237. Return to the Empire
"Isaac, your dad and I are heading to the chapel for a gathering. Grab something to eat on your own. Don't forget to charge the tram; tomorrow we have to pick up Asimov for the basketball game."
"And change Huru's cat litter."
Creak—Bang.
The door closed softly. Isaac Maxim shook his head, gradually coming out of his hangover. He rolled over and rose from the couch, tottering to his feet. Although his clothes were disheveled, at least there was no vomit on him.
"Crap… Last night was way too wild."
Isaac massaged his forehead. Alcohol doesn't have much sedative effect on an Alpha-tier Martial Artist, but last night's situation seemed different.
He walked to the fridge, took out a bottle of chilled orange juice, and pulled open the curtains. Under a grayish sky, the farmlands swayed gently.
Outside, artificial rainfall was under way, with a gentle drizzle falling upon the earth. Together with the faint glow of the hemispheric generator, it presented a rather post-apocalyptic scene.
Isaac recalled what happened last night.
During the village party celebrating the festival, for some unknown reason, a group of scientists and officials arrived with the cooperation of the police. They joined the gathering and provided a new type of alcohol—no known brand—that no one had ever seen before.
Free goodies, of course, wouldn't be turned down. The villagers drank heartily, men and women of all ages, all consumed by an intense ecstasy of dancing and revelry, entirely forgetting their usual hardships.
"…Something about that liquor seemed off."
If there was something bad in it, Isaac couldn't detect it. As a [Martial Artist], if the liquor was problematic, his internal energy would have activated automatically to detoxify.
From start to finish, however, his energy remained calm.
"Maybe some big corporation is testing a product. Though the police officials assured us there was no problem, it still feels unsettling."
Isaac sipped his drink, admiring the rare sight of rainfall.
There was no thunder; crystal-clear secondary tap water was pouring down from the sky onto the fields.
"In August, the 'Thunderstorm' operation concluded. The terrorists were thoroughly rooted out, and a large number of opposition members were sent to prison. The economic situation is increasingly clear, with the inflation rate at its lowest in ten years. The Holy Monument Church's belief in the [Domination God] Leozi has calmed many people and provided them a whole new path to climb the social ladder. Meanwhile, a massive influx of grain from the Frost-Plated Republic has entered the Empire's market, making goods more abundant than ever. Everything obviously seems to be getting better… yet something feels off."
People's sense of happiness is high, but perhaps a little too high.
Isaac isn't particularly attuned to politics, but he has a gut feeling that war is drawing nearer.
Regent Crown Prince Rudolf's interest group comes from the city-dweller class—those who, thanks to their vested interests, are most prone to show staunch support for the group. That sentiment has already started taking shape among the populace.
In these circumstances, it's either the start of a prosperous age or the beginning of large-scale external expansion.
Isaac doesn't actually dislike war. On the contrary, as a veteran, he regrets not having participated in the most violent, most unifying of human social activities.
Only question is: if they go to war at this stage, whom would they choose as the enemy?
"Meeow… Huru-huru…"
The cat Huru strolled casually through the central hallway. Upon arriving at Isaac's feet, it rubbed against his shoes as usual, then sniffed them. A hint of puzzlement flickered in its big, round eyes.
"Huru?"
"—Yo! Little Huru~ Long time no see. Miss me?"
Li Aozi swayed a bit. Feeling the little cutie by his foot, he immediately bent down and scooped it up.
"Heh heh, sweetie, let me give you some cuddles…"
Huru struggled furiously, like it had run into a stranger, clawing wildly before escaping Li Aozi's gentle embrace in a flash, disappearing without a trace.
"—Tch."
Li Aozi cast a disdainful glance at the reflection in the mirror:
"Mighty True General, you truly inherited my intellect when it comes to intelligence, my strength when it comes to power, and apparently my Charisma when it comes to… well, power."
The [Charisma] belonging to his main body hadn't been passed on at all.
[Looks like the essence of [Charisma] recognizes the physical body rather than the soul.]
Though he and Isaac share a consciousness, the main body's [Charisma] can bring an entire planet to heel. Yet in Isaac's body, it can't even endear him to a cat.
[Well, that's normal enough. After all, my previous previous incarnation was Leozi… With that Domination-type deity-level charisma, if it transferred with my soul, I wouldn't have needed to become a streamer in my last life; I could've just ruled the universe, right?]
In a way, that indirectly adds a bit of credibility to his connection with Leoz's reincarnation.
"Whatever, I won't dwell on it. Let's check things out today, then study the authority spells. That'll be my main job over these few days in detention."
Li Aozi glanced at the system log.
Isaac's life was monotonous and tranquil. He'd been training diligently for months, but limited by the status of "True#10752" as a Descender, he couldn't make further progress.
Players aren't like those [Society] citizens who replace or parasitize others.
The root cause is still the "Laian-Ding Medical Agreement".
For players, it's just background lore. In reality, for the characters who get conscripted, it's genuinely a lifesaving provision.
The conscripted natives are typically about to die or already dead. Becoming a character summoned by players actually extends their life, giving them a second chance.
Generally, they move around freely at safe save points or in offline locations. As long as they're not directly killed, the "Laian-Ding Medical Agreement" guarantees their safety. Getting into fights, training themselves—no problem.
Take, for example, Caramel-Snail's character "Zuo Heqi." Whenever Caramel-Snail is offline, Zuo Heqi reverts to his street-punk high-schooler persona from Tianhuan Street. He often jokes around in Faithkeep Village and sometimes volunteers.
Or the shallow Asakusa Kid recruited by Cumin Powder. Back in Tianhuan, she was an apprentice electrician. While Cumin Powder is offline, her "task" is basically to fix air conditioners.
Characters often comment on the players' actions, too. When Li Aozi plays the "True" account, Isaac frequently complains about this or that.
Only, because the game is usually fast-paced, unless players move around solo like Pochi-chan for a long time, they generally don't pay much attention to the words of their summoned characters.