Work Prophet

The woman called a madwoman by Hephaestus is now standing on the land of the Bratis Continent.

She opened her eyes, looking around curiously at the unfamiliar environment, then lowered her head to look at her equally unfamiliar body.

Her palms were somewhat rough, there were marks from iron shackles on her wrists, and her clothes were tattered, emitting an unpleasant odor.

Kaden forced back his disgust and asked, "Whose body is this?"

"A condemned prisoner," Li Yu said. "She was originally just a peasant woman. She thought the neighbor's child had stolen her vegetables, so she pushed the child into the well, but someone passing by saw it happen.

"She was caught by the villagers and sent to the Lord, who eventually sentenced her to death."

"Alright," Kaden shrugged. "At least she's not too old. I thought you'd find me the body of an old man close to death, or simply not reincarnate me at all; after all, the link between this plane and the other is only one-way."

"You can still regret it now, kill me, then tell the board I'm still alive, so the tattletale won't exist anymore." Kaden's voice was full of temptation.

Li Yu ignored her and simply tossed a set of clean clothes to her. "Aren't you here to work? Then hurry up and get started."

Kaden looked a bit disappointed. "Very well, you've passed the first test. I arranged some code words with the company before coming here."

"From now on, I'll rate your performance weekly, and when you report to the board, remember to tell them the code words as well, word for word.

"If you say it wrong, or if any time I give you a low score, something unpleasant might happen."

Kaden smiled at Li Yu. "But as you spend more time with me, you'll find I'm actually easy to get along with, and I'll do my best to give you high scores.

"I hope we can work well together and strive to preserve human civilization."

Kaden extended her hand again, her gaze sincere, and this time Li Yu finally shook her hand.

After that, Kaden put on the clean clothes and followed Li Yu out of the house.

By then, dawn had broken, and the morning light shone on the earth through the clouds. Kaden followed Li Yu, constantly looking around. "Is this our new home?

"Although technology seems a bit backward, the natural resources are quite nice."

Kaden kept looking left and right, nearly bumping into an ox cart. She was still unfamiliar with her new body, and it was Li Yu who pulled her aside just in time to avoid it.

The driver, who had been cursing, saw Li Yu and fell silent, jumping down from the cart and respectfully saying, "Prophet Merlin, you're back."

"Hmm." Li Yu nodded. "Where are you going?"

"Oh, I'm planning to take a load of fish to the city. The fish from our family pond were harvested recently, and there's too much for us to eat, so we're selling it for money.

"It's all thanks to the protection of you and our Lord on Thursday that we can eat meat every day now, grow stronger, and live better lives."

The driver remembered something, climbed back onto the cart, and took out a package of dried fish, insisting on giving it to Li Yu.

He waited for a moment to slip the dried fish into Li Yu's arms, and before Li Yu could refuse, he hurriedly jumped back onto the cart and drove the ox away.

Although Kaden couldn't understand the Universal Language of Bratis, just from what Li Yu said, she could piece together what had just happened.

She maintained a smile, watching from the side, and only spoke again after the ox cart had moved far.

"The people here revere you. That's good, so they won't resist when our people arrive."

After thinking for a moment, she asked, "By the way, what was that man's name?"

"Why do you care about his name? He's just an ordinary farmer, there are plenty like him all over this continent," Li Yu said.

"He looks quite strong, and he's not very old."

Kaden finished speaking and saw Li Yu staring at her. She raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong? Why do you act like this is the first time you've seen this sort of thing?

"Even though there are twenty million reincarnation slots, there's a good and bad among them. We need to reserve the good bodies for the important people and their families."

Li Yu furrowed his brow and said nothing.

"Ah, I know that look. Believe it or not, I was quite radical in my school days."

"What changed you?"

"Reality." Kaden's expression turned unusually serious. "The world will never be fair, Li Yu. Just take the law, for instance. The statutes are indeed the same for everyone, but the legal resources available to the rich and powerful are completely different from those for ordinary people.

"When you litigate against those big companies' legal teams, they have countless ways to wear you down, even without waiting for a judgment, by simply dragging it out.

"Education, do you think it's fair? I know your country has gaokao, and mine has SAT. Not to mention the different education resources families can afford, those important people always find a way to send their kids to the top schools."

"Healthcare, some people receive consultations from global medical experts in sanatoriums, while others can only line up all night outside the hospital on a mat...

"Oh, but there is indeed one thing where the poor have priority: war. When war comes, no matter the excuse, it's always the children of ordinary families who rush to the front line to fight.

"Equality is the biggest lie of this century," Kaden said. "I can't imagine that my younger self would have believed in those leftist delusions.

"Fortunately, those pitiful fools aren't very destructive. They just trot out slogans, hold up protest signs, then return home, drink a couple of beers, and waste away awaiting death.

"My first boyfriend was such a guy, a poor bastard who even slept on his parents' couch, and I was the one who paid when we went to the motel.

"Then one day I told myself, Kaden, do you really want to live an unaccomplished life like them, don't you want to have more resources and enjoy more things like those important figures?

"All of a sudden, I accepted the flaws of this world, even started to love it a bit. I had a goal, to continually raise my price, which is why I take this job so seriously."

Kaden said earnestly, "I'm telling you all this because I really hope we can get along well and work together properly."