The Spell's Range Covers the Entire Territory of China? Hand It Over to the Nation

46: Chapter 46 Restless Hearts and a Glorious EraJust as Su Yun was preparing to unleash his skill...

Kyoto, a large warehouse-style supermarket.

The aisles between the shelves were completely jammed. The clattering sound of colliding shopping carts, the wailing of children, and the repeated broadcast from the loudspeaker urging people to ’maintain order’ mixed together, cooking into a boiling porridge.

”Stop pushing! I grabbed that box of salt first!”

A middle-aged man in a decent suit was now shamelessly sticking his rear end out, fiercely guarding a carton of table salt in his shopping cart.

Behind him, an older woman yanked the other corner of the box, her voice as loud as if she had swallowed a subwoofer: ”How can you young people not know how to respect your elders and cherish the young? There are still children waiting to eat at home! You have to give up this salt, whether you want to or not!”

”The country has already issued announcements saying grain supplies are sufficient. What are you planning to do, pickle yourselves into cured meat by hoarding this box of salt?” A young person nearby couldn’t help but complain.

The suited man was sweating profusely. He pushed up his askew glasses, his tone carrying an anxiety of ’everyone is drunk but I alone am sober’: ”You know nothing! Grain is plentiful, yes, but what about the industrial chain? Factories are shut down, logistics are paralyzed. In the future, you won’t be able to buy anything even if you have money! This is strategic reserve! This is hedging risk! Have you read ’The Doomsday Survival Guide’? Salt is hard currency!”

”Right, right! And toilet paper! Go grab a few more bundles of toilet paper!”

This kind of panic wasn’t undisciplined rioting, but it couldn’t be taken lightly.

Everyone was smart. Precisely because they were smart, thought too much, and calculated too finely, they were even clearer that on the verge of collapsing order, any minor shortage of supplies could trigger a chain reaction.

This phenomenon began to appear across the country, and it was growing more prevalent.

...On the other side, thousands of kilometers away, at a western border port.

The situation here was even more explosive than at the supermarket.

Beneath the towering golden city walls, a tide of millions of people, like a vast expanse of dark, crushing ants, surged into Dragon Summer through the sole ’Gate of Life’.

This was the team evacuating citizens.

They had experienced diabolical disasters outside, watching prosperous cities turn into ruins, watching friends beside them being torn apart by monsters. Now that they had finally set foot on their homeland, their nerves, stretched to the absolute limit, had not relaxed; instead, they snapped completely due to the immense environmental shock.

At the registration desk of the temporary settlement point, one table had already been overturned.

”I want to see your leader! I want to see him right now!”

Zhang Wei slammed his dark blue passport onto the desk, spraying spittle across the face of the staff member opposite him.

His originally expensive custom-made suit was now full of wrinkles and grime. In his bloodshot eyes, the pride of the elite class he once held was gone, replaced by a terror akin to a startled wild beast.

”Sir, please calm down.”

Old Zhou, the cadre in charge of registration, was over fifty. His throat was already hoarse, and he held half a bottle of mineral water, not even having time to twist off the cap to take a sip.

”Calm down? How do you expect me to calm down!” Zhang Wei tugged at his tie, even wanting to jump onto the chair to shout: ”I own three properties on Wall Street! I am a partner at a hedge fund there! Every minute of my time is worth thousands of US dollars! To get this ticket back home, I spent all my liquid funds! And now you expect me to sleep on a communal bunk? To squeeze in with these... these people and eat instant noodles?”

He pointed at his compatriots around him, who were ragged and pale, his fingers trembling.

”I paid taxes for so many years! I donated money to my hometown before! Even in special times, you can’t treat talent like pigs, can you? My professional skills can help the country rebuild the financial system! I demand preferential treatment! I demand a private room! I have mysophobia!”

Zhang Wei’s roar caused a commotion around them.

”Having a little money makes you so great? Who isn’t fleeing back here for refuge?”

”Exactly, everyone is the same. Why should you get special treatment?”

The crowd began to heckle, and curses rose one after another.

Old Zhou’s dark face was full of helplessness and fatigue. He wiped the sweat from his face: ”comrade, it’s truly not that we refuse to arrange things for you. Tens of millions of people have poured in all at once; the allocation of our supplies also takes time. Everyone is struggling, can we try to be understanding? Drink some hot water first, fill your stomachs first...”

”I don’t want hot water! I want a guarantee!” Zhang Wei lost control of his emotions and violently shoved Old Zhou. ”Are you guys simply unprepared? Did you lie to us to come back? This place is so chaotic, what if the monsters break in? Who takes responsibility?”

This push was like igniting a powder keg.

Several young people nearby, already full of resentment, rolled up their sleeves preparing to rush up and beat him. The armed police soldiers maintaining order blew their whistles desperately, and the scene was momentarily on the verge of losing control.

”I don’t believe you! I’m going to another placement center! I’m going to find people I have connections with!” Zhang Wei shouted hysterically. In truth, he knew he was being unreasonable, but he couldn’t control himself.

That panic of losing everything, that sense of falling from the clouds into the mud, had turned him into a mad dog that could only bark wildly.

...In Kunlun Palace, Conference Room Number One.

On the holographic screen, scenes of chaos from various regions were being played in real-time.

”It’s getting out of hand.”

The Minister of Civil Affairs looked at the flashing red public security index and frowned deeply:

”Comrade Su Yun’s ’The Passing of the Torch’ is indeed potent, but its side effects are also very obvious. Everyone’s minds are too clear, so they calculate more clearly. Everyone is planning for their own future. Previously, this was called planning ahead, but in the face of disaster, this is internal friction.”

”This is human nature.”

Long Yi leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers lightly on the table.

In an extreme environment like the apocalypse, even if Confucius and Mencius were reborn, if they were starving or terrified, they would still turn into beasts.

He would not blame these people for it.

”So, having enough grain isn’t enough, and having high intelligence isn’t enough.”

”We also need a breath of air.”

”What air?” the Minister of Civil Affairs asked.

”The spirit.”

”We must let them know that these 9.6 million square kilometers are not a cold geographical concept, but a home. In this home, as long as there is fire on the stove and food in the pot, no matter how torrential the flood outside, no one can do anything to them.”

”Since everyone is anxious, let’s light a calming lamp for every single one of these 1.4 billion people.”

Saying that, Long Yi turned his head to look at Su Yun.

At this moment...

Su Yun had already raised his hand.

Suddenly.

A totem pole, pure white like jade, materialized silently in the center of Conference Room Number One.

It was not vibrant and verdant like the previous bronze pillar, nor was it passionate and unrestrained like the crimson pillar.

It was gentle and restrained, with a faint halo flowing across its surface, like a piece of mutton-fat jade polished by five thousand years of time.

The pillar had no spears, halberds, swords, or knives carved on it; instead, it was covered entirely with musical instruments.

Chime bells, guqin, pipa, xiao and dizi... as well as lines of flowing poetic verses, and scrolls depicting scenes of farming, weaving, rites, and music.

[Detecting Host’s Will...]

[Skill ’Magnificent Chapter of a Prosperous Age’ is being released...]

[Judging... Talent ’Territory is Domain’ intervenes.]

[Judgment passed. Current coverage area: 9.6 million square kilometers + territorial waters.]

[Extracting historical foundation... Reshaping concepts...]

[Extraction targets: Duke of Zhou’s Rites and Music, Wei and Jin Spirit, Flourishing Tang Atmosphere, Century of National Humiliation, Red Will...]

[Extracted concepts: Composure, Integrity, Sense of Belonging, Unity of All People...]

— —

[Skill Mutation Complete.]

[Totem of State and Society · Magnificent Chapter of a Prosperous Age]

[Description: Rites define aspiration; music harmonizes sound. Huaxia is the great ritual, the beauty of adornment. This is an elegance carved into the bone, the confidence that the sky will not fall.]

[Effect: Forcibly dispels all ’Panic,’ ’Anxiety,’ ’Frenzy,’ ’Hostility,’ and other negative mental states of friendly units within the Territory range. Grants all personnel the ’Prosperous Age Demeanor’ BUFF — — Mental Resistance +1000%, empathy greatly increased, high recognition of the concept of ’compatriot’.]

[Special Effect: National Style and Elegance. You will hear echoes from the long river of history; it is the highest form of spiritual massage.]

[Current Cost: 200 Mana (Deducted), Maintenance Cost: 0 (Due to ’Popular Support’ trait, cost is compensated by National Fortune).]

[Note: Everyone eats on this land, why argue? Expand your perspective for this comrade!]

A faint smile played on Su Yun’s lips. He lightly flicked his fingers in the empty air, as if plucking an invisible zither string.

The white jade totem suddenly dissipated.

It turned into a gust of wind.

A wind that could not be seen, yet could blow into people’s hearts.