Chapter Ninety-One: Welcome to the New Era

On the far right side of the base, across the gravel expanse, a steel serpent of a railway lay upon the ground, stretching for thousands of kilometers.

Along both sides of the heavy-duty tracks stood concrete platforms one and a half meters high and six meters wide, crowded with people.

Countless citizens in blue work clothes surrounded the platforms, craning their necks to stare at the strange structure they had hurried to build in just over ten days. Every face was filled with confusion and anticipation: confusion over why the instructors had gathered them here, and anticipation for what use this odd thing they had built might have.

A pleasant female voice rang through the entire station over the loudspeakers and entered everyone’s ears.

At the sound, the crowd began to stir, and a jumble of voices broke out.

They were no strangers to broadcasts; what they were curious about was what the broadcast was actually saying. In everyday use, the broadcasts were in the common tongue, which sounded a little odd, but with some effort everyone could understand it.

Yet just now, that rare language had been used.

“What are those lords saying?”

“They’re speaking lord language. How would I know?”

“It’s some kind of donkey-lord language. It’s the Heavenly Law language. You peasants, did you even pay attention in class?”

“Lord Lei, do you understand what this means? Tell us.”

“I only understand a little Babadidi. It seems to mention the instructors.”

As the words fell, a black-haired man came walking over, dressed in a dark formal suit, immaculate in appearance, his expression stern, giving off an air of rigor and fairness.

He ordered everyone, “All of you! Form up. Assemble.”

To help these uneducated people understand how to line up, the instructors generally required only a simple square formation.

In the next instant, everyone moved quickly and formed a hundred-man square. Though the lines were crooked and uneven, at least they looked something like a formation.

The instructor nodded in satisfaction. After this period of training, these uncivilized people, who had never been educated and were little better than savages, had finally begun to resemble human beings.

At the same time, he sighed inwardly that no single method could solve everything. Compared with gentle management, near-military discipline was far more effective. At first, when he spoke kindly and tried to reason with them, most people hesitated over his arrangements, suspicious that he meant them ill despite being so good to them.

Some even began to cut corners and shirk their duties, eating without working, brawling, and nearly causing serious incidents.

This made it impossible for the instructors to carry out their work at all. Later, higher authorities ordered a change in policy: the strictest military discipline and punishment were to be used. In an almost threatening manner, the rules here were laid down for them, and those who violated them were publicly flogged.

The situation improved immediately, and management became much easier.

The overwhelming majority of the people were very obedient, but the mindset of slaves made them unaccustomed to Heavenly Law’s gentle methods, and they feared them. Only the severity of military discipline could truly set their bodies in motion.

“Attention! Everyone look up. The station before you took only fifteen days from planning to completion. It is the result of your labor, the outcome of your remaking of reality, a miracle created by everyone working together. Open your eyes and look closely.”

“Your assignment this month is to write down your feelings. What did you gain from this labor? Each person must write at least fifty characters, clearly expressed, all in the Heavenly script.”

At these words, every face grew bitter.

Most of the time they could not understand what the instructors said; it was too profound for them. But they understood the last sentence. They had to write homework.

They would rather work more than ten hours a day than write assignments. That was pure torment.

“The top three will each receive a sausage, and first place gets a packet of instant noodles.”

In an instant, the bitterness vanished from their faces, replaced by fervent fighting spirit.

Outside the station, Qin Le walked in, escorted by a group of burly men nearly two meters tall, each one muscle from head to toe.

One hundred-man square after another immediately turned their gaze toward him, looking with reverence at the great lord surrounded by so many knights.

The lord who had given them all they had today—the Duke of the Eastern Frontier.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. I have to say, you really are impressive when it comes to managing people,” Amya said as she followed behind Qin Le, her head turning left and right, staring in amazement at the hundred-man formations lining both sides of the road.

“I never expected these ignorant masses to have been trained so well by you that they can even form ranks. It’s truly remarkable.”

Amya had not expected that these commoners, who only a few months ago had worn rags, filthy and pitch-black with grime, would now be dressed so neatly and even stand in battle formations similar to those of a knight order.

“The people are not stupid. They are merely blinded by certain others.” Under the gaze of the citizens on both sides, Qin Le stepped onto the platform.

Looking at the countless people below, all of them full of spirit and flushed with health, gradually changing from ghosts into human beings, he felt a touch of emotion.

Heavenly Law had come to this world in pursuit of profit and development, and had neither the ability nor the interest, for the time being, to liberate the world’s lowest people. The series of policies Heavenly Law would implement next were, in truth, all for its own calculations and its own interests.

Road construction was not for the convenience of the people’s travel, but for the transport of supplies and to ensure that the army could rush rapidly to the battlefield.

The policy of redeeming serfs was not primarily meant to free the enslaved masses, but to set labor in motion and prepare the groundwork for the future establishment of factories.

Yet the great will known as the Republic needed only to stand there to draw countless eyes, to influence countless people, and to transform everything around it with an almost miraculous power.

The people below, restored from ghosts to human beings, were the best example.

Heavenly Law would not change because of the world, but the world would change because of Heavenly Law.

Olina came up onto the platform from the other side. The girl had already undergone a subtle yet definite transformation; in her azure eyes, a little of the innocence had gone, replaced by a measure of resolve.

Her expression was solemn, and she had begun to show the bearing of one in authority.

“Qin Le, Amya.” Olina greeted them with a smile.

“Small talk can wait. Let’s finish the official business first.” Qin Le picked up a pair of scissors.

“Mm.” Olina also took the scissors handed to her by a guard.

Two soldiers lifted a nine-meter-long red ribbon between them.

Qin Le looked down at the sea of people below and spoke toward the microphone before him: “Labor is the essential activity of humankind. Labor is a vital interpretation of the law governing the progress of human civilization. It is great. It is glorious.”

“Labor created human history, created humanity itself, and created Heavenly Law. Humanity’s splendor comes from labor, from the countless laborers, and you are those great laborers. You are the creators and sustainers of mankind. Humanity is glorious because of you, and great because of you.”

The multitudes below looked up at the black-haired man. Countless faces were blank with incomprehension; their meager understanding could not grasp what this great lord was saying.

Yet a strange feeling filled their bodies. Their hearts began to pound faster and faster, their hands clenched unconsciously, and their bodies trembled with inexplicable excitement.

“Welcome to the new era. This era is great because of you.”

Snap.

The two pairs of scissors severed the ribbon, and in the distance the scarlet opening slowly spread, like a tide of red swallowing everything in its path.

Whoooom.

A thunderous roar shook the heavens as the steel dragon swept forth.

Billowing smoke rose, and the iron giant came bearing a full load of hope.

...

Night. Dark clouds covered the plain and veiled the silver moon.

Figures like demons staggered forward, their faces filthy, gaunt, and sallow, their eyes dull and lowered like corpses.

Tens of thousands of refugees crossed the plain without restraint, still moving onward even in the darkness. In ordinary times, so many people appearing in the wilderness would long ago have drawn the monsters within a hundred miles to come feast.

Yet strangely, from first to last, not a single monster could be seen, as if every creature within a hundred miles had gone extinct.

Quiet, an almost deathly silence. It seemed the whole world had been reduced to those faltering footsteps.

A boy of seven or eight held his mother’s hand. His little face lacked any of the innocence or brightness that should have belonged to his age.

His hand, clutching his mother’s branch-like fingers, felt utterly cold. He looked down at his own small feet, one of which was already rotten away.

Then a protruding stone tripped him, and a crisp sound rang out.

The boy fell straight to the ground, his small hand slipping from his mother’s. The mother, who had seemed like a walking corpse, suddenly came alive and hurriedly gathered the fallen boy into her arms.

“Mom, I can’t keep going,” the boy said blankly.

The mother slowly lifted him up; her gaunt body looked as though it would crumble at a touch.

“Don’t give up. Mom will take you to that place. There will be food there, and houses.”

“Mm.”

...

The next day, the column was still moving forward, leaving behind a corpse at every step.

The knights following behind gathered up all the bodies, tied ropes around their necks, strung the corpses together like a chain, and dragged them along. When enough had been collected, they were piled together and burned.

A knight looking at the resting refugees in the distance frowned. “Why is there such a strange smell of meat?”

Just as he was about to go investigate, a companion beside him stopped him.

“Leave them alone. And don’t get too close. From now on, no matter what these people do, don’t ask questions, and don’t approach them. Understood?”

...

The third day.

The boy woke from a haze of sleep and felt as though his mother had stuffed something into his mouth, which he had swallowed whole.

“Mom...”

“Good boy. Keep sleeping. We’ll be there soon.”

“Your voice...” The boy’s mind was very blurred, but he could still tell that his mother’s voice sounded terribly strange.

And the smell was strange too.

His mother did not answer, only holding him as she continued walking and walking.

“Mom, will there really be enough to eat there?”

“Yes.”

“Then I want to eat what you make, Mom.”

“Mm.”

“Mom... I feel like I won’t make it there.”

“You can. We’re almost there.”

...

On the third day, there were more adults around them, also carrying children.

The boy weakly raised a hand toward the girl opposite him. She caught his finger with a feeble smile.

“Mom... sing me a lullaby...”

“You can’t sleep. If you fall asleep, you won’t make it there. Once we arrive, I’ll rock you to sleep every day.”

...

On the fourth day, a knight lord came close, and the uncle beside them accidentally knocked his head off.