Li De returned to Glory and immediately felt the explosive power surging through his body, along with the sensation of the surrounding mana resonating with his every gesture. A trace of emotion flickered across his eyes.
The feeling of controlling power was simply wonderful.
He shook his head. After changing into a fresh set of clothes, he left his manor and headed straight for City Hall.
He had spent ten days on Earth, but a month had already passed in Glory. He had to make up for lost time.
During this month, aside from sending a message midway to Vina to have his little maid deliver Gold Pucks to the players, he had only come up a few times to check whether any major events had occurred.
What satisfied him was that, although the municipal system he had established was not yet perfect, it could already operate normally without him present.
This was exactly what he wanted. One person’s ability and energy would always be limited. It was impossible to personally oversee everything, especially as the forces under his command grew ever larger.
But a sound system could unleash limitless potential.
He did not have the time or energy to monitor every single affair in Dawn City. By setting up the City Hall, he only needed to ensure it kept running properly to control the entire city.
On the third floor of City Hall, Li De had just stepped into his office when Harrison followed closely behind.
“Good day, Patriarch.”
“Good day, Harrison.”
Li De looked with satisfaction at his great general. Dawn City’s rapid development could not have happened without Harrison’s personal capabilities. In fact, in his view, Harrison’s value was not necessarily less than that of the Level 18 Bone Dragon, perhaps even greater.
It was difficult to find top-tier combat power, but top-tier management talent was even rarer.
“How are the arrangements for the dwarves and the beastmen?”
When Harrison heard this, his expression turned slightly odd.
“Patriarch, both the dwarves and the beastmen have been arranged very well by Niko. They have already begun to integrate into Dawn City.”
Li De was a little surprised and looked at him with some curiosity. Arranged by Niko, that little girl?
Immediately, his interest was piqued.
“How did that little girl handle the dwarves and beastmen?”
Harrison’s expression carried a hint of admiration. “Patriarch, your eye for talent is truly remarkable. I dare wager that even the Goddess of Night would be astonished by your wisdom.”
While Li De’s face twitched helplessly, Harrison finished his unabashed praise and began to explain in detail how Niko had dealt with the beastmen and dwarves during this time.
“Though Niko is young, her talent in management is absolutely far beyond mine.”
“In our original plan, the beastmen were to be treated as slaves. Giant Valley was the best place to send them.”
Li De listened with great interest. As Harrison recounted, he found himself increasingly impressed by Niko’s instinctive brilliance. He had indeed chosen the right person.
Niko had not simply relegated all the beastmen to the status of slaves, as Li De had first intended.
Instead, she opted to divide and stratify them, directly creating a new hierarchy, Third-Class Residents, Second-Class Residents, and First-Class Residents.
Third-Class Residents were one step above slaves, enjoying minimal rights but still required to yield and bow when encountering formal residents, essentially the lowest rung of citizenship.
Second-Class Residents had higher status than Third-Class Residents, while First-Class Residents stood above them all. Finally came the formal residents.
Beastmen who were willing to join Dawn City were granted Third-Class Resident status. Among them, the most proactive individuals received Second-Class Resident treatment, and if they passed certain trials, they could even be elevated to First-Class Resident.
Life on the Barren Plains was countless times harsher than human life on the borderlands.
In the time the beastmen had spent in Dawn City, they experienced for the first time what real living could be.
Food, every day they received fragrant, soft white bread. They never had to worry about going hungry, even though they were captives, they could still eat their fill each day.
On the Barren Plains, hunger was something every beastman experienced every few days.
If one truly wanted to be full, unless he was the tribe’s chieftain, even a Level 10 Advanced Warrior might not manage it every day.
Now, they only had to complete a set amount of mining or construction work daily to enjoy such privileges. For beastmen who had suffered to the limit, this was practically bliss.
Clothing, warm garments, sturdy shoes. No longer did they have to wear those coarse, stiff animal hides that left their bodies constantly irritated. Their standard of living rose sharply.
Shelter, even the temporary accommodations in Giant Valley were built orderly, shielding them from the wind and even the insects.
For most beastmen who used to sleep in crude animal-hide tents, tormented by insects every night, this was almost luxurious.
So, while most residents of Dawn City believed that the enslaved beastmen led miserable lives, in the eyes of those beastmen who had always lived in extreme poverty, their new living conditions were incomparably better.
Aside from a handful of beastmen, most were very content. This was no slave existence, it was a dream.
But then the Third-Class Resident policy was announced, the current treatment would only be available to Second-Class Residents.
This policy immediately cast the beastmen back into hell. Overnight, they went from a life of abundance to true slave conditions.
To continue enjoying their current benefits, beastmen had to join Dawn City.
Having grown used to the sweet comforts, being forced back into their former wretched lives was an unbearable fall.
Under this policy, the beastmen collapsed almost instantly.
And those beastmen who stubbornly refused to join Dawn City were handled even more simply: they were degraded to true slaves. Not only were their standards and treatment reduced, they were also forced to do the hardest and most exhausting work, and their lives became even more miserable than on the Barren Plains.
Without comparison, there is no pain.
The difference between surrendering and not surrendering was so great that, in a short time, Dawn City gained many Second-Class and Third-Class beastman residents. They took on the work that ordinary residents were unwilling to do, and they did it gladly.
This policy could not be called perfect, there were even considerable hidden risks, but the advantages were obvious: it was no longer necessary to reassign people to guard over five hundred beastman slaves.
They could even use beastmen who had joined Dawn City to manage those who had not surrendered, greatly reducing the burden on the city.