"Click, click, click." Leo marveled, "I've noticed that you, this woman, always like to test the limits near danger. Aren't you afraid of breaking a leg? Do you think I'm Yao Chen? Wake up."
"Yao Chen is a character you've defined yourself. So no matter how much you push him, as long as it doesn’t threaten his life, he'll always indulge you. You've gotten so used to this that you truly believe you're the heroine!"
"What’s wrong with breaking the law? What I do is nothing but illegal, ha ha ha ha, what are you going to do to me? Don't forget your life is in my hands!"
"Are you trying to negotiate with me again? I knew you would! Don't even think about it! Do you understand the situation right now? Do you even know what your identity is?"
Han Yanyan stared at the white light in the space, and she realized something. In Leo's world, there were evidently laws, and where there are laws, there should be rights. But she had none. Her life was in someone else's hands; she had no freedom, could not contact the outside world, and could not call for help.
She was a slave kidnapped by Leo.
Changing her tone without showing any sign, she said, "No, I'm just curious. What are you going to do with this forbidden technology? Do you have a grudge against Yao?"
"Oh please, why would I be bored enough to hold a grudge against a big shot like him?" Leo replied, "He's just a client. One who sends me money."
A previous assumption was overturned as the truth headed in another direction. So that’s how it is.
"Has Yao encountered some kind of problem? Unconscious? In a vegetative state? Does he need to be awakened?" Han Yanyan asked.
"No." Leo said, "He's dead."
Han Yanyan recalled her passionate moments with Ding Yao and the intimate gestures with Yao Chen, freezing for a moment as her hair stood on end.
"Hahahahahahahahahahaha!" Leo saw her reaction so clearly, even the goosebumps on her arms, and laughed with great delight.
"Are you lying to me?" Han Yanyan breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh man, that’s just hilarious." Leo said, "Since you’re so amusing, let me enlighten you."
"In medicine, there are three forms of determining death: physical death, brain death, and death of the spiritual force," he explained, "That person belongs to the last category. His bodily functions are still operating, healthier than you. How does that feel?"
"Even if his body is still alive, why is he considered dead?" Han Yanyan pressed on.
"When someone dies, even if the body is cremated, the source of their spiritual force can still exist. If preserved properly, it can exist forever. But unlike when alive, the spiritual force of the dead is closed off."
Leo continued, "In another situation, the body and brain functions are fine, but the source of spiritual force is closed off for some reason, so there's basically no chance of waking up. Thus, the death of spiritual force is also a form of death.
However, the families of those with brain death and closed-off spiritual force often can’t accept it, thinking their loved ones are still alive..."
"So you use this forbidden technology to stimulate and revive those with closed-off spiritual forces?”
“The success rate for bringing the dead back to life isn’t high. Most of the jobs I take are to make the deceased speak."
"The deceased, the dead..." Han Yanyan pondered, "Is there a difference?"
"The dead still have their body, still breathe, still function. The deceased are those without a body, with their spiritual force preserved by special technology."
"So Yao..."
"He's dead, still breathing."
Hearing that Yao was still breathing, Han Yanyan felt much better.
She asked, "What about Qiao Wenxing? Who is he?"
"He's someone I’ve mentioned before, but you don’t remember. He’s a deceased." Leo replied, "He’s precisely the rich young master you constructed for him. This young master fell in love with a poor girl and poured all his heart into her. Who knew the poor girl took the breakup fee from his parents and ran? The young master couldn't take the blow and mentally committed suicide."
"But he successfully came back to life. His weak spiritual force and unstable will made his chances of success the highest. I told you, you could handle him. Hehe."
"You must have made quite a bit from this, huh?” Han Yanyan asked.
Leo snorted.
"If he could come back, then why hasn't Yao succeeded?" Han Yanyan pressed.
Leo's mouth twitched: "That spoiled young master can't possibly compare to him!"
"That one is true Aristocrat blood, the fifteenth descendant of Emperor Ares, a genuine royal, and the eleventh heir to the imperial throne. An SS-grade spiritual force expert. Since birth, he’s had wealth that would last a lifetime; his domain is larger than some small countries!"
With that long description, Han Yanyan wanted to praise him, 'Awesome.' But she needed more information, biting her lips and holding back.
"But this particular one has gone mad! He's a royal bloodline! A proper duke! Now he's the leader of a rebel force! He could just eat and drink well as a royal, but instead, he wants to overthrow the empire!" With each word, Leo became more incensed. "If he didn't want to be a prince, I just wonder! Would lying around and enjoying life not be good?! Wouldn't it be good?! Wouldn't it?!"
If he had been standing before Han Yanyan, he might as well have sprayed her with his saliva at this point.
Han Yanyan took a deep breath, not wanting to criticize how, under a civilization so advanced, there could still be imperial rule.
"What does his background have to do with me being unable to conquer him?" she asked.
Leo’s mood was interrupted, and he looked displeased: "Of course! Just think about his identity, status, and abilities, then think about what he is doing. What great storms hasn’t he seen? His mental resilience is not something that a spoiled young master can compare to! Is something as trivial as a little stimulation enough to affect him?"
"I have three builders, one of whom was killed by him in the world. That was my oversight; that builder was a bit weak. He died too tragically within the world, and his brain couldn't handle it; his body was deemed dead by his brain and actually died.
The other two, like you, directly faced him, and we don’t even need to talk about the consequences. With their debacle, I couldn’t dare to slack off afterward, and at a crucial moment, I severed the connection to the world, saving your life. Hmph, to save you, I even carried out genetic modifications, you should thank me."
Thank you, eighteen generations of your ancestors.
"I understand now. The so-called conquest is actually just stimulation. After enough stimulation, if the source of spiritual force recovers, he will come back to life. But he's so impressive, how am I supposed to stimulate him?" Han Yanyan said in a serious tone.
"Oh, don’t underestimate yourself!" Leo perked up, "You may not know, thus far, you are the best one at this."
In the pure white space, a glowing chart appeared in front of Han Yanyan.
"What is this?" she asked.
"The blue line represents his spiritual force fluctuation frequency, and the red line is the value that must be reached to reactivate the spiritual force," Leo explained. "Look here, look here, you’ve achieved this twice."
The blue line first made a small jump, then a big jump, but it was still far from reaching that red line above...
Han Yanyan stared at the blue line. The big jump was when Yao Chen was betrayed by her, while the small jump was...
Han Yanyan gently let out an "Ah..." Compared to hatred, love was truly insignificant.
Originally, she was still brooding over Ding Yao, but now she no longer cared. It didn’t matter how Ding Yao felt back then, be it by accident or intention. Because "Ding Yao" was merely a character she had created herself, she had given him such a personality.
Suddenly, something flashed in her mind, and Han Yanyan quickly looked up and asked, "Leo, why could both Ding Yao and Yao Chen detect the world was fake, but Ding Yao sensed it, while Yao Chen completely accepted the world setup and character he was given?"
"Huh? Ding Yao... Emmmm, maybe it’s an issue with your world setup?" Leo suggested.
Han Yanyan was not convinced. The setup of the apocalyptic world was very rigorous.
"Rubbish! I don't even want to discuss this!" Leo said disdainfully, "What kind of nonsense is that zombie?!"
"It’s a virus that activates cells..."
"Rubbish!" Leo could barely tolerate it on technical matters, "What twisted logic! Regardless if it’s pharmacology, biology, microbiology, or medicine, there’s not a single thing that makes sense! It's completely pseudoscience, okay?!"
Han Yanyan was momentarily speechless. When it came to technology, perhaps... Leo was right.
“No, it's not just like that; Ding Yao had doubts about his character. He felt out of place. I'm struggling to understand why.” Han Yanyan said.
This related to how the future treatment plan for that one would be set, and Leo began to seriously contemplate.
"It might be... the gap between his character and true self is just too large? Usually, we would give a client a character that's similar to their real self, like Qiao Wenxing. Waking the deceased is simpler; it’s basically allowing them to relive their life in the world. The spiritual force fluctuations of the deceased will rise with this reminiscence, and they will awaken."
Leo said, "You set Ding Yao up as a white-collar worker, so he may find it out of character. I remember he only expressed doubt about his 'past life.' He didn’t question his role as the leader of the squad."
But Ding Yao had said those words in his home, and then they...
Han Yanyan's expression was flat: "Didn’t you say private actions weren’t monitored?"
"Cough, cough, cough, cough!" Leo suddenly coughed, "During private activities, we cut the feed."
"We?"
"Hmph, that guy’s subordinates are right outside my operation room watching me. Honestly, they have no faith in my business ethics whatsoever." Leo felt a bit frustrated, "I've never encountered such a domineering client. Fine, in consideration of the hefty commission they paid, I’ll endure it."
"Still doesn’t make sense. If it were because of a disparity with his true self, then why was Yao Chen completely immersed in his character?" Han Yanyan asked.
"Huh? Maybe it's because Yao Chen... is also a leader?"
"But Yao Chen has a low cultural level, does things crudely, and while he tries to present himself as someone from a meritocratic society, his coarseness reveals itself in details. That one... wasn’t he said to be a duke? Such a noble would have received extremely strict education from a young age, right?"
"That’s for sure, even blowing his nose has to be done in a specific way, I guess," Leo strode along with his "Queen Mother" loser mindset.