He has been reincarnated through countless worlds, adorned with billions of mythological terms!

But no matter how you look at it, that woman can't escape responsibility.

She is the leader.

She ordered an uprising.

The weapons she created killed people.

The warriors she created killed people.

She has to pay for the sins she committed.

Yunyi is not a saint.

He knew that war had no right or wrong, only positions.

That woman rebelled to survive and to win; from her perspective, she was not wrong.

But he wasn't a saint either.

He was the emperor.

He is the emperor of this country.

Those 3.27 million people were his subjects.

If he were to forgive that woman so easily, how could he face those who had died?

How can we face the families who are still waiting for an explanation?

"His Majesty."

Wei Long's voice came from outside the door.

"Come in."

Wei Long walked in and knelt on one knee.

"Your Majesty, the messenger has left the palace."

Yun Yi nodded.

"Send someone to keep an eye on him."

"Let's see how that woman reacts after he goes back."

"Yes."

Wei Long responded, but did not immediately leave.

He looked up at Yun Yi, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping himself.

"What do you want to say?"

Wei Long hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help but speak:

"Your Majesty, if I may be so bold as to ask a question—with our current military strength…"

"Why not just send the entire army in and wipe them out in one fell swoop?"

Yun Yi looked at him.

He nodded slightly.

"you're right."

"With my current strength, it is indeed not difficult to wipe them out."

"But you've been to Jiangnan before, come, tell me what you saw and heard."

Wei Long was silent for a moment, then said in a deep voice:

"That place... is incredible."

"There are iron lumps that can run on their own, and crops that yield tens of thousands of kilograms per mu."

"There are iron birds that can fly in the sky, and there is something that can be shot into the sky and blown up to make it rain."

"There are many more... artifacts that I have never seen before."

Yun Yi withdrew his gaze and looked at the night sky outside the palace.

"There are two reasons why I have not taken action yet."

"First, the crops that woman concocted, yielding tens of thousands of catties per mu, and the cannonballs that could make the heavens rain—these things are useful to the Great Yan Dynasty."

"It's very useful."

"That's why I've kept her."

Wei Long nodded, but then asked again:

"Then...why did His Majesty refuse her submission?"

Yun Yi didn't answer directly, but instead asked:

Do you think the people there live happy lives?

Wei Long thought about it seriously for a long time, but in the end he shook his head.

"I can't say for sure whether that counts as happiness."

"Everyone has clothes to wear and food to eat."

"But... I feel like something's not right, like something's missing."

"As I looked around, I didn't see many people laughing."

Yun Yi nodded, then asked:

"Have you noticed—are they sleeping?"

Wei Long was taken aback.

Thinking back carefully, it seems to be true...

I have never seen anyone sleep.

Even at night, something unknown shines, illuminating the darkness.

go to bed?

He seemed to have never seen it before.

"Gene nutrient solution".

Yun Yi spoke slowly.

"Something that can keep your mind clear at all times while repairing your body's damage."

"Drink it, and you won't need to sleep anymore."

"And we no longer have to endure hunger."

"Even because this nutrient solution can be completely absorbed by the human body, there is no need to go to the toilet."

"Then let me ask you—"

"If a person spends all twelve hours of each day in one place, doing the same thing day after day."

Do you think he's happy?

Wei Long fell silent.

He recalled the people he had seen in Jiangnan.

Those people dressed in uniform gray robes sat in front of rows of iron lumps, repeating the same action day after day.

Their eyes were open, but they were as empty as if they were dead.

Their hands were moving, but they were like puppets being led by strings.

They don't sleep, don't eat, don't use the toilet, and don't speak.

Just sitting, doing, living.

Like corpses that are still breathing.

"His Majesty……"

Wei Long's voice was somewhat hoarse, "Those people...were they there voluntarily?"

Yun Yi looked at him but did not answer.

But that look in his eyes said it all.

voluntary?

In this world, how many people are truly acting voluntarily?

Those people who followed that woman in rebellion did so in order to survive.

Those enhanced warriors were there to survive.

Those "workers" sitting in front of the iron lumps were also trying to survive.

To survive, you have to pay a price.

But the price that woman paid was heavier than anyone else's.

……

Three days later.

Jiangnan, Tiangong Army Camp.

Mu Yu sat in the silver-white building, listening to the young man's report.

Her face was expressionless.

After the young man finished speaking, he lowered his head and didn't dare to breathe.

After a long silence, Mu Yu spoke.

Her voice was calm, as if she were talking about something unrelated to herself:

"Three million two hundred and seventy thousand."

"He remembers it so clearly."

She stood up, walked to the window, and looked north.

That direction leads to Kyoto.

"My original world was called 'New Era 179'."

She suddenly spoke, as if talking to herself.

The young man was taken aback, wondering why she had suddenly brought this up.

"Do you know what kind of place that is?"

Mu Yu didn't turn around, but continued talking to herself:

"It's a place where you don't need to sleep, you don't need to eat, and you don't need any emotions."

"From birth, everyone is injected with gene-optimizing fluid, implanted with a mind chip, and their life's tasks are predetermined."

"You don't need to choose, you don't need to think, you don't need to have any 'extra' thoughts."

"You just need to do what you're supposed to do."

"Then, at the appropriate age, it is broken down into basic elements and recycled."

She paused, a mocking smile playing on her lips.

"I have lived for fifty years and have never seen the real sun."

"I have never seen flowers, I have never seen grass, I have never seen anything that is alive."

"The things I've seen most often are cells in petri dishes, gene samples in test tubes, and rows of neatly numbered frozen embryos."

"Some of those embryos will become workers, some will become soldiers, and some will become researchers like me."

"Everyone has been arranged in a very clear and specific way."

"From birth to death, you can see the end at a glance."

She turned around and looked at the young man kneeling on the ground.

Do you know how I felt when I first saw the moon?

The young man shook his head.

Mu Yu smiled.

That smile was complex, containing bitterness, nostalgia, and a hint of indescribable tenderness.

"Fourteen years ago, I was just able to walk on my own. When I went out the door and looked up, I saw that round thing hanging in the sky."

"I thought it was a hallucination."

"I thought there was something wrong with the experiment in my mind, and that images that shouldn't be there were appearing in my head."

I stared at it for a very long time.

"Then I found out it was true."

"That's the real moon."

"The moon that shines, changes, and makes people stare in a daze."

Her eyes were slightly red.

"At that moment, I knew I didn't want to go back."

"That place is not a place for humans to live."

"This world is it."

She took a deep breath, suppressing the surging emotions.

"So I want to stay."

"I want to live well in this world."

"Watch the flowers bloom and fade, watch the clouds roll and unroll, watch the sun rise and the moon set."

"Live on with those who are willing to follow me."

She paused.

"But that little emperor wouldn't agree."

The young man's body trembled slightly.

Mu Yu turned around and looked north again.

The tenderness from before was gone from those eyes.

Only tranquility remained.

It was eerily calm.

If he doesn't agree, then he doesn't agree.

"Anyway, I've never been a good person."

"It wasn't in the New Era, and it's not here either."

"I just want to live."

"I just want my people to live on too."

She raised her hand and waved it gently.

Behind them, the silver-white wall suddenly lit up.

A huge holographic projection instantly covered the entire wall.

The projection is filled with densely packed data, images, and 3D models.

The young man's pupils contracted sharply.

"This is……"

"Fourth-generation gene enhancement fluid".

Mu Yu's voice was as calm as if she were stating experimental data.

"Effect: One arm has the strength of 500,000 jin, can withstand artillery fire, and can fly."

Success rate: 100%.

"I've already given myself the injection."

She paused.

"But that's not what I want you to see right now."