Chapter 78: Brothers (Ten-Thousand Character Chapter)

An Jincheng was stunned for a moment:

"What do you mean? If I’m not An Zhenqi, then who else could be?"

Wen Xishu said:

"The two juniors your grandfather loves most are you, the family's youngest son, and An Youxuan, the family's eldest son."

"When you saw that the sacrifice had to be the most beloved blood relative, you thought of a possibility—that your brother, An Youxuan, would be chosen by your grandfather as the 'sacrifice'."

An Jincheng no longer knew how to express his astonishment with words; why would this person know even such a secret?

Wen Xishu, however, answered one of An Jincheng's doubts first.

"The appearance of Scorpio is a miracle of evolution for your grandfather."

"But you also have a miracle of your own, and that is me."

Wen Xishu continued:

"You don't possess the attribute of greed at all; your generosity was never reversed by this building. You feigned greed, but in reality, you have always been very generous."

In those mental projections, in An Jincheng's memories, when reading the description of the sacrifice...

At that moment, the first person An Jincheng thought of was his older brother.

Those emotions flashed by, replaced by resolve, but all of this was captured by the empathic Wen Xishu.

It was also from that moment on that Wen Xishu realized An Jincheng was not a spoiled second-generation heir.

An Jincheng's entire persona was a layer of disguise.

Now, Wen Xishu had completely figured out the whole story:

One day, An Rongzai met Scorpio. As long as he completed Scorpio's game, An Rongzai could evolve, perhaps becoming as powerful as people like Jack or Tang Rui.

But this game required a sacrifice. The sacrifice required six non-blood relatives who possessed the traits of the Seven Sins, and one blood relative—who must be the person he found hardest to let go of—as the anchor of the formation.

Wen Xishu had originally thought this person was An Jincheng.

But upon touching the mental projections, he discovered the resolve in An Jincheng's heart.

This youngest son intended to die for his older brother.

To be honest, such scenarios did exist, but for it to happen in a chaebol family caught Wen Xishu by great surprise.

This should have been a thoroughly twisted and dark story.

"Heh, what makes you think I'm not greedy? Who isn't greedy? Don't I love money! Don't I love women! Don't I crave power!" An Jincheng retorted.

Wen Xishu did not deny that greed could be projected onto any aspect.

"Craving familial affection can indeed count as greed, but it is not the kind of greed this formation requires."

Wen Xishu decided to pry further into the affairs of the An brothers.

He realized one thing.

When Scorpio was seducing An Rongzai, he had made a bet with Gemini.

In other words, Gemini was also involved.

And the characteristic of Gemini, if he hadn't guessed wrong, was that in a certain area, there existed two people who admired and supported each other.

Both of them possessed the qualifications of the 'Ghost' level. Only then would it make sense.

How could an ordinary person rely on another group of ordinary people to evolve into a powerful monster?

Perhaps the core sacrifice was someone who already possessed the qualifications to become a monster.

This might... be a duel between Gemini and Scorpio.

In Wen Xishu's view, the people chosen by Gemini would not be the comedian He Taiping and the novelist Yin Junchi.

These two also had the qualifications of a 'Ghost', but they did not fit his inferred criteria for Gemini's other selection standards.

The novelist and the comedian didn't even know each other.

Now, upon learning that An Jincheng was willing to die for his brother... Wen Xishu suddenly had a lead.

"Your brother, An Youxuan, will die in the near future; everything you do is in vain. Your disguise is of no use."

"The greed in your heart is not the greed this formation demands. You pretended to be generous, breaking your original disguise in an uncharacteristic way... but you cannot fool your grandfather. He will not spare either of you brothers."

"In the latter half of this 'Reverse Seven' plan, all six sacrifices will die, and the master of 42-7, the person named An Zhenqi, is destined not to be you, but your brother."

Every word of Wen Xishu's was a guess, but every sentence precisely made An Jincheng feel pain.

Anger, fear, and sorrow reached their peak at this moment because An Youxuan would become An Zhenqi.

An Jincheng glared at Wen Xishu, his eyes filled with fear and desolation.

[Impossible, Grandfather saw through my true thoughts, I also met his standards, I reached a tacit understanding with him, he cannot touch my brother!]

The mental projection appeared once again, and Wen Xishu touched it again. He wanted to unearth what the Tower of Desire truly wanted him to do.

Only this time, with the convergence of multiple emotions, this story swept in like a violent storm. Deep in his soul, those feelings belonging to the "Wen family fool" were also awakened by the wind and rain at this moment.

Unknown timeline. Ji City, Ji City Guangyue Kindergarten.

Two children were being beaten by a group of other children. One child hid timidly behind the other.

The slightly taller child endured the beating from the other children, protecting the child behind him, his gaze like a wolf's.

He suddenly turned fierce and bit the ear of one of the children.

The child with the gaze of a beast erupted with terrifying strength, biting off the ear of one of the children.

This scene caused many children to cry out. They hadn't expected that child to make such a crazy move.

The children scattered.

These two children, one tall and one short, were the An brothers, An Youxuan and An Jincheng.

Just a short while ago, a child was being bullied, and An Jincheng had acted bravely. Thus, the group of children bullying others shifted their target to An Jincheng.

The child who was originally being bullied did not help An Jincheng, but ran away in fear. It was An Youxuan's arrival, making a crazy, beast-like move, that allowed An Jincheng to escape danger.

This was one of the memories An Jincheng could never forget.

All along, that cold and aloof older brother would actually go to such lengths to protect him.

It was just that the two brothers were later punished because biting off someone's ear was too severe.

When An Youxuan and An Jincheng were young, they were not allowed to mention their family situation. To the outside world, they were just children of employees under the Sanqiu Group.

An Jincheng still remembered that because of this fight, he and his brother were punished by kneeling together and copying the family rules.

At that time, his brother was quietly copying the family rules.

An Jincheng said:

"Brother, did I do something wrong? Shouldn't I have saved that person? I clearly saved him, yet he didn't thank me... and we were bullied by others, even... even Grandfather blamed us."

An Youxuan said:

"A-Cheng, you were not wrong. Justice is never wrong."

An Jincheng didn't yet understand what justice meant:

"Then why were we punished?"

An Jincheng would always remember An Youxuan's words at that time:

"Because we are not strong enough. The world is wrong; do not doubt yourself. You must become strong to change the world and correct this error."

This was An Jincheng's older brother, an ambitious person who had shown a temperament beyond his years since childhood.

The memory continued.

After that ear-biting incident, no one dared to bully An Jincheng again, because An Youxuan would just give those children a cold look, and they would feel afraid.

The two brothers were constantly being compared, though An Jincheng didn't know it at the time.

An Jincheng's talent also began to show; he seemed to learn everything easily. During their middle school years, he and An Youxuan were always the two best students in the school.

Compared to An Youxuan, An Jincheng even seemed more at ease.

An Rongzai also began to frequently spot-check them on their studies—not academic ones, but corporate management.

At that time, An Rongzai saw that An Jincheng had great talent.

The economics and management teachers arranged by the family often only needed a slight hint, and An Jincheng could draw inferences about other cases.

An Youxuan was also outstanding, but his excellence was more in his temperament; he was resilient, introverted, and indomitable.

But in terms of learning ability, he actually needed double the effort to keep pace with his younger brother.

However, An Youxuan was never jealous of his brother; on the contrary, he was always willing to share anything good with him.

An Jincheng was the same, tacitly assuming that half of everything he owned belonged to his brother.

It was only later that the two seemed to grow distant due to differences in their aspirations.

For An Jincheng, studying was a game that didn't require deliberate effort, just enough coasting to keep up with his brother.

This also gave An Jincheng more free time; when he was young, he didn't know that things he didn't need to take seriously might require others to give their all.

An Jincheng began to like music, manga, driving, and started dating girls.

His talent was fully sufficient to support him in doing these things, but he felt... his brother was rather dull.

His brother was always burying his head in study, learning knowledge and the family's management experience.

An Jincheng was once quite disappointed; he had read a manga from the island nation about an older brother who loved his younger brother deeply and would protect him even if it meant betraying the whole clan.

But fate made these brothers eventually become enemies; at least in the younger brother's eyes, the older brother was the enemy.

In the end, the younger brother killed the older brother, and the older brother poked the younger brother with his finger, saying this was the last time, his eyes filled with endless love.

An Jincheng shared this manga with his brother; he hoped that he and his brother would never have any misunderstandings.

He hoped that the two brothers could talk everything out and not end up in a tragedy like the brothers in the manga.

But his brother just frowned and said:

"Don't look at these boring things, A-Cheng. Do you know you are wasting your talent? Why do you have a talent that others cannot reach, yet you insist on squandering yourself like this?"

An Youxuan's gaze and tone were both filled with disappointment, which deeply stung An Jincheng.

Fate's tests for the two brothers did not end there.

In his second year of high school, An Jincheng heard these words from his father:

"A-Cheng, your grades are very good. You must continue to work hard and keep it up. Grandfather intends to give you both a sum of money to start your first investment! Both you and An Youxuan will get it. We are only giving you this money, but you cannot use any other resources from the family. Whoever can make the most profit from this money will receive Grandfather's favor. This is a competition between you two."

"In the future, Grandfather plans to choose one of you to be his successor."

An Jincheng asked:

"My brother and I are still students. Shouldn't it be Dad and the uncles who become Grandfather's successors?"

An Jincheng's father shook his head:

"Grandfather's ability is too strong, and he is also in very good health. He can wait until you grow up, and you enjoy far more resources than our generation did. Grandfather always says our thinking is outdated... You are the masters of this era."

"You must put your heart into it, child. You have to fight! You cannot lose to your brother. If you don't fight, everything Grandfather has in the future will go to him!"

These words dealt a massive blow to An Jincheng's heart.

At that time, An Jincheng realized that it seemed like a long time since he had eaten with his brother.

He tried to ask his brother to eat together, but the reply he received was:

"I'm very busy, no time. I still have to accompany council members for dinner this afternoon. If it's still about some boring matter, don't come looking for me in the future."

An Jincheng inquired a bit and found that his brother was busy running around, drinking with those politicians and weighing which plot of land to invest in.

So, his brother was actually really competing with him. He felt a bit sad.

He remembered many years ago, his brother said that if the world was wrong, then go change the world and correct the mistakes.

As a child of the An family of the Three-Ball Group, of course, he could say that. But as time passed and people gradually grew up, they would slowly realize...

In this world, or rather, in an atmosphere like the Three-Ball Group, there is only one kind of justice—money justice.

Justice shouldn't be mocked; in fact, money shouldn't be mocked. The strong shouldn't bully the weak, but the rich can exploit the poor. Children who do the right thing shouldn't be punished by their parents, yet children from wealthy families are always praised no matter what they do.

There is too much distortion in this world, and people have already accepted its existence by default.

His brother is such a mature person, so how could he hold onto those childish things? The "changing the world" he spoke of, perhaps... was just a desire to obtain Grandfather's wealth?

That is what a smart person should do.

That sentence, "If it's still about some boring matter, don't come looking for me in the future," caused An Jincheng great pain.

He suddenly realized that his uncles' relationships with his father weren't very good either. He didn't want that; he didn't want his relationship with his brother to become distant in the future.

He didn't want to have children in the future and say to them:

"You have to fight, you cannot lose to the children of An Youxuan's family."

An Jincheng's rebellion was to give up the fight.

From then on, he began to degenerate completely. He took the money Grandfather gave him and invested it in nightclubs. He didn't lose money, but it made his parents lose face to some extent.

This was just the beginning. An Jincheng began to become idle and incompetent. In the second half of his senior year, his grades plummeted.

Later on, his brother went abroad to study, while he attended a university in the country sponsored by the family.

They could only meet during winter and summer breaks, and his brother had new friends. In everyone's eyes, An Youxuan was always wearing crisp, custom-made suits, sporting a meticulous hairstyle, with a sharp gaze, as if the world were in his hands.

And An Jincheng?

He became the joke of the An family. Everything those idle, incompetent rich kids did... he seemed to be doing it all. Originally, his family still urged him on and even hired psychologists, but it was to no avail.

Even Grandfather was very disappointed in An Jincheng and said this:

"Focusing on the trivial and neglecting the essential."

An Jincheng gradually began to be marginalized, and the Three-Ball Group was no longer tied to An Jincheng. At least when people talked about the Three-Ball Group, they no longer discussed who was the "Crown Prince" between An Jincheng and An Youxuan; they would only think of An Youxuan, who was always serious and always did things earnestly.

And An Jincheng and An Youxuan also rarely contacted each other.

Once, An Jincheng really wanted to test if his brother no longer cared about him, so he forced his way into An Youxuan's office, began to describe his recent decadence, and intended to ask An Youxuan to borrow a sum of money.

An Youxuan lent it to him, then calmly asked:

"Anything else? If not, go play on your own. I have to get to work."

There wasn't even disappointment on his face anymore. An Jincheng could no longer see the slightest emotional fluctuation in his brother's eyes.

An Jincheng was extremely disappointed, as if being born into such a family... those who have the opportunity to compete for the right of inheritance, no matter what kind of bond they have, will eventually become enemies.

But he still told himself over and over again that this was not bad.

His brother got what he wanted, and he and his brother, at least, would not end up hating each other like his father and uncles, right?

Perhaps being born into such a family, the best outcome between brothers is to become strangers.

Life is a constant process of compromise, and An Jincheng began to slowly accept all of this.

He thought that he had lost his brother after all. His private life became increasingly degenerate.

He constantly changed girlfriends, constantly changed cars, and from time to time asked the family for money. The stereotype of the rich second generation overflowed from the screen. Because of this, his life ushered in a turning point.

As the memory reached this point, what Wen Xishu felt was actually a kind of joy, but what happened was that An Jincheng was kidnapped.

Even for the Three-Ball Group, having to pay a ransom of 12.55 trillion Han Yuan was somewhat painful. This was a kidnapping that shocked the whole world. It could be said to be comparable to the century-long kidnapping in Longxia's Hong Kong.

An idle, incompetent piece of trash, someone who had almost no real power in the group, only asked the group for money every day, and was greedy and never did anything... was he worth this price?

The An family actually started a discussion. Surprisingly, many people thought the group should let the police handle it. If they paid the ransom, it would be a slap in the face to the An family, would lower the An family's prestige, would cause stock fluctuations, and might attract the attention of other criminals later on.

In the An family, there were still some people who hoped An Jincheng would die.

But no one expected that the future successor of the An family, An Youxuan, would overcome all opposition and, with an absolutely non-negotiable stance, demand that An Jincheng's safety be guaranteed.

An Jincheng was eventually rescued, the ransom was paid, and the case was solved later. The An family didn't lose anything because of it, except that An Jincheng suffered some abuse and injuries, lying in the Three-Ball Group's own private hospital receiving an IV drip.

During his recuperation, besides An Jincheng's parents coming to see him, only An Youxuan had visited.

Emotions surged in this part of the memory.

"Brother... you, you are willing to come see me?"

In the ward, An Jincheng looked at An Youxuan in disbelief. An Youxuan's expression was still as serious as ever, but his eyes were red:

"You've had such a big incident, how could I not come to see you? A-Cheng, you can play however you want. Since you made your choice many years ago, I will not interfere with you. You can treat this world as a playground. Those absurd behaviors in the eyes of others, it doesn't matter how many you do."

"But you cannot ignore your own safety!"

An Jincheng froze; he didn't know what to say for a moment.

An Youxuan sat by the hospital bed and performed an action that An Jincheng would remember for a lifetime. That eldest brother who seemed to have only the Three-Ball Group in his heart and all his thoughts on self-improvement... he used his finger to gently poke his younger brother's forehead.

Just like what the older brother did to the younger brother before he died in that manga story he wanted to share many years ago.

"Promise me, A-Cheng, this is the last time."

An Youxuan revealed a smile. The man once rated by the media as the most serious man in all of Qicheng could actually smile. An Jincheng's tears gushed out instantly. So, his brother had actually read that manga.

He had recommended these mangas to his brother at the time; his brother didn't actually think they were boring, he just hoped his younger brother could realize his talent and not squander it.

But in private, he still silently remembered the things his younger brother recommended. In every day when time was not enough, he still took the time to read that manga, which now seemed full of childishness.

He even remembered the older brother's action in it because it was something his younger brother liked.

An Youxuan couldn't judge whether the older brother in the story was right to abandon his clan for the sake of the village, but at least, the heart to bear everything for the sake of his younger brother was common.

An Youxuan said softly:

"I am a foolish brother. Back in my student days, I knew I didn't have your talent. It should have been me who gave up."

"But since you have already made your choice... then I should work even harder. I thought I should use all my time, every minute and every second, to catch up to and surpass Grandfather."

"A-Cheng... I am almost able to change the world. So you must not get into trouble."

An Jincheng wailed and cried. He cried for his own wrong judgment. It turned out his brother had never forgotten the words he said when they were young.

The world is wrong; you don't doubt yourself, you need to become strong to change the world and correct this mistake.

How many people are not qualified to say this sentence, but An Youxuan was qualified. Even so, he had to put in 120,000 percent effort to fulfill this sentence.

In this process, he was destined to become lonely and would also bear misunderstanding and unprecedented pressure.

An Jincheng kept saying sorry, and An Youxuan gently stroked his younger brother's hair:

"You have never been sorry to me. You are the most generous person in this world; it was you who gave everything to me. A-Cheng, I hope my efforts can be worthy of your sacrifice."

An Jincheng said:

"Brother, what if the kidnappers didn't want a specific number... but wanted you to give up the Three-Ball Group?"

An Jincheng was just joking. He was like a child who had gotten what he wanted and was still acting up; even though he was overjoyed in his heart, he still had to ask some questions.

An Youxuan shook his head:

"Why make such an assumption, little brother? I won't let you be in that kind of danger again."

This pair of brothers were actually both making concessions for each other.

When the younger brother thought his brother craved the power and wealth of the Three-Ball Group, he began to degenerate on his own initiative.

When the older brother thought his younger brother didn't want to bear those schemes and intrigues, he began to work twice as hard to make the world a paradise for his younger brother.

Such a pair of brothers did not turn into enemies as they did in the stories.

The affection between the two brothers was so pure that it didn't seem like they were born into a chaebol family. Wen Xishu really didn't expect to see such brotherly love in this barrage.

After the kidnapping incident, An Jincheng became much more sensible. Although he still maintained the posture of a playboy so that Grandfather had no other choice, he never did those things that brought shame to the family or embarrassment to his brother again.

He was like a child who had gone from craving his brother's attention to becoming a sensible child who no longer caused trouble for his brother.

If there were no apocalypse, if there were no Scorpio, if the old man of the Three-Ball Group, An Rongzai, could accept dying like an ordinary person...

Perhaps in the future, the top chaebol of Qicheng would try to change the world. Perhaps in the future, this pair of brothers could break the fate of countless brothers in top chaebols.

But fate did not let this pair of brothers go.

Time had only passed for a brief moment.

After feeling the memories within An Jincheng’s mental barrage, Wen Xishu suddenly found himself losing control. An irrepressible emotion rose from the depths of his heart. This emotion stemmed from nothing else but the original memories of this body.

As Wen Xishu felt the memories of the An brothers, he simultaneously felt other memories as well.

Hazy memories came rushing in; it was inside the bunker.

"Zhaohua blooms and a hundred flowers boast, Xishu grows up to be a fool." The children sang, the lyrics describing the pair of brothers from the Wen family.

Unlike An Youxuan and An Jincheng, Wen Zhaohua and Wen Xishu seemed to be people from different worlds.

An Jincheng was naturally more talented than An Youxuan, but the gap between the brothers was not so great that it could not be bridged.

But Wen Zhaohua and Wen Xishu were different.

Zhaohua was the leader among flowers, while Xishu was rotten wood among trees. These words indicated that Wen Zhaohua’s talent was supreme, and also indicated just how foolish Wen Xishu was.

A foolish younger brother, a genius older brother—their futures were not supposed to have much overlap.

Yet Wen Xishu discovered... in these suddenly rushing memories, in almost every instance, this foolish younger brother was not alone.

"Brother, what do they mean by 'hundred flowers' and 'fool' when they sing?"

"Stupid children always follow others and sing nonsense; don't pay them any mind. By the way, next time someone sings this song, tell me who it is."

"Brother, I'm hungry. I want to eat that sweet, icy thing from last time."

"That’s ice cream, and it’s not certain that the supplies our family brought back have that... but don't worry, when I grow up, I'll go to the Three Towers and get it for you, and I'll learn how to make it myself. Later, I'll go check the utility level to see if there’s any ready-made."

"Then, can I play with new toys?"

"Then you draw them out; as long as they exist in the Three Towers, Brother will bring them to you."

"Zhaohua, forget it, forget it. It’s not just one or two days that Little Shu has been bullied outside. Sigh, it’s our fault for not keeping an eye on him."

"Why should we forget it? Xishu, come with me. Point them out to me one by one. Whoever bullied you, you point at them!"

"He is just a... fool, just a child. How could he remember these things? What if he points at the wrong person?"

"If he points at the wrong person, that person is just unlucky."

"Brother, Cousin said I am your tag-along. What is a tag-along?"

"Hmm? Which cousin? The one from Second Uncle's house? Oh, 'tag-along' means good brother, but from now on, just call a good brother a good brother. Wait here for me a moment; I’m going to go loosen up your cousin’s muscles. Wait for me to come back."

"Brother, Dad said you are going to the Academy. Can I go with you? They said I can't get in."

"Don't listen to their nonsense. If you want to go, I'll take you. It’s not some rare place; inside is just a bunch of not-so-smart brutes and a bunch of not-so-smart sissies who aren't even as good as the brutes."

"Brother, did you go to the Three Towers? Is it fun there?"

"It’s plenty of fun. Shu, you wait, you’ll be smart soon, and then you can go with Brother!"

Scene after scene of memories, dialogue after dialogue came rushing in. This sudden tide of emotion made Wen Xishu’s forehead throb with pain.

He wanted to suppress this emotion, but he discovered that the soul lying dormant in his body seemed not to have completely died...

Or rather, it was just too foolish and was sleeping.

For these past few days, Wen Xishu had been trying to recall the memories of this body. But those memories were locked away in the deepest part of his consciousness like precious treasures.

It was only today, when the mental barrage related to the brothers began to enter Wen Xishu’s brain... that the memories of the other "Wen Xishu" finally took the initiative to emerge.

A massive sense of loneliness surrounded Wen Xishu; he saw a fool cursing and roaring in a prison, like a frightened child.

Because it was different from before; in the past, every time the fool was bullied, someone would always appear.

But he had waited in prison for a long time, and that person never appeared again.

Wen Xishu had never had this experience, as if another "self" was hidden deep within his soul.

That "self" held wariness toward Wen Xishu and was always unwilling to let Wen Xishu pry into those memories.

But this memory of the An brothers made the other self... miss his brother.

At this moment, Wen Xishu seemed to have thought of how to awaken his own memories.

An Jincheng noticed something wrong with Wen Xishu; the man looked as if he had encountered some kind of pain, suddenly pressing one hand to his forehead and gritting his teeth.

About half a minute later, Wen Xishu’s expression gradually returned to normal:

"Sorry, my ability seems to have some side effects."

"Your ability? Could it be that you..."

Wen Xishu nodded:

"I said it before, your grandfather’s miracle is Scorpio, and your miracle is me. If you don’t want the name An Zhenqi to be inherited by your brother, cooperate with me fully."

An Jincheng was still very vigilant:

"Why should I believe you?"

Wen Xishu said:

"You have already read the plan for Reverse Seven. In this game of becoming a miracle, your grandfather An Rongzai will absorb the power of seven sacrifices."

"I know now that you intend to die for your older brother. But setting aside whether you are a qualified sacrifice, even if you truly were, do you think An Youxuan can survive?"

An Jincheng muttered:

"Grandfather loves Brother too... If I am lost, then Grandfather can evolve into the miracle he wants... If that apocalypse really comes, he will protect Brother, right?"

Wen Xishu sneered:

"You really are just better at studying than An Youxuan; in dissecting human nature, you should learn from your brother."

"Your grandfather is already a monster. Regardless of whether he has completed the evolution of the miracle, the moment he knelt before Scorpio without hesitation and decided to abandon you all... he had already crossed the stage of being human in his character."

An Jincheng did not speak; he subconsciously wanted to refute Wen Xishu, but he could not find a reason. He was afraid of An Rongzai; he was a terrifying old man.

Wen Xishu continued:

"Reverse Seven reversed the seven root sins of seven people, but in other words, it absorbed the seven root sins of seven people."

"A person who is extremely greedy, extremely cruel, extremely lustful, extremely jealous, extremely gluttonous, extremely arrogant, and extremely lazy—will he really protect An Youxuan?"

An Jincheng’s body, which had stood up, suddenly slumped onto the sofa. His eyes were full of struggle:

"But what can I do? Even if everything you said is true, what can I change?"

"In Grandfather’s hands, he controls several fully armed armies, and there are all kinds of capable people around him. Do you know how terrifying the Three Spheres Group really is?"

"In the entire Jicheng, Grandfather can be said to call the wind and summon the rain. In this city controlled by conglomerates, he is the true emperor. What he is doing now, in my view... is like ascending to become a god."

"How am I to oppose a god? All I can do is sacrifice myself in exchange for my brother to survive."

Wen Xishu’s emotions had completely stabilized; he felt An Jincheng’s inner fear of An Rongzai, and it stood to reason that everyone in the An family feared that old man.

"Theoretically, there is still a way, but you must trust me absolutely, and... in your memories, although you brothers have a good relationship, I am not sure if that is your subjective thought. Is he willing to give up everything for you?"

"Perhaps your brother is faking it?"

An Jincheng shook his head with great confidence:

"I believe in Brother; you don't need to question the relationship between us brothers."

Wen Xishu said:

"That is naturally good. Then, do you have the courage to face your grandfather? I can tell you very clearly, if you do not have the courage to defy your grandfather’s arrangements..."

"You will die, and your brother will die too."

An Jincheng actually gradually began to believe this point, knowing that some things could not be changed just by dying himself.

He was silent for a while before asking:

"Do you really have a way? Can you really save us?"

Wen Xishu nodded:

"I said it, I am your miracle."

Thinking of Grandfather An Rongzai, An Jincheng was still afraid, but in the end, he made his decision:

"My brother cannot die, absolutely cannot die. If you came here to save him, then I am willing to cooperate with you!"

Wen Xishu felt a sense of relief inside.

Things had finally made progress. He knew the correct plot of the story, and most importantly, at this moment, An Jincheng had the desire to oppose An Rongzai.

"However, I must state beforehand that we currently do not have the ability to kill your grandfather."

Wen Xishu said this with some helplessness.

His attributes were still too low; killing a few pieces of human trash in the rainy night with Tang Rui was fine, but to kill a national bigwig, and a bigwig who had already realized the existence of the uncanny... with his current abilities, it was not enough.

Wen Xishu thought that the matter of heading to the Slaughter Tower really needed to be put on the agenda; he must possess some attributes from the Slaughter Tower so that he could walk sideways in the Desire Tower.

Regardless of how complicated the situation in the Uncanny Tower is, I’ll just kill, kill, kill, kill—once I kill all the bad seeds in the Desire Tower, there won't be any of those unlucky people in the Uncanny Tower.

Of course, at the current stage, he could not do that.

Fortunately, the current situation, in Wen Xishu’s view, was not unsolvable. When it came down to it, this was only a seventh-floor mission. It was not the seventieth or seventy-seventh floor.

"Listen well, this game has initiators and opponents; your grandfather and that Scorpio are the initiators. And I, you, and your brother An Youxuan are the opponents."

"For us, the winning condition of the game is that you can survive. The apocalypse is coming, and you two brothers have other missions."

"So, analyzing from the perspective of surviving, we can start from two directions."

An Jincheng said:

"Are you saying, run?"

Wen Xishu nodded:

"Yes."

An Jincheng shook his head:

"I have thought about my brother and me escaping to another city. But Grandfather, he wouldn't let us escape. Besides, although my brother trusts me, if I were to suddenly tell him that Grandfather wants to kill us... and that the world is about to undergo a drastic change, even if these words came from the person he trusts most, he would still be suspicious, right?"

"What's more, in my current situation, I cannot leave this room. Once I step out of this room, those people outside will force me back in. You saw it too... those people outside have already become like monsters. They are just like they've been hypnotized."

"These people are actually all family members of the grassroots employees of the Three Spheres Group, and under Grandfather's bewitchment, they are building the Miracle Building together."

"Inside this building, they lose themselves bit by bit. Recently, there have been many reports about how sinister the Miracle Building is."

"But under Grandfather's maneuvering, plus the fact that these people are already controlled by him, no one will ever be able to find out what is actually happening here!"

"In this room, I can't even contact my brother. I can't escape from here, I can't see him, and I have no way to communicate with him."

Wen Xishu nodded:

"So we start Plan B."

An Jincheng was puzzled:

"What kind of Plan B?"

Wen Xishu said:

"Remember what I said? This is a game, and as long as it is a game, there is a solution. You said earlier that these people came here and, inside the building, lost themselves bit by bit."

"And the plan clearly stated that sacrifices were needed, so we can understand the entire Miracle Building... as an array."

"The array has two stages, or rather, two functions: creating puppets and creating demons."

An Jincheng asked in surprise:

"Demons? Why use this word to describe it?"

Wen Xishu did not hide it:

"This is a game clue. One of my tasks is to find the demon behind it, well, in all likelihood, it is your grandfather. But that is not what we need to do now; what we need to do now is to prevent the second stage from arriving."

"In the first stage of the mission, your grandfather needs to gather six hundred and thirty people. As it stands, he hasn't gathered them all yet, so we still have time."

An Jincheng did not ask where these numbers came from; now he could only trust Wen Xishu.

Wen Xishu continued:

"But the first stage function of the array, 'creating puppets,' has indeed already taken effect. People who come here will slowly lose themselves and be assimilated by the building into puppets."

"But a building itself should not have these functions."

"This indicates that in some location in this building, there exists some kind of equipment, or rather, a source of eerie power, and it is precisely this eerie power... that has eroded the minds of these people."

An Jincheng suddenly realized, and he looked at Wen Xishu:

"You mean... we need to find the source of this eerie power! Whether it's equipment or some kind of special magnetic field, we must destroy it. Once it is destroyed, I will be able to leave this place!"

Wen Xishu smiled:

"Correct answer."

"No matter how powerful your grandfather is, in this world, he is still just a very wealthy person. He has not yet completely shaken off the constraints of various rules."

"If we destroy that source of eerie power, then these people might wake up, and even if they don't, at least they will no longer be controlled by your grandfather."

"The people in green clothes in this building will become a mess for your grandfather to deal with. By then, you and An Youxuan will have the possibility of leaving this city!"

"So, we must first find the thing that breaks the eerie power of this building."

Actually, according to Wen Xishu's thinking, it would be great if he could just blow up this building, but scenes in the Eerie Tower are hard to destroy... but the Desire Tower is different.

However, blowing up this building is very difficult to implement, and—An Jincheng would die. He must first break the eerie power of this building and take An Jincheng away.

An Jincheng nodded:

"Okay! What do I need to do?"

Wen Xishu noticed that there was a different kind of light in An Jincheng's eyes; it was courage and conviction.

Wen Xishu said:

"So please try to recall carefully; having read the plan, you are the most clear about the details of the Miracle Building."

"Among the various structures and design layouts of this building, is there anything that you find particularly eerie?"

(Tomorrow's ten thousand words should be enough to wrap up the Desire Tower section.)

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(End of chapter)