Chương 156: The Bureaucratic Apparatus

Li Qinwu couldn't help but marvel at how intense structural pressure forced rapid evolution. Under the sheer weight of handling massive geopolitical logistics, One-Ear had managed to independently birth a written script—something Li Qinwu himself hadn't even dared to actively mess with yet.

While the writing system was admittedly primitive and contained a crude, hybridized stitching of the Human Common Tongue, it ultimately crossed the most critical historical threshold: it resolved the fundamental civilizational gap between having a written language and having none. This development suddenly illuminated a clear evolutionary path for the state: allowing the goblin species to natively develop their own written foundation.

"One-Ear, let's aggressively push this writing system across the entire realm," Li Qinwu commanded.

"Incorporate both this script and basic mathematics directly into the foundational curriculum of the goblin nurseries. Let the populace actively use it and refine it over time." Though the language remained unpolished and incomplete, it was infinitely superior to simply adopting the Human Common Tongue wholesale. A native written script serves as the absolute spiritual core of a civilization.

While a sovereign state could easily borrow a more advanced language to boost immediate administrative efficiency, doing so meant they would have to quietly endure getting absolutely crushed whenever the time came to compete in terms of long-term cultural soft power. One-Ear nodded in deep understanding.

"Boss, I've actually been wanting to introduce this script to the nurseries for a while now, but I've just been completely buried alive under administrative tasks. I couldn't find the bandwidth to organize it." Li Qinwu patted him heavily on the shoulder.

"Take your full month of mandatory leave and rest easy. I'll personally dedicate the coming days to establishing a formalized, ironclad bureaucratic apparatus. You won't have to carry this crushing weight alone anymore." True to his word, Li Qinwu immediately shifted into gear, spending the next several days mapping out the blueprint for a comprehensive state bureaucracy. He dedicated his first few days back to quietly observing the day-to-day operations of the local goblin administrators.

What he discovered was that these officials weren't actively lazy or insubordinate; they were simply, fundamentally simple-minded. They couldn't comprehend the underlying logic of state decrees, had no concept of why certain tasks needed to be performed, and completely lacked a written medium to log their data, which naturally resulted in absolute administrative chaos.

Furthermore, an glaring demographic issue plued the system: the vast majority of the officials One-Ear had appointed were standard wild goblins, rather than evolved Hobgoblins. A baseline goblin's physical and mental faculties roughly mirrored those of a human adolescent, whereas an evolved Hobgoblin possessed the cognitive capacity of a fully mature human adult, coupled with slightly superior physical stamina.

Attempting to run a sprawling bureaucratic state using a civil service composed almost entirely of baseline goblins was mathematically guaranteed to fail. The structural solution, therefore, was incredibly straightforward. First, execute a sweeping, comprehensive purge of the civil service, replacing every single baseline goblin official with an evolved Hobgoblin to fundamentally raise the intellectual baseline of the state's administration.

Second, the new bureaucratic roster would be drawn exclusively from the ranks of the professional military. Li Qinwu had led these forces through relentless campaigns; the structural discipline and execution capacity of his military officers were flawless, and they had never once failed to carry out a mandate. In the armed forces, anyone incapable of executing an order with absolute precision had already been systematically weeded out by martial law or the brutal reality of the battlefield.

The state already possessed a perfect talent pool ready for deployment. During the campaign in Boluoia, Li Qinwu had personally cultivated a core of 2, 500 Heavy Armored Goblins. By extracting the squad leaders and deputy leaders from these units and assigning them to govern the hundred-goblin labor villages, the state could leverage their established leadership skills.

Two veteran officers capable of flawlessly commanding a 10-man combat squad in active warfare would easily be able to oversee the agricultural production of 100 simple-minded goblins under stable peacetime conditions. Above them, Li Qinwu extracted company commanders and deputy company commanders to form a secondary tier of regional administration.

The local village squad leaders would report directly to these company commanders, who would in turn funnel the regional data directly up to the tertiary tier of leadership—One-Ear himself. With this, a clean, highly functional pyramid hierarchy was officially established. With over a hundred labor villages currently completed or under active construction, One-Ear would only need to issue direct state mandates to 10 company commanders, drastically reducing his administrative burden.

Because military officers possessed a natural affinity for strict adherence to protocol, managing peacetime industrial and agricultural output became incredibly simple. Furthermore, these appointments served as an exceptional institutional reward for the veteran soldiers. A squad leader who previously commanded a mere 10 troops in the military was suddenly handed absolute authority over a civil populace of 100 citizens.

According to the baseline cognitive logic of the goblin species, the more individuals you managed, the more formidable your social standing. This was an indisputable, massive promotion that provided incredible institutional motivation. By the tenth day of Li Qinwu's return, the Penal Legion and the Heavy Armored Goblins had officially marched back into the perimeter of Iron-City.

Li Qinwu immediately selected 100 pairs of squad leaders and deputies, alongside 10 pairs of company commanders and seconds-in-command, putting them through an accelerated course in foundational civil administration before scattering them across the hundred-goblin villages. At this stage, the absolute structural brilliance of utilizing a clean, base-10 organizational grid became completely apparent. Every cluster of 10 labor villages was officially grouped into a unified township.

A single prominent village within the grid was designated as the administrative capital of the township, where the deputy company commander would establish a permanent bureaucratic station. The principal company commander, meanwhile, would regularly journey back to Iron-City to study evolving state policies, with the two senior officers continuously rotating duties.

Minor local disputes would be handled autonomously at the township level, while complex, high-stakes matters would be officially kicked up to the high ministries in Iron-City. Following this, a system of internal audits, state taxation protocols, foundational legal frameworks, and structural archives would be gradually phased into effect, designed to be continuously updated and refined over the coming years.

To visually demarcate the various tiers of the new civil service, Li Qinwu dedicated time to engineering a standardized bureaucratic uniform. He summoned the master seamstresses specializing in textile dyeing and inquired as to which pigments were easiest to produce reliably. The seamstresses informed him that shades of blue, purple, yellow, and green were exceptionally easy to manufacture, as the necessary dyes could be harvested directly from local flora.

Li Qinwu then pressed to know if there was a specific pigment that was slightly harder to come by, yet not so rare as to be completely unattainable for mass production. The women replied that deep red, brilliant white, and true mineral purple required the active excavation and processing of specialized raw mineral ores. Li Qinwu immediately selected deep red as the official color of the state.

It was an incredibly striking, high-visibility hue; if an ordinary goblin citizen ever encountered an administrative crisis, they merely needed to look across the horizon and sprint toward the nearest individual clad in bright red garments. To further distinguish specific bureaucratic ranks within the system, the state would utilize variations in metallic buttons and standardized shoulder epaulets.

One, two, or three metallic buttons fastened to the sleeve cuffs clearly represented the three primary echelons of the civil service. The shoulder epaulets utilized a clean system of one, two, or three solid stripes for instant recognition, with the option to add metallic stars to seamlessly distinguish minor gradations within a specific tier.

As for the physical silhouette of the garments, the stifling local climate and the practical reality that grassroots officials needed to actively work the fields mandated a simple short-sleeved collared shirt paired with matching utility shorts. To be completely frank, the mere mental image of a bright red short-sleeved shirt paired with bright red shorts was visually atrocious.

However, at this foundational stage of the Alliance's development, raw utility and functionality completely overrode aesthetic considerations. Besides, given the baseline aesthetic standards of the goblin species, it was hard to argue what truly constituted beauty or ugliness anyway. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

After finalizing the manufacturing pipeline for the new bureaucratic uniforms, Li Qinwu personally escorted the 20 newly appointed company commanders and deputies out to the perimeter of the Underworld Tree to grind experience points. His objective was to systematically elevate the raw intelligence baselines of his mid-to-high-level civil officers. He intended to grind his mid-tier administrators until they evolved into Tier-3 units, while planning to systematically elevate One-Ear into a Tier-5 unit.

High-tier units naturally possessed significantly sharper intellects and vastly superior physical structures. If One-Ear could successfully cross the threshold to become a Tier-5 unit, his cognitive capacity would expand enough to effortlessly shoulder an even heavier burden of state governance. Arriving at the staging grounds of the Underworld Tree, the rhythmic, booming thunder of relentless musketry echoed endlessly through the air.

A solid quarter of the Blighted Soil surrounding the Underworld Tree had been completely enclosed within a massive, 10-meter-tall stone rampart. Packed densely within the interior of the fortress was a massive, undulating sea of trapped Skeleton Warriors. The company commanders and deputies slated for evolution took their positions along the top of the parapets, peering down over the edge and systematically opening fire.

For a baseline Tier-1 goblin to successfully evolve into a Tier-2 Hobgoblin, they needed to shatter exactly 10 Skeleton Warriors. To cross the threshold from Tier-2 to a Tier-3 unit required the elimination of roughly 50 undead entities. The 20 senior officers maintained a continuous line of fire from the safety of the battlements, their lead balls systematically obliterating the brittle skeletons milling below.

To maximize the raw efficiency of the operation, Li Qinwu had stationed over a hundred ordinary soldiers along the rearguard to act as dedicated reloaders, ensuring the officers could maintain a non-stop, uninterrupted torrent of lead. Roughly half an hour later, the localized cull drew to a close, and Li Qinwu marched his men out of the combat perimeter to trigger the system's official deployment settlement.

The system instantly rewarded him with a massive haul of raw grain, bone meal, and Denars, while the 20 officers simultaneously flashed with the light of promotion. Li Qinwu immediately clicked through the interface, officially evolving every single one of them into elite Goblin Warriors. Their baseline Intelligence attributes instantly surged to a solid 15 points, and their underlying cognitive faculties grew visibly sharper and more alert.

"Outstanding work, gentlemen. Moving forward, the domestic stability of our entire rearguard rests squarely upon your shoulders," Li Qinwu declared, offering words of profound encouragement to his new mid-tier administrative corps as he distributed the freshly manufactured, visually jarring bright red uniforms. The twenty-odd officers were thoroughly ecstatic, immediately throwing the garments on right there on the field, their faces beaming with unmitigated, heartfelt joy.

Beholding a crowd of green-skinned humanoids entirely clad in bright red short-sleeved shirts and matching red shorts—the absolute peak of a red-and-green visual clash... Li Qinwu's mouth twitched violently at the sight. It was undeniably, hysterically ugly. Yet, its raw functional utility was absolutely flawless; that blinding crimson silhouette was so absurdly loud that you could easily spot an official from over a kilometer away. The structural utility of the design was firmly locked down.

Chasing the sea of red-and-green officials away to assume their posts, Li Qinwu waved Kanda over to the battlements.

"Step up. Take your weapon and liquidate every single remaining skeleton down there," Li Qinwu commanded.

"I'll have the loaders prioritize your ammunition supply."

"Understood, Boss!" Kanda replied, his voice thick with sudden emotion. He knew with absolute certainty that his leader was intentionally investing heavy resources into his personal development. By this point, the fact that Li Qinwu regularly cycled individuals into his inner vanguard only to send them back out completely transformed had become an open secret across the realm.

The rank-and-file soldiers knew that their leader possessed the divine capacity to bestow transcendent power, causing the troops to fight with absolute, life-risking ferocity on the battlefield just to earn a shred of his favor. Kanda immediately took up the flintlock musket, systematically shattering the skeletal entities pacing the courtyard below. He had survived the horrific, mind-bending psychological torture inflicted within the depths of the Governor's manor.

He had driven himself into absolute madness from the pain, his core identity relentlessly pulverized until he existed in a liminal space where he could neither successfully survive nor freely embrace death. Yet, within the crucible of that horrific environment, his psychological resilience had undergone a level of growth that defied imagination.

He harbored a profound, filial devotion toward the Leopard-kin dancer who had sheltered him in the dark, and an unswerving, absolute loyalty to the Boss who had personally stormed the gates of hell to rescue him. Consequently, his singular, consuming drive was to grow as formidable as humanly possible to repay the monumental debt of grace he owed his leader. Kanda currently operated as a Tier-4 unit.

During the final moments of the previous campaign, his desperate bayonet charge had successfully claimed the life of the Holy Maiden. The massive, astronomical pool of experience points harvested from that high-tier kill had caused his level to instantly skyrocket by two full tiers, leaving him a single step away from achieving Tier-5 status. With over 200 Skeleton Warriors packed within the firing grid below, Kanda took less than half an hour to systematically liquidate the entire batch.

Li Qinwu pulled up his internal soldier management interface to review the status updates, only to find that the singular Veteran Marksman listed on his roster had officially crossed the developmental threshold! Wait, that doesn't make mathematical sense, Li Qinwu thought, scratching his head in confusion. A mere 200 skeletons shouldn't possess enough raw experience to push a Tier-4 unit all the way to Tier-5.

The experience curve required to cross into Tier-5 was notoriously steep—demanding more raw points than every single preceding tier combined multiplied by two. It was designed to be a long, grueling grind. He eventually reasoned that the Holy Maiden's death had done the heavy lifting. The staggering experience pool she dropped had pushed him up two full tiers, filling the remaining experience bar nearly to the absolute brim.

The 200 skeletons Kanda had just liquidated simply provided the final micro-shove needed to max out the remaining points. The moment Li Qinwu clicked the confirmation prompt for the promotion, Kanda let out a sharp gasp. His physical frame began to visibly expand and elevate before Li Qinwu's eyes, his height surging to a commanding 1. 95 meters. His musculature rippled and condensed, striking a perfect, terrifying balance between absolute raw power and streamlined athletic proportion.

"Boss! I... I feel absolutely incredible! My vision... I can see clearly across the entire horizon!" Kanda gasped. Kanda had officially evolved into a elite Goblin Sniper, a high-tier unit possessing hyper-advanced, long-range visual acuity. Li Qinwu was profoundly satisfied with this young warrior who had autonomously stepped up to enlist in the professional military. He fully intended to cultivate him into a pillar of the state, and seeing his successful evolution brought a genuine wave of happiness to his heart.

Allowing Kanda a brief few moments to absorb the overwhelming joy of his newfound physical power, Li Qinwu spoke up: "Walk with me. I want to show you something." Li Qinwu escorted Kanda back into the inner districts of Iron-City, bringing him directly before a massive, carved stone monolith. Li Qinwu extended his hand, pointing toward the Shield-bearer emblem of the Hero's Crest embedded deep within the stone.

"Kanda, step forward and place your hand directly upon that shield-shaped artifact." Though completely bewildered by the directive, Kanda didn't hesitate for a single second, extending his broad palm and pressing it firmly against the surface of the Hero's Crest. Li Qinwu's pulse quickened with intense anticipation. He felt that if the goblin race was ever destined to manifest a true Chosen Hero recognized by the laws of the world, Kanda was indisputably the prime candidate.

Under his intense, unblinking gaze, Kanda's palm remained firmly pressed against the ancient artifact. One second passed. Two seconds. A full minute. Two minutes. Absolutely nothing happened. Li Qinwu's brow furrowed deep in disappointment. He signaled the young warrior to lower his hand, staring intently at the crest embedded in the monolith—it remained completely dormant, showing no structural change whatsoever. He turned his gaze back to Kanda, but the sniper's baseline energy remained entirely unaltered.

"Kanda... did you experience any unique sensory perceptions or internal changes just now?" Li Qinwu inquired. Completely mystified, Kanda slowly shook his head. Li Qinwu's frown deepened. Are the baseline recognition parameters for the Hero's Crest truly that absurdly high? He believed with absolute certainty that across the entire demographic baseline of the Alliance, no one possessed a higher qualification than Kanda.

If Kanda couldn't trigger the artifact, then it meant the device was effectively useless to them. Noticing the deep, troubled frown etched across Li Qinwu's face, Kanda asked in a quiet, anxious tone: "Boss... did I fail you? Did I do something wrong?" Li Qinwu snapped out of his thoughts, catching the visible anxiety tracing the young warrior's expression, and quickly waved his hand to dismiss the tension.

"No, settle down. This has absolutely nothing to do with you. Look closely at this stone monument, Kanda. The precise meaning of the ancient glyphs carved across this stone reads:'He who harbors the rise and fall of his people within his breast, and shoulders the sovereign destiny of his nation upon his back—let him touch this crest, and he shall inherit the divine power to protect the borders and bring absolute peace to the populace.' Kanda, you must work relentlessly.

Dedicate your entire being to evolving into that exact caliber of leader." Kanda stared back at Li Qinwu, an expression of absolute, unshakeable determination locking onto his features.

"Boss! I swear to you I will work myself to the absolute bone! I will never allow the horrific torment and imprisonment that befell my mother to ever happen again—and I will personally ensure that such cruelty is never inflicted upon another living soul within our borders! I will uphold the laws and the absolute order of the Alliance with my life!!" Li Qinwu was profoundly moved, clapping Kanda heavily on the shoulder.

"Superb, Kanda. You are an exceptional man. A individual possessing your caliber of character is destined to carve out a monumental legacy. In the near future, I intend to place the most critical portfolios of the state directly into your hands, but your current administrative capacity remains heavily underdeveloped. Kanda, I am going to forge you. I am going to assign you to the absolute hardest, most grueling, most thankless, and most repetitive sector of our society. Are you willing to embrace this trial?"

Kanda let out an explosive, ironclad roar: "Boss! I am absolutely willing! I will proudly embrace every single trial you set before me, until the day you deem my capacity sufficient, and until the state requires my service elsewhere!" Li Qinwu squeezed his shoulder with immense gravity.

"Excellent, Kanda. You have a magnificent soul. My only hope is that the slow passage of time and the crushing weight of monotonous labor do not erode the pure, uncorrupted heart you possess today. I am officially deploying you to the active frontiers of our land reclamation sectors to assume absolute governance over a hundred-goblin labor village. Pack your gear, take your mother alongside you, and journey out to personally carve out a thriving haven of peace with your own two hands.

Go out there and live a dedicated, meaningful life." Though Kanda had failed to trigger the mythical recognition of the Hero's Crest, Li Qinwu still fully intended to groom him into a high-ranking regional governor of the realm. Deploying him to the absolute grassroots level of the state was a tactical move; it was the single most effective way for a rising leader to gain a flawless, unvarnished understanding of the actual baseline realities pluing the Alliance.

Step by step, Li Qinwu would systematically promote him through the ranks. He would shape him into a seasoned, veteran statesman who understood the plight of the lowest peasant, possessed flawless experience in the field, and understood every single moving part of the massive bureaucratic machine from the ground up.