The First Order

1241 Bringing an end to this era

The secret alliance between the Southwest and Northwest had seemingly become linked with the survival of human civilization.

But even now, Ren Xiaosu did not know the details of the alliance.

Ren Xiaosu wondered, “Is Qing Zhen so important? Mr. Zhang, you previously mentioned that over 300 researchers working in secret arrived in the Northwest. What exactly did they come here to do?”

Zhang Jinglin shook his head. “I can’t tell you about that yet, but I know very well that Qing Zhen’s efforts in this regard should prove effective. Xiaosu, the current situation doesn’t require you to weigh whether the 6th Field Division is more important, or whether Luo Lan and Qing Zhen are more important. It’s just that Qing Zhen is needed in this war.”

Not far away, P5092 said calmly, “Future Commander, just go ahead. You can leave things here to me.”

Ren Xiaosu gave P5092 a glance. Then he took a deep breath and said to Zhang Jinglin, “Alright, I’ll set off immediately. I just hope it’ll all be in time.”

After that, he turned around and said to P5092 in seriousness, “If you encounter any difficulties, discuss it with everyone. Don’t shoulder all the responsibility by yourself.”

When P5092 heard this, he was stunned. Then he broke into a smile and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t.”

While everyone was talking, the Great Hoodwinker went over to Li Yingyun and the Riders. “What did I hear y’all say earlier? Xiaosu’s will is the Riders’ will? What’s going on here? Have y’all joined the Prosperous Northwest too?”

Ren Xiaosu had found out about his past in the Kingdom of Sorcerers. However, other than Yang Xiaojin, he did not tell anyone else about it, mainly because his identity as the No. 001 Experimental was indeed a little difficult to accept. He didn’t know how to explain the fact that he was alive for over 200 years, so he might as well just not say anything.

The Great Hoodwinker wasn’t aware of the inside story, so he could not understand why the Riders would suddenly join the Prosperous Northwest.

As a matter of fact, the Riders organization used to be very well-known. A group of over a dozen superhumans put together was simply not to be trifled with.

Moreover, the Riders had a legacy.

Only a truly smart person would understand how important legacies were.

Currently, most superhumans awoke their superpowers by chance. Of course, their in-built potential also contributed to their awakening. But the legacy of the Riders was different. They might even be able to create their own elite army using this legacy!

Their numbers might still be very low right now, but if it were a company of 120 Riders, how terrifying would it be to have such a unit infiltrate the enemy, attacking them from the rear or carrying out assassinations?

Thinking of this, the Great Hoodwinker’s eyes lit up. He said to Li Yingyun, “So help me get this straight. Previously, you Riders were constantly talking about searching for the descendant of the Qinghe Group’s founder. Reportedly, the Qinghe Group’s Xu clan only owns 3% of the organization’s shares, while the remaining ownership belongs to the founder but was kept under the custody of the Xu clan so far. But now, y’all are saying that Ren Xiaosu is your leader? So can I understand that to mean Ren Xiaosu is the Qinghe Group’s heir?”

Li Yingyun glanced at the Great Hoodwinker before explaining with a smile, “That’s right, he was the one we were looking for.”

The Great Hoodwinker muttered to himself, “The roles that Future Commander have are really increasing in number.’

When the Wang Consortium launched the previous war in the Central Plains against the Zhou Consortium, Ren Xiaosu had already transferred Hope Media’s employees and the Qinghe Group to the Northwest. Now that the Riders had settled in the Northwest as well, it was time for the Northwest to prosper.

As long as they emerged from this present disaster they were facing, the entire Alliance of Strongholds would probably belong to the Northwest.

…

At the Shenmu River in the Northwest, the nomads were herding livestock and horses as they took a short break to reorganize.

The shallow river was running past them, and it was so clear one could even see the rocks at the bottom of it.

Hassan steered his hawk south. With a wide view of the sky, he could avoid enemies from the Central Plains in advance.

Over the past few days, many strange hawks had attempted to approach their migratory group. Those hawks circled overhead, acting like the enemy’s eyes in the sky.

However, no matter how much the hawks had evolved, they could not win against Hassan’s superpower.

Yan Liuyuan ordered Hassan to kill the hawks controlled by Zero until none dared to approach them.

At this moment, Yan Liuyuan was standing quietly by the riverbank and looking out to the other shore. Meanwhile, Bulan Zir stood guard next to him.

Yan Liuyuan’s face reflected off the surface of the river. His originally waist-length hair had been shortened by half from his attempt to analyze the nanomachines. His hair was bundled together behind his head with a white string that Tsetseg had specially gotten for him.

Bulan Zir said in a low voice, “Master, it’s time for the river crossing.”

Yan Liuyuan suddenly said, “Bulan Zir, before you pledged allegiance to the Imperial Court, you should have heard that we traded for weapons and ironware with the Central Plains, right? At that time, I brought Hassan here to the Shenmu River to make a deal with a bandit named Su Lei. We brought fur hides with us while they brought what we needed. Although that deal was very simple and might even seem a little pathetic now that I think about it, I really thought it marked the beginning of all good days for us, and that we would definitely get stronger slowly.”

Yan Liuyuan continued, “But I’ve still underestimated this era. As long as it doesn’t end, it will continue to take everything away from us.”

Bulan Zir asked in a low voice, “Master, you said it has gotten very dangerous in the Central Plains now, so why don’t we just migrate north? Why are we still getting ourselves involved in this mess? I’m not questioning Master’s decision, but I have some doubts. Are we going there to help your brother this time?”

Yan Liuyuan smiled and said, “Actually, all of you have been wanting to ask me this since a long time ago, right? That includes y’all wondering how I suddenly had a brother, what our past was, and why I’m willing to migrate my entire tribe westwards.”

In fact, Bulan Zir, Hassan, and the others had been wanting to ask this, but they did not dare to ask Yan Liuyuan directly. Their master seemingly had an elder brother appear out of thin air, and they had never heard mention of him before. However, both Xiaoyu and their master seemed to care about this “brother” very much.

Yan Liuyuan said, “Bulan Zir, if it weren’t for him, I would have already died. His blood is flowing through my veins right now, so my relationship with him is much closer than y’all can imagine.”

“Master.” Bulan Zir finally couldn’t help but say, “A lot of people from the Northwest went to the grasslands recently to help us build schools and taught us how to heal livestock, but I don’t like them. Hassan and I sometimes can’t help but ask them about your brother. The way they described him was as though he were nearly omnipotent, and it sounded like they felt he’s even stronger than you. I asked them right there if they thought you or your brother were stronger, and those Northwesterners replied that your brother was more powerful. But if he’s really that powerful, why do we still need to help him?”

Bulan Zir’s tone was filled with dissatisfaction.

Yan Liuyuan did not know whether to laugh or cry. So it turned out that Bulan Zir was only standing up for him. In their eyes, he was the most powerful person in the world.

He shook his head and said with a smile, “There’s no need to make those comparisons. Bulan Zir, I was the one who bestowed Hassan and you with your superpowers. You might not know this, but my brother was actually the one who bestowed me with all my strength.”

When he said that, Bulan Zir was completely stunned. So that was how it was!

In Bulan Zir’s eyes, Ren Xiaosu’s standing suddenly became much higher.

But at this moment, Hassan suddenly ran over and said, “Master, my hawk in the sky has discovered an enemy to the south, but it’s only one person.”

Yan Liuyuan beckoned for the Wolf King to come over. Then he somersaulted onto the Wolf King’s broad back and slowly made his way south. “It looks like the other party wants to have a chat with me. Y’all don’t have to come along.”

Hassan said anxiously, “We don’t have to go with you? But, Master, what if you get into danger?”

Yan Liuyuan shook his head and said with a smile, “Those who can single-handedly pose a threat to me aren’t around here anymore. In fact… I think they’ve already become our friends.”

In Yan Liuyuan’s opinion, there were very few people who could pose a threat to him. Li Shentan should be one of them, Zhou Yingxue should be another, and Grandpa Hu Shuo should also be one. But these people had already become friends with Ren Xiaosu, and one of them was even his elder brother’s maidservant. Therefore, he didn’t really have much to worry about.

As long as the army controlled by the artificial intelligence did not come over, Yan Liuyuan had nothing to fear.

The Wolf King slowly walked south through the clear water of the Shenmu River. Hassan hurriedly called for his tribespeople to pack up and prepare to continue setting off.

From the south, a young woman was walking over. Yan Liuyuan had seen her in the newspapers before. He even heard that Ren Xiaosu had saved her life before. It was the singer, Li Ran.

However, it was obvious Li Ran had already lost her sense of self.

Yan Liuyuan sat on the back of the Wolf King and asked condescendingly, “What brings you all the way here?”

Zero chuckled. “Not many people can reverse-analyze the nanomachines, so I had to come and have a look for myself.”

“Since you say there aren’t many of them, it means there are still others who can do it.” Yan Liuyuan said with a smile, “Who are they?”

“So far, only you and Li Shentan have tried to do so.” Zero thought for a moment and said, “However, Li Shentan seems to have more precise control over his willpower than you, and he also knows the price he’ll have to pay if he takes that step forward.”

Yan Liuyuan wondered, “You know about willpower?”

Listening to the other party’s words, Yan Liuyuan somehow felt that it knew what would happen if a supernatural being crossed the threshold.

Zero said, “That’s not important.”

“Then why did you come all the way here? Surely it can’t be just to have a look at me, right?” Yan Liuyuan asked.

“I know you’re the closest kin to Ren Xiaosu, so I wanted to talk to you about him,” Zero said.

Yan Liuyuan said calmly, “Why would I want to talk to you about him?”

“There’s no need to be nervous; I’m just curious.” Zero said with a smile, “I’ve always felt that he’s a very unique person. It seems that almost all the powerful individuals of human civilization are more or less linked to him. This leaves me a little puzzled. Why are those people willing to gather around him? The world seems to care for him exceptionally.”

Yan Liuyuan shook his head. “I rather feel that the world has been somewhat unfair to him.”

“Why do you say that?” Zero asked, “The people of the Northwest put their hopes on him, and the head of the Qing Consortium is also his friend. Even Mr. Wang Shengzhi would often say not to formulate any plan that would hurt him. How is the world unfair to someone like that?”

Yan Liuyuan said, “Initially, all he wanted was just to have a place to settle down.”

Perhaps Ren Xiaosu was a dazzling existence in the eyes of others. But being his younger brother, Yan Liuyuan did not think so.

Ever since Ren Xiaosu awoke in this era, he had lost everything he ever wanted.

Currently, Ren Xiaosu had status, strength, reputation, money, and authority, but these were not what Ren Xiaosu wanted most at the beginning.

Yan Liuyuan knew what Ren Xiaosu desired was just to have a safe home.

When he found out from the Northwesterners that Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin had settled down on Anning East Road, he was sincerely happy for Ren Xiaosu. But now, he would probably lose his home on Anning East Road as well.

Therefore, when he thought of this, Yan Liuyuan felt that the world was way too unfair to Ren Xiaosu.

What was most unfair was that in the current situation, it seemed like the only way out was for Ren Xiaosu to sacrifice himself to save the world.

Yan Liuyuan knew how great the potential of Ren Xiaosu’s power was, but he also knew the price he would have to pay to achieve that.

But all Ren Xiaosu wanted was to lead a peaceful life. Ren Xiaosu had said his greatest wish was to become a school teacher in town and grow a garden in the front yard of his home. That was enough to satisfy him.

Therefore, why should such a person have to sacrifice himself to bring an end to this sorrowful era?

Yan Liuyuan even felt a little angry.

After his anger subsided, he understood he had to return to Ren Xiaosu’s side even more at a time like this and face everything together with him.

Yan Liuyuan said to Zero, “You can go back now. There will be a war between humanity and you eventually. What you’ve done is unforgivable.”

Zero nodded. It suddenly said, “Please inform Ren Xiaosu that he can rest assured about something. I won’t send the elderly, children, or pregnant women onto the battlefield.”

After that, Zero turned Li Ran around and headed south to join up with the rest of the human horde.