pjbooks Chapter 478 The City Lord's Last Will!
Chapter 478 The City Lord's Last Will!
As Mo Li stepped into the living room on the first floor of the villa, his gaze swept across the entire space before landing on Nie Qingcheng, who was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.
He was clearly taken aback for a moment.
Zhang Yan noticed the change in his expression; he wasn't stunned by Nie Qingcheng's appearance, but rather seemed to be confirming something.
Mo Li stepped forward, clasped his hands in front of his chest, and bowed in greeting.
The posture is different from that on the moon; this time it's a formal full ceremony.
"Greetings, Madam."
The living room was quiet for two seconds.
Nie Qingcheng held a cup of tea, her fingertips resting on the rim of the cup without moving.
She stared at Mo Li expressionlessly for a few seconds, then handed him the teacup.
"Have some tea."
Mo Li accepted it with both hands and straightened up.
Nie Qingcheng turned to look at Zhang Yan, her eyes calm, with a slight, almost imperceptible curve at the corner of her mouth.
Zhang Yan understood the meaning behind the curve; she accepted the title "mistress."
The three people sat down in the sofa area.
To be precise, Zhang Yan and Nie Qingcheng sat on one side, while Mo Li sat opposite them.
The location naturally divides it into upper and lower sides.
Nie Qingcheng didn't stand on ceremony at all.
"How can we achieve 100% completeness?"
Go straight to the core.
Zhang Yan glanced at her but didn't stop her; this was also what he wanted to ask.
Mo Li put down his teacup and leaned forward slightly.
"The mistress has gotten straight to the point." He spoke slowly but clearly, "The completeness of the Heart of Heaven's Craft consists of two parts—physical completeness and conscious compatibility."
"Currently, 94.2% is the physical layer figure because the sub-cores have been removed."
"What about the level of mental compatibility?" Zhang Yan asked.
"It has never been displayed separately," Mo Li said. "But according to the technical notes left by the city lord, when the holder's consciousness compatibility reaches its limit, the system will determine 'physical integrity'—equivalent to 100% physical integrity, and the lack of the sub-core will be compensated by the depth of consciousness."
Zhang Yan leaned back on the sofa, processing the information.
Consciousness alignment.
His synchronization rate with the Heart of the Craftsman is currently 87%, which has been slowly increasing in order to cope with various crises.
But how far is it from 87% to the "limit"?
"How do you max it out?" Nie Qingcheng asked on his behalf.
Mo Li's expression became slightly serious.
There is only one way.
He said, "Zhang Yan must fully recall and accept all the memories of the holder from 30,000 years ago, that is, the orphan chosen by the city lord, and merge them with his own consciousness."
The living room fell silent again.
Zhang Yan unconsciously tapped his knee with his finger.
An orphan from 30,000 years ago.
He had seen that first-person perspective scene in Xuanwu's memories.
The Heart of Heaven selects an orphan, records their consciousness characteristics and resonance paths, and marks appear on their wrists.
It looks exactly like the birthmark on his wrist.
"After the fusion," Zhang Yan looked at Mo Li, "am I still me?"
He needs to get to the bottom of this.
Mo Li gave a clear answer: "When the previous holder chose to inherit, all personal emotions and memories were erased."
"What remains are only the imprints of technical knowledge and skills, not personality, memories, or emotional tendencies."
"To give an analogy," Mo Li carefully considered his words, "it's like downloading a huge professional database. Your hard drive will have a lot more content, but the operating system won't change; you'll still be you."
Zhang Yan did not immediately express his opinion.
"What about the side effects?" Nie Qingcheng's voice came from the side.
Mo Li was noticeably more careful in managing his expressions around Nie Qingcheng than he was around Zhang Yan.
He thought about it and chose to be honest.
"I'll have a headache for three days."
"That's it?"
"This is it." Mo Li nodded. "The city lord himself verified the safety of this process 30,000 years ago, and his notes contain detailed records of all the parameters."
"No irreversible damage, no risk of personality overwriting, the only physical side effect is the intracranial pressure response when information floods in, which completely subsides after three days."
Nie Qingcheng tapped her fingers lightly on the rim of the teacup twice.
Zhang Yan saw that action.
He was all too familiar.
This is her habit after she has thought things through and made a decision; it means "Okay, I'll go with you."
"When can it be done?" Zhang Yan asked.
"Anytime," Mo Li said. "All that's needed is a quiet environment and a few hours. The Heart of Heavenly Craftsmanship itself is the carrier for fusion; no additional equipment is required."
Zhang Yan turned to look at Nie Qingcheng.
She didn't look at him; her gaze was fixed on the tablet, and she swiped her finger a couple of times to bring up the schedule.
"This afternoon," she said.
It wasn't a discussion, it was an arrangement.
Zhang Yan did not object.
Time is indeed running out; the three-month countdown is ticking away every single day.
The sooner the Heart of the Craftsman reaches 100%, the sooner the Lord's Last Will is unlocked, and the greater the margin for error for all subsequent plans.
"Okay." He stood up. "In the underground lab this afternoon."
Mo Li stood up and bowed again.
"I'll wait outside, and I can assist if anything goes wrong during the fusion process."
Nie Qingcheng glanced at him.
"No need. I'm fine inside."
His tone wasn't harsh, but Mo Li didn't insist any further.
He realized that the spot in the laboratory belonged to the mistress, not him.
While Zhang Yan took Mo Li out to arrange accommodations, Nie Qingcheng sat alone in the living room.
She looked at the line of red text on the tablet.
[Unlock Requirements: 100% completion of the Heart of Heaven + Verification of the City Lord's Bloodline Genes.]
The bloodline of the city lord.
If Zhang Yan is indeed a descendant of the Lord of Tiangong City, then the 30,000-year legacy is not a coincidence, nor is it fate, but rather a meticulously calculated path.
She dislikes the phrase "being arranged."
But if Zhang Yan chooses to accept it—
Nie Qingcheng put down her teacup and got up to walk towards the underground laboratory.
We need to get the monitoring equipment set up first.
2:17 PM.
Zhang Yan sat at the control panel in the center of the laboratory, his eyes closed.
Nie Qingcheng sat about 1.5 meters to his right, with three monitoring screens in front of her.
Heart rate, brain waves, body temperature, blood oxygen, and the energy output curve of the Heavenly Craftsman's Heart—all data fluctuate in real time.
The laboratory door was locked from the inside.
Soundproof, energy-blocking, and everything else-blocking.
"Begin," Zhang Yan said.
A divine inspiration shone brightly in my heart.
It wasn't the understated warm light of everyday operation, but a pure, highly concentrated gold, like liquid sunlight overflowing from his chest.
The light spread along his veins to his limbs, finally converging into an extremely bright point at the birthmark on his wrist.
The system interface unfolded in Zhang Yan's consciousness.
[The consciousness fusion protocol has been activated.]
[Detected the knowledge imprint library of the previous holder... Size: Extremely large.]
Estimated transmission time: 4 hours and 12 minutes.
[Start receiving?]
Zhang Yan chose "Yes".
Then the world disappeared.
His consciousness sank into a golden space.
Unlike the darkness when entering the core of the seal or confronting the Ruins, this place is pure light.
Warm, non-aggressive light, like light soaking in lukewarm water.