A Core Ship From The Start Chapter 1186

Chapter 1186: Chapter 807: A Test of Patience Chapter 1186: Chapter 807: A Test of Patience Seeing Regina again was somewhat unexpected for D.

“I really didn't expect to see you again.”

“Unexpected?”

“A little, especially since you lost contact after that and you were in Europe–I never thought you'd return to Night City.”

“After all, we had nowhere else to go.”

As Regina took the tea from D, she too reflected, then looked out the window.

“To be honest, I remember you once said you didn't want to be a legend of Night City, but its king–now it seems you really have achieved that.”

“Legends are worthless, meaningless.”

D silently shook his head.

“Johnny Silverhand and the like are only considered notable by the drunks in the bars, no serious person takes him seriously. To change all this, terrorist-like zeal is useless, any change requires long-term, relentless effort and sacrifice–of course, I think those drug-addicted rock maniacs can't understand that.”

“Looking at it now, you've indeed done well.”

Regina agreed with this point, noticing the significant changes in Night City compared to before. The NCPD was no longer just accomplices or lapdogs of capital, but honorable work; officers on the streets treated citizens with courtesy without any arrogance.

The messy graffiti on the walls was also wiped out. Initially, the dark alleys of Night City were hotspots for homicides; even walking into them, you might see corpses. But now, those places were clean and orderly. People could walk the streets safely. Although the supplies here were not abundant, compared to other places that were almost primitive… this place was outstanding.

“I really don't know how you did it.”

“It's quite simple when you mention it. Capital creates a clear division of classes, men and women, black and white, Asian and African, just divide people by different classes, and you can easily provoke internal conflicts among them. Then those foolish idiots won't notice the capitalists manipulating them at will. Even if someone notices, they don't have enough strength to unite and resist.”

D spread his hands.

“So it's quite simple next, forcibly break all that, letting them return to their original identities, acknowledging they are all humans. To avoid destruction, they must unite and with my absolute rule, they couldn't differentiate each other anymore. Over time, it will be fine, as humans are creatures good at adapting to circumstances, they can survive no matter the situation.”

“I see.”

Hearing this, Regina nodded, then put down her teacup and looked at the angel in front of her.

“So, even being ruled by an Electronic Demon isn't a problem?”

Faced with Regina's inquiry, D just smirked.

“What, that got out too?”

“Of course, there were even rumors saying you were the first Electronic Demon in the world, and it was you who brought about the collapse of the Black Wall, destroying the world. They say you wanted to completely dominate humans… We've heard similar rumors all along the way.”

“That's understandable.”

D shrugged his shoulders, not surprised by the rumor at all. Especially after the Electronic Demons appeared, there were always rumors claiming D was the first Electronic Demon. After all, from an appearance point of view, D did indeed resemble an Electronic Demon, such as having no cybernetic body but wings, parts unlike humans, and the ability to wield immense strength, immune to human attacks.

This world was never short of conspiracy theories, and Night City was no exception.

“You don't care?”

“I don't care.”

Faced with Regina's curious inquiry, D chuckled lightly.

“As long as you possess sufficient power, these things are trivial. Furthermore, even if I were truly an Electronic Demon, who could do anything about me? Or rather, come together under this guise to overthrow or destroy me? Unfortunately for them, they've tried, but it was futile.”

“You mean, Taiping State's…”

Regina was not foolish. In fact, she had made the connection immediately upon hearing this.

“Yes, those idiots from the Voodoo Boys, claiming that I'm not an envoy of God but an Electronic Demon, have come to bewitch the people of Night City, thus calling on the public to oppose me. It's truly ridiculous, why must deities act according to their wishes? A deity is not an idol, molded by followers' desires into whatever they want — is that even a god anymore? Utterly foolish, for the sake of an imagined god they deny the real one — haha, what about those scriptures saying God should be this way or that way, just fabrications of your own minds, why should deities act according to your ideas?”

At this point, D snorted.

“If whatever you say, God does, then who is the master of whom? If you truly believe in deities, then if God says you should die, shouldn't you just obediently die? Yet you dare say 'our god would never treat his followers like that.' Well, look at you, thinking you know better than the deities themselves, but in the end, it's still up to me to take action.”

“Hmm…”

It has to be said, upon hearing D's annoyed complaints, Regina was at a loss for words for a moment. Although D's words were somewhat unreasonable, she had to admit, if there really were a god, his point was quite valid…

“So you just killed them all?”

“Of course, since they expressed a willingness to be shattered to pieces rather than overthrow my so-called evil reign of the Electronic Demon, in the name of some god they don't even know where, I naturally did not hold back, so I killed them all. After all, keeping them around was just trouble, and if they were injured, it would've been a waste of medical resources to treat them, better to just finish them off at once. It also saved quite a bit of food and supplies.”

Towards the end, a strong murderous intent emerged in D's tone, causing Regina to shudder. However, she quickly coughed and hurriedly changed the subject.

“So…where do you plan to lead Night City next?”

“Completely eliminating the electronic network is now impossible.”

D sighed softly.

“As much as it irks me, I have to admit, humans must now enter a new era, an era of coexistence with Electronic Demons, and that's my next goal. To make humans learn and adapt to coexistence with Electronic Demons and then once again become rulers of the new world…that's about all I can do.”

“That is quite a daunting task.”

“Indeed, it might take many years, but no matter, I have plenty of time.”

At this, D showed a hint of grinding his teeth.

In fact, D was right, no matter if D stays in this world for ten years, a hundred years, or a thousand years. Since this is just an undefined future, as long as this future vanishes, then the time D has spent will amount to zero. It's like in a video game where centuries might pass at the drop of a hat, but in reality, you might have only played for a few hours.

Of course, the perception of time's flow for characters inside the game is different from that of players outside.

So D was very annoyed.

Extremely annoyed.

Originally, Duanmu Huai wanted to fight a blitzkrieg, but unexpectedly, the opponents played their cards earlier than he had anticipated, turning it into a drawn-out defensive battle. Under these circumstances, the strategic goal also shifted. In a blitzkrieg, Duanmu Huai only needed to quickly identify the chief culprit and then eliminate them.

But a defensive battle is different, in a defensive battle, one's own side must survive. Now the situation of this future had become such that if D let go, it might well lead to the outright extinction of humans, making the imagined future a reality and then connecting it back to the past, leaving him thoroughly trapped.

So D was very annoyed, meaning that he might have to waste nearly a hundred years in this world, with the added burden that this is all to make this future 'disappear' rather than 'exist'… just like playing a game whose save must eventually be deleted, truly depressing.

And he still must spend time playing it.

Thinking about this made him even more depressed.

“The future… can we humans really survive that far into the future?”

“I can only believe in the power of human survival.”

Facing Regina's inquiry, D sighed quietly and then gazed out at the night view from the window.

To be honest, in this regard, Duanmu Huai did somewhat admire The Emperor. The reason he had not chosen the Emperor's path of leading humanity was partly because Duanmu Huai indeed wanted to let natural selection take its course within humanity, and partly because he simply did not have the Emperor's patience to lead the Human Empire for hundreds or thousands of years.

That is also why Duanmu Huai, initially as a high-level player, did not join a guild or create his own, but rather chose solo gaming.

Because solo gaming itself is like a mission, with a beginning and an end, you know where to start, where it finishes. But if you build a guild or join one, you never know where the future of that guild lies, what its endpoint will be; from this perspective, Duanmu Huai is somewhat impatient, unable to stand such prolonged troubles.

If he really has to stay in this world for a hundred years, that truly would be fatal.

Let's hope this world can give some strength.

Now, that's all Duanmu Huai can pray for.

Chapter end

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