Chapter 1819: Duke Star

"But in all the years past, humanity only produced a few Tier 9 Demigods... How could so many more appear in this recent period?" Jing Si was completely puzzled. "Where did these ten Dukes... pop out from?"

Eunuch Zuo looked at him meaningfully:

"Others naturally aren't qualified to know these things... but Young Master Jing Si has the opportunity."

"The White Egret Division is responsible for gathering intelligence from all over the world, and naturally, it will involve secrets about those Dukes. Once you arrive at the White Egret Division and meet that new Chief, you will naturally know."

"New Chief?" Jing Si asked in surprise. "Has the head of the White Egret Division changed?"

"Once you arrive, you will naturally know."

Eunuch Zuo seemed determined not to say anything more to Jing Si. He led Jing Si through the palace and finally arrived in front of a side hall.

"We're here." Eunuch Zuo said. "This new Chief of the White Egret Division has just finished meeting with His Majesty and is organizing materials in the side hall... I will leave you here. You can talk to him yourself."

Jing Si looked at the gate of the side hall and bowed respectfully to Eunuch Zuo:

"Thank you, Eunuch Zuo."

Jing Si knocked on the gate of the side hall, and after a faint "Hmm" came from inside, he pushed the door and entered.

As the wooden door opened with a creak, a rich scent of paper mixed with dust rolled into Jing Si's nostrils, making him cough twice subconsciously... He frowned and looked forward, only to see dense wooden boxes almost filling the entire side hall.

Some of these wooden boxes were already open, while others remained sealed. In the center of the side hall, a figure stood calmly.

It was a youth wearing simple cloth clothes, with a simple hairpin in his hair, and tools like an ink marker and chisel—which Jing Si didn't quite understand—hanging from his waist. His hands were slender, his face capable, and he didn't have the bureaucratic air Jing Si had originally imagined, but instead radiated a craftsman's aura...

The youth raised his eyes and glanced at Jing Si casually. At the same time, an indescribable air pressure enveloped Jing Si's heart!

This was not the youth actively releasing aura to suppress him, but a habit in his every move. Jing Si had been raised by Lord Wei since he was a child and was very familiar with the aura of such powerhouses... But he could clearly feel that the youth's aura before him was even far above Lord Wei's!

This is a...

Tier 9 Demigod?!

Jing Si felt the aura of a Demigod at such close range for the first time and was stunned in place for a moment.

"You, are Jing Si?" The youth looked him over and shook his head, seemingly a bit disappointed. "I thought they would send an experienced old guy to assist me... I didn't expect it to be a youth."

"If I had known, I wouldn't have taken this hot potato and would have just honestly gone to research new things..."

The youth thought for a moment, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

"I know..."

"How about this: from now on, I will hand over all the affairs of the White Egret Division to you... including my share of the salary, how about that? You help me handle these messy files, and when you encounter trouble you can't solve, come find me."

The youth seemed to have completely immersed himself in his own world, throwing the entire White Egret Division to Jing Si in a few words, and then, as if relieved, completely relaxed.

Jing Si: ???

"Chief..." Jing Si's mind was blank. "You... you..."

"Now, you are the Chief. I am only one in name." The youth said seriously.

"..." Jing Si never expected things to unfold in this way. He hesitated for a long time before asking, "May I ask... how should I address you? Which Duke are you?"

The youth suddenly fell silent.

"The name from the past... is no longer important." The youth paused for a moment. "In this lifetime, I only have the character 'Star'... They all call me Duke Star."

"In this lifetime?" Jing Si's eyes were filled with confusion.

"What? Did no one tell you?" Duke Star said calmly. "We Dukes are all Demigods who attained the Dao in history, only to be forcibly resurrected from the Ghost Dao to live another life..."

These words fell into Jing Si's ears like a thunderclap.

Demigods from history?

Forcibly resurrected?

The impact of these words on Jing Si was too great; he couldn't imagine such a thing... No wonder Demigods were popping up like bamboo shoots after rain in this era. So it was because they had resurrected past Demigods?

"Resurrection is already going against heaven, and having to occupy someone else's body to cultivate from scratch... in the end, one will inevitably suffer the backlash of destiny. I really don't want to do such things." Duke Star shook his head.

"But His Majesty is right. Now that human civilization is about to be annihilated, someone has to stand up and hold up the sky for the people."

Jing Si had just entered the White Egret Division and heard a shocking secret. It took him a long time to recover:

"Then you... are which Demigod from history?"

Duke Star didn't answer.

He just quietly looked at a scroll in his hand, and after a long while, smiled with relief.

"Just an inconspicuous grain of sand on the Craft Dao." Duke Star said faintly. "If you want to know, there is a secret about us Dukes in the box over there. Go look at it yourself later... You are the Chief of the White Egret Division, you have this authority."

Duke Star gently placed the scroll in his hand on the table and walked step by step out of the side hall.

When he passed by Jing Si, he took out a small, exquisitely crafted mechanical bird from his sleeve and handed it to Jing Si:

"If you encounter trouble, just flick the third feather on its tail, and you can contact me."

After saying this, he walked out of the side hall gate without looking back and vanished without a trace.

Jing Si held the mechanical bird, standing blankly in the empty side hall, not having recovered yet.

He had originally been ordered to come and assist this new Chief of the White Egret Division... but this Chief had directly become a hands-off manager, dumping everything on him... but he had no idea how to handle these affairs at all?!

Jing Si looked at the room full of scrolls and materials, feeling his temples throb with pain.

Just then,

His gaze fell on the scroll Duke Star had just been holding.

He walked step by step to the desk and picked up the book. It seemed to be a book with quite a bit of age, and on the simple cover, four characters were written neatly:

—《Tiangong Kaiwu》 (The Exploitation of the Works of Nature).

Seeing these four characters, Jing Si's mouth opened involuntarily... A name that only existed in textbooks suddenly jumped into his mind. He turned his head abruptly and looked in the direction Duke Star had left.

He is...

Jing Si's hand holding the book trembled. He suddenly thought of what Duke Star had just said, rushed to a wooden box, and opened it. Inside, there was indeed a thin sheet of paper lying there.

That was the highest secret recording intelligence about the various Dukes.

Jing Si picked up the sheet of paper and scanned the many names...

"This..."

Jing Si was dumbfounded.