Chapter 1: Awakening_I am the Human Emperor

In the profound darkness, Ron endeavored to open his eyes. "Who am I?" Memories of the mortal era streaked across his mind - the towering skyscrapers, the vibrant cyber world, and the dreary and oppressive reality. The cacophony of past recollections inundated him, and then Ron remembered... he was dead. "Where am I?" Air rushed into his lungs, oxygen molecules dissolved into the surrounding capillaries, hitching a ride on red blood cells and converging in the long-silent heart.

Boom! A long, heavy heartbeat reverberated from his chest. Except for some gigantic shapeless insects, no intelligent beings could hear this sound, nor did anyone truly realize what had just occurred. "What will I..." Before his thoughts could progress further, a dull noise from reality interrupted them. It was a young female voice brimming with surprise and excitement: "Come and see! There's a living person!"

Ron felt two pairs of hands touching his body. The cold, rough palms pressed against his neck, attempting to check if he was alive or dead. He took the initiative to lift his eyelids. What greeted him was a gloomy sky, and then two strangers came into his view. They were both dressed in shabby cloth, like peasants from a medieval village.

"Really alive." A beautiful girl of seventeen or eighteen was looking at him with astonishment on her face. Behind her, a middle-aged man was squatting slightly. The girl turned her head and shouted into the distance: "There's a living person, Sir Knight! There's a healthy living person here!"

The middle-aged man held Ron's shoulders and slowly pulled him up: "Young man, what's your name?" He spoke in a calm tone, not like someone who had just discovered a survivor. Instinctively, Ron asked: "I..." The man said expressionlessly: "Don't be nervous. You're lucky to have met us. You're safe for now. Sir Knight won't allow you to encounter any danger. Now, tell me your name."

Ron wasn't nervous, but he didn't refute the other party either: "I'm Ron." While speaking, Ron took the opportunity to observe his own situation and the surrounding environment. He was also dressed in shabby cloth similar to the two, but on his right wrist was a metal bracelet of an unknown material.

In this strange world he was in, there were no familiar concrete and steel, no blue sky, and even the sun that shone on everything was nowhere to be seen. The gloomy black clouds blanketed the entire area within Ron's sight. The desolate plain was littered with nothing but corpses and gray rocks, and there was no warm hue in the gloomy reality he could perceive.

Click, click, click... The joints of the metal boots made an unpleasant noise as three knights walked. They were all wrapped in thick black robes, with sharp silver long swords hanging from their waists. Their exposed arms were sickly pale. As they advanced, Ron could also feel the air gradually cooling down.

Hiss. Ron's wrist felt a slight sting, and then a warm heat flowed into his chest, driving away the cold current that was trying to invade his body. Then, he suddenly realized that his heart had only beaten once before this moment. And now it was beating again. Boom, boom, boom, boom...

Seeing the knights approaching, the girl quickly stood up and said: "My lords, I've checked. His body is still fresh, without disease or defects. Can I..." She said, her eyes full of apprehension and eagerness, but she didn't dare to continue, for fear of arousing the impatience of these knights.

The knight in the front took out a handful of bright plant clusters from the bag in his arms and threw them on the ground in front of the girl like feeding an animal. She knelt down gratefully and picked up the reward.

The second knight casually drew his long sword and pointed it at Ron's chin, shouting impatiently: "Look at me, human." Surprisingly, Ron didn't have any emotional fluctuations. Judging from his memories of himself in the past, he should have felt both fear and dread at this time - like every normal person.

He raised his head. Ron stared directly at the knight in front of him. Under the black hood, the blood-red pupils were engraved with deep contempt, and the face was lifeless. What surprised him the most was that the knight's lower jawbone was slightly sunken inward, the upper jawbone protruded outward, and two sharp "canines" on the upper jaw hung outside the lips, making the face both hideous and ugly. These things were not his kind. Considering the knight's address to him - "human", they probably didn't regard him as a being of the same blood.

The knight waved his silver long sword and pointed behind him, shouting like driving an unruly animal: "You stay with them."

In the distance, there were three carriages, and behind the carriages stood more than thirty poorly dressed civilians. Their cheeks were slightly sunken, looking as if they were suffering from hunger, with no hope for the future in their eyes. The looks they gave here were also full of complex emotions. But their walking movements didn't seem to be really restricted by hunger.

Ron nodded slightly and walked towards the crowd. When the knight said this, he didn't consider the possibility of Ron's refusal or resistance. Either he was stupid enough to have no guard against strangers... or he thought humans couldn't pose any threat.

The knights also turned around and slowly walked back. The girl and the man quickly lowered their heads and followed closely behind them. Ron noticed that their faces were full of nervousness and timidity, as if they were facing an abyss and would fall if they took a wrong step.

Ron watched helplessly as the girl and the man stumbled back to the team. After noticing that the knights had no objections to them, both of them showed a relieved expression at the same time.

Then the knight walked towards the crowd. He expressionlessly pointed at two civilians standing in the crowd, and their faces immediately showed extreme horror and despair. Although they resisted the knight's order emotionally, their bodies still rushed out of the team under the drive of fear, walking towards the front of the carriage, for fear of being too slow and being killed by the knights.

The three knights then went to different carriages and quietly waited for the two pathfinders to complete their work. They didn't even look at Ron again.

Ron had already followed the returned girl and man into the crowd. These "medieval peasants" didn't immediately look at him. Instead, they all stared at the strange vegetable in the girl's hand with hungry eyes, exuding a strong desire and impulse. Ron could imagine that without any restraint, they would have already pounced on the girl and torn her apart alive.

A relatively strong young man in the group stepped forward two steps and put his arm around the girl who was about ten years younger than him. Amid the greedy gazes of the others, he took the vegetable from her hand. He was Ralph, the most prestigious member of this group for the time being.

The girl had sadness and dissatisfaction in her eyes, but fear kept her from saying a word. She knew that as long as she shouted, the knight would probably intervene and kill Ralph and take his blood for storage. But she herself would also meet the same fate.

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Ralph said: "As usual, I will be responsible for distributing the holy food bestowed by the knight. But you can first welcome our new, healthy and strong friend."

Everyone looked at Ron at the same time, with a look of schadenfreude on their faces, extremely glad that he had fallen into the same situation as them. Some people also blatantly examined him, secretly hatching plans in their hearts.

Ralph said: "You and I are both the property of the noble lord and have the honor of being able to meet the great noble prince. But on this journey, the knight lord will only ensure our survival. Therefore, we need to work together and help each other."

Speaking of this, Ralph looked at the metal ring on Ron's wrist: "After our discussion, I am fortunate to temporarily obtain the qualification to manage food and supplies. Since you have joined us, you must also abide by this rule. First, hand over the things on you to me for temporary custody. Hand them over."

Although Ralph's words were "polite", his tone was extremely tough. Moreover, he didn't plan to obtain Ron's consent at all, nor did he think that the other party would resist him.

At this moment, a strong sense of resistance rose in Ron's heart. The thing that Ralph demanded occupied an extremely important position in his subconscious. Somehow, he realized that the value of the bracelet far exceeded the lives of this group of humans and monsters in front of him.

Ron slightly closed his eyes, and his heart also stopped beating for a few seconds under the intense emotional stimulation. Then, a weak stinging sensation came from his wrist.

In the absolute silence, a cold voice without emotion or consciousness rang in Ron's mind.

"Congratulations on being selected as the heir of the empire. According to the order of His Majesty the Emperor, the merciful father and the legal ruler of all worlds, my creator, you will shoulder the responsibility of restoring the glory of the empire. The micro bionic community has been injected and the thinking binding is completed. Now, I will detect and list the known situations for you. Finally, I sincerely wish you... a smooth conquest."