I Can Program My Body?-Chapter 114: Desolate Eastdam State

"I can’t come tomorrow. I’ve got something to take care of," Nash reminded them as they were about to leave.

"Can’t go? What are you doing, boss?"

"Are you leaving us?"

"NO! You don’t want us anymore, boss?"

"What about our bonding? What about our camaraderie? What about—"

"No, what are you talking about? I just have something to do. We’ll meet again the day after." Nash shook his head helplessly.

"Do you have a date?" William guessed, thinking back to all the times Nash had taken breaks.

"It’s something else. I have to take care of some people."

It was time for his appointment with the kids and Michael.

Since he planned to send them to the Dark Plane, he couldn’t join tomorrow’s hunt.

Meanwhile, hearing that Nash wasn’t abandoning them, smiled returned to their face.

"Then we’ll focus on training and aim for higher saturation!" they decided.

After hunting with Nash for three weeks, most of them had already accumulated at least 100 thousand merits.

"That’s good. Once your strength improves, we can move on to more dangerous places."

If they could all reach the level of 4-star Void Warriors, heading to the Willow Primeval Forest would no longer be a problem.

"Then it’s a promise, boss!"

Motivated to grow stronger, they clenched their fists, ready to invest all their merits into boosting their void saturation.

Finally, after a few more words, the team disbanded.

---

After returning to the real world, Nash went back to handle the official documents as usual.

A month after various sanctions from the Earth Horizon Alliance, the Eastdam State had gone from one of the wealthiest regions to a desolate one.

Most wealthy families and organizations had already relocated their businesses to other states.

The tariffs, taxes, and even transportation had become too inconvenient to do any business in the Eastdam State.

Even most middle-class families, sensing something was about to happen, had begun relocating one after another.

It could be said that aside from the poor people, there was almost no one left in Eastdam State.

Most shops, malls, transport, entertainment, and restaurants had shut down.

Fortunately, as long as Nash could feed the poor, he didn’t care about the rest.

Even if all the rich and middle class left, over 90% of the population still remained.

So, despite the growing desolation, managing the state had actually become easier.

With hundreds of thousands of void crystals and trillions of arls, even under the weight of sanctions, he could still continuously supply food to the people.

Furthermore, his plan to rebuild the Eastdam State was already in motion.

In every city, thousands of greenhouses were being built to grow crops.

Nash also bought advanced machinery from other states to speed up the construction process.

If not for the various sanctions, Nash would have even hired Void Warriors to help.

As for using the land for planting, it had been rendered unusable after being specially treated by the Arleanians.

Without revitalizing the soil, not even grass could grow.

The Arleanians had treated the people like cattle, stripping away their most basic needs. Without food, they had no choice but to follow them just to survive.

Fortunately, the underground water and lakes were still usable.

Not wanting to poison themselves, aside from the major pipelines used for distribution, the Arleanians had left the natural water untouched.

Otherwise, no matter how rich or powerful Nash was, Earth would have been doomed without external help.

After an hour of dealing with documents, Nash took a quick shower and collapsed into bed.

---

The next day, Nash woke up and began his 2 hours of daily exercise.

With the rapid growth of his strength, he could easily destroy things if he wasn’t careful.

Fortunately, after weeks of regular training, he had regained complete control over his body just like before.

Finishing his routine, Nash headed to the Training Facility.

"Good morning, Chancellor Nash. You finally came to see us." Michael smiled as he greeted him.

Nash had been so busy that they barely seen a glimpse of his shadow over the past few weeks.

"I just didn’t want to interrupt. Looks like the month of training paid off," Nash said with a smile.

Michael now stood with the confidence of a warrior fresh from battle.

The 36 students weren’t bad either. Their eyes burned with determination and fighting spirit.

Furthermore, their void saturation rates had reached at least 30%, meeting the goal Nash had set.

Specially, Leo, with his top talent and hard work, had reached 40% saturation.

Their progress was even faster than Nash’s when he first began earning merits in the Dark Plane.

Of course, back then, he didn’t have many resources.

Coupled with his unbearable lack of talent, what took others one step would take him ten.

If not for the merits, even with void training potions and countless void crystals, he might have only reached 50% saturation now.

Soon after checking each of them, Nash couldn’t help but nod in satisfaction.

"Did you become a 3-star Void Warrior?" Nash turned to Michael and asked.

"Yes, Chancellor. I became a 3-star Void Warrior over a week ago. Unfortunately, I still can’t pass the qualification test for 4-star."

"Not bad. Keep aiming for a higher rank. Maybe you can even compete in the Domain-Level Cosmic Competition," Nash praised and encouraged.

Unlike the Sector-Level Cosmic Competition, which had an age limit of 30, one could participate in the Domain-Level competition until the age of 100.

Hearing that, Michael’s eyes lit up with intense fighting spirit.

"I won’t disappoint the Chancellor’s hopes!"

"Alright. Are you ready for your next challenge?" Nash asked, sweeping his gaze across the group.

"We are ready!" they shouted in unison, like soldiers preparing for battle.

"Then step into the Virtual Pods and log into the Dark Plane. Once you’re inside, check which shelter you’re in and report back."

The first time someone enters the Dark Plane, they would spawn in a random location.

Fortunately, logging in from the same coordinates usually meant they wouldn’t be too far apart.

And given their current weak strength, they would only be sent to 1–3-star beginner shelters.

With a few hundred merits, Nash could travel to their shelters and gather them together.

Hearing his instructions, Michael and the kids immediately dove into the Virtual Pods.

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