Nuoding City, Central Plaza.
This had once been the site of the City Lord's Mansion. Now it had been leveled, replaced by a vast plaza paved with smooth alloy and large enough to hold tens of thousands of people.
At the very center of the plaza stood a strange metal device. It looked like a giant glass cabinet, its interior filled with complex pipes and an energy core glowing with a flickering blue light.
At that moment, Li Mude, the former governor of Nuoding Province, and more than a dozen captured noble officers were dragged in like dead dogs by the Tyrant Guards and thrown in front of the metal device.
"No... don't kill me! Lord Qin Feng! I was wrong! I really was wrong!"
Li Mude was weeping and blubbering, not a trace of a governor's dignity left. He kowtowed desperately, smashing his forehead against the hard alloy floor until it was a bloody mess.
"All my property is yours! I've got dozens of mines in my name! You can have them all! Please spare my life!"
The nobles behind him were all so terrified they wet themselves. A foul, stench-filled odor spread through the air.
On top of the city wall, Qin Feng watched the scene coldly.
All around the plaza, and in front of every giant screen in the city, countless Nuoding City residents stared fixedly at the images. Their eyes brimmed with bone-deep hatred and a hint of satisfaction.
"Silence."
Qin Feng's voice boomed across the city through the loudspeakers.
The noisy plaza fell silent in an instant.
"Li Mude." Qin Feng's voice held not a trace of warmth. "You just said that your life and your property belong to me?"
"Yes! Yes! They're all yours!" Li Mude nodded frantically, as if he'd latched onto a lifeline.
"Good." A playful chill crept into Qin Feng's voice. "I accept your 'offering.'"
"Now, it's time for you to fulfill your value."
As soon as he finished speaking, two Tyrant Guards stepped forward, hoisted up Li Mude, who had collapsed like a puddle of mud, ignored his screams and struggles, and forcibly secured him inside the glass cabinet.
"Click."
The transparent alloy door sealed shut, trapping Li Mude's wails inside.
"Th-then what's that? Are they going to execute him?" a citizen asked quietly.
"No." Qin Feng's voice sounded again, like the whisper of a demon. "Death would be too good for him."
"Today, I will demonstrate a whole new field of science to everyone in Nuoding City."
"The subject is called—On the Resource Recycling of Corrupt Officials."
On the screens, Qin Feng's image vanished, replaced by a close-up of the inside of the glass cabinet.
Countless tiny mechanical arms extended from its inner walls, driving a series of probes crackling with electricity precisely into Li Mude's fat body.
"AAAHHHH—!!!"
Li Mude screamed soundlessly, his body convulsing violently.
A cold, mechanical voice began explaining the process to the entire city.
"Test subject 'Li Mude' detected. Height: 1.7 meters. Weight: 213 kilograms."
"Body fat percentage: 52%. Classified as severely obese. Contains a large quantity of biological material convertible into high-purity energy."
"Initiating Phase One: Fat liquefaction."
"Bzzzt—"
Several pale blue beams shot down from the top of the device, scanning Li Mude's body with the precision of surgical knives.
As the people across the city watched in utter horror, the thick layers of fat on Li Mude's body began melting at a visible speed!
They weren't burning or evaporating. Like butter, they turned into pools of murky yellow liquid!
The liquid was forcibly drawn through the pores in his skin and fed into the collection pipes at the bottom of the device.
Li Mude's body rapidly shriveled, going from a ball of fat to a skeleton wrapped in skin—but he wasn't dead! The probes were pumping life-support fluid into his body, keeping him conscious so he could feel every moment of this excruciating torture!
"Holy crap! What the hell is that?!"
"They're... sucking out his fat?!"
"That's... that's incredible! And scary as hell!"
The citizens watched, their scalps prickling, yet they couldn't help feeling a sick thrill.
"Phase Two: Biomass energy conversion."
The mechanical voice continued.
The yellow liquid that had been extracted was fed into the energy core at the center of the device.
"Vooom—!"
The energy core flared to life, and its internal temperature instantly climbed to several thousand degrees!
Under extreme heat and pressure, the "fat" was broken down into its most basic elements—carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen—then recombined into pure energy!
The energy meter on the side of the device began climbing at a frantic rate!
"100 kilowatt-hours..."
"500 kilowatt-hours..."
"1,500 kilowatt-hours..."
Finally, the reading stopped at the astonishing figure of "3,588 kilowatt-hours"!
Inside the glass cabinet, Li Mude's body, drained of all its fat, was reduced to ashes by the energy's aftershock.
A living person had simply vanished.
Turned into a number.
Qin Feng's voice rang out at just the right moment, carrying the weight of judgment on the old era.
"Li Mude, governor of Nuoding Province. For thirty years, he preyed on the people and plundered their wealth."
"Today, he has finally made the only contribution to the people of his life—and his last."
"3,588 kilowatt-hours of electricity."
"This energy will be fed into the city power grid free of charge, enough to provide more than five hundred households with free lighting for a month."
"What he squeezed out of you, he's now given back in another form."
The entire city fell silent.
A full ten seconds passed.
"Rumble—!!!"
Thunderous cheers erupted from every corner of the city!
"Good! Well done! He deserved it!"
"That's what he gets! That's what he fucking gets!"
"Waaah... My son was killed after he was conscripted by him! He deserved to die! He deserved it!"
Countless citizens embraced one another in tears. They knelt on the ground and kowtowed frantically to Qin Feng's image on the screens, their faces alight with frenzied fervor and adoration!
On the plaza, the dozen or so noble officers who had survived had already wet themselves and collapsed on the ground. Even passing out had become an unattainable luxury.
They stared at the empty glass cabinet and seemed to see their own futures inside it.
[ Ding! Your "Science Cult" faith has been completely consolidated! Nuoding City's popular support has reached its peak! ]
[ Ding! Your reputation among the common people has reached "Adoration," and among the nobility, "Fear"! ]
[ Ding! You have gained a massive amount of shock points! Total: 1,200,000! ]
Qin Feng paid no attention to the system notifications.
His gaze swept over the nobles, who had completely broken down. His voice was cold as ice.
"Now it's your turn."
"Would you rather become part of the city power grid like him, or... become a blade in my hand, pointed at the old world?"
"W-we'll be your blades! We will!" one noble shouted, the first to react, scrambling forward on hands and knees.
"Good."
Qin Feng snapped his fingers.
"Brother Wolf, give them the Thought Seal, then send them back."
"Have them tell the Heaven Dou Imperial Family—and every fool still clinging to the old era."
Qin Feng's image appeared on every screen in the city. His gaze seemed to pierce through time and space, landing somewhere far in the distance.
"Nuoding City is independent, starting today."
"Next stop: the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan."
"So I say."
Before you continue