For the next month, Todd completely forgot about resting and devoted himself to the role of the king.
Cathedral, Knights, Stock Exchange, Port, City Hall... his footprints covered almost every corner of Twilight City.
Emerson and Hudgens had repeatedly advised him to take a break and not overwork himself, but Todd always politely declined their kind offer.
During this period, Todd's most notable action was the conferment of a large number of honorary knighthoods.
Originally, the title of knight specifically referred to the lowest-ranking noble under a lord. However, in Twilight City, Todd simplified the meaning of the title. Wise scholars, skillful craftsmen, outstanding merchants, and incorruptible civil servants could all obtain the title of honorary knight from the king, provided they had made genuine contributions to Twilight City and passed a loyalty test.
However, this honorary title has neither a fiefdom nor a salary. It only affirms the outstanding contributions and high status of the recipient in the Kingdom of Muxi. The only useful aspect is that it gives the right to submit joint proposals to the cabinet, requesting cabinet members to review the proposals and give public opinions.
Even so, the citizens of Muxi City still craved the title of Knight of Honor, with everyone trying every means and racking their brains to obtain this honor. These people mostly fell into two categories. One type hoped to gain the title to demonstrate their status; the other type sensed the deeper meaning behind it.
As a result, after Todd issued the royal decree for the knighthood of honor, nearly five thousand people applied, and after a multi-level review process, the king conferred the title of knighthood upon five hundred of them.
Before the formal knighting ceremony, Emerson approached Todd, expressing concern that bestowing so many knights at once might be detrimental to the kingdom. Todd simply smiled and said, "These are merely honorary knights, empty titles, and will not increase the kingdom's burden at all."
The knighthood ceremony, presided over by the king, became a major event recorded in the history of Twilight City.
Tens of thousands of people went to the square to watch the ceremony. Five hundred citizens who had passed the screening lined up and walked one by one to the king, knelt before Todd, put on the badge and sash representing the knighthood of honor, and loudly recited the oath of loyalty to the king.
After that, the upper-class social structure of Muxi City underwent considerable changes.
In the past, the upper class of Twilight City consisted mostly of high-ranking military officers, cabinet members, and old nobles; but after the knighthood ceremony, this class became honorary knights.
The most direct example is that the leader of a merchant guild held a banquet at his manor, one of the requirements of which was that the participants must be honorary knights of the kingdom.
Therefore, in a sense, the title of Knight of Honor has become the latest standard for classifying citizens.
However, after completing the knighthood ceremony, Todd, the instigator, had no time to worry about the class divisions in Twilight City, because what lay before him was a shocking proposal.
The cover features a striking headline: "Popularizing Superpowers."
The proposer was Knight of Honor Wayne Dunlop, that mad veterinarian.
"I remember, wasn't that guy busy building alien warships?" Todd rubbed his temples, looking annoyed, and asked Emerson, "How does he have time to write this kind of stuff?"
Emerson replied, "Everyone who has worked with Wayne calls him 'the madman.' He only sleeps four hours a day, and even at work, he often puts his wildest ideas into action immediately. I suspect this proposal was an idea he came up with on a whim while building the alien warships."
Todd opened the proposal, and his eyes twitched involuntarily as he looked at the text on the first page.
"If superpowers can help citizens better build Twilight City, why not extend those powers to those in need?"
"This is utter nonsense." Todd shook his head in annoyance after reading the page. "If superpowers are not regulated, and everyone can acquire the superpowers they want by inoculating with bacteria, wouldn't the world be in chaos?"
Emerson said softly, "Your Majesty, don't rush to conclusions. Please read on."
Todd turned to the second page and continued reading: "The Focusing Ability can be used for surveying and mapping, mining, nighttime farming, and so on; the Regeneration Ability can be used for dangerous operations, blasting quarrying, and griffin farming; the X-ray vision Ability can help with hospital surgeries, construction, and product testing... Abilities have played an extremely important role in the life and production of Twilight City, but in fact, their actual effectiveness is extremely small."
"The reason is simple: the base number of people with different abilities is too small. According to incomplete statistics, the total population (citizens) of Muxi City has exceeded 57,000, but the number of registered people with different abilities is only 3,400. Among them, only 2,100 have suitable abilities and can play a role in production and daily life. If we remove other reasons such as rejection, the number of people with different abilities who can actually play a role in Muxi City is probably less than 1,500. This number is far from enough to meet the kingdom's huge demand for abilities."
Having read this far, Todd had a general idea of the proposal, but he still had concerns about how to regulate superpowers, so he continued reading.
“I understand that the superpowers possessed by mutants are quite dangerous. For example, Cosette, who possesses the Tesla ability, almost electrocuted a group of merchants when she lost control; Jerry, the vice-captain of the North Island Knights, who possesses the Berserk ability, almost demolished a drawbridge in the port area when his ability erupted… But what in the world is without danger? Fire can be used to cook, but it can also burn people; water can be used to irrigate crops, but it can also drown people. So, shouldn’t we pay more attention to the usefulness of something rather than just its harms?”
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