Xianyu seemed to hear someone speaking to him in an exaggerated tone:
"My dear friend, hurry up and remember. Remember your past life, and we can keep having fun together-"
He sank into a deep sleep. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself on a street paved with bluestone slabs.
This wasn't the Luofu.
For some reason, the streets before him felt both familiar and strange.
As though he had seen them for a hundred years, a thousand years.
As though he had once walked this road with certain people.
He looked up again. Illusory dark clouds gathered, and soon rain began to fall.
He looked around.
Suddenly, a child with short gray-blue hair appeared in his field of vision.
The child, who didn't even reach his thigh, had a pair of dazzling blue eyes.
They brought to mind lake waters and the deep sea in summer.
The child jogged toward a pavilion nearby.
An uncontrollable joy suddenly welled up inside him. He ran after the child and exclaimed in an outrageously exaggerated tone:
"You actually know to take shelter when it rains? You're so smart!"
The child stopped warily. Upon seeing Xianyu's smile, a hint of pity entered those eyes.
Where did this lunatic come from?
Xianyu understood that look, but he didn't get angry. He quickly stepped forward, grabbed the child by the back of the collar with one hand, and pulled out his Jade Abacus with the other to call someone over on the spot.
"I picked up a kid. They want to come home with me-"
Before long, the scene before him changed again, turning into a blinding white light. First came a rising elevator brimming with futuristic technology, then a road soaring into the clouds, with a stone gate ahead.
Xianyu seemed to hear countless people murmuring. Were they calling him Captain? Traveler? General? What other titles were there?
He couldn't make them out anymore.
Countless images flashed past, finally settling on a game interface made up of long blocks of text and unidentified graphics. "Start game" was written in the bottom-right corner.
The game description had too many words. He wasn't reading that.
As for the graphics, the art style was wild and the lines abstract. Crude was the only word for it. He could vaguely make out a ship.
The game was called "Xianzhou Simulator."
Xianyu instantly forgot everything that had just happened.
Only one thought remained in his mind.
What kind of low-budget PowerPoint browser game is this?
He clicked "Start game," and a line of text popped up.
[You will be the helmsman of this ship.] [A ship bearing the hopes of its people.] [Can it win the favor of "Abundance"-?]
Xianyu got it.
He looked again at the note in the corner-this was a little seafaring game full of love and peace (login restricted to children aged seven and above).
It was probably just a little game where he played a ship's captain.
Abundance probably meant high crop yields?
Next, a host of options popped up, such as egalitarianism, authoritarianism, materialism, and spiritualism.
He could build his ideal ship according to his preferences?
It was just a ship. Why did he need centralized authority? How had materialism and spiritualism gotten involved?
Xianyu looked carefully and discovered that each choice offered different bonuses.
Egalitarianism, for instance, increased the odds of generating gifted scientific geniuses.
Authoritarianism increased the population.
Xianyu chose egalitarianism and materialism.
Whatever else happened, he needed to get those expert numbers up.
Developing technology could never be the wrong choice.
As for authoritarianism? He was just a captain. Surely he didn't need to become a petty tyrant exploiting his crew, then turn pirate and plunder other ships?
After he clicked confirm, a map appeared, black with white dots.
Following the system's instructions, Xianyu saw only a small ship-shaped icon.
How small was it? It didn't even take up a tenth of the entire map.
He checked the labels around his ship. Space stations, planets, Stellar Destroyers—it had everything.
Xianyu was utterly floored.
What kind of false advertising is this?
The little seafaring game had instantly become a space strategy game.
Start with one ship and plunder all his resources? Was he really going to have to become a pirate?
He angrily messaged customer support.
[You call this a ship?]
The reply was pure mockery.
[Lol. Just tell me, is it or isn't it?]
Xianyu could only grit his teeth and open his ship. The PowerPoint-style interface before him instantly upgraded to 3D.
The desk before him was piled with documents, and an unremarkable-looking male NPC stood beside it.
Aside from a rather low combat stat, all his other stats were excellent.
The NPC reported all the energy, minerals, and money currently at his disposal.
Xianyu looked at the quest tab.
[Xianzhou Yaoqing] [Star Calendar Year 1400. You are the general of the Yaoqing.] ["Elation" stirs unrest within, while villains covet it from without.] [Enemies lurking in the shadows watch hungrily.] [Can you lead the people of the Yaoqing to immortality?]
Without another word, Xianyu opened the system's technology tree and fixed his eyes on a ship called the Colossus and the planet-killing weapon it could carry, "Neutron Annihilation."
This technology could destroy every intelligent life-form on an entire planet without damaging its buildings. Simple and efficient, it would do wonders for his fear of insufficient firepower.
Unfortunately, resources were limited at the start, so he would have to take it one step at a time.
Xianyu spent half his resources to launch the Colossus Project, only for the system to show that the research would take 130 months.
The NPC's expression was indescribable when he heard that, but he accepted the order anyway.
Soon, the NPC who had gone to relay his orders returned, struggling to carry an enormous stack of documents as he shuffled forward.
Thud-
The mountain of documents struck the floor with a dull sound.
The NPC smiled and spread his hands toward the pile, which was nearly as tall as the desk. "General, these are the documents you need to review-"
Xianyu: "..."
He sat at the desk, picked up the top stack, and examined the covers one by one. The dizzying titles grew longer with each document.
Xianyu sifted through them and found the one that looked simplest.
It was titled "Proposal for Changes to the Yaoqing's Road and Traffic Planning." It hadn't come from any institution, but from a local resident.
After reading through the document's heap of platitudes with a vacant stare, he finally found the point at the end.
In short, the road was too narrow and became badly congested during rush hour.
Xianyu opened the system map and found the relevant area.
He examined it carefully. The Yaoqing's roads connected in every direction and could easily meet its people's needs.
Especially the stretch mentioned in the proposal-that was already one of the wide ones!
It was easily wide enough for ten starskiffs to pass through at once.
During rush hour, only this road was jammed. There wasn't a single vehicle anywhere else. Why wouldn't they take another route?
If they would just take a detour, this proposal wouldn't exist.
Xianyu kept leafing through the documents, trying to extract the key points from the platitudes. After reading one after another, he realized that almost all of them were suggestions from residents.
Certain markers on the map matched up perfectly with the documents that had been delivered.
They also made it easy to verify whether the documents were truthful.
It was like having a god's-eye view. Even while he remained in the general's residence, he could use the map to learn about anything happening in every street and alley.
For example, one document claimed that the Alchemy Commission's limited resources made it difficult for residents to receive medical care. Its florid wording made it sound as though Xianyu would become a sinner condemned by the entire Yaoqing if he refused to expand it.
The request seemed reasonable, but once he opened the map, the reality was completely different from the document's description.
The Alchemy Commission's panel showed that its patient numbers were well within capacity. Even if an accident occurred and the number doubled, it could still handle them in an orderly fashion.
Xianyu stopped reading the documents and continued examining the map.
He found someone who was single-handedly lowering the entire Yaoqing's satisfaction rating by 30%.
The person looked miserable and complained, "Why doesn't the Yaoqing have four seasons? Why doesn't it rain? This feels awful! It doesn't feel anything like home!"
Quite a few people nearby agreed.
You want rain? That's easy.
It would barely cost anything.
Xianyu splurged on an amount of resources measured to two decimal places, notified everyone in advance, and made it rain on the Yaoqing.
After seeing the satisfaction rating rise, he continued looking at the map.
One resident vehemently declared that Starskiff Haven's location was completely unreasonable. It was too far from home-a whole five-minute walk.
Another resident complained about living too close to Starskiff Haven. The daily noise was too loud and would affect their fortune, so they demanded that Starskiff Haven be relocated.
Xianyu turned to ask the NPC, "Is compulsory education universal yet?"
He got it. He finally, completely got it. These were a bunch of brainless troublemakers.
What kind of troublemaker simulator is this?
I'm seriously afraid they'll make me so angry I'll kill them all.
Just as the NPC was about to answer, someone suddenly rushed in through the door.
The newcomer looked frantic and called out upon seeing Xianyu, "General, the Golems have seized control of the ship!"
Customer support started snarking at him.
[Can machines have feelings? Hehe, I find that question very interesting. Now they've answered with their fists.]
"Gather the troops. We're fighting."
Xianyu ignored the game message and stood up, deciding to lead the troops into battle himself.
Another person barged in, shouting, "General! The Alchemy Commission is short-staffed!"
Xianyu said, "Because of the Golems? How many residents are injured? Is it serious?"
The person said, "Because they got caught in the rain."
Xianyu: "..."
The person's eyes darted away as they struggled to speak:
"It was the Yaoqing's first rainfall. They got so excited they forgot to take shelter... Please rest assured, General. They're only ordinary colds. No one's life is in danger."
Xianyu: "..."
Since some readers mistook the Golems for residents and thought the machines in my story could get sick from being caught in the rain, let me emphasize that this takes place in Star Calendar Year 1400. The Xianzhou natives haven't received the blessing of "Abundance" or gained immortality, and this is their first encounter with a Golem uprising. The Golems are the enemies, while the residents are Xianzhou natives. Xianzhou natives are people, so getting caught in the rain can give them a cold...
Before you continue