VCRMM: Chapter 92 Part 2

In the palace, Xu Sili waited in a slightly anxious manner.

In three days, he could see his second brother again. What would his second brother say this time? Did his second brother believe him? Did he still… still think this was the plot designed by the game developers?

These questions popped up in Xu Sili’s mind from time to time, making him restless and his emotions fluctuated greatly.

In the end, he decided to find something for himself to do.

Qiu Zheng suspected that he was hallucinating when he looked up from the never-ending pile of government affairs to see the young emperor standing at the door.

He could no longer remember when he started to handle government affairs for the emperor and the marshal.

He was originally just a small adjutant who only needed to be responsible for the daily life, food and itinerary of the marshal. Now he had to deal with the major affairs of the empire and he was busy every day.

Xu Sili saw the dark circles under Qiu Zheng’s eyes and couldn’t help coughing slightly. A bit of shame rose in his heart.

In fact, Qiu Zheng had several assistants but everything needed to be confirmed by Qiu Zheng again to check for any omissions. In any case, he was very miserable.

However, sympathy was just sympathy. Xu Sili couldn’t bear these tedious government affairs on his body. If he was tied up by it and had a lot of his day occupied, what could he do as the emperor?

In the final analysis, Xu Sili wasn’t a native of the Roland Empire, let alone someone who was trained to be a prince.

He could shoulder the responsibilities of the emperor, guard the safety of the people and lead the people to a better life but this didn’t mean he could be deprived of his freedom.

Perhaps when the Roland Empire was prosperous and strong and he felt that he was tired of being the emperor then he would pass the throne to Joan and travel the universe freely and happily with Si Sheng.

Of course, it was too early to say this.

The Roland Empire was too miserable right now and Joan hadn’t grown up. He would still have to work for a few more years.

“Your Majesty… Your Majesty!”

Qiu Zheng finally reacted and wanted to salute Xu Sili, but he was stopped.

“You are busy. I am just taking a look.”

Xu Sili was very easy going and his attitude toward talents was very good.

Qiu Zheng opened his mouth before obediently picking up the paperwork and continuing to correct it.

Xu Sili looked at him, thought about it and took out a bottle of health medicine. He placed it in front of Qiu Zheng and said, “Qiu Zheng, you should take one of these medicine pills every day. Tell me once you finish it. I still have more.”

Qiu Zheng looked up blankly. Medicine? He wasn’t sick….

He saw the young man’s slightly majestic eyes and didn’t dare say anything. He thanked the emperor and obediently accepted the medicine.

‘His Majesty… I feel that he is more and more like the Lord Marshal, especially when he doesn’t smile.’

Xu Sili didn’t know Qiu Zheng’s complaints. He purely gave this person the health medicine because he saw that Qiu Zheng’s face didn’t look good. He was worried that Qiu Zheng might die suddenly at any time and thought it was best to prevent this.

In any case, the production of the health medicine had increased.

Some players had become elemental pharmacists and they were frantically making health medicine every day.

In order to limit it, Xu Sili had added a new regulation when the health medicine was developed.

At present, only the pharmaceutical factory operated by Su Lin could produce the health medicine. Other places were illegally produced.

Therefore, even if a player became an elemental pharmacist and learned the formula, they could only make medicine at Su Lin’s pharmaceutical factory.

Otherwise, they would soon be caught. Not only would all their health medicine be confiscated but they would also be imprisoned for three days.

At first, some people didn’t agree with this. Then due to Xiao Wu’s surveillance, the ‘illegal activity’ was caught and the players didn’t dare secretly make the medicine.

However, making medicine at the pharmaceutical factory was also very painful for players.

Due to the need to use the equipment and materials of the pharmaceutical factory, 80% of the medicine produced needed to be handed over to the pharmaceutical factory. They had the right to purchase the remaining 20%.

Of course, the price was very low and they would gain reputation points for handing in the health medicine.

It was equivalent to working in a pharmaceutical factory with the only reward being the reputation points and the right to buy the medicine at a very low price.

It sounded like a trap but players had to accept it.

In any case, the wood and fire systems were common among elementalists and there were many NPCs in Mercenary Town. They might learn slowly but there were a lot of them. There was no need to worry about production.

Therefore, in order to get more reputation and freely tradeable medicine, these players had to work hard to produce the medicine and the output abruptly increased by two times.

Players had a realism adjustment system and they were different from NPCs who had the problem of exhaustion. If players were lacking physical strength then they just needed to eat to replenish it. After eating, they continued to produce the medicine and the NPCs naturally couldn’t compare to their efficiency.

There were NPCs who were unconvinced and tried to compete with the players. They persisted for a day and night before finally fainting from exhaustion despite not doing as much as the players.

This incident was treated as an interesting story and turned into a forum post. The name was ‘The Funny NPCs in Starry Sky Age.’

In any case, this matter wasn’t a loss for Xu Sili no matter what.

As a strategic material, the health medicine definitely needed to be strictly controlled to avoid it falling into the hands of traitors and being used against them.

In the end, Xu Sili learned from Qiu Zheng how to handle government affairs.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t do it but that he didn’t want to do it.

Knowing more about what was happening in various places could help him adjust his governing policies.

He learned like this and time passed unknowingly.

More than two days later, in the glow of the sunset, the shuttle that returned safely from Orchid Moon City slowly landed on the tarmac of the imperial palace.

The escort squad was left at the border.

During this period, the leader of the squad risked his life to report to Si Sheng about the situation of Li Lai and the fifth squad, hoping that Si Sheng could rescue them.

Si Sheng contacted Admiral Joyce. After learning the whole story, he called Li Lai’s communicator number to inquire about the situation.

Li Lai had originally muted it and in order to avoid being called back, he planned to not accept any of the military’s calls until he found clues about the fifth squad.

However, this call made him hesitate.

He might not have Si Sheng’s communicator number but there were only so many three digit communicator numbers in the empire. It was definitely a bigshot who called him.

Therefore, he finally answered the call. He hadn’t expected that it would be Si Sheng on the other side.

Si Sheng didn’t talk any nonsense. He figured out Li Lai’s plan after a few sentences. Then he agreed to let Li Lai stay in the mountains to find any clues. If he had any difficulties then he could ask Orchid Moon City for help.

The current Orchid Moon City should have the spare power to help him.

The members of the escort team were still worried about Li Lai’s safety after knowing this but they didn’t make any more trouble.

At the very least, his current actions were recognized and he wouldn’t be regarded as a deserter. His safety would increase a lot with the help of Orchid Moon City.

Finally, the escort team was left on the border of Imperial City and the shuttle continued to fly to the imperial palace.

The players were naturally excited when they saw the splendid palace.

It was just that they weren’t fortunate enough to visit the palace like those on the first day of the closed beta.

All of them were sent away except for the Orchid Moon City players who accepted the task of meeting the emperor.

Xu Sili dressed up like the first time and waited for the players to arrive in the main hall.

The players were queuing up to enter the main hall one by one to meet the emperor alone.

His mentality this time was different from last time. The young man’s expression had a bit of laziness and casualness as he sent away all the players in front of him in a perfunctory manner. Finally—

The figure he had been looking forward to for a long time appeared at the door and slowly walked in.

Xu Sili watched him quietly.

This was his second brother.

Compared with the last time, the gloom and decadence in his brother’s eyes had dissipated a lot. It was as if he had changed back to the elegant brother he remembered who was always full of spirit and always smiling.

Under the obstruction of the guards, Xu Yuheng stood in the hall and looked up at the young man who was gorgeously dressed and wearing a crown on the throne.

The face might be the same while the hair and eye color were different but meeting these eyes, Xu Yuheng knew very clearly.

This was his younger brother. There was no mistake.

He opened his mouth but before he could speak, he saw the young man raise a hand to send out all the other people in the hall.

Once there were only the two of them left in the hall, Xu Sili controlled the sound element to set a sound barrier. Then he stared at Xu Yuheng and spoke in a soft voice.

“Do you believe me?”

Xu Yuheng saw the hope and uneasiness in the young man’s eyes and his heart felt a bit bitter. He controlled his emotions and took a deep breath. “This matter is too unbelievable.”

“Therefore, can you answer my question?”

Xu Sili wasn’t surprised to hear his words. “Say it.”

“Before you… before you left, what were your last words to me?”

Xu Yuheng’s voice trembled slightly.

He felt a suffocating heartache every time he thought about that scene.

Xu Sili felt his emotions.

He pursed his lips and didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he got up and walked down from the throne, step by step before coming to Xu Yuheng.

In the past, he was only 1.78 meters tall and was shorter than his second brother. Now he was able to look at his brother at an equal eye level.

He stared deeply at Xu Yuheng before raising a hand and gently touching his cheek.

“Second Brother, don’t be sad.”

He spoke softly and with a bit of reassurance.

Xu Yuheng’s tears fell without warning. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyebrows with his fingers, but he still couldn’t control his emotions well.

Finally, he opened his arms and hugged the young man in front of him tightly.

“Xiao Li… it is all Second Brother’s fault…”

There was a choked sob in his voice, as if the emotions he had suppressed for a long time were finally released.

Xu Sili’s eyes were also a bit red.

He bit his lip and reached out his hands to hug his brother back, gently patting Xu Yuheng’s back.

“Second Brother, it wasn’t your fault. You don’t have to blame yourself… because I was already going to die…”

However, his words stimulated Xu Yuheng rather than having a comforting effect.

He wrapped his arms tighter around his brother and whispered, “Don’t mention the word death again. You have to live well and give me a long life!”

Xu Sili felt helpless. His nose was a bit sore as he muttered quietly, “My life expectancy is almost 200 years now…”

Nevertheless, he understood the damage his death had caused to his family so he no longer stimulated his brother. He just hugged his brother quietly and patted his back.

Don’t look at his Second Brother’s shrewdness and capabilities. In fact, he was a little crybaby.

Xu Sili smiled slightly when he remembered some things that happened as a child.

The estrangement between the two brothers disappeared when they met and this made him feel extremely happy.

A warm atmosphere was flowing in the hall but Xu Sili didn’t know that the corridor outside the hall was cloudy.

After Xu Sili had sent everyone away, Si Sheng went to the window and quietly opened a gap in the window.

This gap was enough for him to see the scene in the hall.

The existence of the soundproof barrier made it hard to hear what the people inside were saying but…

He saw their movements.

Proofreader: Purichan