Recently, the War God Church within the An Zhu territory has seen a growing number of followers.
In fact, it’s not just the War God Church; those cult groups holding activities within An Zhu are also increasingly rampant.
There are many workers in various factories who, due to improper operations, have suffered equipment damage, burdened by lifelong debts, or have been caught in machinery, resulting in the loss of fingers or even entire arms. Many of these individuals ultimately choose to turn to religion.
Even if you haven’t caused any machinery damage and have fortunately remained physically intact, it doesn’t mean you can live steadily in the factories. The high-pressure environment, exorbitant expenses, and workers in the workshops often can’t even afford the products they produce. This seemingly endless labor has led many to develop habits of alcoholism and gambling.
This is actually unavoidable; although An Zhu’s wealth has greatly increased, the security for the lower classes has not been effectively managed. Not to mention that those Great Nobles and factories are often colluding, and not deducting capital can already be considered as conscience, let alone protecting the people beneath them.
In such a situation, rather than saving money to wait for the security guards and various people to extort you, it’s better to spend the money on something real; at least it can bring temporary happiness.
It’s not just the workers suffering; there are many other lower-class individuals across various professions, and workers can even be considered relatively high-paying jobs among the lower classes.
Herbert records in his diary the current situation of the people in An Zhu while doing business with factories there.
Previously, trade with Caron was very successful. Although Caron bought cannon shells at a critical moment, it didn’t significantly affect the overall capture of the Castile delegation by the Avar people. Moreover, Herbert had stated from the beginning that what he could obtain were eliminated inferior goods, so shell issues were actually quite normal.
Thus, Caron had no complaints; on the contrary, because Herbert’s weapon smuggling brought significant profits to Caron, Herbert was now a guest at Caron’s table.
Herbert doesn’t like to chat idly with Caron; instead, he took advantage of the pretext of wanting to open a factory in An Zhu to visit and inspect many factories within the Royal Capital of An Zhu.
In Herbert’s impression, the factories in Cape Northern Border are clean and tidy, where the work hours are always bright. However, the factories in An Zhu often seem to be dark when they can see but don’t turn on the lights.
After investigating, Herbert found that the reason is that Cape has the Obelisk, making magic lighting nearly free. In contrast, the lighting costs in An Zhu are much higher. Still, Herbert thought that even if the lighting prices in An Zhu were about the same as those in Cape, those factories would still choose to turn off the lights to save a bit of money.
For these factories that squeeze human labor to the extreme, Herbert actually doesn’t feel anything special. After all, he is from the old noble class of the Northern Border; these factories at least operate for profit. In the past, nobles sometimes tortured people to death for their selfish desires in pursuit of fleeting pleasures.
“These individuals, in order to make a living, often take multiple jobs. Besides long work hours and multiple occupations, their children also need to help subsidize the family, doing some factory child labor or cleaning the nobles’ chimneys and the like.”
Herbert writes down everything he sees and hears in his diary.
“Some fortunate children who grow up may be recruited into military schools for study. I’ve heard that recruiting a healthy child into a military school can receive a subsidy, but the actual amount that reaches the parents of those children is only one-tenth of what was advertised.”
“Under this circumstance, more and more people are joining the War God Church, starting to believe in the War God. They believe the War God will protect the weak, and this is indeed true; as long as you join the War God Church, at least those thugs won’t come to trouble you.”
When he got to this point, Herbert paused his pen; the following content couldn’t be written in the diary. He could only silently remember it in his heart.
Recently, the doctrines of the War God Church seem to have undergone subtle changes. Some followers suddenly began to claim that the War God would descend to the mortal realm, granting true power to His believers and shielding them from bullying.
The common people are unaware, but Herbert, who received a noble education from an early age and is familiar with religion, knows that no god will personally descend to the mortal world. Matters between gods and humans are generally handled by intermediaries such as the Saintess and the Pope; the phrase of personal descent is typically only used by evil gods.
And now, this claim has unexpectedly surfaced within the War God Church.
The unrest among the lower classes of An Zhu has subtly unsettled Herbert’s heart. Once this mission ends, he plans to return to his hometown, obediently follow the Family Head’s arrangements in the future, and find a lighter clerical job relying on the merits he has earned this time.
“My lord, the itinerary has been properly arranged.”
Hearing the voice of the bodyguard, Herbert stopped his contemplation and put on his coat.
“I understand, I’ll be right there.”
Next is Herbert’s last action in An Zhu—a new product launch and auction event.
The auction site is decorated extravagantly, dazzling to the point that even Herbert feels a bit overwhelmed. Since he had previously wandered through An Zhu’s factories, it’s really hard to imagine that this light show auction belongs to the same era as those dim factories.
After socializing with the nobles of An Zhu and telling them how the Lord Governor “persecuted” his family, Herbert took his seat.
For Herbert, this so-called new product launch is actually quite uninteresting; it might even be less engaging than the new technology introduced in the Cape Royal Capital’s newspapers.
And indeed, those so-called new products are almost all things previously invented in Cape or some attention-grabbing toys.
Some items catered specifically for the enjoyment of the nobles are somewhat interesting, but it’s clear those items hold no research value and cannot be exported to Cape. After responding to the price twice out of obligation, Herbert yawned in boredom.
“Ladies and gentlemen, next is one of the highlights of this new product launch! The great High-level Professionals and Lord Cassius have combined the techniques of the Old Empire to create this gem!”
On stage, the host’s voice is loud, and the stage lights flicker, ultimately focusing on the cages that appeared at some point.
“Deng deng deng! This is the crystallization of An Zhu’s technology, a human communication device!”
Within several iron cages, a few girls in revealing outfits, each with distinctive and voluptuous looks, are imprisoned.
Herbert continues yawning; this kind of thing had long been played out by those nobles during the old noble period, and it really lacks interest. However, what the host said next almost made Herbert jump out of his seat.
“These girls have undergone special modifications by all the great lords; as long as you press the specific parts on these girls, you can achieve real-time communication with your noble friends in the Royal Capital!”
