Chen Qiaoniang, nineteen years old. Her life, from the age of four, was linked to a long foot-binding cloth and endless pain. She had a pair of feet that should have been beautiful, but they were forcibly broken and bound into deformed "three-inch golden lotuses".

She couldn't run, she couldn't jump, and even walking long distances was a luxury. Her life consisted of moving from one embroidered bed to another. Her world revolved solely around that small, musty-smelling boudoir.

She was betrothed to a butcher from a neighboring village, a man she had never met but who was said to be short-tempered and prone to beating his wife. She resisted, but was met with a severe beating from her father and tears from her mother.

"That's just how a woman's life is," her mother told her.

She was desperate.

The arrival of the Empire initially meant to her only louder noise coming from outside her window. Until one day, a group of Imperial "medical officers," both men and women, dressed in white uniforms, entered her home.

The leader was a female officer. When she saw Qiaoniang's deformed feet, her brows furrowed tightly.

"This is a barbaric act of cruelty to the human body," the female officer said to Qiaoniang's father in an unquestionable tone. "According to the Imperial Citizen Health Protection Law, all bad habits that harm the bodies of citizens must be abolished. Your daughter will receive medical correction immediately."

Qiao Niang's father wanted to argue a few more words about "ancestral rules," but faced with the female officer's cold gaze and the energy pistol at her waist, he swallowed all his words.

Qiaoniang was taken to a "mobile medical center" filled with white instruments. She was trembling with fear.

However, she felt no pain. She simply lay on a soft bed and fell asleep. When she woke up, she found that the thick, foul-smelling foot bindings on her feet were gone.

Instead, she had a pair of... perfect, healthy feet that she had only ever seen in her dreams.

“We used bone regeneration and nerve repair technology, and your feet have fully recovered,” the female officer told her. “Go, child. Run, jump, and measure this new world that belongs to you with your own two feet.”

Qiao Niang tentatively placed her feet on the ground.

A solid, long-lost feeling came over her, making her want to cry.

She tried taking one step, two steps... and then she started running.

She rushed out of the medical center and into the fields. She ran and laughed, tears streaming down her face.

She's gone mad.

She ran across every inch of land she could see. She felt the wind rushing past her ears, felt the power and freedom that her feet brought. This was the first time in nineteen years that she had truly, with her own body, experienced the world.

She no longer had to marry that butcher. Her personal terminal stated that the Empire practiced freedom of marriage, and any form of arranged marriage was illegal.

She enrolled in the Empire's "Women's Academy." She wanted to learn knowledge and skills. She had heard that in the Empire, women could also become officers, scientists, and starship pilots.

Her life expanded from that small boudoir to the boundless starry sky.

Every night, she would stroke her healthy, strong feet. She knew that it was the empire, the great emperor, who had given her all of this. Her gratitude and loyalty were as unwavering as her running steps.

Zhao Kuli was a dockworker. He had no name because he was an orphan and spent his whole life selling his labor, so everyone called him Zhao Kuli. His back was bent like a bow from the weight of the cargo. His greatest pleasure was being able to drink a bowl of cheap rice wine after a long day's work.

The Empire healed his back and cured all his hidden injuries. When he straightened his back for the first time and saw himself in the mirror—old but still vigorous—he wept.

Then, the Empire gave him an "anti-gravity civilian aircraft".

It was a personal vehicle, about the size of a motorcycle, that could fly freely.

Zhao Kuli's life was completely ignited the moment he boarded this aircraft.

He didn't study any advanced knowledge, nor did he pursue any art.

He simply flew.

He flew like a madman, piloting his aircraft, soaring wildly over this land he had lived his whole life on but had never truly seen.

He flew over the mountains and saw the snow that never melted on the mountaintops. He had only known before that the mountains were very high and impossible to climb.

He flew over the great river and saw the magnificent sight of the river flowing into the sea. He had only known before that the river was wide and that falling in would result in drowning.

He flew into the clouds, weaving through the soft, cloudless fabric.

He chased the setting sun until the last ray of light disappeared below the horizon.

He would often let out bursts of hearty, hoarse laughter, the sound echoing in the vast expanse of heaven and earth. It was a release, a release of the yearning for freedom that had been suppressed throughout his life on earth.

He became the most famous "scenic spot live streamer" in the development zone.

He didn't say a word, but simply piloted the aircraft, broadcasting the magnificent scenery of this land to everyone via his personal terminal.

Countless new citizens like him, who were bound to the land their entire lives, gained a true understanding of the world beneath their feet for the first time through his perspective.

They laughed and cried with him.

Zhao Kuli, a laborer without even a name, found his own freedom—a freedom that had been long overdue—in the purest and simplest way.

Zhao Si, a Green Standard Army soldier who had spent half his life in the military.

His life motto was "Eat your paycheck as a soldier, and just get by." He fought in battles, but he spent most of his time oppressing the people and embezzling military pay. He didn't believe in loyalty; he only believed in the money in his hand and the knife at his waist.

He was in the midst of a million-strong army during the "war" between the Empire and the Demon Qing.

He witnessed with his own eyes the steel deity descending from the sky.

He witnessed firsthand how the so-called "Eight Banners Iron Cavalry" instantly turned into a blood mist within the black cloud of insects.

He witnessed firsthand how the towering steel monster, dozens of feet tall, used its fire-breathing weapon to sweep away his formation like wheat being harvested.

He didn't resist; he didn't even have the courage to run away. He threw down his weapon, knelt on the ground, and wet his pants. He thought he was doomed.

However, he did not die.

He and tens of thousands of other Han Chinese Green Standard Army soldiers who, like him, had thrown away their weapons, were gathered together.

They were scanned by those steel robots with a beam of light and declared "coerced ordinary citizens," thus gaining the right to live. Meanwhile, the Manchu officers supervising them were "purified" on the spot.

Zhao Si survived. He received a citizen terminal and a resource quota.

But he went mad, in a way that caused a mental breakdown.

He had nightmares every night about the battlefield that day. That absolute powerlessness of mortals before gods completely shattered all the understanding of "bravery" and "strength" he had built up over the past few decades.

He realized that his once-proud swordsmanship and the ferocity he relied on for survival were nothing but a joke in the face of true power.

He became taciturn and drank heavily all day. He didn't know what else he could do.

Until one day, he saw the "Imperial Reserve Recruitment Order" on his personal terminal. The recruitment targets were all first-class citizens who were in good health and had no criminal record.

He signed up as if by some strange impulse.

In the reserve training camp, he encountered Imperial weapons for the first time. It was a standard "G-7 Gauss Rifle." He learned how to use energy shields and the most basic tactical coordination.

Then, he participated in a simulation training session.

The training opponents are well-equipped "Knights of the Holy Light," played by robots.

When he wore the Empire's most basic exoskeleton armor, wielding a Gauss rifle, he easily blasted a charging "knight" and his horse into a cloud of blood mist; when the opponent's blade struck his energy shield, only causing a ripple...

He's gone mad.

An unprecedented feeling called "power" permeated his entire body.

This wasn't the false strength he used to display by bullying the weak. This was a genuine, technologically-enabled, godlike power capable of crushing all the force of the old era!

He found a new purpose in his life.

He stopped drinking and instead devoted all his time to rigorous training. He wanted to become a true Imperial soldier, not the kind of trash he used to be who wasn't even cannon fodder.

His loyalty to the emperor was the most fervent among all the new citizens. Because of the emperor, he had transformed from a joke into someone wielding "divine power." He craved war, longed to use his gun to crush more enemies as ridiculous as he had once been. He wanted to wash away his past insignificance with the blood of his enemies.

After the old gods were eliminated, a new and only god naturally occupied the high ground of everyone's hearts.

He is Lin Feng.

To these people who had just been rescued from hell, Lin Feng was not an emperor, nor a ruler.

He is the embodiment of mercy and majesty, the savior who ended suffering and brought new life, and the only true God walking among mankind.

Hundreds of meters tall statues of Lin Feng, made of memory metal and energy crystals, were spontaneously erected in major cities across the continent.

These statues are more magnificent than the original golden statue erected in Exodar, and they are imbued with even more fervent emotion.

Every morning and evening, thousands of believers gather under the statue of God to offer devout prayers.

They asked for neither wealth nor health, for the empire had already given them those. They simply praised Lin Feng's achievements again and again, in the most fervent tone.

"May Your Majesty the Heavenly Emperor live ten thousand years!"

"Your will is the trajectory of the stars!"

"Praise be to you, merciful purifier! Praise be to you, great liberator!"

The Palace of Embracing the Moon in the Nine Heavens.

Through the huge holographic screen, Lin Feng quietly watched the ten, a hundred, or even thousands of bizarre and mad things in the "Third Development Zone".

His face remained expressionless, but a hint of satisfaction shone deep within his golden eyes.

Qin Lan stood behind him, somewhat puzzled, and asked, "Your Majesty, these new citizens... their mental state seems overly excited and unstable. Should we provide psychological intervention and guidance?"

"No need," Lin Feng said calmly.

What he wanted was never a flock of docile, rational sheep.

What he wanted was a group of madmen who had just broken free of their chains, filled with a fervent desire for the world, a fervent worship of their liberators, and boundless ambition for the future.

They are grateful, therefore they are loyal.

They are crazy, therefore they are fearless.

They have just crawled out of hell, so they are more eager than anyone to conquer the new "heaven" and more willing than anyone to send others into "hell".

“A civilization that has been suppressed for hundreds of years, once released, will inevitably display its most vigorous and wildest vitality.” A cold smile appeared on Lin Feng’s lips. “They are the best soldiers, the best pioneers, and also… the most perfect fuel.”

He watched the procession on the screen, spontaneously organized by the new citizens who were requesting to join the "Great Expedition." They held aloft statues of Lin Feng, their faces filled with fervent expressions of eagerness to achieve great deeds.

Lin Feng knew that he had planted a dragon's tooth on this ancient land.

Now, this dragon tooth has grown into the fiercest warrior.

They were already eager to conquer the next galaxy for their Heavenly Emperor.