'The Prime Minister is a player, too?'
Chen Qi was quite surprised. If it didn't go against the persona [Ireland] had set up for him, he really would have given Plum Blossom 10 a piece of his mind.
'How could you forget to mention something so important?'
"It's not like that!"
"The Prime Minister may be the owner of the Xiaowang Card, but he's not a combat player."
"His Card has no combat power, so the[Traitors]never targeted him before."
Plum Blossom 10 hurriedly explained that to players like them, the Prime Minister was insignificant.
He was responsible for the socioeconomic operations of the entire Kingdom.
"Combat players, non-combat players?"
"The King's Game has a setting like that?"
Chen Qi's interest was immediately piqued. He took everything related to the King's Game very seriously.
"Well, how should I put it... a non-combat player... actually, the Prime Minister is the only one!"
"Ahem, ahem. Although I'm at headquarters and know a little more than you, it's not by much."
Plum Blossom 10 looked embarrassed. This was honestly a bit of a blow to her pride.
After some careful consideration, she added a few more things.
"According to a rumor... ahem, this is just a little tidbit I overheard, so I can't guarantee it's true."
"Originally, the King's Game was actually a nation-management game, not the combat model it is now."
"I just don't know what happened later to make the game evolve into what it is today."
"The ultimate goal of us Order Keepers is to completely restore order to the game and turn it back into a management game."
"Only then will the entire Lanyu Kingdom be peaceful and stable, and we'll be able to escape this precarious existence."
Plum Blossom 10's words truly shocked Chen Qi.
'The original version of the King's Game was a casual management game.'
This couldn't help but make him think of the rumor that a Demon created the King's Game.
Chen Qi had always felt a Demon wouldn't be so stupid as to create a game where Heroes clear levels, and then serve as the final boss itself.
'But if it was a management game, it wasn't out of the realm of possibility.'
'I just wonder what the purpose of creating this game was.'
For now, it was all just rumors. No one could prove that Demons really existed.
But Chen Qi still felt he was getting closer to the truth of the game, step by step.
"Do you know which round the game mutated in?"
Chen Qi asked this key question, but Plum Blossom 10 said she didn't know either.
Later, she seemed to get annoyed by Chen Qi's questions, claimed she had important matters to attend to, and hastily hung up.
Chen Qi was quite disappointed. 'Shouldn't players communicate more with each other?'
······
'Strange. The Prime Minister never had any incidents before, so why would he be assassinated now?'
After ending the call, Chen Qi felt that there was something hidden within this piece of information.
'But thinking about it carefully, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with me right now.'
In fact, to a certain extent, the Prime Minister's assassination had even done Chen Qi a huge favor.
After being baselessly probed, Chen Qi instinctively didn't want to come into contact with too many players while his strength was still low.
But the gathering was already set for January 1st. He couldn't just not go, could he?
Now, things were better. The gathering definitely couldn't be held for at least a month.
With this buffer period, he would have enough time to attempt his[Awakening].
Once his Awakening was successful, he could potentially raise his skill to LV3.
That would be a qualitative leap, enough for him to leave his novice status behind.
······
Twenty minutes after ending the call, Chen Qi returned to the Red Falcon Martial Arts Academy.
Mu Wanqing and the other disciples of the Red Falcon Sect had been waiting there for a long time.
"[Mr. Jomoya], are you confident you can cure the Hall Master now?"
Ever since she found out that[Jomoya]was an imposter, Mu Wanqing had been constantly worried.
But the Red Falcon Sect's current situation left them with no other choice.
"Don't worry. I keep my word."
Chen Qi was full of confidence. After his[Body Control]evolved to LV2, the Puppet Threads he could condense gained an additional property of Erosion.
'If he ran into Flette again, his Extreme Path Chip would be useless.'
Under everyone's expectant gazes, Chen Qi walked into the martial arts academy and once again saw the bedridden Yu Hongwu.
At this moment, Yu Hongwu was still as gaunt and haggard as before, with no significant change.
"You can stay. As for the others, it's best they leave."
Although Chen Qi didn't mind using his abilities in front of everyone, considering the King's Game's "cognitive correction," it was better not to have too many onlookers.
'He was definitely doing this for their own good.'
Mu Wanqing seemed to realize this as well and hurriedly ordered her junior martial brothers to leave.
After the onlookers had left, Chen Qi activated[Body Control], and ten invisible threads materialized.
And at the very instant Chen Qi activated his ability, Yu Hongwu's heartbeat faltered, as if he had sensed something.
"Hall Master Yu, rest assured. You'll be well soon."
The ten Puppet Threads entered Yu Hongwu's body, taking root in his damaged neural network.
Chen Qi's perception, attached to the threads, began to magnify infinitely.
Soon, Chen Qi felt as if he had appeared on a path of light.
It was 100 meters wide and stretched on endlessly, with brilliant runes of light flowing within it.
'How profound. My perspective has actually reached the microscopic level.'
The human body's nerve fibers have diameters ranging from a fraction of a micrometer to 100 micrometers, and their lengths can be as short as a few micrometers or as long as a meter.
The path of light where Chen Qi's Consciousness now stood was just one insignificant nerve fiber.
Those brilliant, flowing runes of light were neural signals.
As long as Chen Qi "willed" it, he could link his Consciousness to the path of light, not only intercepting and deciphering those symbols but also exerting his influence upon them.
This was the true nature of[Body Control]LV1; it was just that the previous Chen Qi had been unable to project his Consciousness here so clearly.
······
'The human body's neural network... it's truly vast and magnificent.'
Chen Qi stood still and looked up, extending his perception infinitely. Then, he witnessed a wondrous sight comparable to a cosmic river of stars.
Countless paths of light crisscrossed, weaving a Heaven and Earth Net that enveloped the universe.
Billions of light runes flowed like shining stars, illuminating the dark universe of the human body.
However, amidst the brilliant light, several gaps appeared abruptly.
They were crucial junctions in the paths of light, but now they were completely severed.
This was the reason for Yu Hongwu's total paralysis!
'I have to act quickly. This Human Body Universe—or rather, Yu Hongwu's body—is rejecting the invasion of my Consciousness.'
In just a brief moment, Chen Qi felt his Consciousness being suppressed, and the Heaven and Earth Net in his vision began to slowly fade.
Chen Qi immediately locked onto a[gap]and extended his Puppet Threads toward it.
If one were to look down from the perspective of the entire Human Body Universe, they would see new paths of light appear in the endless darkness, connecting to a Black Hole.
However, the runes of light flowing through these new paths emitted a faint purple glow.
The purple light runes poured into the Black Hole. In the next instant, the Black Hole erupted in a supernova, illuminating the background of the entire universe.
Yet the flash lasted only for a moment. After the light faded, darkness once again enveloped the Human Body Universe.
But that gap had vanished. That patch of dark, starry sky was once again covered by the Heaven and Earth Net, and light was restored.
Of course, this was just a sensation on the level of his Consciousness!
In the real world, Chen Qi was using the Erosion ability of his Puppet Threads to forcibly make healthy nerve cells divide and reorganize, reconnecting the severed nerve fibers.
Although the method was a bit crude, the formidable physique of a Grandmaster Level Martial Artist like Yu Hongwu provided Chen Qi with a sufficient margin for error.
Chen Qi wasn't just treating Yu Hongwu; he was, more importantly, experimenting with his new ability.