31st December, 1998;
The city of Hangzhou was filled with celebrations for the New Year.
In the Dahu Street of Gongshu district, which was in the proximity of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, thousands of people came out of their homes and started their countdown together.
However, in one residence of an apartment complex, located on the thirteenth floor, a five-year-old boy was sitting beside a corpse in a daze. She had bullet wounds all over her body.
Soon, the fireworks display dazzled the skies of Hangzhou City. The boy turned his head to look at those fireworks through the glass doors leading to the balcony. His tears were all dried up.
27 years later;
A private jet was flying above the skies of Siberia with its destination as Vladivostok.
Inside, Qin Tianzhu leaned back in his leather seat, his eyes closed.
*Buzz* Buzz*
"Sir…" A man tapped his shoulder. "You have a video call from Mr. Prime Minister."
Qin Tianzhu snapped his eyes open, and a low groan escaped his lips as he rubbed his forehead. "Ugh… that dream again… Lately, it's been occurring quite frequently…"
"Sir… are you alright?" The man asked.
Qin Tianzhu gave a calm nod. "Yeah, connect the phone to the screen."
After a while, he was listening to the person on the other side, his fingers tapping against the armrest.
He was in deep conversation with the Prime Minister, and judging by his tone, it looked quite serious.
"Look, Mr. Mikhail, I understand your position on the Wagner Group, but they intruded into our extended territory of influence for the second time during the past three weeks and bombed a civilian's house. If this happens one more time, I'm afraid we will consider it as a hostile force, and Pavel will be forced to act."
On the other side, the Prime Minister of the state was almost sweating bullets with stress, "We don't have any intentions to offend Pavel, but our Supreme Commander-in-Chief was taking anti-Kremlin forces very seriously. We ask your coopera…"
"Hmm?" Qin Tianzhu's expression changed suddenly, halting the conversation for a moment as his bionic eye flickered, processing data faster than humanly possible.
A red alert flashed on a holographic screen inside his head.
[WARNING: SYSTEM FAILURE]
"Wha…"
Before Qin Tianzhu reacted, the jet lurched. The cabin lights flickered. The pilot's panicked voice crackled through the intercom.
"Boss! The front wheels aren't opening up— we need…"
Then, silence.
Qin Tianzhu barely had time to react before the plane crashed onto the runway.
The last thing he saw before the impact was the reflection of his own cold, unblinking gaze on the shattered screen.
Then, everything went blank.
A voice then echoed through the void. Feminine, mechanical. And quite familiar.
Qin Tianzhu's body twitched as countless notifications flooded his mind, lines of data overlaying the imaging in his brain.
[WARNING: IDENTICAL SOUL DETECTED— TRANSMIGRATION IN PROGRESS]
[RESISTANCE: FAILED]
[WARNING: BREACH INTO MINDSCAPE—WILLPOWER OVERRIDEN]
[FIRST CONTACT WITH HOST'S SOUL]
[RESISTANCE TO POSSESSION: SUCCESSFUL]
[WARNING: SOUL FUSION ATTEMPT]
[RESISTANCE: FAILED]
[SOUL FUSION COMPLETE]
[REAWAKENING: FAILED]
[WARNING: FOREIGN SENTIENT PROGRAM DETECTED]
[PROCEEDING WITH THE ELIMINATION]
[WARNING: SYSTEM CONTROLS ARE BEING OVERRIDDEN]
[INITIATING HIBERNATION]
Followed by that voice, an unfamiliar masculine voice spoke. "Transmigration is successful. Welcome, Monarch."
Qin Tianzhu clutched his head as he groggily opened his eyes, waking up in pajamas on an unfamiliar bed and in unfamiliar surroundings, which looked quite modest compared to his usual lifestyle.
Qin Tianzhu sat up and looked around. "What in the hell is going on?"
He couldn't help but look at his hands and legs, which looked much thicker and fitter than he remembered. There was little to no fat on his arms, and he could spot veins with his naked eyes.
At the same time, there was a holographic screen floating before his eyes, where the words were written.
[Transmigration is successful.]
[Mimic Ability has been upgraded to Overlord's Authority]
[Congratulations. You are now a Registered Codex Overlord.]
[Overlord System—Activated]
"What are you?" He muttered aloud, but there was no reply. No voice. No answer to his question. "Eva?" He called out. No response from his Artificial Intelligence either.
As he looked at the screen once again, he found that the only option that was accessible was a simple button: Close.
And he exactly pressed on that cross mark.
As soon as he did it, another holographic screen opened, quite identical to the previous one. And that masculine robotic voice returned as the words appeared on the screen.
"Memory integration will begin shortly."
"What's happening?" Qin Tianzhu furrowed his brows, thinking deeply. "The last thing I remembered is on the plane and Sssss" He hissed, clutching his head. "The plane crashed, that's right. And this body…" He gave another look at his muscles before glancing at the holographic screen with something like a loading pop-up. "Did I return to the past or something?"
Just then, as if the system is answering his doubts, the loading is finished, and his brain is flooded with 33 years of different sets of memories, all at once.