Had he somehow wandered onto the set of a palace intrigue drama?
"Yes, Marshal. If you don't mind, I could also..."
The Sea Queen Subordinate put on a coy act and winked at Xianyu.
The Burly Subordinate added, "I've selected a thousand fair-skinned beauties for you. When would you like to summon them?"
Xianyu: "..."
His expression crumbled instantly.
What on earth were you spending our precious funds on?!
One look at Xianyu's expression told the Sea Queen Subordinate exactly what her boss was thinking.
What kind of dedication was this? He'd stayed single for centuries without ever dating, yet all he could think about was the Xianzhou's funding...
She sighed inwardly, then stepped forward.
"We hadn't even officially begun the selection process. The moment the young women of the Xianzhou heard we were choosing candidates for the Marshal, they all rushed to sign up. We carefully screened tens of thousands of profiles to narrow them down to these thousand."
Xianyu didn't understand, but he was deeply shaken.
"Personally, I don't care that much about my reputation, but you... what on earth are you doing?!"
If word got out, wouldn't he, a lifelong bachelor who'd never dated anyone, become an insatiable lecher in everyone else's eyes?
His views on relationships were still pretty traditional, okay...
Surely that could wait until he'd cleared the game?
Besides, the relationship had to progress step by step. Not a single stage could be skipped.
His subordinates immediately fell silent. Then, in the awed tone of someone spotting a rare animal, the Sea Queen Subordinate exclaimed, "Our Marshal can get angry!"
"Wow-"
The other subordinates seemed to snap out of their daze. They exclaimed in unison, then began chattering among themselves.
"Wow, isn't this the first time the Marshal has lost his temper with us?"