Chapter 607: Three Major Departments, The Doctrine as a Safety Net

Early the next morning, before the sky had even brightened, Xia Duo woke up early. Before he even had time to cast those few resident status spells on himself, he hurried outside the villa.

In the northwestern sky, that constantly flickering scarlet star was still there. Although only one night had passed, Xia Duo understood that this thing likely wouldn't disappear in the short term.

After some thought, Xia Duo took out the Communication Artifact and sent an inquiry message to Niya. At this hour, she should have already returned to Seventon; perhaps there was already a conclusion over there.

Afterwards, Xia Duo did not continue to hold the Communication Magic Tool and wait. In fact, he also knew that if there were any new news on Niya's side, she would likely notify him.

Since there wasn't, asking again on his end wouldn't yield anything.

"Laidun, come to my study for a moment."

After sending the message to Laidun, Xia Duo walked back while casting resident status spells on himself, such as 【Avoidance of Detection】, 【Magic Alarm Clock】, 【Delayed Teleportation】, 【Long-lasting Armor】, and the like.

Of course, the duration of these spells was very long, all exceeding 24 hours. At this moment, Xia Duo was more like refreshing the duration of these spells to maintain his best state.

After he returned to the study and brewed himself a cup of Elf Hot Drink, Laidun arrived just at this time, carrying a thick volume with him.

"My Lord!" Laidun bowed slightly and performed a salute.

Xia Duo pointed to a chair not far from the desk and said to Laidun, "Sit down first!"

As for himself, he rummaged through the documents and files neatly arranged on the desk. The Territory did not yet have the conditions to specifically produce documents with specific markings, so when they were stacked together, it was indeed a bit troublesome to find them.

But fortunately, these materials were ones Xia Duo often perused. Even though he had been at the Tower of Time for a period before, he still quickly found his target—

A list of persons in charge of matters related to the Territory.

This included major and minor Supervisors, Working Group leaders, and candidates currently under observation.

In addition, this list also included simple resumes, family situations, merit points, and so on for these people.

Xia Duo had not yet memorized all these names; mainly, there was no need. For example, for the leader of a certain Working Group, perhaps it was just a casual appointment at the time, but later, the appointment of Working Group leaders had already been delegated by him to the various Supervisors below.

Opening the file, Xia Duo saw the marks he had made before. After flipping through it roughly, he had a general idea in his mind, so he put down the file and said to Laidun:

"I called you here mainly to discuss the issue of adjusting the Territory's system."

"My Lord, please speak."

"Because the Territory is still in the development stage, it will be different from other territories." This was the keynote. Having said this, Xia Duo paused, and seeing that Laidun had no objections to this, he continued:

"I plan to establish a core department, which I call the 【Development Department】, specifically responsible for coordinating development affairs, including logging, cutting, transporting, clearing land, and other work.

"As for the Canteen, brick kiln, Woodworking Workshop, and the like, I collectively refer to them as 'Logistics', so a 【Logistics Department】 is also needed, specifically responsible for these.

"Finally, there is a 【Settlement Department】, responsible for receiving new residents, allocating houses for them, providing basic living supplies, and, according to the needs of the 【Development Department】, assigning members to the various Working Groups under the 【Development Department】."

It was roughly the three major parts of production, logistics, and personnel in a typical factory on Earth. Territory development was similar to a factory; as there were more and more residents, it was bound to require some organizational structure to achieve the maximum utilization of human resources.

Of course, as a Lord, doing this could save a lot of trouble. As long as Xia Duo helped the residents clarify their rights and responsibilities, they could be left to perform on their own.

After Xia Duo finished speaking, he looked at Laidun. Perhaps due to a new understanding of the Doctrine, the current Laidun was no longer just his yes-man. If his decision was inappropriate, Laidun would also put forward his own opinions.

Afterwards, it would be a matter of persuading each other, which was also a segment Xia Duo quite liked. After all, he had known the principles that "communication makes people progress" and "truth becomes clearer through debate" for a long time.

As long as Laidun's reasoning was sound, he was very happy to accept it. After all, this was his own territory.

"My Lord, I have no objections!"

"Very good!"

Xia Duo was not surprised. Although there had been no clear departmental division before, in reality, it had been moving in this direction. Laidun had been following him since the beginning of the Territory's development and should have realized this long ago.

"Who do you think is capable of being the Supervisor of these three departments?"

Although Xia Duo already had targets in his mind, these were merely judgments made based on the personnel data Laidun had organized. When it came to first-hand knowledge, he still had to listen to Laidun's own views.

"My Lord, for the Supervisor of the 【Settlement Department】, I think it can be held by the current brick kiln manager, Jiake. He is smooth in his dealings but also very dutiful, and should be able to adapt to the new work very well; for the 【Logistics Department】, I think it can be taken over by the current Woodworking Workshop manager, Kaide. He is steady in his work and does not lack ingenuity; as for the 【Development Department】—"

When Laidun mentioned the 【Development Department】, he hesitated slightly, as if he didn't know how to speak. As soon as Xia Duo saw his expression, he could roughly guess that this should have something to do with the Doctrine again.

Otherwise, Laidun wouldn't be so hesitant.

Xia Duo didn't care about any Doctrine; it was nothing more than a convenience for governance. Regarding Laidun's hesitation, he also had a good solution, one he was already skilled at: "I want you to say the name you think is most in the interest of the Territory; don't worry about anything else."

Using Doctrine against Doctrine, the "Sacred Proverbs" repeatedly admonished believers and Priests to "obey the orders of superiors." In a sense, this Doctrine could even allow the Lord's orders to break the provisions of the Doctrine.

After all, if you don't obey, you are directly violating the Doctrine; if you obey, you have this clause to fall back on, so you won't break the precepts.

Sure enough, after hearing Xia Duo's order, Laidun no longer hesitated and directly said that person's name, "Kelake!"

"Kelake?" Xia Duo repeated the name softly.

He knew very well that there was no one named "Kelake" on the list of persons in charge of Territory matters, so he asked Laidun, "Who is Kelake? What special talents does he have?"

"Kelake is a Slave. His current merits are not enough for him to get rid of his Slave status, but he is indeed very experienced in overall coordination, which is very suitable for the 【Development Department】, so I—"

Laidun didn't say the rest, but Xia Duo already understood. However, the problem arose, "Then how do you know he is very experienced?"

"Jiefu, the Supervisor currently responsible for coordinating the various Working Groups on the development front, often asks Kelake for advice. Of course, this can also be converted into merits, but there is still a significant gap from the merits required to get rid of Slave status."

Laidun said with some regret.