Chapter Twenty-Eight: Scheming x Retracing x Delirium

When Wang Luo entered the tent, she was lying under the covers, her fair, delicate toes peeking out from beneath the blanket.

A mischievous impulse flashed through his mind—to rouse her, perhaps already undressed, and have her sweep the floor or wash clothes, something trivial and playful. Yet, in the end, he abandoned the idea. It would spoil the mood. Why persist in making things difficult for himself? In this perilous place, opportunities to relax were few and precious.

He removed his clothes, slipped into the bed, and wrapped his arms around the smooth, soft, warm body beside him, which seemed to quiver faintly...

In an instant, countless memories flooded his mind:

A little boy, knocked to the ground by other children, wailing in tears;
A teenager, silent and alone in the corner, watching classmates cheer on the basketball court;
No, those moments were left behind, already past.
A young man, blushing and reluctant to part after accidental contact with a soft body on a city bus;
A man in the library, face etched with bitterness, lost in aimless thoughts.

Enough!

He forcibly suppressed the tide of memories, looked ahead, and found her confident gaze and triumphant smile close at hand.

Was she causing this turmoil? Some kind of mental assault?

A wave of awkward memories surged up—humiliation in public, cheeks burning; beaten and only able to cry, never daring to fight back; falsely accused, unable to defend himself, forced to endure in silence; ostracized, ridiculed, regarded as weak and foolish...

Countless painful recollections and the faces he once loathed rushed forth...

Then, from the depths of his heart, something else emerged.

The pain had not been vented, nor diverted, but had faded through learning, contemplation, and the pursuit of things truly valuable. Certain audacious thoughts had gradually taken root.

"The sages are dead. Now is my era."

"This may not be good news for me—for it will mean misunderstanding, ridicule, attack, loneliness, suffering, and many other wretched descriptors."

---

"Worse still, destiny ensures I walk this path, regardless."

"If so, then let it begin."

Zhou Suyan carefully observed the subject of this activation.

Like the previous targets, he seemed to suffer intense pain at first. Yet, the process was shorter than with others, such as Guo Da.

Afterward, his expression still brimmed with anguish, but another emotion mingled in.

What was it?

"Why do you carry your ancestors on your back as you move forward?"

"Why do you bind yourself with their achievements?"

"The foundations they built with wisdom, labor, and even flesh and blood are meant to support us, not to weigh us down so we cannot rise."

These were thoughts he had once summarized by chance and had long since forgotten.

If this was an attack, such ideas would not bring pain—what was the enemy trying to achieve?

"Weaklings have no right to forgive those who trespass against them, unless the wrongdoer shows sufficient remorse through actions, not words."

"Or, the offended party is strong enough."

I said these to Old Zhou in the previous scene.

"In this era, with tens of millions more unmarried men than unmarried women, a brutal fact remains: some, no matter how hard they try, are doomed never to find a mate."

"Love and the pursuit of success are meaningful for individuals, but meaningless for the group. The absolute shortage leads to situations: some are destined never to find work—no matter their efforts; some are destined never to find a wife—no matter how they abase themselves."

"Thus, the sense of superiority displayed by certain ugly, foolish, or repulsive women is not hard to understand—they may not consciously reflect, but the attitudes, behaviors, and needs around them allow them, by instinct, to realize their advantage."

"This kind of problem is generally solved in two ways: reduce the number of men or increase the number of women. At present, there are many unmarried women of age living in regions torn by war, hunger, and poverty; bringing them in is the best approach. Chinese men, who labor hard, are more competitive than men in those countries—and many 'enemies' hoping for internal turmoil and millions dead in China will oppose this solution."

These are the reasons I forgive myself for being single. And then? What follows?

"Religion, and its rules, should not conflict with the law. If someone adheres to religious codes and tries to place themselves above the law, then the law no longer has the duty to protect them."

---

"Law, law should not be rigid or fixed. When someone breaks the law, such as a thief in the act of stealing, he should not be protected by the law—if he is killed in the process, his killer should be absolved."

"Only when he ceases to steal does he once again deserve legal protection. Punishments for crimes should accumulate: for example, a thief's first offense results in fifteen days' detention, the second thirty days, the third sixty days. The sentences should pile up endlessly, with no upper limit."

"The fundamental contradiction of human society is infinite work versus limited energy. This tension exists in companies, countries, armies, all large groups."

"That is, the philosophy of social management and the systems developed from it, their capacity to resolve internal disputes and conflicts determines whether the entire system can endure."

"Meanwhile, society is not static but constantly evolving. Knowledge accumulates, populations grow, total resources remain finite... all continually undermine stability. When a threshold is reached, collapse may ensue. The earliest sign of collapse is usually a decline in execution."

"The Han dynasty fell because its executors lost any reason to remain loyal to the collective; the Yellow Turbans failed because they never established a more competitive goal, nor built a strong execution team."

"Can I build such things? In the pursuit of victory? The Yellow Turbans' structure is too loose, requiring a complete overhaul—resource allocation, management and participation enthusiasm, promotion and elimination mechanisms... ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!"

Unexpectedly, Wang Luo was thinking more deeply than usual—a tendency he had always tried to avoid. Now, tangled thoughts surged forth, blending together, tormenting him.

-----

What people do and what they desire deep inside are often worlds apart. This skill, though its description is complex, typically results in the target disregarding all costs, abandoning reason, and doing exactly what they truly desire.

Guo Da was such an example. Outwardly honest and reliable, but when his greed was triggered, he committed countless foolish, reckless, and self-defeating acts—when greed faded, the fear it unleashed utterly destroyed him.

So, what lies beneath Wang Luo's seemingly calm and magnanimous exterior? What will he do?

She was eager to find out.

Although Zhou Suyan could gain no direct benefit from Wang Luo's change—the biggest drawback of the activation was its utter unpredictability. The team could not plan around the consequences.

Because of this, among other reasons, Zhou Suyan's status in the group was not high. But she remained keen to witness all of this—it was among the few remaining pleasures in her life.

As she pondered, he opened his eyes.