I Contracted All Ancient Divine Artifacts

”The good thing about mechanical intelligence is that it doesn’t lie.”

”As long as I can hack into the Celestial Net of Can Shang Company, I can learn most of its secrets.”

”Like the secretly handled Celestial Net 2.0 version, the story of a certain Can Shang executive and another executive’s wife, and even the plan to encircle and kill Li Shutong.”

Shang Jianyue wouldn’t need to use such things to deceive me.

But he certainly couldn’t be kind-hearted.

”What do you want?” Han Zhan asked.

Shang Jianyue shook his head. ”I want nothing.”

”Do you think I’ll believe you?”

”Believe it or not, it’s up to you.”

Shang Jianyue didn’t continue the meaningless conversation and started talking about the super secrets he uncovered from the Celestial Net.

”Throughout all of humanity, Li Shutong is also one of the most top-notch existences.”

”He was too powerful back then, unmatched in the world, so they orchestrated the scenario of the Three Great Insect Emperors besieging Great Xia.”

The Three Great Insect Emperors besieging Great Xia was also orchestrated?!

”Who are they? How can they order the Insect Emperors around?” Han Zhan asked swiftly.

Shang Jianyue let out a cold snort.

”Who they are should be obvious, shouldn’t it?”

”As for why they can command the Insect Emperors, have you ever considered another question?”

Shang Jianyue looked at Han Zhan across from him, his mechanical pupils becoming deep.

”Humans, are they necessarily all human?”

Humans, are they necessarily all human?

What does this mean?

”You know the direction of enhancement for the Longevity Company, right?”

”Extracting special abilities from the Alien Race and then infusing them into meticulously selected warriors to complete mutations, becoming Mutant Walkers.”

This is something Han Zhan knows a bit about.

Not only that, the Longevity Company also extracts the Spiritual Power from Exotic Beast materials to make potions to enhance strength.

”If a person’s body is entirely made of Exotic Beast cells, then is this person still human?”

Shang Jianyue posed a highly dialectical question.

Han Zhan couldn’t give an answer.

But he already understood what Shang Jianyue intended to express.

The Longevity Company, or rather its higher-ups, those more powerful Mutant Walkers, they might not even be human anymore!

”That’s truly shocking news.”

”If such a large force is controlled by an Alien Race at the top, it’s practically a horror story.”

Shang Jianyue, however, shook his head.

”Do you think it ends with that?”

”The Old Covenant and Twelve Apostles drift outside several great forces, possessing immense strength and acting solely of their own volition.”

”The Imperial has been contending with the Alien Race for years, neither side gaining the upper hand, yet the Imperial’s strength steadily increases every year, contrasting sharply with Great Xia’s continuous losses of Spirit Contract Masters and Contracted Spirits.”

”Can Shang Company, being a Level 6 civilization, is not weak, but its interference with the Alien Race is limited. With digital pros and cons, they will only make decisions that most align with their immediate interests.”

Even though he had his suspicions, hearing Shang Jianyue articulate them left Han Zhan somewhat shaken.

”So, Great Xia...”

Great Xia never truly had allies, only a circle of wolves and tigers with ulterior motives.

”In the Dark Jungle, everyone is a Hunter, everyone is prey.”

”Great Xia is too out of place; in other words, the existence of Li Shutong makes Great Xia too out of place.”

”Given more time, he might cross that threshold, becoming the first to transcend. When that time comes, no force will want to see it happen.”

So they plotted the conspiracy of the Three Great Insect Emperors laying waste to Great Xia.

So the Tier Nine Yexieqi Celestial Serpent, which should have been blocked by the Imperial, appeared unimpeded on Great Xia’s side.

So Great Xia was caught off guard, nearly facing extinction by the Three Great Insect Emperors.

Han Zhan knew the outcome.

The Three Great Insect Emperors died, and the other half of Li Shutong’s Contracted Spirit also perished in the catastrophe.

Li Shutong lost the opportunity for transcendence, temporarily lost it.

”But Li Shutong indeed is a genius of the ages; he feigned a falling out with the Li Family to confuse the major forces, then established the Eight Major War Zones to forcibly extend Great Xia’s survival, and started over with a discipline from Secret Realm Martial Arts, re-entering the Tier Nine Peak.”

”So they struck a second time.”

”This time, using you as bait, Li Shutong had to choose between saving you or saving himself.”

”Ultimately, he made his choice.”

When Shang Jianyue said this, Han Zhan’s fists clenched white.

What a filthy world.

”Even in the end-times of insect disasters, they’re still thinking of internal conflict...”

Shang Jianyue shook his head and interrupted Han Zhan’s words. ”The Great Xia represented by Li Shutong wants to completely wipe out the Alien Race, but why completely wipe out the Alien Race?”

”Is it because of the suffering? Because of the massive death of ordinary people? Or because those not-so-important territories and living environments are being plundered?”

”For the Longevity Company, the Alien Race represents an endless sample of mutated cells. For the Can Shang Company, the Alien Race signifies abundant, rich Spiritual Power for purification. For the Imperial and the Old Covenant, the Alien Race represents moving wealth and the key to seeking their own breakthroughs. Driving them out completely? Don’t be ridiculous.”

”What about the apocalypse? As long as those at the pinnacle of power can break through into the Realm of Transcendence, what difference does it make if the world is destroyed?”

Only then did Han Zhan understand the meaning behind Shang Jianyue’s earlier words.

”In the Dark Jungle, everyone is a Hunter, everyone is prey.”

The Alien Race can also be human prey.

Maintaining a certain balance is the consensus reached by the Imperial, Longevity Company, Can Shang Company, and the Old Covenant.

But they couldn’t reach a consensus with Great Xia, nor could they reach a consensus with Li Shutong.

So they changed the way to reach a consensus.

”You say the teacher broke the rules to save me, forcibly trading his life against them. But for someone like me, is such a big gamble worth it?”

Han Zhan still found it hard to accept.

”That, I don’t know.”

”In Celestial Net’s top secret files, it is recorded like this.”

”As for Li Shutong’s thoughts at that time, only he himself knows.”

”Alright, everything I wanted to tell you has been told. I should be leaving now.”

After revealing the underhanded dealings of the Five Great Forces to Han Zhan, Shang Jianyue pressed down the brim of his black top hat with his right hand, his left hand resting on a silver cane.

The next second, his figure once again transformed into a stream of nanorobots, rapidly disappearing into the distance.

Leaving Han Zhan alone, standing there, slowly digesting the information he just learned.

The Alien Race takes pleasure in slaughtering humans, while human forces profit from nurturing the Alien Race.

The Great Xia, represented by the teacher, wanted to break this cold-blooded rule of consumption and destroy the Alien Race completely, which threatened others’ interests and led to two plots against them.

”Han Zhan, if it were you, what would you choose?”

Han Zhan asked himself.