My wife is an immortal black snake.

......

Joseph's mouth dropped open, because he really heard a voice. A voice coming from his head.

The voice calmed him down and then ordered him to stand up from his chair.

"Do not--"

Then Joseph actually stood up. He didn't want to do it at all, but his body did it on its own. He glared at the man in front of him who was still smiling, not understanding what this meant.

“This is my ability,” Yang Hao explained. “My ability is… you can understand it as, I can plant suggestions in the people—suggestions, the kind you feel, suggestions with a coercive force. Of course, if you want to do that, then the suggestion won’t have any coercive effect.”

Another type of suggestion is subtle and gradual. For example, I can subconsciously make people believe that "reforms in the administrative center will only make our lives better." I think you understand what this means. Furthermore, if the collective will of the people can be simply unified into a few numbers and directions, and their needs can be presented in numerical form, even a seven-year-old would know how to manage them.

"This—" Mr. Joseph could understand the first two. But what about the last one? The people's thoughts simply being condensed into a few numbers? Is that even possible?

“Please sit down, Mr. Joseph.”

He heard the voice from his brain again, but this time, he didn't feel his body was out of control—because he really wanted to sit down and have a good talk with the young man in front of him about this amazing thing.

......

They sat facing each other again, and this time, Mr. Joseph no longer looked down on the man he had previously regarded as a mere ornament. He realized just how outrageously powerful the special abilities of this husband of Lord Koschche could be in governing.

Throughout history, which ruler has ever dared to claim they knew exactly what their people intended to do? They were already doing remarkably well if they could grasp even a tenth of the complex thoughts of their people!

And this one—

“Yang Hao, you can call me that—and please don’t call me by titles like Lord Kosiché’s husband; I prefer you to call me by my name.” The man said, turning to complain to his head maid, Monica, behind him. Then he turned back to look at Mr. Joseph.

And this Mr. Yang Hao, his ability is to plant suggestions in people's minds... Mr. Joseph almost instantly thought of all the possibilities of these abilities, so in a sense, the information that Mr. Yang Hao gave him now has preliminary feasibility.

But that wasn't enough. And Mr. Joseph didn't believe his administration would be the first place to need reform.

“Mr. Yang Hao, I understand now that your plan has the potential to be realized on the first attempt.” Joseph carefully chose his words. “However, the administration should not be the first place to reform—the young men are still holding on, and there are places that need funding more than they do. For example, in the business sector.”

“But as I said, without improving administrative efficiency, economic reforms are out of the question.” Yang Hao placed his hand on the table, tapping the wooden surface as he explained. “But indeed, if you’re referring to short-term changes—the business sector certainly needs funding more than the administration. We could immediately throw all the money into the business world, watch it splash around, and then watch it disappear without a trace after the people are grateful. Mr. Steel, what we need isn’t short-term delays, but long-term solutions.”

He paused for a moment.

"Don't you think it would be more dignified and effective to give the Ursus people a job and let them earn the money that is rightfully theirs through their labor than to let them accept charity without any dignity?"

"Wait, Mr. Yang Hao, what did you say?" Joseph was stunned for a while.

“Give them a job,” Yang Hao repeated solemnly.

"But we don't have factories or businesses that have that many jobs!"

"It's right where you're standing."

"What's beneath my feet? The Duke's administrative offices are right here, even from here—"

......

Mr. Joseph realized something.

His mouth gaped open, his jaw seemed dislocated, as if it couldn't close.

After a moment, he laboriously put his chin back in its original place with his own hands. Yang Hao had been observing the disbelief in his eyes for a long time.

"The Duke's mansion?" Joseph hesitated for a moment before cautiously uttering those five words. "Lord Kosiché?"

Yang Hao's serious expression turned into a gentle smile.

"The Duke's mansion, Kosiché, and I—we'll provide them with the work. But this requires a strong and efficient administration to guarantee it. I'm very dissatisfied with your current efficiency, understand?"

“…I understand.” Joseph nodded, his aged, wrinkled face glistening with sweat. “But Mr. Yang Hao, I must remind you—even if the administration can be changed under your intervention, achieving the positive reforms you envision…the ensuing corruption, paid toilet breaks, or even worse changes are unavoidable! We need an overseer, but the Serpent Scales are already overworked enough; they lack the experience to oversee a reformed administration!”

It seems this old man, as resilient as steel, has approved of Yang Hao's plan; however, he needs insurance. Insurance that can ensure the reformed administrative departments remain as free from corruption as possible.

Chapter 81

For the rest of the day until noon, Yang Hao discussed administrative reforms with the old man who worked in the steel industry.

He wouldn't have needed to go through all this trouble communicating with Mr. Joseph. He could have simply tapped his finger, opened the newly added resolution or the national policy called "Reform of the Administrative Department" on his own "Puppet Stage," waited for the progress bar to finish, and the result would appear. Perhaps while waiting for the progress bar to finish, he could even take a moment to visit the one he was so eagerly anticipating.

However, he did not regret wasting his time, because every time he discussed some details with Mr. Joseph, Yang Hao would get new resolutions, new policies, or even some new events.

[Repeated Resolution: Study Group. (Consumes 20 Political Points)]

Mr. Joseph proposed creating groups for civil servants to learn from each other and to work in groups—he has proven this to be effective over the past ten years. As for why it hasn't been widely adopted, perhaps it's because administrative centers in other districts can't recruit enough talent, or perhaps they can't train enough talent.

Effects: Increases the speed of civil servant training and promotion, and improves administrative efficiency by 1%.

This was the new resolution Yang Hao obtained after talking with Joseph for more than half an hour. This resolution can be repeated 5 times; in other words, it's exchanging 100 political points for 5% administrative efficiency—a nice bonus, and who would complain about higher administrative efficiency?

[National Policy: Reform of the administrative departments (This will take 90 days, and you will have to work instead of lounging around with your maid)]

You decided to reform the administrative departments first, and then the people's livelihood and economy. However, this is not easy. Even in the Duchy of Kosice, where the administrative structure is relatively clear, a great deal of bureaucracy and various structural problems will still cause this reform to encounter countless difficulties.

Fortunately, you have your wife's support in name only, and the army of the Duchy of Kosiché will also help you deal with some troublesome brats.

Effect: After the reform is completed, the administrative efficiency of the administrative processing department will increase from 20% to 40%, and will increase by 10% every month until the administrative efficiency reaches the upper limit of 70%.

Gain 300 political points.

'Perhaps I should also keep a list—whoever causes trouble in this reform will be on our list of troublemakers, and then they'll have to go to Siberia to dig potatoes.'

This new national policy only came about after a long discussion with Mr. Joseph. Although it wasn't nonexistent at the beginning, the initial national policy at most reduced administrative efficiency to 30%, and if administrative efficiency needed to be improved, it still required several more clicks, wasting several 90-day periods, which greatly reduced overall efficiency.

[Event: The Joy of a Steel-Willed Father]

You captivated this resilient old man with your plans, your abilities, and an inexplicable charm.

Although Mr. Joseph does not yet truly trust you, once your plans and reforms succeed and you fulfill your promises to him, this old man will be willing to provide you with all the experience and information he knows.

The last person to earn this veteran's respect and recognition was your wife—even the current Emperor of Ursus couldn't gain his approval.

Effect: Once you complete the reforms and make commitments to economic and social reforms, Mr. Joseph will support all your decisions and provide you with a 10% administrative efficiency bonus.

'Does that mean I can replace the Ursus Emperor?'

This is quite an impressive feat. He truly lives up to his reputation as a veteran, a capable steward. Mr. Joseph alone possesses half the administrative efficiency of the Duke of Kosiché's four districts and eight administrative centers combined, a rate of 20%... But thinking about it this way, it does seem rather strange...

"I'm feeling a bit tired... Phew, Monica? Let's go back. I want to have lunch."

"Yes, sir. Mr. Paul, please take charge of the escort along the way—I need to go to work in the kitchen on the way."

When Yang Hao finally emerged from the old man's office around 12:40 PM, their way of addressing each other had changed from "Mr. Joseph" and "Mr. Yang Hao" to simply "Joseph" and "Yang Hao." Calling each other by their first names made them seem more like close friends than a simple superior-subordinate relationship. But then again, why did Monica seem to sense something was amiss?

On the way back, Yang Hao looked at Monica with confusion, and Monica gave her explanation:

“My lord, you will surely experience everything that Lord Koschei once experienced,” she said. “...You will surely become an immortal alongside Lord Koschei. As for Mr. Joseph, he is already over sixty years old. And his body has suffered enough from the ravages of his busy work.”

"You mean... I should try to avoid contact with them as much as possible?"

“...It’s us.” Monica shook her head, pointed to herself, and then to Paul, who was standing silently beside her. “You can’t waste your extra emotions on us mortals who can’t be with you and Lord Koschche for a thousand years...it will only increase your pain.”

"I see." Yang Hao nodded after a moment of silence. "Then let's talk about that later—I'm a short-lived person now, and I might not be able to find a way to live forever."

"Lord Koschei is also helping you search for the way to immortality. I believe Lord Koschei will find it—of course, it would be even better if you found it yourself."

...

After that, they didn't have any further conversation on the way back.

Monica and the others seemed to have long been prepared that their age would not be able to keep up with the two immortals, and Yang Hao also knew that there was no way to change their minds now—and to be honest... he was under a lot of pressure as well.

It seems he truly can't find a suitable method for achieving immortality? Scientific research and national policies for mechanical ascension often require over 400 years of preparation, while psionic ascension is simpler, but still takes over 200 years. It's not that he can't modify himself through biological genetics, and in this world of Terra, where technology can be advanced by excavating antiques, unearthing relics related to bio-modification technology isn't impossible...

...But the question is, how long will this take? It's not that he can't choose a quick way to achieve immortality from the national policy—but he would either be left with only his brain, or sign a contract with a strange being, or become a vampire who would permanently lose his mind if he didn't drink blood, or simply become a walking corpse, or simply gain immortality by sacrificing his future.

All longevity policies that can be quickly activated within 20 years have significant side effects. The ones without side effects are those that exceed the lifespan limit of a human being and require activating 200-year policies at a time—and he might not even be able to collect enough political points to support activating a 200-year policy tree.

So he was under a lot of pressure. His remaining hope seemed to rest on the fact that the House of Lamentation might randomly spawn items with minimal side effects...

"And what about the import module function? Um... what can that function import?"

Back in her palace, Koschke didn't come back for lunch today, or perhaps she had already eaten and gone back to work?

As Yang Hao sat in his chair waiting for Monica to bring him lunch, he flipped through the pages of the [Puppet Stage] after its evolution, looking at some of the functions he hadn't had time to explore yet.

The "Import Modules" function requires a huge amount of political points and can help him import some strange things.

For example, the "More Nuclear Warheads" module, or the "Beast Wars" module, etc... Yang Hao gave up after just one glance. The cheapest of the modules required more than 30 years' worth of political points, and those points would be more suitable for better use.

"This cabinet is quite good..."

The Cabinet is a rather useful ability after the evolution of the Puppet Stage. Simply put, Yang Hao can appoint his own cabinet, and the cabinet members, based on their abilities, will bring more bonuses to Yang Hao's future rule over the territory.

The current cabinet... well, in short, he doesn't have a cabinet to appoint right now. Maybe he can bring in some good people later and see how they perform?

"And then I think I can see my spouse's abilities? Oh—I'm a little curious about Koschke's stats!"

Then Yang Hao found a function that looked relatively easy. Thinking that it wouldn't hurt to take a look, he smiled and clicked on the ability stats of his spouse, Koschche.

......

His eyes lingered for a long time on the three zeros following the 1 that seemed to be on the age interface, which were quite glaring.

Then his lips twitched incessantly: he seemed to understand why Miss Kosiché—his wife, Kosiché—could have such intense and long-lasting [battles] every night, to the point that his body was now quite weak.

“…For the immortal, age is meaningless,” he muttered to himself. “So I shouldn’t have upset her about that… But the fact that I could survive in bed?! I’m incredibly lucky…”

Yang Hao was extremely grateful for his wife's "leniency," and then he began to look at Koschche's other data.

She doesn't seem to be a warrior, because her [Bravery] stat, which represents actual combat strength, is a strange 5 instead of more—after all, Yang Hao's own Bravery is over 5, so even if Koschie, an immortal, doesn't study martial arts, she shouldn't be like this, right?

"Is her fighting ability linked to her body? Hmm...wait a minute? What if she finds a Vayvan's body later? What should I do?"

Aside from her absurdly low combat ability, Koschke's other stats are practically superhuman. Her knowledge attribute is very high, and naturally, her management and scheming attributes are also very high. Perhaps because she occupies the body of a young and beautiful woman named Felin, Koschke's charm attribute is also much higher than that of a normal beautiful woman.

No matter how you look at it, my wife is great and outstanding... but when I think about her four-figure age...

Should I call her "great-aunt" when I chat with her tonight? Oh...great-grandmother? That doesn't seem right either?

Forget it, to avoid being retaliated against by my wife that night... I'd better not make jokes like that.

At this moment, Yang Hao relieved some of his inner pressure by researching the new function.

After all, he still has work to do this afternoon, so it would be best if he could relax as much as possible now to avoid messing things up later.

"This afternoon, I'll go to the Lil's Bar. It's where the Gauls gather... Heh, relying solely on national policies and resolutions is efficient, but it won't yield any more valuable [trigger events]. I need to go there in person and have a good chat with them."

Then, while you're at it, check out that Casimir-style brothel—

He made up his mind, thinking seriously that he should at least fulfill the dream he had never realized in Colombia in Ursus—that is, to meet a Kuranta girl, just to meet her and see if the Kuranta people are the legendary centaurs.

If you were to ask why Yang Hao had this unusual fascination, it's probably because the city of Columbia where he was living at the time was so remote that there wasn't a single Kuranta person, yet there were countless strange magazines about the Kuranta. Years earlier, after borrowing several from Jack's house, these picture books featuring people with human upper bodies and horse lower bodies sparked his immense curiosity, making him still obsessed with the Kuranta and eager to investigate them to this day.

After all, he was genuinely curious: were all the Kuranta people truly centaurs? Did their knights really ride on all fours on the battlefield? If not, what did they ride?

If we figure this out, at least he won't be distracted by the thought of finding out the truth every day when he's at work, right?

"Sigh, the blame I'm still so fixated on for the Kurantas is at least 80% going to fall on that fat Jack."

Without hesitation, Yang Hao pinned the blame for his sexual fetish on Jack. While relaxing and waiting for his lunch, he also began to plan how to wrap up his afternoon's "work".

After all, even if many of those Gauls were strong warriors, they still had to go through a difficult test, do their best for something, and finally stand out in order to show how precious the opportunity Yang Hao gave them was, right?

Chapter 82

......

Ivan Levsky was an ordinary worker in the city of Kosiché, and he had a family that was not perfect for him, but was very happy: a virtuous and hardworking wife, a young daughter, and his elderly parents.

He had initially thought his family would continue to be happy, but the ensuing economic downturn shattered his dreams. Due to the business slump, the factory where Ivan worked went bankrupt, and he naturally became an unemployed worker.

The taciturn, hardworking worker was unwilling to accept the Duke's charity in such a humiliating way, but his parents needed nutritious food, otherwise they would fall ill from hunger. His wife also needed nutritious food, otherwise she would not be able to produce enough milk to feed their crying daughter.

He has been working in a steel manufacturing plant since he was young, and more than ten years have passed since then. In these ten years, the scorching sparks from the steel plant have burned several calluses and scars on his hands, but he has never shed a single tear.

"Ivan, let's eat."

"...No, I'm not eating. Leia, I need to go out and find a job."

"But how can you find a good job if you don't eat your fill? For the sake of our parents and our daughter, please eat something."

He nodded silently and, at his wife's invitation, went to the family's dining room. His house wasn't big; to weather the economic crisis, Ivan's family had sold everything they could—the dining table in their home was actually just a long wooden plank supported by some broken bricks they'd picked up from somewhere.

This is the wisdom of Ivan's wife, Leia. She knew that instead of wasting her limited resources on a shoddy dining table, it was better to make one herself. And in fact, it proved remarkably effective.

Ivan sat in his seat, looking at the thin slices of bread on the chipped plate in front of him. His wife, sitting opposite him, opened her blouse to let their daughter drink her meager milk, while saying that the two elderly people had gone out to collect bottles.

“Mom and Dad want to collect some bottles to ease the family’s situation a little. You know, Ivan—we might be able to use those bottles.” Leia said, while also expressing her gratitude that they lived in the Dukedom of Koschche—if they hadn’t lived here, in another city, they might have been driven out of the city to mine Originium long ago because they were unemployed.