You Really Deserve to Die!

Was it from getting soaked in the rain?! Were they going to blame me in the end, too?!

Of all the times to get sick, why now?! Why wait until the Golems started causing trouble...

The Colossus Project had to be put on hold for now.

"Make sure logistics keep up for the Cloud Knights and the Alchemy Commission."

Xianyu forced down his anger and reminded the NPC guiding him, "Ignore all documents concerning city and road layouts. Decide everything else yourself. If you're unsure, wait until I get back."

Under everyone's astonished gazes, he charged straight to the front, raised his sword, and treated the Golems like unreasonable troublemakers, stabbing them again and again.

In the middle of the fight, a subordinate suddenly clung to Xianyu's leg and wailed, "General! Please take a break-"

Xianyu opened the system and checked his subordinate's status. Their stamina had long since run out.

After seeing residents who wouldn't take shelter from the rain, he felt that no amount of bizarre behavior could surprise him anymore.

Out of stamina from grinding mobs? Why not go rest? Why stoop to working overtime?

What? I'm the general? I'm the capitalist here? Never mind, then.

Xianyu suppressed the aggression he'd built up from killing monsters and said as calmly as possible, "If you're out of stamina, go rest."

When the subordinate refused to let go, he added firmly, "That's an order."

Xianyu broke free of his subordinate's arms, tossed aside his own weapon, which had exhausted its durability and was on the verge of snapping, and smoothly swiped the subordinate's weapon. Leaving everyone behind, he continued clearing monsters.

He vaguely heard a shrill shriek behind him.

"Someone get the Chief Strategist, aaaaaah-"

After enough battles with the Golems, he figured out their routines. Their attack patterns were largely the same. Once he smashed the cores supplying their energy with precise, decisive strikes, the machines immediately shut down.

[Victory in battle!]

[Yaoqing has reclaimed some of its territory]

[70% of the territory remains under Golem control. Estimated time required to complete clearance: 45 days]

[Prestige +100, materials +150]

Xianyu opened his inventory. It was empty.

He asked the game's customer support.

[Where are the materials?]

[On the ground.]

Xianyu scanned his surroundings. Countless Golems lay scattered in every direction, and the floor had been hacked beyond recognition by weapons.

A massive Golem three times a person's height was belching black smoke, all four limbs severed. It lay twisted on the ground, occasionally giving off stray sparks.

Xianyu fell silent.

Why didn't you say so sooner?! I would've gone easier on them! How much would it cost to fix all this?!

The NPC guiding him and the head of the Artisanship Commission arrived belatedly.

The gray-haired man took in the devastation, then looked up at Xianyu, his face filled with terror. He let out an earth-shattering goose-like honk, then passed out with a squawk.

His disciples swarmed around him, crying as they carried the old man away.

Only then did Xianyu realize that the NPC guiding him was the Chief Strategist.

He also realized that the place he'd hacked to pieces was the Artisanship Commission.

Xianyu said, "...I don't have to pay for the renovations, do I?"

The Chief Strategist said, "...No, but if anything happens to the Master Artificer, you will be held responsible. General, perhaps you should look in a mirror first?"

Xianyu casually picked up a saber and saw a blood-covered face reflected in its hazy blade.

Wait, didn't Golems have no blood?

"You fought the Golems for three days and nights without sleeping or resting... I truly don't know what to say. Keep this up, and you'll break the record for the shortest-serving general in Xianzhou history."

"Huh? Break a record? Is there an achievement reward?"

The Chief Strategist ignored Xianyu and turned to the person carrying a medicine chest. "Sorry for the trouble, Chief Alchemist, but please examine the general."

The Chief Alchemist checked his pulse, his orange-peel-wrinkled face scrunching up even further. Tears immediately welled in his small, keen eyes as he rasped, "General, please take care of your health! Your presence is what gives the people of Yaoqing peace of mind!"

The doctor's reaction made it look as though Xianyu was about to die.

Xianyu glanced at his health bar. It hadn't hit zero. He briskly pulled his wrist back and prepared to grab his saber and keep fighting.

The Chief Strategist finally lost patience. "General, are you trying to make me succeed you?"

Xianyu blurted out, "You mean I can get that lucky?"

The Chief Strategist's expression darkened as he stared at the saber in Xianyu's hand, looking ready to lunge forward, snatch it away, and give his superior a few vicious slashes.

The Chief Strategist restrained himself again and again, took several deep breaths, and said calmly:

"After you left, I sealed Yaoqing's ports to the outside world. Apart from the Sky-Faring Commission transporting essential supplies, no one is permitted to pass."

"That's my Chief Strategist for you. Very thorough. Things are such a mess internally that we really have no resources to spare for potential external threats. If more trouble crops up outside, it won't be something you and I can handle. Anything else?"

The Chief Strategist leaned closer and said quietly, "Some people are demanding to leave Yaoqing and move to other planets."

"People from outside?"

The Chief Strategist shook his head.

Xianyu opened the map to check and discovered that these troublemaking residents had dragged satisfaction down by a full 30%.

That suspiciously familiar number...

Xianyu was speechless.

But he was a reasonable, exceedingly kind man.

If they had a need, he would meet it.

He said, "Locals, right? Want to leave? Sure. They can go, but their money stays. We need to pay for repairs after all the trouble the Golems caused anyway."

The Chief Strategist said, "..."

The subordinate began to wonder whether something was wrong with his superior's brain.

Deeply moved, Xianyu continued:

"Don't look at me like that. It may sound crude, but the logic holds. Obviously, they care deeply about Yaoqing and can't stop worrying about their homeland even as they leave, so they're donating all their assets to us... Surely they're not ungrateful bastards itching to run away the moment their homeland is in trouble?"

He sounded terribly regretful. "Of course we wouldn't take their money, but they became so heated that they nearly came to blows with us. In the end, they left Yaoqing alone, without even taking a Starskiff."

Understood. Confiscate their wealth first, then silence them.

Throw the loudest troublemakers who started conflicts out of Yaoqing.

"Understood, General." The Chief Strategist couldn't hold back anymore. "Shall I call the Chief Alchemist back to examine your brain?"

Xianyu chuckled and spouted nonsense.

"No need. I'm mentally ill."

[Achievement unlocked: He's already mentally ill. Cut him some slack]

Xianyu thought, Are you insulting me again?

[Mental illness buff granted]

[Trigger condition: Someone thinks you're mentally ill]

[Effect: Few people will refuse your orders, proposal approval rate +10%, domineering aura +15%, subordinate department efficiency +15%]

Xianyu equipped the buff at lightning speed. Who could resist bonuses like these?

Yes, I'm mentally ill. So what? What did mental illness ever do to you?

Under the Chief Strategist's indescribable gaze, he flashed a brilliant smile.

"The moment I found out they'd gotten sick from standing in the rain and packed the Alchemy Commission to bursting, I decided I was mentally ill. Hurry up and investigate whoever's demanding to move away and whoever proposed making it rain. They're far too suspicious."

The Chief Strategist said, "Understood. I'll investigate. Please stop speaking out of anger... Do take care of your health, change your dressings on time, and take your medicine. I'll send a physician to keep an eye on you."

Xianyu accepted the Chief Strategist's suggestion and began slowing down, matching his subordinates' pace.

When their stamina ran out, he rested along with them. Whenever he had spare time, he summoned the Chief Strategist and helped lighten his subordinates' workload.

Using the residents' needs displayed on the map, Xianyu worked through the mountain of documents one by one.

Thanks to the efficiency bonus for subordinate departments, they progressed far faster than the system had estimated.

He led everyone from the outermost areas all the way to the very center of the ship.

Amid the NPCs' comments of "Doesn't the general get tired?" "He hasn't slept in thirty days," and "Which one's the Golem here?" they finally cleared their way through and reached the final boss.

With his health barely above the point of dropping dead on the spot, Xianyu stubbornly wore the boss down and killed it.

Only when the system finally showed that the event had been resolved did he breathe a sigh of relief. At the same time, he waved away the Alchemy Commission physician beside him, whose expression had begun turning dark and twisted after checking his pulse.

It felt as exhausting as grinding through a hellish map for dozens of hours and finally reaching 100% exploration in Sumeru.

His head spun and his limbs ached with weakness, and everyone carried him into the Alchemy Commission.

Lying in a hospital bed with a mouthful of bitter medicine, Xianyu opened the map, hoping to relax his mind and body and lull himself to sleep.

The residents who had been protected all this time said, "Why is Yaoqing always at war? It's so depressing! It's been a whole month! And it's still not over! Can't you open somewhere men can let loose and enjoy themselves? Let us relax a little?"

Xianyu shot upright from his sickbed, despite being at death's door.

You [Xianzhou profanity]-you really deserve to die!