Today, they too are going to their deaths.

In a secluded corner.

Menoff boldly complained about the current situation, while Cui Xun carefully wrote down all his words in his notebook with a pencil.

The topic of the labor union system was only briefly mentioned before being glossed over. Both agreed that the current solution was essentially to divide the workers and temporarily quell the situation.

The discussion on education went much deeper.

"Older workers can't learn any real skills. At most, they can learn to read and write, and learn a few simple techniques. They can't possibly learn something and then take exams or change careers."

"And what's worse is that they simply don't have the energy to learn."

Menov let out a long sigh, his straight body bent over, and a sense of decay appeared in his eyes and brows.

"The factory is exhausting, exhausting to the point of being morbid. It's like a file, slowly grinding away people's edges until they become 'machines' that can't speak or think."

"Note that I do not mean that those respectable people imagine 'erasing the remaining energy to pursue dreams,' but rather completely erasing and reshaping a person."

"People who have worked near high-temperature furnaces are either deeply affected by the heat, becoming extremely violent due to the constant feeling of being on the edge of life and death, or they are filled with fear, constantly afraid of making a mistake."

"I often see those kinds of people in the furnace. They accidentally fall in, let out a few screams, and then die inside."

"In some small factories that don't care about quality and whose owners don't have much brains, these people will be mixed in with their own products, but large factories will often pick out the corpses to avoid mixing in impurities."

"Some veteran workers have become accustomed to this kind of thing, and they have gradually come to regard those who fall into the furnace as impurities, rather than as human beings."

"There are also those who are forced to keep up with the machines on the assembly line. Some of them become rigid and dull, while others simply lose their focus and forget what they are doing."

"The latter may lose fingers or arms, and the worst case scenario is that the person is completely caught in the machine and dies."

"Until they died, they probably hadn't recovered from that repetitive work and were just wondering why the next batch of parts hadn't arrived yet."

"Others who spend too much time with toxic substances become dull-witted; those who are constantly monitored and criticized become moody; and those who, to vent their emotions, become alcoholics, gamblers, or violent..."

"No matter how gentle and strong a man is, once he enters a factory, he will become just like any other worker."

Menoff paused, then gave a wry smile: "I used to be a 'respectable man,' doing paperwork. My life wasn't luxurious, but it was quite refined, until a few years ago, office machines drove me to the factory."

"The workers' income is not low, even higher than some seemingly respectable people. My wife was a little unhappy at first, but she adapted to the new life."

"But I haven't adapted."

"When I see her calm as she always is, I want to hit her. The thought of my children studying peacefully at school while I have to work myself to the bone makes me angry."

"I can usually suppress these emotions, but I'm so tired and in so much pain from work. I want to go home where no one nags me, and I want to drink to my heart's content..."

"I developed an alcohol addiction, and when I was drunk, I would beat my wife and children, and they started to be afraid of me."

"Do you understand? They looked at me like I was a monster, as if I were dead and just some weird thing in a skin standing there."

Menov's tone suddenly rose a few decibels, but he quickly lowered his voice and continued to recount his past in a calm tone.

"A good woman is good at managing a household, but a woman who nags when you're exhausted is really annoying, especially when she starts complaining about my alcohol smell and my rudeness. But she depends on me for everything, so what right does she have to complain? I can live just fine without her."

I solicited a prostitute.

"At first she couldn't believe it, but when she found out I had been drinking that day, she became even angrier, like a rabid old cat. She hit me, scratched me, and yelled at me, so I hit her."

"She was injured, and the child was injured too, badly injured, and they were both very scared..."

In Menov's eyes, the flame flickered, and some things he had deliberately forgotten and ignored suddenly became vivid, making his head ache more and more.

"No, I was the one who hit the child first. She tried to protect the child, and that's how we started fighting."

"I……"

Menov covered his head, breathing heavily for a while, before continuing in a dazed tone, as if coming back from a dream: "In the end, they stole my savings and went back to their parents' home."

"I cried for a while, then continued to drink, patronize prostitutes, and gamble until I was about to be kicked out of the factory. That's when I suddenly woke up and wanted to fight back. Then, because I had read more books, I spoke up for the other workers."

"So, do you understand?"

Cui Xun nodded sincerely and replied, "With you as an example, I understand completely now."

The goal of night classes is good, but it's completely meaningless for people who are working to the point of collapse. These people are no longer capable of thinking about the future or studying; they'd rather drink another bottle of alcohol or visit another woman.

For those who are already "stuck," you need to get them out of it before you can talk about the future.

Therefore, we must first reduce working hours and workload before we can talk about universal education.

But then another problem arose: the wave of layoffs reduced the cost of education. So Cui Xun was able to use the lure that "workers can provide greater benefits after being educated" to get night classes from factory owners by "letting the workers raise funds themselves." However, he couldn't persuade the factory owners to reduce the working hours and intensity.

He either forcibly supported a group of people with funds from the Snake Worship Cult and the royal family, or he used force to coerce them.

However, his military strength alone was clearly insufficient to reduce the workload across the entire Kingdom of Albion, and Prince Charlemagne probably didn't have that ability either.

The workers must demonstrate their strength.

Unlike the original world, in this world with extraordinary powers, machines are developing at an astonishing pace, soon to render ordinary workers obsolete. Even if they adopt a non-violent non-cooperation stance and threaten to stop working, they will most likely be ignored.

If a direct conflict were to break out, the result would inevitably be bloodshed, followed by forceful suppression.

A superhuman of Alice's caliber could assassinate most of the middle and upper echelons of a city-wide riot in just a few days, and the "steam behemoth" he saw when investigating the royal agents' military reserves was capable of massacring an entire city.

Not only is military force completely controlled by the higher-ups, but there is also the barrier of the extraordinary that separates the technology possessed by mortals from that of the extraordinary.

Even the most suitable serpentic arts for beginners today normally require qualified individuals to spend several years studying full-time.

The deeper Cui Xun's understanding of the world became, the more he felt it was impossible to change the country by the power of the workers.

So, is the only path for him to become king first and then change the way others live according to his own will?

No.

Cui Xun's attention refocused on Menov.

Clearly, he had not received any systematic training as a superhuman, yet he possessed spirituality.

"Mr. Menov, have you ever considered that the power you now possess is the key to helping the workers escape their predicament?"

"The power I possess?" Menov blinked, the flame in his pupils flickering. "Do you mean the state where I can now use reason to override emotion, and think in a more stable way?"

"I don't know where this power comes from. I only remember that yesterday a worker explained to us how workers obtain power, and then just now, when I was facing you, this power suddenly surged out."

"Besides, even if others could also wield such power, what use would it be for changing the status quo?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Menov slapped his forehead, suddenly realizing, "No, this is indeed useful, very useful! It can help people study well."

He just realized that night classes were useless because overworked workers could hardly learn anything in that state. Even if they studied hard, they could only learn to read at best, and they couldn't engage in deeper thinking.

But now he feels incredibly clear-headed, has completely overcome his fatigue, feels much healthier, and even things he usually doesn't have the energy to think about are popping into his head.

While spirituality cannot interfere with the material world without magic as a medium, it can still bring about subtle changes for those who have awakened their spirituality.

This is enough to get people to take the first step toward change.

If you can't change the world, change yourself and become stronger.

And if there were a way to harness this spirituality...

As Cui Xun pondered, a thought suddenly struck him: Speaking of which, what exactly is the core of this spirituality?

Previously, cultists who sought extreme methods mentioned awakening spirituality through extreme emotions, which is also the most primitive method of spiritual awakening. The spirituality awakened in this way is highly personal and requires a period of refinement before it can be integrated into other stable magical systems; otherwise, only some basic spells that are almost forgotten will be available.

The Serpent's Secret Art, centered on the language of the ancient serpent, awakens spirituality through studying classic texts, learning the language of the ancient serpent, and cultivating wisdom. Once this spirituality reaches a certain scale, it can become uncontrollable, causing bishops to frantically educate others.

The power of royal oaths is passed down through bloodlines. Those chosen by the royal family can awaken their spirituality through secret arts with the aid of magical potions. This spirituality can be used to make contracts with things, enabling them to summon weapons out of thin air and influence others from a distance.

After Menoff's spiritual awakening, the most obvious sign was an improvement in his condition, a characteristic that is somewhat similar to a snake shedding its skin, but also slightly different.

It's like throwing impurities into a furnace and refining them into the essence.

In some ways, this spirituality could be called "the power of the furnace"? But it seems to be more than that.

Cui Xun's first thought was to consider his own adaptability, since the snake-like secret techniques he displayed were clearly related to monsters, and Menov's awakened spirituality might be a variant of snake spirituality.

However, when Cui Xun tried to teach the Menov serpent language and gestures, he showed no talent whatsoever and instead appeared somewhat bewildered.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Cui Xun, this is a bit difficult for me. I feel like my tongue is about to curl up, and it seems to have no effect on my ability to manipulate that force."

Menoff was very helpless, and Cui Xun didn't understand what was going on either.

This situation was like a fire elemental crawling out of a snake egg; everyone was completely baffled.

But Cui Xun quickly calmed down and changed direction.

If it wasn't the power of the snake, then perhaps it was willpower? Although his willpower could replace his spirituality, he didn't know what the relationship was between willpower and spirituality, or how to awaken his willpower. This was clearly not something an ordinary person should possess.

That might be the result of his innate talent combined with the unique environment surrounding the monster.

However, Cui Xun was still clear about which direction his power leaned towards—distorting reality and reshaping the world.

If Menoff's spirituality is in this direction, then his preferred spells should be creation-type or enhancement-type.

Unfortunately, with this limited information, Cui Xun could not obtain the answer, let alone create the corresponding spells. His own accumulation of extraordinary knowledge was still in the failing stage; he was purely relying on his talent to make the basic operations look amazing.

He could only suggest, "Perhaps you should try more in the direction of 'labor.' Of course, I don't mean rigidly repeating certain operations in a factory, but rather being a true worker, creating value and changing the world with your own hands and mind."

"I need more information before I can try to reproduce your situation."

Given Menov's current situation, this newly born supernatural power could free the workers from overwork, enhance their learning abilities, and allow them to take the first step towards change steadily. Moreover, awakening it might be very simple, and it could perfectly connect with the Blood Money supernatural currency system.

In practical combat, it might be able to integrate with the industrial system, and perhaps even sew together the old alchemical system? The Royal Academy of Sciences would certainly love this power.

But no matter how promising its future may be, it is currently just an insignificant seed, and it hasn't even sprouted yet.

"Menov, if you make any significant discoveries later, go to the places mentioned on this list and find the people there. They'll all be more accommodating if they see the mark on this list."

Cui Xun handed Menoff a list of royal agents' contact points and then hurriedly left.

Thanks to his current status, even setting aside his qualifications to become the new king, his position as Prince Charlemagne's personal agent alone qualifies him to learn the extraordinary knowledge that the royal family holds so tightly.

Besides Alice, a predecessor in the power of the Oath, several original texts unique to Charlemagne are being rapidly delivered to the city by royal agents.

Hopefully, he can find a way to make this seed sprout.