Chapter 3: Marriage Fraud, Punishable by Decapitation
Liang Huan’s face darkened: “What are you laughing at?”
“Didn’t see any zombies gnawing on your head.” Li Yao leaned lazily against the headboard, glanced at him for two seconds while stepping on the treatment device, and beckoned him over.
Liang Huan skirted around the haphazardly discarded coat and shoes on the floor and walked to the bedside.
“Come on, sit here.” Li Yao patted the bed beside him.
“No need.” Liang Huan looked at the dull gray and wrinkled bedsheets beneath him and remained standing.
Li Yao still wore a hint of a smile. He raised his wrist and tapped his inner skin twice, and a palm-sized, semi-transparent screen suddenly appeared in front of him.
A hint of shock flickered in Liang Huan’s eyes.
Li Yao thought to himself, *he’s really putting on a show.* He pointed at the screen and said, “See this? This is the Population Matching Center. We just got our marriage certificate at 8:30 this morning. If we want to apply for a divorce, we need to have been married for at least one hundred days. Besides, we won’t be able to submit another matching application for the next three years. If we submit an application now, we’ll be permanently blacklisted by the Matching Center.”
Liang Huan said coldly, “What does that have to do with *I* (Zhen, I)?”
Li Yao sighed. “Do you know how hard it is to find an eligible male with S-Rank mental strength who matches my genes and doesn’t belong to the military?”
Liang Huan looked at him.
“I have to submit my information every month. I’ve submitted it for two years straight, waiting over seven hundred days for a successful match, and the other person’s age and mental strength are right on the mark.” Li Yao smiled. “Even though we’ve only known each other for less than twenty-four hours, didn’t we agree before getting the certificate?”
“Agreed on what?” Liang Huan asked.
“…You would help me with mecha mental strength training, and once I can independently operate a mecha, we would peacefully divorce. At the same time, I would pay you ten million Concentrated Coins in the name of marital joint property, without having to pay high taxes.” Li Yao took a deep breath and said patiently, “Liang Huan, you were the one who proposed the marriage. I won’t skimp on the reward I owe you.”
The smile slowly faded from his face, and the look he gave Liang Huan turned cold. “I’ll just assume you were traumatized at the training ground. You’re free to play the emperor or the eunuch, but if you dare to deceive me, ten million won’t be enough to solve the problem. Understand?”
Liang Huan roughly understood his meaning.
The “Liang Huan” before he arrived had made a deal with Li Yao: helping Li Yao complete something and then receiving money before divorcing.
However, he had no idea what this so-called mental strength or mecha was, and he wouldn’t just marry someone for money. Moreover, Li Yao’s identity seemed dangerous, and this building wasn’t an ideal place to settle down. The only thing he needed to do now was find a way back.
“Understood.” Liang Huan nodded.
Li Yao’s expression relaxed: “It was inconsiderate of me to take you directly to the training ground today. Although you have S-Rank mental strength, you haven’t received formal military school training. The zombies and aliens were too much for you. You should rest first.”
*He really messed the guy up so that he lost his mind.*
Liang Huan pointed to the small screen on his wrist. Li Yao had used it when they entered the building: “This thing called a chip, do *I*—do I have one too?”
Li Yao casually tapped the screen twice, and the palm-sized screen suddenly enlarged, almost touching Liang Huan’s face. Liang Huan subconsciously took a half step back, but Li Yao held his shoulder and sat him down on the bed.
“Fingerprint unlock, tap here.” Li Yao touched his left wrist, and a faint blue fingerprint appeared.
Liang Huan imitated his action and pressed his finger on it.
“Don’t use so much force.” Li Yao grabbed his hand. “Are you trying to poke a hole in yourself?”
“I (Zhen) knows.” Liang Huan glanced at him, displeased.
Li Yao couldn’t help but laugh.
Although the brainwave impact of aliens was strong, and he had seen many soldiers suffer from it—some thought they were dogs, some thought they were spaceships, some thought they were zombies—it wasn’t strange for those with weak mental strength to go crazy. But this was the first time he had seen someone who thought he was an emperor.
However, the higher the mental strength, the faster the recovery. Liang Huan’s S-Rank mental strength would probably be back to normal after a night’s sleep.
Liang Huan opened his screen and was immediately assaulted by the sight of a naked, muscular man in the background. The man’s skin was dark, he had a bow tie around his neck, and animal ears on his head as he knelt on the ground.
“Preposterous!” Liang Huan recoiled, enraged. “What kind of behavior is this!”
“It’s just a dynamic background. You can turn it off here.” Li Yao couldn’t operate his screen, so he pointed out how to do it and looked at him teasingly. “I didn’t expect you to be into this, Your Majesty.”
“I (Zhen) am not.” Liang Huan’s face darkened, and he clumsily turned it off.
Li Yao sized up his clumsy movements, occasionally guiding him: “Tap here.”
The burly man finally disappeared. Liang Huan turned to look at Li Yao. Fortunately, Li Yao had well-proportioned muscles and a proper appearance, which was pleasing to the eye—after all, officials needed both talent and good looks to be pleasing to the emperor. People like Xu Xiude, who became overweight later in life, didn’t count.
“Look at the screen.” Li Yao pressed his head and turned him back.
Liang Huan smacked away his disrespectful hand: “Don’t touch I (Zhen).”
Li Yao leaned against the headboard with his arms crossed: “Then do it yourself. Anyway, it’s your privacy. Don’t worry if you can’t remember. You’ll remember everything after a good night’s sleep.”
Then he slid down, stepped on the treatment device, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.
Liang Huan manipulated the screen, deciphering the missing parts of the words. After several twists and turns, he pulled up his personal information.
Liang Huan, male, 21 years old, born on July 7th, New Era 116, 185cm, blood type A, mental strength evaluation level: S, occupation: unemployed, address: none, marital status: married, spouse: Li Yao.
There was an information button next to Li Yao. He touched it, and another interface popped up on the screen.
Li Yao, male, 27 years old, born on March 2nd, New Era 110, 185cm, blood type B, mental strength evaluation level: C, occupation: Top-level mercenary, address: No. 7104, Northwest Street Mercenary Base Main Residential Building, East Third District, marital status: married, spouse: Liang Huan.
He stared at the strange curve representing mental strength. His own mental strength evaluation level was two connected curves, while Li Yao’s was a large curve. Which one was more powerful? What era was this “New Era”? Was blood type a type of blood? Did blood need to be classified? What were the small symbols after the numbers?
His Imperial Majesty was full of questions. He turned to look at Li Yao, who was sleeping soundly, and felt slightly dissatisfied.
“Li Yao, get up.” He patted Li Yao’s shoulder.
Li Yao suddenly opened his eyes, paused for a second before regaining his senses: “What?”
“I (Zhen) has something to ask you.” Liang Huan said.
“The most basic virtue is not disturbing other people’s sleep.” Li Yao looked at him with a sour face.
Liang Huan directly ignored his complaints and pointed to the screen, asking his questions.
Li Yao was utterly baffled: “You can forget this? Your brain wasn’t just damaged by the shockwave, they must have dug out your brains!”
Liang Huan didn’t refute. Although he didn’t know what Li Yao based his judgment that he could remember everything after a night’s sleep, he could obviously use this misunderstanding to learn the most basic information from Li Yao.
Seeing Liang Huan just looking at him blankly, Li Yao irritably scratched his head and muttered twice that this person was still useful: “Ask whatever you don’t understand.”
Liang Huan pointed to the “C” representing Li Yao’s mental strength level on the spouse interface: “What does this mean?”
Li Yao’s gaze suddenly darkened.
Within the cramped room, silence made the air stifling. Liang Huan turned to look at him, only to see him nonchalantly say: “Mental strength is determined by genes, it is the upper limit of physical strength and intelligence. Most importantly, mental strength determines whether you can control a mecha. Currently, people’s mental strength is roughly divided into five levels from low to high: D, C, B, A, and S. The S level is further divided into I, II, and III levels. Usually, people with S-level mental strength are recruited by the military. Currently, there are only five humans with 3S mental strength.”
Liang Huan looked at his own level and heard him say: “There are also some people with high mental strength but low physical strength. This is a genetic defect. Even if they enter the military, they can’t meet the standards. But usually they also achieve great things in other industries.”
After Li Yao finished speaking, he thought he would express some feelings, only to hear him say: “Can you teach I (Zhen) how to recognize these symbols?”
Li Yao’s drowsiness surged: “You’ll remember it tomorrow.”
“I (Zhen) wants to learn now.” Liang Huan looked at him with a solemn expression. “Li Yao, this matter is very important to I (Zhen).”
Li Yao: “…”
Liang Huan glanced at his feet, able to bend and stretch, and said: “I (Zhen) hurt you before, all because I was too scared in an emergency. I hope you understand. If you can teach I (Zhen) without holding a grudge, I (Zhen) will be very grateful.”
“Talk properly to me.” Li Yao warned him.
Liang Huan solemnly held his hands, looked directly into his eyes: “Thank you.”
Li Yao stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly threw his hands away: “I’ll really beat you if you do that again.”
Liang Huan smiled at him.
Li Yao wiped his face and forcibly dispelled his drowsiness: “Watch carefully, I’ll only teach it once.”
Liang Huan learned with rapt attention.
These so-called English letters were more difficult to recognize than the missing parts of the words, but he saw these letters appear very frequently, and they would also be used to search for information. It was very necessary to learn now.
After Li Yao taught him once, he also taught him a few simple words. Seeing that he was listening carefully, he simply taught him how to retrieve information. By the time he had taught the most basic things, the sky outside the window had darkened, and the neon lights on the elevated streets were flashing. The lights shone through the window, and the room was only illuminated by the dim blue light of a screen.
Liang Huan was still concentrating on the information retrieved on the screen.
The years of this world were different from the era in which he lived. Ancient times did not have the Four Kingdoms, nor did they have the An Dynasty and the Li Dynasty. But the so-called technology was very developed, similar to the era that Uncle Wang Dian had talked about. One hundred and sixty-four years ago, zombies broke out here, ushering in the apocalypse. The apocalypse lasted for twenty-seven years, and humans awakened all kinds of abilities. Finally, A0001 the ability user killed EAX01 zombie and marked the end of the apocalypse. In order to commemorate this new life, humans started the New Era and began to rebuild their homes.
In New Era 6, aliens descended and began to devour people’s abilities in large numbers. These things were good at mental attacks. In order to resist the aliens and save themselves, humans tried many methods. Finally, scientists were inspired by zombie crystal cores and modified human genes and abilities. After decades of research, they finally transformed human abilities into mental strength, thereby resisting the mental attacks of aliens.
In New Era 36, the aliens suddenly withdrew in large numbers. The EAX01 zombie crystal core was detonated, and the air radiation index reached 89KGUT, causing a large number of plants and animals to die. Humans launched an emergency plan and designated four areas with low radiation in the east, south, west, and north to build shelters. Since then, human technology has developed rapidly, especially the research on mecha. The increasingly depleted resources and the gradually soaring radiation have prompted people to accelerate the exploration of interstellar outer space. Over the past century, the four districts have successively dispatched countless space fleets, but most of them have been submerged in the infinite universe, never to return.
The most recent interstellar voyage was in New Era 127. The four major districts pooled all their strength and merged nearly 100,000 people into a joint fleet, heading towards the Dawn Star System, which was the latest exploration of the advance team. Unfortunately, it was completely annihilated again, and the outcome was extremely tragic.
Liang Huan looked at the pictures of those star systems and spacecraft wreckage. Next to them were recommended news, with headlines such as “[Ten Years Ago, the Dawn Project Was Completely Annihilated, and Members of the Space Salvage Team Suffered Mental Breakdown]”, “[Lowest Employment Rate in History, What Should Mecha Repairers Do]”, “[East District First Court Tries Yi Yuan, Person in Charge of the Dawn Project]”, “[Biologist Doctor Su Reveals the Mysteries of Mental Strength for You]”, “[East District’s Richest Man Buys a Luxury House for 30 Million Concentrated Coins and Gifts It to a Young Girlfriend]”…
Liang Huan glanced at it, trying to open the last news item, but the screen suddenly went black.
“Out of power.” Li Yao lay on the bed with his arms as pillows, not even opening his eyes.
Liang Huan stared at the screen for too long, and his eyes were a little sore: “Where do you charge it?”
“You even know how to charge it.” Li Yao laughed lazily. “The mercenary building is a medium-sized building. Electricity is supplied from 11:00 PM to 2:00 AM. Each unit of electricity costs two Concentrated Coins. It will cost you about two hundred Concentrated Coins to fully charge your biological chip. Also, water is also supplied for a limited time in the building, from 3:00 PM to 5:30 PM, and it costs fifty Concentrated Coins to take a shower. Pay attention to the time.”
Liang Huan had just checked his balance, and he only had ten point three Concentrated Coins left. Moreover, this identity had no house, no job, and no source of income.
He looked at the black screen and looked up: “Li Yao.”
“It’s useless for you to call my name.” Li Yao rolled over and turned his back to him. “No money, no loan.”
“You just said that if *I* (Zhen) and you enter a fake marriage, you would give *I* (Zhen) a reward of ten million Concentrated Coins.” Liang Huan said, “Saying it isn’t enough, first pay *I* (Zhen) a deposit of one million.”
Li Yao chuckled: “You just said you wanted a divorce, Your Majesty.”
Liang Huan couldn’t help but glance at the unresponsive chip again and said in a deep voice: “The emergency.”
Li Yao didn’t move.
“You wouldn’t be unable to come up with so much money, would you?” Liang Huan frowned slightly.
Li Yao sat up seriously and said: “Wait until I get my commission next month.”
Liang Huan: “This is marriage fraud, punishable by decapitation.”
Li Yao: “…”
