CHAPTER 1465: CHAPTER 255: HAPPY BRAND COLA (5600)

After stating the requirements, the two battle suits stepped aside, and the citizens who had already queued up happily approached, each receiving two cans of coke.

Rongying, somewhat confused, slipped into the line. Since everyone was quick in fetching their share with no disputes or noise, it didn’t take long before he was at the pile of cans. Nervously, under the ’watchful eye’ of the two single-eyed battle suits, he picked up two cans and stepped aside.

Seeing many people around happily pop open the cans and drink, Rongying hesitated for a moment, then mimicked them by pulling the tab and taking a sip.

— The fizzy sensation exploded in his mouth, countless tiny bubbles bursting subtly on his tongue, evoking what was almost a ’spicy’ feeling... but immediately afterward, it was sweetness!

Sugar... the sweet taste, rare to commoners of this era, filled his mouth. Growing up by the sea, even after transforming into a half-demon, Rongying had never tasted sweets, and instinctively widened his eyes as he swallowed a mouthful of ’sweet soda’.

The sweet yet stimulating liquid slipped down his throat into his stomach, and after the first sip, Rongying stood there dazed for a while.

Then... with an incredulous gaze, he looked at the can in his hand.

[Happy Brand Coke]

"...Has Xiahui Territory gotten rich to the point where they can distribute sugar to everyone?"

He murmured, his tone full of astonishment: "And this is just a free tasting... I wonder how much it will cost when it’s officially sold!"

He completely understood why the people in Xiawei Territory dropped everything at the news of a drink tasting.

The shop owners weren’t working, street vendors had friends watch their stalls as they took turns, and everyone wore a smile.

Indeed, a simple carbonated sweet drink, simple happiness and joy... Happy Brand Coke lives up to its name!

"What, you surprised, outlander?"

A local resident with the hair color of the Mountain People, obviously from Xiawei Territory, came over enthusiastically, patting the still-shocked Rongying on the shoulder.

His enthusiasm was a bit unexpected for Rongying, as he began chatting: "Trust me, choosing to come to Xiawei Territory is the best decision of your life!"

"Our place may not be big or very wealthy right now, but believe me, as long as you live here, you will definitely feel happy!"

"And as for this coke, after you’ve had one can, you could save the other and cook it with some chicken drumsticks or wings... Our territory has a cooperation with Nauman City’s chicken farms, and there’s often cheap chicken available to buy!"

"Trust me, it’s delicious!"

The local resident’s tone was full of pride and confidence, which instead made Rongying wary.

— What’s going on? Why such enthusiasm?

Could it be that Xiawei Territory has added addictive substances to the drinks to control its people?!

As a person from Fiery Flame Land, Rongying naturally thought so, given that the Empire is viewed just like Fiery Flame Land in the eyes of the Imperial People.

But in reality, Ian was simply distributing sugar water, providing a simple joy with carbohydrate beverages to the people of the territory.

Indeed, sugar is an addictive substance, so that’s not entirely wrong.

With the Agricultural Building addressing some basic crop and vegetable needs, Xiawei Territory’s Agriculture Department began constructing new agricultural building structures to cultivate large quantities of polysaccharide crops, including corn, tian cai, short sugarcane, and sugar roots, as well as various legumes.

This was followed by a series of simple refined sugar and syrup workshops, oil pressing plants, and protein powder workshops.

What Rongying saw now was only coke.

But actually, Ian had other drinks for tasting, including orange juice, herbal tea, and sweet fruit wine, among others.

These tasty drinks, laden with sugar, stimulate dopamine production in the brain, which on ancient Earth was synonymous with obesity, addiction, diabetes, fatty liver, and other dire health conditions.

But here on Terra, where everyone is a modified being from a previous era of civilization, getting fat is a challenge... If you can indeed plump up, isn’t that proof of abundant living conditions, without worry for sustenance and enjoyment?

Laughing out loud, practically wishing to get a bit fatter.jpg

And Ian didn’t have any intentions of making money in this regard.

If not giving away for free, it was sold at fair prices... because Ian didn’t plan to use these drinks to become some beverage tycoon, earning through the cheap happiness sugar brings.

What he wanted was to make a name for himself—so that everyone in South Ridge, and everyone on Terra who drinks, would know Xiawei Territory and know his name, Ian Silverpeak.

As someone who has begun pondering how to rule Terra in the future, Ian was already laying the groundwork for his reputation and prestige.

Though the reason is unclear at the moment, it is known that in the future the Empire will split, and other nations will face various issues, leading to world wars and turning the entire Terra into a chaotic state.

His past self from Extinction Star Path used this chaos to farm and unify South Ridge, holed up at home before taking off to hover beside Terra’s Jupiter (a giant gas planet), using relics from the previous era to construct a fuel base.

This route proved useless, so this time Ian plans to conquer the entire Terra.

At that point, being ruled by someone they’ve heard of and have a good impression of, compared to being ruled by someone with an unclear reputation, possibly tyrannical, are two entirely different experiences.

Rongying couldn’t comprehend the depths of this thought.

He was simply baffled by the current state of Xiawei Territory.

This place is unlike any city on Terra... not in appearance, wealth, or its inhabitants...

The logic here seems entirely different...

Why would the Lord here freely distribute these drinks? Why are people in this place so happy?

The half-demon, borrowing another’s appearance, was somewhat bewildered as he gazed around the street——here, people moved quickly but orderly.

A queue of a thousand or two lined up at the street corner with no incidents of cutting in line at all... The worst behavior was perhaps an outlander like himself recently arriving in Xiahui City, trying to sneak into the line again to grab more coke.

He was swiftly detected by the automated battle suit, a giant over three meters tall moved suddenly, precisely grabbing the man’s collar before gently tossing him aside with a thunderous declaration: [One warning]

— Can these battle suits really recognize people’s facial features?! And their movements are so subtle and intricate?

At this moment, Rongying came to fully realize why the spies in Xiahui City had gone missing... It was only natural, equipped with such automated recognition technology, penetrating Xiawei Territory without special plans is virtually impossible!

But how were those undercover agents who never took any action discovered?

Rongying didn’t know this point, but his anxiety began to rise again... With slight annoyance, he finished the ’coke’ in his hand and, after thinking for a moment, decided to tuck the remaining can into his pocket.

The Imperial People are guilty, but coke is innocent.

Thinking this, he began to stride forward, continuing his walk through the city of Xiawei Territory.

He needed to complete his task, find a ’Municipal Hall Official’, and attempt to ’consume him’, gain his memories, and infiltrate inside Xiawei Territory.

Once he understood the secrets behind Xiawei Territory, he would then devour others, using another’s body to leave this place.

However, what Rongying didn’t know was that.

Since he entered the urban area of Xiahui, a gaze, high above, suspended over the city, had been fixed on him, watching him intently.

It was a sun...

A silver-white, cold sun.