Chapter 1462: Return to the Territory, Deprivation of Holy Power

After hearing Buluode's explanation, Xia Duo felt quite calm; there is a gap between theory and reality, and it is not strange that what was previously inapplicable became applicable after changing to new materials.

Theoretically, if the David String could possess the properties of a true Magic Net String, then Xia Duo's first design draft, which solved a few problems regarding design Principles, should have been the most perfect one.

It is precisely because of the gap with reality that it needs constant adjustment and constant application.

And after Iolum heard Buluode's explanation, he first showed a look of joy, but then sighed softly and said, "Next, we have to return to the beginning stage again."

Once these words were spoken, everyone fell silent. It was not that they were worried about repeating work—after all, this was progress, and there was nothing to worry about—but rather that this seemingly endless progress was what made people feel heavy-hearted.

Progress is never simple; it requires the investment of time, manpower, and money, and it must be sustained.

And in the competition of civilizations, for their own side, not being able to progress continuously means regressing. At this moment, Xia Duo felt a heavy sense of responsibility.

……

The experiment began quickly.

The process was the same as before, nothing more than recording data, collecting Arcane Energy, and handling the aftermath. With three Great Arcanists present, no accidents occurred during the period.

And because it was an experiment with the old material device, and new materials were to be changed to next, the summary of the experiment seemed somewhat too sloppy compared to before.

Almost the entire time, Iolum was the one speaking while others listened; there was little interaction, and it ended hastily before long.

Next was preparing for the partial simulation test experiment of the new device based on the new materials; there was already a relatively mature experimental process for this aspect as well.

Because he was leading the material project team, Xia Duo was not responsible for much in the simulation test experiment; it was mainly Buluode doing it. During this period, he even took the time to return to Nan Jing.

……

At this time, nearly a month had passed since the tribesmen of the Grey Eagle Tribe joined the Territory, but those new residents from the Grey Eagle Tribe still had not all been able to be assigned their own houses.

Most people could only live in tents set up on the two plazas, Code Plaza and the Altar; fortunately, they had brought quite a few simple tents when they migrated, which, added to those Xia Duo purchased from Seventon, were just enough to satisfy the need.

Although the current temperature had not yet dropped below freezing, most of the Working Groups of the Daxia Territory Development Department had temporarily stopped development work and turned into temporary workers for the Logistics Department's house-making workshop.

It was just that carpentry still had some barriers to entry, after all. Even if wooden houses had a standardized production process and were broken down into several simple parts, it was difficult to produce a quantity of nearly ten thousand in a short time.

Not to mention, there was also the issue of land.

All along, besides arable farmland, Daxia Territory had never lacked any land, but now tens of thousands of new residents had flooded into the Territory at once, and residential land suddenly became tight.

Let alone that the Territory could not produce enough wooden houses within a month, even if it could, it would actually be very difficult to arrange.

Without needing Xia Duo's Indication, Laidun consciously came up with a solution: on one hand, temporarily occupying some unallocated farmland, and on the other, urgently expanding outward.

Only by simply clearing the ground without doing deep leveling for farming, it was not until Xia Duo returned to the Territory in November that the problem of insufficient residential land was initially solved.

Of course, there were many subsequent problems, but it was already quite good to be able to take care of the immediate situation at this time; there would naturally be ways to solve them in the future.

……

Daxia Territory, west side of the Tower of Time.

Xia Duo and Laidun stood one after the other at the edge of Code Plaza, looking at the plaza filled with various tents. Xia Duo's mood was much better than when he returned last month.

The current tents were in good order, not only divided into several sections, but each section was also equipped with food distribution points, emergency aid points, and literacy teaching points, with security guards from the Grey Eagle Tribe patrolling constantly on the periphery.

The large Code Plaza was practically a simple, small community.

"You have done a good job this month. Besides checking the situation of the Territory, I also brought back a batch of winter clothes this time. Let's distribute a set to all residents!"

"My Lord, is this appropriate?" Laidun subconsciously felt that it was somewhat improper.

"I didn't state it accurately just now. It is to distribute a set to every resident except for those who have already been granted land. The rest will be placed in the Logistics Department; residents who have been granted land can purchase them themselves."

In the current Daxia Territory, only residents who have been granted land have private property in the true sense, while other residents who have not been granted land are actually employees of the Territory, so distributing some employee benefits is considered normal.

As for giving them to the Grey Eagle Tribe, it was purely to build up "loyalty."

Of course, Xia Duo also truly hoped from the bottom of his heart that no new resident from the Grey Eagle Tribe would lose their life in the severe winter.

But it was precisely because of this point that Laidun felt it was somewhat improper. Concepts like "equivalent exchange" and "everything has a price" were not only held by Mages; believers of order possessed them as well.

Just based on dogmatic cognition, Xia Duo obviously would not agree. He did not pay attention to Laidun's opposition but directly issued the Indication in the form of an order.

He believed that Laidun would definitely execute it seriously.

Of course, he also explained the reason why he did this, which could be considered expanding the worldview for his capable subordinate:

"I am not providing benefits to the new residents for free, but rather, based on the premise that they are new residents, it seems to be without cost, but it is actually incorporating them into the system and harvesting their sense of identification and belonging."

"Everything must not be dogmatic or formalistic, knowing only to deal with problems by comparing them to existing, concrete Principles and concepts. One needs to have a holistic view and a developmental view."

"Do not be obsessed with legal texts; one must understand the spirit of the legislation. Order is not an unchanging, mechanical, dead object, but a dynamically stable system that keeps pace with the times, is full of vitality, and is positive and upward-looking."

"I look forward to us making progress together in the future!"

After speaking, Xia Duo glanced at Laidun, who was lost in thought, and then continued to look toward the plaza.

But the next moment, an exclamation from Laidun made him turn his head again. He saw Laidun clutching his chest with a painful expression, murmuring, "My Lord, why would you do this?"

Seeing this, Xia Duo was shocked in his heart, wondering how this got involved with the Lord of Radiance. Looking at Laidun's painful appearance, he couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache and hurriedly asked:

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Laidun closed his eyes and struggled to squeeze out a sentence: "My Lord has withdrawn part of the Divine Grace."

For a Priest who possesses Holy Power, there is a big difference between "consuming Divine Grace" and "the God withdrawing Divine Grace himself." The latter is not just a decrease in virtual values similar to "credit limit" or "favorability," but has an actual change with realistic effects—

Banishment of Holy Power!

Although Xia Duo had never possessed Holy Power and had never been deprived of Holy Power, he knew one thing very clearly, which was that it would be exceptionally painful when Holy Power was deprived.

The most typical example was Yatewude in the Territory, who, because of different philosophies, was expelled from the Druid Order and was therefore deprived of Holy Power by the main god of the Elves.

Regarding this process, Yatewude had once used "worse than death" to describe it.