Chapter 44: Calmness and Cruelty

When Sasaki heard that Longyin had come because of this matter, he felt a suffocating heaviness in his chest, and after a long moment, managed to utter four words, “This… won’t work.”

Longyin smiled amiably at Sasaki, who wore a grave expression. “They’re untrustworthy. Not a single one of them has a clean background.”

“Is it that you don’t want to trust them, or that you don’t dare to trust them?”

As soon as these words were spoken, Yuan Shaolin frowned. At that moment, Longyin stood up. “No one is truly clean, and there’s no such thing as pure loyalty!” Longyin’s fingers brushed the droplets embossed on his mask. “Those are not what I ever wanted.”

“Do you know? If a person can pretend for a lifetime, then it becomes truth. There's no need to fuss over whether they're clean or loyal. As long as they can keep up the act, that’s all that matters. The real question is, how can you make them keep pretending forever, hide their fangs deep within, and make them wholeheartedly work for you? The reason you don’t dare trust them is that you lack confidence. Uncle, what is it that you still lack?”

After the shock of that moment, Yuan Shaolin lowered his eyes and silently sipped his tea.

Sasaki stood up, his lips parted but he was speechless for a long time. Then he exhaled deeply and shook his head. “Young master, you’re rather terrifying. To be so blunt—aren’t you afraid I’ll bear a grudge? I’ll chalk this up to childish innocence, but my heart inevitably feels uneasy.” Sasaki smiled bitterly. “After all, we are only human. Is this really how you think? Are you truly capable of handling relationships so coolly, even to the point of cruelty?”

The corners of Longyin’s mouth lifted. He had always said that beast cards possessed a certain charm that humans lacked. Directness—while it could wound—was something Longyin enjoyed.

“Treat your own people with the warmth of spring, and your enemies with the severity of winter!” Longyin raised his head. “To those I acknowledge, I absolutely cannot handle relationships so coldly. But… those men have not earned a single ounce of my trust. Do they deserve my irrational loyalty?”

The question left Sasaki speechless. After a moment’s silence, he said, “They’re not all spies.”

“Time reveals the heart.” Longyin picked up his teacup and spoke lightly. “Perhaps they could earn my trust, but only after a long while. I’ve never assumed the worst of others, but I also won’t hand out my trust lightly!”

Hearing this, Sasaki suddenly felt relieved. He must be someone the young master acknowledged, right? Sasaki rubbed his face, then looked at Longyin. “How many people do you need?”

“Five hundred!” Longyin smiled brightly at Sasaki. “Uncle, distribute them across the various states. Prepare a personal network terminal for each. I want them assembled on the Federation network every midnight. Can you do it?”

“I can!” Sasaki nodded. After that exchange, even if he couldn’t, he had to—sometimes confidence could be forced out.

“Good.” Longyin handed his personal network terminal to Sasaki. “This is mine, bind it directly to those five hundred terminals!”

Sasaki glanced at it, memorized the serial number, and with a single command, ten minutes later, five hundred already-bound personal network terminals were delivered to the three of them.

As the five hundred terminals arrived, Yuan Shaolin was the first to take one and slip it into his pocket. Under Longyin’s gaze, he said, “I told you, no matter where you go, I’ll protect you—even on the Federation network.”

Longyin smiled, his eyes asking why he needed one as well. Sasaki answered matter-of-factly, “Aren’t I your chief steward?”

“Once bound, personal network terminals lose their autonomy. They’re essentially in master-servant mode—summoned at will, not fun at all!”

Sasaki activated the network terminal in his hand. “Following you, even a quiet life is hard to come by. Besides, I’m quite curious about what you plan to do.”

“Curiosity killed the cat!” Longyin smiled, though there was no warmth in his eyes. “How have those you placed in the Nomad Alliance fared?”

“A thousand went in, now only nine remain.” Sasaki’s tone was grim; those men were exceptional to begin with, but after a series of harrowing life-or-death missions, only nine survived—they could now be considered the cream of the crop.

A thousand-strong battalion? A bloody struggle? Yuan Shaolin was shocked, casting a curious glance at Longyin. He hadn’t expected the famed and mysterious thousand-man group to be his handiwork. Even Yuan Shaolin was wary of those men—each was formidable. He wondered how Longyin had recruited them, and couldn’t help but look at Sasaki, admitting that under the little prodigy’s leadership, the uncle was indeed resourceful.

“Two of the nine survived purely by luck,” Sasaki added, shaking his head.

“To have survived, they’ve passed the test for now. Those who endure repeated life-and-death trials possess extraordinary strengths—even luck counts as a strength. Assign those two luck-bringers to the Federation states, the others to one per state. Officially, you’re assigning one per state—two per state, one overt, one covert. They must be able to deal with unruly card makers at a moment’s notice.”

“Tell the card makers willing to participate that a Damocles sword hangs over their heads—their lives may end at any moment!” In handling such matters, Longyin was icy, nothing like a seven-year-old child. Yet when he set aside that coldness and smiled, others tended to forget his danger.

Longyin then produced the remainder of his assets from his storage, several silver cards flying to Sasaki. “I know that through recruiting card makers, you’re now self-sufficient thanks to their card-crafting abilities. But that’s just self-sufficiency. Keep these—after all, the nine men still need to gather manpower, and there are five hundred card makers to arrange. I don’t want just an adequate answer—I want perfection!”

Sasaki silently accepted the silver cards. Longyin stood, suddenly smiling so warmly that the frost in his eyes melted. “Uncle, we’ll meet again at midnight!”

Sasaki realized that with such a bound network terminal, meeting now became simple. Yet he worried, “Nothing on the Federation network escapes the intelligence bureau’s super brain!”

Longyin’s smile didn’t falter. “That’s nothing for you to worry about. Unless the Federation wishes for utter chaos, they’ll never let the Federation’s super brain collapse! Besides, the super brain values its own life dearly.” As for what he had actually done, Sasaki didn’t ask further, and Longyin didn’t intend to explain the complex process. Both tacitly agreed to leave the topic there.

Yuan Shaolin sat quietly to the side, listening to their plans that could upend the Federation, his expression mostly unchanged, though he would occasionally lift his eyes to glance at the enigmatic child. He drank his tea in silence, wondering to himself—if this child truly applied himself, could the most outstanding young scion of the Ji family, Ji Yin, withstand him?

Sasaki discussed a few more issues with Longyin, and as the conversation drifted, Yuan Shaolin gazed into the distance, lost in thought. Longyin quietly wrote the words “Ji family” in Sasaki’s palm. “I want to know everything!”

Sasaki nodded solemnly. Then Longyin leapt onto Yuan Shaolin. “Your Highness Lin, please escort me back to the palace!”

Yuan Shaolin snapped back to attention, his attempt to push Longyin away clear and firm, but Longyin stuck to him like glue. Sasaki, watching from the side, frowned again; it seemed the young master held very different feelings toward Lin.