Get Some Fries at the Docks

Ralte's work of digestion was like a tamed yet still lumbering Sand Beast, slowly but steadily beginning to move forward under the reins of the "work-point system."

Once the situation had initially stabilized, the first thing Zhou Beichen and Lorgar did was continuously expand and strengthen their leadership team. Fanatical believers alone were insufficient to govern an increasingly complex system, while bureaucrats purely from the old era found it difficult to understand the core of the New Covenant. Zhou Beichen adopted an extremely pragmatic mixed system.

They promoted a group of young, loyal, quick-learning grassroots managers from among the Faith Guard members who had followed them from the beginning, night school students who had excelled and demonstrated organizational ability, and key figures who had distinguished themselves during the Ralte uprising. At the same time, they did not completely discard the professional technocrats and clerks from Ralte's old administrative system who had been examined and proven willing to integrate into the new order. Lavoisier's workload was thus reduced considerably. At last, he could raise his head slightly from the ocean of clay tablets and paper, devoting more energy to expanding the Earthly Heaven Divine Son Basic Education Academy and deepening the compilation of its teaching materials. He regarded the construction of a knowledge system as an investment far more long-term than any administrative order.

A tiered management mechanism stretching from grassroots settlements to the city was initially established. Each level had officials responsible for administration, production, public security, education, and other functions, reporting upward regularly, while major decisions were ultimately settled by Zhou Beichen and Lorgar. The functions of the Contribution Assessment Committee were also refined, with different teams established to assess work points in production, construction, military affairs, and other fields, striving for unified and relatively fair standards.

The process was far from smooth. The integration of old and new personnel required time, work-point standards inevitably encountered all kinds of unforeseen disputes in practical implementation, and the competence and integrity of grassroots managers required ongoing supervision and training. But in any case, a rough yet effective framework had been erected, replacing the initial chaos of relying on personal prestige and improvised responses. Resource allocation, production recovery, and maintenance of order began to follow established rules.

Within Ralte City, workshops that had once been lifeless again rang with hammering and turning gears. However, production had shifted from ornate religious implements to farming tools, construction materials, and daily necessities. Outside the city, wasteland was jointly reclaimed by old and new residents under the new policy that "reclaiming land earns extra work points," and planted with improved crop seeds from the Southern Highlands. A peculiar vitality mixed with hope, exhaustion, and the struggle for work points spread across this land that had just endured the baptism of war.

It was a long and difficult beginning, but at least it had begun.

The night was deep. Above the Colchis Desert, two enormous moons of slightly different colors cast their cold radiance upon the earth. Countless stars glittered brilliantly in the unpolluted heavens, like a handful of crushed diamonds casually scattered by the gods.

On a secluded highland outside Ralte City, Zhou Beichen and Lorgar stood side by side, far from the scattered firelight and faint clamor of the city below. The night wind carried the desert's distinctive chill as it swept past, stirring fine dust.

Days of high-intensity work had left an unmistakable weariness on Zhou Beichen's face, yet his spirit rested in the strange calm that followed exhilaration. Lorgar, meanwhile, resembled an ancient stone statue. His huge body cast a long shadow in the moonlight, and his violet eyes reflected the river of stars overhead, unfathomably deep.

After a long silence, Lorgar's low voice broke the quiet of the night. His question was abrupt and direct, as if it had been brewing in his heart all along:

"Father, you are a man accustomed to calculating and measuring everything. In your eyes, faith is an investment, people's hearts are assets, and loyalty can also be quantified." His gaze shifted from the stars to Zhou Beichen's profile. "Now, we possess 'assets' far greater than that original shabby settlement—cities, population, armies, workshops, and... more and more followers and prestige. In your system of calculation, these are undoubtedly an enormous fortune that continues to appreciate."

He paused slightly, his tone carrying a rare and pure curiosity. "Then what is your ultimate dream? When this 'investment' expands to its limit, when you possess everything that can be possessed in your calculations, what do you ultimately want? I... am curious."

Zhou Beichen did not answer immediately. He looked at the stars, but a remarkably strange curve slowly formed at the corner of his lips, utterly out of place amid the grand narrative before them.

There was a hint of teasing in that smile, and a hint of exhaustion.

He turned to look at Lorgar's perfect profile, so full of seriousness and confusion, and said in a tone so relaxed it was nearly lazy:

"Get some fries at the docks."

"?"

Even with Lorgar's intelligence and comprehension, he could not help but freeze. A huge question mark was clearly reflected in his violet eyes. He simply could not connect those incoherent, meaningless words with the vast undertaking called Earthly Heaven that they were building before him.

The docks?

Fries?

What were those?

Some ancient ritual or code phrase?

Seeing Lorgar's rare, nearly vacant expression of confusion, Zhou Beichen finally could not hold back a low laugh. His laughter carried far through the silent night.

He waved a hand, as if he found the joke amusing, yet there was also a trace of loneliness that no one could understand.

"All right, no more jokes." He reined in his smile, but his gaze still carried that cynical laziness, as though he were explaining the simplest truth in the world. "My ultimate dream is actually to wait until you become the greatest... hmm, 'Capital Jia,' or whatever it is you want to become. Anyway, once you've achieved fame and success, stand at the top of this world, and command limitless resources and power..."

He raised a hand and gestured, his tone becoming exceptionally serious.

"I'll lie on you and freeload until I die."

Lorgar fell silent again. This time, his confusion was even deeper. He carefully examined Zhou Beichen's expression, trying to find a joke, a test, or a deeper metaphor within it. But all he saw was an almost candid, pure yearning for a life of getting something for nothing.

"Freeload... until you die?" Lorgar repeated the unfamiliar phrase, trying to understand the logic behind it.

In the system of knowledge that had been instilled in him and that he had come to comprehend himself, the meaning of life lay in striving, in establishing order, in pursuing the sacred and the truth, and in leading one's people toward a brighter future.

Yet "freeloading until death" was practically a blasphemy against life itself, a void deeper than corruption.

"Yes, freeload until death." Zhou Beichen nodded affirmatively, even narrowing his eyes in contentment as though he could already see that wonderful future. "No more calculating this balance and that balance, no more worrying every day about someone coming to attack us, no more dealing with endless administrative bullshit. Sleep until I wake naturally every day, eat whatever I want, watch the stars, zone out, and throw every troublesome matter at you to deal with."

He patted Lorgar's arm, hard as iron, his tone carrying the "earnest expectations" of an old father. "So, Lorgar, work hard. Your old man has spent the first half of his life... uh, whichever first half it was, being far too exhausted. Now that I've finally found a blue-chip stock like you, my retirement dream depends entirely on you. Once you unify Colchis, settle the Covenant Church headquarters, find your biological father, and establish a great Imperium spanning the sea of stars, I'll be able to retire in peace and enjoy the good life atop your achievements."

Lorgar said nothing for a long time. The night wind stirred the dark hair before his forehead, while starlight fell over his sharply defined face. He could not fully understand this "ultimate dream." In his heart, his father's wisdom was as deep as an abyss, his methods inexhaustible. He was the absolute core who guided him, shaped him, and even shaped this Earthly Heaven.

And yet the ultimate pursuit of such an existence was so... so... lacking in sacredness and a sense of mission?

However, for some reason, this seemingly ambitionless dream loosened the string in Lorgar's heart that had always been tightly drawn. A person whose aspirations were so simple, whose final wish was merely to lie flat, seemed to have far less of the grand ambition concealed in the depths of mist that had made Lorgar uneasy amid all his calculations and schemes.

This dream was too small, too worldly, even somewhat ridiculous.

Yet inexplicably, it gave him a faint sense of... reassurance.

"I... cannot understand your dream, Father." Lorgar finally answered honestly. His gaze returned to the boundless sky, where lay the order and truth he pursued. "My path is to establish an eternal, sacred order; to let light dispel ignorance; to spread the ideals of Earthly Heaven to every corner of the sea of stars. This path is destined to be filled with war, sacrifice, and endless responsibility."

His voice was low and resolute, carrying an unquestionable determination:

"But if this is the end you desire..." He tilted his head slightly toward Zhou Beichen. An indescribably complex light flashed through his eyes, mingling loyalty, protection, and perhaps a tolerance for this "simplicity" that even he himself had not noticed. "Then I will make it happen for you. On the day my Imperium is built, there will certainly be a place for you to lie flat in peace."

Zhou Beichen was stunned for a moment, then shook his head with a laugh, saying nothing more. He turned his gaze back toward the brilliant river of stars and thought to himself, This kid really is... adorably serious.

One wanted to build a sacred Imperium; the other only wanted to lie flat after the Imperium was built.

The gap between their dreams was far too vast.

Yet for some reason, beneath this cold moonlight, on this land that had just endured blood and fire and was struggling toward new life, this "father and son" whose dreams pointed in entirely opposite directions achieved a subtle yet stable balance.

One forged ahead through the waves, constructing the sacred.

One planned and calculated in the rear, dealing with reality.

Their ultimate goals might differ, but for the time being, the road beneath their feet remained the same.

As for the future...

Zhou Beichen let out a soft breath. White mist quickly dispersed in the cold air.

The future could wait until it actually came.

For now, he first had to find a way to integrate Ralte's damned, inefficient tax record system with work points and new accounting rules. Thinking of those mountain-like piles of chaotic old account books, Zhou Beichen felt that his dream of freeloading until death seemed to have moved a little farther away.

The night was still long, and so was the road beneath their feet.