My mom is waiting for treatment, and you're summoning me to be a hero?

When Mianmian carried Lin Mo to the outskirts of Ash Fortress, the soldiers on the watchtower almost shattered the alarm bell.

It's not that they're cowardly; anyone who saw a giant, black spider several meters tall crawling out from the depths of the wasteland would react the same way.

Horn was patrolling the fortress walls when he heard the alarm bell. He rushed up to the watchtower, pushed aside the archers blocking his way, and squinted at the wasteland outside the fortress, which was whitened by the midday sun.

His expression shifted from wariness to confusion, from confusion to disbelief, and finally settled on ecstasy.

He had seen that spider before; the last time he met Lin Mo, there was a spider the size of a palm on his shoulder.

Although the one in front of him was many times larger, he couldn't mistake its big, black eyes and its perpetually grinning expression.

The black-robed figure clinging to the spider's back, covered in blood, was none other than Lin Mo.

"Put down your bows! Put them down!"

Horn's voice cracked with excitement.

"It's His Majesty! His Majesty has returned! Quickly inform the capital! Hurry!"

The gates of Ash Keep were pushed open in the shortest time. Horn led a squad of personal guards out of the fortress, and when he reached Mianmian, his knees buckled and he almost knelt down.

He opened his mouth as if to say something polite to welcome the emperor, but seeing Lin Mo covered in blood and unconscious, he swallowed all his pleasantries and only managed to utter one sentence.

"His Majesty..."

"I'm tired."

Yin Xue flew up from Mianmian's head, its little wings flapping weakly, and its complexion was no better than Lin Mo's.

"We'll contact the capital immediately!"

……

Lin Mo was awakened by a series of cheers.

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a tuft of unusually curled downy hair on the back of Mianmian's head, which trembled with each step in the sunlight.

Then came the street, a wide and smooth stone-paved avenue, large enough to accommodate eight carriages traveling side by side.

The drainage ditches on both sides of the road are neatly built with blue bricks, and clear water flows in the ditches.

At intervals, a small purification array glows faintly at the bottom of the canal.

The buildings on both sides of the street have been renovated, the cracks in the exterior walls have been carefully filled, and the newly painted lime walls shine white in the sunlight.

The shops along the street stood side by side, their signs written in neat and standardized characters, clearly indicating that they had been registered uniformly.

But what surprised Lin Mo the most was the people on this street. The street was packed with people on both sides, stretching from the shop entrances all the way to the end of the road.

Some of them were dressed in coarse cloth, some in merchant's silk robes, and some were clearly craftsmen who had just run out of the workshop, their cuffs still stained with sparks and oil.

Several transparent spirits were also craning their necks to look around in the crowd.

The living and the ghosts stand on the same street, doing the same thing.

The level of order and prosperity here far surpasses any country Lin Mo has ever seen.

Lin Mo moved his lips, his throat feeling as dry as if it were filled with sand.

"here it is……"

"You're really irresponsible as a king."

Yin Xue's voice rang in his ears.

She flew to him, her little wings unusually not flapping as energetically as usual.

"It seems he hasn't come back since taking office, has he?"

Lin Mo raised an eyebrow and slightly parted his chapped lips.

"Is this... the Human Empire?"

"Otherwise what?"

Yin Xue crossed his arms and raised his chin slightly, regaining some of his usual arrogant demeanor.

"You overexerted yourself too much before. Your mental strength was so depleted that you still forced yourself to walk towards the Tower Holy Kingdom. You really don't treat yourself like a human being. Even if you want to attack the Tower Holy Kingdom, you should recover first."

Lin Mo did not refute.

He propped himself up on his soft, armored body and realized that his black robe had been replaced at some point.

It was no longer a black robe, but a clean black imperial robe with gold trim.

Embroidered on the fabric of his chest was an imperial emblem he had never seen before.

The crossed swords and ears of wheat represent military force and the people's livelihood.

He touched his cuffs; the fabric was fine, dark-patterned brocade, and the lining was sewn with a very thin layer of soft armor.

He looked down at the unfamiliar imperial robe he was wearing, then at the cheering crowds on both sides of the street, and remained silent for a while.

Mianmian turned her head, and eight black eyes looked at him at the same time, and she grinned to reveal two rows of fine, sharp teeth.

"Dad, you're awake."

Lin Mo reached out and patted Mianmian's fluffy head, giving it a good rub.

"Um."

Mianmian shook her head with a silly grin, and walked even more energetically on her eight legs.

At the very front of the group, a burly figure carrying a giant axe led the way for Mianmian.

"A hunting axe?"

Lin Mo called out.

Hunter Axe turned around, a hearty smile spreading across his rugged face.

He still looked like a veteran, with a face full of scars, stubble, and a newly added scar on his forehead that hadn't fully healed.

He carried the giant axe with one hand, raised the other, and punched it in the chest.

That was the highest military salute in the imperial army.

"Your Majesty, you are awake. I have already informed the capital, and all the officials are waiting in front of the palace."

Lin Mo nodded, his gaze passing over Hunter Axe's shoulder and looking towards the end of the street.

At the end of the street is a spacious square.

In the very center of the square is a fountain, and in the center of the fountain stands a statue.

It is a stone carving of a sword and a sheaf of wheat crossed together, exactly the same as the emblem on his imperial robe.

Behind the square, the outline of the palace is clearly visible in the sunlight.

It was a renovated white stone palace, neither too big nor too small. It lacked the imposing majesty of the Holy Kingdom's Papal Palace and the ancient, oppressive feel of the Dragon King's Palace in Dragon City.

The palace walls were covered with glowing vines, a gift from the elves.

A row of guards stood on each side of the palace gate, their armor also newly made, black with silver trim.

A row of people stood on the steps in front of the palace gate.

Standing at the very front was another Lin Mo.

To be precise, it is a mirror image of Lin Mo left behind to govern the empire.

The clone wore the same black robe with gold trim, and its face was exactly the same as the original, but its expression was much gentler, with even a gentle smile on its lips.

This smile was an expression that Lin Mo never showed on his face, but this clone had been using this expression to face the entire empire for almost a month.

The civil and military officials behind him were used to it.

Although their emperor is like a demon descending to earth when he fights a war, he is always so gentle when handling state affairs.

They didn't know it was a clone; all they knew was that this emperor never lost his temper during court sessions, never delayed in reviewing memorials, and could call every minister by name.

Otmu stood beside the clone.

He jumped up and waved his hands to welcome Lin Mo's return.

Liu Yishou, Shi Qin, Shi Xuan, Lai Hu, He Yuan, and Kuangshan of the Dwarf Clan...

They stood there to welcome Lin Mo's arrival.

More and more people gathered in the square, but they spontaneously made way for the palace.

At the edge of the crowd, several merchants who had just arrived from outside the city were talking in hushed tones.

"Is this His Majesty the Emperor? He looks so exhausted!"

"You don't know? His Majesty slaughtered eight demigod dragons in the Elf Forest and even had a face-to-face argument with a god! The news has spread throughout the entire continent!"

"My second uncle served as a soldier in Ash Fortress. He said that His Majesty walked back from the wasteland, and the entire journey of several hundred miles was carried by that giant spider. He fainted from exhaustion several times."

"Why is Your Majesty working so hard? What emperor would risk his life like this?"

"What do you know? His Majesty wants to attack the Holy Kingdom of the High Tower and rid us of that cancerous cancer, the Papacy!"

"His Majesty is truly our savior!"

……

Suddenly, a commotion arose in the crowd.

A middle-aged man dressed in coarse linen clothes stumbled out of the crowd.

He knocked over a fruit stand at the edge of the square, his knee hitting the stone pavement with a dull thud.

But he ignored the pain, got up and kept rushing forward until he was less than three steps away from Mianmian.

He knelt down, his forehead slamming heavily against the stone slab with a dull thud.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Please kill me! Kill me!"