83: Chapter 83 It turns out it was the National Guard in person, my apologies.

"If you have experience in dyeing or printing... go to the Textile and Paper Guild."

Screener Cheng Yu was assigning jobs to every prisoner; once stamped with this steel seal, these people would henceforth be legal citizens of the Cheng Yu Empire.

"As long as you do not commit treason or crimes, I guarantee you will never go hungry or cold for the rest of your life."

"The guilds all operate on a lifetime employment system, and large expenses like medical care or buying a house can be reimbursed by seventy or eighty percent, depending on the unit's performance."

Thanks to the Corpse Emperor gang having oppressed these commoners so harshly, with the exception of a few born bad seeds, the vast majority of prisoners were extremely diligent after naturalization, and incidents of work-shirking were rare.

The Cheng Yu Empire was extremely brutal when suppressing enemies, but very gentle when treating its own people.

Even if individuals sometimes set up illegal stalls or bought smuggled goods, the Security Forces now mostly stuck to verbal warnings and rarely resorted to beating them.

"Little one, are you illiterate?" A delicate-looking blond boy had only handed in a blank registration form.

"I can read but not write..." The blond boy even blushed.

"Oh, then go study first." Screener Cheng Yu stamped the "Pending Education" steel seal on his form. "By the way, what was your name again?"

"Signa." The "little boy's" voice grew quieter and quieter; she dared not say her surname, for if she did, the other party would realize she was a noble. "My nickname is 'Little Droplet'."

"Sigma Droplet, male, low education level, no skills." Screener Cheng Yu didn't listen carefully and just wrote it down for her, then handed the form back to Signa. "Next!"

Signa took the form and was guided to join the line of other children... There were actually very few war orphans here; most children had never seen their parents since birth.

To prevent these children from running around, Ecclesiarchy Priest Cheng Yu was there acting as a temporary nursery teacher.

Ecclesiarchy Priest Cheng Yu knew that telling the children how great the Emperor was served no purpose and might even backfire.

So, he brought out many sets of legends of the three kingdoms cards and taught these children how to play legends of the three kingdoms. It helped them focus and develop their intelligence, while also keeping them gathered together quietly so they wouldn't run off.

Signa bit her finger and watched from behind the priest for a while.

When the priest asked the children if anyone wanted to play a round with him, Signa raised her little hand.

Ecclesiarchy Priest Cheng Yu chuckled, "Child, you've watched from behind me for less than five minutes, do you understand the rules?"

"Mhm..." Signa nodded shyly.

"Good." Ecclesiarchy Priest Cheng Yu happened to want to impart some of the Emperor's wisdom to them during the game; rules and such could be taught while playing.

Then Ecclesiarchy Priest Cheng Yu was wiped out by Signa in two turns. Signa was Standard Guan Yu, and Ecclesiarchy Priest Cheng Yu was Standard Guo Jia.

Signa equipped herself with Vine Armor, linked the two of them together with Iron Chain, then used Fire Attack on herself, and finally placed an Indulgence on Ecclesiarchy Priest Cheng Yu's judgment area.

The one-fourth judgment failed. With only one card left, Ecclesiarchy Priest Cheng Yu was hit by the opponent's Dismantle, followed by a Wine-enhanced kill with the Ancient Blade, dying thoroughly.

"Hmm... You haven't played this card game before, right?" Ecclesiarchy Priest Cheng Yu's expression remained calm. "If you're a beginner, extreme luck is quite normal."

"I have played it."

Signa had long since been exposed to the legends of the three kingdoms game. Previously, the servants in her household liked to play it when they had nothing to do... Of course, they played it secretly; after all, this was a card game invented by the Gene Tyrant, and getting caught would be quite troublesome.

"Heh, anyway, we have nothing better to do, let's play a few more rounds."

As it turned out, Signa won every single round, whether it was duels, Landlord, five-player, eight-player, or the two-general Kingdom War mode.

No matter how basic the general card Signa received was, her side always ended up victorious.

This could no longer be explained by card-playing skills or game understanding; this was a kind of psychic power from Warp.

The legends of the three kingdoms cards were favoring this child!

"I don't believe it!" Ecclesiarchy Priest Cheng Yu got carried away and started playing shamelessly, dealing himself God Gan Ning and dealing her Standard Hua Xiong.

"Win, I'll let you win, come on, let's duel!"

"Priest, don't be like this!" The soldier Cheng Yu nearby could tell the priest wasn't acting right.

In the end, Signa still won, because Ecclesiarchy Priest Cheng Yu had bought many sets of legends of the three kingdoms cards for the children to play with, and these cards were new with very sharp edges.

When his emotions became too agitated, Ecclesiarchy Priest Cheng Yu's wrist was cut by the cards, dripping with blood, and the soldiers dragged him off to the infirmary.

The opponent went offline, so naturally, Signa was counted as the winner.

"Is that for real?" The officer, Cheng Yu, in charge of this prisoner camp was also a fan of legends of the three kingdoms. "Is it really that bizarre?"

"It's true, sir!" Ecclesiarchy Priest Cheng Yu still had bandages on his hands. "I have never seen such extreme luck; the card order seemed to follow her general's skills!"

"Pathetic, getting messed up by a little girl like this." The prisoner camp officer, Cheng Yu, was skeptical. "Call her over, find a few more people to fill the table, I don't believe it!"

One hour later...

All the Cheng Yus Clones present were convinced.

"Greetings, Miss National Guard!"

All the Cheng Yus saluted in unison. In their impression, the National Guard was the most powerful... The so-called Grand General was just someone who spent more money.

"How can such a talent be wasted in an elementary school!"

The prisoner camp officer, Cheng Yu, stamped a steel seal down. "I will vouch for her, recommend her to the Card Guild!"

The legends of the three kingdoms card game was not only the primary pastime of the Cheng Yu Empire but also an important medium for the Empire's cultural export.

The Corpse Emperor's tarot cards were obscure and difficult to understand, and they required a certain amount of psychic talent.

However, legends of the three kingdoms was something everyone could participate in, possessing certain egalitarian characteristics; no matter what kind of superhuman or god-general you were, you couldn't occupy two seats in an eight-player game.

People who played legends of the three kingdoms well, whether they were clones or outsiders, held a status similar to superstars within the Cheng Yu Empire.

After legends of the three kingdoms was de-gambling-ized, the Entertainment Affairs Office under the Imperial Administratum organized formal Hive City leagues and a professional rank evaluation system for legends of the three kingdoms.

Some large gangs even used legends of the three kingdoms proxy-playing to decide the allocation of resources and benefits; after all, gang warfare every day was ultimately beneficial to no one.

People like Signa, who were protected by the God of legends of the three kingdoms, were practically "rare commodities" within the Cheng Yu Empire.