That day, there were enough events in the 3rd sector for a year to come.

A short, fat, looking like a meatball guy named XiaoBai chuckled, scanning the reports.

«…saved a guy named Kyon from vindictive wardens, drove off a mad servant. Good job, Mob. He deserves a promotion.»

…

It was the end of the working day.

Tired workers were gathering in the common room of the sector.

Byron was upset because his friend got hurt in the unfortunate brawl. He went on stage, looked around the slaves, waved his hand, and instructed the following:

«A number of events happened today after which six wardens got severe injuries. The new ones have to be elected. The group that has lost a warden must choose a new one from the members of the group. You have five minutes.»

The most outstanding activists were nominated for the positions. They even tried to get Kyon in there, but he quickly refused the offer: the slaves of the 2nd rank were forbidden to take part in the auction.

Soon, six wardens stood on stage.

Kyon was surprised to see Borya among them, smiling from ear to ear.

Byron came down from the stage with a gloomy look and gave the guy a sign to join him in his room.

After a short conversation about today's events, Kyon left his private room and went to Mike, who was sleeping in the bedroom. {You must finish what you start.} - He repeated to himself the words of his master.

The young man went through the same procedure. First, he checked the state of Mike's body: the man was doing better with each day. Then he infused a portion of Synergy into him. At the very moment when Kyon took his hand from Mike’s forehead, the man suddenly opened his eyes and grabbed him by the wrist.

{I've become used to it, it’s like deja vu all over again.} - Kyon thought blankly.

Mike stared at the guy with glowing eyes, without weakening his grip:

«I knew you were behind it! You helped me to recover, didn't you?»

«I did.» - The guy nodded sincerely and a little tired.

«Why did you do that?»

«You remind me of an old friend of mine.» - Kyon lied after some hesitation.

Mike let go of his hand:

«Thank you, Kyon. I can’t give you anything. I am sorry…»

«It's okay.» - The young man shrugged and went to his bedroom.

The man watched him go, still amazed at what he’d done for him. {There is good in the world…}

Kyon fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.

*dream*

The bell rang, announcing the beginning of the second working day.

Kyon stretched and yawned. He began to remember his dream about his previous life.

Day after day, year after year. Now his memories were sorted out and imprinted by Synergy in the smallest details from his birth to 22 years old. His last day in that world…

At the age of 16, Lovr, aka Kyon, reached the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (5) in Synergy development. It was his golden age. He had a busy life, besides regular training. As he was the leading student of his generation, he was granted access to the portal cannon which helped him get to any point of the populated galaxy. Traveling through the worlds, discovering the culture and traditions of different peoples, making friends and tons of unforgettable impressions… It had opened up thousands of opportunities for him.

It went on like that until he was 20 years old. He had an active social life, studied Science, created something new, traveled, faced tests and trials, played games…

One day, his former tutor visited him and offered him to take a test of the new generation. The task was to steer the planet Earth in the right direction. Lovr agreed, and the masters put him in the hypnotic phase, imprinting his consciousness in the projection of his own Synergy.

Lovr found himself in the body of a 30-year-old man on a small planet Earth in the year 2000.

The time in the real world was 500 times slower than in the projection. 1 year in reality was equal to 500 years spent in the simulation. Lovr didn’t age, and if his “body” accidentally died, he would be reborn again, at the beginning of the test.

He faced the challenge of populating 30 planets with Earthlings.

There were only two restrictions. 1) He could not use Synergy. 2) He could not recreate the technologies. He had to wait until people created them on their own. However, it was not forbidden to “push” them to technological breakthroughs.

Lovr earned his first billion dollars in the financial markets the first year he lived in that world, in 2001, thereby joining the board of major players.

By 2004, Lovr had bought several major innovative technology companies. He drew the attention of certain big people, who intended to bring the newly minted “shark” under control.

The game where finance and influence ruled the world interested Lovr a lot. He’d experienced multiple attacks, schemes, tricks, traps, and deceptions… He didn’t only face challenges, he had to live and breathe in all that for quite a time. Then an aggressive market takeover started. There was a long fight that lasted for many years. By 2010 Lovr had become the most influential man on the planet. He was the owner of all the giant innovative corporations. No one else could keep up with him. He’d become the elite of the elite.

By 2012, he had rebooted the economy of the planet and erased the ruling figures: the higher families, oligarchs, billionaires, and the ruling elite. Those people were the cancer of the planet. Their interests often diverged. Their greed and, sometimes, the absence of common sense, led to catastrophes, wars, genocides. The presidents were just pawns in their hands. In a nutshell, it was the unacceptable face of capitalism.

It would be a stupid idea to unite them. Such people were able to cooperate only in the face of a common enemy. In other cases, it was nothing but lies, profanity, and manipulation aimed at personal gain. Unfortunately, human beings are greedy for power and resources, which was the main problem. It could be solved in cruel, radical and often inhumane ways. Lovr had to take tough and resolute actions, destroying the cornered lunatics who could do serious damage. If a pawn is taken, it has to leave the board and not stab in the back.

By 2016, he’d become the single ruler of Earth. However, he ruled behind the scenes. The only thing that made him sad was that he couldn't have children. It was a serious shortcoming. However, he’d never been interested in the girls created by his Synergy. It was kind of complicated, his own hand looked more real to him.

By 2020, there had been created commonwealth financial network based on Blockchain, it made Forex look like a baby brother. It made possible to create a single electronic currency, where no monetary transaction could be removed from the system. Special computers could track any corrupt actions.

A little later, he conducted a massive campaign of attaching chips to a person. Even to the people who lived in the third world countries. The discontented were threatened with severe consequences. Mass riots lasted long, but the result was worth it. The chip could not be just pulled out. It was attached to vital blood vessels. In case it was removed by force, the carrier of the chip died. Thus, all kinds of currencies in metal or paper form had successfully exhausted themselves, and the single currency had no competitors. A single person had absolute power over it. It was an ideal lever to control the world, financial flows, and direction of development. Lovr was omnipotent.

Capitalism as a concept perfectly suited to rule over masses was completely destroyed, to be more precise, replaced by its hybrid, where people were given space to dominate. They could unleash their animal desires, but with highly limiting rules.

People were allowed to earn money, employ workers. It was also possible to gain some influence and power. There was a limit, though. The empire didn’t let anyone rise above a certain level. The chips tracked everything... The fraud was detected at the planning stage, by analyzing the sound signals, the movement of fingers on the keyboard... Corruption with money or property transactions was impossible. State meant everything, people were nothing before it. Everybody knew that. It privatized all major niches, and people served as tiny but integral cogs and wheels in that well-established mechanism. They were content with their role, as all their basic needs were fulfilled.

The lack of brilliant people was a real challenge. However, cerebral sorting tackled the problem. Geniuses were identified at teenage. After that, they could express themselves in many different ways, depending on their talent.

The global goal that lots of elitists pursued, namely, a decrease in population or its control, had run its course.

People could not breed like rabbits, as there were strictly limited by chips. It blocked in the brain the mechanism of getting pregnant if the person had more than two children.

The fight against drug addiction did not take much time, but smoking and alcoholism gave Lovr a hard time. The human body gave up the usual and beloved poison with great reluctance. The Overton window helped, but the whole process lasted far too long.

By 2030, all the resources of the planet were used as effectively and efficiently as possible. Nature blossomed with new colors. Water bodies were finally clean. The air grew more transparent. Human impact on the environment had been reduced to a minimum. The key to addictions like smoking, alcohol, and drugs had been found.

Science had gone beyond reason. Quantum computers, artificial intelligence, biorobots, and much more had become public. Genius people and competent planning carried out by Lovr led the Earth in the right direction.

However, things were not always smooth sailing for Lovr. The programmers in the real world had introduced special tests, like natural disasters, intelligent opponents, dangerous meteorites, and so on. Lovr had triumphed over all challenges he was chasing, using the humankind as his hands.

To get out of the simulation, he had to populate 30 planets, and that required great technology and a very long time.

Only by 2978, he had accomplished all he had set out to do. Mission complete. He still looked 30 years old. He never died, never got stuck. He did it. Everything was like a dream, only a too realistic one. The time between then and now seemed to last a moment or, maybe, it dragged for eternity. The information Kyon received didn’t turn him into a thousand-year-old sage, he remained the same great flirt of a teenager.

And when they asked him: «You have been in the simulation for about a thousand years, haven’t you? Wasn’t it long enough to sow some wild oats and start thinking with your head, not your penis? I can’t believe that a thousand-year-old sage will be as lecherous and amorous as you are…»

Lovr replied: «It was not me who had spent a thousand years in the simulation, but my consciousness copied by Synergy. My mental age has not changed. I just turned twenty-two years old, and I love sex with beautiful girls as befits a guy of my age. I prefer real ones, not the girls created by Synergy from Synergy... I don’t like fake people if you know what I mean.»

According to the scientists, the sixth degree was penultimate. Reaching beyond it was out of this world. Lovr had become a legend. But he didn't think he had done anything special. Anyone with sufficient knowledge of economics, espionage, manipulation, and mass management could do it. Some of the tests his masters provided required much more sophisticated methods that wouldn't drag for almost 1000 years, which would make them trivial. And yet, the sixth degree of Synergy and universal respect gave him confidence – perhaps, too much confidence, something which he could not always control.

{That lightning was the embodiment of Synergy reaching Doctor of Science degree... I could rebuild my body, control the micro-interactions of atoms up to quarks. I could change structures and matter, give consciousness, transmit information to people. I felt the entire universe but... Hadn't I reached the Supreme mandate? Why are the last days kind of a blur? What happened then? What happened to me when I was 22 in that life?} - His irritation mixed with bitterness. “To know a lot while missing the point.”

Kyon finished with his memories and snickered in the end. Once he was the Emperor of many planets, and now he is just a slave in the mine. How low he has fallen.

He went to get washed, leaving the stinging irony aside. He had to find his new warden. By some irony of fate, it was the same lucky man, the constant witness to the ordeals the young man was facing. By the way, his name was Vassily. After his promotion to the rank of the “boss,” Kyon managed to take a look at his formation.

The guy came to the common room, quickly found his team and headed towards them. He joyfully winked to Vassily who swallowed nervously and got into line. At the checkpoint, he spotted grumpy Bob and happy Mob with a bandage around his hand.

The supervisor was physically incapable to hold back his smile. After the accident, Martha red in the face kissed him on the cheek. And he lost his mind. Love filled his heart like a blooming flower.

{It’s... so... cute. The man in his forties behaves like a snotty teenager.} - Kyon smiled to his thoughts.

When the guy was passing Mob, the supervisor did not think it was beneath him to shake his hand, he also gave him an almost friendly pat on the back. It was one of those jaw-dropping moments: was it the same supervisor who despised and hated slaves?

In the next 2 hours, Kyon did a good day’s work, which left the other workers in shock again. He was ready to leave.

The new warden was scared of the strange boy, yet he decided to stand firm as his authority was at stake:

«W-wait! The working day is not over yet!»

«I’ve done my quota of work. What else?» - Kyon responded rather rudely.

«N-no, it is not allowed to walk around the mine without a warden! It is punishable.» - The poor man stuttered. Then he met Kyon’s narrowed glance and lost all his desire to “show who is the boss here.” The man shuddered and made a couple of steps back, waving his hands as if taking his words back.

«I'll be down here.»

Kyon walked around the mine, then turned into a dead-end hallway, settled comfortably on more or less pure land, to practice the elements in peace. He began to give mental orders to his soul, but nothing happened. He stimulated all the motor neurons, and at some point, the keys spun. It could take a month of practice for an ordinary person to do that.

{Eh, it’s like moving a new part of the body, more precisely, nine parts of the body!}

With each turn, any of the 9 keys sucked a small flow of energy from the environment and sent it through the channels to the soul itself. {Is this what it’s like to absorb neutral energy?}

The process itself was somewhat similar to the modeling of a snowball to create a snowman. With each turn of the key, the energy turned around and gradually moved through the channels into the soul.

He didn’t have to focus on the rotation, the absorption happened automatically.

Kyon experimented for 40 minutes and found out that the keys had a strict limit of the absorption rate, which could not be transcended. To recover quickly, he needed a large density of neutral energy of his grade, no other way. It was written in the books, that the currency of the external world was the crystallized energy in the form of spheres. With its help, it was possible to speed up the process of energy absorption to the maximum possible rate.

As for the 10th key, Kyon did not understand why but it worked quite differently. It didn’t make sense to rotate it, as Synergy got released only through willpower.

At some point, Kyon had filled his soul with neutral energy to the top of his head. It felt like his whole soul was a balloon filled with air. It was his own energy, working to his advantage.

When he completely mastered the process of neutral energy absorption, Kyon went on to release it. He fiddled a bit more with the keys and found out that if rotated in the opposite direction, the energy would be spent instead of being absorbed.

Kyon turned the key backward and felt something prickly, slimy, with the consistency of steam flowing out of his soul.

It was a fascinating feeling of slow devastation of his soul.

(the author's comment: I don’t want you to have any unrealistic expectations about the MC because of this chapter, do not raise the bar. The purpose of the chapter is to describe the method of getting the 6th degree of Synergy, not to make a point that Lovr is a cool tough guy. If you do not take MC as an emotional loving guy with a supercomputer in his head, he will live up to your expectations.)