The early morning in Ruyi City found Bai Zhongqi slowly awakening, feeling refreshed and clear-headed. After washing up, he went out to the courtyard of his official residence to exercise his body.
He was the first Earthling to undergo Genetic Advantage Liberation, and in a very short period of ti, his physique had significantly improved, although he didn't know exactly how much his lifespan had been extended.
According to estimates, the average Earthling's body should gain at least a hundred years of extended life after undergoing Genetic Advantage Liberation, but individual variations could not be fully determined.
Bai Zhongqi had already distinctly felt that his energy was better, his strength greater, his speed faster, and even his sleep had improved. He had just undergone the enhancent, so he was particularly aware of these changes, while the people of Iridium Star took their own physical quality for granted and felt nothing special about it.
Just two days ago, Bai Zhongqi had tested the power of his punches and, even with his physical abilities still stabilizing, a single punch exerted more than two tons of force. To the eyes of Earthlings, the current Bai Zhongqi was like a silverback gorilla in human skin, a superpower user from the comics.
He could now directly hold a person by their legs and tear them in half (Is the precise term for this action "tearing" or "forcing"?).
It was unimaginable that every soldier in the entire Iridium Star military was at this level, or even higher. For example, there was a Sergeant Major who had left a deep impression on Bai Zhongqi; his individual strength was so great that Bai Zhongqi was very curious about it.
What made Bai Zhongqi even more curious was the Star Warrior master, Nan Ma, whose abilities surpassed what ordinary people could understand.
This man had a very low presence in Ruyi City; he wasn't a public official, and he didn't like to show his face too much. Bai Zhongqi wasn't clear about what this guy did every day. Bai Zhongqi's understanding of the Star Warriors mainly ca from Iridium Star's data banks, but the information he saw there was fragnted and only made things more confusing the more he read.
These rare Star Warriors were an important combat force in many interstellar civilizations. So civilizations even developed specialized weapons against the abilities of the Star Warriors. Saying that a Star Warrior master could punch a small asteroid into dust might be an exaggeration, and Bai Zhongqi didn't fully believe it, but the Star Warriors definitely possessed so mysterious abilities.
After breakfast, Bai Zhongqi had originally planned to inspect the progress of the orbital construction group as usual, but, to his surprise, the perplexing Nan Ma actually ca to him.
"Good day, your respected Chancellor," greeted Nan Ma whenever he saw Bai Zhongqi, always wearing a playful and sowhat frivolous smile. Bai Zhongqi didn't mind this, as just a week ago, he was an ordinary man without status or background.
Even though he had rapidly found his place in the Iridium Star United Empire and started on his path to personal ambition, it was hard to change many habits and attitudes overnight.
"Good morning, Master Nan Ma," Bai Zhongqi replied, quite surprised, as the man held no position and wasn't under Bai Zhongqi's control nominally, so Bai Zhongqi was sowhat wary of him.
Nan Ma knew to exchange pleasantries when he ca in, and asked Bai Zhongqi, "How does it feel to return to the Empire, Your Highness? You've been quite active in Earth's orbit these last few days. If it were the Empire of old, just the layers of approvals and equipnt allocations would have taken an unknown amount of ti. Explore more adventures at empire
Now that you have returned to your Empire, just a single thought from you brings about what the previous Empire's bureaucrats would need a long ti to achieve."
This kind of thinking was actually not uncommon among the Iridium Star people; they were known for their high efficiency and were quite decisive in their actions. But for Bai Zhongqi, who thought of sothing one second and had a swarm of construction ships dispatched the next, this level of efficiency was definitely beyond the comparison of ordinary administrative structures.
The Iridium Star people didn't have any particular doubts about this. In fact, for the past five thousand years, they had been largely governed by the Supre Command. The Imperial Chancellor guided the direction of the Empire and brought it long-term prosperity and greatness, so people were very accepting of Bai Zhongqi's actions. Essentially, nothing was different from before.
Benefits-wise it was the sa, as all decisions made by Bai Zhongqi were not based on harming the interests of the Iridium Star people themselves. On the contrary, nearly everyone benefited from Bai Zhongqi's decisions, so the level of trust was high.
Bai Zhongqi chatted with Nan Ma idly for a bit and then asked him, "Master Nan Ma, I'm sure you're here for a reason."
Nan Ma chuckled and said, "I've just learned a Chinese phrase, 'No one visits a temple without a cause,'—I think that's how it goes. Indeed, I do have a little matter for which I've co to see you."
Bai Zhongqi curiously asked, "What is it that Master Nan Ma needs my help with?"
Nan Ma took out a tablet from sowhere and waved it in front of Bai Zhongqi, who could clearly see that it was a warship anthropomorphization ga developed by a dostic gaming company catering to hobodies. Bai Zhongqi himself had played this ga on his phone before and rembered vividly the astonishing "volu" that the artists designed for the ship girls.
Without a hint of embarrassnt, Nan Ma said, "I've been a bit addicted to various Earth gas lately. Although they are simple by our Iridium Star standards, akin to vintage, they are quite intriguing. I was playing so web ga the day before yesterday, where just clicking hands you a 'dragon-slaying saber,' but hack-and-slash got boring after a while.
My ga character was bullied by soone—a 'pay-to-win' player—and in a fit of pique, I stopped playing that ga and switched to this one. Hehe, this ga is fun, collecting ship girls."
Bai Zhongqi wasn't sure whether he should consider Nan Ma a fellow enthusiast and tell him that the Imperial Chancellor had once also been addicted to the lovely figures of these ani girls, but he held back the words. He reminded himself over and over that he was now the Imperial Chancellor and needed to be unfathomable and profound.
Nan Ma made his request, "Ah, Your Majesty, I've completed all the daily tasks, but the resources are increasing too rapidly. Just in ti, this ga has an event for Sacred Construction Day, and I need a large amount of resources to build my ship girls. Could Chancellor lend so RMB? I want to be a cash warrior too."
Bai Zhongqi was so shocked he nearly choked on his breath. He had anticipated so oddities from Nan Ma, but he hadn't expected this man, rumored to be as powerful as a main battle ship on his own, to visit the Chancellor to borrow RMB for in-ga purchases?! EXO?
Bai Zhongqi was silent for a full second, but Nan Ma's smile remained eager, showing no sign that he thought his request was anything less than ordinary.
Defeated by Nan Ma's audacity, Bai Zhongqi shook his head and asked, "How much do you want?"
Nan Ma's face blood into a smile, and he held up a finger, "Let's start with 100,000 and see how it goes."
Bai Zhongqi felt he had no choice. For so unknown reason, this was the second day in a row soone had approached him for a loan. Bai Zhongqi had spent a lot of effort trying to dissuade his father yesterday, only to give him 1 million US Dollars to smooth things over.
Today, the amount Nan Ma was asking for was not as large, but Bai Zhongqi still looked up to the heavens in speechlessness, wondering why, after becoming the Imperial Chancellor, he felt like a lottery winner suddenly besieged by borrowers at his doorstep.
Thanks to Iridium Star's advanced information technology, Earth's internet and banking security systems were like open books to Bai Zhongqi. He even had the ability to reset Earth's virtual economy to zero. However, Bai Zhongqi planned to bring Earth into the community of interstellar civilizations and help Earthlings progress, not to cause destruction.
Even though he could alter the data of the ga company and beco a human cheat code, Bai Zhongqi had realized that Nan Ma just wanted to enjoy the thrill of spending money like water and being treated like a big shot in the ga.
Although he wouldn't ddle unnecessarily, Bai Zhongqi only had US Dollars from the indemnities paid by the United States, no RMB. Exchanging large sums was also a hassle, so for convenience, Bai Zhongqi used his technical ans to exchange 60 million RMB at the foreign exchange rate and took out 100,000 to set up an X-paynt account for Nan Ma.
Bai Zhongqi watched Nan Ma with wariness, as the man seed frivolous and sowhat lecherous. The Chancellor guarded his money closely and said to Master Nan Ma, "Master, consider this money a gift from , you don't need to pay it back. Earth's currency and Iridium Star Currency don't have an established exchange rate yet.
But let tell you, enjoy your in-ga spending, but don't get pulled into watching those live streams. It's a really deep pit, and once you fall in, it's hard to climb out."
Upon hearing this, Nan Ma's ears perked up with interest on his bald head, and he asked curiously, "What's that? It sounds like fun."
Bai Zhongqi instantly regretted his words, realizing he had inadvertently opened a door to sothing he shouldn't have.
Nan Ma noticed Bai Zhongqi's tight-lipped resolve to say no more. After thanking Bai Zhongqi, he smiled and said, "Your Majesty, you should be visiting Country C in the next few days to formally establish relations, right?"
Bai Zhongqi nodded, "That's indeed the plan. We are set to inaugurate an embassy in the Imperial Capital of Country C, which will serve as our office for liaising with other Earth nations. Country C will provide us the land directly. If it's suitable, I don't plan to make significant changes; a little refurbishnt to fit the usage of us Iridium Star people will do.
All expenses of the staff sent there will be covered by this money I have, so it's quite a tight budget."
What Bai Zhongqi ant was, if he lent out more money, there will be none left.
But Nan Ma was quite clever. He laughed and said, "No worries, no worries. Once Country C joins the Star Alliance proposed by Your Majesty, all kinds of goods from the United Empire, mined minerals, technology, and such, can be exported to Country C. By then, we won't have to worry about not having enough RMB to spend. Put a note for , Your Majesty.
These past days, I've been looking at Country C's cuisine on the Earth's internet, and it's made quite eager. Make sure to take with you when you visit Country C. I'm planning to go skewer-grilling that very night..."
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