Ashen Dragon-Chapter 401 - 324 The Emperor’s Inspection

Chapter 401: Chapter 324 The Emperor’s Inspection

“Next is… Antonio City in the Katte Kingdom.”

Cassius spread his wings, gliding over the land and cities below.

The people on the ground cheered—a mixture of genuine enthusiasm or the sight of the menacing Imperial Guards.

In the past nearly three months, the Emperor had inspected most of the Ashen Empire. Everywhere he went, there were drums and constant cheers.

“Long live the Empire!”

“Long live His Imperial Majesty!”

Such cries were incessant.

Of course, there were also some insolent “assassins” attempting to become Dragon Slayers. Naturally, most of them were burned to ashes before they even got close.

People called them lunatics.

After all, one might understand assassinating an emperor, but who would attempt to assassinate a “Dragon Emperor”?

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In fact, within this imperial domain, even if a deity descended in person, they probably couldn’t kill this Red Dragon.

As the inspection progressed, more and more incredible legends spread from people’s mouths and were quickly confirmed.

In the cold Eternal Frozen City, His Imperial Majesty summoned mountain ranges hundreds of meters high, shielding the city from the northerly winds and making it much warmer.

In the treacherous High Mountain Stronghold, His Imperial Majesty leveled the uneven hills, creating vast flatlands out of thin air, allowing local factories to be built.

In villages plagued by Shark Lizard Beasts, His Imperial Majesty had a lavish barbecue feast…

These legends gradually spread throughout the empire.

As the once conquered people, having endured the tales of the Northern Nobility’s Song of Embers, the citizens’ hearts were filled with fear of this emperor and unease about imperial rule.

But as life gradually improved, their hearts began to swell with feelings of “awe and worship.”

It was known that the Northern Nobility’s “inspections” left people suffering, as various extravagant expenses were loaded onto the local populace. Yet, the Emperor’s inspections were the complete opposite.

Some said His Imperial Majesty was not conquering, but liberating and saving.

With blood and fire.

In fact, Cassius’s inspection was aimed at converting his territory into [Imperial Region]

And the miraculous feats of moving mountains and filling seas were simply him testing his newly acquired abilities, while also inadvertently creating a better natural environment for the empire’s industrial development.

Originally, Cassius intended to take advantage of the inspection, leveraging his familiarity with the plot to clear out the various side quests, dungeons, and bosses in the Anzeta Great Wilderness, thus reaching a new level.

However, Cassius was already a legendary dragon, ordinary creatures couldn’t provide him any advancement.

For instance, the side quest in the High Mountain Stronghold, [Ogre in the Cave], whose final boss was a mutated Terrifying Claw Monster [Shadow Torturer] with a challenge level of 13—it was a nightmare for new players in his past life.

But it only gave Cassius a measly 500 experience points.

Moreover, the emergence of a new system altered Cassius’s original plan, making him decide to throw all these “experience packs” to the players.

[Your faction, the [Ashen Empire], has reached the level—[Aurichalcum]]

[Faction System [Experience Shop] unlocked]

[Players belonging to your faction can spend experience to learn skills and abilities within the faction.]

In Cassius’s memory, this system only appeared in some major factions in his previous life, where players could spend experience to learn faction abilities, rapidly enhancing their own strengths.

Riding Skill, Swordsmanship, Craftsmanship, and even some spells could all be learned through the Experience Shop.

And this widened the gap between professional gamers and ordinary players, as regular players often couldn’t even gather enough experience to level up, let alone have any surplus.

Many top players became literal “Hexagonal Warriors.”

Thinking of this, he immediately communicated with Ramp through mental connection.

Even separated by thousands of miles, the soul link of [Imperial Grace] still allowed the Red Dragon’s vassals to communicate with him anywhere within the empire.

“Master, do you… have any orders?”

Ramp’s voice sounded somewhat lifeless, an exhaustion from the heart.

Before Cassius could speak, Ramp’s dispirited voice came from the other end.

“Master, the Imperial Senate Hall has been completed. The Imperial Mansion, Isdalia Grand Coliseum, and others are still under construction, which will take another three months…”

“The Claudeau United Military Industrial Conglomerate and the Imperial Southern Continent Company have been established, initial profit distribution is complete. We’ve connected with those from the Wojin Church and sent out some commercial spies…”

“Earl Gilmore Sparrow has created a steam press coin minting machine, established the template for ‘Dragon Coins,’ but needs your approval…”

“Additionally, the war situation in the Fadlan Region has changed as well…”

Ramp’s words flowed endlessly.

In recent months, he not only oversaw the city construction in Isdalia but also handled industrial planning across regions and took charge of the founding of various empire capital companies.

Just three days ago, he received a new task—to integrate the Imperial Bank and centralize coin minting authority under the empire’s control.

He needed to abolish the chaotic currency system of the North and enforce the new currency called “Dragon Coins,” also requiring the Thrace Kingdom’s orders to be settled with the new currency.

Even as a legendary creature with mental and physical endurance far exceeding mortals, the high-intensity work left Ramp somewhat dispirited.

He hadn’t slept for several days.

The empire was simply too vast now.

Over three million square kilometers of land, more than six million people, the original kingdom’s administrative system was hard to manage.

And his great His Imperial Majesty, at this crucial stage of the empire’s beginnings, had acted for several months as usual—a hands-off manager.

Cassius didn’t consider this laziness.

Yes, he believed in specializing in one’s craft, thinking he wasn’t good at handling minor administrative matters, so why not delegate them to capable subordinates?

“By the way, Master, there’s also the issue of managing the newly arrived Starfallen. Recently, there were sixty-five thousand four hundred…”

Listening to Ramp’s report, Cassius’s mouth twitched—he expected many imperial affairs but not this many.

It was indeed a country full of vitality and immense activity, with everything within developing rapidly and becoming vastly different, tearing apart age-old traditions relentlessly.

After listening to matters for over ten minutes, Cassius yawned a bit out of boredom and interrupted:

“Ramp… I’m here to assign you a new task.”

“…”

The Municipal Hall, documents piled like mountains.

And at the other end of the mental link, the enormous Dragon Vein Ogre wanted to cry but had no tears.

He roared silently in his heart: “It’s all worth it, all for the master’s grand blueprint!”

Ramp suddenly thought of a spell called [Simulacrum], a Seventh Tier spell that could create multiple versions of himself. Wouldn’t that make his work more efficient?