Chapter 170: The Glory of the Chosen

Japan, Zhendong City.

Wang Meng set down the wolf‑hair brush in his hand and rubbed his slightly sore eyes.

Piled like a mountain on the desk were reports from the "Education Department" and the "Purification Squad" from across Japan.

The reports showed that after years of high‑pressure rule and cultural reformation, the construction of the "New Japan" was already showing initial results.

The old‑era scriptures and beliefs are being systematically eradicated.

The whole nation, like a whiteboard repeatedly wiped, is being painted with brand‑new colors by the Wang Family.

Wang Meng was very pleased with this.

He liked the feeling of wiping out an entire race.

At that moment, a bodyguard entered carrying a wax‑sealed letter.

"General, Yangzhou headquarters, 800‑li urgent."

Wang Meng's spirit perked up.

He knew that a letter of this rank could only be a handwritten missive from Head of Family Wang Zhen.

He waved his hand, signaling the bodyguard to stand down, then carefully opened the envelope.

The contents made a hint of surprise appear on his usually placid face.

"Science Academy? Steam engine?"

Wang Meng muttered to himself.

Although Wang Zhen used the somewhat mystical term "ancestral dream" in the letter,

Wang Meng had no doubt at all.

Because he was also a core member of the Wang Family, he clearly knew the family's development history; to claim that the Wang Family achieved its present stature without ancestral blessing and relying solely on successive heads of family would be impossible.

He was only shocked by the content of this "ancestral" dream: it called for creating a machine that could move on its own?

Moreover, the investment mentioned in the letter was one percent? This… such a scale is too grand.

Nevertheless, shocked as he was, Wang Meng had no hesitation.

He immediately began to consider how to fulfill the letter's task; the selected hundred graduates had to be the smartest and most loyal.

"The smartest… the most loyal…"

Young faces flashed through his mind one by one.

Finally, one name fixed itself in his mind.

Lu Bian Yitian.

Wang Meng had long heard of this rising young man in the Chōshū Domain.

He had seen the name multiple times in Purification Squad reports.

The reports described him as "loyal and brave, decisive in battle, with an almost obsessive fanatic belief in the Wang Family."

Especially the incident where he personally handed over his mother's Buddhist sutras, leading to her punishment, was hailed as a "model of loyalty" and publicized in every school.

"It's him," Wang Meng decided.

What he needed was this kind of "tool" who would disregard all kin for the Wang Family.

He rang the bronze bell on the desk.

"Men, deliver my order: have the Chōshū Domain Purification Squad captain, Lu Bian Yitian, come to Zhendong City at once to see me."

Half a month later, Lu Bian Yitian arrived in Zhendong City, dust‑caked; as the Wang Family's presence here grew, everyone realized that the Matsura Family was merely a puppet.

It was his first time stepping into the legendary Wang Family's ruling center in Japan.

Tall, sturdy city walls, wide and tidy streets, and the countless passers clad in Silk speaking standard Mandarin—"Han gentlemen"—on those streets.

All of this left him profoundly shocked and ashamed of his own filth.

He felt like a country bumpkin, entering the legendary heaven for the first time.

At the gate of the City Lord's residence, guards stopped him and confiscated all his weapons.

Then, under the steward's guidance, he entered the mansion that symbolized Japan's highest authority.

In the study, he met the legendary figure—General Wang Meng.

Wang Meng wore no armor, only a simple black everyday robe.

Yet he sat quietly, and the unspoken authority radiating from him made Lu Bian Yitian feel slightly breathless.

"Commoner Lu Bian Yitian, may I have an audience with General Wang!"

Lu Bian Yitian knelt on one knee, bowing his head deeply, lacking even the courage to glance at Wang Meng.

"Rise," Wang Meng said, his voice very calm.

"Thank you, General," Lu Bian Yitian rose, still keeping his head down, his body tense.

"You are Lu Bian Yitian?" Wang Meng examined him.

The young man before him was tall and solid, his eyes flashing with a beast‑like gleam.

"Yes."

"I heard you personally sent your mother to the penal institute for the Wang Family?" General Wang asked abruptly.

Lu Bian Yitian's body trembled slightly.

"Yes," he replied without hesitation, "She violated the Wang Family's teachings and should be punished. Even if she is my mother, no exception."

"Very good," Wang Meng nodded, a hint of satisfaction on his face.

"Now, the Wang Family has a task more important than cultural purification, and it is yours to undertake."

Lu Bian Yitian's breathing suddenly quickened.

"Please give orders, General! I will die a thousand deaths without refusing!"

"I want you to select ninety‑nine individuals from this cohort of first‑class graduates who are as smart and loyal as you."

Then, you will together board the Wang Family's ship, go to a place, and receive the supreme honor.

What place? What honor? Lùbiān Yītiáo couldn't help but ask.

Yangzhou. Wang Meng slowly spat out the two characters.

Lubian Yitiaо's head, with a "Boom!", went blank.

Yangzhou!

That isn't…… that isn't the Wang Family's ancestral land?!

It is the place where the great Head of Family resides!

I…… I actually have the chance to go to that place?

"You didn't hear wrong." Wang Meng looked at his dazed appearance and continued, "You will be sent to Yangzhou, entering the Wang Family's recently reformed 'Science Academy'."

"There, you can learn the most advanced and profound knowledge in the world. You will personally create things that the world has never had."

"You will become the ones who push the world forward."

"This is the Head of Family's greatest trust and grace bestowed upon you, the new generation."

"Of course, this process will be arduous, even dangerous. Some of you may die. But the names of those who survive will be eternally carved onto the Wang Family's Merit Stele."

"Now, I ask you, are you willing to go?"

"I am willing!"

Lubian Yitiaо didn't even think, and shouted with all his might.

His face flushed crimson from extreme excitement.

To Yangzhou! Enter the Science Academy!

This…… this is simply ten thousand times more glorious than becoming a Grand General Who Subdues the Barbarians!

What danger, what death, in the face of such glory, is utterly insignificant!

He knelt down again, before Wang Meng, and kowtowed three times loudly.

"Thank you, Head of Family's heavenly grace! Thank you, General's cultivation! I, your subordinate, am willing to sacrifice my liver and brains for the Wang Family, to die after giving my all!"

Looking at his frenzied appearance, Wang Meng's eyes flashed with a hint of complex emotion.

There was satisfaction, and also a faint…… pity, hard to notice.