The current era in the Southern Continent is quite peculiar, somewhat resembling the Europe Renaissance from the XIV to the 16th centuries. Religious reforms are underway, former religious prohibitions are being abolished one by one, and many overly conservative ideas and rules are being discarded. The era advocates for individual liberation, proclaims that personal happiness in this world is paramount, and promotes adherence to reason, exploration of nature, and the pursuit of scientific knowledge; it encompasses multiple fields including architecture, painting, sculpture, crafts, literature, and music.
It can be said that it marked the formal departure from the rigid rules, stratified social classes, and outdated thinking of the old era, and the beginning of a new era of enlightenment.
Although it appears glorious and magnificent, full of freedom and culture, and promotes the liberation of spirit and thought, its manifestation at the social level seems somewhat too dark, or rather, dark towards the underprivileged.
The carriage traveled through the city, its wheels traversing a muddy road mixed with excrement, splashing disgusting mud and water onto the beggars around it.
During a break in the run, the horse's tail would lift slightly, its styroder would open and close, and wet horse manure would fall off, mixing with the mud and sewage to create a new road surface.
The city, though somewhat dilapidated, still smells unpleasant. While progress has been made in many other aspects, sanitation remains a major concern. Instead of regulating public urination and defecation and building toilets, royal families around the world seem to focus on creating high heels and high socks to prevent filth from soiling their feet—it's truly...
Even more elaborate garments, such as the Cairo skirt held up by wire, were woven and produced. These weren't just worn by noblewomen; they also became popular among the men of the court, simply because they allowed them to defecate standing up without removing their trousers, and afterwards, they didn't need to wipe and their clothes wouldn't get soiled...
Putting everything else aside, just considering the current state of sanitation, it's likely that once the Blood Clan Progenitor Norton is resurrected, his first priority will be to slaughter a significant number of people to reform the sanitation system.
Oh dear, it's really tragic for Hajinuo to have traveled to this era.
As the carriage entered the city, the cityscape finally came into view.
Upon entering the city, one is greeted by mud and filth everywhere, a harsh environment, and an unpleasant odor. Everywhere one looks, in street corners and alleyways, are impoverished beggars lying on the ground, ignoring the mud and grime, dressed in tattered clothes.
These people were all unemployed due to the slave trade. Before, they might have been farmers or workers, but now they couldn't compete with the large number of slaves and could only gather at the city gate to wait for work opportunities, hoping that some nobles coming to the city would offer them jobs in order to make a living. The streets at the city gate were somewhat like a job market today.
However, these people were rarely recruited, and their hunger drove them to the brink of collapse. Many even fell unconscious or died.
Unfortunately, they were not as useful as the ship slaves who could be bought and whose lives could be taken at will. They could only survive if they sold themselves as slaves to plantations or factories and received the same treatment as the ship slaves.
However, such behavior is illegal in the Southern Continent today. The believers of the Holy Church are noble humans created by God. How can they be confused with those bizarre species that are not even human? Such behavior is a slap in the face to all the people of the Southern Continent!
Therefore, turning oneself into a ship slave of the same level is considered illegal in the countries of the Southern Continent, punishable by caning at best and whipping at worst. Moreover, they are people with legal status in the Southern Continent, and killing them would involve legal proceedings, but killing ship slaves would not.
Therefore, very few powerful and influential people employed them, which led to their current predicament of starving and freezing to death.
Further in, the ground gradually became a little cleaner, but not much.
Along the streets, which are shrouded in a dim and melancholy atmosphere, there are many isolated booths made of straw curtains. They are not inside rooms on either side of the street, but rather on the sides of the street, like street stalls.
Outside these isolation cubicles, there are often women of varying ages, dressed in tattered clothes, standing or sitting. When a customer arrives, they will enter the straw-walled cubicle for a brief moment of concealment before commencing the transaction.
These women are all brought to the man's house in the morning and picked up in the evening; what happens in between is obvious.
But this is actually quite normal, because this is a rare source of income for poor families these days.
Further in, the streets become a bit more bustling and cleaner. Although there is still excrement everywhere, the roads are paved with stone slabs, and the surrounding area is mostly filled with legitimate shops.
This is the living area of the moderately well-off people in the Southern Continent. The poor and lowly are not allowed to enter. If they violate the rules, they will be beaten or scolded, or sent to prison.
With the rise of the slave trade, capital also emerged.
Further in, as you drive along the luxurious streets, you can finally see a few scholars.
In order to gain more believers, the Holy Lord Church made a great show of this event, attracting scholars from all walks of life. Even some non-theological scholars and some powerful figures who were interested in this subject came to participate in the research. As a result, major cities were bustling with activity, and more and more scholars gathered, eventually heading to the Holy Lord Church.
Not only scholars and dignitaries flocked to the event, but even royal families from various countries paid close attention to it. The poor and downtrodden could not even afford to eat, yet they had already begun to pursue the power of immortality, which truly reflects the serious drawbacks of current development.
World history is ultimately a cycle. The Holy Lord Empire once treated the lower classes as pigs and dogs, and was eventually slaughtered by Norton. Although Norton was eventually sealed away, his rampage truly created a new era, allowing the lower classes of various countries to live a good life for hundreds of years.
And now, it seems that the cycle has begun again...
And coincidentally, these insatiable nobles eventually turned their attention to immortality and divine power...
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(Sorry, guys, I originally planned to release Norton in this chapter, but I wanted to make this world seem relatively realistic, so I wrote a little more.)