Chapter 75, the post-war organization, is rather trivial.
East didn't have much time for sentimentality; the players' great victory brought countless things to manage.
East flipped through the information on nobles from various countries. The sorting and organization of treasures and assets could be assigned to players by the system, but the handling of people would require East's final decision.
Not all nobles deserve to die. Adults are one thing, but children are indispensable in such noble families.
East could have dealt with the nobles in the same way he had done before, but there were too many people this time.
East looked down at his hands. No one had actually died by his hand, but countless people had died indirectly at his hands, yet he still felt little pain.
East didn't know whether he should be happy about his good attitude.
Instead of dwelling on the trouble, Easter took out a blank sheet of paper and wrote down his solution to the problem, basically following the methods he had used to deal with nobles.
Adults aged 18 and above who, after investigation, have not committed any heinous crimes, have two options. One is that they can leave the Kingdom of Felix with a certain amount of property, and at this time, the territory of the Kingdom of Felix naturally includes the area that was conquered by the players.
Secondly, they could remain in the Kingdom of Felix, which could be divided into two scenarios: Scenario 1, they could choose to stay and work for Ister, since nobles do indeed possess far more knowledge than commoners. However, they would need to pass an assessment to remain.
Scenario two: They simply stay and do nothing, which is fine, but they will be under constant surveillance and there will be regular follow-up visits.
The above applies to adults who have not committed crimes or whose crimes are not serious. However, for nobles who are found guilty of heinous crimes after investigation, there is only one option—death.
For minors under the age of eighteen, East's approach is more lenient.
They will receive a unified education, taught to be reasonable and sensible. After their temperaments have been tempered, they will be separated and sent to schools for their peers to be influenced by their environment.
Of course, there are better ways to deal with good performers, and there are also ways to deal with hopeless people. The point mentioned above only applies to dealing with average people.
As for minors under the age of eighteen, there are naturally many who have committed unforgivable crimes. You must know that this era is not a very good one, especially since they are all children of nobles. What they can do is completely unrestricted by age. For those people, Easter will use more complicated testing methods. If they really can't be saved, then they can't be saved. If there is still some room for saving, Easter is not a bloodthirsty person.
Easter realized that his approach would leave him with a lot of trouble. Just think about it: Easter killed their parents and took them away from their comfortable lives. Anyone who wouldn't harbor resentment would be a saint.
As Easter finished writing the last word, he became even clearer that if he continued down the path he was on, this was just the beginning. He couldn't just kill his way through. He didn't mind, but what would others who knew his methods think? Was he really going to become a tyrant?
East thought it was unnecessary; a better reputation would make things easier. Anyway, it wouldn't matter if they targeted him a little. The real bombshell was the gods' attention to Felix's bloodline. His ability to be unharmed within the territory was theoretically immune to all damage. It should be fine with humans, but with the gods, that was another story. So, East was willing to do something more complicated and leave room for maneuver.
East took out a new sheet of paper and continued writing; there were still royal families from various countries to deal with.
The royal family's approach was to directly disperse and break them up, leaving them no chance to unite. If they wanted to live a good life, they had to behave themselves. If they didn't behave themselves, East wouldn't hesitate to go to extremes. Nobles might not necessarily want to cause big trouble, but it's hard to say about the royal family. Just look at East to see how uncontrollable a king in exile can be.
With this aspect arranged, Ister has completed a small part of his work. The remaining tasks can be done slowly: promoting and popularizing the law, managing criminals and cleaning up the environment, replanning and rebuilding the city, selecting talent, and so on. Among these, the most important is the formation of the army. Ister has always been well aware that the players will leave, and the dangers on this continent are beyond the control of even the gods. It is ultimately inappropriate to let the people of his country hide behind monsters.
Easter rubbed his temples, had someone bring down the plan he had written, took a sip of water, and opened the next document.
There are many magical races within Felix alone, not to mention this vast land where the number of magical races is countless.
A vast number of goblins, orc slaves abducted from the orc plains, and various races that arrived in this land due to exile or other reasons...
Who made this land so barren and remote? It was a perfect place for exile.
Ister felt helpless about this, especially since the different races made it easy for misunderstandings to arise during management. There were quite a few troublemakers among them, and it was quite difficult to keep them quiet and prevent them from causing trouble. Fortunately, Ister had trained capable people early on, and some of the magical races outside the city could be sent out to help other races build their own homes. This was something Finnian could arrange, and well, half of the trouble was off the hook.
In terms of urban construction, courts, almshouses, hospitals, and canteens need to be established first. One can judge crimes, another can take in the homeless, another can heal the sick and save lives, and another can bring warmth to people. They can all soothe the emotions of humans and magical races to a certain extent and are indispensable.
At this point, East checked the time. He had a formal meeting with the Campbell businessmen at noon. When he was negotiating the contract with Chapman, Chapman had said, "The Campbell businessmen will not provide material support to any country where a war is taking place."
This resulted in Chapman not sending any more supplies after the war between the Kingdom of Felix and the Kingdom of Ramon broke out. The accumulated supplies were about to run out. Most of the materials used to build the country were produced domestically, but that could only barely meet the current construction needs of the Kingdom of Felix. It was not enough to cope with the construction of other countries' cities later. Cooperation with merchants was indispensable. They had just plundered a lot of wealth and were not short of money.
Ister outlined a general development path for the magical races, put the hastily prepared plan in a document bag, and summoned someone to deliver it to Finnian.
Easter tidied up his desk and left the Privy Council.
The weather was gloomy today, with dark clouds looming over the city, and not a ray of light could be seen. Although it was daytime, it was as dark as night.
Lights illuminated the corridors, and servants walked silently with their heads bowed. The palace now had very few servants left. This wasn't because Istdo needed servants; the reality was that you couldn't expect only the king to live in his palace. Cleaning, hospitality—servants were essential. Besides, working for Istdo was a highly coveted job—easy work, high pay.
Easter walked into the restaurant.
The restaurant was probably the liveliest place in the palace, with players coming and going. Some players were eating as they walked, while others were enjoying their food while laughing and joking around...
The arrival of Easter brought the lively scene to a standstill, and in an instant, a cacophony dozens of times louder than before erupted.
The public beta test is scheduled for 8:00 AM tomorrow on the continent of Luomanjier. Many players have not yet entered the game. However, with the end of the large-scale "instance" of conquering the country, although players are still facing the troubles of monsters, they still have a short period of leisure time. The restaurant is packed with people.
Many players had not yet met Ist in person. Ist's sudden appearance was like a top star appearing in the crowd, which caused an uproar.
East had never expected things to turn out this way. His head was buzzing from the noise of the players, and all the thoughts swirling in his mind were scattered.
It was Cai Cai and Yun Mu who rescued Ister from the group of players.
"Everyone, please don't be too enthusiastic. I know you all like the King's son as much as I do, but you also need to give him some privacy. He's here to eat, so don't let him go hungry," Cai Cai said earnestly to the players.
Yun Mu chanted a magic incantation, drawing a circle of fire with a radius of one meter around Ister's feet. "Everyone, if you want to get close to the little one, you'd need to have my strength, right?"
This is a game, so let's play it like a game. And there's only one ironclad rule in games: the strong are gods, and the weak are the original sin.
Even after Ister went up to the room prepared for him on the second floor of the restaurant, he was still shaken. The current players were so difficult to deal with. After the public beta test tomorrow, would he still have his own private space?
Ister thought, this won't do, the palace is too small, we need to arrange a new location for the players, and there just happens to be a very suitable place.
East suppressed the thoughts that were rising in his mind and thanked the two young players with a smile. He had been able to escape last night thanks to Yun Mu, and he was grateful today as well.
Yun Mu waved her hand dismissively, "What's the big deal? My little one is meant to be protected by me."
She hadn't spent much time with her son in a while, busy conquering the kingdom and leveling up. She had neglected him, and when she suddenly saw him today, she found that he looked terrible, with heavy dark circles under his eyes, a thin and frail figure, and even his usually soft, rosy eyes looked slightly dim.
"Baby, are you feeling unwell?" Yunmu's heart ached more and more as she looked at him. "Should I have Suibianla take a look?" she asked worriedly, and before East could answer, she had already sent a private message to Suibianla.
East was completely unable to stop her; before Cai Cai's dishes could even be served, Suibianla appeared in the room first.
Whatever, I glanced at East first, then turned to Yunmu.
"Quickly, take a look at the baby. Look how pale he is," Yunmu said.
He casually turned around and carefully examined East. In traditional Chinese medicine, the first step in the four diagnostic methods of observation, listening, questioning, and palpation is observation.
As he looked around, he took two steps toward East, his little fire-man face scrunched up. "King, may I take your pulse?"
This wasn't the first time he had taken the king's pulse, but the last result had left a deep impression on him. However, looking at the king's expression, he simply couldn't ignore it.
East did not refuse the players' kindness. He placed his hand on the wheat pillow that Suibianla took out and let Suibianla take his pulse.
After casually touching his left hand, he touched his right, then lowered his head in thought. Unlike last time, this time the pulse was normal, not in an eerie way, but in a way that matched East's complexion.
"Whatever, how is it going? Tell me quickly!" Yunmu asked anxiously.
The dishes arranged with rice and vegetables were also looked at with questioning and worried eyes.
After thinking about it casually, to put it simply: "Overwork, irregular schedule, and irregular diet—in short, I'm exhausted."
Yunmu's face was full of heartache. "Baby, your career is important, but your health is even more important." Her voice sounded like she was about to cry.
"Yes, you should eat well, sleep well, and rest well." Cai Cai disagreed but felt sorry for him.
"Your Majesty, I can prepare some medicine for you to calm your nerves and replenish your qi and blood. Would that be alright?" Suibian was a little annoyed. He was not like Yunmu and the others who were out fighting every day, so he hadn't paid attention to the changes in Ister's body. He needed Yunmu to remind him to notice. "Your Majesty, if you are afraid of bitterness, I can also make it into pills for you."
"Baby, I'll keep a close eye on your eating from now on, and I'll never let you ruin your body like this again." Cai Cai wasn't very happy, probably because he often met with Easter and hadn't noticed Easter's change in a short time.
East's heart felt as if it were immersed in warm water, warm and soft.
“It’s alright,” Easter reassured. “Don’t worry too much. It’s just that I’m busy right now. Once this busy period is over, I’ll recover quickly.”
"It's easy to ruin your health, but it's not so easy to recover." The usually detached and indifferent demeanor of "Suibianla" has vanished, replaced by a cold and unapproachable attitude.
Yunmu and Caicai both looked at Suibianla with surprise. Suibianla's temper was recognized by the players as good. Perhaps it was because he had experienced a lot of bad luck that he often seemed to take everything in stride.
Don't be fooled by the fact that Suibian seems no different from anyone else in the palace. Once he leaves the palace to do missions, he encounters all sorts of unfortunate things. Even a simple daily task can be turned into a serendipitous adventure. He works hard and overcomes many difficulties to complete the mission, but the reward he gets is the most worthless and useless.
Even a simple trip outside could lead to being kidnapped by slave traders, and many slave traders have fallen victim to this... There are too many examples to list. If you're interested, you can search for Suibianla's unlucky summary post, which basically summarizes all of Suibianla's unlucky experiences.
The main point here isn't how unlucky Suibianla was, but rather how indifferent and nonchalant she was when these things happened. But look at her now, she's a completely different person!
East paused, reached out and gently patted Selina's little tuft of hair, and said tenderly, "Thank you for your concern," then added with a helpless tone, "Have you forgotten? This is a world with magic."
Whatever, he really wanted to find a crack in the ground he could crawl into. His toes awkwardly dug into the ground. As a light magician, his first thought wasn't about more convenient and simple magic, but about prescribing bitter medicine for people. This healer's instinct was ingrained in his bones.
Cai Cai reminded him, which was also a way of changing the subject, "Let's eat first. The temperature is low now, and the food will cool down quickly."
Easter asked, "Have you eaten?"
“Of course,” Yunmu replied, “Baby, you don’t need to worry about us, just eat your food.”
To avoid embarrassing Easter, the three little firemen left the room together.
Easter was touched by the players' thoughtfulness, and even the food in his mouth tasted a little better.
...
After finishing his meal, Esther casually cast the best healing spell he could at his current level on Esther. It would restore health and mana to the players, and it would do the same for Esther. Esther's complexion was in stark contrast to before after the magic's glow faded.
“Your Majesty, I can cast a spell on you twice a day,” said Suibianla. “But you can’t take advantage of the existence of magic and continue to deplete your body like this. Magic is amazing, but it’s not omnipotent. I will still make some pills for you to replenish your blood and energy and strengthen your body. I will also give Cai Cai some medicinal diet recipes. Your body is the foundation of everything.”
Cai Cai didn't spend his days holed up in his pharmacy for nothing. With the books about medicinal plants on this continent provided by East, combined with his own knowledge, he was no longer the clueless person he was when he first arrived.
Easter had no reason to refuse Suibianla's kindness. "Thank you, it's my honor to meet such a wonderful person like you."
“My dear, this is what we should do. You are our king,” Yunmu said.
“It’s alright,” said Suanbian, apologizing. “Your Majesty, don’t you have a schedule at noon? Don’t worry about us, go and get busy.” They knew they couldn’t stop Easter from not working. Easter’s position determined that he had many more responsibilities and affairs to handle than ordinary people. As his players, all they could do was try their best to share his burden and take care of his health.
East was very fortunate to have met such good people; their kindness made him feel deeply ashamed.
...
Entering the conference room, Easter's emotions had calmed down. He couldn't let down the players who had created such a great situation for him.
There were twelve people sitting in a row in the conference room: six were officials from the Kingdom of Felix, and six were merchants from Campbell.
Easter took the seat of honor, meeting their gazes, and nodded slightly to his old acquaintance Chapman before sitting down.
Chapman wore a kind smile on his well-to-do face, but thought to himself, "This is a very wealthy man; I must treat him with care."
Therefore, he took the initiative to greet him: "Your Majesty King Felix, good afternoon. It's been a long time. You've given me quite a surprise..." He paused, leaned closer to East and lowered his voice, "Don't blame me for being nosy, but being too sharp is ultimately too eye-catching."
As a businessman, profit comes first. Is this half-truthful reminder more sincere or more of a pretense mixed with self-interest?
Easter didn't think it through too much. Since they were discussing cooperation at this point, he was willing to take Chapman's advice as genuine.
He thanked him gently, "Thank you for your concern," then changed the subject, "But looking at the situation on the mainland, without any edge, I'm afraid we'll be buried in the yellow earth before anyone even comes looking for us."
Chapman: "The person is fine, but...you understand."
East hadn't expected Chapman to go into such depth; he didn't recall their relationship being that close. It seemed he had been judging Chapman by his own petty standards.
A faint smile played in Esther's light pink eyes. "There are demons." But after saying just those four words, they were already in dire straits themselves. How could they possibly have the leisure to care about an ant like him?
“That’s not necessarily true.” Chapman said meaningfully, but didn’t elaborate. He had already said enough; anything more would be beyond his authority.
East pondered to himself. The merchants' information network was not to be ignored, but aside from the merchants, there must be other channels to gather information. The clandestine activities were something he had to be wary of.
However, the most important thing right now is to negotiate cooperation. After what he just said, East couldn't help but sigh. Merchants are indeed good at doing business, but that doesn't mean Chapman is good at scheming. After all, actions speak louder than words. Chapman could say nothing at all. It is the Kingdom of Felix that needs merchants, not the other way around.
“I understand,” East replied earnestly, then chuckled. “Mr. Chapman, your reminder makes it impossible for me to haggle over the price in our future collaborations.”
Chapman smiled and winked. "You have to trust Campbell's reputation as a businessman. We only aim for win-win situations, not to be dishonest merchants."
In this harmonious atmosphere, the cooperation talks naturally went extremely smoothly.
As Chapman said, Campbell businessmen are good at creating win-win situations; they make a profit, but East doesn't lose either.
The conversation came to an end, and led by Cai Cai, a group of little fire people brought afternoon tea.
Chapman looked at the desserts placed in front of him with a look of curiosity, and said to East with a smile, "Your Majesty, your summoned creatures are truly amazing."
East's expression softened further. "They are fine." That was all he said, nothing more.
Chapman shook his head slightly with a smile, "No wonder..."
No wonder? He didn't say, and Easter didn't ask. Easter knew that it was too intimate to talk too much with someone he didn't know well, and he wouldn't get an answer even if he asked.
"The transportation schedule is indeed too rushed," Chapman complained as he ate a delicious dessert. "Your Majesty, don't you see? This continent is almost overrun by monsters. Where are we going to find so many safe and reliable routes?"
East slowly savored the milk tea brewed by the players. It was smooth, sweet but not cloying, with a milk flavor that was neither too strong nor too weak, and the tea flavor was just right. Everything was perfect; any more would be too cloying, and any less would be bland.
Hearing Chapman's complaint, he slowly put down the teacup he was holding. He analyzed in his mind that Chapman's complaint didn't seem like a simple one.
The teacups and saucers clinked together, producing a crisp sound, indicating that the porcelain was of the highest quality. After the players had mastered the porcelain-making techniques, they sent the most beautiful and finest porcelain to Ister.
The collaboration with Chapman goes beyond just buying; it also involves selling. For example, players can exchange items like porcelain and glassware they create; new styles of clothing and jewelry (provided by Sparkling); a wider variety of candies (made using recipes provided by CaiCai); and minerals that the Kingdom of Felix doesn't need (mostly mined from the "Little Abyss"). These can be used to exchange for even greater benefits…
Originally, there should have been magic crystals, but as players awakened their magical talents, the role of magic crystals in replenishing magic power became apparent, and magic crystals became a scarce resource. Apart from the magic crystals that needed to be handed in as quest items (each player's team has a basic daily quest that must be done every day, before 9:00 AM standard time in the Fallen Continent, which requires the submission of a low-level magic crystal, this quest is to encourage players to be more active in leveling up), the remaining magic crystals became treasures for the players.
Furthermore, due to the scarcity of magic crystals, countless private transactions have already occurred among players even before the official trading system was released. Players who were worried about the security of private transactions caused an uproar on the official account, urging the removal of the trading system.
After discussing with the system, Easter decided to launch the store and open the recharge channel on the day of the public beta. Since Easter doesn't need to use Blue Star currency, the game's profits, apart from those used for game operation, will be invested in charity in batches to support orphans, education, medical care, science, etc. Easter told the system to handle it as it sees fit, as long as the money is used to the right people or things, he doesn't care about anything else.
After a long silence from East, Chapman spoke hesitantly, "Your Majesty, surely we can't let my presumptuous words cause our cooperation to break down?"
Esther snapped out of his reverie, his fingertips tracing the handle of his teacup. He said awkwardly, "Sorry, I was daydreaming."
Chapman breathed a sigh of relief. "As long as the cooperation can continue, everything is fine." He put on a more serious expression. "Your Majesty, forgive my bluntness, but you should take good care of your health and not overwork yourself. The situation on the continent is changing every day. If you were to fall ill, it might not be a good thing."
Easter touched his face. Was he really that tired? Anyone could see it.
Chapman chuckled. "Your Majesty, you seem to be different from what I thought." At first, he thought Easter was a cold and indifferent person, but just now, Easter's simple actions revealed a quiet vitality, which was quite a contrast.
East put his hand down, awkwardly took a sip of milk tea, and said, "Thank you for your concern, I will be careful." He immediately changed the subject, "I believe in the capabilities of Campbell's businessmen, and I also believe in your business integrity." This was a response to Chapman's earlier teasing.
There is factual basis for Esther's statement. According to insiders, the Campbell Merchant has a contractual relationship with a mysterious magical race. This magical race has a very peculiar ability: as long as they do not attack monsters, the monsters will ignore them. In addition, combined with the Campbell Merchant's abilities, even if their strength is insufficient, they can still open spatial channels and bury even deeper abilities. That is their secret. Even if you only look at what they show on the surface, they should not be underestimated.
Chapman smiled but didn't say anything. He was a little suspicious that His Majesty the King might not know his identity, otherwise why would he do business with a nobody like him?
"Your Majesty, are the recipes for sale?" Chapman asked. In his opinion, it was better to continue the business than to get bogged down in trivial matters; only treasure would never let people down.
Easter shook his head. "That won't do. You should know how much profit a good recipe can bring."
No matter how chaotic the world is, there will always be people who crave pleasure. In fact, one could say that the more chaotic the world, the more decadent it becomes, leading to a final frenzy before death.
Chapman smacked his lips, somewhat unwilling, and said, "We can still negotiate the price."
“It’s not about the price,” Easter said. “These belong to my summoned creatures. How they use them is their business. I have no right to take them for myself.”
The business gameplay will be launched soon, and food is an indispensable part of it. Players should be the first to try it out.
“I can talk to them about it later,” Easter gave a vague answer. “It’s possible that you won’t have to spend a lot of money to buy it later.” He knew that some foods were very easy to make, and you could learn them after watching them once.
Chapman didn't quite understand, but it was good that it wasn't completely blocked.
After afternoon tea, the cooperation terms were further refined. Once everything was confirmed to be correct, the hosts from both parties signed the contract, and the cooperation was officially concluded.
Easter smiled and shook hands with Chapman, saying, "It's a pleasure working with you."
Chapman shook hands with him. "Of course."
The Kingdom of Felix was an untapped treasure trove, and he had no intention of giving up this early investment. Campbell merchants always had a keen sense for high-return businesses.
After exchanging a few more casual words, Chapman hurriedly took his leave; he couldn't afford to be careless with this big deal.
Easter only leaned back in his chair for a moment before returning to his study to continue working.
Before the actual work began, Easter asked the system, "Would building mountains be suitable for players to build cities?"
The mountain that East mentioned was naturally the one he had encountered when he first arrived on this continent. Long ago, East was wondering how he could claim that piece of land. Now, that land happens to be within the territory of the Kingdom of Felix.
"Sure, no problem," the system replied. "We can release them together tomorrow."
Easter chuckled, "Sure~" He narrowed his eyes slightly, "They gave me a surprise, so I'll definitely give them one back." They should be happy.
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