Seven-Department Co-Governance

A commercial district came into view. Wooden signs hung above uniformly designed storefronts, bearing names such as "Otherworld Tea House," "Otherworld Li Si Restaurant," "Clothing Repair Shop," and even an otherworld version of a daycare center...

Many people wandered through the area, buying and selling, and some still wore modern clothing.

Yet the currency they held was actually little bags of Peanut Wheat, weighed out and exchanged through barter.

This certainly was no long-term solution. As more land came under cultivation, the value of Peanut Wheat would only fall.

Just then.

A group came down the street, led by a young man in green silk clothes. More than a hundred people followed behind him, young and old alike, all wearing extremely simple autumn clothes that the Ash Fog World's current industry could not produce.

"The street we're on is currently the Clan Territory's only commercial street. This world doesn't have a unified currency yet, so we're temporarily using grain in its place."

"You won't need to work for the first three days after arriving. All your food and lodging will be provided free of charge. You should use those three days to adapt to this new world. After that, there won't be any more free supplies. You'll have to work to earn them yourselves. As for jobs, you can choose whatever suits your circumstances."

"If you want farmland, just go to the cultivation area and mark out a plot yourself. You can take as much land as you have the strength to work. Thirty percent of your total harvest will be collected as tax."

"If you think you have what it takes, you can also try the various departments. If you qualify, you'll be eating from the public rice bowl from then on. You might even have a chance to gain access to supernatural powers."

Pausing to catch his breath, he continued:

"We're still in the early stages of development, and all our systems are subject to constant adjustment. The Human Race is currently jointly governed by seven departments: the Agriculture Department, Industry Department, Commerce Department, Revenue Department, Military Department, Police Department, and Education Department."

"It might seem like a continuation of the old system, but the differences are considerable. There's no emperor. All major matters concerning the Human Race's development are decided by a vote among these seven departments."

"Department officials are divided into six ranks: minister, deputy minister, division chief, deputy division chief, section chief, and deputy section chief. That's only the current structure. Whether it'll change in the future is anyone's guess."

Lin Shan listened to the man's introduction from the sidelines.

The seven-department system covered almost everything they currently needed. It had both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was that the departments could keep one another in check; the disadvantage was that prolonged opposition between certain departments might turn into a disguised form of internal strife.

Still, the system was workable at this stage, as the Human Race's current development amply demonstrated. If circumstances changed later, they could simply revise it. As pioneers recognized by the Clan Artifact, Zhang Zhonghua and the others should have that ability.

Lin Shan followed the newly arrived transmigrators and listened to nearly two hours of explanations, gaining a general understanding of their current development.

"Hey, buddy." Someone beside Lin Shan called out to him. "When did you transmigrate? I heard money can't even buy an outfit like yours. Looks like you've done pretty well for yourself."

The leader at the front also turned to look at Lin Shan. He had long since noticed that Lin Shan had been following them, mainly because his clothes were so conspicuous. In the current Clan Territory, they were practically a symbol of authority.

The leader carefully inspected Lin Shan's green robe. Its design was far more luxurious than his own. Money really could not buy clothes like these at present. No matter how much silk the Azure Silkworm could spin, it could not supply more than seventy thousand people. Only those within the departments had a chance of receiving such clothes. His own outfit had been issued from above when he became a guide for newcomers.

"My friend, may I ask which department you serve in?" The leader was far more tactful than these newcomers to the otherworld. He had already come to understand deeply that this was a new world with new rules. With the power those pioneers possessed, they could even restore imperial rule if they wanted. Fortunately, they had not done so, and the people still enjoyed some measure of democracy.

"I don't serve in any department," Lin Shan said mildly.

"I see. It seems I was mistaken. My name is Jiang Dang. Might I have the pleasure of getting to know you?" Jiang Dang spoke very politely. Whether or not this man was a department official, anyone who could wear such clothes was no ordinary person. Making his acquaintance could do no harm.

Looking at Jiang Dang's outstretched hand, Lin Shan hesitated, but ultimately shook it. "My name is Lin Shan."

"Your name is Lin Shan? That sounds so familiar... You must just share the same name."

As soon as he finished speaking, he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Lin Shan sighed as he watched Jiang Dang lying on the ground, trembling nonstop. After a moment, he went still, with a thin layer of ice crystals coating his body.

Lin Shan checked him with his spirituality and breathed a sigh of relief. He was still alive.

His hesitation had certainly not been due to a fear of germs or anything of that sort. He had been afraid that an ordinary person might suffer harm from touching him.

He had already suppressed his supernatural nature almost completely, yet something had still gone wrong.

After all, how could an ordinary person possibly touch an anomaly? Lin Shan was now no different from one. He possessed everything an anomaly did, including its passive harm to ordinary people.

Lin Shan worried that, if he advanced to a higher Sequence in the future, ordinary people might drop dead just from looking at him...

"Ah! Murder!"

Some screamed in fear, while others calmly shouted, "Hurry, get a doctor! Find the guards!"

"Don't let the murderer escape! Surround him!"

People nearby immediately began shouting, and some even tried to seize him.

Alarmed, Lin Shan hurriedly fled. Red light flashed where he stood, and all the crowd saw was a flicker of enormous blood-red wings before he vanished.

"Where did he go?"

"I think he flew away..."

"How did he fly?"

"He spread his wings and flew!"

"..."

"He's a supernatural being! Hurry! Notify the ministers! A supernatural being has invaded!"

Now a thousand meters up in the sky, Lin Shan breathed a sigh of relief. He had truly been afraid those people would touch him. This would not even count as staging an accident for compensation anymore. They would be throwing their lives away.

He landed near the Clan Hall and entered through the main doors this time. The guards now recognized Lin Shan and saluted him. He nodded and strode into the first-floor hall.

Unlike the second and third floors, the first floor had no partitions. It was one large, open space used to receive newly arrived transmigrators.

Today's newcomers were probably the group he had just seen. Apart from a few elderly women cleaning, the hall was now empty.

He headed straight up the stairs along one side toward the second floor. On his way up, he encountered a group coming down.

"Division Chief Chen, this is the roster for the upcoming Ash Fog expedition. Please take a look." A mature woman handed the list she held to Division Chief Chen ahead of her.

The man addressed as Division Chief Chen took the roster and scanned it. "General Zhao is going this time too?"

"Yes." The woman nodded. "General Zhao said he wants to find some new medicinal herbs to improve the Medical Canon."

"Well..." Division Chief Chen hesitated. "General Zhao is a pioneer. If anything happened to him, the repercussions would be far too great. No, I have to go talk him out of it. We can help him find whatever herbs he needs."

"It's no use." The woman sounded helpless. "Minister Zhang went to persuade him earlier and got his face beaten so swollen that he's still hiding in his office, afraid to show himself. That's the minister of the Military Department-his direct superior, in theory-and he still dared to punch him outright. If you went..."

The woman blinked. She left the rest unsaid, but her meaning was clear.