Conquering OtherWorld Starts With a Game

Chapter 194: Noble Strategy

Having followed the undead through the club district, bar district, casino district, inn district, and finally incarcerated the last group of inn workers in jail, the Weisshem security squad personnel were thoroughly exhausted.

With all the city police now prisoners, public order in the city also fell on these two hundred or so men...

After a brief rest and quickly consuming some biscuits for sustenance, newly promoted squad leader Jimmy Voss wiped off his sweat and pedaled his bicycle toward the city hall.

At this time, Indahl was shrouded in darkness, yet the city remained noisy, not from a bustling nightlife but due to the restless undead roaming the streets.

Just as Jimmy left the West Quarter and entered the road to the Central Quarter, a group of undead ran past him while busy complaining.

"The modeling of this city is awesome. There are details of everything."

"This is a proper main city. What the heck is our Exile Town. Even the spot where we gather refugees isn't that rundown!"

"Just that there's no quest points. I don't see a single job guild either..."

Jimmy, accustomed to ignoring the undead's chatter from his routine patrols and encounters, continued on his way.

Although undead appearances in Weisshem weren't all that frequent, the occasional encounters had made Jimmy learn to ignore their casual and often bizarre comments about wanting to loot clothes or break into houses. These encounters during his patrols had taught him to just focus on his duties without taking the undead too seriously.

The Central Quarter, in the middle of the city which usually had tight security, was now easily accessible since the city police were imprisoned and the national guard had capitulated without resistance.

Indahl City Hall, quiet during the day, with officials captured and clerks absent, was now bustling with activity. On his arrival, Jimmy noticed the courtyard filled with metal carriages with many familiar and new faces unloading goods.

The interconnected city hall buildings were lit, and occasionally, annoyed voices would ring out from the rooms at being unable to find certain missing files.

"Jimmy, over here!" Rex, standing outside the left annex building, spotted Jimmy in his uniform and waved him over.

Jimmy hurried through the crowd. "Mr. Rex."

"This is Investigator Monk." Rex pointed to a man nervously fiddling with a bowler hat. "Let him know what we need."

Jimmy, promoted to a squad leader role for his adaptiveness and practicality, quickly grasped Rex's intention and courteously led the anxious Monk aside to brief him on the guidelines for working under the new city leadership.

The term "investigator" referred to officers under the jurisdiction of the sheriff, responsible for urban security, distinct from the city police's personnel for maintaining public order.

With the sheriff and other high-ranking officials captured, investigators and clerical workers had value for integration into the new system, as decided by the leadership of Ji Tang, Zhao Zhenzhen, and Rex.

Maintaining a city of 300,000 wasn't any small matter. City hall staff couldn't be completely gotten rid of, and Weisshem couldn't send that many to replace them anyway...

Jimmy was aware that he might be assigned to Indahl to maintain public security. Mayor Ji Tang had also previously revealed his intention to have a restructured security framework combining the city police and Weisshem's security squad. Jimmy knew these investigators could soon be his colleagues, necessitating a courteous approach.

Rex was stunned.

"Given that the city hall only gains significant attention during the autumn tax season, there's almost a year for them to jostle for power," Yang Qiu continued cheerfully. "As the referee, you just need to ensure they don't resolve their disputes too quickly. That should be manageable, right?"

With a mix of amusement and resignation, Rex muttered, "That's... Alright then."

Yang Qiu added with a chuckle, "Consult with Zhao Zhenzhen for strategies. She'll provide you with some intriguing ideas. And don't worry about the Church of Lady Gold Coin, I'll handle it."

Relieved at the thought of dependable Miss Zhao, Rex visibly relaxed.

Indahl didn't need nobles, or at least, not those who hindered its progress. The consensus, instilled by the national team, was clear to all.

Weakening, dividing, and if necessary, expelling or even eliminating certain nobles was a strategy determined before the conflict with the Bartalises began. This "Noble Strategy," driven by the national team, was something Yang Qiu enthusiastically endorsed and was readily willing to contribute his efforts to its success.

The "Taranthan system" and the nobility could never coexist. Yang Qiu had been clear about this from the moment he let players set foot on the Rhine Kingdom's soil under the guise of an expedition.

The stark reality was that over half of the arable land in Indahl, a territory as vast as half of G Province, was in the hands of local nobility, and this was a disagreement that couldn't be easily settled.

The cyclical collapse of dynasties in Ancient China often stemmed from land annexation, a phenomenon mirrored in Indahl. The existence of subsistence farmers and the absence of widespread peasant uprisings were attributed to harsh yet practical reasons—

Firstly, religion served as an analgesic. Although the Church of Lady Gold Coin's indoctrination fell short compared to Earth's man-made religions, it sufficed to placate emotions and divert conflicts, making the lower classes attribute their misery to omnipresent devils rather than their tangible oppressors.

Secondly, the rapid generational turnover among the lower classes, where life expectancy seldom exceeded 40 years and child mortality and poverty rates were dire, prevented any population booms. Even the most resigned of women, lacking the right to refuse procreation, couldn't spark a baby boom like that of post-World War II, which required basic public healthcare, stable environments, and sufficient food self-sufficiency.

With half a province's land supporting merely two million agricultural and three hundred thousand industrial workers, Indahl's untapped agricultural potential was overshadowed by the nobility's monopolization of arable land, providing just enough for the lower classes to subsist.

Thirdly, fierce internal strife among the nobility was prevalent. The Bartalises had seized Indahl through warfare a century ago, with the last lord of Weisshem coming to power merely four decades past. The fate of the losers in these power struggles was of little concern to anyone, as the ruthless nature of these conflicts left no room for empathy toward the defeated.

In short, Indahl was neither a wasteland of despair nor a haven of petty happiness. It was a land of moderate misery, where survival hinged on luck and the absence of catastrophic disasters.

But was Yang Qiu unleashing these undead calamities meant to merely just go with the flow? Absolutely not.

Whether by a swift execution or prolonged torture in a cage, oppression remained oppression, an injustice that demanded rectification.

Those who abhorred the former yet tolerated the latter and even appreciated the "tolerance" and "kindness" of a slow demise were both pitiable and despicable.

Was oppression tolerable simply because it hadn't escalated to a point where the oppressed were driven to absolute despair?

No one should endure the perpetual torment of bloodsucking parasites, regardless of their lethality. And Yang Qiu refused to accept such a fate.

The next morning, when Tuttle Joe awoke to find himself the new puppet lord of Weisshem, succeeding Rex, he nearly choked on his morning milk...