Chapter 368: The Birth of the Divine Nation and the World

The current strike in Grimlan is the result of accumulated worker movements, including the Pine Tree Mine explosion and the Sloan Textile Factory incident, among many others.

This strike has erupted with extraordinary force, paralyzing more than half of Grimlan.

Even Prime Minister Ron, if alive, would have found it difficult to handle a strike of this scale, let alone Acting Prime Minister Glad.

In response to this strike, Glad chose to throw out a red herring.

The red herring effect refers to a practice over a hundred years ago, when Sterlan nobles trained hounds to track foxes by placing smoked, reddened herring meat to divert the hounds' attention, thus training them to resist external distractions during pursuit.

This metaphor has been carried into various contexts, meaning to shift focus by introducing irrelevant matters to influence the target's judgment.

Among these, politics and public relations are the most suitable arenas for deploying red herrings.

The best way to defuse a major public opinion crisis is not to directly solve the problem, but to create another sensational news story to divert public attention.

For instance, whenever a shocking scandal breaks, celebrities rush to emerge and offer unbelievable scandals to draw fire away from powerful figures.

In the Steam Phantom realm, due to the absence of the internet, information spreads slowly, making high-end tactics like sacrificing pawns to save the general impossible—but sacrificing the chariot to save the general is still feasible.

The red herring Glad threw out was the repeal of the Corn Laws.

One major reason workers live in poverty and struggle to feed themselves is the high grain prices caused by the Corn Laws.

Public resentment toward the Corn Laws has long existed; protests against them predate the Chartist Movement by decades.

If anything is more important to workers than fighting for political rights, it is the right to have enough to eat.

Repealing the Corn Laws is both highly topical and capable of drawing workers' attention; more importantly, as the current leader of the Liberal Party, Glad supports the repeal more strongly than Prime Minister Ron ever did.

Now is the perfect moment to use the workers' anger to force the land nobles into compromise.

If the land nobles compromise, advancing the repeal of the Corn Laws will greatly quell the workers' fury and demonstrate that Acting Prime Minister Glad cares about their living conditions and stands with them.

At that point, using the repeal of the Corn Laws as a starting point, a few speeches would easily soothe the workers.

At the same time, implementing the repeal would severely damage the land nobles and drastically reduce their influence in Sterlan.

If the land nobles refuse to compromise, all the better.

Glad can then shift the conflict from one between factories and workers to one between land nobles and the common people.

You're suffering so badly, yet these decaying land nobles remain unmoved, willing to watch you starve to death!

If handled properly, he will use the workers' rage to chop off one or even both of the land nobles' arms.

As a pure-blood new noble, Glad deeply despises the old nobles' attitudes and covets the House of Lords' legislative power, wanting to bring it under the Cabinet—but he has never found an opportunity.

If the land nobles block the repeal of the Corn Laws, then reshaping the House of Lords begins today.

From the moment he played the "Agreement for the Abolition of the Corn Laws," the outcome was destined to be a double win—Glad wins twice.

Yet despite the plan's perfection, when it came to execution, he felt no sense of overwhelming victory.

The House of Commons passed the "Agreement for the Abolition of the Corn Laws" by 427 votes in favor and 129 against.

On the day of voting, the House of Lords also passed the proposal by an overwhelming majority; Queen Olivia raised no objection and immediately signed the bill, officially abolishing the Corn Laws.

Glad's move was met with extraordinary cooperation from both the Conservatives and the House of Lords—so much so that they seemed eager to take over and act on their own.

This abnormality unsettled Glad, but it was too late to turn back.

Thus, the decades-long, fruitless movement to repeal the Corn Laws passed with startling ease and anticlimactic speed, as if all previous resistance had been a misunderstanding.

Wu Chang, as Minister of Secret Security, also participated in advancing the "Agreement for the Abolition of the Corn Laws." After casting his vote in the House of Commons, he hurriedly left and boarded an Anquan Force carriage.

Since this was not an investigative outing but an official trip, Booker took over as the driver, replacing Raventon.

Inside the carriage, Raventon, who had been waiting, asked Wu Chang: "How did it go?"

Wu Chang replied: "Passed by a large majority."

Raventon frowned thoughtfully and said: "Those old bastards seem to be plotting something big."

Ice doesn't form three feet thick overnight, but for the strike to reach its current scale, even a blind man could see there's a hidden hand behind it.

The land nobles' compromise was predictable, but their swift, unresisting capitulation was unexpected by anyone.

When something is out of the ordinary, there's always a trick— the land nobles must have some ulterior motive.

Wu Chang shrugged: "Let them fumble around. I care more about the disassembly results from Grimlan University regarding the self-destructing cyborgs."

He tapped the carriage wall and told Booker:

"Take us to Grimlan University."

On the day of the vote, three days had passed since the discovery of the Soul Weaving Machine.

During those three days, Grimlan became unusually "quiet"—both the Steam Council and the Quietist Sect went into hiding, as if everyone was watching this grand strike performance.

The pace of the strategy, which had been accelerating since entering the Steam Phantom scenario, was abruptly halted by this strike.

Everywhere in Grimlan, workers marched and protested, making further investigation into Prime Minister Ron's assassination extremely difficult.

Waiting is boring, but progress was not entirely absent.

During the final struggle for the invitation, Wu Chang prevented the Steam Council's cyborgs from self-destructing.

That cyborg had been modified by a Frankenstein-class super machine tool; its body was exquisitely precise. Wu Chang could destroy it under the guidance of the Omniscient Crystal, but he could not disassemble it bare-handed.

To disassemble the cyborg and study its clues in detail, professional personnel from Grimlan University were still needed.

Only just before the House of Commons vote today did they complete the disassembly of the cyborg's parts and begin preliminary analysis of the clues.

Grimlan University is close to the Parliament Building; within minutes, Wu Chang arrived at the young university.

Grimlan University was founded only four years ago, established jointly by Queen Olivia and Prime Minister Ron to promote educational diversity, weaken the influence of the Holy Lord Church, and research supernatural steam machinery.

Before the Holy Revelation Church replaced the Holy Lord Church, religion held immense power in Sterlan, especially in education.

Most established universities imposed strict religious restrictions: only those who believed in the Holy Lord Church could enroll or teach.

Only after Sterlan broke free from the Papacy, with the Queen replacing the Pope as the spiritual leader of religion, did universities gradually lift religious restrictions.

The most prominent example was Grimlan University.

As a symbol of progress, inclusiveness, and openness, Grimlan University brimmed with vitality, gathering the world's most elite talents.

Wu Chang and Raventon arrived at the Steam Mechanics College, where Zhu Li had already been waiting for them.

Under Zhu Li's guidance, they arrived at a research institute, where, besides the three of them, were Colonel Collins of the Steam Mechanics Academy, Chairman Lu Ka of the Alchemy Association, and Glad's secretary.

On the experimental platform at the room's center, Wu Chang saw the anomalous individual who had attempted to self-detonate that day—more precisely, the mechanical body of the anomalous individual.

From the disassembled parts, the internal structure of the cybernetic human was not complex; no precision components resembling a Supernatural Steam Core had been installed within the mechanical body.

If viewed as a tool, his existence was a humanoid bomb; apart from the detonation device destroyed by Wu Chang, the rest of his mechanical body was entirely filled with transparent granules resembling black crystal.

Wu Chang picked up a few granules and placed them in his palm; a prompt instantly appeared before his eyes.

"Item Name: Steam Explosive" (Royal Seal Unlocked)

"Item Type: Consumable"

"Skill Description: Manufactured via Supernatural Industrial Processes using multiple Supernatural items, mixed with the power of Steam Origin, inflicts massive damage upon Supernaturals who have not mastered Origin Power; this effect may only be used by native inhabitants of the plane."

"Note: Steam Explosives are produced by a Stable Atomization Centrifuge; the invention of this machine enabled Stilane to achieve a breakthrough in gunpowder technology, a brilliant jewel atop the crown of industry."

The result before him was the worst possible outcome among all foreseeable scenarios—without exception.

The appearance of Steam Explosives meant that, given sufficient raw materials, the Steam Council could mass-produce this explosive.

Replicating that day's explosion would cost them next to nothing; had they not used such obvious methods but instead stealthily sent cybernetic agents to approach players and detonate directly, few players could have withstood it.

With sufficient gunpowder, even Wu Chang would feel threatened.

These Steam Council bastards were nothing but trouble.

Chairman Lu Ka of the Alchemy Association pulled out a list and handed it to Wu Chang, saying:

"We analyzed the composition of this new explosive and identified several of its primary ingredients."

"The good news is that many of the raw materials involved are strictly regulated by the Empire; no matter how careful they are, they'll leave traces."

"Moreover, producing this explosive requires massive consumption of coal essence; coal essence is scarce, its extraction severely limited, so their new explosive cannot be produced in large quantities."

Hearing Lu Ka's words, Wu Chang frowned and looked at Zhu Li; Zhu Li understood what he wanted to say and gave him a confirming nod.

It seemed Zhu Li had not revealed that the Supernatural Refining Machine beneath Pine Mine could mass-produce coal essence.

If coal essence alone limited Steam Explosive production, it was effectively no limitation at all.

After all, the output of coal essence from Pine Mine was so vast that, besides supplying the Steam Council, it could even divert some to the black market.

Watching Lu Ka reassure others not to worry, Wu Chang wondered how composed he'd remain if he learned the truth.

Lu Ka did not notice the exchange of glances between Wu Chang and Zhu Li; he continued:

"Sir Xiao En, if nothing unexpected occurs, this matter likely involves Supernatural Steam Engines; the Police Bureau cannot participate. Your Secret Anquan Force and Zhu Li's Secret Police must investigate."

Wu Chang put away the list Lu Ka handed him and said: "We will uncover the mastermind as soon as possible."

While Wu Chang's main body and Reventon discussed the investigation into Steam Explosives with Zhu Li and others, Wu Chang's True Self rode in a carriage all the way to the Grey Church Slum.

From far away, he could already see the Miracle Tree, towering over forty meters, its canopy like an umbrella covering the slum.

During the three-day general strike, most activities in the city came to a halt—but some things surged forward during this strike.

For instance, the construction of the Grey Church Slum.

The general strike was massive, and it might erupt into violence at any moment; out of caution, most factories in Grimlan temporarily ceased production.

With their jobs lost, slum residents, seeing they could still earn money by helping renovate the slum, threw themselves wholeheartedly into its transformation.

With massive manpower added, the slum was completely transformed in just two days.

Environmental sanitation improvements, combined with Erin's healing, eradicated malaria from the Grey Church Slum entirely, making it one of Grimlan's few clean zones.

Seeing the transformation of the Grey Church Slum, Zhu Li honored her earlier promise and gave the almshouse to Wu Chang, who turned it into the Yongguang Sect.

The transformation of the Grey Church Slum was nothing short of earth-shattering; such changes made other slums envious, and even ordinary families living in the worker districts considered moving here.

When word spread that all these changes stemmed from Erin's Yongguang Sect, the lower classes across the surrounding areas massively converted to the Yongguang Sect.

In just three short days, the faith energy accumulated by the Yongguang Sect was sufficient to allow the Pillar of the Divine Realm to take preliminary form.

Within a two-kilometer radius of the Grey Church, the area had become Erin's Divine Realm—even the rules of the Steam Phantom Plane could not affect anything within it.

Entering the slum, Wu Chang felt his entire body lighten; the suppression of Steam Rules instantly vanished, blocked by the Miracle Tree.

With this Divine Realm, he was already invincible in this Steam Phantom dungeon.

No matter how greatly Steam Rules influenced the plane, if things turned bad, he could simply dive into the slum; if the dungeon boss dared follow him in, he and Erin would make sure it never left.

If Zhu Li were even more generous and gave them St. George's Cathedral, allowing Erin to convert it into a Yongguang Sect,

Within two days, the smog over Grimlan would clear into bright, clean skies.

At that point, under the plane's rules, it would no longer be the players who had to flee this plane—but the Plane's Chosen Son of Steam Phantom.

Unfortunately, the Abyss Game did not permit such actions; otherwise, Erin's Divine Realm would not have been restricted to just a two-kilometer radius.

Entering the slum, he headed straight for the Grey Church, like other believers drawn by its fame.

He sat on the last bench in the Grey Church, casually casting a soundproof barrier, and asked the person beside him: "How have you been lately?"

Xiang Jianxing, who had been sitting beside him, head bowed in prayer, lifted his head and said:

"Everything went smoothly. Myself and Leng Shan have successfully joined the Steam Council, and yesterday we entered one of their outposts."

"But they're too cautious—the carriage that transported us was fully sealed, blocking all our senses."

During the general strike, Wu Chang had, per plan, kept the Mystic Knights attempting contact with Henry, editor-in-chief of the Ming Deng Newspaper.

Due to the Sloan Textile Factory, Henry did not refuse contact, but he remained hesitant about deep cooperation, offering no firm commitment.

Though they failed to probe Henry's secrets, through the Mystic Knights' contact with Henry, Xiang Jianxing and Leng Shan completed their mission and successfully joined the Steam Council.

Xiang Jianxing paused, leaning his head slightly toward Wu Chang; even within the soundproof barrier, he instinctively lowered his voice:

"We've just joined the Steam Council and haven't gained access permissions to the outpost, but Leng Shan, through the outpost's layout and the concentration of Steam Origin Power, has confirmed that the Plane's Chosen Son is within the Steam Council."

"And one more thing: the man who received us called himself a Steam Councilor. He said he selected us because we, like them, possess Rule Power."

"He claimed the current influence of Steam Origin Power on the plane's rules is no coincidence—it's all the result of their deliberate manipulation behind the scenes."

"He said every time a Supernatural Steam Engine is discovered and exposed to the public, the Steam Rules' influence on the world deepens further."

Wu Chang frowned, pondering the intelligence Xiang Jianxing had provided.

First, what he hadn't expected was that the Steam Council, a group that didn't look like the final villains, actually had a Child of the Plane within them.

Second, that Child of the Plane's control over the Steam Root Force far exceeded his and Levington's estimates.

He had not only mastered the Root Force himself, but had even mastered a method to make the Steam Root Force influence the plane's rules.

Perhaps the time point at which the Extraordinary Steam Engine was discovered differed from what the Steam Council had anticipated, but on the whole it hadn't strayed from their plan.

In other words, the clues to the Extraordinary Refining Machine left at the bottom of the Pine Coal Mine, as well as the Soul Loom, were all deliberately left by them.

Wu Chang narrowed his eyes, thinking to himself that things were getting troublesome.

After Sword Star finished sharing the intelligence they had gathered, his gaze turned toward the interior of the Gray Church, and he couldn't help but ask:

"How did you find this place? I can sense that this church possesses a special power that can isolate the Steam Rules."

"If this place didn't exist, I would have worried the Steam Council would use the power of Rules to monitor us, and wouldn't have dared to meet you lightly."

Wu Chang said: "The power that isolates the Steam Rules doesn't come from this church, but from Sir Xiao En's Lady."

"Sir Xiao En asked me to pass word to you — if your identities are discovered by the Steam Council and you are hunted by them, try your best to find a way to escape into this slum."

"No matter who is hunting you, once you enter the slum, Lady Xiao En can guarantee your safety."

(End of this chapter)