“No shit!” Jin shook his head in disbelief.
“It must be just an oddly wrapped coincidence that you have the same name as the Grandmaster Summoner that walked alongside Guan Yu. Unless Ming had found that manuscript as well and convinced your parents to name you as such. And erm that sounds like quite the stretch seeing as Jin is too common a name.” Hou Fei shrugged his shoulders.
“Although it’s quite ironic how we not only share being ‘Grandmaster Summoners’ but both of us wish to keep our monster summoning skills a secret to the point of wishing to escape reality.” Jin pointed out the obvious and Hou Fei realised he shot himself in the foot.
For wanting to prove to Jin that he should not be afraid of his powers, he eventually solidified his point. “However, unlike my namesake, I have different plans on how I want to deal with matters at hand.” Jin changed the topic a little and presented Hou Fei with the Virtual Reality concept that he told the System about.
“You want…to create a Virtual Reality Console so that people can pay and enjoy your dungeons?” Hou Fei asked as confirmation. “It might work for the younger generation, but I doubt many who are working will be interested. As for retirees… can you imagine someone like Ming playing video games? At least with your dungeons, people had more of an incentive to come and play since they could increase their cultivation.”
“Hehe, I have already thought about it. True on its own, it would be just a ‘game’, but what if one of the benefits of playing such a Virtual Reality MMORPG would be that by earning enough points one could have the chance to play my actual dungeons in the real world. That way, I will have customers from all over the world too. After all, I want to be the Number One Dungeon Supplier fast and not like in 20+ years. According to the pathetic ranking that the System had given me, I am still in the six digits ranking.” Jin said and explained his rationale to Hou Fei.
“I see… if you put it that way, even I might be tempted to try it out. You are right, if people perceive the opportunity to improve their cultivation at a very fast pace as something of a hidden bonus, they might mistake it as something like a gimmick to get them hooked into playing the game. I see your point that if things continue not just the Royal Clans but the entire world would seek after you.”
Hou Fei also started to consider things from a military perspective. Not only would Jin be highly sought after, but the State Agents would also have a handful keeping him in check in order to make sure that other national intelligence agencies could not get to him and win him over… or simply abduct him.
“So, you have started worrying about the big picture after all this time. And here I thought you meant you are just afraid to mingle with the Royal Zodiac Clans.”
“I believe I told you that I do not necessarily treat the Royal Zodiac Clan with disdain. As long as they don’t try to control me that is. I can’t deny that they prove to be a convenient tool to rise in society. Even the System started to see it that way and has kept its grudge of destroying them aside for the moment. Not entirely, but it’s a start. Also, that whole Monster Horde incident stemmed from Banned Emperor lackeys. I doubt we have seen the last of them, so befriending the Royal Zodiac Clans should be better in the long run. Besides, our ancestors banded together to fight against him, right?”
“And have the others been notified of this grand plan of yours?” Hou Fei asked and Jin shook his head.
“I was planning to tell them tonight at the reunion dinner. Thought I’d run the whole idea through you and check if you have any inputs. Especially since you have a wider view of the world and military experience. But based on our conversation, you merely reinforced my stance of needing to create a ‘buffer’. Not just against this country but towards the entire world before they gain a taste of real levelling.” Jin chuckled, and Hou Fei smiled with a nod.
“Speaking of this country, it looks like I got sidetracked a little on the matters I wished to inform you about.” Hou Fei remarked. “Even if you do not wish to take the rewards that I had prepared, people are still looking for you.”
“The State Agents?” Jin asked as he recalled that Mr Know-It-All had promised to bring Ryuli to his shop who wished to learn the truth about their encounter, even though she suspected that the one she had met wasn’t Jin but someone she perceived as his master.
“Well, I did have a bit of talk with Agent K. He managed to find out that the two of us share some connection, so he asked me whether I knew when you would be back. Looks like he really wants to talk to you.”
“That particular State Agent has been staying inside the shop for long periods of time ever since User’s disappearance. It appears he has made your shop into his ‘hangout’ area. Other State Agents of similar calibre have been moving in and out of the shop to meet him for reports in the Restaurant Train Instance. System does not mind such a customer per se, but whether he is aware of us watching him is another issue entirely.” The System spoke out.
“Has Kraft tried to probe him?” Jin asked, knowing that his Director of Extreme Spying had a penchant of taking matters into his own hands.
“Not that System is aware of. Original Bellator Kraft might have gathered enough information just like how he did in regards to the Banned Emperor Assassin and deemed it unnecessary to act.” The System replied.
“As for the female individual State Agent called Ryuli, so far she had only entered the shop premise once and hasn’t come back since. Enhanced audio playback revealed that the female agent was disappointed in Agent K for failing to uphold his promise. Her information in the national database had been locked, but Original Bellator Kraft somehow managed to pull her data out. While System had not received any updates on the information, User can ask him, since he had also shown a vast interest in investigating Ryuli’s past.”
“Nevermind, I will ask him about it during the reunion dinner when I have the chance.”
“State Agents aside, the Tiger General wished to thank you personally for sending help. He had previously extended an invitation to dinner at his home to me and requested you to join us at your earliest convenience. I had also spoken to Ke Loong since the military had to return the portals. He was very happy with your product… but not very happy once he realised the portal devices had been deactivated after the entire incident. Your people reportedly told them that it was your prerogative to do so.”
“Ah yea, I do remember giving them the instructions to turn it off unless I said otherwise. And since I was out cold for a long time, they just followed protocol.” Jin replied and hoped that Ke Loong had kept the dungeon supplier’s condition in mind to not create any more portal devices until they had sufficient data on the portal devices.
Realistically, Jin already anticipated Ke Loong to have ignored him. Still, knowing that businessman, he would have taken the initiative to do up a plan to sweeten the deal for Jin so he could sell those portals en mass.
“I will speak to the Sea Mesh CEO when I have the chance. For now, it won’t hurt him to believe I am absent a while longer. I will consider that dinner invitation, but I make no promises.” Jin said, and Hou Fei later showed Jin the aftermath of the city.
The damage in the cities along the Dongguan-Huizhou Border Walls had already been taken care of. Most of the Border Walls had also been repaired and strengthened. Veteran Border Guards had also been deployed from all over the country to fill in the ranks until their local platoons had their numbers increased again.
But more importantly, the forest was in a mess, especially in Dongguan where entire acres of forests had been burnt to the ground. And that was also the time when the System interrupted and told Jin about the deal it made with the Spirits of the Land.
