Chapter 113: Suggestions and Inquiries

"What are you thinking?" Xia Mi asked abruptly as they made their way back to the home they knew best. "You decided to found a nation on a whim—a massive one spanning six thousand kilometers at that. Have you even considered what kind of political system you'll implement?"

"An autocratic equality system, of course," Liu Tian said calmly. "I hold absolute power, and everyone else is equal beneath me."

"Uh, what about the laws?" Xia Mi shook her head and asked again. "Have you decided what constitutes a crime and how it will be judged? Not to mention having enough personnel to carry out your will. To build a complete nation, these two things are indispensable. I’ve played the role of a monarch for a time; ruling a country is work that requires immense patience, considering every single facet."

"Besides, the core of the Heavenly Kingdom is too small right now, and you’ve only given yourself two years. There will inevitably be many areas that fall through the cracks. It’s easy for all sorts of riffraff—thugs, bullies, and lowlifes—to emerge and fill the void."

"These types are already common enough. If you suddenly establish a Heavenly Kingdom and drive away everyone who refuses to submit, there will be even more of them. In the worst-case scenario, even the military and police will mutiny, becoming criminals in uniform. My advice is to forcibly keep those who want to leave for now, then slowly reform the system. Be patient, and there will be much less destruction."

Indeed, as Xia Mi said, ruling is rarely easy under normal circumstances. Every aspect must be considered, and sometimes you cannot do what is "right," only what is "appropriate."

Xia Mi, drawing on her past experience, was thinking quite logically. If one were to follow Liu Tian’s demands—building a massive six-thousand-kilometer nation in two years while allowing dissidents to leave—it is foreseeable that the upper echelons, those with actual capability, would flee. Moreover, the subsequent restructuring would likely plunge the entire society into chaos from top to bottom.

Although there is never a shortage of people who want to be officials, and considering the current level of education, such chaos might not last forever. But there will certainly be those who seize the vacuum, and the destruction they cause would be immeasurable.

Therefore, it would be better to keep the people there and reform slowly. While it would delay the timeline, it is safer, causes less destruction, and preserves a better territory.

However, just as Liu Tian had judged himself before, he was neither a normal, qualified, nor wise ruler. Furthermore, he was a man with very little patience.

Facing Xia Mi’s questions, Liu Tian had only one response:

"How could I ever change something I’ve already decided? If those short-sighted fools want to run, let them run."

"As for how to judge those who break the law? How could a dragon like you ask such a nonsensical question? Use the existing laws as a reference. Aside from a few special cases, everything below a certain threshold of sentencing will be forced labor. Anything above that—kill them all. Damn it, kill every last one of them."

"Thugs, bullies, lowlifes, criminal police—and anyone else I haven't thought of yet—daring to cause trouble in my Heavenly Kingdom? These insignificant things that annoy me? Regardless of their status, crime, age, or gender, I will purge them entirely. I will kill until no one dares to make a sound!"

"Afterward, I will equally bestow upon all who remain the most diluted blood of the Heavenly God race, bringing their base attributes to a level where the gap is negligible, giving them the most basic, equal foundation to climb upward."

"I will build a Heavenly Kingdom on this planet that is neither reasonable nor scientific, but it will be, damn it, absolutely fair."

"The amount of people who will die to build this kingdom of yours... the Heavenly Kingdom of Hell is not like this..."

Though she had long understood Liu Tian’s personality, he never failed to surprise her. Thinking of the land beneath her feet, destined to suffer countless ruins and the loss of immeasurable, precious resources and technology, even as a different species, Xia Mi couldn't help but break into a cold sweat.

"This place will be yours eventually; everything on it is your wealth. You should cherish it a little," Xia Mi said. "Sigh, once I finish middle school, I’ll go to the Heavenly Kingdom to help. At least I can mitigate some of the damage."

"Also, Senior, you treat other species equally as well, right? I have some subordinates I can still communicate with. If you're willing, I’ll see if I can wake them up. There aren't many, and they're weak, but they’ve lived for quite a long time—they might be of some use."

"What is the point of distinguishing between wild weeds based on size, thickness, or variety? Aren't they all just weeds?" Liu Tian countered. "As long as they obey my will and follow my orders, they can be my subordinates. Likewise, if they resist, they will be equally pulverized into dust."

"And Mi'er, you are mistaken about one thing. Hell is Hell, and I am I. Our Heavenly Kingdoms may share a name and perhaps similar content, but they should never be conflated."

"After all, my master is the Heavenly Dao, not Hell—even if my master were Hell, I would find it hard to understand him or inherit his ideals."

"You want me, goddamn it, to be like that pathetic loser Shou Nan, pointlessly preserving the lives of a bunch of insignificant people?"

"What a fantasy!"

"Eh, you called me Mi'er." Casting aside everything she had just said, Xia Mi covered her face. "I thought you would always just call me by my full name. Is this a confession? It must be a confession, right?!"

"But then again, it's still too early. At the very least, I have to wait two years for this body to fully mature."

"Here we go again." Liu Tian covered his face. Ever since his breakthrough, he had progressed exponentially in every aspect. He could now easily handle speeds of Mach 5, which was why the trip back home had taken less than a fifth of the time it once would have.

And because of this, Liu Tian had arrived just in time for a grand spectacle—a spectacle that would surely amuse him.

"It's no longer safe here." Looking at Lu Mingfei, who theoretically should have been familiar but now felt like a stranger, the first Headmaster of Cassel College, the current Headmaster, the strongest half-breed, a man obsessed with vengeance against the Dragon race, and one who was still fighting on the front lines of dragon-slaying at the age of 130—Hilbert Jean Anjou—reached out his hand. "The leader of the Heavenly Kingdom could return at any moment. I can't leave you here. It's too dangerous."

"This is your parents' wish. You should come to our college to study. Here are the introduction letter and the token."

"Mingfei, you recognize this, don't you? It's their handwritten letter. It's hard to explain the specific reasons in a short time. Time is tight; let's go first and talk on the way."

"?" Lu Mingfei did not speak, nor did he glance at his aunt, uncle, or cousin, who were knocked unconscious in the corner. He took a step back, his bangs perfectly obscuring his eyes, making it impossible for anyone to look through those windows to the soul and see the boy's inner thoughts.

"Is it you who has been sending people to watch me all this time?" Lu Mingfei asked. "The plumber, the neighbors, the security guard, the property manager—are all these people who visit from time to time your arrangements?"

"Or were they my parents' arrangements?"