WHirrrrr—CRACK-THUMP!
Ten thousand pairs of heavy iron boots hit the hot black tar in one neat beat.
Right at the front of the march rolled twenty giant Ironclad Steamrollers, their ten-foot-wide iron drums hissing with white steam as they pressed the fresh gravel and spirit-asphalt flat as a mirror. Behind them, ten thousand scrubbed-clean Iron-Bone Zombies in bright orange safety vests swung their shovels in time with a cheerful brass whistle, painting crisp white lane lines down a brand-new eight-lane highway that stretched straight toward the heart of the Great Yan Kingdom.
Standing on the open top deck of his flagship Armored Command Tank, Pei Xuan lowered his brass telescope and took a sip of ice-cold Sweet-Spring plum tea.
The warm morning wind flapped his clean dark-blue Mayor’s coat. Inside his dantian, nine golden Qi whirlpools spun together like a roaring furnace, humming with the solid power of Rank 4 Peak (Qi Gathering Stage 9 Peak — Half-Step Foundation Establishment).
Below him, two hundred Armored Spirit-Tanks rumbled in four neat columns down the center lanes of the highway, while trucks loaded with sacks of Spirit-Rice, boxes of zero-toxin healing pills, and cast-iron tap-water pipes rolled along the outer lanes.
“Young Master!” Hong Ling popped her head up through the tank’s hatch, her Rank 4 Mid aura making her twin red braids float slightly as she clicked her golden abacus. “The zombie road crew just finished paving Mile Marker 140! At this speed, our eight-lane highway will reach the gates of…
