If governing a kingdom was like tending to ten thousand chickens, then governing a world was like tending to a hundred thousand chickens, clucking all day and night and giving its owner a headache that persisted from dawn till dusk.

The scaleman king spread his arms. "Before the evolution into a superior world, it wasn't so bad. At the beginning, everything was rough, but after I built up enough of a foundation and manpower, I grew used to it. After the world evolved into a superior one, however—even though I became a superior king as well, my mind and body couldn't handle the effort, Master."

"Is it that bad?"

"Isn't it?" The merger of dozens of worlds, dozens of cultures and...