The Heart of the Water Spirit Defense Zone's Reconstruction

Orwen listened to Shien and said nothing for a long time.

He had always judged an official's reliability by experience, achievements, and ability to handle affairs.

Alvin, for instance, was an old subordinate of his. He had lived through several Blood Moon Seasons and handled multiple emergency deployments well, sending timely support to neighboring territories.

By Orwen's old standards, that was proof enough of Alvin's administrative ability.

But this investigation had shown him that ability was not always what mattered most.

Put a rotten man in a high position, and the smarter he was, the greater the damage he could do—and the better he could hide it, until the consequences became endless.

It was not just Alvin. Orwen recalled several corruption cases the Water Spirit Defense Zone had handled in the past.

The Defense Zone's leadership had often blamed them on people's moral failings.

After a corrupt supervisor was punished, for example, the Church would choose someone more loyal, steadier, and more experienced to take his place.

That dealt with the offender at hand, but passed his authority intact to the next supervisor.

Years later, that new supervisor might follow the same path as his predecessor and turn into another evil dragon.

Shien's approach in the Third Outer Ring changed that at its root.

Rather than find someone with Alvin's abilities and connections to replace him, Shien broke the work once done through one person's experience into fixed steps, then had people in different positions oversee one another.

The newly promoted junior officials had less experience, and their ability to handle complicated matters fell far short of Alvin's.

Yet by diligently following Shien's methods, they had greatly improved the Third Outer Ring's efficiency.

A stable order could be built on institutions. An official's character and ability could raise its ceiling,