dean of the Dao Yi Academy from the early days of Zhengguo’s founding. During the civil war, the lineage of the Academy’s Zhang Family was nearly broken, and a nine-year-old boy, without fully understanding the situation, inherited his elder’s position, becoming the youngest academy head ever. That wartime record was likely never to be broken.

Many people might not understand why the Saints valued Su Zhou so highly, to the point of being almost excessively good to him, but in reality, this was the most normal reaction.

A Cultivation super genius is an incomparably precious resource to any faction. With their own power, they can single-handedly raise a nation’s strength to a new level in the most direct and brutal way. In the past, raising a nation’s power ceiling required technological advancement, industrial development, and economic strength. Even if all three rose together, factors like population, the number of trained professionals, and the maturity of related industries had to be considered to see if the new potential could actually be realized.

But a genius who could cultivate to the Extraordinary High-tier was a threat to hostile powers, with a potential for destruction on par with an army. And if one reached the Commander Tier, they were comparable to a strategic weapon.

An Overlord, the tier above that, can anchor a nation’s destiny single-handedly. Theoretically, it is impossible for any nation on Earth with an Overlord to be destroyed. The ancient Immortal God Civilization only retreated because they encountered a multi-Cosmic Level Celestial Calamity like the severing of all Spiritual Qi. Otherwise, They would undoubtedly still be ruling the world today.

If you give up on such a precious resource while your rivals don’t, it’s suicide. Besides, most of these geniuses are special individuals who can make the entire cake bigger for everyone. There is simply no reason not to treat them exceptionally well.

"I see. So you’re the buffer zone."

Understanding it all, Shao Qiming nodded in realization. "That makes so much more sense. It really had to be you. If it were anyone else, who knows how many resources would have been wasted on internal squabbles."

"There’s not actually much for me to do. The framework is already built; I just have to show up and take the job."

Su Zhou wasn’t worried about that. As long as he had the strength, others would have to curry favor with him, not the other way around. "Around this time next year, isn’t Zhengguo supposed to be launching a new phase of Moon exploration? I’m going to be in the first batch of Transcendents to land on the Moon. Honestly, out of all the things they said, that was the only part that really interested me."