Star Gate

“Zhao Huaimin gave us a list of people we could use when he died. You’re on it!” He Yong said bluntly. “The director generals of the East and West Peak provinces were outright arrested and any rebels executed! Yao Si and Hou Xiaochen went to carry out orders there. You can give it a try if you think you can take me down instead!”

The South Peak director general sighed and lowered his head. The nine ministries were well and truly gone. The director generals of the North, South, East, and West Peak provinces were local overlords. East Peak marched under the royal family’s banner and West Peak had sworn fealty to the Ministry of Armed Forces. And now, their leaders were either arrested or executed on the spot.

Meanwhile, the South Peak director general had pledged his allegiance to the Ministry of Administration. His current straits demonstrated it to be a good decision. Zhao Huaimin had plainly exerted himself to protect those who depended on his family.

He did that even though he was about to die…

The director general raised a cupped fist in the direction of Skystar City. No one knew if he was thanking Li Hao or Zhao Huaimin, despite the latter being dead.

He Yong looked coldly at him. Those of the director general’s command trembled like leaves in the wind. On the other hand, the local Night Watcher director was rather excited. He’d been quite regretful that he hadn’t had a chance to properly fawn over Li Hao on the young man’s last visit. He Yong was here now, and the man held the title of the southern commander.

“Don’t worry, Commander He. I will demonstrate zero tolerance for anyone who dares make trouble! The South Peak Night Watchers will ensure your safety!”

He Yong flicked a glance at him, then tossed the golden booklet to the director general. “In addition, the province needs to be ready to stabilize market prices and possibly release food reserves to help refugees of various locations! The Skystar Commander Office will send people to coordinate this matter. That mundanes should starve to death in a world of superhumans is the greatest joke of all!”

Indeed, it would be ludicrous if superhumans were capable of everything but keeping civilians alive.

“Understood!” the director general took a deep breath.

“One last thing…” He Yong took out a list of names. “Arrest these people and kill those who resist!”

The director general took the list with a shift in expression. Although his subordinates behind him didn’t see the contents, they sweated profusely. Who was on that list?

The director general quickly scanned it and sighed to himself. Li Hao, ah Li Hao. I’d thought that there wouldn’t be a great disturbance this time, that you’d use gentle methods to settle the world. I… I thought wrongly.

“And one last thing…”

The director general couldn’t help but look directly at He Yong. You already said that, do you not know how to count?

He Yong didn’t care about the looks that people gave him. “The Sky Canopy Agency of the Skystar Commander Office will be here in a few days to install the sky canopies. Make sure you facilitate their work.”

“Sky canopies?”

“Yes!” He Yong nodded with a toothy grin. “The commander is going to open up communications beneath the heavens so that information flows freely and we can converse directly with the people! It would be another ludicrous joke if superhuman commands cannot make it out of Skystar City!

“Also, schools will be established throughout the land. Their locations will be determined first, then built…”

“The ground is frozen solid right now,” the director general couldn’t help but say. “It would be the greatest joke if we conscript the people for labor now. A lot of them will die!”

He’d managed to hold his tongue in the previous announcements, but couldn’t restrain his irritation now. “Building schools is a good thing. We all know that education opens the minds of the people. We’re not fools, we know that logic. The commander may mean well with this gesture, but he needs to understand that it can’t be accomplished with a clap of his hands…”

Those standing behind him shook with horror. He Yong looked like he could beat their superior officer to death with one punch!

“Who says we’re going to conscript the civilians?” He Yong snorted at the director general. “Who says they’re going to be pressed into labor? A group of supernaturals will arrive in a few days—roughly one thousand of them. The South Peak army will work with them to not only build schools, but refugee camps, repair roads, and maintain everything the province needs. Fix everything that needs to be fixed!”

“……” Everyone was stunned into silence.

“What?” The South Peak director general finally found his tongue after a long moment of quiet.

“Supernaturals, did you not understand me?” chuckled He Yong. “There are too many supernaturals in the world now—there’s more than one hundred thousand in the nine ministries alone! There were one million in the City of Supernaturals, and now countless supernaturals have no place to go and nothing to do.

“Commander Li wishes to overhaul our waterways this winter and reconstruct all of Skystar! One thousand will be arriving in South Peak first. Set up a proper delegation of duties first—you guys should be focusing on food. Of course, the commander will send rations, but the province needs to be prepared against unrest!”

Jaws sagged in the crowd. Supernaturals were superior members of society from the moment their cultivation path appeared. And now… they were going to be put to work? Repairing roads, building schools, and fixing everything in the province?

This… this was blatant humiliation!

“You’re having supernaturals do this kind of work?” the director general needed to confirm.

“Of course!” He Yong answered matter-of-factly. “They work fast and well. So long as there isn’t sabotage, the roads they lay will last for one hundred years! The houses they build are cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Their buildings can stand against the wind and earthquakes. In fact, their structures can even reverse rain and snow to a limited degree! It’s such a waste if they’re not put to work on our infrastructure.”

…damn! The crowd couldn’t recover from their shock. Such a waste? Are you listening to yourself?

The director general took a deep breath, nearly inhaling all of the air around him. “Is the commander… not afraid of eliciting an uprising in the superhuman domain from his deacons?” he asked in a low voice.

These were good propositions, but Li Hao’s usage of supernaturals as slaves would easily incite a rebellion. Supernaturals would find this a grave humiliation and exploitation of their skills!

“What are we afraid of? It’s not like we won’t be paying them, they’re not working for free!” He Yong grinned. “Any who bring their skills to bear in the form of labor will be paid with mysterious power! They’re just shifting their attention from their previous looting and killing to paving roads and erecting bridges. It’s a huge increase in safety!

“Do you think all supernaturals are willing to commit murder for a living? Do you think they’re all serial killers? There are definitely people willing to work for a living. And for those who are unwilling… we’ve got our ways, heh!”

The director general was more at ease when he heard that the supernaturals would be paid in mysterious power. But… wasn’t that a waste of resources?

“Is this being conducted in South Peak only, or will the same go for other territories?”

“This will be rolled out in all twenty-two central region provinces. More than thirty thousand supernaturals are being put to use in this manner, this is just the first batch. They’re the more biddable ones,” He Yong explained merrily. “The ones who aren’t listening to instructions need to be trained a bit more. We’ll take it one step at a time and there will be more people as time goes on.”

There weren’t too many in the first batch of supernaturals, just thirty thousand or so. It was a drop in the bucket compared to more than one million supernaturals. However, these were handpicked personnel that possessed milder natures and readily accepted orders.

They had no major crimes in their background and would serve for three months. They were weaker, so they would be paid in mysterious power. This group had been chosen from the City of Supernaturals and would regain their freedom after three months.

Apparently, riots had almost broken out in the city over these spots. Everyone wanted to go to work immediately! It was just three months—more were concerned that they’d die of anxiety if they were shut in the city for another three months.

“The commander… is wise!” The director general bowed to Li Hao’s wisdom.

It was the dead of winter and one thousand supernaturals were about to arrive in his province. Although that wasn’t many, they might be more effective than tens of thousands or even one hundred thousand mundanes. But if one hundred thousand mundanes served in this weather, at least thirty percent of them would die!

When the labor force was supernatural… he could use them at peak capacity and not have to worry about anyone dying. These one thousand supernaturals were the equivalent of one hundred thousand civilians.

“Don’t forget, the local army needs to participate in the labor efforts,” He Yong emphasized. “They need to take action to the best of their abilities and not sit idle. Trouble results when one sits around with too much energy on their hands! The commander is not ready to take large-scale action at present, but if unease filters through the military, the director general should know what the consequences will be!”

The South Peak director general nodded emphatically. “This subordinate understands!”

“Very good,” He Yong grinned. “South Peak is the threshold to the capital city. I’ve said all that needs to be said! It’s up to you guys whether you can accomplish it or not. Get your reports in as soon as possible if you lack personnel after killing a group of people. We’ll find a way to get more to you!”

“Understood!”

He Yong walked off. Seeing that he was leaving, the South Peak Night Watcher director couldn’t help but say, “Are you leaving already, sir? Why don’t you stay a while longer so this subordinate can be a proper host…”

He Yong looked back and leered at the man. “You don’t seem like a Night Watcher at all. Someone said last time that you started fawning over the commander as soon as he left. Apparently you used someone’s family to threaten a high ranking South Peak official…”

“That’s a misunderstanding,” the branch director quickly explained himself. “I was just…”

“I didn’t say that you did anything wrong!” He Yong barked with laughter. “You’re small fry and aren’t qualified to be a branch director. But you look like you have some skill to your name. You will be in charge of supervision when the supernaturals arrive at South Peak.

“Commander Li is placing a lot of importance on this mission. You’ll be richly rewarded if you perform well, but might even lose your head if you don’t!”

The man’s eyes widened with alarm. Going from the director of a provincial Night Watcher branch to a head supervisor… was a massive demotion! Was this action purely from He Yong, or did Commander Li truly place great importance on what was about to come?

The provincial director had wanted to draw closer to the Skystar Commander Office. Even if his abilities weren’t up to par, he didn’t need to be publicly humiliated, did he?

“This is wonderful, thank you for the support!” The man was wreathed in smiles despite his thoughts.

“Very good, then work hard!” He Yong roared with laughter. “A lot of shameless people have gathered near the commander lately. He likes this type of person! You’ve got a good future ahead of you!”

He left, leaving behind a dumbfounded group. The commander… likes shameless people? Surely not. But… wasn’t that the kind of person that He Yong was?

etvolare’s Thoughts

People keep questioning if the Silver Moon martial masters can math lol.