Chapter 252: Evil as the Order
Brother Lowell entered the city of Innadli in a carriage borrowed from the town hall on the morning of the second day after he received Yang Qiu's call.
As soon as he entered the city gate, Brother Lowell found that the city had changed a lot compared to when he was forced to impersonate Rex a few months ago.
The most obvious point is that on the road from the west gate into the city to the outer streets of half of the West City District and the South City District, you can't see beggars huddled together, dirty boys gathered on the streets waiting for work, or gang members who always move around in groups.
Even the kind of shoe-shining boys that can be seen everywhere in every city, who sit on the ground with a wooden box at the entrance of the alley waiting for customers, are rarely seen.
When the carriage turned from the South City to the Central City, Brother Lowell noticed that women traveling in groups came out of the alley, chatting as they walked towards the Mary Street Market.
Brother Lowell stared silently through the car window at the women who were breathing heavily and going out to buy groceries early in the morning, until the car turned onto the small bridge and he could no longer see them.
The ascetic's expression became very complicated.
The undead taking over the city's rule has indeed made it a better place...even local women dare to take shortcuts through the alleys in the early morning when there are not many pedestrians.
In fact, Lowell was well aware of the "secret" of the undead that made the city safe.
It was nothing more than clearing out places of entertainment, arresting operators and all those related to profit from illegal industries, prostitutes, gamblers, the most ruthless city police officers who exploited small businesses and citizens, and gang members who were caught in a gun battle, and took them to Westham to build the railway; they also recruited unemployed youths and organized them into work, sent half-grown children to free schools to learn to read, and sent homeless street vagrants to the Environmental Protection Bureau to do labor within their capabilities.
If we fundamentally eliminate security risks, the streets will naturally become safer.
Innadri City Hall did not even specifically target the street gangs, which were considered the biggest trouble by all city sheriffs - the gray industries were wiped out to cut off the gangs' financial resources, and unemployed youths, teenagers and homeless people all had jobs to do, which cut off the street gangs' source of manpower. Even if a gang was lucky and none of its main members were arrested to repair roads, they would have lost the capital to continue to run rampant on the streets.
Just as the Undead Town Mayor Ji Tang has always said, the so-called gangs (civilian violent groups) are actually parasites that breed when the public power fails to perform its duties, resulting in a power vacuum in a certain area of the social structure that can generate surplus profits. As long as the public power shoulders its responsibilities and does its job well, there will be no such thing as gangs or no gangs.
——Ji Tang is qualified to say this. The elders in his family participated in several nationwide crackdowns in China in the last century. He knew from a young age what kind of character the X Family Gang and XX Society, which were once arrogant in the local area, were essentially.
Not to mention Zhao Zhenzhen, all transnational gangs and underworld organizations are just paper tigers in people's eyes.
When Brother Lowell heard this at first, he did not fully agree with it. He just thought that the undead Ji Tang was too idealistic. But now, seeing that the city of Innade had been completely transformed under the governance of the undead lady Sister Zhao in just three months, he realized that there was something wrong with his own thinking.
Yes, gangs are nothing but dogs of the nobles. If the nobles cannot even protect the pornography and gambling industries that can make the quickest money, how can the gangs have room to survive?
Only industries that can generate quick profits and have relatively high profits can attract criminals and gather large numbers of desperadoes to form gangs.
People who don't work properly are just lazy and like to eat, not mentally ill. After shouting and killing for a long time, they can't even get the black bread to fill their stomachs. The income is not even as good as washing dishes in a restaurant. Who would be willing to fight and kill?
The more he figured it out, the more complicated Brother Lowell's mood became.
The experience of the undead in governing Innadri cannot be copied to the Principality of Shiga, and it is impossible to implement it even with his identity as the black-robed supervisor of the Prosperous Church - industries that can quickly make profits and have extremely high profits are all the exclusive domains of the nobility!
Yang could offend the nobles of the Rhine Kingdom without restraint because he was not originally from the Rhine. However, he was a native of the Principality of Shiga. He could not act as recklessly as Yang and treat the nobles of the Principality of Shiga as nothing.
“The gap between ideals and practice is like a chasm.”
The carriage drove into the central city. Brother Lowell, who was sitting inside the carriage, smiled bitterly and murmured in a low voice.
When Yang Qiu saw Lowell after not seeing him for a long time, he was not surprised to find that this black-robed ascetic monk seemed to be more worried and vengeful.
If Lowell didn't feel touched at all after reading Dream of the Red Chamber first and Jin Ximei later, it would be a waste of his temperament as an older literary youth.
Of course, this did not prevent Yang Qiu from asking the ascetic monk to help make extra money - he just had to slightly restrict the resistance of the parasitic monster when stripping it of its only instincts. No matter how haggard or mentally ill Lowell was, it would not affect the task.
Baron Norman, who had spent half the morning stripping off the parasitic monster and saved his life, left with many thanks. Yang Qiu then served tea and had a heart-to-heart talk with the poor old intellectual.
Naturally, Lowell also had an urgent desire to communicate with Yang Qiu, otherwise he would not have rushed over after receiving a call.
But Yang showed an attitude of wanting to have a long talk with him, but Lowell became hesitant and didn't know how to start for a moment.
After struggling for a while, Rowell said shyly, "Yang...what do you think is the biggest threat to Nabarron?"
Yang Qiu smiled slightly.
No matter how young he looks, Lowell is still a man.
Before a gentleman starts a topic that will embarrass or humiliate himself, he always can't help but speak some empty clichés - he is a gentleman himself, and he understands this mental journey.
"What answer do you want from me, respected supervisor? Is it the resurrection of the ancient gods? Is it the unpredictable invasion of void demons? Or is it the Northern War launched by the Kenyan Empire and lasted for hundreds of years?" Yang Qiu said with a smile, "Or... the undead disaster?"
The corner of Rowell's mouth twitched. He was not blinded by Yang Qiu's teasing tone, and said with a dark face: "Be serious, Yang."
"Seriously speaking, it's the reality you've already seen." Yang Qiu restrained his expression and said in a very serious manner, "Just like I said when we first met, I hope our undead friends can help the people of this land build civilization and order. This has always been my idea, and it won't change from now on."
Brother Lowell's face was expressionless.
Yes, he knew Yang was speaking the truth.
When he heard this for the first time, he thought that Yang was just planning to encircle and rule Tarantan, and he never imagined that Yang's ambitions went beyond this.
Now, Yang's undead have walked out of Tarantan, and these undead have indeed proved their friendliness with their actions.
Yang repeated this sentence again, without limiting the scope of the undead's impact... Judging from this guy's excessive "sincerity" in doing what he said, it is obvious that the ambition of this black magician is not limited to the Innade Territory.
Yang Qiu regained his relaxed attitude, took a sip of tea slowly, and said, "Lowell, what kind of world do you think we live in?"
Lowell's lips moved, as if an answer was on the tip of his tongue, but he didn't say it.
"It's a world where evil is the order." Yang Qiu said calmly with a smile on his face, "At least that's what I think. Respected Supervisor, what do you think?"
Lowell pursed his lips, his expression becoming more bitter and resentful.
In the past, he would firmly refute Yang’s remarks and make comments such as “extreme and narrow-minded”.
But after reading "Jin", he could no longer say such words with confidence.
What is described in "Jin" is not just human nature, but more like a picture of all living beings in the world like hell.
Lowell could see all these living beings, could see the "hell-like world" presented in the book... and could also connect it to the corresponding real world.
Ministers who abuse their power (great nobles) and local nobles (bureaucratic bullies) construct a framework of evil. In this world where evil is the order of things, the king (the court) is just a figurehead, life is as lowly as dust, and living is petty and dirty.
All good things are killed in this evil order, and all evil things thrive in this evil order, but are then destroyed by even greater evil.
The only rebel (Wu Song) took an even worse path - becoming a bandit.
In an evil order, no one is immune.
If the world is like a prison, then everyone is like a ghost.
It is not that women and people of low status are born lowly, but that the world of hell does not allow them to be noble.
Lowell couldn't refute Yang because he agreed in his heart.
"Order by evil" is such an apt description.
This evil order makes all the sins seem orderly and natural.
The fact that one cannot escape poverty makes one poor for life can be distorted into one who is poor because of laziness.
A world that does not allow women to compete with men for power forces women to be ignorant and cowardly, and to become accessories. This fact can be distorted into women being ignorant and cowardly and can only depend on men to survive.
What is even more tragic is that people of low status and women identify with their own positions, and some of them will even take the initiative to defend this evil order that does not protect their interests.
It is like this in the book and it is like this in reality.
Brother Lowell felt that he had difficulty breathing. He was sitting in the spacious and bright living room of the luxurious city lord's mansion that originally belonged to the Bartles family, but he felt that there was an endless darkness coming towards him, which made him tremble from the depths of his soul and made him feel heavy and breathless.
"Lowell." Yang, who was sitting opposite, spoke again. He still looked calm, with a faint smile on his face. "In a world where evil is the order of things, what should people like you and me do?"
Lowell looked at Yang Qiu in silence.
He was vaguely curious about how this man, who had seen the endless darkness earlier than him, managed to survive this suffocating despair.
"...This is your answer." Lowell said the conclusion he had thought about for a long time in a deep voice, "Use the power of these 'Tarantan Undead' to try to change the world with your own power."
"Yes, but I'm not the only one." Yang Qiu smiled happily. If he could accomplish something alone, he wouldn't have been so frustrated for so many years. "It's not just the undead. Rex, Mia, Westram and the clerks in the city, as well as Tuttle, Hal and others - you know, Hal, the leader of the thieves, is not completely without merit. He has educated those prisoners very well - all those who can be treated more fairly in the civilization and order established by the undead will become our fellow travelers."
After a pause, Yang Qiu said more cheerfully: "You should know how many people like this there are, right?"
Rowell was stunned.
The number of people who suffer injustice in this evil order is too numerous to count!
"I knew you could understand it." Yang Qiu said with a smile, "If it's just a matter of numbers, we have the majority."
Lowell couldn't help but smile. The boundless invisible darkness that was pressing on him seemed to be gradually fading away.
"Have you ever thought about the resistance you will face?" The black-robed inspector still couldn't be as confident as Yang Qiu, who had the Earth's rear at his back. After thinking for a while, he said conservatively, "The nobles, the royal family, and... the church, may all be your enemies."
Yang Qiu smiled even more.
Lowell, the black-robed inspector who was qualified to be the candidate for the head of the Holy Land of Prosperity Inquisition, certainly would not be influenced by his "kingly aura" and even betray the Prosperity Church.
Rather, it is possible that this older intellectual was thinking of "learning advanced experience" from him to benefit the prosperous parish, and he might even be secretly preparing to coordinate the conflict between the prosperous church and the concept of the dead in the future.
He assumed that Yang Qiu was against the church, and more likely he wanted to see Yang Qiu's attitude.
After thinking about it, Yang Qiu decided to be frank with the black-robed inspector who seemed to have leaned towards him. He said frankly: "My undeads and I have no intention of being enemies with the church. We will seek a solution to coexist peacefully with the church. In fact, even if there is a possibility of cooperation with the nobles and royal families, we will not give up."
"All struggles are for peace. Peaceful development is our pursuit and goal, not a fight to the death with everyone."
Rowell: “…”
To be honest, what Yang said was not very convincing... This guy was the one who dared to attack the holy land of the Fiery Sun Church alone.
But thinking about it, not many people fell into Yang's hands and were dragged out to be hanged. The worst that happened was that they were taken to the wilderness to build railways... Lowell still accepted Yang's statement.
Lowell was about to say something when Yang Qiu stood up and took a black leather folder from the shelf that had been converted into a bookcase.
"This is the list of death row inmates that the Public Security Bureau submitted to the Municipal Court after repeated investigations and evidence collection before deciding to sentence them to death." Yang Qiu handed the thick black leather folder to the black-robed inspector. "Look, we arrested so many people but sentenced 27 to death. Each death row inmate has more than ten pages of evidence. We can stick to the bottom line of killing less and killing more cautiously. We act in accordance with the laws of the Rhine Kingdom, which is very rigorous."
Brother Lowell: “…”
The countries in this world have hundreds or even thousands of years of history, and all of their laws are rigorous. It is rare to see a situation like in the United States where one law has multiple interpretations and lawyers can use loopholes to get away with it with their eloquent words. The only problem lies in whether the law is enforced strictly and whether violations are investigated.
As soon as Yang Qiu sat down in the City Lord's Mansion, the Public Security Department had no worries about who to offend and who not to offend, and the city court did not dare to knock randomly. Every case was carefully judged and there was absolutely no fault to be found. The death penalty file that was shown to Brother Lowell was even mailed to the capital...
After showing the Black Robe Supervisor how much the Innadri regime, which was ruled by the Undead, was dedicated to "killing less and killing more carefully", Yang Qiu continued to intensify his efforts and dragged Lowell to the City Hall to visit Zhao Zhenzhen's public enterprise employment achievements, Huanling public carriage operation plan, new residential environmental sanitation standards, and tax reform system proposals...
Like Ji Tang, Zhao Zhenzhen, the Undead Archon, is not fighting alone. He has the support of national think tanks behind him. He has only been in office for three months (in the alien world time), but his political achievements are dazzling.
After spending half a day touring the policies and decrees of the City Hall, Yang Qiu returned to the City Lord's Mansion and kindly proposed a friendly exchange plan to establish contact with the Prosperity Church: As the spring is coming and the caravans are about to start their activities, he suggested that Brother Lowell write a letter to the caravan/mercenary group back to the Principality of Shiga and ask the Prosperity Church to send a visiting delegation.
The Prosperity Church attaches great importance to farming, and the Principality of Shiga is a typical agricultural power. Zhao Zhenzhen has already informed Yang Qiu in advance that in the "game", the national team will arrange a group of retired experts from the agricultural department to move in after the spring.
This was the first time in Brother Lowell’s life that he had been away from the Principality of Shiga for such a long time. He had long missed his hometown and fellow countrymen, so he readily agreed.
After being offered a sweet treat, Yang Qiu made a request with confidence: he hoped that Brother Lowell would take the trouble to do some field work and take the undead to Moses Port.
The old otaku Lowell didn't react at first: "Port Moses? The town of Innadri?"
"It's the city in the neighboring Odysseus territory, a big city on the banks of the Barcelo River." Yang Qiu said with a smile, "Miss Phoenix of the Odysseus family hopes to ask the undead to help Moses Port eliminate the hidden dangers of vampires. The vampires reported in the Innadeli Weekly before came from Moses Port."
Phoenix hopes not to make public the fact that he hired the undead as mercenaries to fight in the war for the time being, so Yang Qiu will certainly not go against the wishes of the big moneybag... Anyway, as long as Lowell goes with him, he will feel embarrassed to abandon the undead and run away before the battle is over.
Rowell was confused: "This... your undead won't listen to me obediently, why don't you go by yourself? I can help you stay in Innadri."
When it comes to guarding the house, he, a high-ranking priest, is more suitable than Yang, a black magician.
Yang Qiu sighed: "It's not that I don't want to make a trip myself, but you know, there are many misunderstandings about me in the outside world... If the news of my arrival in Moses Port spreads, it will make the locals even more uneasy."
Rowell: “…”
