The Almighty Ring

As the sky gradually turned dark, the martial artists in the cave began to enter a state of rest. The young disciples, especially, needed the rest very badly after an entire day of running for their lives. Therefore, they very quickly sat themselves down to rest.

“Let us all take a break as well. The military backup might arrive tomorrow!” Jiang Fei was also quite tired. He had not slept at all since yesterday. After rescuing members of the Xiankong Island Sect, Jiang Fei had to rescue Bai Wanli and the others from the guided-missile attacks. Therefore, Jiang Fei had not been able to rest properly.

“Alright! Brother Jiang, you must be tired as well. Let us take care of the patrolling duty tonight!” Zhu Tianfei said. Although the martial artists could avoid being found by the major rice-exporting country’s fleet as long as they stayed in the cave, there was still a chance that they might be exposed if the mutants were around. Therefore, someone still needed to be on the lookout throughout the night.

“Okay then!” Jiang Fei agreed. He was too tired to reject the offer.

After finding a quiet spot, Jiang Fei sat down in a cross-legged manner and began to rest. However, 0541 suddenly spoke to him, “Captain, your mind is still too active. I suggest you relax by entering the game.”

“There’s no need. I can rest just by sitting down.” Jiang Fei was not in the mood to play games.

“Captain, I insist you enter the game to relax,” 0541 pressed on.

“Why?” Jiang Fei was stunned. 0541 rarely forced him to do anything.

“It is related to Top Secret 7756. You currently do not have the right to inquire!” 0541 answered mechanically.

“Again? What are you keeping from me?” Jiang Fei said with a frown.

“Captain, don’t worry. I won’t harm you. Please enter the game!” 0541 could not explain everything in detail to Jiang Fei. Telling him about the code itself was already a huge deal.

“Alright!” Jiang Fei thought about it and finally agreed with 0541’s suggestion. After all, as 0541 said, it would not harm Jiang Fei. As an Intelligent Assistance System, 0541 was programmed to support the captain whole-heartedly. It could only sustain its software by ensuring the captain’s well-being. If 0541 did anything to harm Jiang Fei, its software would fall apart instantly.

Although 0541 and Jiang Fei were linked to each other and it would not do anything to harm Jiang Fei, Jiang Fei still had his reservations about 0541’s behavior.

As 0541’s software’s primary objective was to maximize benefits for Jiang Fei, there were certain ways of doing things that Jiang Fei did not agree with.

Phoenix was one of the prime examples. If Jiang Fei had known that Phoenix could be saved, he would not have done nothing when Phoenix was dying.

However, from 0541’s perspective, Phoenix was not fully controllable. The only way Jiang Fei could fully own the Level 5 expert’s power was if Phoenix had lost her consciousness and 0541 used her body to revive Ariel. That was the option that would benefit Jiang Fei the most.

Therefore, 0541 might be looking after Jiang Fei’s best interest, but they would still have disagreements.

Although Jiang Fei was not satisfied with 0541’s out-of-ordinary behavior, there was no way he could change 0541. Even if he could, Jiang Fei was not sure if he wanted to. Once Jiang Fei changed the rule that 0541 must protect him at all costs, there might be a chain reaction to other aspects of 0541. 0541 might even evolve on its own.

Program codes like Ariel and Isabella were able to evolve into perfect man-made souls because they were never limited by various rules in their software. If they were made to be like 0541 with various restrictions, they would not fully evolve regardless of how intelligent they were programmed to be.

In regards to 0541’s issue, Jiang Fei had no choice but to accept it. Only a restricted 0541 would be able to help him in the best way. If Jiang Fei lifted those restrictions on 0541, things might turn out horribly if 0541 had ill intentions. Therefore, Jiang Fei had to maintain the status quo despite his dissatisfaction with 0541’s way of doing things.

With 0541’s persuasion, Jiang Fei logged into the game in the end despite not knowing what he would do in the game.

As Jiang Fei had been occupied with the war, he had not logged into the game for several days. Unfortunately, he had missed six of his battles over the past few days which disqualified him from the competition entirely.

However, Jiang Fei did not really care about the competition itself. Being disqualified did not mean much to him. The only thing he regretted was perhaps not being able to meet the player who possessed the Cauldron of Strength.

“What should I do now?” Jiang Fei mumbled to himself. Although he had entered the game, Jiang Fei did not receive any hints from 0541. Therefore, he had no idea what he was supposed to do.

“Guild master! You’re back!”

“Darn! Guild master, I thought you would never log in again!”

“Yeah, my dear guild master. You have returned in the end!”

***

Just as Jiang Fei was feeling bored from not knowing what to do, a bunch of voice messages came in. Nearly all of the Empyreal Dragon’s main guild members had constantly come to look for him. Jiang Fei had to investigate why people like Billy Boy and Seven Stars Warrior were so upset with him.

As Jiang Fei had suggested to the Nephilim King to attack the Dragon race before he logged out from the game the last time and even arranged for people from the Dark Faction to harass the Dragon race, a small-scale war had developed yesterday. The Dark Faction and the Dragon race had indeed started fighting each other. In fact, the Dark Faction had also begun issuing War Quests for players to fight against the Dragon race.

Since yesterday, many guilds had accepted the Faction War Quest and proceeded to earn a lot of money from completing the quest. However, players like Billy Boy from Empyreal Dragon had not been able to do anything about it.

That was because only the guild master could accept the Faction War Quest. Even the vice guild master did not have the right to accept the quest. Therefore, without Jiang Fei around, people like Billy Boy and Seven Stars Warrior had become frustrated from not being able to partake in the quest.

“Ahh! I’m only half a day late. Do they think they would be able to annihilate the Dragon race in half a day?” Jiang Fei laughed after finding out what had happened. Although he was late for half a day, the Empyreal Dragon was still one of the strongest guilds around. Even if they joined the war much later, they would still benefit the most from the war.