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In a teahouse in the Imperial Capital of the Central Federation, a group of dignified middle-aged individuals sat among the ancient aesthetics of a private room. If anyone were here, their jaw would drop, for everyone present was a public figure only seen in the news.

Ordinarily, it would be difficult to meet even one of them, yet this time, the gathering was significant enough to convene a Federation congress.

"Has that person from the Long Family not returned yet?"

"Mmm... The duration of the absence is rather long. Previously, for the sake of concealment, a month-long inquiry was the maximum before returning, at least not taking Old Liu away for so long."

"Could it be... that kind of thing, is he truly going to accomplish it?"

"Fairy tales..." The leading middle-aged man scoffed, "A group of old folks who can’t bear to relinquish power, desiring to deny even the natural law of birth, aging, sickness, and death; they’ve truly gone mad..."

"Is there a possibility of success?" A woman inquired, "The latest news claimed they secretly took away a batch of game designers."

"Game designers?" Several middle-aged men felt it was even more preposterous, "These Human Demons are really delusional..."

The middle-aged woman remained silent for a moment.

As head of the Information Department and a top student from the Imperial Capital University’s Yao class, she didn’t completely disregard the concept of data life.

Although the Central Federation advocated for industrial development to build the nation, the reality was that the upper echelons mostly lacked technical understanding, with outsiders managing the insiders being the norm.

Often they would preempt with their own ignorance towards certain technologies.

This was what she found most distasteful, and this time... their disdain might not be beneficial.

Considering this, she still tried to offer a reminder, "Although Elder Long has been keeping a low profile in recent years, he has never been a fool. If he wasn’t somewhat certain, he wouldn’t risk so much. I think... It’s better not to overlook this matter."

Hearing her words, several individuals at the meeting table furrowed their brows. One of the middle-aged men asked, "Minister Leng, do you mean to say that this fantastical technology might actually be feasible?"

"Technically speaking, there are many contradictions that can’t be explained, but this proposal is not entirely implausible.

Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been so many fervently researching it in the past. As far as I know, multiple financial syndicates Overseas have never ceased funding research in this area. .."

"That is nothing but delusions of terminally ill, decaying capitalists!

" A man snorted, "Greed for power and endless desires, just like the ancient Emperors, wanting to stand at the pinnacle eternally. These people are deluded, actually believing that survival through computers equates to eternal life. It’s nothing more than sweet talk from some unscrupulous tech teams, only such people would believe it. "

"But..." The woman couldn’t stand the absolute denial of the others, who had just been consulting her, but once she offered a different opinion, they refused to consider it—despite being completely ignorant about the technology inside.

Laypeople, that’s what holds things up.

"What if it does work?" The woman asked sharply, frustrated.

"Is Minister Leng being serious?" The man who had spoken earlier frowned.

"Do you think I would joke about such matters in this setting?" The woman replied coolly, "As I said, although there are many contradictions, it doesn’t mean it’s entirely impossible. Do you really think those financial groups are all fools? Without displaying some results, even if they don’t care about money, they’d still care about their reputation.

This kind of inhumane experiment, once evidence of their involvement is found by opposing politicians, the reputational hit would be devastating.

Elder Long has been cautious his entire life, to capsize now, do you think it’s because he’s facing death and irrationally grasping at straws? "

Seeing the woman’s tenacious tone, the man who spoke earlier darkened his expression slightly, while another middle-aged man in his fifties and quite portly quickly stood up with a smile, "Minister Leng, Minister Tang didn’t mean that.

There’s no need to get so agitated, we’re all here to discuss the matter. No need for such hostility."

The man surnamed Tang snorted but didn’t say anything more.

Even though the woman surnamed Leng was in charge of a power-limited department like Information, for a woman to climb to such a high position was indicative of her powerful background, and the fact that she often didn’t heed superiors was due to Elder Leng from her family being a significant figure.

"Does Minister Leng mean to say it might actually succeed?" A bespectacled man asked, frowning.

"In recent years, domestic experiments in this area have been completely banned. I don’t have access to the data from the overseas labs, so I can’t make assumptions. But, based on the technical data from the past, there were already some beginnings; we just lacked the data from human trials."

"How could that be possible?" Tang still sounded incredulous, "Transferring human memories online to exist anew in a computer? Isn’t that nonsense?"

"Minister Tang..." The woman said coldly, "If you think this matter is complete nonsense, why bother attending this discussion? Wouldn’t it be better to tend to other matters?"

"You..."

"Alright, alright..." Seeing the two were about to argue again, another man beside them hurriedly said, "Minister Leng makes sense too. Elder Long is a cautious person. He wouldn’t take such a big risk without any signs. We need to be wary. So... let’s mobilize our people in the Western Federation and take a look around. "

"I think we need to act quickly..." the woman said coldly, "If the experiment succeeds, the consequences will erupt in an instant!"

"Is that what Minister Leng said?" A few people nearby asked, frowning in confusion.

"Let’s first discuss the scenario if it’s successful.

.." the woman spoke softly, "If the experiment is successful, then coupled with supercomputers, data life forms theoretically could evolve into those network-dominating intelligence bosses from science fiction movies.

Just by touching the network, it might even.

.. instantaneously seize control of all networks! "

"Once he can prove that this is possible, those of the older generation will be tempted... even... you all!" The woman looked at the crowd somberly, "If Elder Long’s experiment is successful, will you oppose it... or support it?"

The audience: "....."

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"It’s finished this quickly?" Facing the results presented by the manager, the many financiers who had gathered again were surprised, "Wasn’t it scheduled for Monday?"

"Monday was a conservative estimate..." said the manager with a smile, "With Pu YunChuan’s help, the project has progressed smoothly, and the simulation environment can almost function normally. Now we’re just one last experiment away."

"Excellent!" one of the Caucasian elders exclaimed, clapping his hands, "When does the experiment start?"

"The new simulation environment, retesting the data of death, those people say... they want more money..." the manager admitted, rubbing his hands awkwardly.

"Hmph... those insatiable ants..." the Caucasian snorted coldly, "Pay them for now. For those willing to participate in the experiment, add another 200 million US dollars!"

"Alright, alright... I’ll go arrange it right away. All the equipment is ready; as soon as they sign, the experiment can begin this afternoon!"

"Let’s make it quick then..." Elder Long, who had not spoken until now, suddenly interjected.

The usually stable man now showed a trace of urgency in his eyes. According to intelligence from home, those restless rascals already planned to investigate him.

Actually, this lab wasn’t very secret, and if those bastards were determined, it would not be difficult for them to uncover the situation here.

He didn’t want to be sabotaged at the last minute; it seemed certain preparations needed to be advanced!

"Yes, yes... I’ll arrange it right away!" The manager left excitedly.

"Gentlemen..." After the manager left, Elder Long stood up, "My intelligence tells me that a number of forces have set their sights on this place. Are you all... ready?"

A cold glint flashed in everyone’s eyes upon hearing this.

New powers were eyeing these old-timers of the old forces. Some arrangements could certainly be moved up. The experiment here, once successful, would also be the stage for fierce counterattacks from the opposition!

"As soon as the experiment is successful, I can start at any moment..." a hawk-nosed Caucasian elder nodded.

"What about you, Smith?"

"Long... you needn’t worry. Seventy percent of the military is my people. If the experiment is successful, they won’t hesitate to join us. After all... who doesn’t want to live forever?"

"Good..." Elder Long stood up, "Gentlemen... a new Chapter in history is about to be written, starting from this conference room!"