Chapter 63: The Speech

Ace tried several illusion spells but found that the leader was completely immune to all of them. Ace used Lesser Airiness to evade the black-scaled leader. He then used a spell derived from the Spirit of the Book’s understanding ability: Comprehend Languages!

“Tear! Tear apart… no, flatten.”

Ace easily evaded him while listening for a moment. This was a strange language that seemed inherently laced with a certain malice and chaos.

Ace used the reverse application of the Mana-Crystal Protection Membrane: Mana-Crystal Imprisonment!

The leader was confined by Ace. He frantically pounded the invisible barrier but could not break through. After about 10 minutes, he suddenly foamed at the mouth, his scales disappeared, and he passed out.

Ace used a special Rune Array to seal this leader, transforming him into a button and placing him in his pocket.

He then searched the area and discovered several mysterious, unidentified patterns. They were not runes, but they emitted a peculiar magical rhythm that felt cold, evil, and chaotic.

He recorded these patterns and the language he had just discovered in his Grimoire.

After searching the entire cave thoroughly, he increasingly felt that the cave resembled some kind of ritual site, its purpose and function unknown. It seemed the Hungry Wolf Mutual Aid Society was not so simple; they seemed to have gotten themselves into serious trouble.

He sighed, located the nearby Inspection Squad, and suggested to one of the soldiers that he should report everything.

Meanwhile, Daina, after escaping the black market shop, ran to a nearby pool of water, frantically washing the bloodstains from her face, hands, and clothes. Before the sun set, she returned home with a complicated feeling.

“I killed people! I killed seven people! What should I do?”

“They were scum. They deserved to die. If they hadn’t died, they would have harmed more people. I eliminated a menace!”

“But, it was still murder. And they were organized. Will they target me, seek revenge? Should I sit and wait for death?”

Daina filled with complex emotions, tossed and turned for a long time before finally falling into a dazed sleep in her bed.

Meanwhile, night had fallen. The Inspection Squad led by Dikens discovered the hideout of the fleeing Hungry Wolf Mutual Aid Society in the cave and rescued many city-state Freemen who had been illegally detained and were about to be sold into slavery. This was a major case, but it was full of doubts.

The messenger soldier’s testimony was incoherent. The members of the Hungry Wolf Mutual Aid Society in the thief’s den had suddenly died in an internal fight. All of this was far too abnormal.

“Could a descendant of the God of Secrets have come here? Only they would cause such bizarre circumstances.”

Dikens speculated this while organizing soldiers to rescue the confined women and children.

Although the city-state permits slavery, it severely cracks down on illegal slave capturing. The city-state’s slaves primarily come from foreign conquests and a small number of debt slaves. Such illegal activities fundamentally shook the city-state’s foundation.

Dikens’s expression was serious, and he was already contemplating how to report this to the Grand Inspector.

Ace transformed into a button. With the captive leader, the two buttons were inconspicuously pinned to a soldier’s trousers. Ace silently followed them back to the city-state. On the way inside the city, the buttons “naturally” fell to the ground. Ace, with the captive, sneaked back to his own residence.

The next day, the hottest news in the entire city-state was that Inspector Dikens had meticulously planned and bravely eliminated the notorious Hungry Wolf Mutual Aid Society, rescuing a large number of kidnapped women and children.

Daina listened to the news with astonishment. Did my crisis get resolved while I was sleeping?

Meanwhile, Ace woke up early and heard a knock on the door.

He opened the door and found Morton standing outside.

“Junior, junior, good news! His Excellency the Grand Regent intends to arrange for you to lecture on Intensive Farming at the library. Please prepare for it. This is the draft of an ordinance the city-state plans to issue soon. Please do not leak it. I will return in three days to confirm everything with you.”

Ace listened to Morton and felt a surge of emotion. His original intention for returning to the city-state was to promote the Elementary Mathematics series. He hadn’t expected the supplementary Intensive Farming to be valued so highly by the Grand Regent. Life is full of unexpected turns.

This is probably the difference in perspective. From Ace’s point of view, successfully promoting Elementary Mathematics and guiding more people to study and research mathematics would give him more potential guinea pigs.

However, from the Grand Regent’s perspective, Elementary Mathematics was irrelevant. Ensuring the people were well-fed, comfortable, and prosperous was what would stabilize the city-state. Matters that could stabilize and prosper the city-state were of paramount importance.

Ace returned to his residence and read the draft ordinance: The Reclamation Order!

The gist was that all parties in the city-state, from Nobles down to Citizens, were encouraged to use their own slaves and resources to open up unowned barren lands between the city-state’s various towns. The city-state would increase military patrols and clear out Monsters, providing security for the pioneers.

Successful pioneers would receive city-state commendations. Nobles would be granted Wonders. Citizens would be granted Honorary Noble titles, allowed to operate with greater flexibility on their private territories, and their slave limit would be increased to 5,000 people.

Ace thought for a moment. The city-state currently had over 300,000 people, excluding slaves. Large areas were uninhabited. Monsters were a concern, but low agricultural productivity was also key.

Many Noble families had sufficient military strength to survive in the wilderness, but who would want to live in a barren place? A slave limit of 5,000 people was actually very high. Many small city-state towns only had three to five thousand people, making this equivalent to a small city.

His Majesty the King and His Excellency the Grand Regent were both very forward-thinking. They planned to populate the barren land first, then worry about other issues. According to current city-state law, acquiring a large number of slaves requires obtaining them from nearby barbarian tribes.

Perhaps this is a plan to kill two birds with one stone: eliminate the barbarians without spending any financial or material resources, and simultaneously use the Nobles and Citizens to lead them in developing the territory. This was somewhat akin to a feudal system, using the nation’s “lords” to lead foreign “commoners,” completely assimilating the populace, and occupying the land.

Ace summarized this on a parchment, roughly outlining his speech.

Four days later, in the great square, Ace stood on the high platform beneath the temple.

A multitude of expectant eyes looked up, reflecting a yearning for wealth. The immense profits of Ace’s estate had spread widely with the popularization of the book Intensive Farming.

Stories about Ace were circulating everywhere in the city-state, with the most colorful versions coming from the tight-lipped Old Connie.

From a poor family that had to sell their ancestor’s armor just for literacy, he was now wealthy, a famous city-state scholar, and hailed as the “Favorite of the Goddess of Wisdom”—an object of aspiration for countless young people.

“Everyone wants to hear me talk about how to farm to get rich! But today, we will not talk about farming. We will first talk about Economics!”

“Why should we reclaim territory? What should we gain from the territory we reclaim? What should we provide for the city-state?”

“Economics can answer this question. We must first assume that all people are profit-seeking. As long as it does not violate city-state law, everyone hopes to achieve the maximum possible gain with the minimum possible effort. I call this state the Economic Man.”

“So, how does an Economic Man, a standard egoist, maximize profit within the bounds of city-state law?”