Qin Dynasty: They've all turned into zombies, what's there to fear about a rebellion?

The farcical "martial arts contest" in the imperial court finally came to an end. Zhao Cheng was dragged to the Shaofu like a dead dog and became the experimental consumables that Su Ming had planned.

The officials scattered like birds and beasts, each one walking very fast, afraid of being stopped by the Imperial Preceptor who liked to "loosen bones" for people for no reason.

Su Ming stretched and was about to go back to the alchemy room to catch up on some sleep—he had worked hard all night researching "zombie yoga" and his back was still sore.

"Imperial Preceptor...please wait."

A withered, bony hand suddenly reached out from behind the dragon pillar beside him and grabbed Su Ming's sleeve tightly.

Su Ming was startled and almost reflexively delivered a groin kick to the other party. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the person blocking his way was Prime Minister Li Si.

But the old man's condition was really a bit frightening.

Li Si's eyes were sunken, with dark circles even heavier than Su Ming's. His complexion was sallow and ashen, and his hair was disheveled, making him look like a lost ghost whose life force had been drained. But his eyes were frighteningly bright, staring intently at Su Ming, burning with two will-o'-the-wisps called "frenzy."

"Oh dear, Your Excellency, what's wrong...?"

Su Ming casually pulled his sleeve back a little. "You don't look too good. Were you frightened by that Black Iron Warrior just now? How about I prescribe you a couple of prescriptions to calm your nerves and nourish your brain?"

"No! I won't take my medicine!"

Li Si's voice was hoarse, like two pieces of torn sandpaper rubbing together. He didn't let go; instead, he gripped even tighter, with a strength that was far beyond what one would expect from a frail scholar.

"Imperial Preceptor, I...I have a request that I cannot make."

Li Si swallowed hard, his gaze sweeping over Su Ming's shoulder and greedily fixed on the patrolling Black Iron Guards in the distance. "Those soldiers...don't they ever get any sleep?"

"That's natural."

Su Ming said matter-of-factly, "They are corpse puppets. Their metabolism has stopped, so why would they sleep? They recharge... no, they recharge entirely by absorbing corpse energy and basking in the moonlight. That's a perpetual motion machine."

"A perpetual motion machine...what a wonderful perpetual motion machine!"

Li Si muttered to himself, his eyes shining even brighter, even tinged with a morbid envy, "Not needing to sleep, not knowing fatigue, which means... they can use all twelve hours of the day to work?"

"That's how it is in theory."

Su Ming nodded, then looked at Li Si suspiciously, "Prime Minister, why are you asking this?"

"The Imperial Advisor!"

Li Si suddenly cried out in anguish, tears streaming down his face, "You have no idea how much I've suffered! Ever since His Majesty... cough cough, His Majesty has mastered his divine skills, his energy is simply inhuman! Before, it was one thing to review a hundred catties of memorials a day, but now he can review five hundred catties a day! He even drags me into the middle of the night to discuss national policies!"

"These old bones of mine really can't take it anymore!"

Li Si pointed to his trembling hands, his face contorted with grief, "Last night I was reviewing official documents until the wee hours of the morning. I was just about to take a nap when His Majesty sent someone to deliver another decree. Now, whenever I close my eyes, all I see are bamboo slips flying through my mind. My back aches, I'm dizzy, and I feel like I could suddenly die on my desk at any moment!"

Su Ming was stunned.

Good heavens, this is no prime minister, this is clearly a miserable corporate slave who has been exploited to the extreme by his boss!

And judging from this, after Ying Zheng's mutation, he had excess energy, not only engaging in self-destruction but also dragging the entire Qin administration into it? Is this the legendary "If the boss doesn't sleep, I don't sleep; if the boss dies suddenly, I'll collapse"?

"So..." Su Ming asked tentatively, "What does the Prime Minister mean?"

"Reform me!"

Li Si suddenly raised his head, his eyes resolute as if he were about to die a heroic death. "Grand Preceptor, I also want to become that... Black Iron Warrior! I also want to stay awake for twelve hours a day! I also want to have inexhaustible energy!"

"As long as I can keep up with His Majesty's pace, as long as I can finish dealing with that mountain of memorials, I don't care about losing this hundred-odd pounds of flesh and this human skin!"

crazy.

That old man is absolutely insane.

Looking at Li Si's fanatical face, Su Ming had only two words in his heart—admiration!

To work overtime, he actually volunteered to become a zombie? What kind of spirit is that? This is the spirit of the ultimate king of involution! If he lived in later generations, he would definitely be the best employee who could move capitalists to tears, the kind whose honor would be displayed on the wall for ten thousand years!

"Prime Minister, calm down. Impulsiveness is the devil."

Su Ming quickly restrained the agitated Li Si, "The Black Iron Warriors are completely zombified; their minds aren't working properly, they can only understand simple commands. If you become like that, who will help His Majesty govern the country? Who will write the 'Memorial on Expelling Foreign Officials'?"

"Huh? It'll make you stupid?" Upon hearing this, Li Si's fervor instantly cooled by half. "That...that won't do, my brain can't be damaged."

"However..."

Su Ming stroked his chin, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. "If you simply want to 'not sleep' and 'have plenty of energy,' I have a compromise."

"What method?!" Li Si grabbed Su Ming's hand as if he had grasped a lifeline.

"Local enhancement".

Su Ming didn't keep them in suspense. He directly pulled out a crystal shard the size of a fingernail that emitted a faint blue light, and a small porcelain bottle filled with red liquid from his pocket.

"This is the [Primary Corpse Core Chip - Civil Servant Special Edition]."

Su Ming pointed at the crystal and said, "Implanting it in the back of your head will stimulate your pineal gland, forcibly lock your mental power, keep you in a state of 'excitement' at all times, and completely block out fatigue."

"Pair it with this [High-Concentration Energy Potion], also known as 'Corpse Road Red Bull'. One sip and you'll be wide awake; one bottle and you can stay awake for three days and three nights without your eyes feeling dry!"

This is scrap material that Su Ming refined from T-virus waste. Although it cannot strengthen the body, it is extremely effective at overdrawing one's energy.

"Won't this... could there be any side effects?" Li Si looked at the strange chip and hesitated for a moment.

"Of course there are side effects," Su Ming shrugged. "It might cause hair loss, slightly heightened emotions, and... a slight craving for younger men. But compared to sudden death, those are nothing, right?"

"Hair loss?" Li Si touched his already thinning hairline, gritted his teeth, and said, "Forget it! Hair is just an external thing; the fate of the Qin Dynasty is what truly matters!"

"Come on! Implant it for this old man!"

……

After an incense stick has burned.

A powerful roar echoed from the side hall.

"Cool!"

Li Si suddenly pushed open the palace door and strode out.

At this moment, he showed no trace of the near-death state he had just appeared to be.

He stood ramrod straight, his once cloudy old eyes now gleaming with a sharp light, even faintly shimmering with a bluish glow. His disheveled hair, though still messy, moved without wind, exuding a chilling aura of a workaholic.

"Help me up? No! I feel like I could punch a bull to death right now!"

Li Si waved his arms excitedly, looking at the bamboo scroll in his hand that had previously given him a splitting headache, but now felt incredibly familiar with it. "Grand Preceptor, this chip is amazing! My mind is clearer than ever before. Those complex legal provisions seem to... seem to jump out of my head!"

"What's this?"

Su Ming leaned against the door frame, smiling as he looked at the newly appointed "Cyber ​​Prime Minister." "From now on, you will be the human computer of the Great Qin Dynasty. Don't mention 500 jin of memorials, even 1,000 jin would just be an appetizer."

"Many thanks to the Imperial Preceptor for saving my life!"

Li Si bowed deeply to Su Ming, then turned and ran towards the Prime Minister's residence. His speed was so great that even the young guards beside him couldn't keep up. He muttered, "Quick! Prepare the carriage! Back to the residence! Bring out all the backlog of official documents from the past few days! I'm going to work through the night! I'm going to fight until dawn!"

Looking at Li Si's energetic back, Su Ming couldn't help but shake his head.

"This is terrifying. The people of Qin are too ruthless to themselves."

However, the effect is significant.

Li Si's "mutation" quickly reached Ying Zheng's ears.

When Ying Zheng saw that the prime minister, who used to be timid and always complained about being tired, was now like a perpetual motion machine with a shot of adrenaline, not only handling the backlog of official documents in an orderly manner, but also taking the initiative to work overtime to revise the laws, this emperor of a thousand years finally couldn't sit still.

"Excellent! Well done, Li Si! What a brilliant example of localized reinforcement!"

Ying Zheng was overjoyed in the court and immediately approved the decision.

"If the Prime Minister can do it, why can't my people?"

"Issue my decree!"

Ying Zheng's voice, like rolling thunder, resounded throughout the sky above Xianyang:

"The Imperial Preceptor Su Ming presents the foundational chapter of the 'Great Qin Corpse Qi Technique,' a divine art for strengthening the nation and its people! From this day forward, it shall be promulgated throughout the land! All citizens of Great Qin, regardless of their social status—scholar, farmer, artisan, or merchant—must study it!"

"I will make my Great Qin a place where everyone is like a dragon! Everyone is a soldier! Everyone... will never need to sleep!"

This imperial edict was like a bombshell, completely detonating the entire Qin Empire.

An unprecedented frenzy of "nationwide cultivation of immortality (mutation)" has begun.