Extraordinary Voyage-Chapter 720 - 620: Hell on Earth

While Aiven was still busy on the Kingdom mainland for the new territory, a vigorous literacy campaign had already begun in Georgia and the Far Sails Territory in the New Continent.

Small squares, churches, town halls... all places where people could learn collectively were filled with eager adult subjects.

"Apple, orange, banana, cotton, tobacco..."

Starting with various objects encountered in the simplest daily life.

One hundred and sixteen elite individuals, already renewed from the inside out, were dispatched back to the New Continent ahead of time via the Crown of Miracles utilizing Dream Cruise.

Aiven assigned Calvin, Jacob, and Kael from his close disciples to cooperate with the administrative staff in the territory, using part of the elite group as the backbone and drafting clerical personnel from the administrative system to establish the literacy department.

As time slowly edged back into winter, the predominantly agricultural colony subjects finally reached a period of farm inactivity. Instead of allowing them to lazily sunbathe or play cards, it would be more beneficial to help them enrich themselves and have more options as the territory moves towards industrialization in the future.

After all, even counting the higher status free aborigines, the territories of the Aimoer family and the Galliot family together only amounted to just over 600,000 people.

And most of them were low-knowledge populations who couldn't even recognize characters, significantly limiting the future expansion of various industries in the territory.

Since there is a lack of population and labor force, the effort should be put into improving the quality of the currently available population. The first step Aiven had to undertake was launching a universal literacy campaign.

The territory's slogan was equally grand.

To avoid "youth growing up in darkness with no future and knowledge, leading to suffering in this life and the afterlife," this plan was executed.

Thus, this remote Marquisate became the first region in the world to implement compulsory education!

Adults were treated this way, and suitable-aged children were even more of a priority.

School construction or renovation in major cities began, and direct financial and land support was provided at the territory level for the establishment of village schools.

Parents were required to send their children aged 7-12 to school, learning reading, writing, arithmetic, and all courses sufficient to enhance their happiness and well-being, with tuition fees funded from local relief funds.

Under this policy of emphasizing education, it might not take a generation before people trained to obey the government, revering the gods and nature, being diligent and frugal, would become the Marquisate's greatest asset.

Providing an inexhaustible driving force for the rise of the territory.

Of course, with the advancement of productivity and society gradually progressing, there were indeed proponents of a seemingly more advanced, civilized, and democratic political model originating from the city-state era—"Agora Politics."

They believed that humans were inherently corrupt, public opinion was king, and the tool to govern people was ideology. The agora was the best space for citizens to fight for rights and provide opportunities for political discussion, where people eagerly flocked to the assembly square to undergo the baptism of unified thought.

The asset elites of Ilya initially united all Level 3 citizens, ultimately representing public opinion to launch a massive campaign to overthrow the original ruling class, taking the same approach.

Some regarded this as a treasure, while Aiven discarded it as if it were a worn-out shoe.

History has long proven that for a struggling country to truly rise, power must be somewhat centralized, and democracy and freedom should be limited to some extent.

"Agora Politics" was absolutely not suitable for a vast country.

If viewed from this perspective, Lord Saint Aiven was indeed a staunch advocate of Royal Authority, and in the Marquisate, he personally embodied Royal Authority!

After another busy day, the three of them used the solidified Teleportation Gate within the Wizard Tower to return to the Waterfall Hill Wizard Tower located in the middle of the Georgia Territory.

At this time, Jacob and Kael, who came later, had successfully advanced by the turn of autumn and winter this year. As the third and fourth disciples, they surpassed the second disciple, Calvin.

While starting to take on some school management work, they also did not set aside their own research projects.

After having dinner meticulously prepared by the "Night Spirit" maid in the Wizard Tower, they sat down together again to catch up on research progress.

"Calvin, I think our current categorization of the animal kingdom, plant kingdom, and the unicellular organisms that fall between the two is still not detailed enough. We should make some kind of segmentation at the source."

Calvin, who similarly liked to explore and understand the world now, had replaced Kael, who was engrossed in medical arts and the mysteries of the human body, as Jacob's new partner.

"I think starting from the current framework and beginning to categorize further is fine. When we draw the tree diagrams and discover more patterns among species, we can supplement it then.

Moreover, I believe there is a cascading relationship from simplicity to complexity among species, and I also want to explore this transformation rule from simplicity to complexity using general principles..."

Suddenly.

Dang! Dang! Dang!...

From the distant sky came a profound bell sound that reached deep into the soul.

"Quick, look at the sky!"

Kael, closest to the window, suddenly pointed towards the sky with an exclamation.

The three of them stood up abruptly, looking out from the tower window. In the northwestern sky, it seemed as if a great fire had burned across the whole sky, the radiant light made half of the New Continent's night sky appear golden-red.

It was even more splendid than the aurora.

Without needing to activate Spiritual Vision, they, as Wizards, could clearly sense the storm in the Spiritual World.

"That seems like it's around the eastern border of the New Hilus Vice-Kingdom."

Afterward.

Rumble...

A rolling thunder from the horizon traveled clearly into their ears over hundreds of kilometers, signaling yet another battle's aftermath!

...

Since the Spiritual Overflow incident at Lake Huron early in the year, nearly a year had passed.

The influence of "Death God" Wuhao on the New Continent had almost dissipated entirely. In the concept of the Atrean people, who preserved traditions like the Godslaying Banquet,

Totem Gods unable to protect believers have no value, even if he was once a high-rank Totem God just below a Demigod.

The Shaman Group and affiliated Totem Gods belonging to Wuhao experienced an internal conflict, after which some returned to the wilderness state, while most were absorbed by "Lady Crow" Ye He'er and "Mother of Water" Melro.

The entire northern New Continent has turned into a situation of two strong contenders.

No need to worry about third-party interference, just defeating the opponent will allow exclusive access to the Spiritual Origin of the entire north, which has consequently raised the intensity of combat significantly.

At the same time.

Since last year's first large-scale Spirit Tide Impact, with the entire New Continent constantly emanating traces of Spiritual Origin, the activity level of Magic Elements on the continent is rapidly increasing.

To quantify it with data, when Aiven first arrived at the New Continent, the activity level of Magic Elements was perhaps 60%, while the Old Continent's Magic Element activity level was only 50% at the same time.

Today, the activity level of Magic Elements on the New Continent has at least reached 62%, and the growth rate of this activity is still accelerating, making those Natural Spirits and "Ghosts" increasingly stronger.

However, the warriors on the "Cumberland Line" handle ordinary Natural Spirits and "Ghosts" with ease.

Their tactics and strategies have long taken shape after a year of honing, with each person forming an instinct on what tactics, countermeasures, and weapons to use against different types of enemies.

Moreover, a large number of Flesh Puppets with Official Knight Level have been stationed at various posts, adding a layer of reliable protection to their force.

Even during yesterday's unprecedented "Spiritual Overflow" and the resulting Spirit Tide Impact, thanks to the timely dispatch of Extraordinary support squads, the "Cumberland Line" did not fall.

Cough, cough, the cost was not free, as the garrison soldiers might have suffered a bit of "spiritual pollution."

Whizz!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In the front is a nimble figure holding a thin-edged straight blade, followed by five powerful Spirit Bodies of unknown origin, whether monkeys or apes.

The figure in the front runs while constantly slapping their overly round and perky buttocks:

"Come catch me, if you catch me, I'll let you hehe! Hahaha..."

Boom!

Faced with such provocation, even the monkeys would be infuriated, pulling up the nearby giant trees and throwing them at him.

At this time, there are two more figures trailing far behind them.

"So embarrassing, can we... switch tasks?"

"Bear with it, once we've spent a month with him, we'll be free. Let's go, quickly finish off these five monkeys."

With the help of the Ephelide's Sacrifice on the line, Shark-man Baldwin became the first Pioneer to break through the shackles of Skin-Wearing People, successfully advancing to Tier 2 Peak.

Every post is equipped with an Arena Altar and Gladiator Talisman, even Billiver, the artificially created "Clockwork Man" whose combat power already surpassed Tier 2 Peak, has received substantial physical enhancement.

The third member of this trio is Onion, a Peak Official Knight once a subordinate of Oathbreaker Bradley, recognized by an Ancient God for potential and strength.

The area of operations for these three powerful Extraordinaries includes not only the "Cumberland Line" but also the more critically challenging "Abayachi Defense Line" further north.

"Make it a quick battle!"

...

Thanks to the north-south spanning "Abayachi Defense Line", even with Aiven along with his sister and Olivia away, the Phaletis Colony, including Georgia and Far Sails Territory, still maintains orderly defense.

Having gone through at least a year's adaptation period, they've gained enough resilience for long-term persistence.

However, in the northern continental areas, Buffalo, lacking systemic defense forces, paints a different picture.

The people, already suffering from a ghoul infestation, have met with increasingly rampant "Ghost" surges, pushing all production and life to near collapse. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The ghouls still controlling the area lack the organizational power of the Kingdom, and there is no decent Extraordinary resistance force among the populace.

Moreover, the ghouls have set up roadblocks between Buffalo's cities, checking people daily... adopting the strictest measures to restrict movement and effectively cut off escaping chances from the roots, making it impossible for anyone to leave their residences.

In the daytime, the remaining ghouls here select them as if picking livestock for fodder.

And come nightfall, there are never absent night raids by hundreds of ghosts.

"Caw caw—!"

"Boo hoo hoo..."

The laughter of the old owl mixes with inexplicable cries, making people's hair stand on end.

Yet even in a large city like Siracusa City, there's nothing they can do except hide indoors, trembling with fear and clutching their heads.

Suddenly.

"Don't come any closer, ah—!"

A sharp scream tore through the night sky.

The pungent smell of blood has already spread to the neighboring house separated by a wall.

Adults can only tremble as they firmly cover the children's ears and mouths, their eyes, darkened and devoid of hope, left only with the instinctual pursuit of survival.

Day after day, month after month, one day the judgment of death will come, and that day is not far away.

For in just one year, nearly half of the original 400,000 residents living in this treasure land have been lost, including those who escaped to other Alliance Colonies.

With news of Ilya's defeat, the ghouls' rule has grown increasingly insane.

In summary.

No matter how beautiful Aiven's planned blueprint is, the future second territory of the Marquisate has completely turned into a hellish landscape of skeletal peaks, forests of bones, and a dance of demons...