A wharf.
On the quietly anchored Hog’s Kiss, a few sailors left behind took care of things on the ship, most of them were at the wharf’s taverns, gambling and amusing themselves.
There was a warehouse on the wharf.
A hard and exquisite wooden box’s lid had been opened, exposing the commodity inside.
“Ah, this is?!” Zhen Jin was unable to restrain his emotions as he stood in front of the box.
This what he saw: laying in the box, there was a blond youngster with closed eyes, as if he were asleep. No matter whether it was the wing of the nose, eyebrows, arms, or ankles, they were an exact copy of Zhen, he was even the same height.
“My Lord, this is the body double prepared for you.” On the side, Zi Di smiled.
“Incredible! Too incredible. It isn’t possible to find such a perfect body double!?” Zhen Jin exclaimed repeatedly.
Zi Di explained: “Of course I didn’t find it; this was made and transformed. He is a beastified person.”
“A beastified person?” Zhen Jin’s pupils slightly contracted, he soon recalled some relevant information. “This kind of living weapon seems to be becoming very popular. Especially in recent years, they have appeared in more and more wars in every continent.”
“As expected, your Lordship has extensive knowledge.” Zi Di lightly clasped her hands during that sentence.
A beauty fawning over him made Zhen Jin very comfortable.
Zhen Jin faintly grunted, then pursed his brows again: “But why is he a carbon copy of me?”
Zi Di answered: “Because this beastified person was specifically custom-made for your Lordship.”
“How can it be custom-made?” Zhen Jin’s eyes flickered with awe and his heart inwardly exclaimed in admiration, “The Wisteria Merchant Alliance deserves to be called only second to the six great merchant alliances, it’s no wonder father agreed to this marriage connection. The Wisteria Merchant Alliance has immense connections, they have access to many dark corners and hidden and dangerous characters. Even if it was ruined, it cannot be despised.”
Zi Di continued the presentation: “The weapons manufacturer made this beastified person according to our request. You can see he has your exact appearance, height, and so on. More importantly, he is just like your Lordship, a knight that cultivates battle qi. His battle qi has already reached the silver level.
Zhen Jin’s heart immediately shivered as he asked: “Isn’t it hard to capture a silver level knight, a possible city lord?”
Zi Di shook her head and smiled: “Our Merchant Alliance didn’t engage in such a dangerous affair. It was supplied by the weapons manufacturer.”
Zhen questioned closely: “then, what is his identity? Is he a noble child or a commoner promoted to knighthood?”
Zi Di continued to shake her head: “We don’t know, be at ease, his original memory has already been wiped, currently he is a blank slate. Even if he woke up now, he wouldn’t know who he was. He will be loyal, devoted, and listen to our commands until death.”
“This beastified technology really makes things easy.” Zhen Jin sighed while a feeling of crisis grew in his heart.
With a silver level knight around, wouldn’t his iron level cultivation become even smaller?
“Anyways, I and Zi Di are connected by marriage, I am also a templar knight and the Bai Zhen Clan’s sole heir. They wouldn’t dare to harm me.”
Thinking on the spot, Zhen Jin’s brows creased deeply, he made out how the beastified person could be abused: “A blank body double, how can it act like me?”
“Regarding that, please look at this, your Lordship.” Zi Di revealed an object to Zhen Jin, “We naturally have preparations.”
Zhen Jin looked and found a milky white crystal pillar in Zi Di’s palm.
“Angel tears?” Zhen Jin slightly raised his brows, “No, that is You Can’s memory crystal!”
Zi Di smiled: “Your Lordship’s deep insight and knowledgeable words of this tool is a truly delightful affair.”
You Can was the legendary founder of necromancy and the sixth most wanted in the world.
Their exact race was unknown and unsearchable, most intelligence referred to him as a successful heretical priest that stole the divine power of many gods.
That was a difficult task.
They repeatedly deceived the gods successfully, made them think they were their believer; thus, they imbued their divine power into You Can.
Many strong figures guessed this, maybe You Can stole so much divine power for private research, allowing him to successfully create necromancy magic.
You Can also deceived many divine artifacts, letting him develop memory crystals.
From the outside, this crystal seemed similar to angel tears. This artifact could modify and duplicate the memories of living beings.
Every time You Can changed their identity and believed in a different god, he would place his memories into the memory crystal and inject false memories into themselves.
Thus, he deceived himself without any flaws, then he deceived various gods.
“Excellent!” Zhen Jin rubbed his hands and laughed heartily, “As long as we duplicate memories, we can instill them into the body double. If that happens, he will practically be my lookalike.”
“But……” Zhen Jin thought of something that produced a new apprehension.
Zi Di knew what he was thinking and immediately persuaded: “My Lord, despite your misgivings, the Bai Zhen trump card and secrets of the templar knight legion will not leak. After being instilled with memories, he will only believe he is Zhen Jin, why would he leak secrets that harms himself? We will tightly control the memory crystal and modify him if necessary. We will not transfer some critical memoires to him. We will be the only ones handling this memory crystal. I am indeed your Lordship’s fiancée and a magic cultivator; I don’t want or need these trump cards. Our interests are identical, Lord Zhen Jin.”
Zhen Jin nodded: “You are right. In fact, the clan’s battle arts, trump cards, and more have already been leaked. As losers, these things have already been hoarded in the imperial library. These battle arts and trump cards also require our Bai Zhen Clan bloodline to display their true worth.”
Zhen Jin looked at the sleeping body double, his heart growing increasingly satisfied: “Not bad, by using this body double, I will be very safe. Silver level battle qi is also enough to compete for the White Sands City lordship position. My battle qi is too low. My Lord father really proved himself. I now wholeheartedly approve of his decision to collaborate with the Wisteria Merchant Alliance, the benefits truly are amazing.”
Seeing Zhen Jin’s expression change, Zi Di knew he approved of her plan, thus she softly said: “Lord Zhen Jin, next you will duplicate your memories, and there are some things you need to pay attention to.”
“First, we don’t need to duplicate unnecessary memories. Because people are forgetful, even we can’t remember everything that happened in the past.”
“Second, I ask you don’t overlook any important moments in your life. If any are omitted, the body double might treat an enemy as a friend, complicating things for us.”
“Third, please do your best to duplicate positive memories, allow the body double to think he is a templar knight and an outstanding noble child. This will display more of his value.
Zhen Jin’s appearance turned solemn as he repeatedly nodded.
Zi Di’s words were reasonable, and he quickly thought of Qing Kui, An Ge, and some others: “Haha, let my silver level body double deal with them. When they see me suddenly promote to silver level cultivation at last, they will surely be amazed.”
A short period of time later.
“My Lord, how are you feeling right now?” Zi Di inquired.
Zhen Jin slightly shook his head: “Besides the memory duplicating causing a headache, I am fine.”
He attentively gazed at a mirror in front of him.
In the mirror, was a youngster with a rapier around his waist. He had black hair, black eyes, and dark skin, with his hair naturally swept up.
Zhen Jin looked at the novelty in the mirror: “As expected from potions mixed personally by Duke Ai Mei, I am a completely new person! What’s a good name for me?”
Zhen Jin thought for a bit and declared a few names, but Zi Di shook her head and vetoed all of them: “My Lord, your names are too noble. You are acting like a mercenary now; a mercenary name needs a bit of vulgarity. It would be better to call you Hei Juan.”
“Hei Juan? What a terrible name.” Zhen Jin shook his head, but soon shrugged his shoulders, “No matter, let's use that name.”
Zi Di looked at Zhen Jin’s rapier: “My Lord, please give that rapier to the body double.”
To that, Zhen Jin was very firm in his refusal, without the slightest hesitation, he shook his head again and again: “No, that is out of the question.”
“My father personally bestowed this to me, its name is Silver Lightning, it is a gold level weapon and an auxiliary sword of the nine Wonderful Light Swords.”
“This precious sword must be in my care!”
Looking at Zi Di, Zhen Jin then said: “However you can feel at ease, although the Wonder Light Swords are world renowned, there are many auxiliary swords, it is rare for others to know of one.”
Zi Di nodded; “In that case Lord Zhen Jin, you can rest now. Your Lordship’s room is already ready, it also has the wharf’s most beautiful female dancer in it. Of course, she doesn’t know your true identity. Treat it as something that will familiarize yourself with your new identity.”
“Hahaha.” Zhen Jin laughed heartily, “I’ve never done these activities with the identity of a bottom rung mercenary, this will be very amusing. Ah Zi Di, all of this has made me very satisfied, you're not bad. I already approve of you, perhaps in the future, you really can qualify as my wife. But will you not accompany me tonight?”
Zi Di smiled, she bent her knee and bowed her head, covering her despicable expression as she softly said: “I am very sorry your Lordship, the Hog’s Kiss will be sailing tomorrow, but there are still many things that need to be dealt with.”
“Hahaha.” Laughed Zhen Jin, “Then go do your business. You must continue to work hard; it is not easy if you want to become a noble’s wife with your identity and bloodline.”
“I will keep your Lordship’s words in my heart!”
Notes
Here, have some answers, it will only produce more questions. Zhen Jin translates to Golden Needle, one could consider it a slightly altered version of ‘silver spoon’. Silver spoon of course, is a euphemism for a spoiled rich kid known for their arrogance and general incompetence. Such a strange name for the author to give to someone that everyone praises for their vision, fairness, and bravery. All in all, your typical arrogant young master that Zi Di is unfortunately forced to deal with.