1908 A New Future
These two major strategic mistakes aside, at the end of his reign, he became muddle-headed, ruthless, stubborn, cruel, and bloodthirsty. This resulted in the betrayal of his friends, family, and so on. These were all trivial matters and not the main reason why the Dragon City civilization fell.
“Therefore, as long as I avoid the mistakes that I haven’t made yet, pay attention to forbearance and unity in the real timeline, and transfer the benefits and power to the nine major families appropriately, I’ll be able to do it. In terms of war strategy, they would focus on attacking the Holy Light humans. At the same time, we should always pay attention to self-cultivation and restrain the violent temper brought about by absolute martial arts. I believe that the future will be brighter. The final victory will definitely be ours!”
Meng Chao’s thoughts raced as he cast his gaze toward the sparkling jellyfish in the endless deep sea. ‘I wonder if there’s a future like the one I thought of just now among all the possibilities in the future? If the situation really developed this way, what would the future be like?”
It was as if they could sense his gaze and even his thoughts.
Countless jellyfish began to move more vigorously.
One of the jellyfish puffed and sucked, and its tentacles danced like a blooming crystal flower. It appeared before Meng Chao.
Meng Chao understood that the future he had just described was being nurtured in the jellyfish’s body.
Meng Chao did not hesitate anymore. He extended his right index finger toward the jellyfish.
The tentacles of the jellyfish were like wisps of smoke that gently wrapped around his fingers. The cavity that kept opening seemed to be a tunnel that led straight to tomorrow.
Meng Chao’s consciousness sensed an incredibly powerful suction force. It was as if his soul had left his body, and it was sucked into the black hole. After a long period of “falling” or “passing through space,” which could not be measured by time, the world around him changed again.
…
Meng Chao slowly sat up on the one-and-a-half-meter-wide wire spring bed. He used half a minute to recover from the impact of the spinning world.
He stroked the slightly coarse, synthetic bedsheets and looked around at the room that was piled with books, notebooks, and military maps, which made it seem particularly cramped. He heaved a sigh of relief.
Even if he removed all the books and the plain furnishings, the bedroom would not exceed 30 square meters.
The military map that he had drawn on the wall was colorful and even ragged. It was rich in details, with a large number of strategic points that likely determined the ownership of land in the Other World. It was obvious that only the high-ranking generals of the Dragon City civilization, or even the highest leadership, were qualified to have it.
It seemed that in this future, even though he was in a high position, he still maintained a humble and simple style, which was completely different from the domineering style in the previous bad future.
Therefore, this was a “good future.”
The future Dragon City civilization would face a situation that was ten times better than the previous “bad future.”
Right?
Meng Chao closed his eyes slightly and tried to search for this future in the depths of his brain. He searched for Dragon City’s development in the past few decades.
However, his brain was a mess. All kinds of information seemed to be swept up by a tornado, spinning, colliding, and splitting desperately. They flashed and disappeared like dazzling lightning as they hid in the unpredictable clouds of probability.
Meng Chao knew that this was because his human brain was too weak. He could not fully process the results of the ancient civilization’s calculations and deductions, hence he needed more time to act as a buffer.
However, just as he held on to the edge of the bed, he felt a subtle sensation that slightly stunned him when he moved his right arm.
Meng Chao stared at it in disbelief.
His right arm, which was covered in a patched nightgown, was five percent heavier than his left arm. It felt stiff, and there was a sharp sensation coming from it.
Microtubes in the nano-scale were integrated in his arm as “artificial veins,” and dense spirit tattoos were carved on his skin. They formed dozens of complicated, ever-changing rune arrays that were embedded in each other.
However, his blood flow was not exactly connected, and it caused him to feel dizzy due to the imbalance.
He had a great number of artificial limbs.
“This future version of me actually suffered such serious injuries?”
Between the books and the military map in the corner, there was an extremely narrow full-length mirror .
Meng Chao tore off his pajamas and rushed to the full-length mirror. He could not help but gasp.
In the mirror, he saw himself riddled with wounds. His hair was white, and he looked so old as well as haggard. He was a completely different person from the arrogant and domineering man in the previous “bad future.” He was almost like Battle God Lei Zongchao who had died prematurely decades ago when the Dragon City civilization burned to the ground!
His hazy memories told him that not only had his entire right arm been devoured by the enemy’s spatial magic in a fierce battle ten years ago, but it had also been destroyed.
Even his right shoulder, as well as his right pectorals and lungs, had been partially devoured by spatial magic.
His incomplete chest cavity could only be filled with cold machines and crystals. Then, his flesh was glued together with metal using organic glue.
For the next ten years, it would feel like someone was killing him and setting fire to the right side of his chest every time it rained.
Besides, this was not the only permanent injury left on his body.
From head to toe, from inside out, from his capillaries to his nerve endings, from his flesh to his spirit, every inch of him had at least three to five wounds.
If scars were a man’s medal, then the total “medals” on his body could be reforged into a set of armor that weighed about thirteen to twenty-two kilograms.
Even his heart had undergone two operations. A large number of artificial organs and surveillance chips had been implanted between his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys.
His strength that surpassed the Deity Realm gave him an incomparably powerful cell regeneration ability.
This sped up the healing process, and at the same time, the flesh around his wounds regenerated faster.
In the end, he looked like a disembodied corpse that had been stitched up haphazardly.
“It looks like the future me has fulfilled my promise to my homeland, my compatriots, and Battle God Lei Zongchao without any discount. I have indeed fulfilled the words ‘to do my best until I die.’”
As he caressed the layers of wounds on his body, the corners of Meng Chao’s eyes twitched slightly. A large number of extremely tragic war scenes played out in his mind. “To win the war in the Other World as soon as possible, this version of me was like a desperate man who’s unafraid of death. Every few days, I would take the lead and throw myself into the most dangerous places where the enemies were the densest. I didn’t even consider the path of retreat. It’s a miracle that I’m still alive!”
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