Chapter 408

Chapter 408

In this world, the disparity between genders is actually not that significant.

Lorant once spent an entire afternoon carefully studying this issue. He believes it’s mainly because the power gap between practitioners and ordinary people, and the class gap between noble lords and ordinary people, overshadow many other differences.

Although when subjected to external oppression, groups will inevitably stratify internally to allow more people to be oppressed.

However, when external oppression becomes so great that it prevents such internal bullying, these issues are instead resolved.

Thus, in a way, this world has surprisingly achieved a degree of gender equality within a still-developing civilization.

Regardless of gender, people in the same class can have similar opportunities. As long as you have enough strength, you can control your own fate.

Though such a society remains quite skewed, especially for those at the bottom, their opportunities are fewer, and class mobility is nearly impossible without a rare 'mutated' talent.

But the more Lorant studied it, the more he felt there was a twisted fairness within it.

This is a dog-eat-dog world. As long as you have enough strength, no one will care about your gender. People submit to formidable warriors, and with the existence of 'practitioners,' formidable warriors and 'males' are not synonymous. Thus, over the long course of social development, this trend has formed.

Although in most cases, even if women become practitioners, especially those who require more physical strength to exert their power, they will inevitably be more disadvantaged than men.

Just like the Thorn Knight Order. In its early days, this special knight order, which only recruited female knights, was founded by a female knight who accomplished such a feat, allowing this all-female knight order to join the ranks of the eight great knight orders, but it required several times the effort of others.

Later, the Thorn Knight Order started recruiting male members, but the leader’s position remained reserved for a woman. These blooming roses, one after another, poured in sweat and blood, ultimately lifting the Thorn Knight Order to its current stature.

But although they had to put in more effort than others, at least they had the opportunity to do so. In some more rigid-minded worlds, in such a medieval era, a group like the Thorn Knight Order might never have had any chance of appearing from the start.

This world also never had absurd customs like women being confined to the home to care for their husbands and children, or barred from public life.

Just like Ruth and Martha. Back then, when Ruth was alone with her two brothers, although life was quite difficult without the family's breadwinner, she was willing to do anything and could do anything, which allowed the family to struggle through.

And the more capable women could obtain job opportunities that were not necessarily worse than those of men at the same level. There was very little gender discrimination in this aspect.

Take Emma, the manager of Blue Star Pet Shop, for example.

This capable professional woman excels in her role, performing as well as anyone else, so she can achieve her career glory at the pet shop and gain respect from others in the upper circles.

So it’s no surprise to see countless young girls in the square openly admiring and cheering for Garten’s beauty.

Kate handles the introduction of Blue Star territory, while Garten showcases the work at the Black Forest front lines.

At this moment, it is just noon, and the people who went out to work in the morning have already returned to the camp from their posts.

The camp’s communal meal is ready. A middle-aged woman in a clean, though slightly worn, Blue Star apron is kindly serving steaming hot food into the large bowls of the tired workers.

This is the 'Lumberjack' camp on the Blue Star—Dawn front.

Those ordinary people are merely countless temporary laborers, mobilized and labeled with a single name.

Garten strides quickly to the woman’s side, the floating octopuses trailing smoothly behind him.

Thus, countless people see an impressive amount of meat chunks bobbing in the large pot of steaming food.

It’s noon, and most people here watching the pet shop’s activities haven’t eaten lunch yet.

The morning parade left everyone hungry, and with Blue Star slow to hand out today’s free food, many couldn’t help but salivate at the sight of the food on the screen, their stomachs growling pitifully.

The food in the pot looks mouthwatering, especially with all that juicy, oily meat—wouldn’t a bite be heavenly?

Many people began to think this way.

Maybe they felt the heavy weight of resentment building up.

The FullShell camera zoomed in on those mouth-watering dishes, showing off the juicy, glistening meat in vivid detail, making the sauce-covered meat shreds clearly visible.

Lorant could even hear people in the square gulping.

The food was so good it made almost everyone’s mouths water. Even in the city, getting to eat meat once a year was a big deal.

Most people never got the chance to eat anything that good.

When Garten explained that the beast shop was giving these meals to the camp’s ordinary folks for free, almost everyone’s eyes lit up with envy.

Garten’s live broadcast was, of course, carefully planned, with every action and timing rehearsed countless times.

His strategy worked like a charm, thanks to the incredible food, as the delicious dishes were broadcast everywhere through the FullShell.

Later, Garten strolled around the camp, filming the everyday lives of the camp’s residents, even entering a couple of tents to capture their daily routines.

Honestly, the footage from the FullShell surprised most people.

Watching this, everyone felt like it wasn’t real, much like when Alfred visited the camp.

The crowd was amazed by the surprisingly good conditions.

Many people knew about the labor needs at the Black Forest front and the recruitment drives.

Back then, both the Imperial Parliament and the Blue Star Beast Shop tried recruiting, but it didn’t work out well.

People were cautious because of past experiences, and no one wanted to risk their lives to see if Blue Star was any different.

But now, heading to the Black Forest didn’t seem so bad. At least, from what’s shown, the people there seem better off than poor farmers in the countryside!

In fact, the work and living conditions there seem better than most people’s in the empire.

More importantly, the footage showed the job wasn’t as dangerous as people thought. There was no sign of things like chopping wood from beasts’ mouths.

Look, the workers said it themselves—they haven’t seen a single live beast since they got here!

People here are still pretty trusting, not exposed to the fake news of the modern world, so they believe what they see and hear.

Many remembered the ads at the beast shop’s entrance, and with the great pay and conditions, it was hard not to be tempted.

With the Floating Giant Duck route now available, leaving the city for a new life didn’t seem so far-fetched.

This form of promotion is entirely new, yet surprisingly persuasive to ordinary people, making countless hearts flutter.

Later, Garten did not linger too long in the camp.

He quickly walked to the Windbreaking Horse, mounted it handsomely amidst the fluttering of his coat, and with the FullShell lens, headed outside the camp, galloping towards the real front line.

"Ahead is the current real front line of 'Blue Star - Dawn'. We have advanced this front line four times in two months," Garten continued his broadcast smoothly and handsomely while feeling the speed on horseback.

"The flat ground we are stepping on now was once all Black Forest. These are the forests that have been completely cleared, and our goal is to continue advancing inward, gradually erasing the Black Forest."

"This will be a feat, a great deed engraved in history books, a hymn to humanity. Everyone involved may not leave their names, but they will certainly leave their marks!"

Garten turned his head and spoke with a compelling tone towards the FullShells, "This is an opportunity that comes once in hundreds of years. Missing such a chance would surely leave one with lifelong regret."

The floating octopuses were also perched on the Windbreaking Horses, closely following Garten's pace. The Windbreaking Horses were too fast for them to keep up alone.

Not to mention, each tentacle of the floating octopuses was holding a FullShell beast pet, requiring them to keep their bodies steady to prevent any movement.

Thus, they couldn't even wave their tentacles to swim in the air, so they were each equipped with corresponding Windbreaking Horses. They perched awkwardly on the backs of the Windbreaking Horses, the soft touch seeming to make the horses uneasy, causing them to run swiftly, eager to surpass Garten's Windbreaking Horse and reach the destination as quickly as possible to free themselves.

In the view of the FullShells, a veil of light enveloping the Black Forest soon appeared.