'Getting sick from the rain?! In the end, don't tell me you're going to blame me?!'
'When can't you get sick?! You just had to wait until the Mara-struck made trouble to get sick…'
The Colossus Project could only be temporarily set aside.
"The Cloud Knights and the Alchemy Division's logistics must keep up."
Zero forced down his anger, not forgetting to remind the NPC responsible for guiding him, "As for the documents about city and road layouts, ignore them all. The rest you decide on your own, if you're not sure then wait for me to come back."
He, under the shocked gazes of everyone, lowered his head and rushed straight to the very front, lifting his sword and treating the Mara-struck as unreasonable troublemaking scoundrels, stabbing one sword after another.
As he fought, a Cloud Knight at the side suddenly hugged Zero's thigh and cried out loudly, "General! Please rest, please!"
Zero opened the system, checked the subordinate's status, and saw stamina had long been exhausted.
After having seen residents who wouldn't even hide from the rain, he felt that no matter what kind of bizarre thing appeared, it was no longer strange.
'Out of stamina while farming mobs? Why not go rest? Why would you willingly degenerate and work overtime?'
'What? I'm the General? I'm the capitalist? Then it's fine.'
Zero suppressed the hostility born from hacking monsters, and as peacefully as possible said, "If your stamina is not enough, then go rest."
Seeing the other absolutely refuse to let go, he then forcefully said, "This is an order."
Zero broke free of his subordinate's arms, threw aside the weapon in his hand whose durability was spent and on the verge of breaking, casually snatched his subordinate's weapon with practiced ease, and abandoned the group of Cloud Knights, continuing to clear monsters.
He vaguely heard the sharp explosive sound behind him.
"Hurry and call the Strategist Chief ahhhhh!!"
As the number of battles with the Mara-struck increased, their patterns became clear, their attack modes more or less the same.
Precisely and ruthlessly breaking the core that provided energy for the Mara-struck, the machines would immediately shut down.
[Victory in war obtained!]
[Xianzhou regained control of part of the region]
[Seven regions still controlled by the Mara-struck, estimated 45 days required to completely clear]
[Prestige +100, Materials +150]
Zero opened his inventory. Empty.
He asked the game customer service.
[Where are the materials?]
[On the ground.]
Zero scanned the surroundings. Countless Mara-struck lay collapsed in disorder, the floor hacked by weapons until its original appearance could not be recognized.
A massive Mara-struck three people tall was spewing black smoke, its limbs all severed, lying on the ground in a twisted posture, with sparks occasionally bursting from it.
Zero fell silent.
'Why didn't you say earlier?! If I had known, I would have gone easier! How much money will this cost to repair?!'
The NPC guiding him and the head of the Engineering Division arrived late.
The person in charge's hair was white, and upon seeing the tragic scene, then raising his head to look at Zero, his entire face was written with fright. He let out a sky-shaking goose call, and with a "ga" collapsed on the spot.
The disciples of the person in charge all rushed forward, crying out in unison, crowding around to carry the old man away.
Only then did Zero realize belatedly that the NPC guiding him was the Strategist Chief.
And the place that had been chopped into a ragged mess was the Engineering Division.
Zero, "...I don't need to pay for renovation costs, right?"
Strategist Chief, "…No, but if Lord Engineer is in trouble, you will need to take responsibility. General, perhaps you should go look in a mirror first?"
Zero casually picked up a long blade, using its blurry surface as a mirror, and saw a man with a face full of blood.
'Wait, aren't the Mara-struck bloodless?'
"Three days and nights of sleepless battle with the Mara-struck… I really don't know what to say. If you keep fighting, you'll be setting a record, becoming the shortest-term General in the Xianzhou."
"Hm? Setting a record? Is there a reward for it?"
The Strategist Chief ignored Zero, and said to the person beside him carrying a medicine box, "Trouble the Medical Chief to examine the General."
The Medical Chief felt his pulse, his face wrinkled like an orange peel twisted up even tighter. His pair of small but spirited eyes immediately squeezed out two bubbles of tears, and with a hoarse voice said, "General, you must absolutely take care of your health! With you here, the people of Xianzhou can be at ease!"
Looking at the doctor's reaction, it was like he himself was about to die.
Zero glanced at the HP bar. It hadn't hit zero. Swiftly pulling back his wrist, he prepared to grab the sword and continue fighting.
The Strategist Chief could no longer endure, "General, do you want me to take over the position of General?"
Zero blurted out, "There's such a good thing?"
The Strategist Chief's expression darkened, staring at the sword in Zero's hand, as if the next moment he would erupt and seize it, hacking his superior with several strikes.
The Strategist Chief endured again and again, took several deep breaths, and calmly spoke, "After you left, I sealed off Xianzhou's external ports. Aside from the Alchemy Division transporting essential supplies, no one is allowed passage."
"Worthy of being my Strategist Chief, you considered thoroughly. Right now the internal situation is in chaos, and indeed we have no spare strength to face external hidden dangers. If external troubles arise, that's not something you or I can resolve. Anything else?"
The Strategist Chief came closer, lowering his voice, "Some people are clamoring to leave Xianzhou and migrate to other planets."
"From outside?"
The Strategist Chief shook his head.
Zero opened the map to check, and discovered this group of troublemaking residents directly lowered satisfaction by 30%.
'This familiar value…'
Zero accepted it.
Anyway, he was a reasonable and kind person.
The other side had a demand, then fulfill it.
He said, "Native people, right? Want to leave? Fine, people go, money stays. After all, with the mess the Mara-struck made, we also need funds to repair."
Strategist Chief, "..."
The subordinate suspected his superior's brain had some kind of problem.
Zero sighed with emotion, continuing,
"Don't look at me like that, crude words but the logic isn't crude. Obviously, they care for Xianzhou. Even upon leaving, they can't rest assured about their homeland, so they gift us all their assets… It's impossible that they see trouble in their homeland and can't wait to run off like white-eyed wolves, right?"
He then regretfully added, "Of course, we definitely wouldn't take their money. In the end, they were so forceful, nearly clashing with us. Finally, they didn't even board their ships, just left Xianzhou on their own."
'I understand, first seize wealth, then silence them.'
The ones who made the most trouble and caused conflict were thrown out of Xianzhou.
"Alright, General." The Strategist Chief couldn't hold it anymore. "Should I call the Medical Chief again to check your brain?"
Zero chuckled, spouting nonsense.
"No need, I'm mentally ill."
[Achievement unlocked, 'He's already mentally ill, just give him a break']
Zero, 'You scolding again?'
[Granted mental illness buff]
[Trigger condition, Someone thinks you're sick]
[Effect, Orders you issue are rarely refused, proposal pass rate +10%, domineering aura +15%, subordinate institution efficiency +15%]
Zero instantly equipped the buff. 'With this bonus effect, who could resist?'
He was mentally ill, so what? What about it?
Under the indescribable gaze of the Strategist Chief, he gave a radiant smile.
"Since I learned they got sick from the rain, flooded the Alchemy Division, I felt I must be a mental patient. Hurry, check into the one who clamored for migration and the one who suggested making it rain, they're too suspicious."
Strategist Chief, "Alright, I'll investigate. Please don't speak angry words… You must take care of your body, change medicine and take medicine on time, I'll send a medical officer to watch you."
Zero accepted the Strategist Chief's proposal, began to slow his pace, and followed the Cloud Knights' rhythm.
When their stamina was exhausted, he also rested with them. Whenever he had free time, he called the Strategist Chief over to help reduce his subordinates' burdens.
Zero faced the residents' demands on the map, resolving the mountain of documents one by one.
Thanks to the buff increasing institution efficiency, their speed was much faster than the system's estimates.
He led the Cloud Knights from the outermost region all the way to the very center of the ship.
Amid countless NPCs' discussions like "Isn't the General tired?" "He hasn't slept for thirty days." "In the end who are the Mara-struck?", finally, he cleared all the way and saw the final boss.
Zero, with HP just a step from death, gritted his way and ground the boss down to death.
When the system finally displayed the event was resolved, he let out a breath of relief, at the same time waving away the Alchemy Division doctor beside him whose expression had turned gloomy and twisted after feeling his pulse.
The feeling was like grinding through a hell-map for dozens of hours, finally reaching full exploration in Sumeru, equally exhausting.
His head was dizzy, his limbs weak, and he was forcibly carried into the Alchemy Division.
Lying on the sickbed, swallowing a mouthful of bitter decoction medicine, Zero, wanting to relax his body and mind and hypnotize himself, opened the map.
The always-protected residents, "The Cloud Knights fighting battles every day is too suffocating! It's been a month already! Still not finished! Can't you open places for men to indulge themselves, release happiness? Let us relax a little?"
Zero, on the verge of death, jolted upright.
[You Xianzhou [curse word], you really deserve death!]
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/XenosX
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰