"It can't be a spiritual energy resurgence, can it?"
Chu Chen found it amusing and shook his head, saying, "No matter what, I can't escape it. I don't believe that with the system's help, I can't overcome these crises."
He then looked at the current points and smiled, "Another ten thousand points, enough for ten draws."
Without hesitation, Chu Chen opened the system's lottery function and started a five-draw.
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining a Body Tempering Realm Dark Division summon card!]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining a bottle of Foundation Establishment Realm Spiritual Energy Pills, containing one hundred pills!]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining a Spirit Platform level martial art, "Wind God's Leg"!]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining a low-grade beauty pill! It can preserve youth and appearance for thirty years!]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining a blue-grade common weapon, the "Overlord's Halberd"! This weapon belonged to the Embracing Dan Realm Overlord Chu and is forged from hundred-year-old cold iron and refined steel!]
"Dark Division? Is it the kind of Dark Division I'm thinking of?"
"More pills. It seems I can start cultivating directly. Let's see if I can reach the Qi Condensation Realm on my own."
"Wind God's Leg... I haven't even finished cultivating Frost Fist yet. Is this trying to complete a set of Xiong Ba's ultimate techniques for me?"
"Low-grade beauty pill, the shelf life is a bit short, only thirty years. Should I give it to Xin Yue, or wait for something better?"
"Overlord Chu's weapon? Did it belong to the historical Overlord Chu? I don't recall the historical Overlord Chu having this strength. Wouldn't he have killed Liu Bang a hundred times over?"
Chu Chen looked at the rewards with a wry smile. Apart from the first one, which was immediately useful, the rest didn't seem that great.
After a moment of hesitation, Chu Chen gritted his teeth and continued drawing.
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining one hundred acres of sweet potato seedlings! The system has improved them to adapt to this world's soil and includes planting guidance!]
"Sweet potato seedlings! I got them! With this and corn, we won't starve even during a natural disaster," Chu Chen thought with joy and affection.
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining a bottle of Foundation Establishment Realm Spiritual Energy Pills, containing one hundred pills!]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining an Ancient Martial Realm medicinal bath prescription. Long-term use of this medicinal bath can slowly improve the user's physique and aptitude, as well as repair old injuries and speed up energy recovery.]
"This is good stuff! I can cultivate Ancient Martial Realm soldiers in large quantities at a lower cost! When I reform the Yun Yue Kingdom, I'll need an army like this to support me!"
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining one hundred thousand shi of grain!]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining one hundred thousand taels of silver and ten thousand taels of gold!]
"This is useless... uh, these last two material rewards are quite useful."
Seeing the last two prizes, Chu Chen was about to say they were useless, but then he remembered that his current mansion was bought with money from the system's lottery. He quickly changed his tune.
Glancing at the pile of items from the lottery, Chu Chen kept them all in the system space, planning to use the Dark Division summon card after clearing out the servants that night.
At night, Chu Chen stood alone in the courtyard, looking around.
Seeing that the servants had all gone to bed early as instructed and dared not come here, he took out the Dark Division summon card.
"I hope they're not just for show."
Chu Chen prayed and inputted his spiritual energy into the summon card.
A soft light flashed, and one hundred men appeared in front of Chu Chen. They were about 1.7 meters tall, wearing black clothes that seemed to be reinforced with iron plates, and carrying sabers at their waists.
"Greetings, Master!"
As soon as these one hundred Dark Division members appeared, they saw Chu Chen and immediately knelt on one knee, placing their right hands on the ground and bowing their heads deeply, shouting respectfully.
"Rise."
"Thank you, Master!"
Chu Chen looked at these black-clothed men with interest. Their tall and upright stature was nothing like the short and sneaky dark ninjas of the Wokou.
They had well-proportioned bodies and wore simple armor, indicating they were capable of both assassination and frontal combat.
Their eyes were sharp yet indifferent, clearly having killed many people without much emotional fluctuation. They were qualified tools.
Chu Chen nodded with satisfaction, cleared his throat, and asked, "Who is the leader? Step forward."
"Master, this subordinate is Number One!"
A black-clothed man in the middle of the front row stepped forward two paces, replying indifferently.
"Number One? Don't you have a name?"
Chu Chen asked in surprise.
"Replying to Master! As members of the Dark Division, serving Master from the shadows, we have no need for names."
Number One replied coldly.
"Uh~ Alright then." Chu Chen scratched his head and asked, "Tell me what you can do and what you are capable of."
"Replying to Master, we Dark Division members are proficient in poisoning, assassination, intelligence gathering, espionage, behind-the-lines operations, raids, and are skilled with various short weapons. We possess Body Tempering Realm strength and have some capacity for frontal combat."
"We can provide close personal protection for Master and those designated by Master, whether in secret or in the open. We can also handle inconvenient matters for Master in the darkness."
Number One replied with cold eyes and a cold voice, as if he only had one tone and emotional state.
"As expected of the Dark Division, they know more than I do!"
Chu Chen thought with both satisfaction and speechlessness.
"Ahem~" Chu Chen coughed lightly and said sternly, "I will allocate one thousand taels of silver to you. Your immediate mission is to collect evidence of corruption and bribery among the officials in Shuangyue City."
"Also, dispatch some personnel to investigate the living conditions of the people in Shuangyue City and its surrounding areas, whether they own their own land, how much tax and rent they pay, and their approximate household income and expenses, etc."
Chu Chen paused and continued, "After gathering intelligence, every three nights, I will await your reports in the study. You can write the content on paper or in a scroll."
"The deadline is indefinite, until you have fully understood the situation."
"Yes! We obey Master's command!"
Number One cupped his hands indifferently and bowed.
Chu Chen nodded and waved his hand, causing one thousand taels of shattered silver to appear on the ground.
Number One waved his right hand, and someone behind him collected the silver.
Then, Number One nodded to Chu Chen and made a series of hand gestures that Chu Chen couldn't understand.
A moment later, the black-clothed members of the Dark Division, in groups of two or three, leaped away in different directions using Qinggong.
Watching them leave, Chu Chen stroked his chin and smiled, "The way they left... it's a bit like those Wokou ninjas."
Returning to the study, Chu Chen picked up his brush and began writing vigorously on the desk.
From the Life Simulator, Chu Chen knew that he was very likely to become a prime minister, and he would have to investigate the officialdom soon. He needed to prepare and plan in advance.
That night, the officials in Shuangyue City who had dirty pockets inexplicably sneezed three times.
They felt uneasy but didn't know why.