Mystery: A Spark

First, kill the person, then extract their soul, so that they have no hope of becoming an evil spirit.

But Arthur didn't expect that George III would double the already exaggerated figures again.

This means that George III arrested at least 50,000 people from Backlund alone in order to build his mausoleum.

And it was obvious that this bastard had no intention of letting these people live, which was what disgusted Arthur the most.

The Black Emperor's ascension ceremony didn't actually require killing anyone; he only needed to incite the people to build his mausoleum.

In the mysterious world with extraordinary abilities, building a mausoleum wouldn't result in the deaths of countless people, unlike the massive projects Arthur undertook in his previous life in ancient times.

A prime example is Russell, who secretly rose to become the Black Emperor, but he did not kill the people who helped him build his mausoleum.

This can be seen from the fact that his first eight tombs were easily located and destroyed.

If Roselle had silenced all the people, it would have been difficult for Steam and Sun to quickly locate the eight tombs.

Therefore, it must be said that compared to Russell, George III was really not a very good person.

Not to mention comparing him to the normal Russell, even compared to Russell in his later, ill-fated years, George III was far inferior.

After hearing Arthur's words, Hugh hesitated for a moment and asked:

"I understand what you mean, so he really is doing something shady?"

“It’s obvious, but we’re too weak right now to investigate such things.” Arthur opened the drawer, threw the newspaper in, and decided to avoid seeing it.

Is he still too weak...? Hugh felt inexplicably frustrated.

However, she quickly composed herself and said:

"Oh, right, there's one more thing. I've heard some rumors that the higher-ups are planning to make regulations on workers' working hours and minimum wage because of this smog incident."

"Oh? What are the working hours they set?" Arthur asked, not surprised at all.

“It’s twelve hours,” Hugh replied.

"Ha, twelve hours, such a concession, it must have been tough on those gentlemen up there." Arthur scoffed disdainfully.

"So what do we need to do?" Hugh asked, raising an eyebrow.

Arthur stood up, walked to the window, and said:

"We've been working on strike contingency plans for a while now; it's time to put them to use."

"A strike at a time like this?" Hugh asked in surprise.

“Of course, it’s perfectly reasonable that all the workers are sick and unable to work due to the impact of this smog event, isn’t it?” Arthur said calmly, looking out the window.

"In that case, we can't use the protests and demonstrations we've prepared," Xiu said after thinking for a moment.

"Why can't we hold a protest?" Arthur turned around and asked Hugh in surprise.

"Didn't you just say you were going to use the workers' illnesses as an excuse?" Hugh said, somewhat taken aback.

"Does being plagued by illness preclude one from holding a protest?" Arthur asked in surprise.

"This... they've already used illness as an excuse for not being able to work. If they go on a protest, wouldn't that be putting people's intelligence on the ground?" Hugh said, somewhat bewildered.

"Hehe, Hugh, you don't know this," Arthur said with a smile. "People's physical constitutions cannot be generalized."

"Some people can still go out into the streets to protest even when they are sick and unable to work. How can you arbitrarily define someone else's physical condition?"

stop:……

"And there are quite a few people with this kind of constitution, right?" she asked, somewhat speechless.

“That’s right, Hugh, you’re very perceptive,” Arthur said with a smile.

Hugh sighed helplessly. Even after spending so much time by Arthur's side, she still hadn't learned his ability to lie through his teeth.

"So, what are our objectives in this operation?" she asked curiously.

"First of all, the minimum wage must be guaranteed to ensure that workers can meet the food needs of their families of three while also having a surplus."

“Therefore, our wage demand is tentatively set at 28 soles per week,” Arthur said as he pondered.

“28 sulphurs? Isn’t that too much? This is practically cutting flesh off those people. For them, earning less is equivalent to losing money,” Hugh said, frowning.

Arthur nodded and said:

"That's right, so the weekly wage is tentatively set at 28 solers, but the bottom line we can ultimately accept is 24 solers per week."

"This gap between the top and bottom is where we can make concessions and compromises later."

He seemed to suddenly remember something, and said with a smile:

"A wise man once said that people's nature always prefers harmony and compromise. For example, if you say that this room is too dark and suggest opening a skylight here, everyone will definitely not allow it."

"But if you advocate removing the roof, they will come to mediate and be willing to open a skylight."

Hugh nodded, somewhat understanding, and asked:

"So, besides the minimum wage, do we have any other demands?"

“Of course, but a twelve-hour workday is not feasible,” Arthur replied.

"So what do you want?"

“We need to extend the working hours to eight… no, let’s make it ten hours.”

Arthur originally wanted to say eight hours, but when he thought about how he couldn't do it in his previous life, he finally gave up the idea.

"In addition, workers must be guaranteed one day off per week. These requirements must be detailed in the new labor law, and we must obtain the power to punish factory owners who violate the labor law." He thought for a moment and then added.

Previously, although the Workers' Mutual Aid Association replaced the original dockworkers' union, it was still strictly speaking a non-governmental organization.

Arthur now wants to take this opportunity to make the Workers' Assistance Association a legitimate organization with discretionary power over lawbreakers.

"Isn't this asking for too much?" Hugh asked with some concern.

"Don't worry, it's not much, because our dear king will support us in this matter."

"So our only obstacle comes from the factory owners, who are just a minority in this matter," Arthur said with a light laugh.

"Will he support us? Because he wants to settle Rune down as soon as possible?" Hugh asked, speculating.

“Yes, you could say that.” Arthur nodded.

He was certainly not telling the truth, because the fundamental reason why George III would support their strike and fight for power was that George III wanted a new order.

However, George III did not have the same outlandish ideas as Russell, nor did he possess any groundbreaking talent, so he could only dabble in the New Order.

This resulted in his deification ritual being quite ineffective.

Even if Klein hadn't taken action, George III's chances of becoming a god were slim in the original story.

Therefore, now that Arthur has offered a new order to Joe, Joe, who is obsessed with becoming a god, will definitely not let it go.

Thinking about it, it's actually quite dramatic.

Arthur hindered Joe's plans during the Great Smog Incident. Although he failed to sabotage them for some reason, he still caused considerable obstacles.

For example, the death of Ince Zangwell, the loss of the Seals 0-08, and so on.

However, now George III needs to give Arthur's plans a boost.

Yeah, it feels like being sold out and then having to count the money for the seller.

This is mainly because Arthur used a false identity during the Great Smog incident, separating his identities as the Earth Mother Goddess's favorite and the Steam Goddess's favorite in the eyes of outsiders.

While a person favored by the gods is rare, it's not actually that surprising.

However, if a person is favored by two true gods at the same time, then everyone will know that this person has a serious problem.

Therefore, Arthur has always been consciously trying to distance himself from outsiders.

The only people who truly knew that he was favored by two different gods were Bernadette and her brother.

Those who knew he was from one of God's families but had connections to another church included Leonard, Klein, Hugh, Sharon, and Maritch.

Of course, the two bishops of the Earth Church should also be included.

But in general, most people's perception of Arthur is that he is just an extraordinary being belonging to the Steam Church.

This is precisely why Arthur used the false identity of Varian during the Great Smog.

Hugh left to do some work.

Arthur returned to the window and silently watched the people coming and going from the Peace Tavern.

Next, Rune will enter a new era of four religions coexisting, and the upcoming major strike will also bring about significant changes.

All of this was done by Arthur, which gave him a strong sense of accomplishment.

A slight smile played on his lips as he let out a sigh:

"Soon, everything will change!"

Chapter 227 Join the glorious evolution!

Monday, St. Hillan Cathedral.

In an underground laboratory.

"How's the experiment on the effects of psionic energy on living organisms going?" Bonova asked, looking at the white mice in the cage in front of him.

Beside him stood a man dressed in a brown priest's robe.

The man answered:

"Your Excellency, based on our experiments over the past few days, we have preliminarily determined that psionic energy is a relatively mild form of energy, and it will not have any effect on the body unless there is direct contact."

“As long as it’s not direct contact…” Bonova pondered the sentence, “But what if it is direct contact?”

"If it's direct contact, according to our calculations, it will take about two to four hundred years for it to have an impact."

"I'm sorry, sir, I know the margin of error might be a bit large, but this is all we can do," the man said somewhat apologetically.

"It's alright, this result is enough," Bonova said nonchalantly.

The average person's lifespan is less than a hundred years, and problems may not arise until two hundred years later. This suggests that psychic energy can indeed be used as a conventional energy source.

After all, their world may not even have a two-hundred-year future.

Moreover, this problem only arises under prolonged direct contact; if it's just for daily use, there's actually no impact.