By the end of September 1171, the population of Muxi Town had officially surpassed eight thousand. Looking across the entire Moonbrook Plains, this coastal town ranked fourth in terms of population, behind only Silver Ring City, Holy Guard City, and Lone Rock City.

The population boom brought economic development to Muxi Town, but it also triggered a series of social problems.

First, and perhaps most seriously, is immigrant discrimination. While Muxi Town has no entry restrictions for immigrants and does not discriminate between long-time residents and newcomers, this does not mean that there are no group differences within Muxi Town.

The town's residents were unofficially divided into several factions based on the order in which they migrated. Those who moved in earlier occupied better resources. For example, their residences were closer to the town center, they possessed the sacred relics of the "Twilight Mutual Aid Society," their wealth accumulated faster, and their children received better educations, among other things.

Long-time residents generally hold a contemptuous or even hostile attitude towards new immigrants. On the one hand, they believe that the new immigrants disrupt the security of Muxi Town and occupy its resources; on the other hand, they believe that the new immigrants, as cheap labor, reduce the employment opportunities for long-time residents.

In addition to these, there are other issues such as sanitation, infrastructure, and planning. As the administrative center, the Knights of Twilight, due to their military-style management, lack the necessary political means and public institutions, and are often powerless to deal with these issues.

Putting aside these social issues, in terms of public development, several new large buildings have been added to Muxi Town.

The first is the Great Market. Originally, Todd and Joe planned it as a medium-sized market and warehouse complex for vendors and merchants to trade. However, due to the establishment of trade routes between North Island, Twilight Town, and the Southern Empire, the market expanded repeatedly, eventually becoming a large market that included an open-air market, exchange, business club, and warehouses.

The second was the theater. With the growing popularity of literature and drama in Muxi Town, residents' demand for entertainment and spiritual enjoyment increased. Led by the writer Hans, the "Muxi Literary Society" raised funds to build a medium-sized theater to improve the rudimentary performance venue of tents. The architectural design imitated the amphitheaters of the ancient Tauro period, but the open-air seating was converted into an enclosed space, and the original single-story structure was expanded into a double-story structure.

The third was the library. Huggins brought monks and books from the St. Sidlow Monastery to Muxi Town, and Joe mobilized all the monks to raise over five thousand silver coins from familiar merchants and wealthy people, officially establishing the Muxi Library. The library included reading areas and a printing room. The reading area was free for the residents of Muxi Town, while the printing room offered a paid service.

In addition to the three large public buildings mentioned above, Muxi Town has also renovated its defenses, upgraded its roads, built parks, and changed the town's cleaning services from a contract system to an employment system, thus improving the efficiency of public services.

Militarily, the Knights of Twilight have already occupied one-third of the Silver Ring Kingdom's territory, plundering a total of 1.25 million silver coins. Military officials, led by Cumberland, proposed to Todd that they halt their expansion and instead begin to consolidate their control over the occupied lands. Especially important resource locations like the North Stone Mine; if they could find a way to reopen them, it would be a huge boost to the development of Twilight Town.

Next came the research progress. Todd ordered the construction of a research academy within the Knights' headquarters, moving most of the experimental equipment and raw material containers from the small laboratory building there. Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday evening, he would hold a lecture at the academy, covering basic science subjects from his previous life, such as mathematics, physics, and chemistry, for all the research staff.

Under this arrangement, the research team in Muxi Town greatly reduced the normal scientific learning process, and a large number of works that were ahead of their time were completed and published. These included Kendi's "The Particle Origin of Electric Current" written in Common Language and Arabic, Ulysses' "Industrial Applications of Gear Mechanics," and Lynn's "Gravity and Interaction Forces," among others.

Regarding mutants, the number of mutants in Twilight Town has reached six hundred, with over ninety inheritors. The ability pool has expanded from the original twenty-six abilities to forty-seven. Thanks to the activities of the hero Lone Wolf and their performance in the defense of Twilight Town, mutants have gradually been accepted by ordinary people, and the stigma of "posthumous children of demons" is rarely heard anymore. Mutants have integrated into daily life in Twilight Town and, using their abilities, have gained favor and praise from merchants and employers in places like the fishing grounds, workshops, and craft shops.

In the field of superpower research, there is both good news and bad news. Let's start with the bad news. Unlike ordinary superpowers, Rachel's "telekinesis," Karin's "possession," and Queen Mary's "hypermeation," although extremely powerful, have not found a way to replicate. As a result, research on these "high-level superpowers" has stagnated and entered a dead end.

On another note, Todd's research team has achieved significant results in the study of the North Island ruins.

The opportunity arose from the Sutherland bacteria found in fossils. Because archaea can seal supernatural bacteria within their bodies, Todd, through research, isolated some supernatural bacteria from the remains of the Northern Island monsters from these archaea. As for the functions of these bacteria, he couldn't conduct clinical analysis. These fossil bacteria were so powerful that the current human body simply couldn't withstand these terrifying microorganisms. Even those inheritors who possessed archaea within them couldn't avoid the fatal consequences of using these alien bacteria.

Todd speculated that the creatures of the North Island ruins were able to use these supernatural bacteria because, on the one hand, their physical functions were stronger than those of humans, and on the other hand, they might have had a way to reduce the side effects of their supernatural abilities.

But these are just guesses. To find the answer, it seems we should place our hopes on the Beidao Ruins.

With this in mind, Todd plans to make another trip to the North Island to excavate and explore the ruins in order to seek the truth buried in time.

Morgan of the Blackskull tribe once transported seafood through the town of Muxi. After learning about Todd's idea, he offered his advice.

It's virtually impossible to excavate and develop the ruins without the Valkyries' consent. The Valkyries' tribal teachings dictate that they must protect the ruins at all costs, leaving Todd with only two options to gain their approval.

One was to wage war against the Valkyries, directly forcing the tribe to submit to Todd.

Secondly, we need to find a way to get them to allow the development of the ruins.

After much deliberation, Todd finally focused his attention on his newly completed "harem artifact"—a concentrated pheromone solution.