Starting with the defeated female knight

Yes, he knew that things like ethnicity, ideology, and thought could unite people and unleash incredible power.

However, those operations are not only quite difficult, but also a bit too advanced for this world, especially for the people on the borders of the empire.

In addition, since Green is not human, doing these things is more troublesome than usual.

After thinking it over, he came up with a simpler and more direct approach.

I can make you live a good life with me.

It's that simple.

Moreover, the results are remarkable.

After all, these border barbarians didn't have a good life before the demonic tide invaded; many of them even had trouble getting enough to eat.

After arriving at Green's place, although they couldn't understand many things and had to undergo a series of education and reforms, they were reborn in a true sense after getting through it.

The house I live in is big and beautiful, the clothes I wear are beautiful and comfortable, I no longer have to worry about where my next meal will come from, and I can even find a doctor to treat me when I'm sick...

Any one of these items, taken individually, was something these refugees would never have dared to dream of before, but now they've been fed them all at once.

Forget being happy, they were so overwhelmed by happiness that their minds couldn't process it all. They didn't know what to do, so they could only imitate the others and praise the tentacles in various ways, with only the thought of 'loyalty! sincerity!' remaining in their minds.

And that's not even the end of it.

After Dawn City no longer lacked food, Green began to tinker with seasonings and spices, not only to improve the lives of the people in Dawn City, but also to use them as commodities to trade with other forces.

In addition, he is also planning to open schools and actively communicating with all parties, preparing to improve basic education first, not only to make others better able to help him, but also to reduce his workload to some extent.

In addition, they minted currency, popularized toothpaste and soap, built bathhouses and infrastructure, and were even planning to develop some high-end products...

What can refugees say in the face of this situation?

Let alone the little things Green is asking them to do now, even if Green specifically asked for their souls, they would give them without hesitation.

It might even make you feel a little more at ease.

However, Green showed absolutely no interest in it.

[I don't need to burn my soul to prolong the world, so what do I need your souls for?]

Instead of wasting your energy on this, you should go to more classes, learn more, and help me with more chores.

Faced with Green's request, the black-robed people in Dawn City looked at each other, and finally shook their heads with awkward smiles.

After all, they can truly give away souls and lives directly.

But with math, if you don't know it, you really don't know it; killing them won't help.

Green knew this and didn't force it. He just planned to start from the basics and didn't expect them to soar to great heights.

However, under Green's actions, although they were all refugees from various regions, including orcs, and were unfamiliar with each other, some conflicts even arose.

But after a series of education and transformations, under Green's guidance, he created value through his own efforts and, together with others, completed the construction of the miraculous city before him.

It's really hard for anyone not to integrate into this city, and it's also hard not to identify with their own identity and the collective and culture that have emerged in this process.

This is called cohesion.

Only with this can this place be considered a true success, rather than just a pile of loose sand.

Of course, this process was not without its challenges.

The biggest obstacle is not someone else, but the tentacle itself.

I am not a god.

You are not my followers.

Stop fucking expanding the church!

But after a while, everyone got used to it.

"Yes, yes, you are not a god, you are a human, you have tentacles, we all know that."

"Alright, alright, we are not your followers, just your servants, or you can call us whatever you like."

"No, no, no, the church's budget absolutely cannot be cut. You've already said you're not God, so let us handle this matter, okay?"

In short, that's pretty much the situation.

It was under these circumstances that, after its official completion and operation, Dawn City welcomed its first guests.

That is, the investigation team that was swallowed by Grimm's tentacles.

Of course, Green knew that with a formidable enemy at hand, this was not the time for leisure.

Even those who don't understand war but have played strategy games know that war is not just about conflicts on the front lines; rear-area operations are just as important, if not more so.

Dawn City currently doesn't have any particularly strong combat power. Let alone fighting against the second-stage Thousand-Legged, it wouldn't be able to win against the one originally led by the children.

But that does not mean that Dawn City is entirely without merit.

The preliminary preparations have been completed, and the city's engine is ready to go.

Green was eager to see what kind of power his city, which he had carefully managed for so long, would unleash after he found the key and set it ablaze.

Of course, before that, he still needs to appease those 'keys'.

That is, the investigation team in front of us.

How do you like the food?

Although I've never tried it, I've heard people say it's made with lots of seasonings, and it's a specialty only found in border areas.

Faced with the tentacles' questions, the members of the investigation team fell silent.

To be honest, the meal Green provided for them wasn't particularly amazing.

Because these carefully selected individuals are considered among the elite even in the capital, their food is naturally quite good.

Even so, they had to admit that the food provided by this strange and evil god was not only normal, but even... delicious.

Everything was normal, except for the tentacles on the side.

Therefore, this normalcy seems even more bizarre.

"Good food, and it does have some unique flavors. Judging from the texture, it must have been cooked using unique techniques."

As a top-tier noblewoman, Elise gave a highly professional evaluation after tasting it.

[That's right, it does use some cooking methods from the orc tribes. Although I haven't tried it, I've heard it tastes better.]

The tentacle nodded, then spoke.

This is one of the things I want to show you.

The tentacles pulled back the curtain, pointing towards Dawn City.

What I want to say is that the meal you just had was not specially prepared by me to entertain you, but something that the residents of Dawn City can enjoy normally.

"......What's the meaning?"

Even with translation, many people still didn't understand what Green meant.

The remaining few looked at their leftover plates, some deep in thought, others frowning.

As for Elise, her expression changed immediately after Green finished speaking.

His gaze gradually deepened.

"You just said... this is only one of them, right?"

【certainly】

Green nodded slightly, then stood up and swung proudly.

Everyone, lunch is over, time for some exercise!

[Perfect timing! I'd also like to introduce this place that I, and everyone else here, built together...]

City of Dawn

Book 1: Chapter 43: Cuckoo Cuckoo

What is the kingdom ruled by the ancient gods like?

The members of the investigation team were not entirely clear on the matter.

After all, by the time they were born, the gods had long since died, and the church had completed its reforms. They could only glimpse fragments of history from those vague and obscured records.

But even if it was just a fragment, the madness and twisted meaning it conveyed were enough to send chills down their spines.

They all knew that the empire was now terribly rotten and stinking, but even so, compared to the era when the gods ruled, it could be said to be a paradise on earth.

Not to mention, not long ago, they witnessed the resurrection of an ancient god and his subjects.

Although they had been through countless battles, the remains of those mangled limbs and the agonizing screams of those venomous creatures were still etched in their minds.

Primitive, savage, cruel.

Chaos, distortion, madness.

This is the best summary of the kingdom ruled by the ancient gods, and also what they are about to face...

thing?

Please obey traffic rules, walk on the right side of the road, and do not walk side by side to avoid obstructing others.

Feel free to buy anything from the roadside stalls and shops that interests you, but please don't litter; the trash cans are right there.

Hey, hey, hey, you little bird-man over there, quacking away again, are you skipping class to collect stones? I'll take you back to the classroom right now...

Oh, it's break time. Then that's fine.

As it turned out, Green wasn't lying to them.

The food they ate, while not ubiquitous in Dawn City, was certainly not rare.

In addition to food, there were taverns, blacksmith shops, prop shops, farmland cultivated outside the city, pedestrians coming and going within the city, and all sorts of other odds and ends...

Everything seemed so normal and familiar, as if they had entered not a kingdom ruled by ancient gods, but just an ordinary human town.

No, it can't be called ordinary either.

Even excluding those twisted and eerie tentacles mingling among humans, a closer look at this seemingly normal town reveals many anomalies.

The building materials were not the plaster commonly used by commoners in the empire, but a finer and denser material. Not only did it look more beautiful, but it was also much harder than plaster. Moreover, the level of construction and paving far exceeded that of ordinary towns, with even the roads being paved with a layer and built to be extremely smooth.

Furthermore, after walking for a while, they also discovered that the architectural style of this place was very uniform. Although the outline clearly showed the imperial style, it also mixed in some other elements as adjustments. Combined with the neat and uniform arrangement, just looking at it would make people feel pleasing to the eye and happy.

Besides the buildings, other things, such as food and clothing, will also appear different from those in ordinary towns if you look closely.

In the simplest terms, a normal imperial town might be able to feed itself, but neither the quantity of food nor the variety and abundance of seasonings could ever reach the level of Dawn City.

As for clothing, even setting aside the black robes that are obviously out of place, the quality of the other ordinary garments—the materials, the colors, the richness and the level of sophistication—far surpasses that of ordinary towns. Only those specializing in the production of silk and clothing could possibly achieve this level.

After setting aside these most basic things, as they went further in, even more and stranger things appeared before them.

This is an industrial zone under construction. The equipment in front of you is currently being tested and will be put into production once successful.

[And the chemical industrial park over there is currently planned to be used to produce household products such as toothpaste and soap, and then gradually expanded based on subsequent research and by-products.]

Of course, production safety is of paramount importance. Currently, those fools outside seriously lack the relevant concept, and I am working hard to educate and train them.

[Gas masks and the like are also on the agenda. The one Morfia wore before was a prototype we recently developed. With a few minor improvements, we should be able to try promoting it.]

[And over here is the agricultural improvement zone, specifically for experiments on superior seed varieties; over there is the metal smelting zone, dedicated to researching and improving the properties of metals...]

To be honest, if the Empire hadn't been careless and failed to act, bringing him far more refugees than expected, he really wouldn't have been able to get these things running.

But now, although the surge in numbers has caused him a lot of trouble, and he's even exhausted to the point of wanting to die.

But the population explosion brought more than just trouble. Especially after basic education and rehabilitation, they became a high-quality workforce, enabling him to carry out all sorts of operations he had never thought of before. This is why, despite being exhausted, he did not regret it.

As for whether there's any problem with showing these things directly to the investigation team, of course there isn't.