Zhang Tianyuan tapped the table, feeling rather helpless towards Jack's fanaticism.
Although this matter concerns him, it's actually not something he can easily interfere with.
He had previously asked Wu Yisi to do an analysis.
The reason why this so-called " Mutual Aid Society Divine Church " exists is fundamentally because it is supported by a deep emotional foundation.
The survivors who were rescued truly felt deep gratitude towards the Mutual Aid Society and him personally.
After all, comparing the present with the post-apocalyptic world, any normal person would feel grateful. Although the people in this timeline are not very friendly, they can still distinguish between good and bad.
This feeling of gratitude needs to be expressed.
This is commonly known as repaying a debt of gratitude.
Otherwise, most people would feel uncomfortable.
That's why everyone wants to do something for the Mutual Aid Society.
Unfortunately, the Mutual Aid Society doesn't require these survivors to do anything; they just need to cultivate their own land and feed themselves.
Then, this could no longer satisfy people's need to vent their emotions, so charlatans like Jack found a place to exist.
Jack provided the survivors with a good way to release their emotions.
All you need to do is turn people into gods and then worship them.
This is a legacy from humanity's most primal instincts.
The practicality of this method has been proven countless times throughout history.
That's why Jack's new cult has grown so rapidly.
"Difficult..." Zhang Tianyuan shook his head.
According to Wu Yisi, the emotions these survivors needed to vent were like an unstoppable flood, and even if he, the "god" who was worshipped, stood up and told them to disperse, it would be to no avail.
He is not a true god and has no power to convert those who insist on "believing" in him.
These survivors have their own brains and hormones, so he can't control their emotional outbursts.
When the sect is forcibly dissolved, these believers will most likely go underground, becoming even more secretive and causing more trouble.
After all, he's still in the public eye and under the supervision of the Mutual Aid Society, which allows him and the Mutual Aid Society to exert influence over the sect at any time.
But if they are declared illegal and their sects go underground, it would be equivalent to him, this "god," completely ascending to heaven and becoming a mere symbol, no longer under anyone's control.
Who knows, all sorts of messy things like indulgences for Little Boy might resurface then.
Seeing that Wang Lei was still waiting for his orders, as if he was ready to put on the exoskeleton armor at any moment and go out to arrest some illegal missionary.
Zhang Tianyuan sighed:
"Forget about them. Anyway, their current state might actually increase their cohesion; maybe they'll be able to dig up a couple more buckets of mud when we're digging the dungeon later..."
He gained new insights into these people.
In religion, what matters is not the god, but the person.
Didn't you see that even this "god" was helpless against Jack and his fanatics?
In the following period, Wang Lei began to implement the siege of the Cleveland Family.
He drew a line on the map; if any members of the Cleveland Family crossed the line, they would be attacked by heavy firepower and wiped out in one fell swoop.
Cleveland, lacking sophisticated weaponry, was helpless in the face of this situation.
They had initially planned to take the initiative and drive these Easterners out of their territory, but after several attempts, they realized that it wasn't them driving the people away, but rather the Easterners herding them like sheep...
Faced with this situation, the Cleveland patriarch decisively sent a letter of negotiation to the Mutual Aid Society society.
The conversation also revealed that they possess not only nuclear weapons but also missiles.
However, Zhang Tianyuan didn't take it seriously at all. While he had Wang Lei continue to push into the siege, he also found a group of geologists who Wandering Spacetime to help explore the specific terrain of California and Nevada, so as to make some advance preparations for Jack and his group to build an underground city in the future.
So what if they have nuclear weapons and missiles?
Nuclear missiles have a minimum range. The closer they are to the Cleveland Family bunker, the less likely they are to be attacked, unless the entire family goes insane and detonates the nuclear bomb on the spot.
But is that even possible?
Meanwhile, Tan Mingda's side is also making progress step by step.
Although the 30 million tons of fruit that Elder Zhou promised is still under preparation, the space-time transfer station for transportation is already in use.
Three weeks ago, the two timelines started together.
Construction work on the transshipment facility has commenced.
This wasn't a major project; it was simply creating a large open space with cement and a few temporary roads.
Three weeks have passed, and although the transfer station cannot yet completely cover the entrance to the Spacetime Tunnel, it has leveled an area of nearly ten square kilometers and is now ready for initial use.
Therefore, after receiving the latest project progress, Tan Mingda quickly issued orders to all levels. Documents were sent down from top to bottom, and wherever they reached, a group of people quickly sprang into action...
Most people are unaware of this change, remaining quietly in their buildings and workplaces, occasionally worrying about the coming ice age.
Until one evening.
A notice was sent to every building in the city.
"Stop work?"
"Did I hear that right? Everyone has to stop working? How is that possible?"
The residents in each building, upon hearing the building manager's announcement, all doubted whether they had misheard.
The building manager stood in front of the gate, informing everyone who wanted to leave that the factory had stopped production and everyone should stay home and wait for further instructions.
"What's going on, building manager?"
Faced with the neighbors' questions, the old building manager shrugged and said, "How would I know? I just received a notice from my superiors. Anyway, just stay in the building; arrangements will be made soon."
Just then, the door of the residential building was suddenly flung open from the outside with a thud.
Zhou Tao and Xue Liangping, along with several other members of the scrap metal transport team, walked in from outside.
Everyone immediately turned their attention to Zhou Tao.
" Old Zhou is back. What's the situation outside?" someone asked.
"What... what's going on?"
Zhou Tao had just returned and had no idea what they wanted to ask. He was also wondering why so many people were gathered at the entrance. It wasn't until he heard the building manager's explanation that he realized that construction was suspended today.
"Tell me quickly, what's going on outside? Is anything strange?" Xxs-2
"If that's the case, then it's a bit too lively outside today."
Zhou Tao recalled, "Starting in the afternoon, we saw many transport trucks coming out of the storage area."
"Yes, yes." Xue Liangping recalled, "During this period, day and night, there were frequent convoys heading into the storage area. At first, we didn't pay attention, but later we realized they weren't transporting things in, but rather hauling supplies out, truckload after truckload..."
What are you pulling?
"Where were you taken?"
Upon hearing this, everyone perked up.
Looking at the group of middle-aged and elderly people around him, Xue Liangping shrank back. "How should I know..."
He hadn't finished speaking.
Beep beep!
The doorbell rang suddenly.
There are strangers outside trying to enter the building.
The building manager ran over and quickly identified the person:
"It's the freight transport team and government officials!"
His tone was one of surprise.
Because these two departments never come together normally.
He opened the door, and the lingering warmth of dusk filled the room.
There were several trucks outside, one of which had its door open and was slowly reversing towards the building's entrance, its cargo compartment filled with boxes.
Workers belonging to the freight team unloaded the goods and pushed them into the building.
Even the government official came in carrying a large box.
The building manager immediately mobilized everyone to unload all the items from the carriage.
"Comrade, what are these things?" After working for almost an hour and moving the last box, the old building manager looked at the space around him that was crammed full and couldn't help but wonder.
After Zhou Tao and the others finished moving the items, they didn't leave; they just stood around craning their necks to watch.
The clerk smiled and said to the crowd, "I'm here today for two main reasons: to distribute supplies and to issue the latest mobilization order."
"These things on the ground are the first thing we need to deal with. They are all newly distributed supplies. Everyone, gather around and get ready to collect them."
"After you've distributed them all, I'll tell you about the latest mobilization order."
With the supplies right in front of them, nobody was interested in the mobilization order. Everyone was staring intently at the supply boxes, incredulous.
"So much stuff?"
"They're all for our building?"
The supplies in front of us have filled dozens of square meters. Distributing so many supplies at once is extremely rare in recent years.
The administrative officer nodded and handed the list of supplies to the building manager. "Yes, this is what's being distributed to your building. It's mainly durable food. Take a look."
Carefully check that the packaging is intact.
Upon hearing that it was food, everyone's eyes lit up as they stared at the boxes. Some even ran home, excitedly shouting, "The government is distributing food! Come down quickly!"
Suddenly.
The once quiet building was suddenly filled with lights. A room was lit up, and the sleeping people were suddenly awakened, looking down through the former shopping mall atrium.
"Really?"
"What day is it today? Why are they distributing food?"
The tone of voice still carried the grogginess of someone who had just woken up, but the sound was getting closer and closer to the first floor.
The main entrance on the first floor.
The building manager took the list from the administrative staff.
"The grain distributed this time is reserve grain. Did you receive the work stoppage notice?"
The old building manager nodded. He had just been stopping people from leaving. There were no special professions in their building, so everyone had stopped working.
The political officer continued, "According to the instructions in the documents from above, we are now carrying out industrial reforms, and this work stoppage may last for some time."
Most of you will likely be reassigned in the future, and this batch of grain is to ensure you can live normally during the work stoppage.
The old building manager and Zhou Tao and the others found the situation increasingly strange.
Industrial reform?
Is there any need for them to do this now?
Will we be unable to even afford food after the changes?
And they were just talking about the Ice Age not long ago, and now they've pulled this stunt.
Everyone was immediately filled with worry.
The clerk noticed the crowd's emotions and roughly knew what they were thinking. He immediately smiled and said, "Don't worry, I've already inquired with the higher-ups, and I heard it's excellent news. This operation is almost risk-free."
The old building manager was a little confused, but had calmed down somewhat.
His gaze returned to the list of supplies, and the more he looked, the more delighted he became. "Support rice, local rice, freeze-dried vegetables, fresh lettuce, cucumbers, whole chickens, pork..."
Seeing this, he couldn't help but look up and ask the clerk, "Comrade, is this a mistake or is it the New Year? No, the gifts we get for the New Year aren't this good, are they?"
"That's right, that's right," the clerk laughed happily, "Otherwise, why would I have told you that industrial reform is such great news?"
The building manager chimed in, "That really seems like great news!"
Whether the reforms will be successful is unknown, but just looking at the distributed supplies, the residents know that this is definitely not bad news.
After finalizing the list of supplies, there was another round of procedures before the college entrance examination papers were distributed. Everyone took turns checking and verifying the contents to ensure that the packaging was in order before the boxes could be opened.
The building's residents lined up in family units.
Zhou Tao and Xue Liangping acted as distributors, opening the boxes one by one in no time.
The sight of tender, slightly bloody chicken and bright red pork immediately whetted the appetites of many.
Meat, a high-value commodity, was distributed to each household. Only rice and vegetables were shared by the entire building. So, in the past, during holidays, each family would send someone to bring their distributed meat to the canteen to grab a pot, and then watch the chef cook their own dishes.
Skipping over rice and vegetables, Zhou Tao opened the last item that needed to be distributed to households.
Inside were rectangular bags containing long, flat, grayish-brown objects.
"What's this?"
Xue Liangping, who was standing nearby, leaned closer to take a look and realized that he had never seen anything like it before.
The clerk explained, "This is a newly issued instant food product; it's dried earthworms, which we didn't have before. You can eat it directly as is, or you can soak it in water and steam it."
earthworm?
Upon hearing this, everyone reacted differently.
The teenage generation finds it novel.
People in their twenties, thirties, or even older are puzzled.
In this environment, there's not a drop of water on the soil surface. Where did the earthworms come from?
No one questioned whether this thing was edible.
Especially after the political clerk announced the distribution quantity:
"This stuff is plentiful and filling; 50 kilograms for adults, 30 kilograms for teenagers, and 20 kilograms for toddlers and children."
With this amount, what more could you ask for?
Let alone dried earthworms, I'll eat any live earthworm bursting with juice!
As soon as the words were spoken, everyone lined up and eagerly awaited the distribution to begin.
Zhou Tao glanced at the government official and the old building manager, both of whom nodded and came up to help weigh the items.
And then there's the young man, Xue Liangping.
The small team of four quickly and happily got to work...