Chapter 24: Chapter 24: The Infinite Protagonist Project
"Have any of you heard of the Six Desires Demonic Separation Chapter?"
In the conference room, the various superhumans who had been about to leave were stopped short by the sudden voice.
They turned their heads, and when they saw the young man who had spoken, their expressions darkened.
The speaker was an eighteen-year-old boy with a youthful face, wearing a pair of over-ear headphones. His nickname in the underground was "the Meme Lord."
Not only did this guy love to use stale, pre-Apocalypse memes, but he also occasionally proposed some astonishingly wise ideas, earning him the title "King of Astonishing Ideas."
"Meme Lord, every time I try to show you a little respect, you open your mouth."
Ji Donglai couldn’t help but say, "First, hand in that 30,000-word self-criticism report, then you can tell me about your ’idea’."
"Bossman, I implore you to trust in my astonishing wisdom as the King of Ideas."
The Meme Lord thumped his chest. "You’ve adopted all my previous ideas, from the Orgy Competition to Carnival Day."
’Dammit, when have we ever not been indulging a sick bastard like you?’ the superhumans present cursed inwardly.
Looking at the Meme Lord’s fanatical expression, Ji Donglai fell silent for a moment before saying, "Fine. You have two minutes. Tell us your idea."
"Heh heh. The so-called Six Desires Demonic Separation Chapter is a Cultivation Technique from a pre-Apocalypse web novel. To put it simply, it’s a technique that increases one’s power by splitting off different personalities and then devouring them," the Meme Lord explained to the room.
"And?" Ji Donglai asked, looking at this "archaeologist" who was an expert in pre-Apocalypse content. "What are you getting at?"
"I want to do the exact opposite," the Meme Lord said seriously.
"Since the Cultivation Techniques of the Otherworld require a subjective, faith-based mindset to work, why don’t we just have the psychics step in, completely erase people’s personalities, and then replace them with new ones?"
"So... what’s the use in that?" a superhuman asked.
"The use? It’s huge, okay?" The Meme Lord earnestly held up his phone to show everyone.
As all eyes fell on his phone, they saw it was filled with folders. The folder names were:
Battle Through the Heavens, Wu Dong Qian Kun, Shrouding the Heavens, Wind and Cloud, Silent Slaughter, Dragon Ball...
Those who knew a little about pre-Apocalypse entertainment recognized these as web content from that era, but they didn’t know why the Meme Lord was showing them these now.
Looking at the ignorant fools, the Meme Lord said smugly, "Most web novel protagonists are extraordinary in terms of their willpower. Every single one of them is resolute and unshakable—they’re the perfect material for martial arts training."
"Since this Cultivation Technique requires a subjective mindset, we can just have our psychics implant the experiences of these novel protagonists into the minds of clones, mass-producing protagonists."
"Imagine, countless monsters possessing the memories of Xiao Yan, Ye Fan, Li Anping, Tang San, Gu Chensha, Li Huowang, Lan Mu, Zheng Zha... Isn’t that subjective enough for you?"
At this, the Meme Lord flashed a proud smile. "Behold my astonishing wisdom! What kind of monsters can we create by combining black-ops cloning tech with psychic superpowers and a subjective Martial Dao?"
Following the Meme Lord’s proposal, everyone in the room fell silent, unsure how to respond for a moment.
After all, the idea seemed... to have some merit?
"Then how do you trick these people into believing they are who they think they are?" a glamorous female superhuman countered.
"I mean, one second they’re invincible in their own minds, and the next they’re back to being ordinary people in an Otherworld with a completely different cultivation system. It doesn’t make any logical sense, does it?"
"Simple. If Tang San can be reincarnated into an Otherworld, then so can they. With their kind of willpower, starting over from scratch is a trivial matter. If all else fails, we’ll just say we summoned them as heroic spirits," the Meme Lord said, pleased with himself.
This time, no one had any objections. After all, this protagonist-reincarnation theory seemed to be flawless.
"So, maybe... we should give it a try?" a superhuman asked, looking to Ji Donglai and waiting for their nominal leader to make the decision.
"That... might work. Let’s test the waters with ten thousand clones first," Ji Donglai agreed. "This project can be launched alongside the mortal martial arts program. We’ll call it the Infinite Protagonist Project."
"Woohoo!" The Meme Lord cheered upon getting the green light.
In truth, he couldn’t care less about whether the method was subjective or not. He just wanted to see what kind of sparks would fly when a group of clones with the memories of various novel protagonists collided.
To put it bluntly, he just wanted to see rivers of blood.
"Since you proposed this project," Ji Donglai said, looking at the Meme Lord, "you’ll be the one to manage it."
"As you command, Bossman!" The Meme Lord gave a cheerful salute. "I’ll start by cloning a hundred Divine King Tangs. After all, he’s been reincarnated before, so he has experience."
Ji Donglai didn’t object. He looked at the Meme Lord and said,
"You’re in Z City, right? Then we’ll designate Z City as the pilot city. Carnival Day is set to happen there too, so we can take care of both at once. Since you’re close by, you can keep an eye on things."
The Meme Lord didn’t argue. Instead, he gleefully opened the door and went to prepare for the cloning procedures.
...
In Z City, deep on the deserted back mountain of a school, Fang Can stood before a tree as thick as a water bucket.
"I should be able to test the effects of a 3% alienation," Fang Can murmured, staring at the ancient tree before him.
He slowly raised his hand. Without any unnecessary movement, Fang Can clenched his fist. The muscles on his pale arm bulged slightly before he violently swung it forward.
BOOM!!!
Almost instantly, an explosion like a cannon blast rang out, and Fang Can himself was sent flying backward.
The massive thud startled a flock of birds into the air. Fang Can picked himself up off the ground, a helpless look on his face.
’Did I really just forget about equal and opposite reactions? Can’t the laws of physics just take a break for once?’ Fang Can sighed.
Slowly raising his head, he saw a bowl-sized crater blasted into the solid ancient wood in front of him.
In the very center of the crater was a clear fist print. Meanwhile, Fang Can’s right fist was completely unharmed, aside from some slight redness on the skin.
"Now that I’ve tested my strength, it’s time to test my speed."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Fang Can vanished from his spot. His body became a blur, weaving between the ancient trees.
The gale created by his movement caused the surrounding bushes to tremble slightly, and a series of clear footprints began to appear on the hard, dry ground.
After sprinting at full speed for about half an hour, Fang Can finally stopped.
There wasn’t the slightest hint of breathlessness on his face.
The light shining on Fang Can’s body was automatically absorbed to replenish his stamina.
Combined with his body’s self-regeneration, it was now difficult for him to feel fatigue.
Fang Can declared with confidence, "With my current physical abilities alone, I can probably earn a ranking in the Martial Arts Hall."
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