Chapter 1853: Rapid Development (4)

Li Ruanyu thought for a while.

She looked at the table.

Then looked at Zhao Chi again.

Then she smiled and said: "World Stones... actually weren't all that rare to begin with. Every territory is built from a World Stone, so in theory, every time a territory is destroyed, a World Stone gets reclaimed."

"Isn't it based on probability?"

"Heh, how could it be. Every time a Territory World is established, one World Stone is used up. Every time a world is destroyed, one World Stone is added. The two are inversely related — how could a Territory World be destroyed and the World Stone just vanish? Who has the ability to truly destroy a world?"

Zhao Chi asked in astonishment: "Isn't that a system option? The option literally says 'destroy.'"

Li Ruanyu shook her head: "The system only means destroying the current Territory World, not destroying the World Stone along with it. How could a World Stone be destroyed so easily?"

Zhao Chi's face was blank with confusion.

"Then... where do the World Stones from destroyed territories all go?"

"They're reclaimed."

"Reclaimed by whom?"

"The nobles, of course."

"What!?"

Zhao Chi stared at Li Ruanyu in shock.

Li Ruanyu gave a light laugh, took a sip of tea, and waited for him to slowly digest the information.

After thinking for a while, Zhao Chi asked: "You mean the nobles have been acquiring World Stones all along? Including the ones from the territories we destroyed in battle the day before yesterday?"

Li Ruanyu nodded: "Yes."

"How do the nobles get other people's World Stones?"

"Formation arrays — the power of the central area's formation arrays."

"Formation arrays can even control that?"

"Formation arrays can control everything."

Could it really be like this?

Impossible, right?

Zhao Chi thought it over and over but still couldn't make heads or tails of it.

After all, you couldn't find this kind of thing in the library.

Zhao Chi asked: "If that's really the case, then the World Stones in the nobles' hands... must be so plentiful they're practically inexhaustible!"

Li Ruanyu set down her teacup.

She smiled at Zhao Chi: "The nobles' lifestyle and resources... are more abundant than you could possibly imagine."

Zhao Chi actually didn't believe it.

He didn't dare believe it.

But this was Li Ruanyu saying it.

She had originally been a noble herself, which lent even more credibility to her words.

Zhao Chi asked: "What do they need so many World Stones for? They can't possibly use them all — isn't that a waste? They'd be better off distributing more, increasing the number of lords. That way, the daily magical beast diversion would be easier on everyone, and even... we might be able to fight our way out of the city, wipe out the magical beasts outside, and seal off the source where they appear!"

Li Ruanyu laughed.

"If too many World Stones are distributed, their advantage declines. The more common lords there are, the stronger the overall power becomes. And the nobles' strength becomes relatively weaker. Do you think they'd do that?"

"Why wouldn't they? Don't they want to seal off the source of the magical beasts?"

"Why would they seal off the source of the magical beasts?"

"What kind of question is that? This... this..."

Zhao Chi stammered for a moment.

Then he continued: "If we seal off the source of the magical beasts, wouldn't the outside world be at peace? As long as the source can be sealed, and we wipe out the magical beasts outside, wouldn't the whole world be safe? Wouldn't everyone be safe? That way, everyone's life could get better."

"The nobles' lives are already very good."

"Of course, they're nobles, their lives are definitely good. But there are still plenty of common people whose lives aren't good."

"Why would the nobles want to make commoners' lives better?"

"Huh? You... this..."

Right.

Why?

Zhao Chi had originally wanted to say, isn't this just common sense?

But in an instant, he was confused too.

Common sense?

Why common sense?

Whose reasoning?

How is it common sense?

Zhao Chi was genuinely stumped.

Li Ruanyu said softly: "What the nobles want is long-term stability, not universal happiness. Do you understand?"

Damn...

Zhao Chi felt his head was about to explode.

He understood it in an instant.

Li Ruanyu continued: "For the nobles, the most important thing is that they remain nobles forever. Everything else is unimportant — sometimes even less important than survival itself."

Zhao Chi asked in confusion: "That can't be right, can it? Survival should be the top priority, shouldn't it?"

Li Ruanyu smiled and said, "In theory, yes, but in reality, no. Nobles are still nobles — they have their seven emotions and six desires too, and their intelligence is only so-so. They often do a lot of irrational things. It's just that their combat power is stronger, far stronger than ordinary people's. But they usually won't rationally analyze whether to survive or not — they only care about themselves."

That much was true.

Same as Zhao Chi's understanding.