Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Chen Chen's parents barely noticed Chen Zeyu's absence.

On his eighteenth birthday, Chen Zeyu moved out of his family home and went to the Blackwatch University, a private university managed by the Eco Science City to further his studies. The university was an international inst.i.tution funded by Blacklight Biotechnology to train the elite talents in the scientific world.

Due to Eco Science City's global standing, placement in the university came with certain political and financial advantages for the families of the students as well. In addition to the prodigies that had enrolled in the inst.i.tution, children of plutocrats and other distinguished families of high political status also enrolled in this university. The student demographic was a collection of the elite members of society, the one percent of the one percent.

In a way, this was a central hub for elite members from all over the world to form connections with each other that would otherwise not be possible if they were anywhere else.

Due to the structure and operational logistics of the university, Chen Zeyu usually went home only once a month. Sometimes, he would be absent for several months in a row when the curriculum demanded more of him.

Chen Zeyu only spoke with his parents through a video call perhaps once every two weeks.

Little X had no trouble fabricating deep-fake footage of Chen Zeyu so his parents would not sense anything off. Furthermore, Chen Chen called for a summer camp during the semester break which would send the university's students to other prestigious universities around the world for networking. This way, they had a convincing story for Chen Zeyu's absence.

After three months, Chen Zeyu's clone would be born and join the world of the living where he would live an ordinary life in the university.

The plan was set, until a sudden disturbance threw a wrench in Chen Chen's plans. He had been expecting this for some time but the reality of the news still struck him in a certain way.

Chen Chen's parents had filed for divorce…

Their marriage had lasted more than four decades, but at last, they decided to go their separate ways and bring an end to the decades-long marriage.

Upon receiving the news, Chen Chen suspended his usual Field and psionic training and bound straight for his family's villa in Eco Science City.

Just as his father prepared to leave with bags of luggage in tow, Chen Chen arrived at the villa and stood in his father's path.

Standing next to his father was another woman.

The mistress was a pet.i.te and gentle Chinese girl. She looked to be at least fifteen years younger than Chen Chen. Everyone in the Chen family was familiar with the mistress. She was the nanny of the family. After graduating from university, she enrolled in a program and managed to stand out among thousands of candidates and earned the prestigious position of nannying for the Chen family.

In a strange twist of events, she developed a scandalous relations.h.i.+p with Chen Chen's father over her first few years of tenure in the Chen family. At first, they made sure to keep it a secret from Chen Chen's mother, but the walls had eyes and ears. It was only a matter of time until Chen Chen's mother realized what was happening, and things took on a natural progression from thereon until it arrived at what it was today.

Chen Chen's father was startled by the appearance of his son. He stood quite awkwardly by the doorway while his beloved mistress made a poor attempt of retreating in his shadows while silently muttering, “Master Chen…”

Chen Chen paid no mind to her and only silently looked at his father. Unfortunate memories of their past cycled through his mind. The nostalgic scenes of their family of three sheltered in his childhood home used to be his primary motivation for working so hard to achieve immortality for mankind.

There was a sour taste in Chen Chen's mouth as his motivations crumbled…

The pair of father and son looked at each other for a very long time until Chen Chen finally averted his gaze. Not a word was exchanged between them, then Chen Chen slid past his father and entered his house, shutting the door behind him.

“Little, Little Chen…”

Chen Chen's father tried to stop him and reach for his shoulders but stopped mid-motion.

Seeing that his son refused to acknowledge him, he sighed and turned to the unnerved mistress and held her hand firmly. He darted one last look at the house before he entered the car and drove away.

Unbeknownst to them, Chen Chen was standing by the window and looking at them with a heartless look in his eyes.

“Little Chen, you're back?”

The other nanny informed Chen Chen's mother of her son's return. She greeted Chen Chen with a kind smile and tender look in her eyes, “You saw them?”

“Are you alright, Mom?”

Chen Chen approached and returned with a similarly tender smile.

“Don't worry, I saw it coming a mile away.”

Chen Chen's mother shook her head disinterestedly, then she returned her focus to her son, dragging him to a nearby couch. “Little Chen, don't blame your father for how things turned out. It's all inevitable.”

“Is it inevitable?

Chen Chen sighed with his eyes shut.

“I'm already over it at this point.”

Chen Chen's mother tried to console her eldest son. “I treasure you and your brother more than anything else in the world. Now that you're a grown-up, I'm sure you realize that there are some things in the world that you just have to let go and let be.

“The world has changed drastically over the past few decades and most people haven't managed to adapt to it. One way or another, the world will continue s.h.i.+fting and the ones who cannot adjust will be left in the dust. You can think of marriage in a similar vein as well. If you can't adapt, then it's time to let go.”

Chen Chen stayed silent.

“The changing world has affected me and your father's marriage as well. Now that the effects of aging have been minimalized, the concept of staying with one person and until death do we part is slowly phasing out. Things are different now.

“Over the past few decades, I've seen how much work you've put into succeeding your vision. You've done more than anyone ever could. In this time, your father and I have done our best to adapt to the changing of the times and this is the decision we've both agreed to.”

Chen Chen's mother gently caressed his hair as she said this, her eyes shone with affection. “I'm so proud of you Little Chen. You founded Blacklight Biotechnology and changed the world. You've done more than enough…”

Chen Chen nodded silently.

For the first time in what seemed like forever, Chen Chen ate dinner with his mother at home. He left after dinner and his mother did not seem too unsettled by his sudden departure. It was just as she said, that she had to adapt to the changing times and learn to become independent.

There was no such thing as being bound to someone eternally. Perhaps one of these days, Chen Chen's mother would find a new companion? There was no way of telling what would happen in the future.

After bidding farewell to his mother, Chen Chen strolled along the moonlit street and looked at the artificial dome overhead. He looked at the flashes of advertis.e.m.e.nts and announcements playing on holographic displays and suddenly asked, “X, where's my father?”

“He's taken a private flight and left Eco Science City.”

Little X informed, “Based on his conversation with Chen Zeyu, it seems that he's planning to return to the Central Continent where he has already purchased a villa. It looks like he's starting a business there.”

Chen Chen scoffed at this mention and left it at that. Then, he silently toured the city and observed the bustling nightlife in the city. It was then when he realized that ever since the establishment of the Eco Science City, he had never taken the time to explore the city.

From his view, it did not matter how many stories there were to be told in this city. It was merely a tool for generating revenue and a cover-up for his secret labyrinth base underneath.

The nightlife in Eco Science City was vibrant and energetic. The streets threatened to outs.h.i.+ne the moon above. Bars and nightclubs operated on every corner of the street, opening their doors to young men and women who could not wait to indulge and lose themselves in the pleasures of life. They walked in large groups, most of them dressed in skirts too short and clothes too small. The arrival of midnight was merely the break of the dawn for them.

There was no reckless, drunk driving to worry about since all vehicles had been replaced with automated vehicles. Every now and then, there would be someone storming the streets with traditional, manually operated cars, which the authorities would make sure to keep their eyes on.

The crime rate in the city was nearly non-existent. Though it was an international metropolis with close to ten million inhabitants, reports of robberies or thefts only came around once or twice each month, and cases of murders were even more isolated. More often than not, the urban central system would detect murderous intentions before the person in question had time to carry out the crime. The data a.n.a.lysis algorithm predicted everything down to the most minute detail.

The urban central system was overseen by a clone of Little X, ranging from a court trial to issuing simple parking violations. Everything was handled electronically and derived from the collected data. Most cases were resolved in a matter of hours.

The entirety of Eco Science City was at the peak of a Utopian, data, and artificial intelligence era, once only believed to exist in novels and comics.

Everything was progressing exactly as Chen Chen planned it. Chen Chen had once detailed a four-phase plan and the first phase which was the VR era had been succeeded more than a decade ago. The usage of VR could be seen everywhere in the city and even in other cities in the Earth Federation. Blacklight Biotechnology's VR equipment dominated most households in this modern age.

The second phase which was the era of artificial intelligence was a natural progression from there on, when Androids began populating the global market. Although Androids were still seen as a luxury in certain regions, on average, at least one in every three households owned an Android. The universalization rate exceeded that of personal cars and computers.

The third phase – the Skynet era was brought to reality in Eco Science City and the Mars Ares Science City. The essence of this era was a structure of absolute equality in society. Chen Chen's next step from here on was to implement the Skynet era's urban central system in other cities of the world.

The final phase was to achieve an era of true virtual reality.

The virtual world would serve as a stepping stone to further narrow the gap between the rich and the poor and in turn minimize social unrest. This again stressed the importance of equality in society.

By doing this, mankind would be truly united for the first time in history. There would be minimal waste of resources. The future generations would have everything set up for them to excel and humans would continue to tread to greater heights!

Chen Chen beheld the prosperous city that he had created with all these visions floating through his mind, his head felt clear and lucid. The reason Eco Science City could become the most prosperous city in the world to date was entirely attributed to its unique characteristics.

Eco Science city was the center of large varieties of unique health and lifespan-extension facilities. It was also an independent nation una.s.sociated with the Earth Federation to boot. It was a favored destination of the rich and homed more than ten percent of the richest individuals in the world. The rich recognized the potential of the city and were more than generous with the investments they poured unendingly into the city's infrastructure and market.

After years of expansion, the city even encompa.s.sed the original Walvis Bay. What was once a local harbor city had become an international port tied to Eco Science City, and there was more expansion underway…

“To achieve the true virtual reality era, we first need to succeed the second and third era envisioned. We need to replace the labor force with artificial intelligence to optimize efficiency and raise production exponentially. The standards of social welfare have to improve gradually as well to allow a natural transition to the next phase.”

Chen Chen approached a vending machine and bought himself a bottle of Sprite and then said, “It's time to push the Skynet urban central system to other countries. This can be used to ease the burden of arranging and managing tedious and trivial matters in nations and eliminate the human bias factor in the dictating of law. This is a crucial step in the progression of society.”

“You'd consider yourself lucky to pull this off within the next century.”

Little X scowled. “How many nations are going to yield their position of power? We're going to have to wait for a global social structure revolution.”

“I never said we need to pull it off immediately.”

Chen Chen remarked, “This transition takes time. We can be the one to take the lead and be a living testament for the superiority of the Skynet urban central system. Soon enough, other nations will take notice and follow suit. Also, Skynet oversees lower and middle-level management without threatening the upper-level bureaucracy of nations. It will only be a matter of time before the others come around and implement it.”

“Understood, who do you plan to a.s.sign to this task?”

Little X asked.

“We'll leave it to Qian Wenhuan, Xia Yin, and Liu Zhijian, the usual roster in charge of overseeing the other continents.”

Chen Chen stated, “It has been more than two decades since the founding of Blacklight Biotechnology and they have proved their worth over the years. Meanwhile, this can also be an a.s.sessment for the others in the upper management. We can filter out all of those who are incapable of achieving our vision and replace them with more capable hands.”

“Understood!”

Little X affirmed, then added. “The research team has provided some feedback regarding your brother Chen Zeyu. It seems like he possesses a unique psionic gene that allows him to transmit information across dimensions.”

“What's the efficiency of this transmission like?”

Chen Chen seemed enchanted by this discovery.

“It's very fast, almost exceeding the speed of light. There's essentially no delay.”

Little X continued. “We're still studying it with our current quantum communication technology. If it works out, we'll develop the technology to transmit information intergalactically without delay. However, I'm not sure if we can replicate its dimensional transmission aspect.”

“Dimensional transmission?”

Chen Chen took a deep breath to contain himself momentarily as a group of teenagers cheered to a toast nearby. “That explains why Chen Zeyu awakened his memory from another dimension. So much work for nothing…”

“We're trying to decode this psionic genetic structure. The aim is to replicate it technologically, but progress is slow.”

Little X continued. “Replicating psionic manifestations using technology still proves to be a daunting task. There's a lot more research we need to perform.”

“No rush.”

Chen Chen remarked generously, then grew excited about the prospect, “We still have a lot of time, but if it's successful, I can see how it can be implemented for the fourth era…”

Little X was about to ask what new ideas Chen Chen hatched up before somebody interrupted their conversation. A young, maybe slightly drunk man among the previous crowd suddenly shouted in Chen Chen's direction while stomping over.

“Hey, you insolent brat!”

The young man's hair resembled a ball of rainbow that drew attention like no other. He had silver hoop piercings on his nose and his lips and approached Chen Chen very aggressively, then gave Chen Chen a rough shove.

“Were you checking out my girlfriend?”