"Oh, really?" Chen Gu looked at Wei Jiangqi with interest, "I don't quite believe it, so I want to give it a try."
Wei Jiangqi typed the final sentence in his chat with No. 21: I will be back. Then he closed the chat box, withdrew his hands, picked up a handgun on the table, and aimed it at his brain.
Chen Gu said, "You've prepared sixteen clones in human society, and another six on a desolate, uninhabited planet." Chen Gu spread his hands, "You think you are well-prepared, but No. 21 can easily analyze from the vast data collected via the interstellar net that this time, you're doomed."
Wei Jiangqi sneered, "No. 21 is a despicable Judas; he will eventually face judgment!"
Then, Wei Jiangqi forcefully pulled the trigger—only to find the gun didn't fire! He quickly checked the handgun; Chen Gu remained standing, motionless, with a serene smile, "I never underestimate my opponents."
The structure within the handgun had been altered, making it unable to fire; this was due to the Element Navigator ability from Tyrant Gulati, which altered the elemental arrangement of key parts inside the gun.
Chen Gu walked over and sat across from him, "I don't distrust No. 21, but I always feel it's better to be cautious. What if you really have some backup plan that No. 21 hasn't uncovered?"
"So you cannot die; as long as you live, your backup plan cannot be activated—whether it exists or not."
The trigger condition for Wei Jiangqi's arrangements was the death of this physical body. Wei Jiangqi couldn't be mad enough to create another 'self' while the current self was still alive, that would drive him insane.
Wei Jiangqi laughed, "You truly are worthy of being my opponent, you haven't let me down." Then, the light in his eyes rapidly faded, "But I still have to tell you, I am a step ahead."
Chen Gu was shocked to see the life aura rapidly dissipating from Wei Jiangqi, his whole person died within a short time!
It wasn't due to professional skills; Chen Gu's energy level far exceeded his, and he had more professional skills, any deployment of professional skills by Wei Jiangqi would be intercepted by Chen Gu midway.
Nor was it due to any mechanical structure; the moment Chen Gu entered this hotel, he thoroughly understood Wei Jiangqi's entire body, there were no self-destruct devices within.
"Such a strong obsession." Chen Gu couldn't help but admire: the way Wei Jiangqi died was by using his resolute obsession, or rather his powerful spiritual power, to commit suicide from the mental level.
Simply put: I believe I have died.
He actually did die.
Similar to self-hypnosis.
Chen Gu frowned; Wei Jiangqi insisted on dying instead of surrendering like he did when facing Confederation's capture, indicating he very likely had indeed some other arrangement, and it's something No. 21 hasn't uncovered.
Chen Gu deliberately mentioned those clones found by No. 21 earlier to verify Wei Jiangqi's next move and see if Wei Jiangqi still had other backup plans.
Now it seems he most likely does.
"What could it be?" Chen Gu switched to Tyrant Gulati's memories and suddenly shifted into the layer between the real world and the Endless Realm.
Here, everything Chen Gu saw was from another perspective.
Unexpectedly, he truly discovered something: a faint gleam of soul fell into his space.
No. 21 previously stated that Wei Jiangqi would be his chance for advancing to Ninth Power Level. Chen Gu was skeptical, but once the gleam of soul fell between the worlds, Chen Gu confirmed No. 21 was right; Wei Jiangqi had many secrets.
Chen Gu raised his hand, gently pinching the gleam of soul.
The soul struggled intensely, but this struggle was so weak to Chen Gu it was almost negligible. He could 'see' that the insides of the soul contained Wei Jiangqi's 'soul,' or all of Wei Jiangqi's memories.
"Rebirth?" Chen Gu was intrigued; could this be similar to his own journey to this era? Was he originally from this space?
Chen Gu gently moved his fingers and peeled the gleam of soul layer by layer, examining all of Wei Jiangqi's memories. During this process, he seemed to hear Wei Jiangqi's unwilling, angry, fearful roars.
When Chen Gu stripped the gleam of soul of all its memories, Wei Jiangqi ceased to exist entirely, his memory was dismantled, and everything that formed his personality ceased to exist.
…
While Chen Gu was taking action, at every location No. 21 found in the Star Sea where Wei Jiangqi had made arrangements, there was a group of special agents from the Bureau of Mystic Security. Many of these places were outside the Confederation's territory, the Bureau's people were technically 'illegally entering,' but others Chen Gu didn't trust.
Yet the clones they were monitoring remained inactive, leaving everyone puzzled: Did the captain succeed or not?
...
Chen Gu searched through Wei Jiangqi's memories and quickly understood why No. 21 said Wei Jiangqi was his "opportunity" to ascend to the Ninth Power Level.
This Wei Jiangqi had experiences similar to Chen Gu.
In his early twenties, one day he was struck by lightning in a heavy rain, subsequently spending several days in a daze. When he fully regained his senses, he found his mind had additional memories. These memories came from different eras:
The earliest was the ancient era of the mother planet. This segment of memory was remarkably glorious, and the memory's owner was seen as a divine being by peers of that age.
According to Chen Gu's current understanding, this person was a practitioner, and one below the Fifth Energy Level.
The strength at this energy level could not withstand the ravages of time, and roughly two hundred years passed before he perished. However, he used the method of "reincarnation" to initiate a second memory.
And so it went on and on. In the era of the mother planet, there were thirteen segments of memory, not all of which were glorious. Several times the body after reincarnation was too weak to exert one's practitioner powers, leading to quite ordinary lives. During the early technological era of the mother planet, he had to be especially cautious to avoid being discovered for his peculiarities.
The arrival of the Star Sea Era marked the most resplendent moment for the memories. During the era of human expansion, he led a pirate ship across Star Sea, looting countless treasures, only to end up colliding with a super lifeform, leading to his demise.
Subsequently, this memory entered Wei Jiangqi's body.
However, this time there was a slight error, failing to completely "seize the body" and instead merging with Wei Jiangqi's memories. This is also why Wei Jiangqi's personality changed drastically. After gaining power over the [True Knowledge Sin], he transformed the originally peaceful organization into a cult.
During the mother planet era, the memory's owner left behind numerous memories about ascension. At that time, there were no generators or super-materials, and ascension relied heavily on one's efforts and tempering.
Additionally, there were various bizarre combinations of drugs from the mother planet.
From Chen Gu's perspective as a latecomer, such an ascension ritual was truly a gamble with one's life. There was indeed a possibility of ascension, but the chances were pathetically low.
His method of "reincarnation" was actually memory transfer. In the mother planet era, it relied on a tool. During the Star Sea Era, upon encountering that super lifeform and realizing he couldn't win, he attempted once more to use the tool, intending to transfer his soul into that super lifeform's body for possession.
He failed, the tool broke, and it led him to Wei Jiangqi, ultimately being assimilated by Wei Jiangqi.
Wei Jiangqi's ability to send his "soul" into the space between realms was learned from that super lifeform. Although he couldn't possess the super lifeform, he did gain something—after the failed possession, he managed to snatch a part of the super lifeform's memories.
That super lifeform was a very rare [Phantom Jade Monster] in Star Sea. Its abilities were ever-changing, and it's said that each [Phantom Jade Monster] differs from the next. To this day, humans have yet to capture a true [Phantom Jade Monster].
Their evolution was also different from typical super lifeforms, as they enhanced themselves by constantly absorbing various cosmic rays in Star Sea.
However, this [Phantom Jade Monster] couldn't let its entire body enter the space between realms like the [Myriad Forms Heavenly Dragon], only seeping its spiritual power in.
In Wei Jiangqi's memory, there was that segment of the [Phantom Jade Monster]'s memory. Upon obtaining this memory, Chen Gu realized that he truly had a bit more possibility to directly ascend to the Ninth Power Level!
This segment of memory contained accumulated cosmic knowledge from the long life of the [Phantom Jade Monster], especially concerning the relationship between the Endless Realm and the real world.
At the Ninth Power Level, what ascension tests is one's understanding of the practitioner, one's understanding of the universe. Or rather, the grasp of the relationship between the practitioner and the entire universe.
This segment of the [Phantom Jade Monster]'s memory, from another perspective, provided Chen Gu with a new line of thought. When compared with Chen Gu's own prior research, the harvest was naturally immense.
...
The [Divine Nine Squad] had already concluded their search, and reported to Marshal Kang Kesi: "That person has either already died in the swarm's maw or has already escaped this planet."
Kang Kesi sighed in relief, "He should already be dead. Given his personality, if he had escaped and returned to the Confederation, he wouldn't have just disappeared quietly. He would surely have retaliated fiercely."
Kang Kesi immediately reported to the leader of the Freedom Alliance, who secretly breathed a sigh of relief: That kid in just a few years had surged to the Eighth Energy Level, and as a multiclass practitioner at that. If he didn't die this time, even with Ninth Power Level protection, I wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully.
Neither the Star State, Freedom Alliance, nor the Empire wished in their hearts for Chen Gu to ascend to the Ninth Power Level. A multiclass practitioner at the Ninth Power Level would be the mightiest existence among humanity, oppressing the other three Star Nations considerably.
The difference between these three Star Nations was merely that the Star State and Freedom Alliance decided to make a move, taking advantage of this event to kill Chen Gu, while simultaneously resolving that insect general.
And the Empire... simply didn't want to cooperate with the Star State.
Soon, the Great Commander of the Star State received the news, and loud, hearty laughter echoed through his lavish office: "This is indeed a huge piece of good news, hahaha..."
