Chapter 224 - 180: Imperial Capital’s Heavenly Monarch, Huo Qiming, Nuwa’s Favored One

「11:45 AM.」

Chu Bamboo and Wall Announcements left the Police Chief Bureau together.

Then, Chu Bamboo’s eye twitched as he watched Wall Announcements show off by making a funny face at the Police Chief Bureau behind them. "Did you forget there are surveillance cameras at the entrance of the Police Chief Bureau? What if Uncle Li happens to take a look..."

Right now, Wall Announcements reminded him of a student from a full-time boarding school, let out on a Friday night, so ecstatic about escaping their misery that they were completely carried away.

Wall Announcements froze. "..."

"Alright. Let’s go." Chu Bamboo pursed his lips. He then squinted at the patrol officers in the distance still operating their drones, his voice taking on a strange tone. "The Divine Envoys of the Great Goddess Nuwa."

Wall Announcements followed Chu Bamboo’s gaze, raised his eyebrows, and said, "What’s this, feeling a little down? Because you’re not the only one favored by the Great Goddess Nuwa? I don’t think you need to overthink it..."

"Maybe those giant birds of steel you commanded after receiving the Great Goddess Nuwa’s favor—those were the true, legendary Ancient Divine Envoys!"

Chu Bamboo looked at Wall Announcements.

Seeing this, Wall Announcements added, "Isn’t that right? Their bodies are so small. They can only spy from the heavens."

Wall Announcements chose his words carefully, with a hint of uncertainty. "They should be considered... Descendants of the ancient Divine Envoys? Or maybe derivatives? Only someone like you, who can snipe cultivators... I mean, people with Kung Fu, could be called a Divine Being, right?"

"Besides, the captain tried to use those Divine Envoys before! It didn’t work... So you must be the special one! Don’t overthink it... In our hands, they’re just puppets. In your hands, they truly come to life..."

Wall Announcements put himself in Chu Bamboo’s shoes, trying to guess his thoughts and comfort him.

"Then this ’Divine Being’ title is pretty cheap," Chu Bamboo said expressionlessly, walking faster and faster.

"True..." Wall Announcements hurried to catch up, laughing foolishly. "Or maybe, the ones assigned from headquarters are also Descendants of the Divine Envoys... and the tiny ones are the Descendants of the Descendants of the Divine Envoys!"

"Don’t you think it looks like an industrial product?" Chu Bamboo finally couldn’t hold back his confusion and asked. "Or, at the very least, they should be Ancient Relics, right? This whole ’Divine Envoy’ thing..."

"?" Wall Announcements stared at Chu Bamboo in astonishment.

Chu Bamboo grew a little confused under the gaze, wondering if he had said something wrong. Then, Wall Announcements spoke: "Aren’t Ancient Relics derivatives of Divine Beings in the first place? If so, what’s the difference between them and Divine Envoys?"

"As for being industrial products, that’s impossible... They’re simply unmakeable! I can’t even comprehend how it’s possible to make what the eyes of these Ancient Relics see appear right in front of us."

Wall Announcements took a deep breath, a pained look on his face. "Not to mention, Ancient Relics don’t need to be refueled with Energy. They can autonomously generate and absorb Thunder Power! To be used permanently... such power... isn’t that divine? Can you explain that with science?"

Chu Bamboo: "..."

"And... when you give a command, the Divine Envoys obey you, perfectly understanding your meaning! We can only control Ancient Relics..." Wall Announcements spoke eloquently. "Doesn’t that just prove that the Divine Envoys are actually alive... they just can’t be bothered to pay attention to us!"

"If they’re alive, how could they be Ancient Relics..."

Chu Bamboo opened his mouth. He actually felt he could explain it, but in the end, he just gave a wry smile and didn’t say anything more.

’It would be useless to say anything... How am I supposed to make someone who lives in a steam age and has studied steam-age university knowledge understand electronics and artificial intelligence?’

’Besides, nuclear fusion plus wireless charging, and they still work after a thousand years... Although it seems some Brother Tu Mus are maintaining them, this is truly beyond the comprehension of this steam age. No, in fact, even I am astonished by it! I just have a rough understanding of the operational logic and principles.’

’But then again, if even a university student like Wall Announcements thinks this way... then what must the common people believe...’

"Alright, don’t worry too much!" Wall Announcements clearly misunderstood Chu Bamboo’s thoughts and offered comfort. "Didn’t the captain say so? Conceal it as much as possible. If the higher-ups insist on investigating and we really can’t hide it, then just tell the main squad that you’ve been favored by the Great Goddess Nuwa!"

"The main squad seemed to look out for you before... they should help you smooth this over a bit! At worst, the news will travel even higher up... But considering the current dynasty’s attitude toward the Great Goddess Nuwa..." Wall Announcements swallowed, a hint of envy in his eyes.

He muttered, "I don’t really get why the captain insists on trying to use the Spring and Autumn Annals Style to downplay it! Wouldn’t it be a good thing to report it directly? You’d definitely be highly valued by the Imperial Court!"

"Perhaps," Chu Bamboo said noncommittally, but his gaze was somewhat profound.

’A good thing? The Imperial Capital’s actual attitude toward those favored by Nuwa is really something to think about.’

’However, I’m not flustered. I know Old Huo. Making Old Huo betray the Imperial Capital is certainly impossible...’

’But as long as I never show any possibility of betraying Daqian, then based on our past friendship, if Huo Qiming truly feels that reporting this matter to the Imperial Capital would do me more harm than good, he’ll also use the Spring and Autumn Annals Style to downplay it—’

’Loyalty is loyalty, but that doesn’t mean a subordinate is one-hundred-percent transparent with the Heavenly Monarch, holding no secrets whatsoever!’

’They are two different things.’

’It’s just like those eunuchs in the history of the Real World who were utterly loyal to the Emperor; even if the Emperor repeatedly gave orders, they’d still be fantastically corrupt in private... Humans are, after all, emotional, complex creatures!’

’Combined with my trump cards that cross timelines, I’m not too worried.’

...

「A little after twelve o’clock.」

Chu Bamboo first took Wall Announcements to the industrial headquarters of the shantytown redevelopment area.

The layout of the redevelopment area had changed drastically.

Originally, only about one-tenth of the redevelopment area consisted of small tube-style apartment buildings and some breakfast storefronts...

But now, that ratio had increased to one-fifth or two-fifths. Walking down the street, shanties built from steel frames and rain tarps intertwined with low, dilapidated little buildings, creating a strangely surreal atmosphere.

Leaving Wall Announcements to wait at the entrance, Chu Bamboo went directly into the headquarters and headed for the archives.

After flipping through the files, Chu Bamboo’s brows furrowed.

’The disability rate is one-tenth lower than before! But the death rate is higher than in the previous timeline...’

’Work intensity, this metric... it’s at least 1.5 times higher than the work intensity in the previous timeline! In its place, the demand for workers has also decreased somewhat... No, the demand for workers has dropped this much?’

Chu Bamboo was startled. He realized that, overall, industry had still developed.

Perhaps it was because in this timeline, more Ancient Relics had been left behind... their prices were cheaper... so it was possible to use some Ancient Relics to assist in production.

Although they were still producing steam-age industrial products, the assistance of Ancient Relics had genuinely and significantly increased efficiency.

This led to a decrease in demand for workers from the Factory Directors, as there was no surge in demand for industrial products!

Due to the increase in productivity, workers’ pay had slightly increased after being hired... but the work intensity was much greater, and therefore the death rate from overwork was also higher.

"...Sigh, it’s become even more warped." Chu Bamboo sighed. Everything was just as he had predicted.

’Compared to the previous timeline, it looks more prosperous. But this is merely a false prosperity created by the abundance of Ancient Relics!’

’The redevelopment area seems a bit better... but in reality, those without jobs, those whose family breadwinners have died suddenly from overwork, are living even more miserably, and their death rate is even higher...’

’They’re just huddled in unseen corners, quietly waiting to die!’

Including the workers, the overall death rate for all residents of the redevelopment area was at least ten percentage points higher than before—the reason he said ’at least’ was because the statistics showed a ten-point increase! But when it came to statistics, Chu Bamboo only ever believed half of what he read.

’I usually inflate the reported problems! This is a lesson learned from past experience... The people compiling the statistics will always subconsciously make the numbers look a little better. No matter how much you emphasize accuracy, it only works for a short while!’

Chu Bamboo rubbed his temples, a headache coming on. ’The most troublesome problem now is that these lower-class residents of the redevelopment area, who are worse off than in the previous timeline... even the union can’t save them!’

’After all, the demand for workers has decreased... I can’t just force the factories to solve the unemployment problem, can I?’

’Hopefully, the Xue Family can solve some of the unemployment problem! If they can just create a few thousand jobs, those jobs will stimulate new employment, which should indirectly create tens of thousands of jobs... saving tens of thousands of families! Then the situation would be more or less the same as the last timeline.’

Slapping his cheeks, Chu Bamboo roused his spirits.

Then, he scanned the past meeting reports in the archives one more time, and after confirming there were no major issues, he decided not to go to the meeting room to watch those people meet and simply left.

...

「1:30 PM.」

「In the Third District library.」

Chu Bamboo carried a pile of books to a table. These were, of course, the officially recommended reading materials on Taoism, other religions, and mythology that Li Kang had mentioned.

"...So, when are you planning on going to the Moisture Teaching with me?" Wall Announcements pulled out his phone to check the time, his voice laced with anxiety. He couldn’t understand Chu Bamboo’s leisurely and carefree attitude.

’The Third District is a long way from the Fourth District! If we call an electric car now, it’ll probably be four in the afternoon by the time we get there! And yet... with time so tight, you actually came to the library first, preparing to browse some books at a leisurely pace?!’

"It’s fine. You Brother Tu Mus are all famous night owls!" Chu Bamboo’s tone was as calm as ever as he casually flipped through a book. "If we go looking for them in the middle of the night, they’ll probably be full of energy..."

"Actually, I suspect that if the Moisture Teaching’s Brother Tu Mus only got back today, they’re probably still catching up on sleep this afternoon. We won’t find anyone if we go too early..." Chu Bamboo sighed wistfully. "Going into your Moisture Teaching’s Jinghai City headquarters right now would probably be like walking into a haunted house."

Wall Announcements: "...?!"

After a moment of thought, Wall Announcements felt that Chu Bamboo had a point. But the next moment, it dawned on him, and he looked at Chu Bamboo in shock.

’Wait, how do you know all this in such detail? And with that tone... just how many times have you been to the Moisture Teaching?!’