Chapter 467: Chapter 467: Neighborhood Committee

The girl who appeared before Tsuruya and me was none other than Artemis.

I remembered the first time I met her, when she was attempting to overthrow human society as the head of a superpower organization, the behind-the-scenes boss of Olympus, wearing an awkward, oversized black divine robe. Her whole presence screamed of conspiracy. The second time we met, she was a leader of a human survival organization in the Doomsday world, dressed in an oversized and paint-stained faded jumpsuit. Her face wore a mixture of defiance and confusion. If you hadn’t seen her beautiful face and blonde hair, it would have been hard to associate her with a girl. Now, Artemis had changed her identity and appearance once again. Now in the New World Avalon, she was among the first residents, dressed in light green, hunter-like light-fitting clothes. Her bright golden ponytail no longer stained with paint, was washed clean, shimmering under the forest sunlight. Until she fell off the unicorn’s back, she was entirely like a spirited and lively elf girl who had come to the forest for a hunting adventure.

Three kinds of attire, perhaps exactly reflected the three phases of Artemis’s mindset.

Ah, speaking of elf girl–It was then that I finally remembered why Artemis’s attire looked so familiar. It was exactly the type of tight adventure gear that I had seen worn by Blood Elf rangers and hunters in Silver Moon City. Of course, to fit human clothing aesthetics, it had undergone a lot of modifications, making it closer to the current dress style of human society. However, the simple yet elegant and luxurious design concept certainly came from the Elf Clan.

Needless to say, the only elf that Artemis and the others could have contact with was definitely Lilina. The connection between Shadow City and this attached space had not yet been officially opened, and the Blood Elves and other world Elf Clans had not yet received permission to enter Avalon. Artemis’s clothes could only have come from Lilina.

“This attire… was it Lilina’s idea?”

I raised an eyebrow and spoke with a strange tone, Artemis’s current attire wasn’t bad. The craftsmanship of the Elf Clan couldn’t possibly look bad. It’s just…

No matter what, Artemis was supposed to be a person from modern society. Asking a man selling donkey meat sandwiches from a back alley to wear full armor and wield an axe would certainly be quite… erm, this analogy is a bit wild. I mean, a modern society’s middle school girl wearing elf hunting gear as everyday clothing does feel a bit odd.

Well, it does indeed look quite pleasing.

“Because I have no other clothes to wear,” Artemis replied with a brilliant smile, “The old world is completely ruined. We only have the old clothes from the end of that period, so Lilina, who often comes by, brought a few new pieces. I didn’t expect them to be so beautiful. I’ve never seen your soldiers wear anything like this–ah, could it be some weird outfit in the Empire? That priestess seems to always like playing pranks!”

As Artemis was speaking, she suddenly thought of something very serious and immediately whispered in a tense voice.

Ah, Life Goddess Chief Priestess Lilina, it seems you have truly embarrassed our God–just look at the impression you’ve left on our citizens!

Seeing the conflicted look on Artemis’s face, I quickly waved my hand and explained, “That’s not the case, Lilina does have some integrity… What you’re wearing is actually Elf Clan clothing from another universe protected by the Empire. Strictly speaking, Lilina could also be considered half an elf, so she prepared these clothes for you…”

“Elf?” This time, both Artemis and Tsuruya exclaimed, “There really is such a legendary race?”

I slapped Tsuruya on the head sharply, “Stop making a fuss! You roam around Shadow City every day, haven’t you encountered those long-eared folks?”

“I’m just trying to set the mood, ahaha…” Tsuruya immediately rubbed her head and forced a laughter.

Tsuruya was inherently a very lively and enthusiastic girl, and Artemis especially hoped to make more friends at the start of her new life. Therefore, in no time, the two of them were chatting enthusiastically and soon became close as if they had known each other for many years. Through Tsuruya’s perspective, Artemis learned about the mysterious Xyrin Empire from another angle. After all, Tsuruya had been part of the “vulnerable group” that we had assisted in the past, and her perspective on things was naturally different from mine. Her summary of living among the Xyrin Apostles was clearly more reliable to Artemis than my cumbersome “Citizen Life Guide” and the “Imperial Citizenship Code” compiled by Sandora.

Listening to Tsuruya enthusiastically introducing the Xyrin Apostles’ lifestyle, the differences between living in the Empire’s society and human society, as well as how to befriend those seemingly fearsome Imperial Soldiers, I subtly realized something: as more and more residents from various worlds and races live in this special space, figuring out how to coordinate their relationships should probably be put on our agenda now.

Of course, I am not saying that there would be frictions among the heroes from various races, as Shadow City is nearly considered a divine place among the worlds we “shelter.” Entry into this place, even merely for those delivering their discovered exotic and mysterious treasures, requires stringent selection. Those selected are not necessarily saints but are certainly individuals of fairness and kindness, and their loyalty to the Empire is beyond doubt. Conflicts erupting among such people are basically impossible.

However, the absence of conflicts does not mean all is peaceful; massive cultural differences, even cultural clashes, exist among various races. Even two ethnic groups on Earth could stand opposed due to various reasons, let alone races from two different worlds with entirely divergent worldviews. Currently, these contradictions haven’t led to any consequences due to the small base number and the control by their respective leaders, but as time progresses and both Shadow City and Avalon, a higher layer of “Holy Land,” fill up with heroes from various worlds, can one still expect them to rely solely on their awareness to completely cast aside these disparities?

Even under the common highest ideals, these races might coexist peacefully, but the variety of ideological differences could greatly weaken the power of the United Army. Our greatest advantage against the Fallen Apostles and Abyss Power lies in this vast army composed of many worlds, and any factor that might weaken the alliance must be eliminated.

In the Ancient Era, during the most glorious period of the Empire, the Xyrin Apostles had also organized a similar World Alliance. Although this massive, relatively reliable force could not compete in combat strength with the Imperial Army, it was one of the most powerful weapons against the Abyss. The original Xyrin Ruler’s method of coordinating various worlds, which I heard from Sandora, was quite simple: centering around the Empire’s leaders, forming an exclusive group of governors with the sole authority to issue commands concerning wars against the Abyss, and dealing only with military proposals among races. Meanwhile, all vassal races of the Empire were also prohibited from interacting in any domains irrelevant to combined warfare. That is to say, no matter where you were from, no matter what was popular there, once you came to the United Army’s headquarters, the only topic you could discuss was “combat”–even mentioning “the potatoes at XX restaurant are quite tasty” would be considered a violation of the orders.

Of course, the example above might be an exaggeration, but essentially, that was what the World Alliance organized by the Xyrin Apostles looked like back then.

This management method is naturally not very wise, but you can’t expect a group of Xyrin Apostles, who follow mechanized thinking and optimized actions as a standard, to understand what liberalism or humanistic care means–they were simply ruling the vassal races following the method of managing imperial citizens.

Strong rule effectively avoided conflicts among various races, but honestly, the overall advantages of cohesion and defense in such an iron-fisted, assembled army were also greatly reduced. Those vassal races seemed more like expendable cannon fodder rather than being treated as genuine combatants. Moreover, it was clear that this form of army was not suitable for the races currently gathered under our command.

What I want is a genuine union, like a steel defense line, where every member of the All Realms Expeditionary Army is as close as brothers, willing to give everything unconditionally for the entire army, not blindly acting under high-pressure rule and harsh politics, just to disperse into a mess once the imperial ruling power loosens.

Maybe we could consider creating an atmosphere that only needs to be followed by all races within Shadow Space, or some other method to allow them to maintain normal communications while avoiding gaps due to cultural conflicts. This is a very troublesome task that requires deep understanding of each race’s customs and also the ability to think from a “citizen’s” perspective on how to live under the rule of the Xyrin Empire. Currently, this duty is being carried out by the Empire’s soldiers–specifically by the highly regrettable “Imperial City Management Team,” and from this unlucky name and the makeup of the workforce, you can tell they’ve managed this task to an extremely vexing level.

Now it seems, a better option might be for the vassal races to form a similar management organization themselves. What we need to do is simply appoint qualified candidates from various worlds.

It’s important to note that the sole tasks of this management organization are to manage internal affairs within the vassal races. Its authority would be limited to cultural exchanges and resolving conflicts, without affecting the Shadow Base or the military systems of the Empire. Sandora doesn’t need to worry that this would weaken our control over the vassal races, and I suspect that this approach might significantly enhance the cooperative combat capability of the races’ United Army.

Upon thinking, I went straight to action. While Tsuruya was still chatting with Artemis, I submitted my initial proposal to the public channel. I invited the Empire leaders, who were busy having meals, shopping, and playing games, to discuss it. At last, except for adding a few Imperial Governors with absolute authority but no involvement in regular affairs as suggested by Sandora, the entire plan passed with unanimous votes.

However, there was a slight disagreement on the final naming of the new department. The department was neither too big nor too small, not involved in any military or administrative strategies, yet it was crucial for maintaining the unity of the All Realms Expeditionary Corps. Naming it could not be rushed. Qianqian instantly came up with seven or eight names, but she dismissed each before we even responded. Big Sister thought “Racial Management Committee” seemed fitting, but I found the title a bit of a tongue twister. Sandora unconditionally supported my suggestion. However, Lilina insisted that she would cry if the new department’s name didn’t include the words “Goddess”, Bubbles was adamant that it should be called “Guild Management Office”, or “Adventurer’s Home” if all else failed. Pandora and Visca jointly suggested the ridiculous title “Imperial Militarized Racial Control Department”…

None of them were reliable.

Ultimately, after some heated discussions, and after the troublemakers had made enough noise, the department’s name was set in stone, and you would never guess this glorious name:

The full name was: Under the Protection of the Goddess Subordinate Race Adventurer’s Guild Group Militarized Racial Control Civil Management Housing Affairs and World United Enterprise Coordinating Committee.

And the abbreviation? Neighborhood Committee.

We spent nearly half an hour to come up with such a maddening result, darn it!

Regarding the Neighborhood Committee… the name was really maddening. Regarding its main members, naturally they were first selected from among those heroes of Azeroth who were permanent residents in Shadow City. Figures like Sylvanas, high-level leaders, wouldn’t possibly leave their country’s affairs to serve as the great granny of the Neighborhood Committee, but surely among their subordinates, there were many who fitted the bill perfectly, enough to maintain balance among the races in Shadow City.

However, things should perhaps be a little different in Avalon.

This space, meticulously crafted by the gods, was to be considered a higher tier place than Shadow City, perhaps seen as a kind of holy land, where only the leader-level figures from all races could discuss affairs. Thus, there seemed no need to set up something like a Neighborhood Committee. My plan was for Artemis to manage and organize the visitors to this special space. First, this was the world she had lived in, making her the client manager (…) most appropriate in title. Second, I completely trusted Artemis’s ability, and even those of her companions–though they appeared to be just students, in fact, age and, considering their experiences, even their maturity could surpass mine. These individuals would be absolutely better suited than those stubborn Imperial Soldiers to handle the reception and arrangements for various racial visitors.

“Artemis really is incredible,” Tsuruya suddenly popped up in front of me, interrupting my thoughts, “She’s the leader of the Human Doomsday Organization~~ So amazing!”

“Not really,” the always mature and composed Artemis, slightly embarrassed by Tsuruya’s somewhat exaggerated exclamation, responded, “It’s just a group of stubborn people who gathered together in order to survive and to fight against that absurd world. Your Brother Emperor should be the real impressive one, right? He actually saved a world.”

“That’s right!” Tsuruya immediately beamed with pride, tilting her little face as if she herself was receiving the praise, “Brother is the best! Brother is absolutely a good person!”

Me: “…”

Girl, you just froze for a moment.

“Tsuruya, you’re really something else, only fourteen, and already such an impressive officer,” Artemis said with a laugh, observing Tsuruya’s proud demeanor, “So young, you must have some outstanding achievements to earn such a rank, right?”

Tsuruya’s proud expression instantly stiffened, and then she sheepishly scratched her head: “This… ahaha… how should I put it…”

Artemis, soon you’ll realize how annoyingly troublesome these revered Xyrin Apostles really are in your eyes.

After chatting with Artemis by the lake for a while, our conversation gradually shifted to the future planning of this new world. I shared my ideas with Artemis, mainly about making this place a sacred land of all realms and assigning Artemis the responsibility of arranging and hosting heroes from various races. Faced with this sudden proposal, the girl seemed somewhat uneasy.

“Can I… can I really take on such an important responsibility?”

“Why not?” I smiled, “If you can lead an organization like Olympus and even lead a human survival organization, why can’t you manage customer service now?”

“But… these aren’t ordinary ‘guests’!” Artemis said with a woeful face, “You said it yourself, human emperors, war heroes, great sages, racial leaders, such important figures…”

“Even the greatest figures here are still military personnel, and I am their commander. Whoever I appoint, they must support unconditionally. It’s that simple.”

There’s one thing I didn’t say: even if the residents are badass, very few aren’t intimidated by the fearsome committee ladies!

Seeing my determined look, Artemis knew I wasn’t joking, but she still uneasily said, “But… having us ‘outsiders’ handle such an important task, won’t Her Majesty the Queen be displeased? She seems very strict…”

“Of course not,” I finally understood Artemis’s concerns, “You guys won’t be involved in military-political affairs, just acting as reception staff for Avalon. As long as it doesn’t affect the military system of the Empire, Sandora never bothers about it.”

Assured by my words, Artemis finally completely relaxed. Clearly, what really overwhelmed her wasn’t the “heavy burden” I entrusted to her, but the potential dissatisfaction from Sandora. I really wonder what kind of psychological shadow my scatterbrained girl might have left in Artemis’s mind. I can tell now that even the mention of Sandora changes Artemis’s expression.

“Ugh… boring boring boring!!!” Perhaps feeling neglected as I and Artemis were engrossed in a topic she found utterly uninteresting, Tsuruya finally started to grumble discontentedly, “Director brother, take me to see some interesting places here!”

The coquettish state of Tsuruya was incredibly potent. Immediately I declared surrender and then suddenly thought of a great spot: “Follow me! I actually know of a project recently completed in Avalon that you might find interesting.” (To be continued. For further information, please visit www.wuxiaworld.site. More chapters available, support the author, support genuine reading!)