Failed Attempt

"The Power of Hope has decreased..."

In the Governor's office at the Spire, Ron let out a long sigh.

He had just tried to improve the people's lives in order to gain more Power of Hope.

But he had failed.

He had chosen the mining teams with the heaviest workloads as a trial.

The miners had to travel through complex pipelines into the underground mining areas to work, a job that was both exhausting and dangerous.

Not only did they have to face frequent cave-ins, but they also had to watch out for mutant attacks.

Death had become part of their daily lives.

Ron had not dared make sweeping changes to the production system, because every aspect of production in the territory was already overloaded, maintaining a delicate balance.

If he took too big a step and broke that balance, things would become troublesome.

At a time like this, even a slight disturbance could get more people killed.

So Ron had merely instructed the head of the mining department to give some workers rotating days off, granting them one paid day of leave.

At the same time, he announced that the mining teams would adopt a rotating rest system in the future to ease the miners' burden.

Yet what Ron received was the workers' panic, and even less Power of Hope!

At that moment, Will, the mining team supervisor, stood before Ron and endured questioning.

If the Governor had not summoned him, a nobody like him would never have had the chance to set foot in the Palatine District in his entire life, much less enter the Governor's office in Spire Mansion.

To meet the Governor, he had extravagantly taken a bath and put on his best clothes, but he still looked rather grimy.

"Governor, the workers are afraid..." Will lowered his head, his face full of fear.

"Afraid?"

"Yes. They're worried someone will replace them while they're on leave. They're also saying the mining team can't keep going and is looking for ways to cut manpower."

"Didn't you explain it clearly?"

"We did, but no one believed us."

Will lowered his head even further. "There are even rumors that the mines are under some terrible ghostly curse, and that no one will be able to mine there anymore!"

"What else? After the leave system was announced, wasn't there even the slightest benefit?" Ron pressed.

"There was. The people who stayed worked even harder. Even when they got hurt, they didn't dare rest, afraid someone would make them leave the mining team."

Ron immediately corrected him. "It's temporary leave, not leaving the mining team!"

At that moment, Ron realized just how difficult management could be.

The idea was good, but the people below had implemented it all wrong!

Of course, it was also possible that the policy did not fit the current situation and that he had acted too hastily.

Fortunately, he had only tried it on a small scale. Otherwise, it would have caused a huge disaster.

"Yes, leave, Governor. That's what I told them—it was leave!"

Will was so frightened he could barely stand.

In truth, he did not understand the Governor's actions either.

God-Emperor above, the Governor had given miners paid leave!

He had never even heard the term "paid leave," much less seen anything like it.

Such an unprecedented thing was terrifying. No one could understand why it was happening.

He only knew that life was already hard enough.

The miners would rather work themselves to death in the mines than leave.

Because leaving meant losing their source of food, and that meant someone would starve to death!

Like the miners, Will was plagued by wild thoughts and had no idea what to do.

Could something really have gone wrong in the mines?

Or was it as the rumors said—that the Palatine District had run out of food and could no longer pay the miners their daily wages?

Miners were paid by the day, because no one could guarantee they would live to see tomorrow's sun.

The miners' daily pay had already fallen from three blocks of Corpse Starch to two. Many mining families struggled to survive on those two blocks of Corpse Starch.

If they could not even afford to pay those two blocks, no one knew how many people would starve to death.

Will suddenly thought of himself. If the mining team was gone, would he, its supervisor, not lose his purpose as well?

Without this job, how could he answer to the people beneath him? Where else could he go?

The situation was grim. At his age, and with his poor physical condition, even factories would not take him!

At that thought, Will seemed to see his wife and two little daughters starving to death, their bodies dragged away by the corpse collectors.

Grief surged in his heart, and he could not help sobbing. "What are we supposed to do? God-Emperor, please save us!"

The next second, Will realized his breach of decorum and quickly covered his mouth, but he still could not control his emotions.

He sobbed and wept before Ron.

Ron fell silent.

Even Will, a mining team supervisor, did not trust the Palatine District or him, the Governor. How could the common people?

Without trust, anything he did would only deepen their suspicions.

The more he did, the more mistakes he would make!

Unless he could truly produce a large amount of supplies to distribute and continuously improve the workers' lives, the despairing workers would never develop hope for the future.

But Ron could not do that for the time being.

Because the Palatine District's food reserves had truly run dry. He could not produce that much food.

It could be said that the territory stood on the brink of crisis.

He had a way to solve the food problem.

He needed to gather enough Power of Hope, then activate the teleportation and enter the farm within the Space Hulk to obtain the agricultural technology and seeds left behind by the Golden Age.

But the plan was stuck here. Without Power of Hope, he could not go.

The key was how to use the little remaining supplies to inspire people as much as possible and generate enough Power of Hope.

"Governor, please forgive my disrespect!"

After Will stopped crying, he fearfully dropped to his knees and begged Ron for forgiveness.

Ron came back to himself and shook his head. "Get up. I will not blame you."

Seeing that Will remained uneasy even after standing, Ron had no choice but to ask.

"If you have any questions, ask them."

"Governor, the mining team can keep going, right? The miners need this income. I guarantee they will never slack off..." Will spoke timidly.

"It can." Ron said firmly, "I guarantee it!

"I failed to consider the leave matter carefully enough. Go back and tell everyone that everything will remain as it was..."

After some thought, Ron decided to temporarily suspend the leave system so that suspicion and rumors would not continue spreading.

After all, such policies required abundant supplies and productive capacity as their foundation. The time was not yet ripe, so there was no need to overcomplicate things.

If it all fell apart, he would not even have a place to cry.

"Understood, Governor!"

Hearing that, Will let out a sigh of relief, visibly brightening.

Power of Hope +1!

Ron sensed one point of Power of Hope emerging from Will.

Seeing this, Ron decided to make a further attempt.

He patted Will on the shoulder. "Work hard. I will not treat you unfairly."

"I will, Governor!"

Power of Hope +1!

Ron grabbed Will's hand and continued eagerly, "I think highly of you. As long as you work hard, I'll promote you and raise your pay..."

Ron gave him another round of empty promises, but Will did not produce any more Power of Hope. He even seemed somewhat frightened.

It seemed verbal persuasion had limited effect.

Ron felt a little regretful and could only end the conversation, letting the other man leave.

"Wait!"

Just as Will turned to leave, Ron called out to him.

"You have two children at home, right?"

"Yes, they're five years old." At the mention of his children, a smile appeared on Will's lips.

"Since you're here, bring some gifts home for them."

Ron pointed at the Frost Poro Cookies and colorful candies on the table.

Linda had just brought them in, and they were giving off a sweet fragrance.

During their conversation, Ron had noticed that Will's gaze kept drifting toward the plate of candies and pastries.

He thought he might as well give him a small gift. Since the man had come all this way, it would not be right to send him back empty-handed.

Ron had grown accustomed to the materially abundant world of his previous life, so he had not considered these things particularly scarce.

Spire Mansion's warehouses held many precious ingredients. Even before the Hive City had fallen, those items had been extremely valuable supplies.

Only truly important figures could enjoy them.

For someone of Will's social standing, if the Governor had not summoned him personally, he would not even have had the chance to smell them.

"Governor..." Will swallowed, almost unable to control his voice. "You're saying these things are for me?"