Banner of the Evil God

Maintaining world peace and promoting social progress are easy to say, but not easy to do.

It's easy to say that the former is nothing more than preventing others from fighting, and whenever a war is about to happen, support the invaded, or resolve the grievances between the two parties. Although it is difficult, there are still traces to follow, and there is generally a direction in which to work hard. But the latter is really a bit vague. Even though most of the top leaders of Masked Void Church are quite smart, they can't come up with any good plan.

"There is no need to talk about maintaining peace for the time being. The battle on the day the sun went out was so brutal that it is estimated that all the major forces in the world - at least the countries in the main plane - will not want to fight for a long time." High Priest Leon Igor said thoughtfully, "In other words, at present we should focus mainly on promoting progress. So, Your Majesty, what do you think is progress?"

Sui Xiong nodded, thinking about it, and said: "The so-called social progress should first be reflected in the improvement of people's living standards, that is, to ensure that people have good food, drink, clothing, and housing, and that their legitimate rights should be protected. , let them live a prosperous, safe and dignified life, promote the construction of democracy, and protect personal freedom..."

He was thinking and talking, and suddenly an idea flashed in his mind: "By the way, I remembered it! That's what it said...Build a prosperous, democratic, civilized, and harmonious country, and build a society of freedom, equality, justice, and the rule of law. Promote the ethos of patriotism, dedication, integrity, and friendliness. Damn it! It’s a good thing I made promotional cartoons for the community, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to memorize them!”

Leon and the others looked at each other in shock. After a long time, it was the honest and straightforward giant Gerald who spoke first: "Your Majesty, what you said... I don't quite understand."

"It's nothing. I can explain it to you one by one. It's actually quite simple."

"But Your Majesty, if you want to promote social progress, do you have to set your goals so high?" Leon asked, "I understand what you are saying, but that standard...is it too exaggerated?"

Sui Xiong was stunned: "Is it an exaggeration?"

He looked around the conference room and saw that everyone had expressions similar to Leon's.

Surprised, helpless, no hope.

"Well... it does seem a bit exaggerated..." Sui Xiong wiped his sweat and said with a wry smile, "Then we can lower the standards a bit first..."

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, social progress is nothing more than letting the people have food, clothing and shelter, a stable income, and the ability to save some money after a year of hard work. When you are alive, you can behave like a human being, and you can use it after you die. Worrying about going to hell...are you right?" Orian Gelten, one of the two lords of the church, said, "If you take these as your goals, I think you can still give it a try."

"...This goal is too low." Sui Xiong muttered.

"It's not low anymore!" Orian sighed, "Your Majesty, do you know? Before the teacher's stationery workshop was built, more than a dozen people in our Gerten Territory died of cold and hunger every winter due to lack of food and clothing. This is also because We are a pioneering territory, and the people have more land, higher incomes, and slightly stronger family assets. If we put it into those who have been in business for a long time and have been exploited by several different families, hundreds of them freeze to death in one winter. It’s nothing unusual…”

Sui Xiong frowned and asked, "Why not provide disaster relief?"

"It's easy to save the emergency, but it's hard to save the poor!" Orian sighed and said, "Those people who will freeze to death and starve to death are usually poor. They often don't have farmland, and their families don't have strong laborers who can earn income. How much can women, children, old and young earn? In the past, Gerten was poor and everything was expensive in winter. Although I would send food rations and some clothes to these families, the winter in Gerten was still cold after all. ah……"

"But this situation is no longer the case. Since the stationery workshop was built, the territory's finances have become much better. I simply moved these landless families to the vicinity of the workshop and asked them to do some odd jobs for the workshop. 1 On the one hand, I have a relatively stable income, and on the other hand, it is easier to provide relief in winter." Orian said with a smile, "In recent years, in addition to some sick people, there are also people who are drunk and fall on the roadside, and they are really freezing to death. Those who starve to death are considered dead.”

Sui Xiong nodded slightly and looked at Leon again.

Although Carissa Riley is the lord of Gars City, everyone knows that Leon is really in charge of the government affairs of Gars City.

Leon immediately understood what he meant and replied: "The situation in Gars City is better than that in Gelten. After all, this is a commercial town with more job opportunities. Even if there is no farmland or strong labor, I can find a job that is enough to make a living. However, Gars City and the surrounding areas have a large population and usually have many things to manage. In terms of assisting the poor, I have only done something roughly, and I am afraid that the details are not as detailed as those in Gerten. "

Sui Xiong frowned slightly and looked at Mrs. Teague again.

Over the years, Masked Void Playground has continued to develop, and the people in charge have also made adjustments. Some time ago, Liv, who was originally in charge, finally couldn't bear to work with documents all year round. She shouted that she wanted to resign, and ran out to form an adventure team. During this time, she has been active in the northern ice field. The current administrator of the amusement park is Mrs. Teague. She was originally responsible for civil affairs and was very prestigious among the residents. Now the workload has just increased, but she can cope with it.

"The situation at our playground is much better," Mrs. Teague said, "but that cannot be relied upon."

She said: "Our income is too high, so high that the disposable liquidity alone can ensure that every resident has enough food and clothing. In this case, I can certainly ensure that everyone eats well, wears well and lives well. But if you want to promote our experience here, it is impossible."

"Why is it impossible?" Sui Xiong asked.

"Your Majesty, do you know? Our amusement park is the largest and highest-level entertainment venue in the entire main plane. Many rich people come here to spend money, and it is not uncommon to spend a lot of money. Not only that, we also have a huge source of finance, which is the auction of longevity potions once every ten years. It is simply a big plunder of the wealth of the entire main plane..." Mrs. Teague said with a smile, "These two sources of money alone are enough to support a small country. But how can other regions have such an opportunity? Your Majesty, you want to promote social progress, it can't just be our own progress."

Sui Xiong nodded. His ideal is not to learn from the desert tycoons on Earth, lying on oil and closing the door to be free and easy. What he hopes is to promote the social progress of the whole world, at least the entire main plane. As Mrs. Tigg said, the two major sources of income of the Void Mask Amusement Park are something that others cannot learn or obtain, so it is meaningless to use this as a reference.

Thinking of this, his eyes lit up and he remembered the Barony of Keen far away in the Thunder Principality.

Compared with the stationery base of the main plane, Gelten Territory, and the commercial center of Gars City, the situation of the Barony of Keen is much more ordinary. There is no special output, nor is there any particularly convenient transportation conditions. It is just an ordinary small territory. If such a territory can be built up and the people can live and work in peace and contentment, then the experience can be promoted.

... And he doesn't have to wait for the Barony of Keen to develop results. He can find other places to build first!

Thinking of this, he made a decision.

"Call some adventurers who have traveled all over the country." He said, "I want to find a place that is as ordinary as possible and build an ordinary territory."

"If I can manage an ordinary territory well, then I will find the direction to promote social progress!"

A few hours later, more than a dozen adventurers of advanced age were called together. Sui Xiong transformed into an avatar that looked like a noble, and met them accompanied by Mrs. Teague.

"Want to find a relatively ordinary territory that is close to the Void Mask Amusement Park?" An adventurer whose hair was almost completely white and who was currently working as a doorman and elderly care worker at a library in the amusement park said, "Isn't that Pyroxene Town or Gold Rush Town?"

Sui Xiong was stunned. To be honest, although the Void Mask Amusement Park was located in the northwest region, he didn't know much about the situation of the four towns in the northwest.

In his impression, Rye Town was the largest transportation hub in the northwest region. Because the land was less polluted, agriculture was quite developed; Pyroxene Town had gem veins, although they were very low-level, but occasionally produced some high-end ones; Gold Rush Town had gold mines, copper mines and iron mines. The gold mines attracted a large number of people who pursued wealth, and the copper mines and iron mines were the main sources of income; Longhou Town relied on the mountains to make a living, and its main income came from monster hunting.

To be honest, he felt that the four towns in the northwest had their own characteristics and could not be considered ordinary territories. Why do the old adventurer think that Pyroxene Town and Gold Rush Town are ordinary territories?

When he asked this question, the old adventurer smiled and said, "Sir, you are overemphasizing the word 'ordinary'. What is ordinary? Average income, average resources, and average transportation conditions. This is ordinary. The transportation conditions in Rye Town are too good. Dragon Roar Town is adjacent to the amusement park in the north and the mountains where monsters roam in the east. They have unique resources. These two places cannot be considered ordinary. But what is not ordinary about Pyroxene Town and Gold Rush Town?"

"Pyroxene Town has gem veins, and Gold Rush Town has gold mines."

"The gem veins in Pyroxene Town are very low-level, and the gold mines in Gold Rush Town are even lower-level. There are at least eighty such veins on the continent." The old adventurer smiled and said, "You only see that they 'have' these resources, but you don't see the income these resources bring to them... These two towns are so poor that they can't even support an army. How can they be said to be special?"

Sui Xiong pondered for a while and understood what he meant.

Unlike Sui Xiong himself, this old adventurer looked at the problem from the perspective of geographical location and income level. It is true that there are gem veins in Pyroxene Town and gold mines in Gold Rush Town, but the output of both is not high. These two towns simply do not have the ability to rely on these two veins to get more income.

In contrast, the business and agriculture of Rye Town and the monster hunting of Dragon Roar Town are reliable sources of income, and can truly be called "unusual" territories.

"What is the specific income level of the four towns?" he asked.

"You shouldn't ask us about this." The old adventurer said, "We are just ordinary adventurers. For such things, you should ask the Thieves Guild."

Sui Xiong nodded, gave them some consulting fees, especially more to the old adventurer, and then sent them away, and ran to find Rhodes.

Rhodes is almost seventy years old this year. Thanks to the longevity potion, he now looks like he is less than sixty. Because of his good strength, although his hair has turned completely white, he is still in good spirits and has a feeling of being strong despite being old.

When Sui Xiong came to him, he was instructing a group of young people in the Thieves Guild to learn antique appraisal. This is his specialty. He was even nicknamed "Gray Eyes" because of his good appraisal skills.

For thieves, "eyes", "hands" and "daggers" are all very special titles. "Eyes" means that the thief is particularly good at appraisal; "hands" means that the thief is very skilled in handwork, or is good at setting up and dismantling mechanisms, or is good at stealing; "daggers" means that the thief is a master of combat.

"Fast Hands" Ryan, the former president of the Pyroxene Thieves Guild who once tried to plot against Gerald and Palin, was a great expert in mechanisms and traps. And Rhodes, who succeeded him as the president of the Pyroxene Thieves Guild and later became the president of the Thieves United Guild in the entire Northwest, was a master of appraisal.

Once when he was drunk, he said that he was originally a powerful appraiser in the Gold Coin Federation, and he had competed with several other appraisal masters for the highest honor of the Thieves Guild in the direction of "eyes", "Golden Eyes". It was just that he was not as skilled as others and had the misfortune to offend a powerful person, so he had to flee to the northwest to avoid disaster.

Of course, Rhode himself is now a big shot, and he is even too lazy to seek revenge on the "big shot" who forced him to flee to the northwest that year - because in his opinion, that person forced him to flee, although he suffered a lot, but also provided him with a huge opportunity. If he had not run to Pyroxene Town because he could not make it in the Gold Coin Federation, how could he have met His Majesty the Void Mask, and how could he have had the later encounters?

Although he would not thank the guy who persecuted him, he would not take revenge on him. In his opinion, all this was arranged by fate, and what happened that year was nothing more than a little trick played by the God of Fate on him.

Now Rhode has retired from the position of President of the Northwest Thieves United Guild. He is a consultant. In addition to handling some financial work of the Void Mask Amusement Park every day, he teaches young people to learn identification knowledge. It feels like spending his old age in peace.

"Your Majesty, do you want to know the income of the four towns in the northwest in detail?" Hearing Sui Xiong's request, he was slightly stunned, recalled, and then told the specific income and expenditure of the four towns in the northwest in recent years.

To be honest, these data can be regarded as secrets, but one of the main businesses of the Thieves Guild is to inquire and sell intelligence. This level of intelligence is really nothing to them, even Rhodes, a semi-retired senior executive, knows it.

In fact, Rhodes has always been concerned about this information, because he is in charge of finance.

After listening to Rhodes' report, Sui Xiong finally understood why the old adventurer thought that Pyroxene Town and Gold Rush Town were ordinary. Although these two towns have mineral veins, they actually don't get much income from the mineral veins. Gold Rush Town is better, with copper and iron mines as the foundation, and it can have a stable income anyway. Pyroxene Town doesn't have much income, and it mainly relies on entertainment consumption. Since the opening of the Void Mask Amusement Park, their income level has been declining, and it has now dropped from the original core position of the four towns to the lowest position of the four towns.

In fact... Pyroxene Town is now somewhat abandoned.

The so-called gemstone veins have a very low output, and do not require too many workers. Occasionally, some high-level gemstones appear and are sent to the Void Mask Amusement Park for sale. At present, there are not many people living in Pyroxene Town except for some workers and small vendors who provide services to them. Even the churches of the God of Nobility and the God of Law have evacuated there, and only the church of the God of Wealth still maintains a small temple there.

Sui Xiong pondered for a long time, and finally made up his mind to draw a circle on the location of Pyroxene Town on the map.

"In this case, let's start from here and make some reforms!"