My lord, spare his life!

"May I ask, my lord, what are your assets?"

Fan You secretly suppressed the turmoil stirred up by Zhang Yang's casual remark.

"assets?"

Zhang Yang can't stand hearing that word now.

Doesn't the game planner have any idea how much wealth she has? She dares to ask for 888,888 billion Alliance Coins for a single homestead deed. She managed to scrape together that amount by living frugally, working from sunrise to sunset, and squeezing every last penny of her savings.

Where are the assets left now?

The game designers assigned this asset-testing task—could it be that the task would require spending a lot of money later? Zhang Yang's heart skipped a beat; she was terrified by her own thought: "I'm penniless right now, not a single penny to my name!"

Fan You was slightly surprised.

Seeing that Zhang Yang was dressed plainly but possessed an extraordinary air, he assumed she was from a wealthy family. His earlier question was intended to probe her family's resources and whether her clan could offer assistance, but he hadn't expected her to openly admit she was penniless: "Could my lord's parents offer any help?"

"That's a really annoying question."

Where do NPCs get their parents?

I was born without parents.

Humans or other races can reproduce through sexual or asexual reproduction, but how do NPCs reproduce? Do they take a segment from the data stream that makes up their bodies, knead it, and then copy and paste it to create a little NPC? Strictly speaking, the game designers are her parents.

Zhang Yang's most frequent criticisms were directed at the game designers: "Anyway, I've never met them. I've heard from people (the observation subjects) that they're all destined to be struck by lightning. You're better off without parents like that."

"Does your lord have any clansmen?"

"I'm the only one registered in the household, why are you asking these questions?"

Fan You: "..."

He also wanted to ask this lord what he was doing, having no father, no mother, no family, and no savings, yet he openly declared his intention to unify the Three Palaces and Four Symbols and all the states.

His expression of existential skepticism was so obvious that Zhang Yang retorted matter-of-factly, "That's your problem. You're the one who gives advice. If I knew what to do, would I be asking you?"

She's not the one with an IQ of 93!

Fan You: "..."

At this moment, his guilt towards Zhang Yang vanished, replaced by the thought of wishing Zhang Yang great misfortune.

How can someone like that be a ruler?

He was a strategist, not a god or Buddha sitting on a shrine fulfilling the wishes of believers! If he could devise a way to unify the Three Realms, Four Symbols, and all the states, why would he need to assist Zhang Yang? He would do it himself.

They would never have ended up in the current situation.

Fan You: "My lord, this is asking the impossible."

Zhang Yang thought about it and realized his mistake: "Indeed, you can't get fat in one bite; you have to start with the first step!"

After saying that, he stared at Fan You and others for their answers and copied them down.

Fan You: "..."

He felt his head hurt more than his injured limbs.

He frowned for a long time, then sighed resignedly, "What is your honorable surname, my lord?"

Zhang Yang, courtesy name Boyuan.

"My lord's surname is Zhang?" Fan You thought through the several Zhang families he knew. "Jiukan is in chaos, and several Zhang families have been forced to migrate and have disappeared. If my lord is willing, you can introduce yourself as a branch of the Jiukan Zhang family in the future."

It's not too difficult to impersonate a member of a collateral branch of the family.

The clan was large and numerous, with countless branches and sub-branches. Even the elders who possessed the family genealogy were unsure of the exact number of members or their names. If Zhang Yang impersonated one of them, no one would question his true lineage.

"What Jiukan? I don't know them, why would I impersonate them?"

"One must have a respectable background to make things easier in the future. A great family's reputation has been built up over generations. Even if it falls into poverty, as long as a descendant has the potential to become a dragon or phoenix, there will always be wealthy families and gentry willing to form a good relationship with them." Fan You patiently explained that if Zhang Yang hadn't said that she had no one backing her and no money in her pocket, he wouldn't have needed to resort to fraud. "If you, my lord, truly achieve great things in the future, even if this Jiukan Zhang family background is fake, the real Jiukan Zhang family will be willing to help you make it real. There's no need to worry about being exposed."

Zhang Yang seemed thoughtful: "Hmm, and then?"

Fan You said, "Naturally, it's to cultivate some reputation."

With his lineage from the Zhang family of Jiukan, and by employing some means to cultivate his reputation and build momentum, local gentry and wealthy merchants would naturally come to him for connections. If Zhang Yang were ambitious enough, he could even befriend some wandering knights. In three to five years, he could complete his initial accumulation of wealth.

At this point, it would be much easier to enter officialdom.

Whether it's military merit or anything else, as long as you're no longer a commoner, that's enough.

"The second step is to cultivate a reputation."

Zhang Yang took out his laptop from his gaming backpack.

"How do I cultivate this reputation?"

Even though he was somewhat prepared, Fan You still felt a lump in his throat when he heard this question: "Does my lord have any special skills?"

"What you're good at?"

"The six arts of a gentleman are rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics. It is enough to excel in just one of them, as this is the easiest way to gain popularity."

Even if Zhang Yang lacked talent, he still had ways to deal with it.

Zhang Yang retorted confidently, "I can't."

Fan You: "..."

Just as he was despairingly concocting some fantastical tales to deceive Zhang Yang, a sudden inspiration struck him. His new lord was not without advantages. Even though she was penniless, of humble origins, and lacked everything, she seemed to possess an extremely unique and subtle talent.

"Yesterday, the stars shone fiercely; did my lord truly feel nothing?"

"No, not even a ripple."

It would have been better if Fan You hadn't mentioned it, because it made her angry.

The product doesn't match the description; it's a scam!

If Fan You can't even be a good strategist, he's just a useless NPC to her, and she'll just get rid of him after she's used him up.

Why are you asking this?

"The side effects of the Starfall Curse are numerous, among which the negative curses that cause people to lose control of themselves are even more numerous, and the world has suffered from them for a long time." Fan You said, pausing for a moment, "If even the second level of the Starfall Curse cannot affect you, my lord, the first level is even less of a problem. Perhaps you could start from here and recruit one or two capable people, which would surely solve your urgent problem."

With initial capital, they spent money to build their reputation and hire famous figures.

Without initial capital and unable to afford high costs, one can only turn their attention to a group of people who offer better value for money.

As long as Zhang Yang can withstand it.

Without hesitation, she asked, "Where can we find these people?"

Fan You: "..."

He actually felt this method was digging his own grave, and he hesitated when he suggested it. He never expected the new ruler to accept it so readily, even seeming somewhat impatient. Just as Fan You was about to speak, he heard her say, "It's best to find those among them who are wealthy."

Zhang Yang didn't say it explicitly, but Fan You understood.

They don't want to pay, but they expect others to pay them.

Fan You said, "...Let me think about it."

Some of his classmates and friends from the same year also suffered from the torment of being cursed by the stars, but most of them were not affected in their normal lives. Such people would naturally not submit to a commoner with no achievements or reputation for the sake of some tolerable inconvenience. Of the few who might agree, Fan You couldn't bear to betray any of them; that would be truly unrighteous.

After thinking it over, I realized there really is a hidden gem.