Chapter 3: The King of Ideal Country

```

He, reborn once more, possessed the opportunity to change his own fate, but how to change it still remained a matter for thoughtful consideration.

First were those "Ancestors" level Curse Forbidden Masters who stood atop the world in the future. Without exception, they all possessed Special Grade Life Prohibitions, a talent they were born with, which could not be taken away by external forces.

No one knew their exact awakening times, but if anyone truly attempted to eliminate them early, it wouldn't be surprising if they were instead killed by prematurely stimulating their awakening abilities. After all, these so-called "Ancestors" broke their own Birth Horoscope, becoming protagonists of their era.

Thus, Cen Dongsheng had never thought of drastically changing the future—he valued his present more. Even though he had lost his own life prohibition, he still had the opportunity to touch the highest level (Special Class) of curse prohibition; it just required time and waiting.

And before then, he first needed to enhance his power, then find potential companions... or, to put it honestly, "cling to a thick enough thigh."

Hugging a powerful ally was also an art, one that needed to be done with finesse.

In the future, Cen Dongsheng's identity destined him to not access the world of the higher-level Forbidden Masters, leaving him uninformed of the big figures' personalities outside of the public view. But the influence of the "Ancestors" was just too massive, and they were inherently the rulers of various forces and regions. "A person's name casts a shadow." His understanding of these people's way of doing things was, after all, somewhat informed.

Some claimed that the future world belonged to those Forbidden Masters, an era of "madmen and ambitious ones," which was by no means an exaggeration.

Though it was unclear whether it was the sudden acquisition of immense power from heaven that made people become paranoid, or if the paranoid found it easier to become strong, strong individuals did indeed have peculiar personalities. Some of them held beliefs that completely contradicted past mainstream moral values.

It's said that a person's life prohibition often reflected their character. The more extreme the person, the more they could exert the power of the cursing prohibition, which was another facet of "the worst of times."—

At least, Cen Dongsheng always felt he was too ordinary, touching on the saying "character determines destiny."

He naturally held a vast distance from a selfless Saint, but even after enduring relentless struggles, he could not be like some of his colleagues, dealing with matters so ruthlessly as if they were heartless machines or cold-blooded killers.

He liked to eliminate evil thoroughly, yet he could never disregard humanity.

"The reason I'm not strong enough might be that I'm not crazy enough," Cen Dongsheng would occasionally think.

In any case, not everyone among the highest level of Curse Forbidden Masters was suitable to be a boss or superior, let alone a peer.

And among these madmen and paranoiacs, his former boss—An Zhizhen, what kind of person was she exactly?

In anyone's comments, they would think she was a cold and ruthless woman.

She once sacrificed thousands of lives to activate Special Grade Curse Prohibitions with harsh conditions; faced with the invasion of the Evil God, she decisively abandoned the victim regions, finally using large-scale thermal weapons and wide-range cursing prohibitions to annihilate all ghosts within the fallen areas, including the survivors.

She used virtual network technology and special cursing prohibitions to establish a system known as the "Ideal Country," monitoring every person on the land. Wherever the system covered, the hierarchy was strict, and each resident's permissions bore rigid distinctions between higher and lower ranks.

With resources collected through the "Ideal Country," all rights of allocation were concentrated in her hands, making her a complete dictator.

Such was she, such was she in Cen Dongsheng's eyes...

—Incredibly "gentle."

Good and bad were always relative. There was no end to the number of people who loathed the king of the Ideal Country, but the reality was, no one could deny that the Tiannan District had one of the most stable social orders among the districts.

Its social class system was indeed stringent, yet rewards and penalties were clear. As long as one contributed, one could be promoted; everyone had the chance to climb upward.

As a ruler, An Zhizhen did not have the wicked habit of randomly slaughtering people. Speaking strictly of personal character, she could be considered upright, never engaging in reckless actions to satisfy personal desires. There weren't even rumors of her having lovers or relatives, a solitary monarch on her throne.

Moreover, even amid the myriad unverifiable dark rumors underlying the "Ideal Country," ordinary citizens indeed found shelter amidst the chaos, a cold, emotionless, yet firmly reliable refuge.

It might have been because Cen Dongsheng knew her best, but when considering the question of "who to seek first," he indeed first thought of An Zhizhen.

Then, just two months ago, Cen Dongsheng moved into Xiaokang Building and officially met An Zhizhen of this era.

To this day, his mood was...

"I really was surprised. Yes, truly surprised."

Cen Dongsheng thought.

Even if An Zhizhen's reputation among the "Ancestors" was relatively good, he still hadn't expected that she used to have such a personality.

A woman who loved to laugh and was cheerful, kind to others, and liked taking care of people—once familiar with someone, she could be described as genuinely gentle and courteous, without quotation marks, in the truest sense of the word.

He hadn't placed much hope in his communication skills. Growing up in a welfare home, his personality turning out not secluded and introverted was already commendable. Expecting him to become a social butterfly would be tough; Cen Dongsheng had been a child who only buried his head in books throughout his life.

```