Wearing brand new boots, a crisp uniform, and an impressive and beautiful badge and armband, Warden Maxilin walked down the corridor of the prison with his head held high. This man in his thirties had his hair neatly styled. He was neatly trimmed, his beard trimmed just right, and he walked with a reserved smile. His keys and baton were hanging on his belt, making a clanging sound.
This is a newly built prison, as brand-new as the "Government Affairs Hall" in the city. The prison has wide and bright corridors and sturdy and beautiful cells. One of Maxilin's daily tasks is to take two Prison guards patrol all the corridors and rooms here to ensure that there are no prisoners escaping, harming themselves, destroying prison facilities, or having private fights. This is a rather boring job, but for Maxilin, who likes rules and order. He said that this job was just to his liking.
Everything is normal in the regular control area. The people locked up here are basically petty thieves and drunken and troublemaking roughnecks. Some of these people are not even worthy of being jailed. They were sent here to be temporarily detained for a few days because of the limited space in the temporary cells of the Sheriff's Department. They did not dare to confront the guards, and they basically would not fight in private to extend their detention time. The patrols in this area have always been The most relaxing and comfortable.
After walking through the regular control area, Maxilin led two prison guards to the extraordinary containment area. Before the stairs leading to the underground, the warden glanced at the thermal device on the wall next to him that was working normally. Exchangers and Ventilators.
After confirming that everything was normal, Maxilin couldn't help but murmured in a low voice: "These are really good times...it's so comfortable to be in jail."
Go down a flight of stairs , after passing through a fence gate, there was a heavy alloy gate. When he came to this gate, Maxilin adjusted his belt and uniform, and his expression became slightly serious.
Behind the gate is the deep part of the prison, a room specially used to hold extraordinary criminals.
Starting from this area, the front is full of induction runes and alarm devices that detect magic fluctuations. The cells are also much stronger than other areas, and there are many mechanisms and mechanisms specially designed to counter the casters. Trap, although there has been no riot of extraordinary beings since the establishment of this area, Maxilin, who has faced extraordinary beings on the battlefield, will still instinctively be vigilant and take it seriously.
He subconsciously touched the scar on the lower part of his chest, which was the wound that had been opened by the superhuman's hot blade. After recalling the burning pain, he opened the shield on his waist. weapon, and press the mechanism at the back of the baton to ensure that the "magic counterattack" is ready to fire at any time.
The two accompanying prison guards also checked their equipment, and then stepped forward, one from the left and the other from the right, and posted the two keys on both sides of the gate at the same time.
With the creaking sound of the mechanical device, the heavy gate slowly opened in front of Maxilin.
The warden turned his head slightly and gave instructions to his subordinates: "Check the protection. ”
The two warnings went to check the integrity of the protective runes, while Maxilin walked through the gate and took a look inside.
The room used to house extraordinary people was obviously larger than the outside. There are much fewer ordinary cells in the prison. There are only four small rooms for solitary confinement. At this time, there are only two prisoners in the entire area:
The first room on the left was just incarcerated yesterday. A reckless arcanist shot his neighbor's dog to death with an arcane missile after being severely drunk - because he mistakenly believed that the dog had initiated a holy duel against him. This terrible move resulted in him being legally required to pay compensation. He will have to stay here for another week, but Maxilin suspects that at least half of this week will be spent by the arcanist sobering up.
This is a guy who deserves vigilance and caution, after all, he is still there. Drunk - maybe he will mistake the guard who comes to check the room as another duelist and shoot an arcane missile at the "guest" in the second room on the right. He has been here for a long time. He is a Druid of unknown origin who was imprisoned for the crime of casting spells without a license and smuggling. In Maxilin's eyes, this taciturn Druid is a more "safe" person. "A bit of a guy, although his temperament is a bit gloomy.
After confirming that the drunken arcanist was still talking nonsense, Maxilin went straight to the German named "Bud Wendell" Outside Rui's cell, he knocked on the alloy fence inlaid with magic-guiding material with his baton: "Hey, it's time for ward rounds. ”
In a small cell, a middle-aged man wearing a gray-white prison uniform sat on the bed with his back to the cell door. When he heard the noise coming from behind, he moved his arms without looking back. Said: "Wait a minute, I will soon solve this problem. "
"...Ha, you really feel like living in your own home," Maxilin laughed angrily, "I shouldn't have found a set of math textbooks for you to relieve your boredom - look at it. What have you painted on the wall? ”
In the small cell, almost all the walls and floors were painted with dazzling numbers and symbols, as well as some improvised poems and short sentences, which was very lively—— Writing and drawing on the walls of the cell can be said to be a "reserved hobby" of many prisoners. The guards have always turned a blind eye to this kind of behavior, but this is the first time that Maxilin has seen someone doing this. The one who wrote two walls of equations and long and short sentences was really the most special prisoner he had ever seen.
Maxilin, who had been a knight's apprentice for a short time, was literate, but that one was literate. What Bard wrote on the wall was still beyond his understanding. He just instinctively judged that the prisoner inside might have some background, but how many extraordinary people had no background?
In the cell, sit down. Bud finally finished solving his equation on the bed. The middle-aged man with messy beard and hair stood up, put down the scratch paper and pen in his hand and said: "Don't worry, sir, I will erase it myself later." ”
“Of course you will erase it - because youI still have to write new equations! Maxilin glared at Bud inside, "I'm here to inform you that your detention time has come again. You can leave tomorrow. After you leave, quickly go to the Government Affairs Office to apply for a migration registration..."
Halfway through the words of the warden, he saw Bud in the cell taking out a small piece of dry hardtack secretly hidden under the pillow, and throwing it towards the cell not far outside the fence. Wall - with amazing wrist strength, a small piece of dough hit the wall like a stone bullet, which rippled out a protective light film, and then an alarm sounded...
< p>Maxilin and the two prison guards who just walked in had no time to stop him.“Damn it! You can't use this method to extend your detention time every time! Maxilin suddenly shouted angrily, "This is a prison, not a hotel where you can stay every day!" Did you listen... What are you two still doing? Go turn that damn alarm off! ”
The two warnings hurriedly ran to turn off the alarm, while the drunken arcanist was talking nonsense loudly in the room not far away. Bard in the cell shrugged at Maxilin. Shrugging: "It's nice to live here, I'm not going anywhere. "
"Next time I will search everything in your room. I will take away your pen and your bread," Maxilin said angrily, "I think you still How to cause trouble. "
Bard thought for a while and said seriously: "I am not a weak mage - I can trigger the alarm with my boogers. "
Maxilin: "..."
The warden couldn't think of how to respond to this impeccable answer for a while. He could only look at the hateful man. The Druid slowly walked back to the bed, lay down slowly like an animal preparing to hibernate, and slowly covered himself with the quilt, as if there was no one around.
"You are wasting it. Empire money! Maxilin finally couldn't help shouting, "Listen, I will report to the General Administration of Public Security and the Government Affairs Department when I get back. This loophole will be closed soon. You can't eat and drink here forever!" "
Bud's voice came from the bed: "I believe in your responsibility, sir - but before that, I just want to have a good sleep. ”
Maxilin finally left with annoyance, just like the previous two times.
The heavy alloy gate closed little by little with the sound of the mechanical device running, and the containment area After the room became quiet again, and the inarticulate mutterings of the drunkard in the adjacent cell gradually became lower, Bud Wendell, who was lying on the bed, opened his eyes and took a look, then slowly closed them.
For so many years, this was the only place where he could sleep peacefully.
Maxilin ended his patrol of the entire prison and returned to the office with three points of anger.
As a knight apprentice who started out as a knight, he joined the first-generation Cecil Combat Corps, experienced all the territory defense wars and the Southern Territory Unification War, and has adapted to the "every ordinary person is working hard"He could not understand why a transcendent person would be willing to sink like that.
A few minutes later, the warden picked up the pen and paper on the table and buried his head in it. Start writing a report.
If nothing else, at least find a way to get that Bud Wendell out of the cell - otherwise, if the guy refuses to leave, he may have to do it. He has stayed in this prison longer than the warden himself!
...
"This is the latest report from Norris from the Holy Spirit Plains, ancestor, please! You take a look. "
In Cecil City, in Gawain's study, Hetty placed a thick report on the desk and briefly relayed the contents of the report.
" Investigators sent by the Ministry of Agriculture and the 'Holy Ghost Plains Redevelopment Interim Office' have entered the southern part of the fertile woodland and conducted rough statistics and assessments of towns and farmland along the way. The working group believes that the most seriously polluted areas are further north, probably around Stone City and Solinburg. In the areas discovered so far, more than 50% of the fields can be re-cultivated within a year. Norris also specifically It was emphasized that these lands that can be re-cultivated are not only slightly polluted, but may even be more fertile in the coming year due to vegetation burning and rest. "
"This is rare good news," Gao Wen raised his eyebrows. "The crystal cluster pollution was stopped very quickly. The crystal dust and associated plague have not had time to soak into the soil too much, and the land can be directly re-cultivated. Next year's food shortage crisis will be mostly solved. "
"The key now is the abandonment of infrastructure such as towns, roads, water sources, etc.," Hetty nodded. "All the original residential areas were the areas where the cluster giants were most severely ravaged and were under fire. The infrastructure was completely destroyed by concentrated bombing and thorough burning. Simply relying on the Government Affairs Department to organize teams to carry out reconstruction and then organizing the population relocation would be very slow and consume a lot of money - it may not even have time to transfer those who have not yet been Completely abandoned farmland was re-cultivated. "
Gawain rubbed his chin and said thoughtfully: "...This is indeed a problem. The Holy Spirit Plain is too big. Even if it is only the eastern part of the plain, the area is almost equivalent to half of the southern border... …"
"Norris made a suggestion about this. ”
“Oh? Gawain raised his eyebrows, "What suggestion?" "
Hetty organized the language slightly: "Norris met many returning refugees in areas with relatively low pollution. They had escaped from the polluted areas, wandered outside our control, and finally returned. I heard about the refugees who wanted to return to their homeland after the war. After questioning, plus rough statistics on the southern, western and eastern plains, these people may account for about one-tenth of the original total population in the eastern plains - this is more than we imagined. Much more. "
Gawain blinked.
After the disaster, a large number of refugees from their homes wandered in the Holy Spirit Plains. This was what Gawain had expected to happen from the beginning——" Cecil's Order was indeed efficient and rigorous, capable ofTo effectively manage the population and rescue refugees, the prerequisite is to establish an effective administrative structure at a high cost. After all, the Holy Spirit Plain is not the southern border. It is impossible to achieve thorough management by relying on the limited resettlement team and the rescue efforts of the Provisional Government Affairs Department. , which will inevitably lead to the emergence of a large number of refugees.
One in ten...
This number is shocking. The once prosperous eastern area of the Holy Spirit Plain is now really empty.
But at least one room is not empty.
"These wandering refugees need to be resettled, and it is very dangerous for them to wander unorganized in contaminated areas. Norris suggested that we form a 'joint reconstruction team', led by the Supreme Government Affairs Office, with the recruitment of the Construction Corps and the official The pioneering group is the core, and several reconstruction teams are set up, and then through various channels to attract, gather, and recruit the refugees, and also encourage those who intend to return home and have temporarily settled in other places to join the team and come back to rebuild their homes...
“The refugees only need the most basic survival guarantee, and we can not only provide them with survival guarantee, but also give them construction tools and provide guidance. With the motivation to return to their homes and receive land, responders should There will be a lot. Using the experience of building New Cecil, organizing a group of young secretaries and new people in the Government Affairs Office who need experience, and adding the construction corps as the core, the scale of the reconstruction group will be enough to prevent more land from being completely abandoned. Take them back from the weeds and jackals. "
"Take the land back from the hands of weeds and wolves... This can be used as a good propaganda symbol," Gawain nodded. Not only was he satisfied with these proposals, he was even more pleased that people like Norris The growth of Government Affairs Office officials over the years, “Is this the end of Norris’s plan? "
Hetty nodded: "Yes. "
"Then let me add one more thing - after the reconstruction team rebuilds the town and social order, it can take root and set up a government affairs office on the spot, and simultaneously complete the construction and network of transportation, communications, and commerce. ”
The eastern part of the Holy Spirit Plain is already a blank piece of paper. Gawain now wants to directly cover it with the complete Cecil Order. When that wasteland is rebuilt, the fertile eastern part of the Holy Spirit Plain will be The land will become a "new land" like the southern border, and this new land can directly connect to the old royal capital of Saint Sunil from south to north from the Rock Fortress, and can also lead to the northern border and the east. Environment...
The wasteland that was once burned will eventually grow new shoots, and the new flesh and blood will be healthier and stronger than before.