Mystery: A Spark

Moreover, the progress of thought actually depends on the progress of productivity.

Without sufficient productivity, even the most advanced ideas are nothing but empty roguery.

Therefore, what Arthur wanted to do first was to promote the advancement of productivity in this world.

He put Russell's industrial activities, which had stalled due to a lack of oil, back on track.

In terms of finding like-minded people, the mysterious world actually offers quite a few options.

Among them, the one with greater power and influence, and relatively lower difficulty in cooperation, is the mysterious queen Bernadette, who was raised by Huang Tao and deeply influenced by his values.

Therefore, the second step in Arthur's plan was to find a way to drag Bernadette into the mess, so that Arthur could use her to make contact with the Steam Church.

Originally, Bonova was actually the more suitable candidate, but Arthur always kept his distance from people who were only divine and not human.

In particular, there was a certain priest whom Arthur feared most: He would say, "This is a necessary sacrifice," and then kill him without saying another word.

However, perhaps due to a stroke of good luck, Arthur gained the ability to create human seeds by consuming the true offspring on his way to Tingen.

Thus, the collaboration with Bonova became possible.

Of course, if we're talking about someone who truly shares Arthur's ideals and whose cooperation would be virtually effortless, then it would naturally be Mr. Fool.

But at this time, Mr. Fool had only been promoted to Sequence Eight for a few days, so he was probably not reliable at the moment.

Among the seven gods, Arthur, after some maneuvering, successfully gained the support of the Earth Mother and the Steam Princess.

With the support of these two individuals, the revolution in productivity will inevitably intensify.

This was almost unstoppable, because it was a true wave of the times.

The wheels of time keep turning, those who go with them prosper, and those who go against them perish.

Anyone who tries to reverse this trend will be reduced to dust.

Because progress is the instinct of civilization, once a glimmer of progress appears, human desires will propel society forward at breakneck speed.

It's impossible to stop even if you want to.

Among the other five gods, the Second Dragon only expressed goodwill without making a clear statement.

However, the technology Arthur developed to extract life and soul was completed under the guidance of Edwina.

This in itself already demonstrates, to some extent, the attitude of the god of knowledge.

As for the Goddess of Night, although her base mainly consists of nobles and capitalists, these people will inevitably suffer losses in Arthur's plans.

However, this was not enough to make the goddess go so far as to undermine her own allies, simply because the weight of these believers could not be compared with that of Lilith.

Therefore, the goddess's attitude is mostly to observe from the sidelines, or at least remain neutral, and will not directly intervene.

Among the remaining few true gods...

The old dove of the storm is reckless, and the eternal blazing sun is lacking in wisdom.

As for the God of War, he is nothing but a skeleton in a tomb, not worth mentioning.

Today's heroes are... cough cough, that's really a bit too arrogant.

Seriously though.

Storm Pigeon has always followed Goddess's lead, and her main base is the Navy.

Arthur's plan will not only not harm His interests, but may even be of help to Him.

Because the development of productivity naturally leads to technological progress.

Driven by technological advancements, maritime technology will inevitably experience tremendous growth.

In the original work, the appearance of ironclad warships greatly increased the government's efforts to combat piracy.

The biggest beneficiary of this was the Storm Church, the dominant force on the high seas.

Therefore, the possibility that Storm Pigeon would stand against Arthur is actually very small.

Arthur chose Backlund as the starting point for his plan for two reasons. First, he was relatively familiar with the social environment there, which would make it easier for him to cause trouble.

On the other hand, as the most prosperous metropolis in the Northern Continent, the industry of Wandu City is naturally more developed.

In other words, the number of workers here will be relatively large.

To put it simply, this place has a better foundation among the people.

Of course, compared to the level of industry in my previous life, this place is only the best of the worst, barely passable.

Furthermore, as the capital of Rune, the church here only has a total of four and a half churches.

The four need no explanation, and as for the half, it is naturally the Church of the Fools, which is still in the fertilized egg stage.

Therefore, interference from the Church of the Eternal Sun and the Church of the God of War is eliminated here.

Thus, in this small corner of Backlund, the Earth Mother and the Steam Princess have already expressed their support.

The Goddess of Night and the Old Pigeon of Storms watched coldly, indicating that it was none of their business.

Here, the local government of Rune is already isolated and helpless.

Therefore, Arthur, the reformer, can now peacefully engage in a one-on-one true man's battle with the Rune government.

Because he has now become part of the majority.

"You mean you want to use your technology to create a special energy device to stimulate industrial development and complete my father's unfinished business?" Bonova asked.

“Indeed, Mr. Bonova, is this idea feasible?” Arthur asked with a smile.

“If the technology you’re talking about can really do what you’re saying, then manufacturing the related equipment shouldn’t be too difficult for me,” Bonova said confidently after thinking for a moment.

“However, if this technology is not restricted, then the Extraordinary World will definitely be in chaos, and there is even a possibility that innocent people will be used as raw materials to extract energy,” Bernadette said with a frown.

"That's for sure. Anything that gets out of control can cause great harm."

Arthur stood up and said solemnly:

"However, even burning coal can produce poisonous gas, putting people in danger. Taking magic potions can also cause people to lose control and become monsters."

"But we still use coal as fuel and take potions to advance to the level of extraordinary."

"So whether something is really harmful depends on how we control it. The right approach is to promote its benefits and eliminate its harms. As long as we keep this energy firmly under control, there won't be any major problems."

Bernadette was well aware of these things, but she still had some concerns and said:

"Even so, the source of raw materials is still not a simple matter, because this energy consumes life and soul rather than matter. Where can we find these lives?"

"Although the corpses of extraordinary creatures contain some life force and remnants of soul, it would probably not be appropriate to hunt them specifically for this purpose."

Arthur smiled, revealing his true intentions:

"Madam, among all twenty-two extraordinary paths, there is one that is quite special. Those who embark on this path will become increasingly cruel and inhuman as they ascend through the sequence. Their physical appearance will also gradually become deformed and horrifying."

"As for such an extraordinary path that makes people increasingly inhuman, I think we have a responsibility and an obligation to completely eradicate it and make it a sacrifice needed for the progress of human civilization."

“The Demonic Path,” Bernadette realized.

"That's right! It's... cough, the demonic path!"

Arthur accidentally let something slip, but he quickly corrected himself, saying with great enthusiasm:

“The low-sequence cases along this pathway may still be saved, but once they become medium-sequence cases, they deserve to die.”

"Not only that, the demons also have vigorous bodies and remarkably strong souls, so even their corpses are useful."

"Such an extraordinary race, which can be eliminated with a clear conscience and has excellent physical condition, is truly a high-quality raw material for energy extraction."

Thanks to the mysterious world for giving this path its unique characteristics, it becomes increasingly cruel and ruthless the higher you go.

Not to mention that the ascension ceremony for this path requires insane killing, which makes the Demonic Path extremely unpopular in civilized society. Any extraordinary person with a modicum of morality would find them repulsive.

They also have almost no allies and are practically isolated.

This puts even the orphan pathway and the "monster" pathway, which are considered mystical, to shame.

The three major demon families were well aware that they had become pariahs and no other forces would help them.

So they hid themselves in dark corners, trying to get by like cowards.

The orthodox churches are too lazy to bother targeting them, so they'll just keep to themselves and not cause trouble.

But Arthur wouldn't let such a bunch of cockroaches hide in the shadows and pop out every now and then to disgust people.

But he didn't have the time to specifically catch cockroaches; it would be too much trouble and inefficient.

After all, apart from the hidden malice of warriors, other methods are simply not possible to catch these demons who can sense malice when they are in the same order, unless the combat power is overwhelming.

Therefore, Arthur set his sights on the demons to extract the raw materials for his energy.

On the one hand, it is because they have strong vitality and their souls are strong enough, and their leader, the Demon King, has disappeared. This means that bullying them will not result in a dimensional reduction attack from Sequence 0.

It is truly the best choice as a sacrifice for the productivity revolution.

On the other hand, once these inhuman creatures are given value, hunting demons will become a profitable endeavor.

Just like the white people who were the first to land on the American continent, who gave value to the scalps of Native Americans, and then the Native Americans were exterminated.

If Bonova's promised equipment research is successful, then once the restrictive valve is removed, industry will inevitably begin to develop rapidly.

The steam church will thus enter a phase of technological revolution.

Even if the people here are all a bit slow on the uptake and can't innovate in technology, it doesn't matter.

Because there are time travelers here, not just the four on the ground, but also a large pile of cured meat on the source castle.

Technological revolutions are always something that affects the whole system.

The Steam Church took the lead in making progress, so naturally the other churches couldn't just stand by and watch.

This is like using a gas lamp for lighting, eating hard, black bread that's good for fencing, and having your only entertainment as playing cards.

Meanwhile, you see your neighbor using air conditioning in the summer, having heating in the winter, and even having WiFi in their home.

Not only that, they eat and drink the finest food every day, even throwing away bowls of food after finishing one. They switch between playing on their computer, phone, and PS4 every day, playing whichever game they want.

Aren't you envious?

Are you feeling unbalanced or not?

A more ruthless person would probably immediately try to kill this neighbor.

Then they would seize his house, sleep with his wife, beat his children, and even pet his cat.