"I … Got it. I'll certainly think about it carefully and figure out the answer in the deepest part of my heart before I ask for your support, Grandpa!"
Meng Xiaolang couldn't help but say, "However, wow. Grandpa, you didn't know that you were glittering when you were talking just now. You were so handsome that your grandson admires you more and more. I feel that this is the first time I've met you, and I'm more and more curious about you.
"Since you are so close to 'Vulture Li Yao', I would like to know if you have ever thought about living a life like Li Yao's. Or, let me put it this way. If an omnipotent god were to give you a chance to exchange your life with Li Yao, would you do it? "
His grandson's question cast Meng Jiang into deep thought for a moment.
Deep inside the old man's eyes, they were cloudy at first. Then, spots of starlight appeared. In the end, the starlight condensed into a stream and gradually became clear again.
"Of course I have. Who doesn't want to live a life as thrilling as Li Yao's when they are young? Besides, the fact that I used to be in the same class as Li Yao can easily give me the illusion that Li Yao was just lucky and that I would've been as lucky as him if I were him," Meng Jiang said.
Meng Jiang said, "However, as I grew older and older, and accumulated countless beautiful memories in my life over the long years, these thoughts gradually faded.
"Now that I think about it, if I could exchange my life with Li Yao and boast his remarkable abilities, my life would've been more thrilling and glorious. But in such a case, I wouldn't have met your grandmother or given birth to your aunt and your father. Although your father is infuriating right now, he was quite lovely when he was a child. He was like a cluster of soft jelly that kept wriggling around me. Hahahaha. That son of a b * tch."
"Right. In such a case, I wouldn't have existed, either!"
Meng Xiaolang exclaimed, "If Grandpa had become a Cultivator with remarkable abilities, you wouldn't have met and fallen in love with Grandma. You wouldn't have had Dad, and I wouldn't have existed!"
"That's right. If that's the case, you and your elder sister will cease to exist. The bits and pieces of the past hundred years of life, those good and bad days, will all cease to exist. This means that this' Meng Jiang 'has completely died and disappeared. No, he never existed."
Meng Jiang stared blankly at himself in the wine. He was silent for a long time, as if he had returned to the distant past, to a very beautiful place.
Now and then, he put on a charming smile, now brimming with warmth and happiness. Even the corners of his eyes were glittering as he mumbled, "So, in exchange for my life right now, you want me to exchange everything I have right now for Li Yao's life, or even to become the 'dominator of the universe' or a legend of the Federation? The price we have to pay is simply too great. "
"Grandpa …"
Meng Xiaolang felt a lump in his throat. It was as if he had returned to his childhood with his grandfather's memories. He had also hugged his grandfather like a ball of jelly.
"No."
Meng Jiang spoke in a low voice as he finished the fine wine in his cup in one gulp, and he clicked his tongue in the depths of his throat while every single pore on his body emitted a bright red glow as he shook his head and said, "No, no!"
"Grandpa?"
Meng Xiaolang pulled Meng Jiang's sleeves.
"Don't pull me. If I say no, I won't. Not to mention one Li Yao, even if a hundred Li Yao's lives were exchanged, I won't do it."
Meng Jiang was somewhat drunk. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "You want to exchange such a beautiful life and such a beautiful wife for me … In your dreams!"
"No, Grandpa. I'm saying —"
Meng Xiaolang said, "Grandma is back. I was so busy chatting with you that I forgot to watch the door. S-Look at the window."
"Crack!"
Meng Jiang was caught off guard and fell from the wobbly chair. The sand bamboo jelly and the wine in the jar of beard foam spilled all over the floor. The small barbershop was immediately filled with the strong smell of wine and warmth.
…
Meng Xiaolang had dinner with his grandparents. After much persuasion, he finally persuaded Meng Jiang to go back and meet his son. Of course, he had to wait for the 'son of a b * tch' to invite him back.
Seeing that his grandfather was vaguely supporting him to go to the battlefield at the center of the cosmos and that his relationship with his father might be repaired again, Meng Xiaolang felt that a giant rock had been lifted from his heart. He could not have been more overjoyed. He hurried to say goodbye to his grandfather and return home to report the good news to his father.
"Wait. Don't go in such a hurry. Help me take a look first."
Meng Jiang, on the other hand, opened a very complicated interface from his portable crystal processor. A delicate invitation card popped up on the 3D light beam. "This is a gift from your sister. Can you take a look at it for me and see what she's up to?"
Meng Xiaolang had a biological sister named 'Meng Lichuan'. She was much smarter and more promising than him. He was still a graduate of the Union Army Academy and had not been granted an official military rank yet. His sister was only seven years older than him, but she was already a famous' super player 'and a professional player of the game' Civilization '. It was the most popular and trendiest class among the young people of the Federation. She was the idol of the present generation!
"It's my sister's invitation code for a battle livestream. Good heavens. It's' Glorious Expedition ', the latest professional DLC of the game' Civilization '!"
Meng Xiaolang jumped to his feet the moment he saw it. "This — this — this is going to be a top competition that will shock the entire Federation in the next few days. 'Moon Devil Team' versus' Blood Shadow Team ', two top professional teams of the game' Civilization '. The result of the competition is likely to influence the public opinion and even the policy of the authorities. I didn't know that my sister would be promoted from' Moon Devil Team Two 'to Team One so quickly and participate in such a rarely-seen super competition.
"Grandpa, seriously. Do you know how hard it is to get an invitation code for such a competition? Most people can't get one even if they have the money. Why did you wait until now to bring out such a great thing? The — the competition has been going on for a day and a night. Aya! Aya!"
Meng Xiaolang was so anxious that he was stomping his feet.
He had been taking part in the fully-enclosed competitions in the military academy, including the selection of the 'Kunlun Fleet'. Naturally, it was impossible for him to communicate with the outside world.
By the time the result of the selection of the 'Kunlun Fleet' was out, he had only been granted a short three-day holiday. He hurried home as fast as he could and had no time to ask about his sister.
He had learned the news of the top competition that would decide the future of the Federation when he was on the train. He also knew that 'Moon Devil Team', which his sister belonged to, was one of the contestants. But at that time, he had thought that his sister was only a member of the second team and was not qualified to participate in the competition.
He did not expect that his sister would get an invitation code for a livestream, which meant that not only had she been promoted to the first team, she was also one of the leading members and even the core members of the first team. That was truly impressive!
"I really don't understand. What's so exciting about you young people? Are you crazy because of a game?"
Meng Jiang frowned and said, "Don't get me wrong. Your grandpa is not one of those old fogeys who knows nothing. When I was young, crystal processor games were already popular, and online competitions were not unusual, too. There were professional players and professional matches, too.
"I just don't understand. A game is a game. However realistic it is, it is still just a game. Why have the games on the Spiritual Nexus become more and more popular over the years and even influence the policies of the authorities? A 'super player' such as your sister has the title of 'Uncrowned King'. She is even more awesome than the representatives in parliament. What kind of game is that? "
"Grandpa, that's exactly what you don't understand," Meng Xiaolang explained. "The game 'Civilization' today is no longer a game but a virtual world formed by collecting the big data of the entire society. The professionalism of the DLCs varies. Most of the DLCs are, of course, for the ordinary players to relax themselves. But some of the professional DLCs adopt 100% real data, which equals to the military's very serious deduction, if not even more.
"A 'super player' such as my sister, on the other hand, has been analyzing the real data with her wisdom and computational ability to infer the situation and the future of the war and provide policy choices and predictions for the authorities.
"'Super player' is just a name. It is very different from the game players of your era, Grandpa. Every super team right now has the shadow of the military, the major sects, and even the intelligence agencies behind them. For example, the 'Moon Devil Squad' that my sister joined was established and professionally trained by the Dim Moon Fund. If you want to join the 'Moon Devil Squad', not only do you have to go through trials and screenings that are ten times harsher than those in the military, you also have to sign confidentiality agreements and accept strict management.
"Let me put it this way. You can consider my sister a hybrid of a data analyst and an intelligence agent of the new generation, except that she is the kind that can be displayed under the sunlight.
"The competitions of such super teams are, of course, not for entertainment but for the prediction of future changes.
"Let's take the 'Glorious Expedition', the latest DLC of 'Civilization' that my sister is fighting in, for example, has been authorized by the Dim Moon Fund and the authorities to adopt the detailed, real data about the Imperium of True Human Beings sent back from the center of the cosmos in order to infer the changes of the Union Army's expedition to the center of the cosmos. Even the military's deduction hasn't imported the latest data yet. It is not hard to imagine how confidential the DLC is.
"Therefore, only the super teams with strong backgrounds such as the 'Moon Devil Squad' have access to the DLC. Not to mention playing it, even the stream of the game has been edited and hidden. A lot of critical data has been hidden, and they can only see the general picture.
"The invitation code that my sister gave to Grandpa allows me to see more details and data than the public stream on the Spiritual Nexus. It is almost priceless, alright?"
"Hehe …"
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