Chapter 347 - 331: Just Leave the Management of Anhe City to Me
By the time Li Chunfeng burst into the An Family’s ancestral hall, the dust had already settled.
There was wreckage everywhere, a collapsed courtyard wall, and two bodies that were already cold to the touch.
Li Chunfeng’s hurried steps came to an abrupt halt, and he froze on the spot.
"..."
The air was thick with what could only be described as awkwardness.
’Uh... The incident is already over?! Looks like I’m... a little late, huh?’
Li Chunfeng scratched his head in bewilderment.
In the end, all he could do was begin the awkward exercise of drawing and sheathing his sword. CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.
The crisp CLANGING sounds were particularly grating on the ears.
Li Chunfeng looked at Su Ling’er, who was directing everyone in the cleanup, then at the dejected back of Mu Ling as he was being led away, before his gaze finally fell on the corpses on the ground.
"Sigh..."
But... Li Chunfeng thought for a moment, looking at the bodies of the villains on the ground. ’This is a good thing, I suppose.’
’At least the matter has been resolved... probably?’
...
「City Lord’s Manor, Side Hall.」
Although the incident was over, for Su Ling’er and Zhao Decang, the real ordeal was just beginning.
At this moment, the power structure of Anhe City had undergone an earth-shattering transformation.
Although the City Lord’s Manor had become a place where Su Ling’er’s word was law, the original City Lord, Zhao Decang, could only play a supporting role, nodding along meekly.
’After all, I can’t manage it. I really can’t! And this woman just makes demands without understanding any of it herself. In the end, it’s all on me to figure out how to actually solve things... This is too much...’
Meanwhile, Su Ling’er was getting a headache as she looked at the city guard who had eagerly stepped forward, spouting a stream of incomprehensible words.
In the center of the hall, the player [The Light of Justice] stood before a huge sheet of Xuan paper, frantically drawing a complex topological diagram with a piece of charcoal.
"Miss Su! I believe Anhe City’s old management model is extremely inefficient! It’s a massive waste of processing power and creates opportunities for rent-seeking!"
[The Light of Justice]’s eyes were wild with fanaticism. "The city guard has discussed it, and to make Anhe City better, we need to introduce a city-wide intelligent surveillance system! Even though the local hardware (Artifact Refining) can’t keep up, and even though you don’t have obsolete systems like MOSS, Skynet, Jarvis, Ultron, or the Matrix to help, we can use human informants instead of cybernetic eyes for now to build a distributed intelligence network and implement total surveillance!"
"It’s similar to that wave of whistleblowing you started earlier, Miss Su!"
After all, Miss Su could issue quests. For the players, at least, the rewards were enough to get them moving. Besides, couldn’t they just idle and still get credit?
"Then we establish a social credit system! Spitting on the ground? Deduct points! Racketeering? Immediate arrest! If your score is too low, you get your travel restricted—house arrest! We will make it so that evil has nowhere to hide in the face of data!"
"We will replace the corrupt rule of man with the rule of absolute reason! And what do we call this? A Decentralized Autonomous Organization—a DAO!"
Su Ling’er sat there, her mind completely fried.
’What is he even talking about?’
’I recognize each word individually, but strung together, they’re harder to understand than an ancient celestial scripture.’
’What in the world are MOSS, Skynet, Jarvis, Ultron, and the Matrix?’
’Total surveillance? Is that like blanketing the city with my Divine Sense? What are credit points? And that decentralization thing... does he want to tear down the City Lord’s Manor?’
She couldn’t understand a thing, but seeing his fanaticism, she couldn’t help but feel that it all sounded very impressive. As if doing what he said would make everything better.
’Is he for real? I have no idea what he’s talking about, but it sounds so impressive.’
Meanwhile, Zhao Decang, cowering in a corner, didn’t understand all the strange jargon, but he understood one thing: this was a proposal to completely overhaul the system.
A chill shot right up Zhao Decang’s spine. Miss Su would be fine—she was a cultivator. Worst case, she could just wash her hands of the whole mess and leave.
’But what about me?’
’This isn’t an overhaul; this is establishing an independent kingdom on the lands of the Daqian Dynasty! If the imperial court finds out, I’ll be branded a traitor and my entire clan will be exterminated!’
’I have to find out where these people get their confidence from!’
Seizing the moment while Su Ling’er was still dizzy from the jargon and rubbing her temples, Zhao Decang shuffled over, trembling. He poured her some tea and probed, "Um... Miss Su, this... this overhaul is a bit too drastic. If I may be so bold as to ask, what is your current... Cultivation level? And your esteemed sect... how many Divinity Transformation patriarchs does it have watching over it?"
Su Ling’er, whose head was already pounding from [The Light of Justice]’s theories, was in no mood for verbal sparring with Zhao Decang. She answered casually, "Mid-stage Foundation Establishment. I don’t know about the rest."
"..."
SPUTTER! Zhao Decang’s hand trembled, and he nearly spilled the hot tea he had just poured all over his own feet.
His heart turned to ice. ’It’s... all... over!!!’
’Mid-stage Foundation Establishment?!’
’Isn’t that biting off more than you can chew?! You’re going to challenge the Daqian Dynasty with a Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivation? And you want to implement this... this total surveillance that tramples imperial authority underfoot?’
’This isn’t just tweaking the imperial court’s nose; this is a massive slap in the face to all the righteous immortal sects and cultivator families that back the Daqian Dynasty! How could those major powers possibly allow a mortal city to engage in something so heretical?’
’And what’s this about "I don’t know about the rest"? Don’t tell me you’re a brand new disciple? On top of that, the Guixi Sect isn’t widely known in the Daqian Dynasty—it seems to be a new sect. Isn’t this just asking for death?’
’I have to run! This is a one-way ticket to the grave!’
Zhao Decang fought the urge to bolt out the door and pleaded with a trembling voice, "Miss... perhaps... perhaps we should take things one step at a time? We can just make a few small changes. The... the Dynasty..."
"Mr. Zhao!"
Before he could finish, [The Light of Justice] whipped his head around. "Now you remember the imperial court? Where was the court when Ma Tietou drove people to their deaths? Where was the court when the gentry were killing refugees?"
"Miss Su! Don’t listen to him! Let’s just push through with the overhaul! These rotten rules need to be smashed and rebuilt from scratch! All you need to do is state your requirements, Miss Su, and leave the rest to a suitable member of the city guard!"
’For instance, leave it to me!’
He was determined to egg on Su Ling’er, pushing her to just approve the changes and leave the rest to him.
Besides, he had noticed something.
Looking at the messy diagrams and documents he had produced, Su Ling’er was clearly overwhelmed and couldn’t make heads or tails of them.
’But that wasn’t important! It was even better that she didn’t understand!’
’As long as she gives the nod, she just has to state the requirements. As for how to achieve them, won’t I be the one calling the shots? The ends justify the means, right?’
’Miss Su! Just leave the management of Anhe City to me!’
’Loyalty!!!’
Hearing [The Light of Justice]’s words, Su Ling’er still thought he was a bit of a nut, but what he said seemed to have some merit. Since she didn’t understand any of it anyway, she simply nodded.
’As long as the goal is achieved, that’s all that matters. As for how it’s achieved... emmm, that’s not important!’
"Hmm, let me see who among the city guard made the most contributions this time..." Su Ling’er said with a wave of her hand, settling the matter.
[The Light of Justice]: !!!
’Wait, I told you to look at the city guard, but I meant look at *me*! I’m standing right here, look at me!!! Why are you looking at who has more contributions! I’m the one who proposed this, so I’m obviously the most suitable candidate! So, you’re assigning positions based on contribution points, is that it?’
’The one with the most contributions was clearly that [Tomb Raider] player. He even got ten Spirit Stones this time, far exceeding his previous expectations!’
[The Light of Justice]’s heart sank. ’If he gets to be the sole authority, wasn’t my proposal all for nothing?’
So he quickly added, "Miss Su! I don’t think one person should have the final say! We need to form a... a council! We can all discuss things together... brainstorm! We’ll help you get this done, Miss Su! And we can keep each other in check!"
Su Ling’er had no objections. As long as it could bring true peace and harmony—the very meaning of "Anhe"—to Anhe City, she didn’t care who was in charge.
And thus, the Anhe City Temporary Council—a player-controlled body acting as a direct subordinate to Su Ling’er in name—was established...