Chap 122-Stand Up! You Too! 4

 

In fact, Sabrina never originally intended to become an enthusiastic communist party member or worker.

She had no intention of wearing a red armband, and she was already suffering terribly just from managing the demons, so she was well aware of the weight of wearing one.

Alice, under the protection of Administrator Rilstia and First-Class Overseer Oriana, would only see her authority increase even if she wore an armband, without a proportional increase in responsibility, so the risk was very low, allowing her to comfortably start various projects.

Anyway, Baroness Sabrina came to the lower levels of Ark for two main reasons.

One was to investigate the environment for her and the demons to migrate to Ark comfortably.

The second was to understand Alice, who was unconsciously subjugating her.

In the former case, even if Alice hadn’t invited her, Sabrina could have personally traveled around Ark to investigate residential environments suitable for demon integration.

However, the latter was a task akin to a demon’s instinct.

The cry of her soul, demanding that she must obey Alice’s orders, echoed every time she heard her voice. If it were some kind of brainwashing spell, she could simply develop new magic to resist, but if Alice was a Demon Lord or a descendant of one, capable of subjugating demons, it was a different story.

Demons are absolutely obedient to the Demon Lord.

Even if individual intellect and ego are allowed, individual demons are subordinate to nobles, and nobles are subordinate to the Demon Lord.

The reappearance of the Demon Lord, who had disappeared for so long, was something far more precious and valuable to demons than a parent’s embrace.

In fact, Sabrina thought Alice was not the Demon Lord, but someone who inherited the Demon Lord’s bloodline.

She knew that the last Demon Lord had been completely annihilated from the world, so she couldn’t possibly be alive. If there was someone who could subjugate a noble like herself at the soul level, the most likely possibility was a descendant of the Demon Lord.

What would she do if she found her?

Why, pledge allegiance, of course.

Even if not, it didn’t matter.

If Alice told her to live quietly and peacefully as a citizen of Ark, Sabrina would find a place and land in the lower levels where demons could live, as originally planned, and settle down.

Since demons are like Awakened individuals, they could establish a foothold in Ark. Although life in the lower levels was difficult, it also meant they wouldn’t attract the attention of Ark Central or the Overseers, allowing them to live quietly.

But if Alice intended to overthrow Ark or restore the relationship between humans and demons to the way it used to be, Sabrina would gladly follow her.

Sabrina was willing to do anything to preserve her own life and that of her species amidst the changing times.

That’s why she entrusted herself to Ernest Rail of Mega Corp. – though she was severely backstabbed in that instance. Demons were the first to break away from the perspective of seeing humans as inferior and voluntarily applied for human integration testing.

Sabrina had faithfully strived towards the goal of survival for herself and her race, keeping pace with the changing times, but it would be a lie to say that she didn’t miss the glory that demons had enjoyed in the past, no matter how much she prioritized survival.

The old demons she had executed used to shout about the old glory, saying that humans were weaklings who deserved contempt and scorn.

There was a time when demons played with humans like toys and manipulated the world as they pleased.

There was a time when humans worshiped demons like gods and took it for granted.

The demons of that time were much stronger as a race than they are now, and their power would have been enough to handle disasters and Gates on their own.

Sabrina wasn’t a noble who lived in those times, but wasn’t she curious?

How great was the glory of the past that old demons would rebel against a noble like herself?

Thus, Sabrina arrived in the lower levels of Ark, where Alice was.

And as soon as she arrived, she heard a great and oppressive ‘command’ reminiscent of the Demon Lord.

“Okay, safety first! Let’s do some stretches and get to work.”

“……”

Indeed, the Demon Lord.

Without listening to the other party’s circumstances or story, she forcibly imposes her will and commands.

And by force, too.

Truly worthy of being called the Demon Lord, who stood at the pinnacle of all demons, or her descendant.

Sabrina couldn’t possibly refuse Alice’s terrifying command, reminiscent of the Demon Lord, to start working as soon as she arrived, without even a welcome greeting.

In that short time they had been apart, the Demon Lord’s lingering aura emanating from Alice had grown even stronger.

Even if it was just a lingering aura, it didn’t mean there was an actual smell, but something of the Demon Lord that only demons of the noble class like Sabrina could sense was felt more strongly from Alice.

They had only been apart for a few months at most, but Sabrina couldn’t offer any objection or resistance to Alice, who was becoming more and more like the Demon Lord.

If an ordinary human handed her a scythe and hammer and told her to work without even a welcome greeting, she would have felt anger and annoyance, but Alice’s command, reminiscent of the Demon Lord, automatically subjugated and satisfied Sabrina’s soul and consciousness.

Even though it was clearly annoying, difficult, and irritating work, the Demon Lord’s command gave demons a forced sense of comfort and relief, so Sabrina had no choice.

“Safety first! Good! Good!”

“Safety first! Good! Good!”

Before she knew it, Sabrina had joined the ranks of red workers wielding scythes and hammers.

Naturally, as a demon, Sabrina was much better at her job than others.

Her basic physical specs were comparable to those of high-ranking wardens in Ark Central, so this simple manual labor was very easy for her.

Thanks to this, Sabrina was able to quickly get promoted (?) among the red workers.

Leader of the 2nd Squad of the Silion residential zone Red Workers’ League.

That was the name of the first title Sabrina had earned.

In fact, it wasn’t a real title at all.

Ark didn’t officially recognize the Workers’ League, and the Central Administration still didn’t pay much attention to the lower levels.

Alice had simply created a seemingly impressive workers’ organization on her own, and since Sabrina was good at her job, she had given her a slightly impressive title.

And another week passed.

The Silion residential zone was now as bustling as the Nine Dragons residential zone in the middle levels, with the latest architectural technology applied.

All the buildings were new and sturdy, and the meticulous and calculated perfect design of the auxiliary personality Theresa had been incorporated, allowing it to accommodate a huge population despite the narrow space.

The internal stores, restaurants, streets, shops, and living infrastructure were the responsibility of the workers.

And the one who could manage this most easily was Sabrina.

At that point, Sabrina had risen from the leader of the 2nd Squad of the Red Workers’ League to the rank of Labor Union Leader.

In fact, the people of the lower levels and Alice didn’t even know what a Labor Union Leader did, but as soon as a seemingly impressive title was bestowed upon her, everyone started cheering, “Oooooh…! Union Leader Punch! Union Leader Punch!”, “Please become our Labor Union Leader!”

The residents of the lower levels, who originally had no overseers to manage them and no one to take care of them, were thrilled just by the fact that someone seemingly competent like Alice or Sabrina had started to govern and manage the levels directly.

After that, Sabrina began to directly manage the parts that Alice couldn’t, based on her experience managing her territory and demons as a baroness.

Alice was basically able to forcibly connect to the machines, AIs, drones, levels, and Industrial Complex facilities of the ownerless lower levels and tear down and reassemble buildings at will, as if playing a game.

So she could turn the lower levels into a place where people could live and fill them with new, modern buildings and residential complexes in large quantities, but living in them was ultimately a matter of administration, and the realm of administration wasn’t possible with just the fast calculation abilities of AI.

But Sabrina was capable.

Sabrina looked young, but she was the only one among them who had experience controlling and governing collective entities.

She was a baroness, after all.

A baron is a baron from birth, and Sabrina wasn’t a demon with a dull mind.

“Alice, I need something.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“We need identification for the residents of the lower levels.”

“Identification? Oh, like a resident registration card?”

Originally, the resident registration card was intended to accurately survey the country’s population and ensure the safety and identity of the people, but its true purpose was to impose responsibility, duty, and taxes.

In the case of taxes, they don’t apply to the residents of the lower levels.

Basically, the residents of the lower levels wouldn’t have any money, and the Ark Central Administration doesn’t collect taxes, including protection money, in exchange for abandoning the management of the lower levels.

And in the first place, Alice’s operation and remodeling of the lower levels was a method of forcibly hacking abandoned machines and AIs to create ownerless buildings at will and move new residents in.

“But there’s no need to extract taxes from the residents of the lower levels. Oh, are you preparing for the future? If that’s the case, then definitely…”

“No, they’re trying to avoid work.”

“What?”

“And the problem of duplicate supplies is also significant.”

Communism.

The biggest problem with socialist labor.

Even in Alice’s old hometown of Earth, the biggest problem with socialism was the productivity of the workers.

Due to the nature of a society that runs on distribution and supplies, private property isn’t recognized, and no matter how much work you do, if you receive the same as a worker who’s slacking off next to you, who would be motivated?

Of course, the lower levels where Alice is the Governor-General don’t really advocate socialism or communism, but the residents of the lower levels, who have little to no private property, live by receiving supplies from the food Industrial Complex and the daily necessities production area.

Naturally, since no one knows who’s there and identification isn’t properly verified, errors are bound to occur in this process.

Theresa, with her mechanical accuracy, tried to ensure accurate distribution to the residents of the lower levels by controlling the supply drones, but even so, there were still problems.

There were cases of duplicate distribution and supply. There were even people who falsely claimed to be non-existent and received fraudulent supplies.

No matter how much Alice tries to manage these lower levels with good intentions, there will always be people who take advantage of opportunities to enrich themselves.

Regardless of whether they are strong or weak.

[Aaaah- We will be conducting a full population census as of today.]

Thus, Alice decided to conduct a full population census of the lower levels, something that the Central Administration would never even dare to attempt.

It wasn’t an easy task.

There were residents who listened well, but there were also many residents who didn’t even know what a population census was.

They resisted, saying that the Governor-General was ultimately trying to oppress and teach them like the Central Administration.

Because they had not been educated, they were ignorant and instinctively resistant to control.

In addition, the disruption caused by criminal organizations that didn’t like the fact that Alice was trying to manage the lower levels was quite severe.

In the case of one drug organization, they incited other organizations, saying, “Governor-General Alice is trying to cut off our lifeline!” and there were even movements to collectively resist Alice through cooperation and alliances between organizations.

But whatever.

Alice really didn’t care about the survival of criminal organizations.

Those who do not become workers.

Only death awaits.

Any complaints?

Taste the softness of the doll.

In this way, criminal organizations were ground up raw and became side dishes for the workers, but there were also some ordinary residents and workers who were caught up in the incitement and disturbances and genuinely harbored resentment towards Alice.

It was a natural phenomenon that occurred because there were so many people, but this part was surprisingly easy to solve.

“You villain! Do you not understand the great will of Governor-General Alice!”

“For losing faith means death…!”

In the first place, the support and respect that the residents of the lower levels had for Alice was sky-high.

She had given new homes to the poor who had been living without roofs for free, and she had created workers’ unions and leagues, giving them a sense of belonging for the first time in their lives.

The perception was that those who resisted Alice were plants from criminal organizations who had deliberately infiltrated.

“Those who don’t work don’t get rations!”

“Labor is more sacred than religion, so those who refuse to work are not even comrades!”

“I’ll work quickly. Comrades who don’t work proactively don’t deserve the grace of Governor-General Alice.”

For reference, that was the atmosphere that Sabrina had created by directly manipulating the Hush Gang and orphans who had been co-opted by Alice.

Originally, the easiest way to manage the ignorant masses is to divide them and make them beat each other up.

Above all, it was a method that worked even better because Governor-General Alice had overwhelming support and was genuinely trying to manage these lower levels and create a new world with good intentions.

In this way, the full population census of the lower levels was completed quite smoothly.

In the first place, it was a simple procedure that took less than 30 seconds, where you just had to certify your face, fingerprints, name, and voice on the drones that Theresa had scattered throughout the lower levels.

And in areas where the full population census was completed, rations could be distributed without errors, and at this point, Sabrina was recognized for her contributions and became ‘Labor Party Representative Sabrina’.

“…Dyed red, dyed red~”

In this way, Alice could see from the window that the Silion residential zone, which had been full of white buildings only in the early stages of reconstruction, was now completely dyed red.

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“…Oriana! How are you managing your junior Overseer?!”

“…I’m not.”

And upon receiving this report, Rilstia went out of her mind, and Oriana stared blankly at the red-dyed landscape of the lower levels.