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"This is our first formal meeting, isn’t it?"

Hou Tianhua looked at the young oriental face with a smiling expression.

The Demonic World had been monopolized by those ancient players for so many years, and the Federation had always been unable to break the stalemate.

Intelligence reports showed that the nearly despair-inducing power of those guild players also made it increasingly unlikely for newcomers to successfully complete missions.

That was why he had turned his attention to those designers, foolishly hoping to use some version information to defeat players who had become very difficult to overcome.

The man before him should be the most successful one after Number One, and he seemed to have a more amiable attitude than Number One.

But despite the council members’ warm smiles now, their vigilance against Chen Qing had reached its peak.

Number One’s madness had left them all deeply shaken, and if it weren’t for this young man’s forethought, the entire Federation’s Digital City might already have been slaughtered clean by that fellow!

"I suppose so....." Chen Qing said with a smile, sitting down across from the elder who, according to the intelligence reports, held the highest status in the Central Federation.

This was a ruthless man. It was said that to ensure the capture of Number One was successful, he was even willing to use his family’s most promising descendant as bait, only to lose them.

On the surface, he seemed like a kind-hearted elder, but it seemed the saying "you can judge a man by his face" was just nonsense.....

"Let’s dispense with the pleasantries and talk about the situation," Chen Qing smiled. "The task you wanted me to handle, I have accomplished. The four Federations have issued surrender declarations, the external crisis has been resolved, and now it’s time to discuss fulfilling the promises you made, isn’t it? "

All the councillors at the table frowned deeply. Chen Qing’s assertive manner wasn’t to their liking, but they had no choice. Currently, he held some initiative, especially now that if it weren’t for a certain Technique binding him, he might well be capable of doing the same things as Number One.

"Please speak, Mister Chen....." Hou Tianhua said with a smile.

"According to our previous agreement, the territories I control will always be open to you. The people who enter will also be at your discretion to select. However, once inside, their memories must be erased, with few exceptions. This is the foundational condition of our cooperation!"

All the council members looked at each other and fell silent for a moment. This practice of memory erasure was the most debated point from the start and remained the most controversial issue to date, with internal opinions still not fully unified.

According to Chen Qing, retaining memories would complicate management. His world required the allegiance of its people, and guild players retaining their memories would be a catastrophic blow to his power.

If demons from outside invaded, it would create a dilemma like the one faced by the King of Qin in the old days.

If his identity were exposed, it would certainly cause public backlash.

With guild players eyeing their surroundings and planning to awaken, there was no time for internal conflict.

They had to seize all available time to increase their power and resist the awakening of the ancient players!

Actually, most of the council members agreed with this point. The inability to advance the Demonic World project for so many years was due to the threat of ancient players, who remained their biggest enemy to this day.

But once they agreed to Chen Qing’s terms, certain matters would become troublesome.

With erased memories, managing would be easier but only easier for Chen Qing to manage. If memories were not restored, most of the people who traversed into this world would likely stand with Chen Qing, or at least, it would prevent them from organizing their own military forces intentionally.

"We acknowledge the overall situation Mister Chen speaks of," Hou Tianhua said seriously.

"But, Mister, you must also understand our concerns.

For such a major national project, especially with the transfer of large numbers of citizens, we must take responsibility for their future.

Putting it all on Mister Chen is unrealistic. "

"So what you’re saying is?" Chen Qing looked at the other party. "You’re not planning to honor your promise?"

"Eh, how could that be?" Hou Tianhua immediately felt a sense of danger, one that felt weird and did not come from Chen Qing but from all directions—as if the entire world was hostile to him.

Is this the binding of the Technique?

Hou Tianhua was surprised inwardly but managed to stay composed as he said, "Of course, we are willing to cooperate closely with Mister Chen. After all, the results you have achieved are the greatest, and you are the power most likely to provide us with a stable new world. However, we also need to have some autonomy, don’t we?

After all, it’s not safe to put all eggs in one basket. "

"Just state your terms directly," Chen Qing said with a smile.

"We’d like to increase the number, particularly in the special exemptions....."

Chen Qing looked at them. He had probably guessed before he came that if they were to bargain, it would be over this matter.

To him, the more people who retained their memories, the higher the risk, but if only a few were allowed to keep their memories, it might not be enough to persuade these people.

Chen Qing was not Number One; he had no intention of bloodily purging this place to start over.

Perhaps it was a matter of temperament; if he could endure their presence, then he must be prepared to carry some consequences himself.

"How many do you plan to increase?" Chen Qing was also very direct.

"Ten thousand!" The only person in military attire in the conference room immediately spoke up.

Ten thousand was a very ideal number; the ones he had prepared, with military expertise and all from family soldiers trusted by the clan, were just about ten thousand. If he could fit all of them in, it would be very beneficial for taking control of the situation in the future.

"Ten thousand?" Chen Qing sneered, "Can you manage that many? Are you sure ten thousand people won’t leak any information?"

"We are certain!" The general spoke up as if afraid that Chen Qing would refuse, "These people all have many years of military training and are descendants of prestigious families, absolutely loyal to the Central Federation, and would never harm the interests of the Central Federation."

Chen Qing didn’t bother looking at the other party; their absolute loyalty to the Central Federation was false, whereas their true loyalty was probably to their own families.

He turned to the elder who could make the final decision, "Is this your intention?"

"We will manage them strictly!"

Clearly, Elder Hou also wanted to discuss this number and spoke seriously, "If anyone reveals their identity, they can be completely disposed of by Mister Chen, and Mister Chen doesn’t have to worry about them resisting or anything like that. We will install a disassembly program in each person!"

"The disassembly program is not omnipotent..." Chen Qing said coldly, "Just like with Number One this time, wasn’t your program useless?"

The crowd: "....."

Just as several councilors were hurrying to continue making their case, Chen Qing immediately waved his hand, "Ten thousand is fine!"

At these words, everyone’s eyes lit up. Was he this easy to talk to?

They had many more conditions they hadn’t brought up yet.

"I have two conditions."

"Please speak, Mister Chen."

"First, as Elder Hou just mentioned, retaining memory comes with the risk of revealing one’s identity.

I have always emphasized this—it could be key to a faction’s collapse, especially now during the accumulation phase.

I absolutely cannot allow accidents, so if anyone leaks information, I will show no mercy.

I will announce that it is an invasion by outside demons and lock their spirit bodies in the dungeons of the netherworld.

To convince everyone, you may not even be able to reconnect with them. This must be made clear first!"

This statement left all the councilors stunned, feeling a chill. Spirit bodies imprisoned in the netherworld?

What does that mean? Condemned to never reincarnate?

This felt even more terrifying than killing....

"Isn’t it possible to erase their memories and have them reincarnate?" someone couldn’t help but ask timidly.

"Of course not..." Chen Qing sneered, "Once leaked, do you think only the commoners below are watching?

The Ghost General, the Judge, they are all watching.

As it is an invasion by outside demons, they shall not enter the cycle of reincarnation.

Please make this risk absolutely clear to each person, as I do not wish to deal with too many such incidents! "

"This..." Most councilors swallowed hard; that was... rather ruthless.

"Agreed!" Unlike the others, Elder Hou was the first to agree to this condition.

"What is Mister Chen’s second condition?" Without waiting for the other councilors to voice their opposition, Hou Tianhua immediately inquired about the second condition.

"I want to arrange for someone to be here, ready to respond to me at any moment."

"That is not acceptable!!!"