Twin Cities: Who says scientists can't be conquerors?

Chapter 75 Household Registration

"Big Head Bro, have you heard?"

A young man with blond hair sidled up to another burly middle-aged man, covered his mouth with his hand, and muttered something under his breath.

"The rumors lately are a bit strange!"

"Hehe, everyone's saying that this flood could have been avoided, it's all because of young master Aaron and that Piltover guy named Jayce..."

"Speak your mind."

The middle-aged man, nicknamed "Big Head Bro," interrupted the other person with a frown and replied irritably.

He was working hard to secure the tent pegs to prevent it from being blown over by a possible strong wind.

As the newly appointed "Captain of Team Thirty-Two," Big Head sets an example by not allowing any accidents to happen to the hundred or so people in his team.

"Yellow Hair, I'm warning you, these are special times, don't get any funny ideas."

Big Head slammed the forceps down, hammering the last nail into place, then turned and pointed at Yellow Hair:

"If you think there's something wrong with Young Master Aaron's policies, you'd better go talk to him directly. Don't spread rumors or cause me any trouble!"

"What?!"

Huang Mao was intimidated by Big Head Brother's seriousness, and he shrank his shoulders and shouted loudly that he was innocent.

A full day has passed since Aaron piloted the Shadow Mech and descended from the sky in full view of the Zaun refugees.

The changes that occurred in Zu'an on this day were probably unprecedented in the previous decades:

After inspecting the relief supplies, Aaron briefly spoke with Hilko and the others, and then issued a "household registration system under the state of emergency"—

All affected victims will receive temporary tents and two meals a day, distributed uniformly by the resistance army.

During the distribution process, the disaster victims were also obligated to cooperate with the resistance forces under Hilko to complete the household registration statistics down to each individual.

After completing the household registration statistics, people who knew each other or were related by kinship were divided into groups of ten, and ten groups were divided into teams. Group leaders and team leaders were elected internally and reported to the resistance army.

From now on, orders from the Hilko team will be delivered to the captains through the resistance, then to the group leaders, and finally to each individual group leader...

"We Zaun people aren't used to this kind of thing. Maybe the young master learned it from the Piltover guys."

Yellow Hair muttered to himself, his mouth never stopping, but his body language betrayed him, as if he was afraid that Big Head Brother would actually punch him.

"I heard that the captain, team leader, and... what's it called... household registration checks and maintaining public order? That means if someone commits a crime, they have to take responsibility, and if they don't, they'll be held accountable!"

"Jana, will this work?!"

"If I accidentally bump into someone who's not paying attention, and they report me to the team leader or captain, I'll be... Hey, Big Head, what are you doing!"

Huang Mao was muttering to himself when he suddenly saw Big Head, who had already set up all the team's tents securely, turn around.

He raised the power-enhancing pliers high in his hand, glared at the blond-haired man, and almost scared him half to death!

"Don't you want to know who I am?!"

"Yes, yes, he's my brother-in-law!"

"Anything else?"

"He's the captain of the thirty-second team."

"Then what are you complaining about! You caused trouble, and I'm the first one to get dragged into it!"

Big Head Bro slammed the power pliers to the ground, splashing mud everywhere.

He grabbed the blond-haired man's shoulder and poked at his dry ribs with his thick, dark fingers:

"Don't think I don't know how many decent meals you could get a day before this flood came."

"Now that Young Master Aaron has brought food and tents, and hasn't shared them with those alchemist barons, does that mean he's just here to feed ungrateful bastards like you?!"

"I...I just spread this around; it's all from what other people said..."

Huang Mao felt extremely wronged.

He dared not deny his brother-in-law's words, and he knew in his heart that this "household registration system under the state of emergency" had saved his life to some extent.

Although the management was strict, at least it prevented someone like him, who couldn't even navigate the complexities of gangs, from immediately becoming a corpse in the mire.

But there was nothing he could do. He felt that he was too lazy to stand being urged by the team leader every day to dig soil or transport goods.

At this point, a few "rumors" about Aaron started to circulate, and blondie really couldn't resist spreading them around...

"Shut your mouth! If I hear you again, I'll break your legs!"

Big Head Brother couldn't articulate any profound truths.

Faced with his brother-in-law—a typical dissolute youth from Zu'an—he could only use the simplest and most brutal method to give him a naked threat.

"You've eaten too much!"

This is his final summary.

……

A day has passed since Aaron left the magical Kalikan Vault.

His promise to Janna when he left was not just empty words—the winds of change would begin with the reconstruction of Zaun.

Or rather, let's start from when Zu'an unprecedentedly began to implement the household registration system!

The facts were pretty much as Aaron had predicted.

Since he implemented the household registration system under the state of emergency in Zuan, there has been little opposition and little praise.

Most of them are the silent majority who feel they have benefited, but also feel they are not quite used to this kind of collectivized life.

They would not understand the profound considerations behind Aaron's implementation of this household registration system, which was derived from the "Baojia system," after the flood.

They simply found that they could eat every day and had a place to stay for the time being.

Although I have to work every day, at least I'm doing alright.

So just listen to them.

This is what the vast majority of people think and do.

This led to a phenomenon that astonished everyone in the know, but was not unexpected by Aaron:

In the aftermath of the disaster, Zu'an not only did not experience any large-scale violent incidents, but also showed a vibrant and thriving atmosphere.

Even if it wasn't entirely voluntary, the people here were all enthusiastically engaged in rebuilding their homes.

"The floodwaters are receding soon, and we've collected a lot of steel and timber. We should be able to start building houses around tomorrow."

"Wow, that was fast! I knew you'd have a way!"

Sevika laughed heartily, patted Aaron on the shoulder, and shamelessly offered her hindsight advice.

When Aaron first proposed the idea of ​​a household registration system, Jinx blindly supported it, Hilco remained silent, and Severka was the most vehement opponent.

Her reasons were largely the same as those of her opponents, all revolving around the topic that "people from Zuan don't have this habit."

But Aaron made the decision with just one sentence:

Just because it didn't exist before doesn't mean it can't exist in the future.

What he is doing now revolves around only one core thing—he wants to change the current state of the Zuan people, which are like a disorganized mess, and truly unite the people of this land!

Before this, Zaun had had leaders before.

To say nothing of the distant past, Vander, who led everyone to charge toward the Bridge of Progress more than a decade ago, is the most recent leader to have earned the respect of almost everyone in Zaun.

However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that Vander, this leader, is all enthusiasm and no substance; his thinking is still rooted in gang warfare and street brawls.

His contribution to the development of Zaun was almost nonexistent, and his organization of Zaun members was extremely poor.

It seems that all the people of Zaun need is a strong, capable man to fantasize about equality and autonomy.

Aaron's goal is to break this vicious cycle of thinking.

What was that saying?

What good is being able to fight? In this world, it's all about power and influence.

At the city-state level, Zaun failed to form its own power, and internal strife was rampant.

So even though the Piltover people standing in their way were also poorly equipped, they could still easily crush them.

This has little to do with weapons and equipment.

In the original storyline, Shireko failed to grasp the main conflict and instead focused solely on fighting with the Piltover council members, instead of trying to unite the people of Zaun.

In the end, he fought to the bitter end, dying with his eyes wide open, becoming part of a game played out between his daughter and two other women.

In his previous life, when Aaron watched TV series, he would at most make a joke like, "The screenwriter's ceiling is the same as Hilko's ceiling."

But once he actually sets foot in Zaun and becomes the "young master" who carries the hopes of the people of Zaun, there are countless things to deal with.

The various practical tools he invented in the previous years could only be considered minor projects.

Taking advantage of the massive floods, the household registration system that was forcefully implemented is the real scalpel—cutting off those tentacles that linger outside the order is the key to guiding Zuan to a complete transformation!

Incidentally...

"Are you feeling better?"

After Sevika left, Aaron looked down and asked the little bluebird that only he could see.

"The winds of change are blowing through Zaun. It won't be long before you're back to... hey!"

Aaron wanted to see how Janna was doing, to see if the guardian deity could also receive some nourishment and regain some of her divine power after he began his sweeping reforms of Zaun.

But before he could finish speaking, Janna, eager to show him her gains and express her joy and gratitude, unexpectedly revealed her true colors—

Her long white hair fluttered in the wind, the strands brushing against her pointed ears and sky-blue eyes.

"I feel much better! Thank you, Aaron!"

Gana clasped her hands together with gratitude and smiled gently at Aaron.

Aaron, however, seemed a little ungrateful, even frowning:

"No, you..."

"I'm sorry, did I scare you by looking like this?"

"No, no, no, it's very beautiful, but..."

Aaron swallowed hard, scratching his head somewhat awkwardly.

"What I meant was, I remember you were wearing clothes in the original artwork..."