After breaking up with my girlfriend, I became a Great Sage of the Demon Clan.

Winning or losing doesn't mean you're at a disadvantage; it's all about surviving in harsh conditions.

Zhongdou Xingjun's tone suddenly softened.

"According to my estimate, as long as this plague kills 10% of the population of the Eastern Xia United States, the unemployment rate of the Eastern Xia United States can be reduced to less than 1%. As long as 20% of the population dies, the involution will end, and everyone will have a formal job. As long as 30% of the population dies, the government and capitalists will force the education industry to give up its monopoly and recruit a large number of management elites from the public. In the next thirty years, nearly 100 million middle-class people will emerge."

"I designed all of this, and I will even cause more than a billion people to die in the future."

"But after all this, the beautiful world you've been hoping for will come."

Zhongdou Xingjun spread his hands.

"So, why don't you righteous people, you moral people, just silently watch me, the villain, accomplish all this, and you reap the benefits?"

Wenquxing's hands, placed on either side of his thighs, clenched tightly until they turned white.

Zhongdou Xingjun watched with satisfaction as the distortion slowly appeared on Wenquxing's face.

Yes, that's exactly how it should be done.

It was indeed Zhongdou Xingjun who did all of this, but Wenquxing, Xiaoyanjun and others watched him do all of this and knew how to stop it, but they silently let it happen.

This is a test of conscience and morality.

Zhong Dou Xing Jun really enjoys watching the struggles and pain during this trial, and the choices that follow.

……

In front of the Lingxin Dasheng Courtyard on Dawu Mountain.

Zhou Yan and Zhao Wenhe faced each other.

Zhao Wenhe took a step toward Zhou Yan, and Zhou Yan took a step back.

Zhao Wenhe stopped and squinted at Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yansan smiled.

"Sorry to bother you, sorry to bother you, I'll leave now."

Zhao Wenhe interrupted.

"Minister Bai, where is Bai Zetu?"

Zhou Yan was taken aback.

Zhao Wenhe raised his chin and gave the order from his superior position.

"A sage has appeared, and Bai Ze has arrived with the map. I have already appeared; my beloved minister, do you acknowledge the Heavenly Emperor's decree that I am the ruler of this world?"

Zhou Yan: "..."

Zhao Wenhe beckoned with his finger, and the memorial that Zhou Yan had been holding, which had no text written on it, fell out.

Zhao Wenhe glanced at him, her stunningly beautiful face showing great satisfaction. However, the predatory look in her eyes made Zhou Yan feel like this woman was going to devour him alive.

"Is that so? Minister Bai has not yet written it, and I happen to be here."

Zhao Wenhe took out a wolf-hair brush from his pocket.

"My dear minister, write it down."

The pen was placed in front of Zhou Yan.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Sealed

Eastern Xia United Kingdom, Dahe State, Xiaoliu City.

More than two hundred years after the founding of the Eastern Xia Federation, due to the long-term decentralization of power, the various states that make up the country have begun to become disaffected, especially the states controlled by the Four Divine Beasts, whose core interests and political demands are contrary to those of the federal government.

The governments and people of those states have always taken pride in opposing the federal government.

River State is not in this category. It is a state strongly controlled by the federal government and has a very strong sense of unity. However, even in such a cohesive state, the people rebelled after the federal government began to militarize the entire country and block all major transportation routes.

Of course, this didn't involve taking out guns and negotiating with the military controlling the streets; rather, it involved marching with banners and wooden signs to protest the federal government's infringement on the people's sacred freedom.

The federal government also resorted to its traditional tactics, dispatching organized military units that used water cannons, tear gas, rubber bullets, batons, and riot shields to drive back the united crowd, one blow at a time, and one shot at a time.

Normally, suppressing a riot only requires driving the crowd back, arresting a few leaders, and letting them disperse. However, this time, after the army dispersed the crowd, it began to gather the protesters wave by wave.

The reason for doing this is rather subtle. It's because there are often dead people among those who come to protest. To prevent these dead people from causing a stronger riot, the military has no choice but to arrest all the protesters and detain them in nearby neighborhoods where people have all died.

Xiaoliu City Government, Mayor's Office.

Major Zhang Yi, who led a thousand-strong military and police force and had already suppressed several riots, listened to his subordinates' reports on his mobile phone.

"Major, a hundred people died in this riot. When we went to other places to settle the rioters, we found people lying outside several residential areas."

Lying face down means you're dead.

Zhang Yi sighed.

"The same old method, military control, no one is allowed to leave their own neighborhood. The federal government has completed the news control, the public will not know the current situation."

"Understood, Major."

The subordinate on the other end of the phone hung up.

Zhang Yi sighed again.

Starting yesterday, Xuanwu began mobilizing the national army and the State Propaganda Department to implement nationwide military and media control.

The other three divine beasts also sensed something was wrong. After communicating with Xuanwu, they all joined the joint control team. More than half of the states in the country have been controlled by the unique armies of each state and the federal army. News platforms, social media platforms, and other platforms that could exchange intelligence were also quickly shut down under the iron fist.

The goal is to keep the public unaware of what's happening, and even if they sense something is wrong, they'll be separated by military control and unable to form groups.

As for the others that are not among the Four Divine Beasts and are unwilling to be controlled by the federal government, the federal government has also given up on them.

Zhang Yi is Xuanwu's subordinate and a confidant. He is well aware of what is happening and is extremely worried about it. Don't be fooled by the fact that the federal government can still suppress the country with the military. What if the military also starts to suffer large-scale casualties?

Several years ago, during a flu epidemic with one of the highest mortality rates, an epidemiologist put forward a ridiculous argument: herd immunity. He believed that as long as enough people died, everyone would have antibodies.

Some people are even advocating that the elderly are the most vulnerable, so they are letting a bunch of elderly people die from the flu so that once the flu is over, the country's economic pressure will be reduced, and young people will be able to access better social resources.

In short, the best prevention and control method is to ignore the flu and prevent deaths.

Zhang Yi was speechless. He knew that his country had been promoting "happy education" to keep the people ignorant, but how could the people's IQ be so low?

Do they really think that by deploying twenty-five aircraft carriers and countless nuclear weapons, they can negotiate with the virus face-to-face?

Will the virus back down because of aircraft carriers and nuclear weapons?

Viruses don't negotiate with humans, nor do they follow human scripts, so how can you be sure that after a virus mutates, it won't kill children first, or take you to hell with it?

It's the same now. To be honest, if the virus were negotiable, Zhang Yi reckoned that government officials could kneel down and call the virus "daddy" in its living room without any problem. The problem is, even if you kneel down and call the virus "daddy," the virus wouldn't even acknowledge you.

My phone started ringing again; it was a high-level alert text message from the military control unit of a nearby city.

Zhang Yi immediately called the army leader, a junior colonel.

The phone kept ringing for a while, but the other end didn't answer.

Zhang Yi's heart sank. The blue light emanating from the major's body burst out of the open window in the office.

Outside the window, Zhang Yi stepped on the air, which was already as thick as a semi-solid, and flew at supersonic speed toward the nearby city.

The city is fifty kilometers away from Xiaoliu City. At Zhang Yi's current speed of one kilometer every three seconds, he can reach the city in less than three minutes.

As Zhang Yi sped through the air, he occasionally looked down at the ground.

The ground was littered with obstacles set up by the military on major roads, as well as some private cars that had stopped moving on the road.

Zhang Yi guessed that the owners of these private cars must be dead.

Two minutes later, Zhang Yi arrived at the nearby city, a small city with only 100,000 people. Only 300 soldiers were stationed there. When Zhang Yi arrived, the main roads of the small city had already been blocked by the army, and the rest were left unattended.

Because all the fully armed soldiers fell to the ground.

Not just soldiers, but corpses were scattered all over the city. Some of the bodies were still holding protest banners and signs, and it seemed that they had all fallen down on the way to the protest march and died of cardiac arrest.

Suppressing his fear, Zhang Yi flew to the center of the city and shouted to the entire city.

Is anyone still alive?!

"I'm a search and rescue worker from the government!"

Is anyone still alive?

Zhang Yi's voice spread outwards in waves, the sound of the wind and the echoes intertwining, enveloping the entire city.

But no one responded. In a city littered with corpses, with many buildings still lit up and shops on some commercial streets blasting pop music, Zhang Yi was the only one shouting.

……

Central City, National Capitol Building.

Three days ago, Xuanwu summoned all the members of the upper and lower houses of parliament, and Baihu summoned Jiufeng, so that their auspicious omens covered the entire parliament building. Thanks to these auspicious omens that focused on luck, not a single member of the upper or lower houses died.

The nation's top political leaders managed to stabilize the situation thanks to the auspicious energy of the Nine Phoenixes, but bad news kept coming from various state governments to the president's office in the federal government.

Outside the presidential office.

The phone on the president's aide's desk kept ringing, with more than a dozen aides holding different phones, answering and responding to calls.

"Two dead cities discovered in Sunnylands? Death toll estimated to exceed 50?"

"A riot in Xihai Prefecture?"

"Is the nature cult spreading widely in Dajingzhou? Has the state government been hijacked?"

"Three thousand National Guard soldiers have died..."

Inside the Presidential Office.

The modern president sits behind his desk, with aides constantly passing around SOS requests from state governments.

The files on the desk were piling up at a visible speed.

The president, his face numb, looked at Xuanwu beside him.

"I just did a quick estimate, and it seems like more than a million people have died today."

What does it mean if a million people die in one day?

Even during the most intense period of a world war, the death toll wouldn't reach this number even after a single day of fighting. And even the most severe flu outbreaks over several years have resulted in fewer than a million deaths.

Now, with a million deaths a day, the rate of death is unstoppable. No matter how the federal government tries to block information, the public will eventually find out that an incurable disease has taken hold in their lives, a disease that inevitably leads to death once it takes effect.

then……

The head of the Black Tortoise beside it slowly rose from its drooping position.

"My suggestion is to start withdrawing the Awakened and the military, abandoning unnecessary states, and at least ensuring that our Zhongzhou City does not fall."

The president gave a bewildered, bitter smile.

Xuanwu's statement implies that he has already surrendered to the flu and is preparing to play it safe.

Just as the president was about to agree, the door to the presidential office opened, and Senator Guo Chenghuang of the Senate walked in. This old man, who had been there since the time of the Little Yama King, glanced around the presidential office, which was shrouded in gloom and despair, and a little smugness appeared on his face.

"There's no need to be so desperate."

Guo Chenghuang took out his phone.

"The God of Literature just called and said that the source of this epidemic has been found."

Everyone in the office immediately stood up, and Xuanwu roared angrily.

"Which bastard did this?! I'll make sure he dies a horrible death!"

This is no longer just watching a show; this plague is indiscriminate, killing anyone it sees. There are already signs of unrest in the states that Xuanwu actually controls.

"It's Zhao Wenhe, the last empress. That guy is currently in Penglai in the North Sea."

No sooner had Guo Chenghuang finished speaking than Xuanwu roared.

"Bai Qianqiu, Lin Qingxuan, Mu Younan, take your weapons and go kill someone!"

Xuanwu smashed through a wall of the president's office, and the god of Xuanshui, enveloped in water vapor, flew towards Penglai in the North Sea.

Behind Xuanwu, Qinglong, Baihu, and Zhuque followed, the four divine beasts transforming into four beams of light of different colors, dividing the sky into five parts.

Guo Chenghuang, holding his phone, stared blankly at the scene. After a long while, he finally spoke.

"The Penglai Island in the North Sea has now disappeared, and Wenquxing (the God of Literature) has come to ask us if we have a way to make Penglai Island reappear."

……