I started on a deserted island and encountered Ying Zheng, who insisted I was an immortal.

Juice was squeezed out of the apple core in Hu Hai's hand.

Slimy.

It dripped down between my fingers.

He dared not wipe it.

Although the dark muzzle of the gun had been retracted to the man's waist, the sulfurous smell of burning gunpowder in the air was more suffocating than any sword or blade.

"Father...Father Emperor..."

Hu Hai's voice sounded like a mosquito's buzz squeezed out of its throat.

Ying Zheng ignored him.

He was standing in front of that huge world map, holding an ivory scepter stolen from Rome, and drawing a circle on the map that the Qin Dynasty originally regarded as "all under heaven".

A very small circle.

It's only the size of a palm.

"Did you see that?"

Ying Zheng turned around, his back to the glaring electric light.

The light gilded him, making him look like a god who had just descended to earth, or a demon king who was about to devour the world.

"This is the Great Qin that you fought so fiercely for."

"This is what you think 'the world' is."

He struck the vast, unknown area on the map with his scepter.

Those sections marked with different colors.

America.

Europe.

Africa.

"Here."

The scepter is located in Xianyang.

"For this broken chair, you murdered your brothers and seized power by forging an imperial edict."

"Like a group of rats locked in a cage, fighting fiercely over a single grain of moldy rice."

"Shameful."

Ying Zheng threw the scepter to Li Si.

"That's so embarrassing."

The main hall was so quiet that the only sound was the muffled roar of the generator.

The civil and military officials lowered their heads even further.

They can't read maps.

But they understand insults.

That kind of humiliation that renders their ambitions, their schemes, and their proud political struggles utterly worthless.

"that."

Zhang Ying broke the silence.

He was squatting next to the generator, checking the fuel tank markings.

"There's not much oil left."

"Either we find someone to dig coal, or we have to turn off the lights."

"This thing drinks oil even more fiercely than Wang Ben drinks alcohol."

Ying Zheng frowned.

Light cannot be extinguished.

This light is now more than just illumination.

This is deterrence.

It's a miracle.

As long as this lamp remains lit, these ministers will not dare to straighten their knees.

"Mining coal?"

Ying Zheng looked out of the palace.

The figure hanging from the hitching post was still swaying.

"Wang Ben".

"Your subject is here!"

Wang Ben was happily eating a box of dates he had stolen from Egypt.

"Put that eunuch down."

Ying Zheng pointed outside.

"Let him go shovel coal."

"Tell him."

"The lamp went out, so I burned it to make a wick."

"Okay!"

Wang Ben spat the jujube pits on the ground, grabbed his machine gun, and charged out.

After a while.

A heart-wrenching scream came from outside the hall, followed by the "crack" of a shovel shoveling coal.

The pace is very fast.

They worked very hard.

The lights in the main hall seemed to brighten a bit as well.

"Alright."

Ying Zheng sat back down on that uncomfortable dragon throne.

He looked at the group of people kneeling below.

"Raise your heads, everyone."

No one dared to make a move.

"I will count to three."

"one."

"Splash—"

Everyone looked up.

Their movements were perfectly synchronized, even more precise than a well-rehearsed honor guard.

This is the power and authority of the First Emperor.

Even after disappearing for half a year, even after bringing back a bunch of incomprehensible iron lumps, he is still the only king of this land.

"Li Si".

Ying Zheng beckoned.

"Tell these bumpkins something."

"What have we been doing for the past six months?"

Li Si adjusted his helmet.

He enjoys these moments.

This is the moment when one has grasped the truth and looks down upon all living beings.

He walked up to the map and cleared his throat.

"Fellow colleagues."

"Perhaps you think that His Majesty perished in a shipwreck and died as a dragon."

"But in reality..."

"His Majesty has gone to conquer the world."

The scepter in Li Si's hand drew a long arc on the map.

"The past six months."

"We crossed the endless sea."

"On that continent called 'America,' a miraculous grain with a yield of a thousand catties per acre was discovered."

"A yield of 1,000 jin per mu?!"

The Minister of Revenue jumped up.

He disregarded etiquette and fear.

As an official in charge of money and grain, these four words drove him mad more than any myth.

"sit down."

Li Si gave him a cold glance.

"Never seen the world."

That was just the beginning.

The scepter was moved to the west.

"We blasted open the gates of Alexandria."

"Tear down that lighthouse that's hailed as a world wonder."

"They emptied their library of tens of thousands of parchment scrolls."

"Then."

The scepter struck heavily on the boot-shaped peninsula.

"Rome."

"That Western empire that boasts an army of a million."

"Before His Majesty's thunder (cannon fire)."

"It only lasted for less than half an hour."

Liston paused.

He took off his sunglasses, revealing a pair of bloodshot but unusually excited eyes.

"Now."

"The Senate there flies the black dragon flag of the Great Qin Dynasty."

"The officials there studied the small seal script of the Qin Dynasty."

"The arena there is His Majesty's garage for storing his chariots (tanks)."

A collective gasp filled the hall.

They don't understand Rome.

I can't understand Alexander.

But they understand the word "conquer".

They can understand the phrase "a million-strong army was wiped out".

"His Majesty……"

Prime Minister Wang Wan raised his hand tremblingly.

"This...this is all real?"

"You doubt me?"

Ying Zheng took out a golden apple from his pocket.

It's made of pure gold.

It is inlaid with rubies.

This was pried off from Ptolemy's crown.

"Clang!"

The golden apple was thrown onto the floor tiles in front of Wang Wan.

It left a white mark.

"This is an Egyptian pharaoh's toy."

Ying Zheng then took out a handful of silver coins.

It has Caesar's head printed on it.

"Splash!"

Silver coins were scattered all over the ground.

"This is the money the Romans used to buy their lives."

At last.

He pointed to the tank still roaring outside the hall.

"That is the ancestor of the Mohist mechanical arts."

"It is also a tool for me to reason with others."

Ying Zheng stood up.

He walked up to Hu Hai.

The good-for-nothing son was staring blankly at the golden apple on the ground.

"Pick it up."

Ying Zheng kicked Hu Hai's shin.

Hu Hai picked up the golden apple, trembling.

Is it heavy?

"Heavy...heavy..."

"That's right."

Ying Zheng patted Hu Hai's face.

The force was not great.

But in Hu Hai's view, this was even more terrifying than beheading.

"This world is too heavy."

"You're a piece of trash, you can't handle it."

"Go to the back."

"Watch how I govern the country."

"If you can't learn it, I'll send you to Rome to fix the sewers."

Hu Hai felt as if he had been granted a pardon, and scrambled behind a pillar.

Ying Zheng turned around.

Looking at the court officials.

"Zhang Ying".

"exist."

Zhang Ying was fiddling with the portable projector that had been taken off the ship.

"Show them."

What is the future?

"Okay."

Zhang Ying drew the curtains.

The main hall became dim.

Only the projector beam shines on the white wall.

The screen lights up.

That was a video taken by a drone.

"boom--!!!"

In the picture.

Ten battleships lined up in a row.

The broadside guns fired simultaneously.

The deafening cannon fire was amplified by the sound system and echoed throughout the hall.

The camera zooms out.

A massive stone castle collapsed like building blocks amidst the gunfire.

Gravel flew everywhere.

Smoke and dust billowed.

Followed by.

Screen switch.

It's a scene of a tank formation charging forward.

The steel tracks crushed the Roman phalanx.

Those armored Roman soldiers were like paper toys in front of the tanks.

fear.

Pure fear.

The officials in the hall were pale, and some even began to vomit.

This is not war.

This is a massacre.

This is divine punishment that mortals cannot comprehend.

The video has finished playing.

The lights came back on.

Ying Zheng stood on the high platform.

Look at this group of elites below, who are already terrified.

Are you scared?

No one dared to speak.

"Being afraid is the right thing to do."

Ying Zheng sneered.

"before."

"I thought that building the Great Wall would be enough to stop the Xiongnu."

"They thought that destroying weapons would bring peace to the world."

"Now I understand."

"truth."

"Only within the range of cannons."

He suddenly flicked his sleeve.

"Issue my decree."

"one."

"Effective immediately, the order to burn books is hereby abolished."

"Translate all the books we looted from Egypt into the Qin language."

"Anyone who can understand these books will be rewarded with a thousand pieces of gold and granted the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households."

"two."

"The Ministry of Works is expanding its recruitment."

"Bring out all those Mohists and Gongshu people hiding in the mountains for me."

"Tell them."

"I will give them the best iron and the best fire."

"Who can build such an iron cart?"

Ying Zheng pointed to the tanks outside the palace.

"I will make him a king of a different surname."

"three."

Ying Zheng's gaze swept over Hu Hai, who was huddled in the corner.

"Remove Huhai from his position as crown prince (although he has not yet been formally appointed)."

"stand……"

He paused.

Fusu?

That pedantic bookworm?

Ying Zheng looked at Zhang Ying.

Zhang Ying shrugged and made a "do what you want" gesture.

"The Academy of Sciences is the reserve."

Ying Zheng made a startling statement.

The entire audience erupted in uproar.

"Academy of Sciences?"

Nobody has ever heard of this name.

"Zhang Ying".

Ying Zheng pointed to the man in camouflage.

"He was appointed Grand Preceptor of the Qin State."

"He also serves as the president of the Academy of Sciences."

"His status is equivalent to that of a prime minister."

"You will not kneel before me."

"Bring your sword to the palace."

"What he said."

"That is my word."

Li Si's face twitched.

But he quickly regained his composure.

Because he saw the grenade hanging from the man's waist.

That iron lump that could blow up the main hall.

Those who know the current affairs are handsome.

Li Si was the first to kneel down.

"Greetings, Imperial Preceptor!"

There is a leader now.

The remaining people dared not slack off either.

"Greetings, Imperial Preceptor!"

Zhang Ying scratched her head somewhat awkwardly.

He originally just wanted to be a technical consultant.

How did he suddenly become the second-in-command?

"that……"

Zhang Ying held a walkie-talkie.

"You're too kind, everyone."

"Let's communicate more in the future."

"That guy."

He pointed to the Minister of Revenue.

"Stop kneeling."

"Go and prepare some food."

"There are potatoes, corn, and a few breeding pigs on the boat."

"tonight."

"Let's have a good meal."

"Stop making those boiled cabbages."

"My mouth feels so bland."

Half an hour later.

The imperial kitchen of Xianyang Palace is facing the biggest crisis in its history.

Zhang Ying stood in front of the stove.

He was holding a kitchen knife.

He was directing a group of imperial chefs who were trembling with fear.

"Get angry!"

"Hey you, that's chili pepper! Not poison! Put it in!"

"Peel the potatoes! Don't peel off all the meat!"

"Cut the pork into chunks! Braise it! Do you know what braising is? It's adding sugar and soy sauce!"

fragrance.

A domineering aroma, never before seen in the Qin Dynasty, wafted out from the chimney of the imperial kitchen.

It floated into the main hall.

It drifted into everyone's nose.

Gurgle.

I don't know whose stomach growled.

Then came another piece.

Ying Zheng sat on the dragon throne.

I could smell that familiar aroma of braised pork.

That was the taste he had for three months on the deserted island.

It was also the taste that haunted his dreams.

"This is what human beings should eat."

Ying Zheng pushed the bowl of millet porridge in front of him aside.

"Try them all later."

"I'm done eating."

"I have another task for you."

He pointed to the grassland at the northernmost point of the map.

That was the territory of the Xiongnu.

"I have heard."

"Has Maodun Chanyu been jumping around quite a bit lately?"

"Perfect."

"My tanks have never been driven on the grasslands."

"I don't know the hooves of those cavalrymen."

"Is it harder than my treads?"

outside the temple.

Zhao Gao was still shoveling coal.

His face was covered in soot, and streaks of white sweat washed away the dirt.

He heard laughter coming from inside.

I heard those ambitious and bold pronouncements about the future.

he knows.

That era of intrigue that belonged to him.

It's completely over.

Instead.

It is a country ruled by steel, gunpowder, and potatoes.

The volatile Qin Dynasty.