Warhammer: The Time Traveler

Chapter 242 Adapting to the New Order (Fourth Update)

A month passed smoothly under the new order of Night City.

This city, once known for its chaos and violence, has indeed become much "quieter".

This quiet is not deathly stillness, but rather a slightly oppressive sense of order born from strong constraints.

Under the absolutely rational planning of the "manager" AI, the underlying operation of the city has undergone a fundamental change.

For the first time, countless people from the lowest rungs of society who had previously struggled on the brink of death found that their lives were now secure.

They were forced to register their work capacity and were subsequently assigned various jobs.
Cleaning streets, maintaining infrastructure, engaging in production in redeveloped factories or agricultural areas, and even being massively conscripted to participate in a remarkable new project: restarting large-scale construction in Taiping Island.

The administrators determined that Taipingzhou, an area that had been stagnant for a long time due to the unification war and was full of unfinished buildings and dangerous ruins, was the optimal solution to improve the overall function and capacity efficiency of the city under the current conditions.

Under the command of AI, massive construction machinery began clearing the site and demolishing abandoned buildings that were originally planned as luxury hotels and high-end shopping malls but are now just empty shells.

These expensive building materials are sorted and recycled for use in constructing new, functional urban buildings and service facilities that meet the standards set by administrators, as well as for planning neat but dense standardized residential areas.

These jobs are mostly tedious and arduous, far from ideal professions, but they are "official," meaning that after each day's work, a standard daily wage, along with corresponding "contribution points," will be deposited into your personal account on time.

These rewards are enough to buy basic food and centralized accommodation provided by the city.

The food consists of highly efficient synthesized nutritional pastes and compressed rations, with a simple flavor, but it ensures satiety and basic nutrition.

Accommodation is in dormitories, which are crowded but clean and have basic security and sanitation facilities.

For those who once lived hand to mouth, constantly fearing death in some dark corner, no longer having to worry about where their next meal would come from, or where they would sleep tonight, no longer having to fear being hit by stray bullets in a sudden gang shootout on the street, or being kidnapped and sold for organs on the black market, is already a tremendous improvement.

With the basic foundation for survival stabilized, although much of the past "freedom" has been lost, the probability of survival has greatly increased.

This immediate effect has led to a gradual shift in the attitude of ordinary people towards the governance of "managers" AI, from initial fear and confusion to a numb acceptance, and even a hint of secret gratitude.

The obvious improvement in quality of life is more convincing than any empty slogan.

As a result, street crime rates dropped significantly, and open acts of resistance became sporadic and were quickly suppressed.

After eliminating a large amount of internal losses, the overall operational efficiency of the city has shown a continuous upward trend.

This efficiency improvement has also extended to the enterprise level.

Under the powerful computing capabilities of the "manager," raw material allocation, production processes, and logistics have all been optimized, reducing unnecessary waste and delays.

However, what truly resonated with businesses was the "new work system" enforced by AI. At its core were a strict eight-hour workday, mandatory rest periods, and performance evaluations based on actual output.
It completely abolished the cruel exploitative model of major companies, especially the Arasaka legacy system, which relied on stimulants, neuromodulatory drugs, and prosthetic overload to force employees to work continuously for dozens of hours until they fainted or even died.

Initially, all companies strongly resisted this, believing it would severely damage their profits.

Efficiency? In their view, efficiency is about squeezing every last drop of value out of employees.

The "administrator" did not engage in pointless debate. It directly sent a request for assistance to Ignis via the data link.

Subsequently, several five-man squads of the Imperial Guard visited the headquarters and major factories of several of the most active companies.

There were no fierce conflicts, and no lengthy negotiations.

These silent steel giants simply walk into the boardroom or the production manager's office, plant their arc spears on the ground, and then Ignis or her designated heavy guards read out the "manager's" final decision in a synthesized, emotionless voice: "Accept the new work system, or, at the physical level, structural adjustments."

Faced with the lingering smell of gunpowder from the battlefield where the Arasaka Fleet was annihilated, emanating from the Imperial Guard, and the despairing energy fluctuations emanating from the pale golden resonant shield, the courage of any company's security forces and board members would quickly crumble.

The so-called corporate dignity and profit maximization appear utterly vulnerable in the face of the absolute threat of death.

Compromise became the only option.

However, after being forced to implement it for a period of time, some astute corporate managers were surprised to find that after eliminating the mistakes, accidents, and high employee replacement costs caused by overwork and mental breakdown, this more "humanized" system not only did not decrease overall productivity, but also saw a slight increase due to the stability of employee condition and the improvement of work focus.

Employee discontent decreased, absenteeism due to illness declined, and production quality became more stable. Some astute board members began privately discussing whether to extend this model to other branches and factories outside Night City.

After all, a "part" that can operate continuously and is in good condition is more beneficial in the long run than a "part" that burns out in a short time.

Chen Yu maintained an observer's stance throughout all the social experiments and data changes taking place within Night City.

His processing core receives summary reports regularly uploaded by the "managers"—employment rate, productivity, crime rate, resource consumption, fluctuations in the physiological and psychological indices of the public... all of which become valuable samples in his database.

He deliberately avoided direct intervention to ensure the "purity" of the data, observing the trajectory of this model, based on absolute rationality and a system of contributions, as it naturally evolved in a highly complex and originally chaotic human society.

However, he also clearly recognized that the smooth operation of this system was not based on the "correctness" or "rationality" of its internal logic, but rather on the unparalleled military deterrence of the Royal Guard. It was Ignis and her warriors who ensured that every order from the "managers" was executed without fail. The ultimate guarantee for the implementation of policies was always overwhelming force, not any form of reason. This was vividly demonstrated in forcing habitually rebellious and opportunistic companies to accept the new work system.

While Night City maintained its nascent and fragile order with an almost coercive approach, the situation in a wider region outside Night City was rapidly deteriorating. The "unification war" of New America (NUSA) had been fully restarted and was quickly escalating into a fierce battle.

Without Arasaka, the long-time external intervener and balancer of power, and without crucial military and economic support, the armed forces of the various free states are suffering repeated defeats under the combined attack of the regrouped new U.S. regular army and its de facto controller—military technology.

The battle lines continued to shift, and news of defeats came one after another, highlighting a stark reality: without strong external support, these loose alliances were simply no match for a quasi-national entity determined to unify and possessing a complete military-industrial complex.

(End of this chapter)