IRCDM Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Deceptive Marriage – Punishable by Death According to the Law

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 over the therapy device, and beckoned him closer.

Liang Huan skirted the haphazardly discarded outerwear and shoes on the floor and walked to the bedside.

“Come on, sit here.” Li Yao patted the bed next to him.

“No need.” Liang Huan looked at the somewhat faded and wrinkled sheets beneath him and stood his ground.

Li Yao still wore a slight smile. He raised his wrist and tapped his inner skin twice. Suddenly, a palm-sized, semi-transparent screen floated in front of him.

A hint of shock flashed in Liang Huan’s eyes.

He’s really acting the part, Li Yao thought. He pointed to the screen and said, “See this? This is the Population Matching Center. We got our marriage certificate there this morning at 8:30. If we want to apply for a divorce, we have to be married for at least 100 days. Plus, we won’t be able to submit another matching application for three years after that. If we apply now, we’ll be permanently blacklisted by the Matching Center.”

Liang Huan said coldly, “What does that have to do with me?”

Li Yao sighed. “Do you know how hard it is to find a suitable, S-Grade Mental Power, male 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 been submitting it for two years straight. I waited over 700 days for a successful match, and the other person is the right age and has the right Mental Power level.” Li Yao smiled. “Even though we’ve only known each other for less than 24 hours, didn’t we agree on everything before getting married?”

“Agree on what?” Liang Huan asked.

“…You would help me with mecha Mental Power assisted training. Once I can operate a mecha independently, we’ll get a peaceful divorce. At the same time, I’ll pay you 10 million Condensed Coins as marital property, without the need to pay high taxes.” Li Yao took a deep breath and said patiently, “Liang Huan, you proposed the marriage. I won’t skimp on the payment I owe you.”

The smile slowly vanished from his face, and the look he gave Liang Huan turned cold. “I’m only taking what you said just now as a result of being stimulated on the training field. You’re free to act like an emperor or a eunuch, but if you dare to deceive me, it’s not something that 10 million can solve, understand?”

Liang Huan roughly understood what he meant.

The “Liang Huan” before he arrived had made a deal with Li Yao. The condition was to help Li Yao accomplish something, then get the money and divorce.

But he didn’t know what Mental Power and mechas were, and he wouldn’t marry someone casually for money. Besides, Li Yao’s identity seemed dangerous, and this building wasn’t an ideal place to stay. The only thing he needed to do now was to find a way back.

“Understood,” Liang Huan nodded.

Li Yao looked relieved. “It was inconsiderate of me to take you directly to the training field today. Even though you have S-Grade Mental Power, you haven’t received formal military training after all. The zombies and heteromorphs were too much of a shock for you. You should rest.”

I made him lose his mind.

Liang Huan pointed to the small screen on his wrist. Li Yao had also used it when they entered the building. “Do I have this…this thing called a chip too?”

Li Yao casually tapped the screen twice. 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 made him sit on the bed.

“Fingerprint unlock, tap here.” Li Yao touched the wrist of his left hand, where a faint blue fingerprint appeared.

Liang Huan followed his example and pressed his finger on it.

“Don’t press so hard.” Li Yao grabbed his hand. “Are you trying to poke a hole in yourself?”

“I know,” Liang Huan glanced at him unhappily.

Li Yao couldn’t help but laugh.

Although the heteromorph’s brainwave attacks were powerful, and he had seen many soldiers who were messed up badly – some thought they were dogs, some thought they were spaceships, some thought they were zombies – it wasn’t strange for those with weak Mental Power to go crazy. But it was the first time he’d seen someone who thought they were an emperor.

However, the higher the Mental Power, the faster the recovery. Liang Huan’s S-Grade Mental Power 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 very dark, he wore a bow tie around his neck, and two animal ears on his head, and he was kneeling on the ground, leaning over.

“Outrageous!” Liang Huan recoiled abruptly, angered. “This is improper!”

“It’s just a dynamic background. You can cancel it here.” Li Yao couldn’t operate his screen, so he showed him how, looking at him teasingly. “I didn’t expect you to be into this, Your Majesty.”

“I am not.” Liang Huan’s face darkened as he clumsily canceled the background.

Li Yao assessed his clumsy movements, occasionally guiding him, “Tap here.”

The burly man finally disappeared. Liang Huan turned to look at Li Yao. Fortunately, Li Yao’s muscles were well-proportioned, and his appearance was decent enough – after all, officials needed to be both talented and presentable so that the emperor feels comfortable.

“Look at the screen.” Li Yao held his head and turned him back.

Liang Huan slapped away his disrespectful hand. “Don’t touch me.”

Li Yao leaned against the headboard with his arms crossed. “Then do it yourself. Anyway, it’s your privacy inside. Don’t worry if you can’t remember. You’ll remember everything after a night’s sleep.”

Then he slid down, stepped on the therapy device, and closed his eyes, falling asleep.

Liang Huan manipulated the screen, identifying the fragmented characters, and after some effort, pulled up his personal information.

Liang Huan, Male, 21 years old, born on July 7th, New Era 116, 185cm, Blood Type A, Mental Power Assessment Level: S, Occupation: None, Address: None, Marital Status: Married, Spouse: Li Yao.

There was an information button next to Li Yao’s name. 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 Power Assessment Level: C, Occupation: 1st Class Mercenary, Address: Mercenary Base Residential Building 7104, Northwest Street, Eastern Third District, Marital Status: Married, Spouse: Liang Huan.

He stared at the strange curve for Mental Power. His Mental Power Assessment Level was two connected curves, and Li Yao’s was a large curve. Which one was more powerful? What era was the New Era? Was blood type a type of blood? Did blood need to be classified? And what were the small symbols after the numbers?

His Majesty the Emperor was full of questions. He turned to look at Li Yao, who was sleeping soundly, and felt a slight dissatisfaction.

“Li Yao, wake up.” He patted Li Yao’s shoulder.

Li Yao opened his eyes abruptly, pausing for a second to regain his senses. “What?”

“I have something to ask you,” Liang Huan said.

“Not disturbing other people’s sleep is the most basic virtue.” Li Yao looked at him with a sullen face.

Liang Huan directly ignored his complaints and pointed to the screen, asking his questions.

Li Yao was completely puzzled. “You forgot all of this? Did those shockwaves ruin your brain? Did they dig out your brains?”

Liang Huan didn’t retort. Although he didn’t know what Li Yao was basing his judgment on, that he would remember everything after waking up tomorrow, he could obviously use this misunderstanding to learn the most basic information from Li Yao.

Seeing Liang Huan just looking at him expressionlessly, Li Yao scratched his head irritably, reciting to himself twice that this person was still useful: “Ask me anything you don’t understand.”

Liang Huan pointed to Li Yao’s Mental Power level “C” on the spouse interface. “What does this mean?”

Li Yao’s expression suddenly darkened.

In the cramped room, the silence made the air suffocating. Liang Huan turned to look at him, only to see him saying as if nothing had happened, “Mental Power is determined by genes, the upper limit of physical strength and intelligence. Most importantly, Mental Power determines whether you can operate a mecha. Currently, people’s Mental Power is roughly divided into five levels from low to high: D, C, B, A, and S. The S-Grade is further subdivided into I, II, and III. Usually, S-Grade Mental Power will be recruited by the military. Currently, there are only five humans with 3S Mental Power.”

Liang Huan looked at his own level, and then heard him say, “There are also some people with high Mental Power but low physical strength. This is a genetic defect. Even if they join the military, they can’t meet the standards, but they usually achieve great things in other industries.”

After Li Yao finished speaking, he thought he would express some feelings, but then he heard him say, “Can you teach me how to recognize these symbols?”

Li Yao felt sleepy again. “You’ll remember tomorrow.”

“I want to learn now.” Liang Huan looked at him with a solemn expression. “Li Yao, this matter is very important to me.”

Li Yao: “…”

Liang Huan glanced at his foot, knowing how to be flexible when necessary. “Before, I hurt you because I was overstimulated and frightened in an emergency. I hope you can understand. If you can teach me without holding a grudge, I will be very grateful.”

“Talk to me properly.” Li Yao warned him.

Liang Huan solemnly held both of his hands, looking directly into his eyes. “Thank you.”

Li Yao met his gaze for two seconds, then suddenly threw his hands away. “If you do that again, I’ll really hit you.”

Liang Huan smiled at him.

Li Yao wiped his face, forcibly dispelling his sleepiness. “Watch carefully, I’ll only teach you once.”

Liang Huan learned with rapt attention.

These so-called English letters were more difficult to recognize than the fragmented characters, but he saw that these letters appeared very frequently and were used to search for information, so learning them now was very necessary.

After Li Yao taught him once and then taught him a few simple words, seeing that he was listening attentively, he simply taught him how to retrieve information. By the time he had taught him the most basic things, the sky outside the window had darkened, the neon lights of the sky streets were flashing, and the lights shone through the window. The room was only illuminated by the dim blue light of a screen.

Liang Huan was still intently staring at the information retrieved on the screen.

The year of this world was different from the era he was in. There were no Four Kingdoms in ancient times, nor were there An Dynasty and Li Dynasty, but the so-called technology was very advanced, similar to the era Uncle 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. Humans awakened various abilities, eventually marked by the A0001 Ability User killing the EAX01 Zombie, declaring the end of the apocalypse. To commemorate this rebirth, humans started the New Era and began to rebuild their homes.

In New Era 6, heteromorphs descended and began to devour people’s abilities in large numbers. These things were good at mental attacks. In order to resist the heteromorphs and save themselves, humans tried many methods. Finally, scientists gained inspiration from the zombie crystals and modified human genes and abilities. After decades of research, they finally transformed human abilities into Mental Power, thus countering the mental attacks of the heteromorphs.

In New Era 36, the heteromorphs suddenly withdrew in large numbers. The EAX01 zombie crystal was detonated, and the air radiation index reached 89KGUT, causing the death of a large number of plants and animals. Humans activated emergency plans, delineated 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 mechas. The increasingly depleted resources and soaring radiation have prompted people to accelerate the exploration of interstellar space. In the past hundred years, the four districts have successively dispatched countless space fleets, but most of them have been swallowed up in the infinite universe, never to return.

The most recent interstellar voyage was in New Era 127, when the four major districts combined all their strength to merge a joint fleet of nearly 100,000 people and set off for the Dawn Star System, which the advance team had recently explored. Unfortunately, it was once again completely wiped out, and the outcome was extremely tragic.

Liang Huan looked at the pictures of those star systems and spaceship wrecks. Next to them were recommended news articles with headlines such as [Ten Years Ago, the Dawn Project Was Completely Annihilated, and the Mental State of Space Salvage Team Members Collapsed], [The Lowest Employment Rate in History, Where Should Mecha Repairers Go?], [The Eastern District First Court Sentences Yi Yuan, the Person in Charge of the Dawn Project], [Dr. Su, a Biologist, Reveals the Mysteries of Mental Power for You], [The Richest Man in the Eastern District Buys a Luxury House for 30 Million Condensed Coins to Give to His Young Girlfriend]…

Liang Huan glanced at them, trying to click on the last news article, but the screen suddenly went dark.

“No power,” Li Yao said, lying on the bed with his arms pillowed behind his head, without even opening his eyes.

Liang Huan’s eyes were sore from staring at the screen for too long. “Where do I charge it?”

“You even know how to charge it.” Li Yao laughed and said lazily, “Mercenary buildings are medium-sized buildings. Power is supplied from 11 PM to 2 AM. Each unit of electricity costs two Condensed Coins. It will cost you about 200 Condensed Coins to fully charge your bio-chip. By the way, water is also supplied for a limited time in the building, from 3 PM to 5:30 PM. It costs 50 Condensed Coins to wash once. Pay attention to the time.”

Liang Huan had just checked his balance, and he only had 10.3 Condensed Coins left. Moreover, this identity had no house, no job, and no source of income.

He looked at the blackened screen and raised his head. “Li Yao.”

“It’s no use calling my name,” Li Yao rolled over, facing away from him. “No money, no loans.”

“You said earlier that if I pretended to marry you, you would give me a reward of 10 million Condensed Coins,” Liang Huan said. “Words are cheap; pay me a deposit of 1 million first.”

Li Yao chuckled. “You said you wanted a divorce just now, Your Majesty.”

Liang Huan couldn’t help but glance at the unresponsive chip again and said in a deep voice, “Extraordinary measures must be taken in an emergency.”

Li Yao didn’t move.

“You wouldn’t not be able to come up with that much money, would you?” Liang Huan frowned slightly.

Li Yao sat up seriously. “Wait until I get my commission next month.”

Liang Huan: “This is marriage fraud, punishable by death according to the law.”

Li Yao: “…”