Chapter 122: Imaginary X and Formulation of X

"What would you do if you were assigned to the Han army?"

Seeing that Wang Luo remained silent, Zhou Suyan could not help but ask.

"I don't think on behalf of the exploiting class. Misjudging one's position, especially substituting oneself into the enemy's standpoint, leads to terrible outcomes. I've done something similar in the past and suffered a great loss for it," Wang Luo replied casually.

A thought stirred in Zhou Suyan's mind: In the past?

"Then what if you defeated the Han army and established a government? What would you do then?"

"Fulfill my duties," Wang Luo answered. "No matter how much beautification is done for the sake of governance, a nation is, at its root, a group composed of human beings. The duty of a leader is to lead the entire group toward prosperity, flourishing, and strength."

"In history, Emperor Wu of Han did an exceptionally well. Li Shimin was also good, followed by Zhu Yuanzao and the founding father of our current dynasty. Anyway... though my ability and talent might fall short, the goal of learning from them remains unchanged."

That was quite a bold tone. "What if your identity was set as the aristocratic clan you oppose the most?"

"It would be the same. Do the work befitting that identity. Whatever position you hold, you do that job. If you contribute to society as a whole, you haven't failed your wealth; the higher the position, the greater the opportunity to lead the entire group forward and upward." At some point, Wang Luo had put down his pen and was speaking with great passion.

"What if the nobles of the Han dynasty started working hard right now? Would you stop rebelling?" Zhou Suyan asked.

"That would be rather difficult." Wang Luo pondered for a moment. "Even if they started working diligently, the malady is too deep-seated to reverse. There is no logic where you're halfway through a rebellion and stop just because you realize the other party is a good person. Unless they surrender, a victor and a loser must be decided. At most, I just wouldn't kill them after winning."

"Does that mean even you, if you became one of those aristocratic landlords now, would find yourself helpless?" Zhou Suyan spotted a flaw in his explanation.

"Where there's a will, there's a way," Wang Luo said. "I would never be helpless in any environment. That's primarily because I am accustomed to thinking rather than acting on instinct, and I don't care much about gains and losses. The instincts that bind aristocratic landlords cannot bind me."

"If I encountered that situation, I would probably first try to externalize the conflicts—shifting the goal of seizing interests from human beings to nature."

"You won't indulge in enjoyment and forget what you're saying right now, will you?" Zhou Suyan wore a playful expression.

"Uh... hard to say. Though I'm very confident now, once I'm actually placed in an environment where soft blades kill slowly, I might not necessarily hold my ground. But as long as the little spark of spiritual clarity within remains unfallen, even if I sink, I should be able to break free."

He was entirely serious. Zhou Suyan could hear it.

She had only asked casually, treating it as a bit of banter, yet he gave such a serious answer. Was there any need for that?

Recalling how he had been previously, he was always earnest and serious, rarely joking.

She suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion.

----

Just like in the past.

Seeing her expression, Wang Luo sighed softly in his heart, thinking of Tang Xiaoxiao.

He was still the same: too serious, too earnest, too heavy, and too dry. While these traits were advantageous when pursuing the truth, they would never win a woman's affection.

Even if he attained status and they were attracted by it, getting along with him would naturally breed a subconscious aversion to this dryness.

He should be thankful for the current environment; only in adversity and under heavy pressure could the victories brought by this seriousness provide them with a certain sense of security. But being too safe was no good either—if they felt too safe for too long, and then witnessed the kindness he inadvertently displayed, they would forget how terrifying he was and might even unconsciously look down on him.

Heh, success would compensate for the minor flaw of his seriousness, and the pressure from enemies would erase the disgust in their hearts.

Vaguely feeling a sense of discomfort, he pulled a blank page from his manuscript to banish the feeling. "These few days, I've been drafting some new team regulations."

"Oh? What kind are they?" she asked timidly.

"First, the team name: DTPH. The initials for Dynamic, Tension, Balance, and Harmony."

"As for members, all are welcome, the more the better."

"The two most straightforward mechanisms: a rating system and an advance system. Simply put, based on a member's performance in the previous scenario, they are given a potential rating, which determines the advance quota the team grants them. They can also choose to lend the equipment they've harvested to the team in exchange for advance quota."

"The settings of this space are quite interesting. Equipment that is powerful in this scenario is often lackluster in another, while people who shine brilliantly in modern times find themselves completely paralyzed in ancient times due to equipment suppression."

"Equipment is very expensive. For an individual, gathering different equipment across various eras is impossible. Instead, it's better for the team to store equipment from different eras, and then lend the matching era's equipment to members once they know in advance which scenario they are entering, allowing them to perform to their heart's content in that era."

"What if they die?" Zhou Suyan asked. "Then everything is gone."

"Is there... any item that can recover equipment after a team member dies?" Wang Luo asked.

"No... not that I know of," Zhou Suyan shook her head. "I've never heard of it. Besides, what if someone takes the equipment and runs away?"

"We sign a contract; the space provides that service. And we limit it using quotas." Wang Luo waved a hand. "For newcomers, we give ordinary crafted equipment, so we don't fear losing it; once their quota increases, we can give enhanced crafted equipment. Only the most reliable people get special equipment."

"That would require a lot of people with professional skills," Zhou Suyan noted.

"Yeah, is there a problem?" Just say it directly; it saves us both trouble.

"There are very few people who can craft advanced skills," she explained. "Because the space doesn't have gathering-type professions, but has many types of crafting professions. Material prices are very high, and ordinary people can't afford to practice them. Only large teams invest in cultivating them."

"Does Wuzhou have any?" With so many people, there should be one or two.

"None," Zhou Suyan shook her head. "Wuzhou's resources were all concentrated on the team leader. They did recruit an alchemist before, but he died in battle later."

Mentioning this, she frowned, as if recalling something unpleasant.

"Our team will cultivate them across the board," Wang Luo waved his hand. "Whatever conditions are needed, we provide them. I'll be a blacksmith myself. Find people who share our philosophy, offer them better treatment and a future for development, and that gives them a reason for loyalty. Cultivate a few of each type; even if they betray us, we'll make sure they provide enough contribution to the team before they leave."

"Materials are very expensive," she reminded him.

"The battlefield is where yields are highest, right? Then we'll come here more often." And it suits my strengths even better.

"What if we encounter a spy?"

Are you an idiot? Do I care about that? "The same good treatment, the same fair handling. What value does a spy have? I have always been open and aboveboard, leaving nothing hidden to begin with."