I Can Program My Body?

After informing them of their goal for the last three months before the cosmic competition, Nash didn't forget to award them 100,000 merits.

A hundred thousand merits were enough for them to purchase basic astral arts.

Although basic astral arts could only guide one up to 200% saturation rate, it was enough for their current stage.

If they wanted more, they would have to rely on themselves to earn more merits.

After all, though Nash had tens of millions of merits, they didn't come easily.

Soon, after settling the students' matters, Nash returned to the real world.

Having excused himself from his teammate, he still has some time before his midnight training.

Deciding to check on the current situation of the Eastdam State, he returned to the real world and called on Julius.

---

In the Chancellor's Office:

"Good evening, Chancellor Nash. You're quite early today," Julius greeted in surprise.

Usually, Nash was only available late at night. Seeing the sun had just set, Julius was surprised he had time to meet.

"I'm here to ask about the current situation of Eastdam State. How's it going?"

After delegating everything to Julius, Nash no longer spends time to bother with the matters of the Eastdam State.

It wasn't that he trusted Julius so much that he handed over everything without supervision; he simply didn't care enough.

With his earnings from the Dark Plane, even the combined annual income of Earth couldn't compare to what he made in a month.

If not for his sentiment toward the people, he wouldn't pay much attention to Eastdam State at all.

Furthermore, he still had three others overseeing Eastdam State: the state secretary, Amber; the secretary of the treasury, Emily; and the secretary of defense, Hector.

Thus, even if Julius had all the commanding power, he couldn't rebel easily.

Meanwhile, hearing Nash inquire about Eastdam State, Julius nearly teared up.

Over the past few weeks, he felt his hard work and effort had gone unrecognized. Without acknowledgment from Nash, Julius even wondered if he was on the wrong path.

Pulling out the documents he carried, Julius began to outline what had happened in Eastdam State over the past few weeks.

"First, with the arrival of some elite talents, the greenhouse project drafted before has accelerated. In total, there are already over 3,400 greenhouses built."

"In two to three months, we should achieve food sufficiency in Eastdam State."

"Furthermore, I've delegated extra manpower to expand and build new roads, tunnels, bridges, airports, railways, and sea ports."

Although Eastdam State had a decent transportation system, it mainly connected the central areas of each city where the Arleanians lived.

For the suburban parts of the state, navigation was easy only for the wealthy with their flying cars.

To use older vehicles, a transportation system was necessary to accommodate them.

"This must've been tough. How did you find enough skilled workers for the job? Did you poach them?" Nash asked.

Nash had long wanted to improve the inefficient transportation system in Eastdam State, but the hassle always led him to postpone the matter.

Improving the transportation system wasn't easy. It required not only skilled engineers and architects but also machine operators, electricians, technicians, planners, project managers, surveyors, and more.

Too much work was involved, yet there weren't enough skilled workers to handle it.

If Nash had to personally oversee the matter, it would consume too much of his time.

In response to Nash's words, Julius could only shake his head helplessly.

"I've considered poaching talent from other states, but I didn't want to make enemies."

Poaching talent was akin to siphoning their lifeblood.

Not wanting to trouble Nash, Julius didn't dare act so presumptuously.

"Then what did you do?"

"I strengthened the propaganda for Eastdam State, welcoming anyone from all walks of life."

"I also sent various transportation vehicles around Eastdam State to hasten the process."

"Unfortunately, we don't have enough drivers, so I could only send a few hundred," Julius sighed.

With Eastdam State's financial reserves, they never lacked money to buy transportation vehicles.

What they lacked were drivers to operate them.

"I see, you're quite clever. But it's not enough…"

"Not enough? Do you have a better idea, Chancellor?"

"Hmm, instead of sending our people, why not hire locals from each state?"

"Hire locals from each state?" Julius repeated, shocked.

"That's right. Tell them for every volunteer they bring to Eastdam State, we'll pay 1,000 arls. For skilled workers, we could even offer 100,000 to 1 million as a settling fee!" Nash reiterated.

Although it would cost a lot, money was the least of his worries.

Void crystals had an exchange rate of 10 million arls to 1 void crystal on the black market.

A million void crystals were enough to be exchanged for trillions of arls.

With such a financial incentive, Nash could only wonder who wouldn't be tempted.

"But—wouldn't this offend others?" Julius gulped at the audacious idea.

"Why not? Who would say no to money? If those Void Warriors come to complain, call those students from the training field."

Having reached 100% void saturation, those students could defeat any Void Warrior on Earth.

Even if they teamed up, as long as the students weren't ambushed, they could win.

"What about the Void Commanders?"

"Hah, if they appear, I'll deal with them myself."

If not for those spaceships looming above the sky, how could those Void Commanders have survived this long?

Without such a threat, Nash might have already taken them out one by one.

Hearing Nash's guarantee, Julius couldn't help but sigh in relief.

He still trusted Nash. If Nash said he could handle any problems that arose, then he could.

Following a leader, Julius could question but not doubt their words.

After hours of planning and discussing the affairs of the Eastdam State, Nash returned to training.

---

A week later, after scouring the periphery of the Willow Primeval Forest, they finally came to a full circle.

"Huh! This mid-scale danger zone is really big!"

After over a month, Nash and his team had earned more than two hundred million merits.

From herbs to dark beasts, the Willow Primeval Forest was truly an untouched treasure land.

"Only the core area of the Willow Primeval Forest is left…"

Containing most of the dark beasts, they couldn't help but feel nervous.

Though they were strong now, able to face dozens of 5-star dark beasts without fear, they still didn't dare confront those yellow-level dark beasts.

Remembering Lawrence from the Verdant Group saying he sensed a presence of a 3-star yellow-level dark beast at the center of the forest, they couldn't help but shudder in fear.

Fortunately, it seemed contained and couldn't attack them.

Otherwise, they might have sustained more casualties while searching for the perfect herb.

"Don't worry, let's take a short break before heading to the center of the forest," Nash decided as they returned to the Black Willow Shelter.

After accumulating tens of millions of merits, he wanted to first increase his void saturation rate as a precaution.

Although he wanted to reach 1000% void saturation in one go, sensing the danger, he didn't want to be careless.

Meanwhile, hearing they could take another break, the team laughed in celebration.

Being with their captain, though they earned vast amounts of merit, they felt like miners who never saw the sun.

Their minds were focused solely on two things: hunt and train.

If not for the occasional delicious meals Nash cooked, they might have long collapsed from psychological trauma.

Though the Dark Plane was a treasure trove of wealth, it was, in reality, a manifestation of hell.

The invisible influence of dark energy slowly eroding their minds and wills, the constant danger that left no room for them to rest, and the fact that their souls and bodies existed in a different plane took a heavy toll on them.

"Let's head back. I'll give you three days of vacation," Nash said, sensing their exhaustion.

Unlike him, who could relax and study in the runic space, his teammates were in constant worry.

Even with the dark potion to ease their state, it wasn't enough.

Living day in and day out in such conditions, not collapsing was an achievement in itself.

---

Soon, after returning to their residence, Nash sold the remaining herbs they'd gathered and began cooking a feast.

"Are you cooking for us, Boss Noir?"

"Yes. With our success in the Willow Primeval Forest, how could we not celebrate?"

Glancing at his dark panel, Nash felt like he was floating from happiness.

[Nash Navre:

Rank: Void Warrior (360%)

Soul: 141% saturation

Merits: 50,721,290]

Fifty million merits! Just over a month of work had earned him merits that would make even Void Venerates envious.

After a few more months of grinding, he could buy those costly void manuals, especially the Nine Glazed Soul Tempering Manual.

The basic soul absorption manual was far too slow.

He once thought absorbing one elemental crystal per minute was fast enough, but as his soul saturation increased, it grew slower and slower.

No wonder those top talents who reached 1000% saturation in months or years didn't dare to advance even after reaching the peak saturation.

They must've been stuck cultivating their soul saturation like turtles.