Chapter 376: Overtime

The stone statue slowly cracked apart, and the Tu clan members clinging to it were struck like by lightning, melting completely amid screams.

Tu Wangjuan also melted, lying supine on the deck, gazing at the full moon on the horizon, her eyes half regret, half release.

Though she hadn't managed to survive as she wished, at least she died as a human—not as a vassal of the demon god.

Having seen so many dark futures, let me rest a while.

Tu Wangjuan's eyes slowly closed, then.

"How can you sleep at this age? At this stage? Do you have any ambition at all?"

The scolding voice jolted Tu Wangjuan awake.

Li Cheng moved swiftly: first he planted the Victory Flag Spear into the deck, activated the buff field to ensure Tu Wangjuan wouldn't die, then peeled off her melted flesh, removed her brittle skull, threaded optical fibers into the brain inside, and installed it into a crude robot.

The street where 【Zhu Xing Zhen Tai】 stood had many shops, mostly run by small and medium-sized guilds.

Following the principle of fostering goodwill with neighbors, these shops gradually presented small local gifts when 【Zhu Xing Zhen Tai】 first opened.

Including but not limited to firearms and ammunition, talismans and crosses, demon dolls, milk dragon specimens, and more.

One shop named 【King of War】 specialized in war machinery, initially promoting its flagship products as combat robots, robotic dogs, and drone swarms.

Unexpectedly, the maid and butler robots, meant as gimmicks, became unexpectedly popular, with sales rivaling those of the war machines.

Clearly, among battle arena players, a significant portion are homebound men and women who want romance but fear social hassle and don't want to go out to Pupule.

In short, 【King of War】 kindly gifted a blank humanoid robot template, perfect for this use.

Li Cheng ignored the horrified expressions on Lu Hu and the others' faces, quickly resurrected Tu Wangjuan, and shouted at her: "Do you know how to land this ship?"

With the death of the Frog God, the gravity field weakened further and further.

The bronze colossal ship, along with floating debris and half of Chi Hai Island, plummeted toward the ground.

Tu Wangjuan was forcibly awakened; the LCD screen on her head displayed a shocked emoticon.

o(д)

After freezing for two or three seconds, she finally reacted, clumsily shuffling her steps to the lower deck, fumbling with the complex machinery for a while.

The Tu family's fourth branch's prophetic ability stemmed from the Frog God; now that the Frog God was dead, the ability naturally diminished drastically.

Fortunately, she didn't need to pilot the ship perfectly right now.

After much effort, pulling countless levers and switches, the gravity field finally regained some strength, slowly lifting the bronze ship and Chi Hai Island to a rough landing.

After a prolonged roar, all fell silent; the drizzle ceased.

The ridge line was redrawn; twisted trees lay uprooted in cracked earth. Among the treetops, rodents scattered in panic—having survived both skyfall and groundfall, it was nothing short of a miracle of life.

"This time—"

Lu Hu took a deep breath, intending to say something, but the words dissolved into a sigh.

The dream of the Cangze King's ascension had finally shattered; the Frog God's three-thousand-year scheme had failed, and even Emperor Yong'an's lifelong wish for immortality remained unfulfilled.

After all this circling, this game had no winner.

But the thousand or so dead on the island were unquestionably losers.

"Immortal Master,"

Zhang Fulu bowed solemnly; ever since seeing Li Cheng stuff a human brain into a machine, he no longer regarded Li Cheng as human: "Immortal Master slew the demon god and quelled the tsunami. Your virtue blesses all living beings; your grace is boundless. I shall erect a stone monument to record your merit and eternally worship your divine trace."

"Stop, stop."

Li Cheng waved his hand, halting Zhang Fulu's flattery. He wasn't a transcendent who gained power through worship; ordinary people erecting shrines to him wouldn't feed him any incense.

"If you really want to thank me, just give me two martial arts manuals."

Even a fly's leg is meat; there are many martial arts schools on this shabby street that pay high prices to buy martial arts manuals from other worlds, seeking to absorb diverse strengths and broaden their horizons.

"Uh—"

Zhang Fulu's expression twisted; he pulled out a Dragon-Tiger Sword Manual from his robes, and others followed suit, handing Li Cheng the manuals they carried.

"Alright, this Frog God statue runs deeper than you can handle—I'll take it with me."

"I'm taking the ship too. When you collect the bodies on the island, burn them thoroughly with fire—don't let any remain on land."

Li Cheng called to Hui Yu, dismantling the bronze colossal ship into segments and stowing them all in a 3D storage unit.

Even ignoring the ship's own gravity-control technology, just selling the copper alone could fetch millions in cash.

Just as the remaining survivors were caught between laughter and tears, a rustling sound came from the distant thicket.

Heavy footsteps drew nearer; torchlight illuminated the night.

". Your Majesty?!"

Brother Sikong and Lu Hu were utterly stunned; emerging from the woods was none other than Emperor Yong'an, clad in a clumsy and heavy armor, surrounded and protected by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Unlike the proud, radiant image Lu Hu and others described, the real Emperor Yong'an was merely an ordinary middle-aged man, his face etched with exhaustion, temples streaked with gray, eyes slightly clouded.

Governing a vast empire of nearly two hundred million people, forcing it through the brutal struggle of nations to purge deep-rooted corruption and lumber forward toward revival and prosperity—this was simply too difficult.

Even a wise and profound emperor like Yong'an could not escape exhaustion and aging.

"You've done well."

Emperor Yong'an first nodded to Lu Hu and Brother Sikong, then walked straight to Li Cheng and performed a deep, respectful bow.

The surrounding Embroidered Uniform Guards tensed; they had barely seen the aerial battle from the ship, using telescopes. To them, Li Cheng was less a man and more a demon god wearing human skin.

Emperor Yong'an rose, turned his head, and said calmly, "All of you, withdraw. I have words to speak with the Immortal Master."

"."

The guards hesitated, then finally retreated into the woods, torches in hand.

Su Kuyu and other irrelevant parties also wisely followed the Embroidered Uniform Guards away.

Only Ku Yu the monk wore a solemn expression, still standing his ground; Lu Hu and Zhang Fulu feared he might say something untimely and urged him away, half-carrying him off.

By the deep pit, only Hui Yu, gleefully dismantling the bronze ship, remained, alongside Li Cheng and Emperor Yong'an, standing face to face.

With no outsiders present, Emperor Yong'an knelt without hesitation, burying his head deep into the sand, his voice hoarse and reverent: "I beg the Immortal Master—grant me immortality."

Li Cheng grinned. The moment he saw the Yong'an Emperor appear, he had already guessed how this conversation would go.

He didn't ask "on what grounds?"

Instead, he asked, "Why?"

The Yong'an Emperor drew a deep breath, still not raising his head. "My time is running out. Great Ming's time is running out."

"I have reigned for over forty years — subduing treacherous ministers, curbing the purists, pacifying the barbarians, stripping the feudal princes, lifting the maritime ban, founding newspapers, enlightening the people. The common folk loved me as a wise and saintly ruler; my ministers praised me as inwardly sage and outwardly kingly. Even the gentry and noble houses who lost out under the New Policies did not dare criticize me openly — they only dared write a few gloomy essays, sniping at me from the shadows."

"Rivers run clear and seas grow calm; the seasons are mild and harvests are bountiful. But only I know that Great Ming cannot hold on much longer."

"A hundred years ago, the Frankish Magellan had already completed a circumnavigation of the globe. The world is not merely the Two Capitals and Thirteen Provinces; Great Ming cannot forever remain the center of the world."

The Yong'an Emperor paused, his calm carrying a thread of resolve.

"Great Ming has already fallen behind. The Western Ocean nations are exploring and colonizing everywhere, staking out lands by horse and boundary stone — new technologies, new ideas, new schools of thought emerging one after another. Yet even the most enlightened, progressive men of vision in Great Ming, once they pass the imperial examinations or come into money, the first thing they think of is going back home to buy land."

"The moment I die, the regime will surely die with me. The suppressed factions — the Donglin Party, the Fu Society, the Eunuch Faction, the Zhejiang Party, the Shanxi Party — will surely return, dragging Great Ming once more into the abyss of land annexation. Everyone will fall back into the cycle of scrabbling in the dirt for food."

"With luck, Great Ming can shut its doors and hold on for another two hundred years. With bad luck, in fifty years perhaps the Central Plains will be thrown into turmoil, the Divine Land will sink, the Hu barbarians will spread their stench, and the Han's soil will be defiled for long."

"I am not willing to accept this!"

The Yong'an Emperor's eyes bulged with fury, his fingers gripping the soil tightly.

"Not one of my successors is fit for great tasks; not one of my ministers possesses the great wisdom, great perseverance, great courage to inherit my unfinished will. Every official thinks only of lying on Great Ming's flesh and blood, scooping up a fortune for himself, then another."

"Zhang Juzheng, Hai Rui, Qi Jiguang — too few. Yan Song, Xu Jie, Zhang Siwei — too many."

"I beg the immortal master to grant me longevity — not to extend my own life, but for Great Ming's hundred and eighty million common folk."

"I can rebuild Great Ming."

Silence.

Moonlight shone bright; the wind sobbed.

Li Cheng's lips slowly curled. His voice drifted, ethereal. "How firm is your will? Even if you can never rest, never be free of heart-weariness, forever a solitary ruler — even if you are not understood, but feared, hated, cursed — will you still hold to your original heart?"

The Yong'an Emperor finally raised his head, calmly meeting Li Cheng's gaze. "One who holds the world as a public trust does not fear wind and frost."

"Good."

Li Cheng hauled the Emperor up, stripped out his internal organs, and implanted mechanical ones. Then, using a data cable, he connected the Emperor's brain to a laptop.

His fingers flying across the keyboard, he said: "Aging is influenced by multiple factors — epigenetic changes, telomere length, telomerase activity, and so on.

Theoretically, cardiac muscle cells can run for 120 years; theoretically, brain neurons can run for 200 years.

I am using machinery to replace your internal organs, memory modules and a CPU to replace part of your neural cells, and solar panels to replace the digestive system.

This way, your theoretical lifespan reaches over three hundred years.

The entire procedure is not free. I have implanted a series of preset instructions in your brain — based on the state of the nation every ten years, a lifespan allowance will be issued to you.

GDP, the proportion of clean official administration, completeness of the legal system, technological breakthroughs, consumer spending, housing, education, social security — all of these are assessment metrics.

And they will be intelligently and dynamically adjusted, forcing you to work overtime day after day, leading your people to stand tall among the nations of the world.

And she is the Wallfacer assigned to monitor you."

Li Cheng pointed at Tu Wangjuan, not far off — unsure whether she should feel joy at being reborn or sorrow at becoming something inhuman. A melancholy emoticon was displayed on the LCD screen on her head.

(tдt)

"The prison will accompany you. This life-support apparatus is your new cell."

Li Cheng patted the Yong'an Emperor's shoulder, saying lightly: "Perhaps in two or three hundred years, you will be able to rely on humanity's own strength to soar into the nine heavens and gather the moon.

When that day comes, this life-support apparatus will hold no more secrets,

and you, too, will gain the right to clock off and retire."

(End of Chapter)