Playboy Cultivator in the Apocalypse

Once the assignment began, Kaze walked outside into his faction, admiring the fruit of his labor. In his past life, he ran around trying to find shelter with his parents at this juncture.

They spent a week starving, broken, and alone.

This time around, Kaze's mother and father were resting peacefully, and he and Evalyn would be eating well in a gated community with the power to protect themselves.

"Hey, Emperor!"

"Hello, Kaze!"

"Thank you for allowing me to join, Faction Leader!"

"Hello, Leader Kaze."

As he walked, his subjects greeted him with carefree smiles or nodded to him hesitantly, uncertain of how to address him.

Regardless of how they spoke to him, he gave them charming smiles and returned their thanks. Titles would wait; for now, morale was important to growth.

He was pleased to see people chasing power voraciously without sacrifice, helping one another learn cultivation techniques that wouldn't be available for another month when things worsened.

They were techniques people would have to kill and risk their lives to obtain, and most would die trying to earn. Now they got them for free, building power without sacrifice.

It was slightly emotional for him as he walked around, seeing the fruits of his and Evalyn's labor.

After all, she built the faction. Kaze spoke to Daniel once before giving him a series of orders.

Otherwise, Evalyn brought Daniel into the picture, handled their go-between, and ensured everything happened.

She was half of Immortal Skye, and she should've been there, which annoyed the emperor.

Kaze strode to the west wall facing Meridian City, where Daniel was busy speaking to military officials.

"Oh, thank god you're here, Kaze." Daniel sighed, "This man is seeking a list of construction developments you're requesting for the faction.

He understands that the meeting just happened but needs something tangible for the soldiers to bring and do tomorrow. How soon—"

"Kaze Lexicon," The emperor said to the official, opening his leather satchel and pulling out manila envelopes with documents inside, "Here's a detailed list of supplies and instructions for construction for Immortal Skye."

Daniel's eyes widened in shock, and the official, wearing sunglasses, showcased his disbelief with an agape mouth.

Kaze gave them a mocking smile. "Surely you don't think I'd ask the government to show up at my faction and randomly start building to their designs, do you?"

The military official stared at him blankly before accepting the documents.

"Forgive me, Mr. Lexicon. My name is Walter Bauer." Walter replied in a german accent, "I'm just surprised that you have this compiled already."

The emperor smiled. "As I told the first agent, I was expecting the military. Naturally, they'd come to me for cultivation techniques, and I'd want something in exchange. That's why I'm prepared."

"I see. That… makes sense." The official replied hesitantly.

Nothing about his statement made sense! Kaze was one person who prepared to treat the military as a partner. However, he lied to retain his professionalism.

"Is there something else you need, Walter, Daniel?" Kaze asked, turning to both.

"I…." Daniel said hesitantly, "I have everything covered, sir. With this out of the way, I should be able to handle everything else Walter may need."

The emperor nodded and turned back to Walter and outstretched his hand. "If that's the case, it was a pleasure to meet you Walter."

Walter stared at the hand in disbelief. His superiors informed him not to ask the man for a handshake because he didn't give them!

"It's okay." Kaze chuckled, "When people treat me with basic respect, I reciprocate the courtesy.

Both of your superiors threatened my life, so I didn't shake their hand. You didn't; therefore, I will shake yours. It's not a complicated concept, yes?"

The official gulped; he was given orders not to. Naturally, the emperor respected that. However, he was the person giving orders now.

Walter nervously took the emperor's hand. "Then I'll gladly accept the handshake. It was a pleasure, Mr. Lexicon."

Kaze released his hand, smiled, patted Daniel on the shoulder, and walked back to the main area to get involved with his new subjects.

"Okay, it's time to level up my subjects." He grinned, "Let's start with building up leadership and striking a little fear in the hearts of troublemakers."

He disappeared behind a building and transformed into a good-looking student.

The emperor was muscular but not bulky, had a bright smile, and had a brown haircut on his head. He looked like a simple-minded Chad.

There were many reasons for infiltrating the students in student form. The main reason was that he wanted to test whether people disobeyed his rules by holding others down.

In a world where the strong did not exist, letting the weak eat those with the potential to become strong was a sickening waste of resources.

The latent reason was to strike fear into everyone's heart with his illusionary ability. If everyone knew that he could effortlessly infiltrate the faction members, they'd fear breaking the rules.

It was the charming terror tactic.

Not long into his stroll, he arrived at the first location with the cultivation technique posted.

There were around fifty people present, as he put up the exact number of scrolls for fifty people groups.

Everyone was stressed out because it was in a fixed location, and people had to look at it to comprehend it.

As a result, there was a line of almost fifty members waiting to see it.

The members were uncertain about what to do, as they couldn't deprive others of the ability to learn, but they also had to learn it. It was awkward.

"Why not unpin it and put it onto the ground?" Kaze asked in a charming voice, causing everyone in the area to look at him.

His confidence was so matter-of-factly that the people members that disagreed couldn't immediately react.

"We can't remove the scroll." A tall brunette replied dryly, "It's prohibited."

Kaze gave them a slight smile. "The Emperor said we cannot steal the scroll from the area. He didn't say that we couldn't move the scroll."

"I don't know…." A meek blonde replied, "I don't want to risk it being misinterpreted."

Many nodded in agreement.

"I agree." A petite brunette woman said, "However, Faction Leader Kaze said that we should help each other learn cultivation. Wouldn't that be helping others?"

"Look, guys. I don't want to get dragged down with the people that do something that gets everyone in trouble." A black woman with cornrows said.

The conversation became lively, with dozens of people joining.

Kaze listened in satisfaction, taking note of those with good social skills.

What was important was that everyone's mindset was geared to helping each other, learning, or following the rules. That was the purpose of the exercise.

Otherwise, he'd give everyone tablets without internet containing password-protected techniques.

They were passing the exercise. Now, it was time to seed leadership principles into their minds.

"I'll take full responsibility if we get reprimanded for the action." Kaze announced boldly.

The area fell silent. Everyone turned to the Chad in disbelief. His kind wasn't usually the type to be openly calm, useful, or take ownership of the action of fifty people!

"Why is everyone looking at me like that?" He asked, astonished, "We've been told not to get in the way of people learning to help each other, right?

However, there are too many people to accomplish those tasks, so I'm seeking a solution.

I think there's a better chance I'll get praised for following his vague orders poorly than standing around waiting for a guaranteed failure."

Everyone was stunned by his insights.

"I think he's right. This is probably a test, right?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"It makes sense if you think about it."

"I'll also take responsibility if—"

"You can't just switch your position and take responsibility now that it's the best option!"

"I"m not! I'm just trying to be helpful."

A heated discussion about who would take leadership of the situation broke out.

"Woah, woah." Kaze said with his hands up, "Everyone will get praised if the guy's happy, right?"

The faction members fell silent again. They were surprised that he was the person who consistently had confidence and valuable insights. He was a Chad!

"That's true, but he'll probably promote people with leadership skills, don't you think?" A blonde asked.

"I don't think so. Learning the technique is the point, right?" Kaze asked rhetorically, "Don't you think discussing who's the leader instead of helping people learn the technique showcases bad leadership?"

The blonde and the others vying for responsibility turned bright red in embarrassment. Seeing them frozen, the emperor continued.

"Look… I've offered to take the fall if we get in trouble for unpinning it and putting it on the ground because I want to learn the technique." Kaze clarified.

"So… can we just unpin the thing and get started?"

"Y-Yes." The woman next to the technique said, removing the tacks from the corkboard.

Everyone moved out of her way as she weaved through the crowd to find a place to put the scroll.

The people around Kaze immediately flooded him with thank you comments, and he brushed them off nervously.

Then he walked to the forming circle. The faction members were busy discussing the best way to allow the maximum amount of people to see it at once.

Kaze smiled, watching them. In only two suggestions, he had already got twelve people taking the initiative to help the others learn.

Leadership was the start of building up his army's power. The stronger they were, the more he could accomplish.

Unlike in his past life, his physical strength growth hit limits quickly. So he immediately showed up on Earth in the same position he was for millennia—the strongest by an insurmountable margin.

Therefore, he could immediately focus on building the power of his army and settlement without worrying that anyone would surpass him. It was extremely satisfying.

The emperor vanished when the faction took their eyes off him and quickly moved to check up on other groups.