At exactly six o'clock in the morning, soft simulated sunlight shone into Wang Ze's bedroom. Within three minutes, the intensity of the light gradually increased from the first light of dawn to the first light of day. At the same time, a faint, mixed scent of grass and wheat filled the air.

This is the "Natural Wake-Up" system that comes with the Imperial Standard Housing, designed to start every citizen's day in the most comfortable way.

Wang Ze opened his eyes, without the stiffness and soreness one would feel when waking up on a cold earthen bed in the old days.

The mattress beneath him automatically adjusts its firmness and temperature according to his sleeping position and body temperature, resulting in a night's sleep quality that is better than the entire previous month combined.

He glanced at the wall as usual, where a line of light blue data appeared on the smooth surface: "Citizen Wang Ze (ID: SN-7354-9527), sleep duration: 8 hours 02 minutes, deep sleep percentage: 41%, heart rate stable. Today's health advice: Increase your intake of B-3 vitamins at lunch."

Barefoot, he stepped onto the warm, jade-like floor, which had its own temperature-regulating and cleaning functions, and walked towards the adjacent "integrated bathroom".

There was no pungent stench, no rudimentary toilets, only a device called a "cleaning unit" that shimmered with a soft light.

He stepped inside, and warm water sprayed out from all directions, completing the washing and drying process in three minutes.

The man standing in the mirror was no longer the emaciated, starving man with sunken eyes he had been a year ago.

Adequate nutrition gave him a rosy complexion, regular sleep patterns made his eyes bright, and the well-fitting imperial citizen uniform made him look energetic and even somewhat "respectable" than he himself could believe.

When I stepped out of the bathroom, my wife, Cuihua, was already awake.

She was sitting by the living room window, with clean neighborhood streets and towering fusion energy towers in the distance.

Cuihua no longer had to go to the well to fetch water before dawn or work the bellows in front of the smoky stove as she used to.

She was holding a thin, glowing plate—a personal terminal—and was intently drawing something on it.

Cuihua's bound feet, which had been bound for more than ten years, have long since recovered completely thanks to the treatment by the Imperial Medical Nanobots.

She cut off her long, brittle hair, which had turned yellow from the cooking fumes, and sported a refreshing short hairstyle that made her look ten years younger than her actual age.

Her hands, once roughened by overwork, are now nimbly waving across the canvas, and a lifelike blue flower, one she has never seen before, is blooming on the canvas.

"Honey, come quick!" Cuihua called out without looking up, her voice brimming with barely suppressed excitement. "Look at the 'light and shadow overlay' technique I learned in the knowledge base yesterday! Doesn't the dewdrop on these petals look just like the real thing?"

Wang Ze leaned closer and looked at the crystal-clear dewdrops that seemed about to roll off at any moment. He exclaimed sincerely, "They look just like them! They really do! My wife is like a fairy now. Everything she paints looks so real."

Cuihua blushed slightly at the praise, saying, "What fairy? It's all thanks to His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor's grace. If it weren't for the Empire, I would never know what it's like to paint."

As the two were talking, the door to the children's room slid open with a "click," and their two-and-a-half-year-old son, Wang Qimeng, wearing an adorable blue onesie, came out rubbing his eyes.

The little one was chubby and fair-skinned, with delicate features. Upon seeing his parents, he immediately opened his arms and called out in a childish voice, "Daddy, Mommy, Qimeng is hungry."

"Okay, Qimeng, let's eat." Wang Ze smiled, picked up his son, and walked to the "nutrition delivery point" in the kitchen area.

This area completely overturned their understanding of "cooking". There were no pots and pans, no firewood, rice, oil and salt, only a metal conveyor belt embedded in the wall.

Wang Ze skillfully tapped a few times on the screen on the wall, selecting "High Protein Nutritional Paste (Wheat Flavor)" and "Synthetic Vegetable Salad" for himself and his wife, and "Specialized Nutritional Soup for Toddlers" for his son.

After confirming, he habitually lowered his head and, together with Cuihua, said softly and devoutly to the majestic portrait of Emperor Lin Feng that appeared on the screen: "Thank you, Heavenly Emperor, for bestowing upon us food and drink."

This is a ritual they perform every day before meals, a ritual that comes from the bottom of their hearts. In their belief, every bite of food comes from that supreme deity.

Three seconds later, the barrier at the delivery port slid open, and three steaming hot meals in biodegradable containers appeared precisely on the conveyor belt.

The nutritious paste emitted an enticing aroma, had a delicate texture, and tasted even better than the finest white flour steamed buns they had ever eaten. Wang Qimeng held his small bowl and ate heartily with a spoon, his little face beaming with a happy and satisfied smile.

Watching all this, Wang Ze's eyes would often well up with tears. He would uncontrollably think back to the past.

I remember that cold winter night, when his first daughter starved to death in his arms. I remember him and Cuihua fighting with a stray dog ​​over a moldy cornbread. I remember the pained and desperate expression on his neighbor Zhang San's face when he ate clay and died.

Those memories are like a distant yet real nightmare, constantly reminding him how hard-won the happiness he has now is.

The one who saved him from the nightmare was none other than the Heavenly Emperor Lin Feng, who descended like a god.

Therefore, his admiration for Lin Feng has transcended mere gratitude and become an absolute and unquestionable faith rooted deep in his soul.

He firmly believed that every word spoken by the Heavenly Emperor was a divine decree, and every decision made by the Heavenly Emperor was for the good of them, the "saved ones." He was willing to give everything to uphold this grace.

After breakfast, the lunchbox is thrown into the "material decomposition port" in the corner and disappears instantly, saving even the step of washing dishes.

Cuihua was going to the community's "Art Exchange Center" for a class, while Wang Ze was about to start his day's work.

He stepped out of his home; the neighborhood outside his apartment building was so clean it seemed unreal.

Not a single fallen leaf or piece of trash can be seen on the ground, and automated cleaning robots patrol silently. There is no smell of livestock manure in the air, only the fresh scent processed by the filtration system.

The neighbors wore the same style of uniform and would smile and nod at each other when they met, performing a simple imperial citizen's salute—right fist clenched and placed in front of the left chest.

"Good morning, citizen Li Si."

"Good morning, citizen Wang Ze. May the glory of the empire shine upon you."

The greetings were simple, yet filled with order and harmony. Here, there was no suspicion or strife of the old days, no neighbors fighting tooth and nail over a plot of land or a ladle of water. Everyone was governed by the empire's order and soothed by its wealth.

Wang Ze arrived at the "Anti-Gravity Bus Stop" at the entrance of the community.

Dozens of community residents, like him, were quietly queuing without a sound. Soon, a silver-white, streamlined bus glided silently through the air and hovered precisely in front of the platform. The doors slid open, and an intelligent voice announced: "The bus to Agricultural Dome No. 3 has arrived. Please board in an orderly manner."

Wang Ze stepped into the carriage, which was spacious and bright with comfortable seats.

The bus slowly lifted off and accelerated, the scenery outside the window rushing past.

He saw below: the once bumpy, dusty dirt roads had been replaced by smooth magnetic tracks. The low, dilapidated thatched huts had long since been leveled and transformed into green lawns and parks.

Along the well-planned air routes, countless anti-gravity transport ships shuttle back and forth like diligent worker bees, transporting massive amounts of supplies to various places.

This was the efficiency of an empire, this was the power of a god. Every time Wang Ze witnessed this sight, his awe and pride deepened.

He is no longer that country bumpkin who will never leave the county town; he is a member of this great empire, a small but solid stroke in this magnificent picture.

Ten minutes later, the bus arrived at its destination – “Agricultural Dome No. 3”.

It was a magnificent building that defied description: a massive, semi-transparent dome, over five kilometers in diameter, like a giant, inverted glass bowl resting on the Guanzhong Plain. Beneath the dome lay Wang Ze's workplace.

After passing identity verification and changing into sterile work clothes, he entered the dome. A warm, humid air, carrying the fresh scent of earth and plants, greeted him.

Beneath the dome lies a completely controlled ecosystem. There are no seasons, only eternal spring. There are no droughts or floods, only precise drip irrigation of nutrient solutions.

Rows upon rows of genetically modified super crops stretch as far as the eye can see, growing at a visible rate under simulated sunlight.

Wang Ze's job is a Level 2 maintenance technician. He no longer needs to bend over, hoeing the ground under the scorching sun and planting rice seedlings in the mud, as he used to. He only needs to sit in the comfortable monitoring room and look at the huge holographic screen in front of him.

On the screen, data transmitted from tens of thousands of sensors inside the dome is displayed: temperature, humidity, light intensity, nutrient solution concentration... everything is under the overall control of the intelligent brain "Pangu".

Occasionally, if a minor anomaly appears in the data of a certain area, such as if a sprinkler robot gets clogged, a red warning will pop up on the screen.

At this point, Wang Ze needs to drive a small hovercraft to the site and, according to the maintenance instructions provided on the terminal, replace a part or clean the pipes.

The work is easy, respectable, and full of a sense of accomplishment.

Looking at the boundless golden waves of rice that were about to ripen, he felt an unprecedented sense of peace.

He knew that every grain of food here would become food on the tables of the imperial citizens. Hunger, the ultimate nightmare that had plagued this land for thousands of years, had become a complete joke in the face of the empire's might.

During his lunch break, he and his colleagues received their working lunch in the rest area of ​​the dome.

My colleague Lao Zhang, a former tenant farmer, ate his fragrant meat and exclaimed, "Erniu, tell me, isn't this life like that of gods? Back in the day, when we worked for the landlord, let alone eating meat, we'd be grateful if we could even get half a meal. Now look at us, we have meat every meal, and our work is easier than embroidery."

Another young colleague, Xiao Liu, was born after the rise of the empire and only had a vague concept of the old era from images of "historical re-education".

He continued, "Uncle Zhang, listening to you talk about the past always feels like listening to a myth. How could people live such a miserable life? Were the officials and landlords really that bad?"

Wang Ze put down the lunchbox and said seriously to Xiao Liu, "Xiao Liu, remember this, it's not a myth, it's hell. The life we ​​have now is thanks to His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor personally pulling us out of hell. So you must always remember this kindness, and always be loyal to the Empire and His Majesty. Anyone who dares to say a word against His Majesty is our mortal enemy!"

His tone was resolute, and his eyes gleamed with fanaticism. Old Zhang and Little Liu immediately became serious and nodded heavily.

This absolute protection and worship of Emperor Lin Feng has become an instinct for all the "new citizens." They cannot tolerate any desecration of this happiness, even if it is only verbal.