I Arrived At Wizard World While Cultivating Immortality Chapter 923: The Prisoner-of-War Treaty

Having sorted through this information, Jie Ming slowly let out a breath:

“Interesting…”

There was too little intelligence about the Central World to judge whether it was true or false.

But one thing was certain: the space-time rules of Jack’s plane really had become extremely weak because of a special evolutionary node.

“By the theories of these advanced civilisations, it really might be possible to open this so-called passage.”

No wonder this world could draw so much attention. Whatever lay inside that Central World, the mere possibility was enough to drive those advanced civilisations mad.

“So… the recent stirrings of advanced civilisations like the Holy Spirit race and the insect-men are probably tied to certain changes in this plane. By the look of it, the evolution of this plane cluster is close to its next stage.” Jie Ming looked thoughtful.

There was no very concrete intelligence, but Jie Ming was confident that his inference was close to the mark.

He glanced at the column of refugees being guided toward the base, and swiftly made up his mind.

Whether or not the legend of the Central World was true, and whatever exactly this plane’s anomaly turned out to be, raising his own side’s combat strength first was the optimal solution.

So the spatial teleportation gate had to be opened as soon as possible!

Once the passage was established, he could bring more combat strength over, and seize the initiative in whatever situation came next.

“Seen that way, I shall have to double that brat Jack’s training once I get back!” Jie Ming reckoned silently to himself.

…

…

“Hssss!!”

Inside Anvil Base, Jack, who was tidying away his lesson plans, suddenly shivered.

“Teacher Jack, are you all right?”

A concerned voice came from beside him, and Jack answered with a reflexive smile, “It is nothing. I just felt a little off all of a sudden.”

“Oh dear, it would be bad if something went wrong with your health. Why not take tomorrow off and rest?” another worried voice put in.

Hearing Jack say so, the crowd in the classroom who had been about to leave gathered round as well.

The youngest of them were only thirteen or fourteen, and the oldest were perhaps already forty or fifty, and all of them were looking at Jack with worried eyes.

“It is nothing, do not worry. I know my own body well.” Jack smiled and shook his head.

“And do not call me teacher, either. I have only learned a little more than the rest of you, that is all.”

A middle-aged man beside him smiled and shook his head. “We cannot have that. It is thanks to your guidance that people with weak foundations like us have been able to keep up so quickly. If not for you, I am afraid we would not understand a thing Lord Jie Ming teaches.”

The others chimed in too. An old fighter with a stubbled face clapped Jack on the shoulder. “That is right, Teacher Jack, stop being so modest. People like us could not even read properly before, and now we can at least make sense of some basic mechanical design drawings. That is all your doing.”

“Yes, yes,” another young man said, leaning in and lowering his voice, “Teacher Jack, could tomorrow’s exam be a bit easier? I stayed up half the night memorising those formulas, and this morning I forgot the lot…”

“Dream on.” Someone beside him scolded him at once with a laugh. “A chance to learn like this does not come easily, and you still want to slack off? Just study properly! Practical knowledge like this, you could not have bought with money before.”

“Exactly. Look at life in the base now; it is practically better than before the fall. Out there, we never knew where the next meal was coming from, and now there is meat and vegetables every day, the children go to school for free, the old are looked after, and the sick get treated. A life like this, we would not have dared dream of it before.”

“True,” someone sighed with feeling, “I really never imagined life in the base could be this comfortable.”

“Thank you, Lord Jie Ming!” someone shouted.

“Thank you, Lord Jie Ming!” the people around took up the cry, their voices full of sincere gratitude.

Jack stood among the crowd, looking at those heartfelt smiling faces, and gave a small sigh.

He knew that the reason these people respected him so much was that self-proclaimed wizard, Jie Ming.

Or rather, it was because Jie Ming had given them treatment far beyond anything they could have imagined.

He remembered it very clearly: when Jie Ming first said he would settle these survivors according to the “Wizard Standard Prisoner-of-War Treaty,” he had all but leapt up on the spot to object.

Yet once he had heard the actual terms, even he had been struck dumb.

Because under this so-called prisoner-of-war treaty, one had to work four hours a day in order to eat, could rest only one day in five, and had only three sick days a month; food had to be nutritionally balanced, and its taste had to reach a generally acceptable standard; infants and the elderly received free medical care and education; and every adult had to attend basic education in the evenings, learning what Jie Ming called basic knowledge…

Jack’s first reaction on hearing it had been: this is damn well better than what I got back in the army!

He would swear that if these terms were ever made public, humans all over the world would be falling over one another to get in and be “prisoners of war.”

Sometimes he wondered, too, whether it was a false front the other side was putting up on purpose, just to make him lower his guard.

But seeing how methodically Jie Ming arranged all of this, it did not look in the least like something made up on the spot.

Looking at the survivors chatting happily in front of him, a thought suddenly popped into Jack’s head: if even so-called prisoners of war were given arrangements this humane, then perhaps… being ruled by wizards would not be such a bad thing.

The thought gave Jack himself a start.

He could not help shaking his head with a wry smile. Perhaps this was exactly what that wizard Jie Ming was after?

Breaking down their will to resist with a policy of conciliation?

Just as he was thinking this, a small child ran over and tugged at his sleeve. “Teacher Jack, what is for dinner tonight?”

Jack came back to himself and crouched down to pat the child’s head. “Stewed meat and stir-fried vegetables.”

The child gave a cheer and ran off toward the canteen with a few little friends, their laughter echoing through the streets of the base.

Jack stood where he was, watching their backs recede, and suddenly recalled the technique Jie Ming had once demonstrated in front of him, the one that had struck him as the work of a god.

It was a transcendent power that could turn stone, and even air, directly into all kinds of food.

The first time he saw it, he had thought it must be some kind of clever sleight of hand.

But now, after studying for so long, he knew that it was only one of the most basic skills in the wizard system.

“I should work harder at my studies from here on,” Jack thought to himself, “at least until I have that alchemy technique mastered.”

“Not bad. Actually willing to study of your own accord? I am very gratified.”

Hearing the voice behind him, Jack spun round.

Jie Ming had at some point come to stand behind him, leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest and a familiar smile at the corner of his mouth.

“You can definitely read minds!” Jack glared at him. “I did not say a word of that out loud this time!”

“Perhaps you were muttering to yourself without realising it?”

Jie Ming answered with a smile, walked over to Jack’s side, looked at the stack of collected exam papers, and nodded in satisfaction:

“Mm… not bad. It seems these few months of basic education have paid off.”

Jack, however, noticed keenly that something was off about his mood, and frowned. “What is wrong?”

“Get ready.” Jie Ming looked at the sky darkening over the distant horizon. “We have rescued every surviving human in this region.”

Jack was taken aback. “Is that not a good thing?”

Jie Ming turned to look at him. “But it also means that we have now become the biggest ‘resource’ in this region. The days ahead are not going to be easy.”