701: Kings, Emperors, and a Promise

Kings, Emperors, and a Promise

Bai Zemin did not know what to say at the words of the queen of the weaver ants. All he could do was look at her with complicated eyes and wait for her next words, because although it was true that until a few minutes ago his group and Shi Lin's group were enemies that had the intention of killing each other for different reasons or circumstances that fate and life put before them, now he could not help but begin to feel a little guilty for being the cause of the imminent death of the queen of the weaver ants.2

Even if he did nothing directly, it was true that Shi Lin was going to die because she used Clairvoyance on him. Only then did Bai Zemin understand the reason why she had told him earlier that she used Clairvoyance on him with the intention of knowing his future and thus killing him; it was precisely to prevent him from feeling too heavy.

These kinds of enemies were the worst to face.... Because despite knowing that you needed to face such enemies, something inside you would feel reluctant to swing the sword towards their necks to take their heads.

"Using 500 years of my life span I have nurtured the next queen." 

Shi Lin interrupted Bai Zemin's thoughts. Her voice now sounded more powerful than before, or maybe it was the emotion she felt that propelled her spirit a little higher compared to the whole course of the previous talk they just had.

The next queen? Bai Zemin looked up in surprise.

"Actually, each queen usually only invests the last 100 years of her useful life to foment the queen of the next generation. With those 100 years of records invested, the queen of the next generation will receive the ability to lead the colony and talented enough not to be beneath her subordinates." Shi Lin paused for a moment before letting out a chuckle, "You know, when an unintelligent race starts to gain intelligence, the previously obedient subordinates are really hard to control. Although it doesn't happen at the same degree and as often as it does among your human race, even in ant colonies problems of disobedience and takeover attempts do occur."

Bai Zemin nodded in his heart as he looked at the queen of the weaver ants with admiration.

From time immemorial it had been said that the intelligence humans enjoyed was a blessing but at the same time it was a curse. The human being without realizing it was walking towards its own destruction because its intelligence gave it the ability to reason and think, something that with the passage of time would also mean a curse in the form of non-conformism, greed, etc.

Even though the ants were united by a huge network that was connected to the queen as a nucleus, with the ability to think and reason for themselves, some ants would naturally not be satisfied maintaining their position for all eternity.

"Be that as it may, back to the topic of the queen of the next generation." Shi Lin continued, "After seeing your future, I decided to invest everything I had to foster this future queen. Do you know why?"

Bai Zemin hesitated for a moment before asking in a tentative voice, ".... You want me to take care of the next generation's queen?" 

He was not stupid and could add two plus two. It was natural to come to such a conclusion if one thought carefully.

Shi Lin chuckled at Bai Zemin's words. She said neither yes nor no in response, instead, she continued to speak calmly and softly: "When I saw your future, what I saw shocked me. It is hard to believe that in just one year a person would rise up to become the new king of this land.... It is really hard to believe that in just one year, a young male who was just an ordinary human a couple of months ago would become the highest power of the human race in this country you call China."

Bai Zemin said nothing but in his heart, he was extremely happy. 

The words Shi Lin said had practically just confirmed that in a year's time he would undoubtedly be the king of China! Even if Bai Zemin was confident that he would make it, knowing that the queen of the weaver ants had seen that future using her skill Clairvoyance was a great relief to him.

The eyes of Shi Lin flashed strangely for a moment. She looked at Bai Zemin with a smile on her face and asked again, "What is your aspiration?"

Bai Zemin blinked, confused. Didn't he have given his answer earlier...?

It was then that something clicked in his mind.... Bai Zemin finally understood the reason why the queen of the weaver ants had taken so many turns to return to the same place.

"In a year, perhaps in less, your goal of becoming the king of a new dynasty will become real if you continue the current pace. You will be the king of the new China and the leader of mankind in these lands." Shi Lin paused and a sly smile formed on her lips as she said in a low voice, "You clearly knew that you would be able to achieve this, whether with or without the help of the Sky Destroyer. This means you must have an aspiration, a way bigger goal than being king of this nation.... Would you care to share it with me?"

Bai Zemin couldn't help but force a smile. By using Clairvoyance and seeing into his future, Shi Lin should have a rough if not clear idea of his talent, growth speed, and battle power that did not suit his level. Therefore, it was to be expected that she would not believe that such a person would have "only the small goal of being king of a country".

But what could he say? If Bai Zemin told the queen of the weaver ants that his highest goal was to become the ruler and highest existence of the entire cosmos, of all life within the firmament, how would she see him? As a lunatic?

"Could it be that your goal is actually to become Emperor?"

"Emperor?" Bai Zemin blinked at her in confusion.

"Hmm... According to the information I got from the records of the humans I killed, in the history books of the country known as China there were normal humans who were brave enough to call themselves emperors just because they were leading the mankind of a territory." Shi Lin closed her eyes for a moment as she muttered those words.

Bai Zemin frowned for a second before regaining his composure. Although it was not pleasant for him to hear the fact that Shi Lin had killed humans, Bai Zemin no longer felt as bad as he would have felt in the past. At the end of the day, in this new era where evolution was the true ruler, races had to some extent stopped mattering.

Continuing to see mankind as something special would only limit his own perspectives and close his horizons; this was something Lilith had told him long ago and Bai Zemin was still trying to assimilate.

Shi Lin opened her eyes and couldn't help but nod with a satisfied smile as she saw the composed expression of the young male in front of her.

"According to the memories that passed down from the first queens of my weaver ant race, an existence is called King or Queen when he or she becomes the leader of his or her race within a territory that can be called a country or kingdom." Shi Lin explained in a calm and paused voice. "However, when an existence succeeds in becoming the total and absolute leader of his or her race in the world he or she lives in, that existence goes from being crowned King/Queen to Emperor/Empress."

"What this woman is saying is true." Lilith nodded from the side and pointed casually, "Only those who completely control their race have the right to call themselves Emperor or Empress as the Soul Record will give them that title when the time is right. That Lower Existence you faced in Oblon World, for example, was called Emperor because his title really was Emperor."

Bai Zemin paused for a moment and couldn't help but think about his current subclass. His subclass had evolved and was currently called 'Lord'. Bai Zemin estimated, based on the words Lilith said, that when he managed to control all of China his subclass would be changed to 'King' and by the time he managed to conquer the Earth it would be 'Emperor'.

But he was not too sure yet as there was also the matter of titles. Bai Zemin currently had the title 'Leader of Yanqing' and he didn't know what would happen to it later.

"So, your real goal is to be Emperor?" Shi Lin snapped Bai Zemin out of his inner thoughts. She was smiling throughout as she said in a low voice. "It is your goal to become the leader of the entire human race in this world?"

Bai Zemin hesitated for a moment. He didn't know whether he should tell the truth or lie here.

But, Bai Zemin's hesitation was not necessary.

"Or is it your goal to rule the entire universe?"

He abruptly raised his head and looked at the queen of weaver ants with wide eyes.

Shi Lin laughed at the sight of Bai Zemin's expression and her voice rose several notches as she said in a cheerful voice, "Hahaha! No need to be so amazed! I've seen your battle against the human Kang Guiying, even though it was only two attacks, a level 50 existence surviving two direct attacks from a level 400 existence is something that is not in my records... It's natural for your goals to be different than others!"

While it was true that Kang Guiying had given Bai Zemin time for him to recover after being injured and while it was true that Kang Guiying had given Bai Zemin time for him to increase his strength and prepare one of his most powerful attacks, the truth was that he actually survived the direct confrontation; not only did he survive but Shi Lin had seen how Bai Zemin stood up against Kang Guiying for a few seconds.

"Although it's a pity that we didn't get to see how the confrontation between you and Kang Guiying would have ended if not for the fact that he couldn't stay in this world for much longer, that battle made it clear to me that you are not an existence that can be measured by common sense or by logic." Shi Lin pointed and sighed wearily, pausing before continuing, "That's why I wouldn't be shocked if your goal is to rule over all life someday."

Bai Zemin sighed and after one moment of consideration nodded, "My goal is, in fact, to rule the universe. My highest goal is to become an existence that can exceed the limits of the Soul Record.... Only then will I feel comfortable. I want to have control of my life in my hands!"

"... I see." Shi Lin nodded. She didn't scoff at Bai Zemin's seemingly crazy goals, instead, she sighed, "It's true that no matter how strong we are, unless we manage to break through the barriers of this fantasy cage we live in, the Soul Record might one day take all our strength when it feels like it."

Fantasy cage? That was a good way to call the situation all living beings found themselves in. Bai Zemin couldn't help but feel like agreeing with the queen of the weaver ants.

The Soul Record was the cage, the barriers; all existences lived within the boundaries. Every living being was limited by the Soul Record, everyone's strength was bound by the system.

If the Soul Record gave them the possibility to evolve, then the Soul Record surely had its means to remove them.

Fear and urgency grew in Bai Zemin's heart. The mere thought that in a second he would lose everything he had worked so hard for sent a shiver running down his spine.

Even though his growth could already be described as breakneck and would probably jump straight to level 100 once he managed to break through the barrier to the Second Order, Bai Zemin felt that he needed to hurry up even more, much more!

"Bai Zemin, I will hand over control over this battleship to you... But I need you to promise me that you will take the queen of the next generation with you."

Shi Lin interrupted Bai Zemin's thoughts again. She looked at him practically with pleading eyes as she said in a low voice:

"That girl will definitely be of great help to you, I'm sure of it. She might even have a talent that doesn't lose much to yours since never in history has a queen broken the rules, practically sacrificing her entire life to immediately foster the next queen. Besides, she won't be much different from you humans in appearance so you won't have much trouble with your people."

Bai Zemin thought for a moment and did not answer right away. This was a serious matter after all, because once he agreed then he would keep his word no matter how many humans objected.

But there really wasn't much to think about. Bai Zemin already knew the answer he would give even before Shi Lin asked him.

Putting aside everything else, even putting aside the fact that Bai Zemin needed to gain control over the Sky Destroyer, what Shi Lin had just mentioned was true. A normal queen was born being a First Order existence, so how strong would the next ant queen that had been nurtured with 5 times the amount of normal records be?

Bai Zemin could use the skill 'Loyal Follower' to avoid all future problems and obtain an extremely powerful subordinate that in the future might even be able to control millions of ant soldiers to fight for him!

"Ok." Bai Zemin nodded and said in a stern voice, "I promise that I will take care of the queen of the next generation. After your death, the next queen of the weaver ants will be treated as if she were a daughter to me."

"A daughter?" Shi Ling murmured in surprise. Then, she smiled kindly and said in a tender voice, "That's a great relief to me.... I'm sure you won't be disappointed."

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