Master of Time

Despite being a full-pledged Chimera, Xi Shi didn't have that much of a tolerance for pain.

In fact, Xi Shi would have passed out the moment I finish flaying her lovely arm if it wasn't for all those mircomachines floating around in her bloodstream, keeping her conscious.

The same micromachines that are inhibiting her regenerative ability.

Xi Shi obviously didn't know that fact. She assumes that her inability to heal herself is due to my rather unexplainable power.

It is unexplainable, at least from a biological standpoint, and even with near unlimited funding by their respective government, those organization behind these Hybrids would never reach the same level of technology as Hydra, let alone me.

Hydra didn't have access to antigravity technology yet, and Hydra will not have it until all the plans for colonizing all the planets in the solar system come to fruition.

Speaking of which, those terraforming ships are on their ways to every planet in the solar system. They will then proceed to terraform those worlds and moons into places habitable by humans.

Or biological being that are similar to humans.

By which I refer to fantastical creatures. I mean fantasy races. They aren't fantasy anymore.

In an alternate future, I did seed a planet with the dark elf from Azula, but the only reason that future exists is because I had the idea of doing so.

Since I don't have that idea anymore, that future shouldn't exists.

I think that should be case, considering the future is not really set in stone, but then again, my power is not fully understood.

I do know that the moment I take a look into the future with a temporal bubble, that future has already changed. It can easily be tested, and I have tested it many times already.

As for the future of this woman named Xi Shi, I have decided to keep her as an experiment. As a mole as well. A clone is probably better for the mole job, but a clone doesn't have a soul.

Somehow, having a soul seems important now days.

Other than that, I want to see her squirm a little more. I am evil that way.

"You may have a rest now, Xi Shi."

I tell her and finally allow her to slip into the realm of consciousness, but not before I turn that pretty face of her into a horror show, especially without any of her eyelids or ears or hairs.

Yes, I give her a shave. Top and bottom. It comes with the flaying process.

And the reason that I am still calling her Xi Shi even though I do know her real name is due to the fact her current legal name is Xi Shi. She isn't the actual Xi Shi from the Party, however.

She is actually one of many doubles.

Is it still called that?

The real Xi Shi is paranoid to the point that she has so many doubles, just to keep people guessing who is the real one. As for why she is paranoid, I actually have no idea right now.

This is because the fake Xi Shi doesn't know. She is expendable to the real Xi Shi, just like every single fake Xi Shi.

I wonder how many fake Xi Shi there are running about in the world. I will know for certain in a couple of days when the countless drones that are Legion begin tagging everyone on Earth.

Should have done that a long time ago.

In fact, I should have done a lot of things a long time ago, but a lot of those things are inconsequential to the cause. Just like Hybrid. Not entirely true as I do need to dedicate some time to hunt down those who are infected with the parasite known as the Ace of Diamond.

That is actually a mouthful. I will just call the Ace of Diamond as the parasite. I would like to call him Alex Mercer, but I already have one idiot name Alex Mercer.

I cannot have the parasite continues to spread further.

It would not be good for humanity as a whole in the long run. Not only those infected cannot become evolved, they also pass down the mutated genes to their children, thus corrupting the gene pool.

In any case, the Hybrid problem is more or less a side project of mine, and I don't really need to resort to Hydra for this. I will have to talk to Johnathan obviously, just to chastise him on his slobby work.

Since standing in the middle of the ocean, waiting for Xi Shi to have a rest, is fucking boring.

I teleport myself and her to a compound somewhere in the United States. It is for interrogation despite I already know everything there is to know about her, at least from her memory.

While I could dump her in china, relatively close to where she has wanted to go, I didn't. This is because I have left her butler and the pilots dead. They are considered casualties of war, and as casualties, the Chinese will send someone over to check.

Finding Xi Shi in China despite her plane never making it across the Atlantic Ocean will be suspicious.

Obviously, there are plenty of compounds that I can use in China if I wanted. Most of them are actually abandoned now due to the competition of Legion.

And despite not needing Chinese slave workers, I still keep them on a leash. It is simply because most of them are farmers and laborers, thus unable to find a job in the Chinese growing economy.

China is actually doing a lot better in this timeline than the original timeline. Their current GDP is about half a trillion dollars this year, 1990, of the prime timeline. GDP means Gross Domestic Product, which more or less measure the wealth of a country.

For comparison, the GPD of China was roughly about 360 billion dollars in the original timeline.

And in contrast, the United States of America has the GDP of 10 trillion currently. That is about 4 more trillion than the original timeline, but this is expected due to Chrono Holdings and all of its subsidiaries.

Oxford Enterprise and other companies owned by my underlings and associates as well. They do have a hand in making America great again. I mean continuing to be great.

I am a patriot even though I believe countries are unneeded in the future.

Nevertheless, that discrepancy in Gross Domestic Products alone has caused major ripple effects, and I am certain by the time I am born, which is in a decade or so in the year 2000, the world is even more different than the original timeline.

Much more technological advance than the original timeline, not to mention the introduction to magic as well. So many things are planned for the future, but so little time to do them all.

Ironic.

Speaking of time, I am not sure why I am waiting for Xi Shi to wake up like this. Honestly, with a snap of my fingers, she will be restored while retaining the memory of what had just happened.

I did just that, but not before I set up a few things. It didn't take more than a handful of seconds thanks to Legion. Having micromachines as building blocks does make constructing anything super easy.

But introducing it to the modern world will retread the same path as that alternate realities. Honestly, making things easy for people only causes them to be super lazy.

People have to achieve things on their own to appreciate it.

Xi Shi screams in terror the moment she wakes up. She thrashes around on the table before falling off it. Medical equipment clattering on the floor around her as she looks up and about, trying to see where she is.

She is also panting heavily due to the pain of being flayed alive. It is still fresh in her mind despite her body is completely healed. So fresh that she could still feel it on her pearly skin.

Xi Shi does have impressively white skin.

"Greeting, Miss Xi Shi. I hope that you have a pleasant dream despite being manhandled by one of my agents. Please apologize to the young miss for skinning her alive. That was unwarranted."

The huge screen next to me speaks up. There is a circular mechanical eye looking directly at her from the screen. It did glance at me when it tells me to apologize.

I tap the mask on my face for a moment before apologizing.

"I am sorry for skinning you alive, Miss Xi Shi. There. Happy?"

I look at the massive screen as the mechanical eye narrows, but otherwise it did not say anything since I didn't say anything in my mind.

Xi Shi is stunned. She didn't know where she is or who she is talking to exactly, but from the look of it, she understands that the digital crimson eyeball on the screen is my boss.

She struggles to pull herself off the floor, hesitantly since she is actually naked.

I didn't bother to dress her up, as there is no point. Besides, she didn't seem to mind, but that is mostly because of her fear. She is utterly terrified.

"I am not who you are looking for."

Xi Shi speaks up after swallowing the lump in her throat. She is quite thirsty at the moment but asking for a drink right now isn't possible.

"On the contrary, Miss Xi Shi. You are here because I have determined that you might be useful to me, or do you believe that I am wrong in this regard?"

The eyeball narrows at her. Despite being just an image on a monitor, it pierces her being, making her shivers. The message is obviously clear. If she says that she isn't, she will instantly be killed.

Even an idiot can see that.

"No. I will be useful to you. Please let me be useful to you."

Xi Shi drops to her knees and kowtows. She didn't dare to lift her head. She wants to say don't kill her, but she has plenty of practice at this. Asking for that usually result in the exact opposite.

"Might be useful, Miss Xi Shi. Whether you are, that remains to be seen. While I am aware that you're not the real Xi Shi, the real Xi Shi is of no consequence to me. Her life is as insignificant as yours, even more so since I have determined that you may live. For now."

The eyeball speaks up again. I think I should give it a name. I shall call it Quantum Artificial Intelligence, shorten to QAI. As for why that sounds familiar, it is from Supreme Commander, a video game released in 2007.

The game is about giant robots beating the shit out of each other. Sounds fun. It is. Much of my robotic army are based on their design anyway.

Well. I am basically a lot of my designs on everything in pop culture just because I am a fan. Of course, I did update some designs to make them more epics.

"Yes. Thank you for letting me live."

Xi Shi speaks up without lifting her face.

"Where is the real Xi Shi?"

I question her through the QAI. While I already know, it is necessary for her to answer me.

"I do not know."

Xi Shi answers. There is a bit of hesitation in her voice due to the fact that she might be killed or worst if the Party know she has revealed sensitive information.

"I do not need to remind you what happen If you lie, Miss Xi Shi. Your life is in my hand. And whether you are allowed to live or to die is completely at my sole discretion. I will demonstrate."

I tell her and for an effect, Xi Shi all the pain that she has felt while being flayed alive. It is easy to make her feel it with the micromachines in her mind.

Legion has recorded all of her emotions and sufferings, allowing me to reintroduce them whenever I want. That is the real reason why I bother flaying her. It is to record those emotions and feelings.

"I really don't know. I really don't know! Please!"

Xi Shi calls out while screaming in pain. Tears stream down her beautiful features, ruining her makeup once more.

The pain eventually stops, allowing her to beg and plead. She actually crawls to me and grips my legs, crying.

"Please big brother, please tell master that I am not lying to him. I really don't know where the real Xi Shi is. I don't. No one does. She is everywhere, and she is nowhere."

Her arrogance and self-importance from the time I had talked to her back in the Triad building are no longer to be seen. She is just a woman who fears for her life.

"I believe you, Miss Xi Shi, but my trust cannot be earned as easily. You will do what I say to the letter, and any deviation from it will not result in your death, but your eternal suffering."

QAI speaks up.

"Yes. Yes. Master. I will do everything you say."

Xi Shi pleads, kowtowing repeatedly like a broken doll.

Seeing that does make me change my mind about keeping her even as a pet, but then again, I did sort of say that I will let her live. I suppose I will have to do what I just said.

"Follow Lu Bu and destroy the Japanese conclave here in New York. Make sure that they understand who is responsible for their destruction. I will be watching."

The image on the monitor then disappears, leaving being a black screen.

"Yes, Master. Yes, Master. Yes, Master."

Xi Shi chants, continuing to kowtow at the monitor. She didn't stop kowtowing when I left the room and then return as Lu Bu. I eventually stop her because it does get kind of annoying after a while.

"Get up, Miss Xi Shi. Master has a job for us, and failure is not an option."

I tell her and pull her off the floor.

Xi Shi looks at me and lowers her head in submission, realizing she is way out of her league. For some reason, I find her cuter this way.

Furthermore, it seems that I will not have a problem with her in the future. She is just far too terrified to even think of trying to run off or informing anyone.

But if Xi Shi tries, she will find that death is but a mercy. A mercy that I don't really give to people who betrays me for whatever reason.

"I think you should clean yourself up first. Follow me."