Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 469 New Journey

Harvey's last day in Jinhui City was also the day when the City Hall publicly tried and executed the powerful people in the royal capital who had committed serious crimes.

The newly formed city hall took the first step to officially take over Jinhui City, wielding a bloody butcher knife.

The location for the public trial, sentencing, and execution was set up in the square of the collapsed Glorious Cathedral. The ruins of this old site were also one of the few buildings that Harvey ordered not to be rebuilt or repaired. After all, from now on, the influence of the church would be completely swept out of the royal capital. Although folk beliefs were not strictly prohibited, priests and missionaries would no longer be qualified to set foot here.

The public trial and execution began at dawn. A large number of people who had received the news in advance surrounded the church square. Every time a few nobles in shackles were brought in, soldiers of the Northern Army riding on magic scooters and carrying alchemical loudspeakers would shuttle through the streets and alleys, widely publicizing the crimes committed by the nobles on trial.

The specific charges were actually very similar. Most of the powerful people sentenced to death were punished for multiple crimes. The public trial was more of a formality to publicize to the public the means by which Harvey would clean up the old powerful people in the royal capital and implement new policies.

From the outbreak of a plague in the capital to the sudden war initiated by the church and the nobles, a large number of innocent people fell ill and died, or were displaced and fled their homes... Even in the past six months, the powerful and wealthy have been imposing heavy taxes and levying heavy fines on people under various pretexts, and forcibly conscripting people from the capital to fill the border - it can be said that every household has its victims and sufferers, and they cheered and applauded the execution of these nobles.

Nearly a hundred nobles were sentenced to death, and a round of executions took place almost every half hour. The city hall arranged for the army to bring in a magic-powered cannon, loaded with blank shells filled only with dragon flame powder. After each cannon shot... it represented that a noble who was once powerful and came from a famous family was executed on the spot.

The soldiers in charge of wielding the swords were Orc soldiers specially selected from the army by the city hall. They were nearly two meters tall and had strong physiques. They looked even more terrifying holding the bloody thick-backed machetes. Many nobles who had been quite tough before the execution were frightened to the point of defecating and pissing, which caused the onlookers to laugh and curse.

Amidst the deafening bombardment, Harvey quietly left the Jinhui City dock on his ironclad ship and sailed towards Fengyuan City at full speed...

"Why didn't the City Lord personally appear at the public trial?" Arturo, who had returned with him, was puzzled. "Let the people of Jinhui City get to know you, and then arrange for some secret police to blend in with the crowd and encourage them to express their support for you... wouldn't that be more effective in rallying people?"

Harvey chuckled and shook his head, "These people are different from the people of Spark City. They won't completely side with me just because I chopped off a bunch of nobles' heads..."

Only when the city hall he established manages the city in an orderly manner, and the new policies are implemented to truly benefit the people... and only when the promises made to them after the city was captured are fulfilled one by one, can the people's hearts here be truly relied upon.

Now they are just treating the same people as they did those powerful people in the capital before. What they fear is only the bloody butcher knife in Harvey's hand.

……

He couldn't wait to return to the North, largely because he had accepted Mr. Fadun's sincere advice. After temporarily clearing away all obstacles lingering in the South, he would eventually turn his attention back to the North... keeping a close eye on the powerful alien enemy that had just begun to appear.

Until now, Harvey could only obtain limited enemy intelligence from the members of the exploration team not long ago - knowing the enemy's general appearance, the strange weapons and attack methods used, and the approximate possible direction of attack.

Apart from this, nothing was found. The construction of the Ice Sea Exploration Base has preliminarily completed the first phase of the project. At present, there will be basically no major problems with defense and self-protection. The research, development and manufacturing of submarines are also progressing steadily... Next, we must begin a large-scale exploration and search around the base.

We must find the alien advance teams that attacked the exploration team. We cannot allow a powerful enemy to lurk around us all the time.

Judging from the internal situation of the Federation revealed by Mr. Fadun, the faction led by Chief Sarath still has confidence in this and is willing to take the initiative to join Harvey's defense and counterattack plan. Even the Chief himself is willing to move to Spark City and sit in the north with him to resist the powerful enemy who has not yet revealed its true face.

However, the conservatives who leaned towards the church and secular aristocracy, and the neutrals who always prioritized self-preservation, had very vague and ambiguous attitudes - the conservatives headed by the Magic Council even cited classics and used a large number of historical documents excavated from ancient ruins in the past to strongly refute the truth declared by Harvey.

This part of the Federation has close ties with the Seven Wizarding Kingdoms. Even if the three chiefs publicly support Harvey in a short period of time, it will be difficult to change their attitude. Fadun also expressed regret and helplessness about this.

The large number of neutral factions in the Federation put all their efforts into fighting against the demons entrenched in the Evil Moon Mountains, attempting to occupy as many resources and interests as possible in the Western Territory while the Church shrinks its defenses and troops. With the powerful anti-magic weapons provided by Harvey in the name of forum support, they are highly focused on the counterattack against the demons, crossing the Divine Spine Mountains and fighting fiercely with the demons in the northwest, vowing to completely eradicate the opponent's front-line center rooted here.

The magic stone mining areas around Black Rock City and the Evil Moon Mountains are densely covered. The primitive mountains stretching for thousands of miles are rich in various resources such as magic plants and magic beasts. It has always been the "gold rush" coveted by the Federation. They want them to give up the immediate benefits that are within their reach and turn to deal with the unknown powerful enemy from the north... Fadun believes that this is impossible to achieve in a short period of time.

However, the neutral faction has the largest number of mage regiments, and Fashield, who is well versed in political struggles, also suggested that Harvey should not completely give up this powerful magical ally, but must seek a suitable opportunity to win their support... On this issue, the three chiefs who originally did not interfere in the specific affairs of the Federation will also assist him.

Under such circumstances, Harvey couldn't help but come up with a tempting idea and plan in his mind.

This plan carries certain risks and the possibility of failure, and seems to be quite difficult to implement… but high risks inevitably bring corresponding high rewards. If the attempt is successful, it may not only resolve the attitude and views of the Federation on this matter… but also gain a certain advantage when dealing with powerful enemies in the future.

That is - to risk their lives and capture the alien outpost lingering near the Ice Sea Exploration Base and bring it back to the North alive...

Even... bring them to the southern border, hand them over to the Federation, and thoroughly prove to the world the truth about the existence of alien enemies!
(End of this chapter)