Chapter 1: Transmigrated

“Young Master, Young Master, it is time to wake up and have breakfast.”

An aged but very stern voice rang in Zhao Hai’s ears. Zhao Hai didn’t pay much attention to it; he only felt a splitting headache. He assumed he had forgotten to turn off his computer and that a television show was playing in the background.

However, the voice continued: “Young Master, it is time to wake up. As an aristocrat, waking up on time is a good habit.”

Zhao Hai froze for a moment, because this voice did not seem to be coming from the computer. It sounded as if it were right beside his ear, and it felt incredibly real—it definitely couldn't have come from his cheap speakers.

Although his head was throbbing, Zhao Hai forced himself to open his eyes. What greeted him was not the white ceiling of his home, but a gauze canopy.

Zhao Hai was stunned. He turned his head and found himself lying on a large wooden bed. Standing by the bed was a man in his fifties with graying hair combed meticulously, wearing a stern expression and looking at him calmly.

Zhao Hai stared blankly at this stern old man, then turned his gaze to his surroundings. This was a house made of stone, extremely crude. Aside from the large bed he was lying on, the only furniture was a desk and a chair. The floor and walls looked as if they had just been cleaned. The windows had wooden frames covered with a layer of white paper, and a glowing stone hung from the ceiling for illumination. There was nothing else in the room.

At this moment, the old man spoke again: “Young Master, you are already fine. Please get up as soon as possible. As an aristocrat, one should have a regular lifestyle. It is breakfast time now, please get up, Young Master.”

Zhao Hai’s eyes turned toward the old man, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind: *I’ve transmigrated!* Immediately after, he felt a sharp pain in his head and fainted.

Seeing Zhao Hai pass out, Green Buda was slightly taken aback and hurriedly walked outside. Standing outside the house were four people: two men and two women. The two men were not old; judging by their appearance, they were only in their teens, but they were both over two meters tall. Their muscles looked like cast iron, their skin was dark, and they both had short hair. They looked exactly the same—they were twins—but their expressions were a bit dull.

Of the two women, one was older, in her forties, with a stout figure, blue hair, and a kind face. She was currently looking anxious.

The younger girl was only sixteen or seventeen years old, with long cyan hair, a small oval face, a petite figure, and fair skin. She was a rare beauty, but she was currently looking down with a blank expression.

Seeing Green come out, the older woman immediately asked, “Green, how is it? Did the Young Master wake up?”

Green nodded, then shook his head and said, “He woke up, but fainted again right after. Merine, was your magic ineffective? Or is there a problem with the medicine? Did someone tamper with it?”

Merine’s face turned cold. “If that’s really the case, I’ll fight those bastards to the death. Even if the Young Master is a bit of a jerk, he is the last bloodline of the Buda family. Have those bastards in the Empire forgotten how much the Master did for the Empire back then? Those ungrateful bastards.”

Green said sternly, “You should go in and take a look. If it doesn’t work, treat the Young Master with water magic again. No matter what, we must protect the last bloodline of the Buda family.”

Merine nodded, but then glared fiercely at Green. “If the Young Master recovers, you are not allowed to demand he follow those aristocratic requirements anymore. We’ve already ended up in this godforsaken place; to hell with aristocratic etiquette. Look at the faces of those nobles—just thinking about it makes me sick.”

Green looked at Merine helplessly, but still said sternly, “That won’t do. No matter what, the Young Master still holds the status of a Viscount. He must act like an aristocrat. I must teach the Young Master to be a true aristocrat so as not to fail the great kindness the Buda family has shown us.”

Merine glared at Green viciously. “If you dare to treat the Young Master like that again, I won’t cook for you. I’ll let you starve. We’re in a place like this now, and we don’t know how long we can hold out. Plus, with those people in the Imperial Capital, do you think the Young Master will ever have a chance to return to the Empire? Stop dreaming.”

Green gave a bitter smile and said nothing more. He knew Merine was telling the truth. The reason they were assigned to this barren, bird-won’t-lay-eggs place was because of the Empire’s King and the leading high nobles. If it weren't for the Buda family’s glorious past achievements, they probably would have wiped the family out entirely.

Although the Buda family still existed, it was impossible for them to ever enter the Empire’s aristocratic circles again. People would even deliberately forget that such a family existed.

What made Green feel most disheartened was that the King of the Empire, fearing the Buda family might rise again, had actually forced their Young Master—the last heir and the final hope of the Buda family, Adam Buda—to drink the Water of Nothingness.

This Water of Nothingness was a supreme treasure; the value of a single drop could not be measured in gold coins. This potion had only one effect: to turn one’s power into nothingness.

With just one drop, the Water of Nothingness could instantly turn a mage with the power of a God-rank mage, a warrior with the power of a God-rank warrior, or a God-rank knight into an ordinary person. From then on, they would never be able to use any magic or battle qi, and it was incurable.

Although this potion prevented one from using battle qi or magic, it had no other effect on the body; it simply turned the person into an ordinary human.

If the person were already an ordinary person, the potion would be no different from water. But if the person were an aristocrat or a powerhouse, it would instantly turn them into a magic-and-martial-arts cripple—a waste—dropping them from the high clouds into an bottomless abyss.

Adam Buda had been ordered by the King to drink this potion. He would never be able to learn any magic or battle qi in his life; he could only be an ordinary person.

If this had happened to another noble family, it wouldn't have been a big deal. At worst, he would just live as an ordinary person, drifting through life, and stop thinking about power.

But for Adam, this was fatal. He was the last heir of the Buda family. He needed power to revitalize the family’s glory and bring the Buda family back onto the historical stage of the Aks Empire. But he had drunk the Water of Nothingness. From then on, he could never learn magic or battle qi, and thus could never have the power to revitalize the family. The last hope of the Buda family was extinguished.

If it were just a lack of power, Green wouldn't be afraid. After all, he was an eighth-rank warrior, his wife Merine was an eighth-rank water mage, and his granddaughter Meg was a sixth-rank wind mage. With them, the Buda family’s strength was sufficient. If they were still in their original fief, it wouldn't be difficult for the Buda family to flourish again. After all, the original fief was in the south of the Empire, with one main city and four medium-sized cities, a large population, and fertile land. As long as they developed discreetly for a few years, the Buda family would thrive.

But he hadn't expected the King to swap their fief, moving them from the south of the Empire to the Black Soil Wasteland in the north.

The Black Soil Wasteland was a notoriously dead land on the continent. Although it was vast—covering a full third of the total area of the Aks Empire—nothing grew there. No plants grew; even plants that thrived in deserts would wither and die here.

Legend had it that the Black Soil Wasteland was once a fertile land, but a battle took place there where several God-rank mages jointly used a super-large forbidden spell, turning the land into a dead zone where nothing would grow again.

If it were just a dead zone, Green wouldn't be afraid. As long as the transportation was convenient, they could do some business and at least feed themselves. But the Black Soil Wasteland was surrounded by an abandoned dwarf iron mountain range. Over the mountains lay one of the continent’s five forbidden zones: the Rotten Corpse Swamp. This swamp also belonged to the Buda family’s fief. If you really counted it, the Buda family’s fief was the largest in the entire Aks Empire.

The only exit here was right next to the Versailles family’s territory. Although the Versailles family had a marriage contract with the Buda family, now that the Buda family had fallen to this state, how could they talk about marriage with the most powerful family in the Empire? This place had become a dead zone in every sense of the word.

Fortunately, this area was once under the Empire’s rule, so there was a small castle on that abandoned dwarf iron mountain. Since the mountain hadn't been affected by the forbidden spell, there was still some land on it that could be farmed, so they wouldn't starve to death.

After Green learned that their fief had been moved here, he immediately converted all the Buda family’s money into slaves, daily necessities, seeds, and tools. He then led Adam, who had been in a coma since drinking the Water of Nothingness, to this place and settled down in that abandoned but still usable small castle.

Coming with Green were his wife Merine, his granddaughter Meg, a pair of orphan twins named Wood and Stone that Adam’s father had adopted years ago, and one hundred slaves. There was no one else.

During the journey from the Empire to the Black Soil Wasteland, Adam had remained in a coma. Fortunately, Merine was a mage and could use magic to treat Adam from time to time, which allowed him to arrive safely. Yesterday, she had checked Adam’s condition and believed he would wake up today, which was why Green was at the bedside trying to wake him. However, none of them expected that the Adam lying on the bed was no longer Adam, but a shut-in from Earth named Zhao Hai wearing Adam’s skin.

(End of chapter)