Chapter 220 Free Will
“Ao Bao heard it, but Ao Bao can’t do anything.”

In the spiritual world, a loser named Long said this in a numb tone.

Li Bailong was furious.

“Trash! Useless things!”

He scolded hastily, “When the beacon was turned on, everyone was praising the imperial court, but my readers were the only ones shouting that the imperial book was the best in the world. Even a ghost would know that there was something wrong… I don’t want to pay for the behavior of my fans!”

“Even if you say so…”

Long Aotian said helplessly: “I don’t know the mechanism of this beacon yet. I don’t even know the final effect of activating this thing. What’s more, I haven’t done much research on willpower. How do you want me to solve it?”

Li Bailong yelled in the spiritual world.

“What’s so difficult about this?” He opened his mouth and said, “The key to the problem is not the mechanism, but to fool the people who come to inspect from above, so that they don’t find me, a black sheep with a wrong style, in this upright atmosphere of spiritual construction. Fortunately, the people in the court are not very smart and don’t understand anything, so it’s easy to fool them…”

With a sly look on his face, he instigated, “Find a way to see if you can block the readers’ outward responses to the imperial review, and just let them read the book and make vows in secret, that’s all…”

Aozi complained: “That’s easy to say! Has anyone ever done this before?”

“Shut up! Do your job! Don’t talk nonsense, and be careful of your skin!”

Li Bailong scolded: “Don’t forget, if this matter is exposed, the Great Qi court will never allow us to eat in the rice jar, and you will never be able to recover successfully in this life!”

“I know, I know.”

Aozi readily agreed, and said angrily: “There is no sample, go to the bureau and ask a few readers to come and sit down.”

Li Bailong followed his instructions and selected some more servants to cooperate with Long Aotian in the experiment.

Zhang Mao was devoted to his duty, strengthening the defenses and preparing manpower everywhere. He went back to the second hall several times and saw Li Bailong constantly calling people to shine the radiation. After he finished the military work at hand, he finally couldn’t help but came closer to observe. When he saw Li Bailong stop, he came over to ask.

“I am rude. May I ask the governor?” He said sincerely, “This beacon is related to King Zhao’s plan and should be carefully preserved. Your Excellency has summoned officials and people to come here several times. Why?”

“Curious.” Li Bailong answered calmly, “Since King Zhao has entrusted me with an important task, I will have to work in the Education Department in the future. I will definitely have to deal with similar objects all day long… I should do my homework in advance.”

Zhang Mao was speechless when he said this. He bowed and went to strengthen the defense of the roof.

Li Bailong stopped him.

“General.”

Seeing Zhang Mao turn around, he thought for a moment and asked, “What do you think?”

The young general asked in confusion: “What?”

“This thing.”

Li Bailong pointed to the beacon that was still slowly turning.

The base is reinforced with a thick shell, and nothing is known about the internal mechanism and structure. The material of this object is peculiar, and even Long Aotian’s divine sense finds it difficult to penetrate it. He does not know the mechanism of action and the detailed function.

We don’t even know what the energy source is that drives the disc to keep rotating.

Not to mention the strange and miraculous powers that are enough to shake the soul.

Zhang Mao smiled when he heard this: “Amazing craftsmanship, this must be the weapon of the Emperor’s uncle.”

Li Bailong carefully considered his words: “The general… was influenced by him.”

“I know.” General Zhang smiled. “That’s great.”

Li Bailong frowned slightly.

As a time traveler, he had already formed his own sense of right and wrong and morality before coming to this world, and he had the foundation of a soul, and there had not been much change over the years.

Therefore, he was somewhat resistant to the function of the “beacon”.

After all, this strange force that even Long Aotian couldn’t quite understand was changing the will of freedom.

And Zhang Mao said… this is good?

He asked directly: “I don’t quite understand…it interferes with everyone’s will and thoughts.”

Faced with his confusion, the young general replied: “For example, when I go to the battlefield, I am determined to fight bravely. This is to serve my country and to win fame. This loyalty comes from my heart, right?”

Li Bailong nodded.

“When we were about to go out to fight, a famous general came out, holding high his banner and cheering us on. He was a famous general in the world, regarded as a hero or even a god by countless soldiers. Hearing his encouragement, my loyalty to the court and my desire for fame doubled, and my desire to fight became even stronger…”

Zhang Mao asked: “Is this famous general interfering with my will and thoughts? Should I be angry?”

“I understand the general’s reasoning.” Li Bailong said, “but this thing…”

“This was sent by the Emperor’s uncle,” General Zhang said with a smile, “just like it was King Zhao who encouraged and commanded the troops… Serving the country is my true nature. It is nourished and nurtured by the beacon, filling my heart, making me wise and courageous. I feel great.”

Ah, that makes sense.

Li Bailong pointed at the beacon: “But this is a dead object, a dead object that operates on its own…”

Zhang Mao shook his head and smiled.

“Sir, let’s go back to the past. I went to the battlefield and was determined to fight bravely in order to serve my country and gain fame and fortune. But isn’t the loyalty of a minister and the temptation of fame and fortune also the result of some vague and invisible thing that gave us our so-called character, spirituality and determination?”

His expression was helpless and carefree.

“If we are talking about interference with our will and thoughts, then each of us would have been affected long ago, let alone now.”

The focus of the conversation and debate seemed to have moved towards a philosophical level. Li Bailong felt like he was meeting a nagging expert, and he praised: “General Zhang is both civil and military.”

The handsome son of a famous general smiled shyly: “I think too much, I like to reason, and I don’t drink, so I don’t live as happily and carefree as my father.”

As he said this, he looked at Li Bailong and asked, “Then again… the governor is not affected?”

Li Bailong felt a little nervous.

However, after doing several experiments before, many people didn’t react much, so there was no need to panic.

He said frankly: “Yes, so I am relieved.”

Zhang Mao obviously didn’t say “You are not loyal”, but he pointed at Li Bailong and smiled in a good-natured way.

“Although you don’t like this thing, you still have to ensure the successful operation of the beacon. Although you feel unfair and apprehensive, you can’t stop this matter.” He blinked, “So, your free will and thoughts are still interfered with by King Zhao’s conquest and human feelings.”

Li Bailong was stunned for a moment, then suddenly smiled bitterly.

“The general is really amazing. I rarely lose in verbal battles.”

Zhang Mao cupped his hands and said proudly, “Thank you, thank you.”

Director Li’s expression changed immediately. He raised his hand and gathered his Qi, and a dragon roared in the dark: “General, you have enlightened me. How can I bend my heart because of the favor of King Zhao? It is better to destroy this thing!”

He pretended to hit.

Zhang Mao quickly jumped up and hugged him, holding his hand and shouting, “If you destroy the beacon because of what I said, then I have interfered with your free will and thoughts again!”

As soon as the words fell, they both burst into laughter.

Their eyes met, their friendship deepened, and they patted each other’s shoulders vigorously.

At this moment, their relationship evolved from “temporary colleagues” to my argumentative friend.

The beacon disc rotates, driven by a magical force to search and capture.

Li Bailong and Zhang Mao simply sat on the steps on the left and watched the huge object turning skillfully.

Aozi was studying the issue of “protective removal”. The master had gone to sleep. The two men were observing the large machinery. No one needed to speak. This thing was very magical and exciting. One could watch it for a long time.

After a long while, Li Bailong said, “There has to be a limit, right?”

Miraculously, Zhang Mao immediately understood what he said, and he replied: “It is natural to be loyal to the court and love the monarch.”

“What if the unjust use this to impose heavy taxes on the common people and make loyal officials and righteous men sacrifice their lives in vain?”

Zhang Mao frowned, looked around, and said in a more serious tone: “The emperor is benevolent, the emperor’s uncle is wise, the Great Qi is stable, and the court is full. This will not happen. Are you worried about the sky falling?”

As he said this, he carefully observed and looked at Li Bailong.

“The governor’s hometown is also in the imperial state, but he is naturally wary of the court? This is strange…”

General Zhang seemed to be thinking about something.

But Li Bailong did not argue about this issue.

He simply raised his chin and pointed to the beacon.

“Let’s not talk about wise and benevolent kings and the righteous people in the court. Let’s just look at the objective facts. The objective fact is that this thing was made. Just like a knife was cast, you can’t say it’s a ritual vessel, just like armor was made, you can’t say it’s for keeping out the cold. Who do you think made it? What was it made for?”

Zhang Mao was silent, and suddenly shuddered.

Immediately, he said in a firm tone: “King Zhao will not let what you are worried about happen.”

Li Bailong did not answer, his eyes turned into the void.

After seeing the function of the beacon, he already had doubts in his mind.

King Zhao said that this thing was a wonderful tool developed by the Education Department during the previous emperor’s time.

——Either King Zhao lied, or King Zhao was also kept in the dark.

This thing was definitely not produced during the previous emperor’s era.

Otherwise, why wouldn’t a dog eat shit?

It was already dark at night, approaching the second watch, when suddenly cheers were heard in the distance and a faint fire was approaching. The person announcing the good news soon arrived: “General, Governor, the first auxiliary tower has been activated!”

Zhang Mao raised his eyebrows and said happily: “Well done! Very energetic! Governor Li, do you want to go…”

Li Bailong frowned and said coldly: “We only let them build the first auxiliary tower. Who told them to start it now?”

Damn, no organization and no discipline!

General Zhang also felt that it was inappropriate… His temperament had not changed, and his professional qualities as a soldier were still there. It was more difficult for him to accept the problem of “subordinates acting without orders” than Li Bailong.

Just as he was about to explode, he heard the personal soldier who came to report the good news stammer, “No, no, after the auxiliary tower was built, it started up automatically. It wasn’t us who did it.”

Li Bailong was stunned when he heard this. He turned to look at the beacon and became more alert.

At this moment, Aozi, who had not spoken for a long time, let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh!” he cried, “So that’s how it is… I got it! I got it!”

(End of this chapter)