In a room in the Backlund Government Area.
Xio organized the things he had on hand and put them into paper portfolios. On one side, a young man in military uniform looked at Xio who was about to leave, stood up, and said with some respect:
"Sir, walk slowly."
"See you tomorrow." Xio replied with a simple courtesy to his colleague, and then walked out of the room resolutely. Of course, she didn't forget to take the portfolio with her before leaving.
She hesitated before leaving, then turned around and came back. Looking at her subordinates who were looking at her, she closed the door first, and then gently knocked on the empty desk in front of her.
The sound was not loud, but it immediately attracted everyone's attention.
"Everyone, let's put aside the demon murder case we are investigating for now. I will report this matter to the superiors. I don't want anyone to investigate privately before being notified."
"This is an order. Private investigation will not only alert the enemy, but may also cost you your life."
Xio is now a Sequence 5 "Disciplinary Knight". After receiving the reminder from Mr. Fool this afternoon, she made plans to report to the higher level - it is considered to be cooperating with the church to ensure the progress and execution of the mission as much as possible. Safety of personnel.
After all, most of the military Extraordinaries she brought with her were low-sequence Extraordinaries, and they had no way to fight against a real demigod.
Not to mention that Mr. Fool also reminded her that they may have to deal with more than one demigod, and it is very likely that they are a group of out-of-control "devils".
After this petite but unexpectedly dignified lady spoke, everyone else in the room immediately nodded in response, showing no intention of slacking off. The female officer sitting by the wall asked cautiously:
"Do you need me to write this document and submit it to the superiors?"
"No, no need." Xio showed the file bag in his hand: "I found some clues, no substantive evidence, but this matter may be even worse."
"So, I will go there in person later to see if I can get more support."
Carrying the file bag with her, Xio quickly walked to other parts of the government district. With the identity certificate provided by the official, she submitted the information without any obstruction. After doing all this , she prayed to Mr. "World" steadily in her heart.
"Mr. World, I have already submitted the demon investigation case that Mr. Fool gave me. I hope to get an official warrant."
Soon Mr. World's response came to Xio's ears. It was a relatively deep male voice:
"The search warrant will be sent to your special operations department tomorrow. Now Backlund's extraordinary power is under strain. Before you discover the traces of the devil, we have no way to provide you with help above the demigod level."
"Since Ms. Magician is temporarily unable to help you, you can recite my honorable name after encountering a demon that you cannot resist."
Forsi... Xio sighed in her heart, remembering that earlier today Forsi's teacher came to drag Forsi away from home, who was still bouncing around, and shook her head slightly.
When Forsi's teacher first came over, Forsi was ready to "open the door" and escape. Unfortunately, she did not run away, but was directly caught by Gao Wei after using the authority of the dimension to block the permission to "open the door". The meat on the back of his neck, which had lost its fate, "transformed" into a fish with brown scales and took it for further training.
"Forsi's talent is exaggerated, but why is she so lazy?" Xio said with emotion, preparing to continue investigating things about demons after dinner. The reward given to her by Mr. Fool for this mission was quite generous, which was the demigod's magic potion formula.
In addition, because Xio’s belief in gods was not too devout before, after she decided to convert to “The Fool”, Mr. “The Fool” also gave her another reward - although the current Church of the Fool has not yet been established, she As a member of the current government of the Republic of Loen, she already knows part of the things about the Church of Fools.
For example, the Church of the Fool will be built around the Church of Night and the Church of the Creator, forming a triangle that will wrap around the original royal palace of the Loen Empire, which is where the central government of the Loen Republic is now located.
Backlund has suffered many damages and destructions, and the city of Backlund is now being rebuilt piece by piece, from the inside out. For example, the entire government area is basically an urban area with the three major churches and the government as the main structure.
Hugh was walking home and saw that some lines were being laid on the side of the road. These lines extend from the original center of the palace to the outside world. Currently, the laying of the first urban area has been completed and the wiring is being routed to Backlund's current business district.
Xio didn't know what it was specifically. He only heard that it was a new product jointly developed by Aurora Company and the Loen Government. It was similar to the gas lamp pipes of the past, but cheaper and safer.
Matching these lines is a new product called electric light.
No one except the most die-hard Storm Lord believers would refuse these convenient gadgets to their homes. Even those low-level workers who live in embarrassment will bite the bullet and buy a small electric lamp to put in their homes, because as long as it can be used for more than a year, it is cheaper than gas lamps and candles.
Today's workers' treatment is much better than before. After the salary increase and Backlund's forced children to attend the church's new school, the workers' living standard has improved to that of the middle class like the Moretti family at the beginning. class living standards.
Of course, the original old-fashioned companies represented by businessmen and entrepreneurs were not prepared to provide good treatment to workers at the beginning, nor were they prepared to increase wages - but Aurora Company was different.
The company's factories began to recruit a large number of people, and transferred workers in Backlund to other cities in batches, so that other factories could not find cheap labor and either raised wages or closed down.
It's not that other factories have never thought of boycotting Aurora Company, but as long as it complies with the law, Aurora Company will not lose the case in Loen's court.
Now this company has spread like a spider web across the Republic of Loen, producing cheap industrial products in large quantities.
Moreover, from time to time, some products will be produced that are close to the magical items that originally existed only in stories. Unfortunately, these products are more expensive and can be used for a shorter period of time. They are not currently affordable for the people at the bottom. It is only sought after among the middle and upper classes and the old aristocracy.
Xio took his eyes away from the person who was burying the cables and continued walking towards his home. Her home is in a residential resettlement community next to the business district, and she has already brought her brother and mother over.
While passing by the clock tower of Aurora Company, the most iconic building in the business district, Xio suddenly discovered that the clock tower above his head had been dismantled and replaced by a huge crystal screen.
A few seemingly messy lines first appeared on the crystal screen, and then slowly condensed into a picture - it was rows of electric lights, industrial machines, and factory construction scenes...
Xiu stood there quietly. After all the images slowly disappeared, she saw lines of Rune words appearing on them:
"Join Aurora Company and embrace a bright future!"
She heard someone whispering next to her: "Aurora Company has come up with something big again..."
"I heard that students from Miskatonic University, which was originally a school of engineering, can directly enter Aurora Company after completing their studies. As long as they pass the assessment, they can get a favorable technical or management job!"
"Hey, don't tell me, life is much better now than three years ago..." On the other side, another person naturally picked up the conversation. Seeing that the person who just spoke noticed him, he picked his own Eyebrow:
"I'm afraid the only ones who are angry are the nobles and unscrupulous businessmen. Hey, in Backlund, people go bankrupt and commit suicide every day."
"According to what my son said, they are neither willing to honestly analyze the country's policies, nor are they willing to take the initiative to keep up with the times - wouldn't they have no choice but to be abandoned by the times?"
"Why do I feel that this sentence was...well, said by Emperor Russell?" A pedestrian on the side touched his beard and thought a little seriously.
"Come on, Emperor Russell is a real god. He has also beaten some followers of the evil god who pretended to be his identity and slandered his image. Hey, what do you think a person like Russell can say about a witch? "It tastes really good." Is that so? I went to Intis last time, and it developed quickly under the leadership of the emperor..."
"Except for the divided Fusac, who is still unwilling to accept this era, even if you call me, everyone in the archipelago will know that this is a good era." A young man wearing a monocle took the words and spoke to the people gathered next to him. The person said, and someone next to him immediately answered:
"Yeah, haha, this is the best of times. Those parasites that live by sucking our blood should be burned to death in the flames of the old era!"
"We have a good head of state, and there is a good emperor next door... Come on, let's go to the bar and have some drinks, and I'll tell you more."
"Let's go. There's no work at night. It's okay to stay at home."
"I heard that there is a bar called 'Alone' over there. Where should we go?" The young man who said he was going to call the people from the Islands suggested to the others. After thinking about it, they decided to go and check it out first. how's the price.
Similar to the previous workers who went to drink a beer after a day's work, but they looked much more relaxed... Xio took a deep breath and murmured to himself:
"This is the best of times..."
Everyone’s wages have been greatly increased, and everyone’s living standards have been greatly increased. This is not the best era. What kind of era is this?
Xio turned the corner and hid her body in the darkness. The magical item in her hand shone with a faint light, and Xiu stood here quietly, using this extraordinary item to sense whether there were any traces of demons here.
The security in Backlund is much better than before, and the places where demons may hide now are the unnoticeable corners left behind in the former city. Xio has investigated many places and set up official signaling devices there. Once demons appear again, they will be quickly discovered by the official signal detection devices.
However, at this moment, Xio smelled the smell of alcohol. She opened her eyes and found a drunk man lying in the dark at her feet. The drunk man opened his eyes and looked at her. Xio in front of him struggled a little unconsciously and said:
"You said, why do we need to raise wages for those workers? This is unreasonable..."
"I once had a factory and a plantation... It's always been like this..."
"The emperor is gone, and my family is completely gone in my generation. This is really the worst, worst era..."
Xio, who was wearing military uniform, looked at this drunkard who looked like an old-school aristocrat or businessman, and sighed:
"This is the worst of times..."
She shook her head and continued walking into the darkness.
(End of chapter)
