Chapter 1 Julian's Quandary

Julian never imagined he’d meet his "old man" in a game.

Every time he looked at the NPC in front of him, who was almost identical to his father, Julian couldn't help but wonder what other surprises his father had in store for him.

No wonder his dad patted him on the arm before he came to the Empire and told him to enjoy the game.

Heh...

Did his dad know about this?

"Indeed, this young lady's Esper ability is still growing; she can make more than ten extra boxed lunches."

Louis II took the boxed lunches Julian brought back, opened one and stared at it for a while. After confirming it was correct, he closed it and handed it back to Julian, saying, "You can use these to curry favor with people."

"You don't need them?"

"No need." He shook his head with a smile.

Julian looked at the NPC sitting in the chair, often showing expressions exactly like his father, and felt a shiver run down his spine.

His "dad" seemed to be plotting something bad again.

"Ah, they hide and hoard those boxed lunches they collect every day, using them to win people over or blackmail them. How can we let those trash monopolize all the benefits?"

"Just say you also took those boxed lunches, and that's it?" After listening for a while, he realized that Louis II was planning to directly take the boxed lunches that others collected from Mingmei.

He had been worried that this guy wouldn't have boxed lunches to curry favor with powerful allies because of his different stance. It turned out he was overthinking things.

So, Julian, who usually didn't dare to talk back to his dad, suddenly found his courage in the game.

Anyway, it wasn't his real dad. It wouldn't be too much to get angry and say a few words if the other party made him unhappy, right?

"So, you can use the boxed lunches you get to curry favor with people you think are good. Don't worry about me."

Louis II smiled, as if he didn't see Julian's anger, and then told Julian to leave the room, saying he had important matters to attend to.

But Julian was reluctant to leave and asked him again when he was going to make a move.

"When do you want to make a move?"

Julian: "Isn't this your plan?"

"But if your suggestion is better, maybe I'll change the plan," Louis II said in a light tone, raising an eyebrow at Julian and enticing him, "Tell me?"

Julian had no plan.

His father's plans were always perfect, and his father never involved him in them.

Even in the game, even though he knew that the person in front of him was not his real father, he subconsciously felt that this NPC was the same as his father in some ways.

For example, when it came to subverting the upper echelons of the base's power, although this NPC had revealed it to him from the beginning because they were "father and son," he never thought that he would have the right to comment on it.

"You can think about it and tell me later. I'm not in a hurry."

...

"Huh? Does he mean that you can also propose a plan, and if it's convenient, he'll execute your plan as well?"

Late at night, a secret collaborator came to Lu Gui's room.

Looking at Julian's bitter face, Lu Gui sat cross-legged on the bed, dozed off, and then said, "So what do you think?"

"I have no ideas."

He repeated his answer to Louis II to Lu Gui, and in return, Lu Gui looked at him in disbelief and asked, "Are you stupid?"

"I'm telling you, the reason we were able to cooperate in the first place was because I saw the connections behind you and that the forces behind you were different from the old forces above. I thought your character setting would eventually allow you to surpass your in-game father and take charge of this new force, but... all you've been doing is running errands? You don't even seize the opportunities you're given?"

After Lu Gui finished this long speech, he stared at Julian's face, which was sometimes black and sometimes white, and finally complained, "Your IQ is only enough to tease Lu Xiaoyao."

"That's not true!"

Julian suddenly lost his composure and shouted, directly scaring Lu Gui out of his doze.

"Lu Gui?"

"Ah, it's nothing, you guys sleep, it's nothing... I had a nightmare..."

Someone outside had already been awakened by Julian's shout and knocked on the door to ask what was going on.

Hearing Lu Gui say that nothing was wrong, the other person didn't ask any more questions and left his door.

"Sorry..."

"It's nothing. It's you, what was that outburst just now? Was it because... I touched a nerve?"

Julian: "..."

"Don't be silent. It's already late at night and you came to my room. It would be awkward if someone found out, okay?"

Interrupted by what had just happened, Lu Gui became impatient and urged him to quickly say what was really on his mind.

"Do you think I should have ideas?"

"Shouldn't you?" Lu Gui was also speechless. "Don't you have your own ideas when you're at home?"

"It's not that... my father has always supported me in doing anything."

"Oh?"

"But he never allows me to interfere with what he's going to do... Ah, no, I have, but I found that I couldn't help him in any way."

After listening for a long time, Lu Gui stroked his chin and realized that Julian's attitude towards his father was a bit complicated, but he didn't want to be a confidant brother at the moment. He just said, "It's not your real dad in the game. Even if the personality is similar, you said he's so powerful, his IQ and EQ must be online. Even if the NPC's consciousness awakens in the game, can it be as powerful as your dad?"

"Definitely not."

"You know your dad..."

"That's right, so his plan must not be as perfect as your dad's.

Right now, you should find out what your dad's plan is, so we can analyze its shortcomings and make targeted modifications, and then you can make suggestions or completely overturn it and follow your own ideas."

After listening to Lu Gui's words, Julian had some ideas in his mind, and he stared at Lu Gui with bright eyes and said, "I have some now..."

"Shut up, get out, I'm going to sleep. Tell me what you've figured out tomorrow."

With that, Lu Gui wrapped himself in the quilt and ignored him...

Mingmei woke up naturally after a good night's sleep. It had been a long time since she had been woken up by the sun like this.

She sat up and looked at the sunlight shining through the curtains. It was obviously late.

Usually, she would have gone to the cafeteria to make boxed lunches by now.

She got up, changed her clothes, and as soon as she went out, Mingmei saw that the two little brats who were like human pendants on Zhen Hu's body yesterday were now hanging on Zhen Po like little devils, walking around in the small courtyard, while Zhen Po had a look of pure suffering on his face.

"Where's my dad?"

"Your dad went to work!"

"I want to see my dad, take me..."

"No, didn't your dad tell you to stay at home? You're not listening again?"

Even though he had spent two months with the two little brats in the game, Zhen Po still felt like he was terrible at taking care of children, especially when he met these two who tailored their behavior to the person they were dealing with!

They were well-behaved and cute when they saw his older brother, but little devils when they saw him orz.

"Is that so? It's obviously Uncle who wants to see Dad, and my sister and I are afraid you'll get lost, so we came out with you to keep an eye on you~"

The two brats blinked their watery eyes to indicate that they had found him a perfect reason to go out.

Zhen Po: "Hehe, is that so? Thank you very much! In order not to disappoint you two, I'm not going anywhere today, so as not to trouble you two to follow me out~"

With that, Zhen Po squatted down directly.

Wang Wenyin, who had just cleaned the courtyard, piled the garbage together, and then turned around to get the dustpan, was dumbfounded when she came back.

Wang Wenyin: Where did my big pile of garbage go?

Oh, it's under someone's butt.

"Morning."

Wang Wenyin looked up and saw Mingmei standing foolishly under the eaves of the main room, greeting her.

"...Morning."

Still not reacting to the presence of NPCs in the team, Mingmei looked at Wang Wenyin, who was standing there as if she was covered with a soft-focus filter, making Mingmei hold her breath.

Wang Wenyin wasn't a top-tier beauty, but she had her own unique charm that made her unforgettable at first sight.

No wonder her second brother... Hmph~

She remembered that after the National Day trip, she and Mu Chen met her second brother and sister-in-law again on the starship.

At that time, Mu Chen had gone out with her older brother, and she and Cheshire were sitting together, and then Mingmei started a not-so-good conversation.

"Second sister-in-law, what did you do in Changping Port during this trip?"

"He took me to the Sigma ruins to mourn the deceased."

The good, light-hearted topic became serious in an instant...