Chapter 134: The Spark of Civilization

The bloody smell on Zhong Yang Guang Chang was blown away by the cold morning wind.

After this battle, everyone clearly realized a fact.

Xuanwu City is, of course, the only pure land and heaven in the apocalypse, but it is also Lin Yue's absolute domain.

Here, the City Lord's will is the supreme iron law.

Anyone who dares to provoke this authority, no matter who they are or what reason they have, will meet a miserable end!

City Lord's Mansion, inside the study.

Lin Yue finished processing the last document concerning the follow-up handling of the Anti-Lin Alliance, and gently rubbed his slightly swollen temples.

The effect of killing a chicken to scare the monkeys was better than he imagined.

But Lin Yue's mood did not feel relaxed because of that.

No wonder the decadent rulers of old lived in comfort, while the wise ones died early!

Because the wise rulers were literally worked to death.

"City Lord, you called for me?"

Wang Gongtou pushed the door open; his face, which always bore a cheerful smile, now showed a hint of worry and self-blame that could not be concealed.

Wu Bin was someone he personally recruited into the Engineering Department.

Although he had long seen that the lad was arrogant and not a peaceful sort, he never imagined he would go so far as to plot the assassination of the City Lord.

"Old Wang, have a seat."

Lin Yue pointed to the sofa opposite him, gesturing for him to sit.

"This matter is not your fault; I simply thought things too simply."

Lin Yue's voice carried a hint of self-reflection.

Upon hearing this, Wang Gongtou felt even more guilty; he opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't know where to begin.

"City Lord..."

"Old Wang, I called you today not to pursue anyone's responsibility."

Lin Yue interrupted him, walked up to the huge holographic sand table, pointed at the city model that had already taken shape, and said slowly:

"I just suddenly realized a problem."

Wang Gongtou followed the direction of his finger, a flicker of confusion crossing his eyes.

"Problem? City Lord, isn't our city planning already quite complete? Residential zones, agricultural zones, industrial zones... everything that should be there is there."

"No, we're still missing one thing."

Lin Yue shook his head, his gaze becoming deep,

"and moreover, the most important one."

He turned around, looking at Wang Gongtou's puzzled face, and said word by word:

"Old Wang, Xuanwu City has nearly three thousand minor children, yet we have no school."

School!

Wang Gongtou slapped his thigh hard,

"My fault! When I was doing the city planning, how did I forget something so important? I... I'm really an old fool!"

As the Chief Engineer of Xuanwu City, he believed he had considered every aspect of the city's future.

But despite all his calculations, he had overlooked the most fundamental and core link—education!

"Old Wang, why are you blaming yourself again? Nowadays, in the apocalypse, just being able to survive is already good."

Lin Yue looked at his appearance, shook his head somewhat amusedly.

"I merely thought that Xuanwu City has now taken initial shape; it's time to consider the issue of education. That's why I invited you, the Chief Engineer of Xuanwu City, to come discuss it."

Wang Gongtou also understood that this made sense; in the apocalypse, knowledge can't be eaten as food, so one must first consider survival before anything else.

But no matter how you say it, this is the mistake of him, the Chief Engineer of Xuanwu City.

"City Lord, then what do you mean..."

Lin Yue thought for a moment, then slowly spoke:

"What we want to build is not just a school, but a completely new education system."

Wang Gongtou was stunned; he never expected the City Lord's idea to be so grand.

"An education system?"

"Exactly."

Lin Yue nodded heavily,

"Old Wang, we can't just teach the children to read and do arithmetic. That's not enough."

He walked to the other side of the sand table, standing opposite Wang Gongtou, and said in a low voice:

"On one hand, we must teach them the survival rules of the wasteland: identifying edible mutant plants, understanding the weaknesses of common mutant beasts, learning basic martial arts and firearms use... these are the fundamentals for them to survive."

"But more importantly,"

Lin Yue's tone became extremely solemn,

"We want them to know that before the name 'wasteland' appeared, humanity once had a brilliant civilization. We want to pass on the old era's knowledge, history, science, and art to them, intact."

"People like Wu Bin—today we killed one, tomorrow there may be a second, a third. It's better to guide than to block; rather than wait until they grow up and their thoughts go astray, then correct them with bloody means, it's better to tell them, while they are still blank slates, what is right and what is wrong, to establish correct values for them."

"Xuanwu City should not be merely a fortress for survival; it ought to be an ark carrying the spark of civilization. These children are our entire hope."

Wang Gongtou's blood boiled as he listened; he seemed to have already seen a vast and magnificent future scroll.

The guilt and worry on his face vanished, replaced by an unprecedented excitement and sense of mission.

"I understand! City Lord! I'll get on it right away!"

Wang Gongtou jumped up, feeling as if he had grown twenty years younger, his whole body brimming with inexhaustible energy.

"Don't worry! At most one month! I guarantee to build you three… no! four! elementary school, middle school, high school, university! I'll arrange them all for you!"

"We can hold off on the university for now."

Lin Yue was amused by his enthusiasm and waved his hand,

"You can't become fat in one bite. Let's first build the elementary, middle, and high schools, then talk."

He walked up to the sand table, pointing at a vast open space at the junction of Dong Xing Zhen and South Peace Town.

"Let's just choose this place. Using Black Tortoise's 【All Things Return to the Ruins】 ability to level the land and build school buildings, for you it shouldn't be anything difficult."

"No problem!"

Wang Gongtou patted his chest and promised, then immediately, as if recalling something, he furrowed his brows tightly.

"But City Lord, school buildings are easy to build, but these teachers… where are we going to find them?"

This, however, is the real problem.

When the apocalypse struck, intellectuals were often the first to die.

They lacked strong physiques and ruthless hearts; faced with the cruel law of the jungle, they were like meat on a chopping block, at the mercy of others.

Now, among the over eighty thousand people of Xuanwu City, most are struggling survivors at the bottom; sending them to construction sites to move bricks or to farmland to work the fields, each one is capable.

But to have them pick up chalk and step onto the podium…

That's practically harder than climbing to heaven.

"People can always be found."

On Lin Yue's face, however, not a trace of worry could be seen.

"I have my own methods."