Chương 881: Five Years Of Governance.

With most of the basics settled, Liu Shu could now see the development of applying law and order according to her Golden Sap Empire. Be it in the Covenant or Nexus, there was some resistance. The ones who resisted the most were those with connections and power, and also those who benefited from the corrupt laws. It was around eight years after the war ended before the law began to be applied slowly. Liu Shu made her move then. The first move from Liu Shu's side was to give a very, very juicy carrot.

[Congratulations! You've received <Ingenuity Blessing>!] One simple message spread to all the Covenant and Nexus individuals. Yet, this one buff was, to put it lightly, earth-shattering.

<Ingenuity Blessing (A Rank)>: While under its influence, all beings gain heightened creation abilities and improved coordination in works that advance society. There is a small chance of becoming <Ingenuity-Touched> and gaining a <Title> with the same name. While under the effects of the Blessing or the Title, you gain: Learning, comprehension, and innovation in craft-related techniques increase by 500%. Construction, crafting, and refinement speed increase by 50%.

Whenever you work alongside at least one ally, efficiency and precision increase by 35%. Crafted items have a 0. 5% chance to emerge with a minor blessing, increasing their quality by one sub-tier and granting a simple special effect. Tools, structures, and devices you create or maintain gain 30% increased durability and 10% increased functionality (excluding <Temple> structures). Organizational or technical methods you design spread 20% faster to others within your influence.

<Ingenuity-Touched>: You gain a subconscious ability to see structural patterns and design flaws, allowing you to improve or stabilize creations without prior planning according to your education level and comprehension level of the craft.

Just this one buff was enough to make society flip on its head. Together with the massive carrot, though, the Golden Sap Empire's people delivered one equally large warning.

"This message is for all civilians who joined after the War. Every five years you live within the Golden Sap Empire and follow its laws, you will receive a new <Blessing>. The Heavenly Willow is merciful, so as long as you don't cause trouble and adapt, she will embrace you equally. However, to those who break laws regarding light crimes, your <Blessing> will be reset unless it is proven that it was done without knowledge. Such an excuse will only work once, though.

The second time, blessings will be lost unconditionally. The third time, depending on the magnitude of the repeated offense, their punishment will vary greatly. Please read the publicly available law book to know more details. From now on, learning basic law is also your responsibility as a citizen." Usually, making ordinary citizens try to learn the law was, put simply, excessive. The complicated and deliberately messy laws were written as such to benefit those with the power to read and manipulate them.

Using exceptions, hidden meaning, or, overall, loopholes, laws that bound an average citizen would become a light fine when pointed at another individual. Liu Shu's public law book was different. Instead of using complicated speech, they were written clearly and broadly. For example.

"You must not steal from others. (Light) (Exception: thieving involving large capital)." The general law, then the level of offense, and a simple, generalized exception. That was the public law book. The one given to lawyers and other law-involved individuals was, of course, much more complex and nuanced. However, for the average person, those books were more than enough and were also taught in school. Liu Shu didn't expect people to read it, though.

She was sure that less than 1% of individuals would read the public book and memorize it.

'It doesn't matter. Once they lose their blessings and see the difference compared to those who still have them, they will become more enthusiastic.' If your coworker, who was at your level, suddenly gets better and gets a raise just by… existing, you would be somewhat frustrated. Even if they are a good friend, you would congratulate them, but inside, at least, you would feel a touch of envy.

'Why did they get the raise when I am doing the same work?' Simple, mundane thoughts that absolutely everyone had. Nothing malicious; it was just the nature of Intelligent Species. Liu Shu trusted greed and envy more than people's goodheartedness and kindness. Because the only emotion that could overwhelm one of the biggest character flaws, which was laziness, was a desire large enough to push you that extra mile.

The first year that Liu Shu applied these laws, around 80% of the Nexus population and 55% of the Covenant's population lost their blessing. The reasons were small breaches of the law, like the suppression of talent and other "normal" behaviors in the workplace that absolutely everyone had become accustomed to. The second year, those numbers climbed sharply. Because of the loss of the <Ingenuity Blessing>, those who kept it became exceptional at an absolutely ridiculous pace.

So, those who stood above and had lost their blessings began feeling pressure. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. With their abilities skyrocketing, even if management wanted to suppress them, would they allow themselves to be suppressed? Once a person truly understands their value, being suppressed is not an option because they could just leave.

So, for the next three years, many people realized just how effective the <Ingenuity Blessing> truly was. There were even some businesses that gathered people with the blessing and completely crushed their competition in less than a year. Changes in product manufacturing, managing procedures, hiring practices… everything came in naturally when those with the <Ingenuity Blessing> worked together with a true purpose.

The feeling of seeing oneself improving was addicting, and those with the blessing became completely hooked. And so, the fifth year arrived, and Liu Shu gave the people the second chance. Everyone received the <Ingenuity Blessing> once more, and a new one appeared for those who had kept the <Ingenuity Blessing> for the entire five years. [Congratulations! You've been blessed by <Talent: Interstellar Rune Array Lignified Arborarchy>!] [Buffs For Intelligent Species] Lifespan: +20% Resistance toward illnesses: +2, 000%. Fertility: +25%. Rune, Array & Woodcrafting comprehension rate: +250%. Rune, Array & Woodcrafting success rate: +10% when working on deeply studied designs.

A grandma buying some groceries blinked, and her eyes locked exactly onto the first sentence. Lifespan. That resource that, usually, no matter how much you wanted to get, it was impossible to replenish. Yet, a whole 20% was instantly poured onto them. The grandma felt an incredibly profound breath of life entering through her pores. Some chronic illnesses she was suffering from got quietly healed, and even her hunched back slightly straightened.

The skin on her hands grew slightly more elastic, and her blurry vision became a touch clearer. In a single moment, the grandma had the illusion of returning to her middle-aged days. It was not a complete recovery, but the process was almost instantaneous, and it showed. The young woman working at the counter couldn't help but look at the grandma with dazed eyes. She had seen someone reverse age a fifth of their lifespan in an instant.

"... G-Grandma? What happened?' The grandma snapped to attention, and even when she had lived over four centuries in the Nexus, her heart couldn't help but palpitate. Her eyes, faintly trembling, couldn't help but turn to look at the massive tree that had, at some point, appeared in the city. It was a <Lignified Town Hall> structure, over 300 meters tall with a thick trunk. The place it was built was the previous government's location. Moreover, being 300 meters tall, it was visible from most of the city.

Although it was nothing more than a shadow of a truly large tree, the grandma felt her heart grow complicated.

"... Am I getting old?" When she heard the Nexus lost, the grandma had honestly felt despair. She had believed that her great-grandchildren and other precious family members were about to suffer under the rule of a World Tree. When she first received the <Ingenuity Blessing>, she didn't feel moved. As someone who no longer worked, that blessing didn't really resonate with her. On the contrary, it felt like a shortcut and didn't sit well with her. That feeling was out of pure stubbornness, though.

But this one was different. Illness and health, a universal problem that could help even newborn children. With a single thought of the World Tree, many of her afflictions were just gone and healed. The young woman at the counter also glanced at the large <Lignified Town Hall> with a complicated expression. In truth, she had lost the Ingenuity blessing when she had suppressed a coworker as a manager. That was why she was now working here in the grocery store to make ends meet.

After that coworker reached her level, she filed a formal complaint and got her kicked out of the company with incredible efficiency. The young woman didn't even know what hit her before she was fired. So, she resented the World Tree. But now, that blessing was back.

'... I can recover my post.' If she followed the law and didn't lose the blessing, she was sure that she would be able to rise once more. So, that very day, the woman returned home, opened the internet, and entered the Golden Sap Empire's official website. There, she scrolled down just a little bit and clicked on the download button.

"... Let's read it at least." The woman, drinking a cup of coffee, spent most of the night reading the law. This time, she didn't skim like reading some kind of nonsense manuscript, but with attention. And as she read with attention and not with the mindset of "whatever is here is probably stupid nonsense," she realized something.

"Isn't this… too favorable for the average worker?" She was utterly confused. This was her first time reading law. Previously, those law books were nothing more than scary. Just reading a simple law made her head spin with all the convoluted wording and clauses. Yet, as she read the wording that even an adolescent kid could easily understand, the woman realized that the basis for following these rules even without knowing them was to… live honestly. Competition was good, but not malicious suppression.

You didn't need to be brutally frank, and complaints were perfectly fine within reason. If you defended yourself, you would be absolved of most crimes. It encouraged the citizen to just improve themselves. A set of laws incomprehensible in a modern society. The young woman was somewhat dazed as she finished reading, feeling her heart twisting somewhat complictedly.

"Perhaps… this is not that bad?" There was one thing that made the young woman frown, though.

"These laws are too easily taken advantage off…" If she had to describe these laws with one word, she would definitely choose "Naive." Anyone with the wrong intentions cold commit atrocities and yet technically not be marked as a criminal. This was a misunderstanding the young woman had because she didn't know the nuanced version, though. Regardless, her eyes moved to her own System Page, and she read the Ingenuity Blessing one more time. The numbers written there were completely and utterly ridiculous.

'What is the new blessing?' After seeing the grandma suddenly become younger, she had been insanely curious. The woman entered the [Blessings] tab on the government site. Then, she read through the second blessing's effects fully.

'... Lifespan? Illness resistance? Plant growth? Wait… illness resistence?' As she read up to here, her heart jumped, and she quickly called the nearby hospital to ask about her father. That day, many people felt their world and beliefs quake.