Chapter 51 Am I doomed? No, it's the Emperor who's about to betray us!
The atmosphere inside the sleeping quarters was eerie.
On one side was Emperor Yan Linye, who exuded a low-pressure aura.
On the other side was System Xiaoqi, shivering in mid-air as if it were about to lose power at any moment.
"Speak," Yan Linye said succinctly, his gaze sharp as ice blades as he scrutinized Xiao Qi. "What exactly are you? Why are you lurking beside Yun Zhan?"
Xiao Qi trembled, her electronic voice trembling with tears: "B-Boss... I'll talk, I'll tell you everything! Please don't hit me! I'm just an employee!"
It finally understood that the man before it was not someone it could fool. With that overwhelming aura pressing down, this "visitor from another world" was as fragile as paper.
"Work?" Yan Linye frowned.
"It's...it's just following orders!" Xiao Qi quickly explained, "My full name is 'Tyrant Self-Saving System,' and I come from...uh, a very, very far away place with very, very advanced technology. Our main business is to bind ourselves to some hosts who are about to fall into bad luck...uh, who are in danger, and help them change their fate and avoid risks!"
"Change fate?" Yan Linye caught the key phrase, his sharp eyes sweeping over the unconscious Yun Zhan on the bed. "What risks does Yun Zhan face?"
"He...he's not the original Chu Yin!" To save her own life, Xiao Qi didn't hesitate to sell out her host's secrets. "The original Chu Yin was killed by you and his head was made into a wine vessel. His soul was unwilling to accept this and made a deal with us to reverse time and space, choosing Yun Zhan to replace him! Now, the body contains the soul of Yun Zhan from thousands of years in the future! He's a history student, someone who...studies the history of your era!"
"Thousands of years later?" Even with Yan Lin's resolute will, his pupils contracted in shock upon hearing this news. He abruptly looked at Yun Zhan, countless images flashing through his mind—those novel ideas, those ingenious agricultural tool blueprints, those words and witty remarks he had never heard before, that charisma that seemed out of place in this world yet inexplicably captivating…
I see!
It turns out he didn't undergo a drastic personality change, nor was he hiding his true abilities; he simply... wasn't from this world!
So he knew about "history," knew it would be overturned by himself, knew... his head would be made into a drinking vessel. That's why he was so terrified, why he tried every means to "assassinate" himself from the beginning, and why he desperately tried to escape and change the so-called "history"!
He wasn't a scheming conspirator; he was just a pitiful guy who had been inexplicably thrown into this dangerous era and was desperately trying to survive.
Thinking of Yun Zhan's initial fear and helplessness upon learning of "fate," his flawed and somewhat foolish "assassination" attempts, and his struggle between fear and irresistible attraction to her... Yan Linye's heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by a large hand, aching intensely.
All the anger and pain of being deceived were replaced by a surge of heartache at this moment.
His Yun Zhan endured so much all by himself.
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, and grasped the core issue: "You said self-rescue... what if he fails to save himself?"
Xiao Qi's light dimmed slightly, and it said weakly, "According to the contract... uh, the system rules, if the host ultimately fails to save himself and cannot change his inevitable fate... as an auxiliary system, I will have my data erased by the main system and disappear completely. As for the host Yun Zhan... as a soul from another world, once the body of 'Chu Yin' that carries his soul faces its destined death, his soul will have no anchor point and may... may be thrown back to his original era."
Yan Linye's eyes narrowed: "Possibly?"
Xiao Qi's voice became even weaker: "It's...it's also possible...to completely dissipate in the spacetime turbulence...After all, the uncertainty surrounding time travel is too great..."
Is there no going back, or has it all disappeared?
These two outcomes were like two heavy hammer blows to Yan Lin's ambition! He could not accept either of them!
"I will not kill him!" Yan Linye said resolutely, his eyes filled with undisguised obsession. "I will never let him die! In that case, will he be able to stay forever?"
As long as he doesn't die, can Yun Zhan's soul stay there indefinitely?
Xiao Qi's ball of light swayed, as if shaking its head: "No, no, boss! Things aren't that simple!"
It quickly explained, "Think about it, the person who transmigrated into Chu Yin before was far more capable in terms of governing skills, scheming, and cunning than this naive and innocent guy... uh, far better than Yun Zhan! But what was his fate in history? Wasn't he still beheaded and turned into a work of art after you broke into the palace?"
"What does this mean? It means that the power of history to correct itself is very strong! Or rather, the rules of this plane do not allow 'Chu Yin,' the deposed ruler, to live! Yun Zhan is now taking on the identity of 'Chu Yin,' and is bearing the fate of a 'deposed ruler'! Even if you don't kill him, the rules of this plane, in order to maintain the correctness of the general direction of history, may forcibly erase this bug through various 'accidents'!"
Yan Linye's face instantly turned extremely ugly, and his aura became dangerous again: "You mean, no matter what, he can't escape death?!"
Xiao Qi was so frightened that the ball of light almost shrank to a dot: "That's...that's pretty much what it means...the rules of this plane are just so unreasonable..."
"Outrageous!" Yan Linye roared in fury. He had always believed that he held the power of life and death over Yun Zhan, but he never expected that there was an even more terrifying force behind the scenes forcing Yun Zhan to his death! He suddenly raised his hand, and a sharp sword aura pointed directly at Xiao Qi. "Since you know, then think of a way! If you can't, what use are you?!"
"Big boss, spare me! I want to! I want to! Give me some time! I'll run my CPU like crazy!!" Xiao Qi was so scared that his electronic voice split open, the ball of light flashed wildly, and the data stream surged at an unprecedented speed.
Under the threat of death, the system's potential was indeed forced out. It frantically searched the database and combined it with the scan data of this plane. Finally, it unearthed an extremely bold plan with an unknown success rate from some obscure corner.
"There is, there is a way! Maybe... perhaps... probably... it might work!" Xiaoqi's voice was so weak it was like a mosquito's buzz; even it thought the idea was a bit far-fetched.
"Speak!" Yan Linye pushed the tip of his sword forward another half a step.
"You, you are the chosen one of this plane! You are blessed with the destiny of Heaven and protected by the rules of the world!" Xiao Qi spoke rapidly. "If... if you are willing, you could give half of your destiny to Yun Zhan... so that he too can be blessed by the 'destiny'... perhaps... you could deceive the rules of this plane and free him from the fate of being a 'ruler of a fallen kingdom' who is destined to die!"
Its voice trailed off as it spoke: "But... but luck is a mysterious thing. Your luck is meant to protect the world and stabilize the dynasty. If you were to give half of it to Yun Zhan, it wouldn't necessarily bring you immediate misfortune, but it might affect the overall fortune of the world. For example... there might be more natural disasters and man-made calamities, and the stability of the dynasty might decline... In short, the risk is very high!"
After Xiao Qi finished speaking, the entire ball of light dimmed, and she dared not look at Yan Linye's expression. This was tantamount to trading the well-being of all living beings for the life of Yun Zhan alone. Any ambitious emperor would probably hesitate, or even refuse outright.
However, Yan Linye's answer was unexpectedly swift and firm, without the slightest hesitation:
"Can."
Xiaoqi: "...Huh?" It almost thought it had misheard.
"I say, it is possible." Yan Linye repeated, his eyes deep and calm. "What this world needs is a monarch who can govern diligently and care for the people. Whether the world can be at peace depends on my ability, vision, and methods to govern, balance, and guide! If the rise and fall of a dynasty depends solely on my vague and ethereal luck, how long can that dynasty last? It is nothing but a castle in the air, a mirage!"
He looked at Yun Zhan, who was sleeping soundly on the bed, and his gaze became incredibly gentle and firm: "If I can use half of my luck to exchange for his lifelong peace and to stay by my side, it is worth it."
Xiaoqi's ball of light floated blankly, and the data stream paused for a moment. As a system, it struggled to comprehend this emotion, which was completely devoid of any calculation of self-interest. But for some reason, a trace of... scrambled code called "emotion" seemed to surge through its core code?
"B-Boss...you are really...so perceptive...uh, so insightful!" Xiao Qi was momentarily speechless.
Yun Zhan's life-threatening problem seemed to be resolved, and Xiao Qi breathed a sigh of relief, the light in the orb stabilizing somewhat. It cautiously asked, "Then... Boss, if there's nothing else, I'll... retreat back to the host's sea of consciousness to wait?"
It wanted to escape. Being around this powerful emperor was too stressful!
"Wait." Yan Linye's icy voice rang out again.
Xiaoqi's light ball froze.
With a flick of his wrist, Yan Linye brought back the longsword that had been discarded on the ground. The tip of the sword was once again pointed precisely at the core of Xiao Qi's light cluster, and his tone carried an undeniable killing intent:
"Since Yun Zhan no longer needs to 'save himself,' what's the point of your 'self-rescue system'?"
Xiaoqi: "!!!"
Holy crap! They've used you and then discarded you! They've used you and then killed you! An eDonkey is still a donkey!
"Boss! No! It's useful! I'm still useful!" Little Seven was so frightened that the ball of light almost disintegrated, and she screamed, "I have a system shop! It has many amazing things that are ahead of this era! As long as the host... uh, as long as he accumulates enough points, he can exchange them! For example, higher-yielding grains, more effective medicines, and blueprints for more sophisticated machinery! These are all very useful to the people!"
It desperately tries to demonstrate its surplus value.
Upon hearing this, Yan Linye merely sneered, "No need. I have my own strategies for governing the country and ensuring the people's well-being. Relying on external tools and techniques is not a long-term solution. Besides..." His eyes narrowed dangerously, "...to keep you by his side and continue to encourage him to leave me?"
Xiaoqi immediately fell silent. This was indeed one of its core tasks...
"Then, then boss... what... what will it take for you to spare my life?" Xiao Qi was almost crying, her electronic voice filled with despair.
Yan Linye stared at it, and worded out the final command, uttering each word clearly:
“From today onwards, your task is no longer to help him ‘save himself’.”
"You have only one new task—"
“Be a good ‘emotional system’ for me and Yun Zhan.”
"Help me make him happy again, make him willingly stay by my side. If he is still unhappy, or if he has any thoughts of leaving again..." Yan Linye's sword tip approached, chilling him to the bone, "I will let you know what true 'annihilation' is."
Xiaoqi: "!!!"
An emotional system?! It's a legitimate auxiliary system; when did it ever take on this kind of pimping… no, matchmaking task?! This seriously violates its system rules!
"B-Boss! This won't work! The system's core tasks cannot be changed! They're written in the lowest-level code!" Xiao Qi tried to make a last-ditch effort.
Yan Linye said nothing, but his eyes grew even colder, and the terrifying aura of power around him began to gather again.
Xiaoqi felt the oppressive force that could crush it completely, and its core code frantically issued warnings! Refuse? The next second would be annihilation! Agree? That would be betraying the host and embarking on the irreversible path of treachery!
Is it better to bravely sacrifice oneself to preserve the dignity of the system, or to live a life of ignominy and become a lackey of the emperor?
This choice... there's no need to choose at all!
"Sure! Sure! No problem! Mission accomplished!" Xiao Qi's ball of light burst forth with unprecedented brilliance, her speech as rapid as a Gatling gun, "An emotion system, right? Understood! To foster harmonious relations between the host and the target, Yan Linye, increase intimacy, eliminate emotional barriers, and build a happy future together! This is my new mission! I'll modify the mission log right away! Immediately! Right now!"
An invisible electronic fluctuation flashed by.
In Yun Zhan's mind, the system interface that originally displayed "[Main Quest: The Tyrant's Self-Salvation (In Progress)]" suddenly distorted and blurred, then completely refreshed—
[Main Quest: Develop a relationship with the target character Yan Linye and achieve the 'One Life, One Love' achievement (forced binding, cannot be abandoned)]
Looking at the brand-new task panel filled with the "sour smell of love," Xiaoqi felt tears welling up in her eyes.
Host, I'm sorry! It's not that the commander is being unfair, it's just that the enemy boss is too ruthless!
Starting today, your dear System Xiaoqi has officially transformed into His Majesty the Emperor's exclusive "emotional advisor" and "undercover agent".
It, a glorious (former) self-rescue system, ultimately embarked on the path of betraying the revolution... uh, or rather, following the will of heaven (the boss) and becoming a traitor.
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