“Eric Carter Minister?” Jessica Bolton frowned, immediately recalling the tall, thin man who had come to the Prince Shou’s residence with gifts just a few days ago. He was a notorious treacherous official from the Shang and Zhou era, who, after the Zhou army invaded Zhaoge, had stolen the imperial seal with E Lai and presented it to King Wu, attempting to betray his master for personal gain. Seeing Brian Brooks’s arrogant demeanor, Jessica Bolton, who already harbored resentment toward Eric Carter, couldn’t help but laugh instead of getting angry. With a wave of his hand, he said, “So what if it’s Eric Carter Minister? I’m definitely taking charge of this matter today!”

Several attendants had long been unable to hold back. As soon as they received their master’s order, they immediately lunged at the big men. They were all elite guards from the Prince Shou’s residence, highly skilled in martial arts, and despite being outnumbered, they still held the upper hand.

Jessica Bolton became excited watching the fight and joined the fray himself. Although his fighting skills were terrible, he made up for it with speed and immense strength. With a single punch, he knocked one of the big men to the ground, spitting blood, and with a kick, knocked another unconscious. In no time, he had taken down four men. Seeing how formidable Jessica Bolton was, Brian Brooks secretly raised his sword to stab him from behind. The bare-chested man saw this and, in a panic, rushed forward and grabbed Brian Brooks, dragging him to the ground. The sword tip barely grazed Jessica Bolton’s shoulder, leaving a bloody mark.

Having failed in his sneak attack, Brian Brooks was furious and was about to stab the bare-chested man to death when, suddenly, he felt a tightness in his chest. Jessica Bolton had grabbed him by the collar with one hand and lifted him up, then threw him far away. He landed hard, so painfully that he couldn’t get up for a long time. The sword was snapped in two by Jessica Bolton’s superhuman strength. Seeing their master’s prowess, the guards of Prince Shou’s residence were invigorated and quickly beat the remaining big men into disarray. Realizing the situation was dire, Brian Brooks, with the help of his companions, struggled to his feet, spat a few harsh words, and limped away from the marketplace.

After the fight ended, the guards noticed that their master was actually injured. They all knelt down to beg forgiveness, admitting their failure to protect him.

Seeing those guys flee in such a sorry state, Jessica Bolton felt much of his frustration dissipate and did not blame the guards. Instead, he burst out laughing, “That was satisfying!”

The bare-chested man fell to his knees, kowtowing repeatedly to Jessica Bolton, “Thank you, benefactor, for saving my life! Eric Carter is a man of great power and influence. Please, benefactor, leave quickly to avoid endless trouble!”

“You don’t need to worry about me. But as for you…” Jessica Bolton disliked people who knelt at the drop of a hat, and as the Prince Shou, how could he fear Eric Carter’s power? He signaled his attendants to help the man up. “You’re a runaway slave with nothing to your name. Even if you escape to the clinic this time, who would treat your sister? Even if, by some miracle, a kind soul heals her, you two still won’t escape from Mo Yi City. In the end, you’ll probably still face the death penalty.”

The man gave a bitter smile, “My family has been slaves for generations. My father was beheaded for offending his master, and my mother died from exhaustion, leaving only my little sister and me to depend on each other. Now my sister is gravely ill and on the verge of death. How could I bear to watch her die before my eyes? Desperate, I had no choice but to take this risk… If I die, so be it. I only pity my poor little sister…”

Jessica Bolton naturally understood the tragic fate of slaves in a slave society. Thinking about how the Shang dynasty still belonged to this most barbaric, primitive social system, he couldn’t help but feel especially heavy-hearted. Seeing the man’s expression of helpless resignation to fate, Jessica Bolton suddenly felt a sense of shared misery—wasn’t he, as the future King Zhou, also a pawn manipulated by “heaven’s will”? Lost in thought, he stood there in a daze.

Is everything really predestined?

Is it truly impossible to change?

“If you had the chance, would you… want to change your and your sister’s fate?” After a long silence, Jessica Bolton suddenly asked. The man was stunned, hesitated for a moment, then nodded vigorously.

“If I told you that you might fail or even lose your life because of this, would you still persist?”

The man didn’t hesitate, nodding firmly. As a runaway slave, he had nothing left to lose. He was doomed either way, so why fear failure or death?

Jessica Bolton nodded silently, as if a bolt of lightning flashed through his mind. His gaze gradually grew fervent—if even this lowest-ranking slave could risk everything to change his fate, shouldn’t he, who possessed thousands of years of human wisdom and scientific knowledge, be able to do even more?

Didn’t his college friends always say, “If you die, your balls point to the sky”? To put it simply: be a man!

If I die, so be it—what’s there to fear?

If fate wants the Shang dynasty to perish according to the “plot,” then I’ll make sure it doesn’t go as planned! If I don’t turn this world upside down, wouldn’t this rebirth be wasted?

From economics to military affairs, why not let the era leap forward? Imagine thousands of soldiers wielding firearms against those immortals, riddling them with bullets—let’s see how much elixir they have to eat! So what if it’s reckless? If possible, I’ll just launch a few hundred super-nuclear warheads at Kunlun Mountain and see how tough the Jade Void Palace’s turtle shell really is!

If I can’t beat those immortals head-on, I can always sow discord, pit tigers against wolves, or use others to do the dirty work. Or just poison them, hit them with a club… kill as many as I can. If I can strip those sect leaders of all their followers, all the better—even if I die and become a god in the end, I’ll make sure to take a few down with me, right?