The Stars and the Emperor

Han Xu had watched with his own eyes as this camp ballooned outward like an inflated balloon.

Just a few months—three? Four? Or perhaps only two?

It had gone from a wooden camp of merely dozens of people to a town of over ten thousand.

Buildings rose one after another, roads stretched outward, and fields were cleared piece by piece.

People from nowhere streamed in, then quietly vanished at some unknown time.

Perhaps one day, he too would vanish from here like those people who had disappeared.

Crack!

Just as the ragged young man was lost in thought, a whip lashed across his back.

"Get to work! If this road isn't finished in two days, you'll have no choice but to become stars!"

"Haha, stars? You mean comets, right?"

"A bunch of trash, working this slowly!"

Several tall, burly overseers freely whipped the laborers digging ditches and leveling the road with all their strength.

Han Xu was furious but dared not speak. He only worked faster, dumping his cartload of gravel onto the road before grabbing a shovel and spreading it out.

"How can you do this? There are so many bulldozers, so why aren't you using them? Why make us do this by hand?"

An even younger youth, who looked barely eighteen, flushed red as he protested indignantly.

There were several whip marks on his back as well.

"Oh, you dare talk back? This was ordered by the higher-ups. Got the guts to go ask them?" The short, fat overseer immediately flew into a rage.

Several lashes struck the youth again, whipping him until he rolled all over the ground.

His legs, arms, and back were covered in thick, bloody welts.

"Enough, enough. Don't beat him to death. There's a death quota from above. If too many people die,