Chapter 62: Changing the World

"Xiao Kui, it's almost time for your coming-of-age ceremony, right?" Amber spoke to Xiao Kui beside her as they walked on the main road of the future Chi Nian city-state. At that moment, Jade, who was shorter than both Xiao Kui and Amber, stood between them, holding one hand each.

"Yes, about another month." Xiao Kui gave the answer after a little thought, "Auntie, will you come to join us then?"

"Haha, you two are the children I've watched for a long time. How can you just participate?" Amber chuckled. "Don't worry, I will come to preside over your coming-of-age ceremony when the time comes."

"Yeah!" Xiao Kui's words became a little excited, and she began to take the initiative to take the task of taking Amber to know the current Chi Nian city-state.

This harmonious scene made it impossible to imagine that what they had discussed in the conference room before was something completely contrary to this atmosphere. The news that could not be made public at the moment had been told to Amber in detail before.

As the number of Sand People gathered here reached a peak, the original two secret teams were expanded into a small group. There were five teams in this group. Except for one small team with 40 people, the remaining teams each had 20 people. Ashanti, while serving as the captain of the first team, was also the leader of the secret group. The second team was still led by Tariq.

As for the third and fourth teams, they are led by Tadla and Idrisi respectively. The former is the falcon brought back by Ashanti from the Tanit clan, and the latter is a former member of the Shield of Achmar.

The most unexpected one was Team Five. The captain of this team was none other than Jade, who was almost 15 years old. She was born with supernatural powers and her fighting ability was unquestionable. Team Five was different from the other teams that specialized in assassination, infiltration and even intelligence gathering. It was a secret protection team for the current core members and was proposed by Jade herself.

Amber thought about it and knew what was going on. It seemed that Jade was Xiaokui's bodyguard. Xiaokui was very hardworking in combat training, but unfortunately he did not have enough talent. Jade was gifted in this aspect.

Jade didn't even know when she got the Eye of the Water God - nor did she know whether this was enough to attract the Eye of the God's wish, to protect Xiaokui.

Amber has become accustomed to such scenes. As long as the two parties involved are willing, she has no intention of interfering. She would not do such a thing as forcing someone to do something wrong.

"Wow...it's really changed a lot." Amber looked at the large farm in front of her, with a deep sense of relief in her eyes. She had seen the vast fields before. The staple food in the desert nowadays is wheat and corn, supplemented by other vegetables. As for the main source of meat, chicken is the main source. Pigs have been introduced in recent years, but it will take some time for the technology to be truly mature.

The current director of the breeding department is none other than Ah Sheng. This kid has become quite talented. Time has proved that his five years of study have not been in vain. It is reassuring to hand over the breeding farm to him.

The rest of the production-related positions are basically managed directly by scholars who graduated from the Academy of Religious Orders. In this regard, the city-state emphasizes "maximizing the capabilities of talents". These scholars are usually not allowed to participate in personnel management, but are instead focused on improving production and conducting technological research to avoid them worrying about areas they may not be good at.

"Auntie, why don't you go and see Chi Nian College? Now the college and the library are built together, and next to it is the expanded medical clinic." Jade suggested, waving her finger.

"The welfare home has expanded again, but it turns out to be a bit of a waste, because there are fewer and fewer orphans in the desert now. Maybe in the next generation, there will be very few orphans." When Xiaokui mentioned this, there was a deep sense of relief in her words. As a child who grew up in an welfare home, she naturally had a special feeling for it.

"That's fine. It wouldn't be a bad idea to change it into a 'nursery' to help busy parents look after their children. This would free up the workforce and allow them to focus on production. Of course, this still depends on Wadiye's opinion." Amber mentioned it lightly, and Xiaokui fell into deep thought after hearing that.

"...Is there such a method?" She murmured to herself in a low voice. For a moment, she felt that she had a new idea, which might be useful in the future.

After traveling for a while, they arrived at the academy and the clinic. The clinic was now managed by more professional scholars of the Sand People. Masala, the first travel clan leader to join the Chi Nian clan, became the school doctor of the academy and was called the kind Grandma Masala by the children.

Chi Nian Academy is probably one of the buildings with the largest area - so many people gathered here, which naturally means there will be a lot of students. Initially, after the people of the sand gathered here, the teaching staff was once very tight, but after emergency training, the problem has been solved by now.

In terms of educational policy, some changes have been made to the original system. Normally, the enrollment time is around 8-15 years old, and the overall system is four years. The first two years are basic education, which will teach children to read, write, and count, as well as basic physical training. After these two years, classified education will begin.

They are mainly divided into two categories: continuing to study knowledge and become scholars, or focusing on physical training as future guards and combat reserve personnel. No matter which direction they choose, they will continue to receive two years of follow-up education.

After completing the follow-up education, the guard reserves will enter the internship stage, and will be guided by senior staff to familiarize themselves with the work step by step. Scholars who focus on knowledge will usually choose to go to the Faithful Academy for further studies. A year ago, the Faithful Academy opened up enrollment for desert students, and the original quota is still valid. Now, as a "recommendation" mechanism, the remaining scholars need to rely on their own abilities to decide whether they can be admitted to the Faithful Academy.

As for the clinic, it was once short of staff. At that time, a group of nurses were educated after emergency training, which greatly alleviated the problem and freed the real talents from repetitive work to focus on other more valuable work.

"Ha, I thought you would come here." A familiar voice came from behind Amber. Amber turned around and saw a tall woman who looked like a mercenary walking towards her. Unlike those mercenaries who usually looked sloppy, she had obviously put a lot of thought into her appearance.

"Long time no see, Dishia." Amber walked forward and shook hands with Dishia. It had been quite a while since they last met. "I never thought that the young lion of the Blazing Hunter Beast would grow up into a mature woman."

"Hey, hey, let's not talk about what happened so many years ago. Give me some face!" Dixia naturally heard the teasing in Amber's words. She shook her head, feeling a little embarrassed.

"So... now you're the 'Lion with the Blazing Mane'? That sounds really impressive. I wonder when I'll ever get such a prestigious name." Amber couldn't help but raise the corners of her mouth, with a hint of a joke. In just a few words, she dissolved the awkwardness that had arisen between the two of them after not seeing each other for a long time. Unconsciously, they became familiar with each other again.

"Aunt, stop teasing Sister Dixia. Your title of 'Red King's Envoy' is impressive enough, isn't it? It's even deafening." Jade crossed her arms and, influenced by the current atmosphere, also started joking.

"That's right! This title is much more prestigious than mine!" Dixia agreed with Jade's words, and the two stood on the same side.

"Great! Jade doesn't help her aunt, but helps your sister Dixia instead!"

After a few jokes, the atmosphere among the people present became cheerful. Under the guidance of Dixia, they walked into the academy and came to the training ground. The reservists carried out daily training under the supervision of the instructors and learned combat skills.

Among the several instructors present, one was Kusela, Dishia's father. He was not young anymore, and he injured his knee in a rescue half a year ago. He retired from the Shield of Akhmar and came to the second line, becoming an instructor teaching reservists how to fight.

Kusela obviously noticed a few people. He waved to them as a greeting. Amber nodded slightly, and Dishia waved vigorously in response.

"I originally came here to see Dad, but I just happened to run into you back. It's better to arrive early than not." Dixia sighed. "Speaking of which, have you said hello to Candice? She was just wondering where you are and how things are going."

"No, I rushed back because it was urgent. Candice was busy with work when I passed by Aru Village, so I didn't bother her." Amber shook her head. "Come to think of it, you're planning on going back, right? Then please say hello to Candice on the way. I'll go visit her in person after I'm done here."

"Okay, but Amber, are you planning on leaving again after the Warcraft situation stabilizes?" Dixia pondered for a moment. Xiaokui and Jade also looked over at this question. "After all, the problem of the Dead Zone hasn't been completely resolved yet."

"Yes, I have to go back after things stabilize. Aji didn't come with me this time because someone needs to look after her over there, so she stayed." Amber rubbed Jade's head, motioning her to rest assured, and then rubbed Xiaokui's head under Xiaokui's pleading gaze - they were almost 18 years old.

"Haha, it seems that you are really planning to be a hands-off boss~" Dixia made a slight joke. They all knew the truth in their hearts. Even if Amber retreated to the front line, it would always be the backing of the desert.

"After all... I am the 'Emissary of the Crimson King'. The Crimson King hopes that the desert can enter an era of human rule, and I hope so too. If I continue to sit at the top and manage, I will become the next 'God'." Amber explained briefly. "Besides, wasn't this place managed well when I was away?"

"Haha, that's right. Relying on God for everything, or even relying on you for everything, won't work. The people of the sand have to walk their own path." Dixia agreed with Amber's statement. "Speaking of this, there's something very interesting."

Dixia took the opportunity to talk about a small episode that happened half a year ago. At that time, someone proposed to build a huge statue for the Messenger of God and stand it in the center of the city-state to commemorate her contribution in uniting the entire desert and creating an unprecedented prosperous era. This proposal was once agreed by more than half of the leaders, but was ultimately rejected by Yi.

She finally finalized the proposal on the grounds that "the Lord God's Messenger would not be willing to do such wasteful and laborious things, and she also does not like others to overemphasize her achievements." After the initial establishment of the city-state, a sculpture of the people of sand would be built in the center to commemorate the people of sand who had been silently contributing. As for the Lord God's Messenger, what she wanted to teach the people of sand had already been written in the textbooks.

"I still remember what Sister Yi said at that time: 'The true way to express gratitude to the Envoy of God is to build a statue for her? No, not really. It's to learn her spirit! To implement her will! To practice her teachings! Stone will decay under the erosion of time, but these spirits will not! If we pass these down from generation to generation, then the Envoy of God will always exist in our hearts!'"

Xiao Kui imitated Yi's performance at that time vividly, which amused everyone present for a while. Amber laughed out loud from the bottom of her heart, but there was a deep sense of relief in her eyes.

Yes, this is what she wants. She doesn't care about statues or any other material memorials. In comparison, spiritual things are more precious. What she hopes most is that the people of the sand will forget her, but remember her spirit and will, which are what make them truly great.

Chapter 63: Beast Realm Hound

The wind kicked up some smoke and dust, blowing through the date palm grove. A pitch-black hound monster tore through space and emerged from the bottom of the dark abyss.

Beast Realm Hounds - the most common creatures among the dark monsters. They have the power to tear through space for a short period of time. At the same time, their sharp claws carry corrosive toxins that are extremely deadly to ordinary people. The wounds caused by scratches are extremely difficult to heal and bleed continuously.

They look like hounds, but only the skeleton exists. The more dangerous beast hounds have two feet, two paws and a tail, while the relatively less dangerous immature ones only have a pair of front paws and a tail, and are called puppies.

Wherever they are, it basically means that the place has been contaminated by the abyss. This is completely bad news for the desert, indicating that the pollution of taboo knowledge has reached a new level.

"Deploy the suppressor, and the rest of the personnel prepare for cleanup!" A cold and majestic voice sounded, and as the words fell, five strong warriors jumped down from a height. The hound sensed the presence of the enemy, and it instinctively launched an attack.

A dark power emanated from it, a sign that it was about to move. The Beast Realm Hounds themselves did not move very fast, but their ability to tear open space was enough to allow them to reach the enemy in an instant, making them impossible to defend against.

"Stop right there!" The arm armor on the forearm of the warrior in the front emitted a dazzling light, and under such light, the Beast Realm Hound's movements suddenly stopped.

"Haha, they can't run away!" The other two warriors following the front warrior did not delay at all. They half-knelt on the ground and aimed the flying fork launchers in their hands at the hounds. The effect of that light was to block the beast hounds' power to tear space within a certain range. In principle, it was to temporarily resist the infiltration of the power of the abyss, thereby preventing the beast hounds from coming and going freely in this area.

With a loud bang, the surging airflow pushed the flying fork out, and the flying fork penetrated the hound's body and nailed it to the ground. This flying fork was made of a special alloy. It has the hardness to penetrate rocks and it also has the effect of weakening the power of the abyss. Under the influence of the flying fork, the hound's physical strength was weakened again, and even if it struggled desperately, it was of no avail for a while.

The last two remaining warriors held a shield in one hand and a dagger in the other, with small harp launchers mounted on their waists. They rushed forward to kill the hound, and at the same time recovered the harp and handed it to their companions who were holding medium-sized harp launchers.

The killed hounds were different from any other creatures. Their bodies disappeared in a whirlpool, leaving only a pair of sharp claws shining with cold light. The warrior who initially restrained the hounds stepped forward and carefully put away the claws. Although not as big as the original hounds, these claws still posed a considerable threat and could be used as raw materials for future weapons.

"Well done, it seems you are already very skilled." Amber slowly approached the few people and did not hesitate to praise them. The current expedition team consisted of five people in a team, each equipped with arm armor to restrain hounds, and their weapons were all made of alloys that could weaken the power of the abyss to a certain extent.

Two of them were holding medium-sized flying fork launchers, which were powered by wind elemental force and the flying forks were recyclable and reused. The other two were holding a combination of shield, dagger and small flying fork launcher. As for the last one, he was responsible for crisis management and situation assessment.

He is the only one in the team who carries a device that can disperse hounds for a certain period of time, and the only one whose main goal is not combat, but his task is the most important.

At present, the expedition team is dispersed in small teams around here to clean up the surrounding hounds. This is the first major cleanup. After that, they will maintain a fixed frequency of patrols and regular cleanups until the next major cleanup is needed.

Amber's responsibility in this operation is to deal with emergencies. She will not take action unless necessary and leave it to the team members to practice.

"Thank you for the compliment, Lord God!" The team leader saluted Amber, and the others did the same. Amber nodded.

"It looks like there's no problem here, so I'll go somewhere else for an assessment..." Before Amber finished her words, she saw a projectile emitting red smoke being launched into the sky. It was an emergency flare used in this cleanup. Seeing this, Amber did not delay any further. She turned into an eagle and rushed towards the direction of the flare at the fastest speed.

"Damn it, why are there so many here!" A strong man cursed angrily beside a rock wall. In his hand was a crystal that was emitting light, and in his other hand was the launcher that fired the previous flare.

The light emitted by the crystal was slightly dim, but the five hounds and a dozen puppies surrounding it did not approach the people. They stayed seven or eight meters away from them, making malicious barks.

"Who knows! Anyway, retreat first! The envoy of God said before the action started that saving lives is the first priority!" The warrior holding the shield had vigilance in his eyes. Normally, the team can deal with no more than 6 puppies or no more than 2 hounds at the same time. If they are skilled, they can deal with a combination of 2 hounds and 6 puppies. However, the current 5 hounds and a dozen puppies are obviously beyond their limit.

"Okay, follow me closely! Don't fall behind!" The team leader nodded, and he ran at a suitable speed. The other team members followed closely behind him. The hounds and puppies followed closely at a distance of seven or eight meters away from them, but they never broke this distance.

"No... the pursuit is too fierce." The leader frowned as he looked at the monster that was biting closely behind him. Their ammunition had been exhausted and the situation was not good.

The cry of an eagle was heard, and a dark golden energy stream swept over the monster like a tide, greatly slowing down the monster's movements, almost freezing them.

"It's the Lord Messenger of God!" The team members showed joy on their faces. They thought that the surrounding teams would come to support them, but they didn't expect that the Lord Messenger of God himself would come.

"Boom!" Multiple thunder dragons descended from the sky, and the raging thunderstorm covered the gathered monsters. They had no power to resist such a powerful attack. In a moment, only beast claws remained on the charred ground.

The team leader breathed a sigh of relief, fired another green flare, and began to lead his men to clean up the battlefield.

Amber did not stay for long. Seeing that the situation here was resolved, she flew to a high place to observe the situation in other places and be alert to possible accidents.

Puppies usually appear in groups of three or five, while hounds are often accompanied by 2 to 4 puppies. The group just seen is quite rare, and similar accidents rarely occur afterwards.

The vast majority of teams successfully completed the crusade, and only a very small number required Amber's intervention. Overall, this initial major cleanup was completed very well in the first phase, and the second to fourth phases will be steadily completed in the next two days. The first area will be cleaned up, and the next step will be to enter the second area to repeat the above work.

According to Amber's calculations, the whole process will last about three to four weeks. After this major cleaning is completed, the next thing to do is "maintenance" and then conduct major cleaning regularly. I think it will not be as troublesome as this time.

It was almost noon when the first phase was completed. Each team returned to the camp one after another, replenished and sorted their equipment, and rested and ate to replenish their energy.

"Lord God's Messenger, the final statistics show that there are 17 hunting dogs and 86 puppies. There were 5 injured people in this operation, and none of them were caused by monsters." The statistician reported to Amber, who nodded.

The number of monsters at the moment is still acceptable. Among the more than 200 people in the expedition team, only five were injured, and the damage was not caused by the monsters. This means that the quality of these people is also very good, and the equipment used against hounds has also been successful.

"Huh..." Amber let out a long sigh. She slowly stood up and glanced at the team members around her. They were quickly eating biscuits and drinking water. Those who ate faster began to sharpen the flying forks and other weapons. The flying forks can be reused, but they will inevitably become a little blunt, so temporary treatment is needed.

"Warriors, the first phase of the cleanup has achieved perfect results. Facts have proved that you are all trustworthy elites, and those monsters are no match for you at all!" Amber continued to preach as usual. After all, this is a cleanup that will last for three to four weeks without interruption, and it is necessary to encourage his subordinates.

The soldiers had just started the cleaning work and were still excited. They seemed very relaxed after hearing Amber's words, but the affirmation from the messenger of God made them feel excited and thrilled.

"But this is only the first step in the cleaning work. There are still many challenges waiting for us. I hope you can maintain your current momentum and level to face those challenges!"

Amber clenched her hands and used body movements to emphasize her words. She didn't want these soldiers to become complacent due to a temporary gain, which would lead to casualties, so she emphasized these points.

"You have one hour to regroup, and then we will set off immediately for the second phase and take over the first area within two days! We will strive to complete the initial cleanup within three weeks!" Amber waved her hand and read out the next arrangements. She was not the kind of person who would give a long speech at this time, so she emphasized a few points and ended the speech, allowing the soldiers to rest assured and recover during this time.

In the city-state, the shielding device has been installed, and there is no need to worry about the invasion of monsters in this area anymore.

"Huh..." Candice, who was far away in Aru Village, finished the battle with the monsters that invaded the village. She breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Aru Village where the installation of the shield was in full swing. The Dead Zone Prevention Office and the Tanit Clan further away would also complete the installation in the near future. Ever since the sudden and frequent appearance of dark monsters in the desert and the rampage, their footsteps were finally curbed today.

"It's really a timely relief." Candice raised her head and looked in the direction of Chinanian City-State. The equipment used to deal with the monsters has also been delivered. After today, Aru Village will form its own punitive team, which will make her work a lot easier.

Chapter 64: Investigation

"Clerk Elhaisen, do you have any official business today? Why are you here for work so early?" In the early morning, in the House of Religious Orders, the guards looked at Elhaisen who had come to the House of Religious Orders early, their eyes full of surprise. As far as they knew, there seemed to be no meeting today. Why did this clerk come to the House of Religious Orders at this time?

"The new meeting minutes need to be archived, and there are other things to do later, so this is the only time." Elhaisen raised the file in his hand. The guard nodded and obediently made way. Logically, there should be other reviews, but since the person who came was Secretary Elhaisen, there was no need to worry.

——After all, although he holds a position as a clerk, he is known for not competing for power, so there is no need to worry about what he does. Therefore, Elhaisen easily walked into the important archive summary area.

After all, he entered on the pretext of archiving, and he didn't have much time left. Elhaisen did not delay. He had conducted a lot of analysis and speculation before coming, and thus directly targeted the areas with the greatest possibility of problems.

"Feasibility study on building a consciousness space in the void, proposal for a new type of rehabilitation program for special groups, opinion survey on relaxing the admission policy for the Sand People..." Elhaisen scanned the file directory one by one, and finally his finger stopped at one place.

'Annual Project Funding Flow Report...' Elhaisen's eyes were fixed on these large characters. He took it out and flipped through it quickly.

There is an unwritten custom in the House of Representatives that there is a limit to the funds provided for projects. If more projects and subjects are approved in the first half of the year, then the review of projects in the second half of the year and the decision on whether to provide funds will be stricter, and vice versa.

As far as Elhaisen knows, research topics proposed by sages usually have higher priority. Above this, official topics decided by the House of Lords itself after discussion have absolute priority. Some of these topics will not be included in the report and are considered "secret topics."

However, if such secret projects exist, the funds available for the projects will be reduced, and priority will be given to secret projects. This means that the number of projects and projects that are ultimately reviewed and recorded as receiving funding this year will be fewer than normal.

This is a detail that most people don't even notice. Even if they know the rest, they don't know how to use it. Only someone like Elhaisen can do this. As a secretary responsible for recording meetings and other projects, he already knows all of this very well. Coupled with his outstanding ability, he is now even more like a fish in water.

'Sure enough, there is a problem...' Elhaisen's finger finally stopped at a record. The number of projects that passed the review this year dropped sharply by 8%. This may not seem like a large number at first glance, but according to Elhaisen's statistics, the floating value is within 2% when there are no secret projects. Even if there are secret projects, the floating value will only reach a maximum of 4% under normal circumstances.

——8% amount and such a huge capital expenditure are serious problems.

Although it is not enough to prove the existence of the "God-making Plan", it is enough to show that the House of Lords is hiding something - things that even the clerks who record the archives cannot know.

The whole process lasted two minutes, and his usual filing work only took about one to three minutes. Elhaisen put the files back and left a minute early, leaving no suspicion.

He walked away slowly with his back to the Ministry of Education, squinting his eyes as he thought about something. Now that it was confirmed that there was a problem, the next step was to investigate the true nature of the problem, which would probably take a relatively long time.

But it’s not a big problem. Anyway, the star of the Sulun School doesn’t seem to be in a hurry, and he has plenty of time.

"Azar, Azar...what on earth are you doing?"

……

The cleanup in the desert was going on fiercely. The expedition team advanced steadily at the speed of completing one stage in the morning and another stage in the afternoon. At first, the team members were quite excited, excited about the new equipment and excited about the tactics that could annihilate the monsters so easily.

But as time passed, the atmosphere gradually calmed down. Days of fighting had accumulated mental fatigue among the soldiers, and Amber would preach before every break to ensure that they would not fall into numbness.

Living like a machine is boring, and operations like this are no exception. However, such operations will eventually end. During the last operation, the soldiers saw that it was almost over, so they exerted unprecedented motivation and completed the mission with a storm of momentum.

In the end, after the entire operation, not many people were actually injured by the hounds, and none were killed. Although there was an unlucky guy who was on the verge of death, Amber was there, so she naturally wouldn't let him really die.

Amber gave a closing speech, gave bonuses to every soldier who participated in the cleanup, and arranged two days of vacation for them to have a good rest and relieve the fatigue accumulated from three and a half weeks of continuous fighting.

Amber didn't feel tired during this period. At first, some team members needed her support due to their lack of experience, but as the team members accumulated experience, she was only needed to respond when they really encountered a large number of monsters. Some of these people will retain their original organization as elites, and the rest will be disbanded and join the patrol team outside the city, leading the warriors who don't have much experience in dealing with monsters to slowly accumulate experience and take precautions.

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