The Emperor's Tour

"Next is... Antonio City in the Kingdom of Carter." Cassius beat his wings, soaring over land and city. Down on the ground, cheers erupted in waves—whether genuinely felt or coerced by the sight of the watchful imperial guards remained anyone's guess. Over the past three months, the Emperor had toured more than half of the Cinder Empire. Wherever he went, drums and gongs thundered, and fervent cheers filled the air. "Long live the Empire!" "Long live His Imperial Majesty!" Such cries echoed without end. Naturally, there were also reckless "assassins" eager to become dragonslayers. Most, of course, were burned to ash before they could even draw near. People called them madmen. After all, attempting to assassinate a human emperor was at least comprehensible, but who in their right mind would try to assassinate a *dragon emperor*? In truth, within the borders of this Imperial Domain, not even a god descending in an avatar could likely slay this red dragon. As the tour progressed, more and more incredible legends began spreading among the populace, quickly proven true. In freezing Permafrost City, His Imperial Majesty summoned a continuous mountain range hundreds of meters high, walling off the bitter northern winds and making the city far warmer. In rugged Alpine Keep, His Imperial Majesty leveled the rolling hills, creating vast flatlands out of nowhere to allow local factories to be built. In a village plagued by bulettes, His Imperial Majesty enjoyed a lavish barbecue... These tales gradually spread to every corner of the empire. As conquered subjects who had been shaped by the northern nobles' Song of Cinders and other ominous rumors, the people had harbored deep dread toward the Emperor and great anxiety over imperial rule. Yet as daily life noticeably improved, their fear gave way to emotions called awe and reverence. Tours conducted by the Northlands nobles had always been an agonizing trial for the common folk, who were forced to foot the bill for their extravagant spending. The Emperor's tour, however, was the exact opposite. Some said His Imperial Majesty had not come to conquer, but to liberate and save. Through blood and fire. In reality, Cassius was touring to assimilate his territory into his Imperial Domain. And the earth-shaping miracles spoken of in rumors were merely his experiments with newly acquired powers—incidentally creating a better natural environment for the empire's industrial expansion. Originally, Cassius intended to leverage his knowledge of the plot during this tour to clear all the side quests, secret realms, and bosses within the Great Anzetta Waste to reach a new level. However, Cassius was already a legendary dragon; ordinary creatures could no longer grant him meaningful progression. For instance, among the man-eating beasts in the cavern of the Alpine Keep side quest, the final boss was a Challenge Rating 13 mutated hook horror shadow tormentor—a terror known in his past life as the novice player's nightmare. Yet it yielded a pathetic five hundred experience points to Cassius. Moreover, the emergence of a new system altered his original plan, prompting him to leave all these "experience packs" to the players instead. [Your faction, the Cinder Empire, has reached faction rank: Red Gold.] [Faction System Experience Shop unlocked.] [Players affiliated with your faction may spend experience to learn faction-exclusive techniques and related abilities.] In Cassius's memories, this was a system found only in the major factions of his previous life. Players could spend experience points to learn faction abilities and rapidly bolster their strength. Horsemanship, swordsmanship, artisan crafts, and even certain spells could all be acquired through the Experience Shop. This also widened the gap between professional and casual players. After all, ordinary players struggled even to gather enough experience to level up, let alone possess a surplus. Meanwhile, many top players evolved into true "hexagon warriors"—flawless all-rounders. At this thought, he reached out directly to Trump via telepathy. Even separated by thousands of li, the soul link granted by Imperial Grace enabled the red dragon's vassals to communicate with him from anywhere within the empire. "Master... what are your orders?" Trump's voice sounded faint and drained, oozing exhaustion straight from his soul. Before Cassius could speak, Trump's listless voice droned on from the other end: "Master, the Imperial Council Hall is fully completed. The Empire Building, the Isdalia Grand Coliseum, and other sites are still under construction; it will take another three months..." "The Claudeus United Military-Industrial Conglomerate and the Imperial South Continent Company have been established, and initial profit distributions are settled. We've coordinated with the Church of Waukeen and deployed several commercial spies..." "Count Gilmour Sparrow has built the steam press coining machine and finalized the template for the 'dragon coin.' It only awaits your confirmation..." "Additionally, the military situation in the Fadlan region has shifted..." Trump spoke in an endless torrent. Over the past few months, he had not only overseen Isdalia's municipal construction, but also managed industrial planning across the realm and orchestrated the founding of various imperial corporate entities. Just three days ago, he had received yet another task: consolidate the Imperial Bank and centralize the empire's minting authority. He needed to abolish the chaotic currency system of the former Northlands, unify everything under the new currency known as the "dragon coin," and ensure that orders from the Kingdom of Thrace were settled in it as well. Even as a legendary creature whose willpower and endurance far surpassed mortal limits, the crushing workload left Trump utterly exhausted. He hadn't slept in days. The empire was simply too vast now. With over three million square kilometers of land and more than six million people, the former kingdom's administrative framework was buckling under the strain. Yet his great Emperor, during this crucial formative period of the empire, had once again spent months acting as an utterly hands-off ruler. Cassius, however, did not consider this laziness. Well, he had always believed in delegating tasks to specialists. Handling trivial administrative affairs was hardly his forte, so why not leave them to competent subordinates? "Right, Master, there's also the matter of managing the newly arrived Starfallen. Across the country, sixty-five thousand four hundred have recently—" Listening to Trump's report, Cassius's lip twitched slightly. He had known imperial affairs were numerous, but never imagined there would be this many. This truly was a nation bustling with renewal and raw vitality. Everything within its borders was developing at breakneck speed, breaking away from the past and ruthlessly shattering centuries of tradition. After listening to administrative updates for over ten minutes, Cassius yawned out of mild boredom and cut him off: "Trump... I'm contacting you this time to give you a new assignment." "..." Inside the municipal hall, documents formed towering mountains. On the other end of the mental link, the colossal dragon-blooded ogre was on the verge of tears. He let out a silent roar in his heart: *It's all worth it! All for Master's grand blueprint!* Suddenly, Trump recalled a seventh-tier spell called Simulacrum. It could create duplicates of oneself—wouldn't that make working far more efficient?