chsdbacks Chapter 539 Differences in Tasks and Methods of Governance
Chapter 539 Differences in Tasks and Methods of Governance
Chapter 539 Differences in Tasks and Methods of Governance
In the Purgatory Sulfur Plane, in the study of the core laboratory, Jemin was immersed in an ocean of knowledge.
Dozens of memory crystals floated around him, and Jemin's mental power, like countless tentacles, simultaneously probed into these crystals, greedily absorbing the knowledge contained within them.
This has been his routine for the past year.
After the war ended, he almost completely secluded himself in his study.
Apart from necessary rest and practice, I spend all my time making up for my knowledge gaps.
As for progress, there has indeed been progress.
However, the time was too short, and there wasn't much progress to be made.
Just as he was concentrating on calculating part of the formula, the magic network terminal on his wrist suddenly vibrated.
Jemin frowned slightly, then sent a wisp of his mental energy into the terminal. He was slightly taken aback when he saw the message on it.
[Urgent Mission Notice]
[Issued by: Noren Workshop Central Command]
[Mission Objective: Assist in taking over the "Els Plane" from the Chaos Cult. A total of seventeen personnel are involved, all of whom have assembled via the teleportation array. Please arrive at the designated coordinates before 18:00 today to complete the handover.]
[Task Level: Low]
[Mission Rewards: Basic low-level military merits, with additional rewards based on the progress of the mission]
Jemin checked the time on his terminal.
17:32.
He was stunned for a while before realizing something: a year had passed?
Has a year already passed without me even realizing it?
Jemin put down the memory crystal in his hand, stood up, and stretched his stiff neck.
The year went by so fast that he could hardly feel the passage of time.
As his level increases, his perception of time is gradually changing, and now he has a feeling of being in seclusion and oblivious to the passage of time.
Jemin opened the Magic Network terminal and browsed the information channels within the workshop.
Sure enough, it wasn't just him.
Throughout the entire Norren Workshop, almost every available full-fledged wizard received a similar mission: to travel to the various assigned planes and assist with the takeover process.
Those planes originally belonged to the Chaos Cult and the Tower of Annihilation, but now, according to the defeated pact, they all belong to the Norn Workshop.
Although those two forces frantically transferred most of their resources and population over a year, the scale was still too large, and many things were left behind.
These remaining planes became the objects that the workshop needed to receive.
"Receive mission—" Jemin sighed, putting away the memory crystals around him. "Looks like I'll have to go out for a bit."
He pulled up the mission details and glanced at the basic information about the Els dimension.
【Els's Dimension】
[Type: Small-scale farming unit]
Area: Approximately 3.2 million square kilometers
Population: Approximately 8 billion
[Resource Assessment: Low (Already exhausted by the Chaos Cult)]
[Reception difficulty: Estimated to be low]
[Note: This plane has been ruled by the Chaos Cult for approximately three hundred years, operating under a feudal theocratic system. Those receiving this plane should be aware of potential cognitive biases among the local population.]
After reading it, Jieming nodded slightly.
A small plane with few resources and a short reign of only one or three hundred years is a period of more than ten generations for mortals, but it is just a blink of an eye for wizards.
Overall, this task shouldn't be too difficult.
He casually tidied his belongings and stepped onto the teleportation array inside the palace.
Input the coordinates, and the light will illuminate.
The next second, his figure disappeared into the purgatory sulfur plane.
The feeling of weightlessness during the teleportation lasted only a moment.
When Jemin was back on solid ground, he instinctively scanned his surroundings to make sure it was safe.
However, this glance made him freeze in place.
The area around the teleportation array was densely packed with kneeling people.
The number of people was ridiculously large, numbering in the tens of thousands, and stretching as far as the eye could see!
Men, women, the elderly, children —
They wore rough linen clothes, and their faces showed a mixture of fear and piety.
Upon seeing the teleported wizard, they knelt neatly on the ground, a dense, dark mass, like an inverted sea of people!
The scene was so shocking that Jemin didn't react for a moment.
Among the dozen or so wizards who had been teleported to his side, some even instinctively activated protective spells.
A pale blue energy shield suddenly expanded, enveloping an area of several meters around it.
"What's going on?!"
"Enemy attack?!"
"Wait, they're not enemies, they're civilians—"
After a brief period of chaos, the wizards finally saw the situation clearly.
Those kneeling were indeed ordinary people.
There were no weapons, no energy fluctuations, no hostility, only deep fear and awe.
Jemin took a deep breath, suppressing his surprise, and looked at the person kneeling at the front.
He was a middle-aged man dressed relatively well, with a neatly trimmed goatee and a strange pointed hat on his head, who looked like some kind of local official or priest.
He knelt at the very front, his head bowed the lowest, his whole body almost touching the ground.
Jemin raised his hand to signal his colleagues behind him to calm down, then stepped forward and asked in as calm a tone as possible, "Who are you? What's going on?"
Upon hearing the voice, the middle-aged man trembled slightly but dared not raise his head. He replied in a trembling voice, "Your Excellency, esteemed Saint—I am the Governor of the Central Province in the Els Plane. I have been ordered to lead representatives from various regions to welcome the arrival of you, Your Excellencies—"
saint?
Jemin pinched the bridge of his nose.
He had never heard of this word before.
However, it reminded Jemin of another memory.
That was the so-called "holy son" I met a year ago in that war.
Although there are some differences, the words are very similar.
And now, these people use that word to refer to him and his colleagues.
Suddenly, Jemin realized something.
This seat once belonged to the Chaos Cult.
The Chaos Cult's mode of rule —
He rubbed his temples, quickly recalling knowledge about the governance models of various factions within the wizarding civilization.
The ruling system of the Norren Workshop is actually similar to that of the countries in Jemin's previous life.
The workshop serves as the core, and each academy leads a plane group that is equivalent to a province, with a certain degree of autonomy in governance, but they must obey the unified command of the workshop at critical moments.
At the level of social governance, regardless of the technological level of the people under each academy—some planes have developed interstellar civilizations while others remain in the Middle Ages—in theory, ordinary people and wizards are "equal" in terms of "race" and "personality."
Of course, wizards do have a higher actual status because of their great power.
But this superiority is essentially because wizards are indeed stronger than ordinary people, not because wizards are inherently superior.
This is true even among wizards.
In this world, the strong are respected, and strength speaks for itself.
For example, Noren 13, where Jemin came from, looks like an ordinary medieval world.
In reality, there is no fundamental difference in the quality of life for residents between that place and those college planes with earlier numbers and more advanced technology.
Thanks to the intervention of the wizards, the area has always enjoyed favorable weather and abundant harvests.
As long as you are willing to work, you can have enough living supplies.
Basic education and healthcare are also universally available.
More importantly, all the middle and upper-level rulers in cities and villages are artificial beings—without selfishness or corruption, and who will only enforce the rules with absolute impartiality.
Therefore, the lives experienced by the inhabitants of the Noren 13 plane, a world that "looks like the Middle Ages," are not much different from those of advanced planes governed by AI.
It could even be said that the Noren 13 plane is essentially governed by AI, except that the AI there manifests as androids.
As for those wizards who are called "nobles"—
They were less rulers and more "protectors".
Those wizards were simply assigned by the workshop to guard that area for a certain period of time.
However, wizards have very long lifespans; even ordinary guardianship missions start at two hundred years.
In the short lifespan of mortals, it is natural to mistakenly believe that this region has been ruled by a noble family "since ancient times".
In reality, those wizards stationed in the city are similar to the "college student village officials" in Jemin's past life memories, working on a rotating basis with a term of office, and leaving when their term expires.
This is the model of Noren Workshop.
But the Chaos Cult is different.
The ruling model of the Chaos Cult is a typical feudal theocracy, and moreover, a feudal model based on the divine right of kings.
The church and "gods" represented by wizards are at the highest level.
The nobles, bureaucrats, and commoners below were divided into layers, forming a strict hierarchy.
Of course, given the immense power of high-level wizards, it's not really a problem for them to call themselves "gods," since they can do things that only gods can do in the eyes of mortals.
Both models have their advantages and disadvantages from the perspective of providing population development, and it is difficult to say which one is better.
However, the differences are very obvious in their specific "way of getting along".
Just like the "holy son" that Jemin met on the battlefield, the four maids who followed him had all advanced to level five, but they still followed him as servants.
That genuine attitude of seeing oneself as a servant is absolutely impossible to find in the Norren workshop.
Jemin snapped out of his reverie and looked at the "governor" kneeling on the ground, not daring to lift his head. He finally understood what he was facing.
This plane has been ruled by the Chaos Cult for three hundred years.
Three hundred years may not seem like a long time for a wizard, but for mortals, it is enough to form a deeply ingrained social structure and way of thinking.
In these people's minds, wizards are "gods" or "saints".
It is a lofty and unapproachable entity.
They kneel not because they are cowardly, but because they have been taught to do so since childhood.
"This is troublesome," Jemin thought to himself.
It's not that this matter is particularly difficult to handle.
For a wizard who has mastered absolute power, changing the ruling model of a plane is only a matter of time.
The problem is that this process may take much longer than expected.
He looked to the side.
Sure enough, many of the dozen or so colleagues were already showing expressions of "sighing and lamenting".
Someone muttered under their breath, "Damn it, this kind of dimension is the most troublesome—"
Another person chimed in, "Yes, it would take ten or twenty years just to change their minds."
Jemin understood their feelings.
After all, these people are now considered part of the Norren Workshop, so even if they accept a mission, the amount of violence they can use is limited.
Under such constraints, even if wizards were here to make corrections at any time, it would be impossible to completely reverse the ruling system of a world and make it continue stably in less than ten or twenty years.
Moreover, it is necessary to lay out various basic magic arrays, explore the specific situation of this plane, and establish a new management system.
In just forty or fifty years, they've been out there.
If it's a newly conquered dimension with abundant resources to exploit, then spending forty or fifty years is worthwhile.
However, it is clear that the more valuable resources in this plane have all been taken away by the Chaos Cult before their departure.
In other words, this mission—
Although it will take a long time, the only reward will probably be military merits from the workshop.
"Pure manual labor—" Jemin thought helplessly.
Just then, his gaze swept over the dozen or so wizards around him, and suddenly stopped on one of their familiar faces.
It was a male wizard who looked to be about the same age as him, with brown hair and a gentle face, looking helplessly at the kneeling crowd in front of him.
"David?" Jemin blurted out.
The wizard turned around at the sound, saw Jemin, and looked surprised: "Jemin? I didn't expect we'd be assigned together again."
Jemin stepped forward, looked him up and down, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.
Not because of the reunion, but because of————
"You leveled up?" Jemin asked.
The aura emanating from David was more than ten times stronger than it had been a year ago.
Without a doubt, he has advanced to the fifth level of wizardry.
Upon hearing this, David sighed with a wry smile: "The pressure on the battlefield is too great. I can only level up to level five to survive for now."
His tone was nonchalant, but Jemin could hear the weight in it.
That year's war was a life-or-death test for every participant.
Being able to survive is already a kind of luck.
Jemin wanted to say a few more words, but the kneeling crowd around him had begun to stir slightly.
Perhaps seeing that the wizards had not responded for a long time, some people's fear began to falter.
Jemin glanced at the "governor" kneeling at the front and sighed helplessly: "Let's deal with the matter at hand first."
David nodded. Fortunately, he had some experience in this area. He stepped forward and said to the governor, "You, raise your head."
The governor shuddered, cautiously raising his head, but dared not look David directly in the eye, his gaze fixed on David's toes.
David composed himself slightly and said in a more serious tone, "Let these people go home first. Tell them they have nothing else to do today and can go back."
The governor froze, a bewildered expression on his face: "Go...go back?"
"Yes," David said. "Go back. We'll issue new orders after that. Until then, everything remains the same."
The governor opened his mouth, as if he wanted to ask something, but dared not.
He simply nodded repeatedly, then turned to the dense crowd behind him and loudly announced the "Saint's" command.
Those kneeling people looked bewildered upon hearing this.
But they did not question or resist; they simply got up silently and then, like the receding tide, slowly dispersed.
Watching this scene, Jemin felt a mix of emotions.
He could sense that these people were not afraid, but genuinely believed that the words of the "saints" were the truth.
They kneel not out of coercion, but out of habit.
It will indeed take a long time to change this deeply ingrained mindset.