"City of Hope! City of Hope!"
Tens of millions of Gretchin cheered with tears in their eyes, jumping for joy and shouting those words over and over-words they had never dared dream of.
Taking Ironfang Fortress was only the first step on a long march. Liu Zhipeng's greatest challenge was turning a disorganized mob of tens of millions of newly freed Gretchin, timid by nature and utterly lacking in discipline, into a nation that could actually function.
He knew that although the Primordial Divine Flame had ignited the Gretchin's souls, granting them unprecedented courage and loyalty, their bodies and genetically ingrained habits remained the greatest weaknesses of both this army and this fledgling regime.
Gentle guidance and preaching would not work on this species. He had to use the harshest laws and the most ruthless methods to forcibly root out all their worst traits in the shortest possible time.
And so, on the second day after the City of Hope was founded, the Big Boss issued his first decree-the Hygiene and Order Act.
The decree was simple and brutal, but it struck directly at the most deeply entrenched problems in Gretchin society.
Article one: anyone who urinates or defecates in public shall die.
Article two: anyone who fails to dispose of household rubbish and food scraps as prescribed shall die.
Article three: anyone who hoards food or fights over supplies shall die.
Article four: anyone who disobeys orders or abandons their post shall die.
Article five: anyone who bullies their fellows or forms cliques shall die.
There were dozens of articles, and every one ended with the same cold word: death.
A newly established unit was charged with enforcing this almost terrifyingly harsh decree-the Enforcement Squad.
Every member of the Enforcement Squad was selected from the Ember Veterans who