"Do you really trust him that much?" Long Xiaoyao asked softly as he supported Ye Yeshui by the arm.
Looking at the woman beside him—the love of his life—whose once jet-black and lustrous hair had gradually turned gray, Long Xiaoyao's expression became somewhat dazed. He seemed to recall the beautiful and vibrant young girl from long ago.
Back during their travels across the continent...
By the bonfire, under the cover of night...
That lively and joyful girl who cheered them on, gave them strength, and became the source of motivation for everything that followed—a girl like a butterfly.
"No matter what, the outcome will be good."
"I can't stand Shrek Academy. As long as they're destroyed, that's good enough for me." Ye Yeshui didn't directly answer but gave a vague, ambiguous response.
Long Xiaoyao's expression grew more confused.
The Ye Yeshui he knew wasn't like this.
"Don't forget, I still have another martial soul." Ye Yeshui looked out over the forest, and at the distant figure of the Evil-Eyed Tyrant watching over them like a supervisor, and spoke softly, "I hate Shrek Academy and everything from the original continent. You can see it as revenge for what they did to me (Saint Spirit Hall rising under Xu Cheng's leadership and unifying the continent), or as a hidden shred of goodness still left in my heart (Saint Spirit Hall under Xu Cheng treats ordinary civilians kindly)."
Long Xiaoyao froze in shock.
That martial soul… was a distant memory.
Even after Ye Yeshui became the true leader of Saint Spirit Hall, she had never revealed it. This secret seemingly belonged to the two of them alone.
Even Mu En didn't know...
"So as long as Xu Cheng can carry on Saint Spirit Hall, no matter how he develops it—as long as he contributes to the destruction of those continent-dominating factions—I'll be content."
Ye Yeshui sighed.
When a person nears death, their words turn kind.
Perhaps sensing her own end approaching, Ye Yeshui began laying her plans.
She wasn't gambling—because no matter what happened, she wouldn't lose.
"What about that boy Zhongli Wu..." Long Xiaoyao looked at the departing figure of Zhongli Wu and muttered, "You're just letting him go like this?"
"You think I ever liked that old ghost Zhongli?" Ye Yeshui turned her head to look at Long Xiaoyao, her eyes holding a questioning look.
"Well… probably not," Long Xiaoyao replied after a moment.
"Heh, that's just like you—even if it's your rival's child, like you're wearing a green hat*, you can still act so carefree." Ye Yeshui shook her head. "Then I'll say it clearly—I never liked him. Even now, he still appears in my dreams, like a vengeful spirit I can't shake off. So do you think I would love the child I had with him?"
[*T/N: "Wearing a green hat" is a Chinese idiom referring to being cheated on.]
"…"
Long Xiaoyao remained silent.
"Then once I die, where should I go?"He looked toward the sky, eyes filled with loneliness.
As an Ultimate Douluo, he still had a long life ahead—enough to wander the entire continent.
Ye Yeshui ran her fingers across Long Xiaoyao's cheek. "Then come down and join me."
Long Xiaoyao's expression lit up as if he'd received the answer he'd always wanted. A smile tugged at his lips."Alright…"
Mingdu.
Underground.
In a deep tunnel—
Surrounded by a group of Mingde Hall researchers, Xu Cheng looked at the silver-white first "Starlink Metro" in front of him and nodded in satisfaction. Its appearance was quite impressive—clearly, the designers had lost plenty of hair getting it done.
The streamlined body matched his past life's impression of high-speed rail.
Since this was the Sun-Moon Empire—"Sun" and "Moon"—the trains would alternate. The blazing Sunlight Line during the day, and the silver Moonlight Line at night, perfectly alternating.
Clearly, this silver Starlink model was the Moonlight Line.
As the carriage doors slowly opened, the inside came into view. It wasn't luxurious, but it was clean and simple. After all, the car's main function was transportation, not comfort.
However—
"You should set different car classes—one coin, one seat. Make the front carriages more luxurious, more spacious. I'm counting on Starlink to bring in significant revenue. If you run it like this, won't the imperial treasury need to keep subsidizing it later?"
Xu Cheng frowned slightly as he used his spiritual power to scan the entire carriage.
"T-this… was an oversight on our part," a technician replied awkwardly.
"It's fine, not your fault."
Xu Cheng shook his head.
After all, this was uncharted territory. The Sun-Moon Empire had virtually no experience in this area. They had to figure it out step by step. Fortunately, they still had plenty of time—there was no need to rush.
"The Starlink rail system looks good overall. How much of the railway map have we covered?" Xu Cheng asked.
"The entire underground of Mingdu—most key buildings are now connected by Starlink. We just need to tunnel upward and build aboveground transfer stations, and the system will be ready. Pricing will vary accordingly, but in the early stages, for regular carriages, it'll only cost one copper soul coin to ride—basically no restriction. Even ordinary citizens can easily use it, as long as they show Mingdu identification."
The Minister of Works beside him replied respectfully.
"Not bad."
Xu Cheng nodded.
He had just extracted billions of gold soul coins from the original continent, enough for the Sun-Moon Empire to splurge for a while.
So for Mingdu, he was focused on investing in infrastructure, rather than wringing short-term profits from the Starlink rail.
With Mingdu fully covered by Starlink...
Next, it was time to expand to other provinces. After all, the provincial dukes had already been imprisoned in Mingdu, so control over the provinces was now nominal. In this cultivation world, there was no such thing as hidden sabotage from lower-level officials. If anyone dared to resist Xu Cheng's rule, he had more than enough power to crush them.
As for the Ministry of Works...
Xu Cheng paused to reflect.
The structure of governance in the Douluo Continent really felt like a child's play.
The Minister of Works had almost nothing to do with soul tools. Though the role involved city construction, waterworks, etc., most of the work was still done with rudimentary manpower (non-soul masters) and tools dating back thousands of years.
Worse still, the Ministry had absurdly limited authority. Many major buildings in Mingdu were just massive soul tools cobbled together by large factions—completely beyond the Ministry's control.
But now that Xu Cheng was in charge, the Ministry of Works would inevitably be reformed.
He'd already arranged for many students from the Royal Academy of the Sun-Moon Empire to join his construction teams. They'd become architectural maniacs, taking over all kinds of projects in Mingdu.
Even the current Starlink railway bore their fingerprints.
Since that was the case...
Then the Empire's Ministry of Works deserved to have a true, functional role—and not remain idle any longer.
(End of Chapter)