No strange things are allowed to evolve!

Yes, Jiang Shu's approach was like pulling the plug on a hot tin roof—it was exactly what was causing the problem.

"Wangzhuang?" Dianzi Wang asked, puzzled. "Why would they be working here?"

"As I said, the one active in Wangzhuang recently is an evil god. To prevent them from being bewitched by the evil god, I had no choice but to trick them into coming here and protecting them," Jiang Shu said righteously.

"..." Idea King paused for a moment: "You just said you were lying, right?"

"Then why protect them? Why make them work, and in such a way..." Another gentryman began, his voice tinged with pity.

This guy is even more of a landlord than those landlords.

“Protecting them costs money,” Jiang Shu sighed. “We have to pay protection money, right? And didn’t I say that everything I did was for the benefit of Zhao Village? Don’t all these outputs and profits belong to the people of Zhao Village?”

After hearing Jiang Shu's explanation, the local gentry felt that it wasn't so unacceptable after all.

Moreover, Zhao Village and Wang Village already had a bad relationship. Since it wasn't their own people who were suffering, and the village could still generate income, they naturally had no reason to object.

"Moreover," Jiang Shu added, "everyone came here voluntarily, and they are very happy while working. This is a great thing that benefits everyone."

It was at this moment.

A piercing scream came from another room in the manor.

"I'll call my best brother over, please let me go!!"

Upon hearing this sound, the workers in Wangzhuang trembled, then lowered their heads even further and focused more intently on their tasks, resulting in a significant increase in efficiency.

The local gentry swallowed hard and looked at Jiang Shu, who seemed hesitant to speak.

Who exactly is the evil god?

The atmosphere became somewhat awkward for a moment.

After a long silence, Jiang Shu spoke softly.

"That's the reformatory."

Who asked you?!

Meanwhile, in Wangzhuang.

The itchy head has already won over the second generation of believers.

Seeing the increasing divine power he possessed over the past two days, he wore a smug expression.

"Kid, you're probably still busy conquering them one by one, huh? I hope you're ready. Soon, you'll be facing my brutal tearing! All your efforts will ultimately become my playthings!"

Suddenly, a believer burst into his room, saying he had something important to report.

A moment later.

My head was itchy and my eyes widened.

"What do you mean by 'half the villagers are missing'?"

Chapter 216 Development? Not letting you develop is the same as me developing!

The sudden bad news left me momentarily at a loss for what to do.

Without a doubt, all of this must have been done by his rival, Jiang Shu.

But how did he do it?

Could it be that he already possesses enough divine power to wreak havoc on his own territory so soon after the start?

Shouldn't there be a protection mechanism?

Not only can a believer's loyalty not be taken away once it exceeds a certain range, but divine power should also be reduced in the territory of a rival.

How exactly did they manage to reduce the number of people by half at once?

As my head started to itch, I gradually realized that I had probably misjudged the situation this time.

That unfamiliar face, never seen before in the arena of experts, is likely to be a formidable opponent!

But even with an itchy head, he is still a master of his craft, specializing in a few incubators.

He wasn't too panicked because he knew he still had a chance.

This wasn't the first time he'd run this incubator, so he knew exactly how fast he could gain divine power.

So even though half the village was gone, he didn't believe Jiang Shu could win over so many believers all at once.

And not to mention that he has so many villagers in his own territory.

He must have just used some tricks, but he just doesn't know how.

Doing such a thing must mean that he has expended a lot of divine power, and he must be in a state of deficit at this time.

Clearly, this was a bluff, a ruse to create an empty city.

The other party must be trying to gamble everything in this way, making me think that I am at a great disadvantage.

Therefore, it is precisely in times like these that we must not panic and lose our composure.

As long as we proceed steadily and manage the remaining half of the village's believers well, even if the other side now has a larger base, we will still have the advantage in the early stages.

Even if the opponent's divine power increases more than yours in the later stages, as long as you regain the believers with an absolute early advantage before that happens, then he's finished.

Having figured this out, he immediately ordered the village sealed off and abandoned his previous plan to divert some of his divine power to harass Jiang Shu's progress.

Every bit of divine power is crucial now. My first priority should be to properly digest all the believers, and then, before they can make up for their losses, I should deliver a powerful blow.

It must be said that his insight into the situation was keen and accurate.

Aside from the fact that Jiang Shu took away nearly half of his territory's population without expending any divine power, everything else was pretty much as he had predicted.

Jiang Shu did indeed want to slow down his progress.

As a newcomer to this incubator for the first time, Jiang Shu showed the seniors the respect they deserved.

Although it is always said that talent is greater than effort, he is confident that he is no worse than anyone else. But you have to know that there are tricks to everything. A person who has been immersed in a certain field for many years, even if he is not as talented as others, will always know some shortcuts that ordinary people do not know.

Therefore, Jiang Shu was convinced that if he didn't take an unconventional approach, it would be very difficult for him to defeat his opponent, that despicable fishmonger.

He is confident, but never arrogant.

Therefore, he founded Miaowadi.

His idea was actually very simple: given that everyone has the same resources, the competition is about the speed of development. But I probably can't beat you in terms of speed, so I'll just make sure you don't have as many resources.

Therefore, Jiang Shu never intended to accept the guests invited from Wangzhuang as believers.

His goal was simply to make those who were itching to follow him around without enough followers.

Jiang Shu's core principle is that he doesn't necessarily have to make a profit, but the other party must definitely lose.

Your champion pool is amazing, and I honestly don't know how to play them all, but if I ban them for you, how are you going to deal with it?

"How despicable..."

Outside the incubator, Brother Bing couldn't help but sigh, "Should I say it was unexpected, or should I say I'm glad I misunderstood him at first, proving that I'm not such a heartless person?"

“This isn’t despicable.” Sebastian shook his head, revealing for the first time an admiration for Jiang Shu that went beyond his duties: “It’s wisdom.”

"But judging from his itchy head, he doesn't seem flustered at all," Brother Bing said, frowning.

“He probably thought that the young master had paid a huge price to achieve this,” Sebastian analyzed. “So he felt that although the balance of victory would gradually tilt towards the young master later, he still held the advantage at least for now.”

Upon hearing this, Brother Bing nodded: "After all, he's an old hand. No wonder he can keep withdrawing money from these incubators. He's really reliable."

Sebastian smiled and said, "It's just a pity that we ran into the young master."

Brother Bing smiled knowingly.

Both of them, who could see each other's perspectives from beginning to end, clearly understood that Jiang Shu was completely deceiving and abducting them, and it was not some kind of high-level divine power effect at all. He was not only not in debt, but was also in full condition.

Regardless of whether his methods are the lowest of the low, they are very pragmatic and effective.

More importantly, Jiang Shu has already begun to win over the elite class...

"Then... what is the purpose of you seeing us and letting us witness all of this?"

The local gentry asked with some alarm.

At this moment, in their eyes, Jiang Shu was nothing more than a demon in human skin.

Why are there so many instruments of torture in the reformatory?

Do you really think that if you make a soldering iron into the shape of a Bodhisattva or Arhat, we'll believe it's used to ward off evil spirits?!

“That’s how it is,” Jiang Shu explained earnestly and sincerely. “I have studied it carefully. Our Zhao Village is sparsely populated and has a large population. Even if all the land were planted with grain, the yield would hardly meet the needs of the villagers. Not to mention that everyone has a large family and will take even more. Those villagers who actually farm the land will have even less to eat.”

Upon hearing this, the local gentry felt somewhat guilty and even more fearful.

What's going on?

Is this a purge of our interests?

Judging from the extent of his support among the tenant farmers and the closeness of their relationship with him, it seems that he might actually stand up for them.

The local gentry looked at each other, and finally their gazes settled on the idea master.

Having no other choice, the idea king could only tentatively say, "If there's anything we've done wrong, please tell us directly, and we'll definitely correct it. We promise to do our best in the future so that all the villagers can have enough to eat."

Unexpectedly, Jiang Shu waved his hand.

"Oh dear, you've misunderstood me. I didn't come here to confront you, otherwise I wouldn't have come out to greet you personally, would I?"

The group exchanged bewildered glances at each other, then cautiously asked, "So what do you mean?"

“I told you, I am the mountain god, so you are all my children.”

Jiang Shu smiled and said:

"Since they are all my children, how could I make things difficult for you? Even if you have made some small mistakes, they are just going astray and making a mistake in a moment. My main goal is to correct them, not to beat or scold them."

Moreover, I have asked around, and although you may sometimes be a bit heartless when you're rich, when it really matters, as fellow villagers, if anyone in your community is in trouble, you haven't really stood by and watched them die; you've always helped out to some extent. You're not really evil people.

This is a good thing! We're all from the same village, the same town; we need to be united like this. That's how we can make money, and of course, you'll all get your share too.

"this..."

His words made everyone blush.

Although Jiang Shu's words were not wrong, these were their objective and true reactions.

But why they did this—whether it was out of genuine concern for their fellow townsmen or for some other unspoken motive—only they themselves know.

So, is this how those people who he had given alms to and helped, but who he had exploited more often, viewed him...? The gentry thought to themselves, their hearts filled with complex emotions and mixed feelings.

Looking at their fellow villagers who were now active in Miaowadi and had become supervisors, instructors, and group leaders, they all felt ashamed.

Seeing this, Jiang Shu was very satisfied.

These were obviously made up by him.

While the tenant farmers and poor peasants weren't exactly ruthless towards these gentry, they certainly didn't have much affection for them either.

They were just trying to make a living. Their feelings towards them were more out of fear for survival than respect or love. Otherwise, they wouldn't have come up the mountain without a word after Jiang Shu waved his hand.

But Jiang Shu needs them to unite.

If they can unite and demonize Wangzhuang, they will stand together against external forces. Unless someone is so eager to brainwash them, they will have no chance to take advantage of the situation.

First, establish your authority by showing the experiences of the people of Wangzhuang and your own methods, so that these true controllers of Zhaozhuang will fear you.

Then, soothe and influence them.

Finally, the sweet dates were tossed out.

After this series of moves, the local gentry of Zhao Village were already in a daze.

"Mountain God, we are so sorry, we misunderstood you just now, and we are truly ashamed..."

Seeing the humiliated and embarrassed looks on the faces of the local gentry, Jiang Shu smiled without a care in the world.

"A good child is one who can admit their mistakes and correct them."

These local gentry, the youngest of whom were probably in their forties, were either the heads of their respective families or the pillars of their households.

Yet, they didn't find it inappropriate at all that Jiang Shu, a young man who looked to be only in his early twenties, called them "kids."

On the contrary, I was inexplicably happy.

Seeing that he was just one step away from scoring, Jiang Shu pressed his advantage and said:

"Now that you understand my good intentions, I can confidently tell you my plan."