Chapter Twenty-One: Transformation

Spurred on by the construction of the residential buildings, the entire population of the kingdom was working with an almost feverish energy, as if injected with adrenaline, both day and night, with diligent people toiling tirelessly. Mo Fangyuan was quite pleased with this; after all, “cultivating immortality” in the block world came at little cost.

While the people were exhausting themselves for their new homes, Mo Fangyuan was already preparing his next move. He required every resident moving into the buildings to apply for an identification card, which would record their occupation and personal information. The kingdom would grant certain privileges to those holding IDs.

Mo Fangyuan’s intentions were clear: to implement the ID system while the population was still small and resistance minimal. To prevent loss or damage, he had each ID’s information engraved on a piece of iron and then sealed in glass.

It was common knowledge that, in the block world, glass was a remarkably sturdy material. No matter what tools were used, breaking it took the same amount of effort, and it was even explosion-proof.

“IDs are a good thing—they allow for better population management...”

In Mo Fangyuan’s vision, every citizen of the Block Kingdom would one day live in such buildings. To that end, he appointed a building manager for each structure, responsible for handling minor resident affairs and carrying out his directives.

“One of these residential buildings can house forty people, and the kingdom’s total population is only one hundred and ninety…”

Counting those who lived alone, childless, or widowed, only eight such buildings would suffice to concentrate the scattered populace of the kingdom. Once centralized, Mo Fangyuan’s other plans could proceed.

“Collective farmland, collective blacksmiths…”

Given the current circumstances, centralization was the best choice for the Block Kingdom. Of course, Mo Fangyuan had no intention of repeating the mistakes of his predecessors—that was far too dangerous, too foolish, and history had already proven the consequences.

Blind collectivization would only bring fleeting satisfaction, with disastrous results to follow. It was unrealistic to expect a horse to run fast without feeding it; likewise, if everyone received the same regardless of effort or sloth, what would the diligent think, and how would the lazy behave?

Mo Fangyuan’s task was to properly balance these relationships. Besides, this was a block world unbound by material conservation, entirely different from the red states of his previous life; true collectivization here was genuinely possible!

As Mo Fangyuan was lost in thought, the first batch of residents moved into the new buildings. Most were guards or members of the field protection teams, with a few artisans and farmers. This was what Mo Fangyuan had promised them, and also a subtle message to others that he kept his word—winning hearts and minds in the process.

“Wow! Dad, this place is so beautiful, I really, really love it!”

A little girl bounced around joyfully. Many of the warriors, having already toured the buildings, returned home to gather their families and move in. Mo Fangyuan conveniently exchanged a few supplies for their old, unwanted houses, reclaiming them to offset losses.

This way, not only did he clear out the shabby huts and free up urban space for building materials, but he also earned their gratitude—a double victory.

Mo Fangyuan was no longer a social novice, blindly groping in the dark; he now possessed some experience.

“These quill pens are truly uncomfortable. How I miss ballpoint pens!”

Mo Fangyuan was gradually adapting to the “primitive life” of the block world: no more internet addiction, no more cravings for cola… Though, to fully acclimate, he knew there was still a long road ahead.

“If I can't change myself, then I'll change the environment!”

Mo Fangyuan’s witty remarks grew ever more frequent.

The sun rose in the east, and five days passed in a blink. Under his guidance, two more residential buildings were completed, though not fully occupied. Mo Fangyuan would not let people earn the right to live in these buildings so easily, lest they come to take it for granted.

A little give-and-take is sometimes necessary.

Over these five days, Mo Fangyuan constantly refined his collectivization model with knowledge and experience from his previous life, striving to minimize its drawbacks and tailor it to the kingdom’s unique conditions.

“Only two hundred people!”

Like many young men of his era, Mo Fangyuan harbored dreams of conquest. Now, it seemed almost laughable—managing just two hundred people was so taxing; how could he ever hope to rule a superpower that once dominated the world for centuries?

“A sow was found in the fields…”

“A mother hen has gone missing from the ranch…”

These matters might seem trivial, yet they bore directly on the kingdom’s development!

Take the chicken, for example—it may appear ordinary, but what if you considered that it could lay an egg every day, and if every egg hatched, how many chicks would there be after three hundred and sixty-five days? And after another year, how many more eggs would those chickens lay?

“These are the kingdom’s assets! Investigate—no matter what, I want that chicken found!”

Mo Fangyuan’s eyes reddened at the thought—he couldn’t even bear to eat a chicken drumstick himself, how could he let one go missing?

Old Fu was long accustomed to Mo Fangyuan’s daily dramas.

At the southern lumberyard.

This site lay on the southern border of the kingdom, amid the oak woods, and was one of the nation’s three great logging camps—the Oak Logging Yard—providing vital timber for the realm.

Timber was the cornerstone of the block people’s development; everything began with wood, for the workbench, which enabled the creation of all things, could only be crafted from it.

With the population growing, the place was more bustling than ever. Numerous loggers processed felled oak blocks into planks and stripped oak.

“Hey! Come on, brothers! We workers have strength!”

A villager, waving a small red flag, shouted loudly.

“Yes! We workers are strong!”

The workers echoed his cry.

On the wall, a sign declaring “Labor is glorious” was particularly eye-catching.

This oak logging yard was Mo Fangyuan’s experimental ground for his new approach to collectivization.

Here, every logger received the same base wage: seven potatoes and a loaf of bread per day.

But any bonuses beyond the base pay were awarded through a ranking system: daily leaderboards earned food rewards, weekly leaderboard winners received goods, and monthly leaders could win an ID card or a place in the residential buildings.

Work output was measured according to the unique properties of the block world. Here, a tool’s durability never changed unless used—no matter how long it lay unused, it remained pristine. But once used to break a block, its durability immediately decreased.

Mo Fangyuan used this feature to rank workers. The more axe durability consumed, the higher the ranking.

He wasn’t worried about people wasting axes on easily broken blocks to cheat the system. At the Oak Logging Yard, everyone used iron axes, which were much more efficient for chopping wood than for breaking dirt or stone.

No one would ignore easy-to-chop wood in favor of laboriously hacking at stone—would they? If anyone tried, they’d soon find themselves at the bottom of the leaderboard, earning only scorn and criticism.

Psychological attacks could be far more devastating than physical ones!

In this setup, those who wanted to shirk were compelled to work, and then, as active workers, they would mock the next group of slackers, and so on. Soon, laziness would be rare.

If anyone stubbornly refused to work, the punishments Mo Fangyuan had designed were no mere formality—the kingdom had no place for the idle and gluttonous!

Under this special system, the Oak Logging Yard quickly became the most efficient in the kingdom, proving the viability of Mo Fangyuan’s plans.

“From test run to full implementation…”

He wanted to expand the logging yard’s working model across the entire kingdom, but knew better than to blindly apply it everywhere.

That would only invite unnecessary chaos.