Chapter 526.2: Victory Celebration!

As he looked down on the sea of expectant faces, Chu Guang tapped the side of his helmet and raised his visor.

At that moment, the crowd instinctively fell silent.

Suppressing his surging emotions, Chu Guang took a deep breath and began the ceremony in a solemn voice. "... Just last month, we suffered a brutal war. But it was your presence that brought lasting peace to the Sunset Province."

"We have already cheered for your victory. All outstanding individuals and groups have received recognition and correction and there is no need to repeat that now. But you must still give thanks, to those standing here and to those holding the line from afar. This is the light we have fought for together."

"Our battlefield was not just the desert, but the forest, the farmlands, the factories, the train stations, everywhere our New Alliance citizens could see. Our unity forged a war machine that knows no defeat. And the spoils of that victory rightfully belong to everyone who kept it running."

"We are far from the utopia where one only works one hour a day. But from now on, everyone must spend at least four hours a day thinking about how to get closer to that dream. Yes, the road is hard. The wasteland won’t rebuild itself. You won’t figure everything out just lying in bed."

"We must learn from the books of the Prosperity Era, its knowledge, experiences, and warnings. We must improve our tools and methods of production, treat our comrades kindly, and do everything possible to unite with us and create more humble miracles. We cannot profit off division, exclusion, and conflict."

"We cannot rely on anyone’s standards, so we have to establish ever better rules, turning this cruel jungle into an orderly village, turning overgrown wastelands into a crisscross of cultivated farmland."

"Let evil, cowardice, lies, pride, and cruelty lose their ground in competition. Let righteousness, bravery, deceit, and beauty emerge from our society, not by expecting people to be born virtuous, but through our hard work."

"We must not only end the wasteland beneath our feet, but also the spiritual wasteland within. It’s unseen but very real!"

"Victory shall always belong to us!"

"It belongs to us all!"

As it turned out, a speech was basically all that was needed during the victory celebration.

Although Chu Guang hadn’t deliberately activated his talent, when he poured all his passion and focus into his words, he could clearly see the fierce heat and hunger flashing in every pair of eyes staring back at him.

They didn’t doubt in the slightest, he would keep every promise he had made!

He also made a silent vow in his heart that he would never betray those trusting gazes.

"... That was amazing!"

Standing in the crowd, Dori clapped her hands excitedly, though she didn’t get far before Ample Time grabbed her wrist.

"That’s enough, they just came off the operating table a few days ago, take it easy," Ample Time said with concern.

"Don’t be so uptight, I’m already fine!" Dori said with a grin, her eyes dancing. "Oh, and you, cunning Mr. Ample Time... Looks like you’re out of a job in the New Alliance. The administrator said it himself, cunning bad guys like you are going to lose their breeding grounds!"

Ample Time spread his hands helplessly. "Well then, my dear Officer Dori, what law of the New Alliance has this so-called cunning bad guy broken?"

Heaven and earth could testify... He was probably the most law-abiding player on the server.

Most players hadn’t even finished reading the Player Handbook. He not only finished it, but also memorized it, and had even participated in the New Alliance’s legislation as a registered citizen.

For instance, the law that banned shelter residents from using the resurrection mechanism for profit by selling bodies and organs to non-New Alliance public institutions? That was added to the legal code and the Player Handbook because of his advocacy and vote.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Even if such a law didn’t exist yet, once enough players came in, someone would inevitably exploit that loophole, harming the experience of the larger player base.

He had a clear sense of what money could be earned, and what money shouldn’t be. Even if he had to scavenge, he always did it with principle.

Dori rubbed her chin with her thumb and forefinger, pretending to be deep in thought. "I’ll figure it out, and when I do, I’ll blackmail you with it... By the way, why are you calling me Officer Dori? Am I a guard of the New Alliance?"

Ample Time averted his gaze under her curious look. "

Ahem

, it’s nothing... Just a slip of the tongue."

Smooth... Another slip of the tongue...

For the rest of the time, Chu Guang announced a series of new policies, including changing the workday from twelve to just eight hours.

Every single announcement had to do with people’s daily lives, issues that concerned them most.

The New Alliance’s factory owners had long since made enough profit. It was time to give something back to the residents.

And if they didn’t want to? The New Alliance would happily see them leave for the neighboring lands!

While Chu Guang delivered the announcements in a powerful voice, Liszt stood right beneath the stage, unable to take his eyes off him. The emotions flickering in his gaze were far from simple.

Truthfully, the New Alliance hadn’t taken much from him.

Even with the minimum wage raised from one silver coin to two per hour, it didn’t affect his factory one bit. Long ago, he had already raised worker wages to four silver coins per hour, and technicians earned even more. They made upwards of 10 silver coins.

Not because he was generous, but because that was the only way to recruit enough people. Every industry was starved for labor.

Especially during the war, when the New Alliance had invested heavily in heavy industry, military production, and even businesses run by shelter residents, those sectors offered pay that was shockingly high. Labor costs paled in comparison to the need for scale in times of abundant orders.

What truly concerned Liszt was something else entirely.

If Chu Guang intended to keep their promises about fairness, then no matter how much money he made, he would never be able to become a noble in the New Alliance.

But... That might not be such a bad thing.

His dream was to build a sprawling trade empire. If his caravans could make even the slightest positive difference in the wasteland, that would be a bonus. But he never had ambitions of becoming some kind of overlord or emperor.

Business was business.

As long as the New Alliance applied the rules evenly, and labor costs rose together across the board, there was nothing to worry about.

They could raise prices when the time came. At the same time, they would increase output when required. They could also cut back when necessary. Everyone would compete fairly on the same track. He would do everything in his power to make the updated KV-1 models more appealing to shelter residents. Even if the New Alliance wanted to use small factory profits to subsidize bizarre mega-workshops, so be it. He never believed those big shops could hurt his sales. If the New Alliance wanted them alive, he would let them live.

But what worried him was the idea that the New Alliance might bend the rules for the nobles.

If that happened, he would stand no chance.

After all, even a pig could fly if the wind blew hard enough. How could anyone on the track win against someone who controlled the track?

That was why, when he had earned enough chips, he had to buy noble status in Boulder Town.

Not because he craved noble privilege, but because that black card could spare him a lot of trouble.

But now, standing in that crowd, Liszt heard the man onstage tell him he didn’t have to worry. That none of those fears would ever happen in the New Alliance.

If something could be handled by rules, then rules would handle it. If labor reform was to happen, it would apply to all factories, not just those inside shelters.

At the same time, the New Alliance would not tolerate privilege outside the system.

In the land beneath his feet, New Alliance currency could buy any product, but no currency could ever purchase honor or dignity.

Shelter residents might even set stricter rules for themselves, but they would never demand worship or blind obedience.

Even though most of the battles had been fought by people like them, they were the least qualified to become nobles. And by choosing to forfeit that chance, they ensured no one else would be qualified either.

At that moment, Liszt thought he saw a ray of light.

And for the first time, he had a thought not about making money, but about helping that light spread farther.

Yes.

He had eaten a lot of shit to make his fortune, but that didn’t mean shit tasted good. Or that it was worth celebrating.

For a ruthless self-made man, nothing was more degrading than watching a clueless pig sit smugly on a throne, pretending they were the same kind of person.

He didn’t care about the filthy acts of the inner city nobles. Just like he didn’t care whether a marauder’s chips were clean, or whether the meat in the frying pan had a tragic backstory. But he couldn’t tolerate those pigs slapping his shoulder and saying things like, "We’re the same."

How the hell are you the same as me?!

That was all he wanted to ask.