LWDC Chapter 165

“So, how do you plan to deal with the King and Prince Fain? Are you going to use your Light Magic to interrogate them and find out where they are first?”

“Huh?”

Ning Fei, who was eating brunch, looked up at the man across the table, swallowed the ham in his mouth, and was speechless: “Can you not suddenly talk about these things while eating?”

“Just asking about your plan.” Duan Yunhong also ate his breakfast, “Or, do you want to directly save the world?”

Ning Fei didn’t even raise his eyes this time: “You know very well that even if you kill the King and the Prince, it’s impossible to succeed in saving the world in one step.”

“I know. So I’m asking if you want to.” Duan Yunhong said slowly, “According to the cognitive level of the common people in this world, they still can’t understand that even if many nobles are killed, this country cannot immediately become the ‘utopia’ they imagine. If you kill the nobles, there are still officials; if you kill the officials, there are still landlords, guard captains, and wealthy merchants… and if you kill too many nobles and officials in a short period of time, the country’s operating system will completely collapse, and the world will be in chaos. So even if you let them make a wish, they won’t know how to truly save the world, save themselves, and will only accelerate social unrest.

“To save a world like this, you need a large but flexible plan, and you need to think long-term. And in the short term, you can’t kill too many key nobles. Some nobles shouldn’t even be killed by you, but should be killed by those who want to change the world themselves, otherwise, humans won’t cherish things that are too easy to get.”

“Sounds like you have a lot of experience?” Ning Fei glanced at him, “Oh, but that’s right, Director Duan was familiar with finding breakthroughs to save the world in the last world, using small things to achieve big things, and grasping the key. What, did some other transmigrators ask you to help save the world? Was the original owner’s wish to destroy the world?”

“Just the simplest logic. After so many worlds, seeing so much history, I still have some ability to summarize.” Duan Yunhong said, and suddenly changed the subject, “Speaking of the last world, did you also lie to me about something?”

“…Huh?”

“No need to pretend to be stupid, I guessed it.” Duan Yunhong said directly, “Actually, Yu Zhou didn’t require Yue Fengping to be the savior, right? Otherwise, with his personality, he wouldn’t easily agree to Yue Fengping stepping down. So, your goal should just be to save the world. You weren’t betting with me, you were using me as a pretext to bet, and using me.”

Ning Fei: “…”

He picked up the table wine, poured half a glass for Duan Yunhong, and exclaimed exaggeratedly: “As expected of you, so smart.”

“No need to flatter me. If I wanted to confront you about this, I wouldn’t have waited until now.” Duan Yunhong sneered, “But didn’t Yu Zhou know your plan? Why didn’t he act at all?”

“He knew, but he didn’t need to act so much to cooperate with me. Anyway, I decided to… mislead you, so it’s my responsibility to keep it from you.” Ning Fei replied, “Also, do you think you understand Yu Zhou very well, is that right?”

“OK, OK, I don’t understand, let’s not talk about him.” Duan Yunhong ended the discussion as expected. He knew that Ning Fei was protecting Yu Zhou, but he was just being a “jerk,” and had to diss Yu Zhou in front of Ning Fei. When Ning Fei got angry, Duan Yunhong had to give in. After all, Yu Zhou’s position in Ning Fei’s heart was so lofty that it was simply an unsolvable problem.

But Duan Yunhong also understood. Especially after seeing this world and knowing Ning Fei’s original life, no one would fail to understand Yu Zhou’s significance to Ning Fei; calling him a “savior” would not be an exaggeration.

“Do you think you’re particularly accurate at judging people, and that others are definitely the way you think they are?” Ning Fei continued to mock, “Looks like you need to suffer a big loss before you stop acting like an old man, pointing fingers everywhere and talking boastfully.”

“Old man…” President Duan sneered disdainfully, but President Duan shut up.

…

After finishing the meal, Ning Fei wiped his fingers and said in a seemingly indifferent tone: “I probably still won’t save the world.”

Duan Yunhong felt that his words seemed a bit uncertain, and asked, “Want to talk about the reason?”

“No reason. I never intended to save the world, and I won’t easily change because I saw civilians being killed yesterday, and then listened to a bunch of your nonsense.” Ning Fei looked at him, “If they think killing the King is useful, then kill the King; if they think killing the Prince is useful, then kill the Prince. Until I get tired of this game, or someone among them really understands, or… the powerful finally realize how this game should be played.”

“The powerful’s solution?” Duan Yunhong thought for a while, “Those famous old ones, as long as they can hide in a place you can’t find, and remain incognito, they might really be able to hide. Then, they can use wealthy merchants, armies, landlords, or other people with economic power or armed command, or even just people with prestige, to reorganize the power that controls society.”

Ning Fei glanced at him: “Why make it so complicated? Isn’t there a very simple word to describe it?”

Duan Yunhong: “Parliamentary system.”

Ning Fei anticipated that Duan Yunhong could probably guess his train of thought, but when Duan Yunhong really said it, Ning Fei was still stunned for a moment.

But in less than a second, Ning Fei replied: “…Actually, what I wanted to say was constitutional monarchy. After all, the powerful still have to control things from behind, but this backward system doesn’t even qualify as a ‘shadow government’.”

“But the monarch can’t be in the open for the time being.” Duan Yunhong said, “Old money uses new money as a front, and the new money are people who are not within your ‘seven-day fun’ range. So this is a top-down, expedient pseudo-reform, not a bottom-up one, and it doesn’t count as a major advancement in the social system, and it’s destined not to eliminate much of the class gap.”

“Let’s not discuss this nonsense. Just like the common people here can’t think of a real form of resistance, the nobles here are not smart enough either. Maybe until I end this game, get tired of it, and leave this place, they’ll still be in this chaotic state, and won’t change much.” Ning Fei said, “I just want to do what I want to do, I don’t want to be the random mutation gene that promotes apes to evolve into humans.”

Whenever he talked about this world, he would say it in a very harsh way, which was an instinctual self-deprecation.

Duan Yunhong didn’t want to keep reminding him about this, so he followed the topic and asked jokingly: “It’s really not because you don’t have enough luck?”

In a world without missions, it should cost an astronomical number of luck points for outsiders to forcefully reverse the world’s trend. Ning Fei might also be fined by the Administration Bureau, which would be a huge expense. Although Duan Yunhong speculated that Ning Fei’s “money-sucking ability” was first-class, what if he didn’t save enough?

Ning Fei only found it laughable when he heard this, and asked: “What can you do if it’s not enough? Will you take the lead in saving the world and deduct your luck?”

“…” Duan Yunhong was silent for two seconds, “I can sponsor you some luck, but I won’t take the lead.”

“Hahahaha, Duan Yunhong, Duan Yunhong, you’re really used to being a ‘domineering CEO’! Do you think this is where you swipe your card, huh? Swipe it and pay for me?” Ning Fei said happily, “And why are you so stingy when you’re generous? You’re willing to spend money, but not willing to put in the effort, is that right?”

“Theoretically, that’s how it is. I’m already spending money, why should I bother myself?” Duan Yunhong walked up to him, looked into his eyes, “However, if you explicitly ask me to help you, it’s not impossible.”

“…Reverse the Heavens.” Ning Fei knew the real meaning of his words, raised his hand and patted his face, “I wouldn’t dare to move you, this great god. What if you suddenly regret it later, want to erase your dark history, and run to the Administration Bureau to sue me? I’d be beyond saving.”

“You’ve questioned my character more than once. Then how about this: you take my location, and I take one of your weaknesses?” Duan Yunhong raised his eyebrows slightly, grabbing his hand, “Also, you just said the best way to trick me, you’re quite generous.”

“Ha, you wouldn’t think of it? You still have character? You’ve lied to me many times too, we’re about the same, don’t stand on the moral high ground.” Ning Fei pulled his hand away, “Alright, I’ve reported my plan to you, don’t ask, ask, ask.”

Duan Yunhong: “Then how exactly are you going to kill the King and the Prince?”

Ning Fei: “Don’t ask, ask, ask! None of your business!”

*

As a result, Duan Yunhong still kept up with Ning Fei’s pace.

The two of them sneaked into Prince Fain’s manor in the royal capital. It was theoretically very difficult, but in reality, it was surprisingly simple. Duan Yunhong was actually quite good at disguises too, and was thinking of showing Ning Fei a bit if he faced any emergencies, so that this guy wouldn’t always think he was a burden. However, the two of them just put on the plain clothes that ordinary servants often wore, and easily entered the manor’s main castle by following the people carrying goods back and forth a few times while the manor’s kitchen was delivering supplies.

The two of them just had to walk around the castle with work tools, and no one suspected their identities.

“This is too lax.” Duan Yunhong commented sharply, “He specifically brought troops into the royal capital to deal with you, but his own territory’s vigilance is so loose, is this really a state of being on high alert?”

“Maybe he ordered martial law, but the servants may not strictly enforce it. Or rather, these people who work for the nobles are already used to being outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant. They’ll still act a little in front of him, but who would bother to put in that much effort in private? It won’t get them any more rewards, and Fain won’t see it.” Ning Fei replied naturally, “Just a little reward, why work so hard?”

Duan Yunhong said, “Sounds like you’re used to it. No wonder you didn’t make any preparations and approached the manor so boldly.”

“Yeah, first pretend to be someone from the delivery team, then pretend to be someone from the manor, it’s that simple. Even if someone thinks we look unfamiliar, they won’t say much.” Ning Fei shrugged, “So many soldiers are patrolling, if anything happens, they should be the ones to go first, the castle ‘should’ be the safest. It’s better to avoid trouble…”

“Huh? You guys…?”

A well-dressed man suddenly walked out from the corner not far ahead, in his fifties, looking different from the other servants. But he also looked different from the arrogant nobles. Ning Fei glanced at him and knew that this should be someone like a butler.

The butler stared at Ning Fei and Duan Yunhong who were approaching, his eyes scanning them up and down, his suspicious expression becoming more and more obvious.

“Who are you? What work are you responsible for? How come I’ve never seen you before?”