89: New laws spur a boom in all industries, and the reshaping of order brings new vitality.

Chapter Ninety-Two: New Laws Spark Prosperity in All Trades, Restored Order Revitalizes Life

The promulgation of the "Huaxia Dawn City Post-Apocalyptic Survival Law" was like a clear spring flowing across the parched and cracked earth of the apocalypse. Within the soil of the Five Great Bases and Qiming City, it catalyzed a vigorous vitality. The once chaotic and disordered social structure was being reshaped by a brand-new order at a visible speed. A succession of new professions tailored to post-apocalyptic needs emerged, becoming the fresh framework supporting the operations of Dawn City.

Law Enforcement Supervisors were the first new profession to appear. This group, elected by the people, mostly consisted of victims who had escaped the Changbai Mountain fortifications, decorated ordinary soldiers, and highly respected grassroots elders. They held no military rank and no military power, yet they wielded a copper ruler symbolizing supervisory authority—a token specially crafted by the Code Drafting Committee. The word "Fairness" was engraved on the copper ruler; seeing the ruler was like seeing the Law itself.

The footprints of the Law Enforcement Supervisors covered every corner of the bases. In the granaries, they verified the entry and exit records of every bit of grain to eliminate embezzlement and hoarding; in the factories, they inspected whether work hours and compensation were balanced to protect the legal rights of workers; at the recruitment offices, they supervised the enlistment process to ensure there was no forced conscription and that the children of the powerful did not use influence to evade military service.

At the Western Granary Base, a supervisor once stopped a military officer's family member who was attempting to take extra grain. Relying on her husband's rank, the relative threw a tantrum, shouting, "Who dares to control me?" only for the supervisor to raise the copper ruler and publicly read Article 5 of the "Post-Apocalyptic Survival Law." The onlookers spontaneously broke into applause, and the relative ultimately had no choice but to return the extra grain with a flushed face. From then on, the saying "Where the copper ruler passes, none dare disobey" began to circulate throughout the base.

Following closely behind was the rise of Mutant Ecology Researchers. Article 14 of the Code strictly prohibited human experimentation but encouraged scientific research on Mutants to find ways to counter them. A group of pre-apocalyptic biologists and agricultural college students volunteered to form research teams. They were no longer nerds hiding in laboratories; instead, they wore lightweight protective armor and followed Bud Hunting Squads deep into Mutant nests to collect samples and record habits.

The achievements of these Researchers soon benefited the entire military. They discovered that the scales of Level Six Mutants became fragile on rainy days, so they suggested that the Eastern Army Group schedule large-scale clearing operations during the rainy season. They researched how deep-sea Mutants feared specific frequencies of sound waves, providing key data for the upgrade of sonic weapons at the East Sea Barrier Base. They even extracted anti-corrosive components from Mutant plants, improving the armor coatings for soldiers.

In a research institute at the Northern Steel Base, a young Researcher excitedly announced that he had extracted an enzyme from Mutant earthworms in the permafrost that could accelerate metal smelting. This discovery increased the base's tank production by thirty percent. As the news spread, the entire base seethed with excitement; only then did the people realize that Mutants did not only have a destructive side—if studied properly, they could also become an aid to humanity.

The most popular among children were the Post-Apocalyptic Survival Instructors. The education popularization plan within the Code allowed schools that had been silent for three years to once again ring with the sound of reading. These instructors included retired veterans, technical workers, and knowledgeable scholars. What they taught the children was not just literacy and arithmetic, but practical survival skills.

In the first post-apocalyptic school of the Central Hub Base, the children's curriculum prominently listed subjects like "Armor Assembly and Disassembly," "Basic Operation of Sonic Rifles," and "Wilderness Navigation." Veteran instructors would take children to the safety zones on the outskirts of the base for simulation drills, teaching them how to evade Mutant pursuit. Worker instructors would personally teach children how to repair farm tools and simple machinery, while scholar instructors would tell the children the history of Huaxia, informing them that no matter how cruel the apocalypse was, the spark of civilization must never be lost.

Once, during a drill, a group of children successfully "rescued" an instructor who was acting as a "hostage." Although it was just a simulation, the children's faces beamed with pride. The instructor patted a child's head and said with a smile, "The skills you learn now will all be weapons to protect your home in the future."

The rise of new professions not only made the bases' operations more orderly but also allowed everyone to find their own value. Survivors who were once lost now had clear goals—some strove to be supervisors to guard fairness, some joined research institutes to explore the unknown, and some stood on the podium to pass on hope.

On this day, Lin Zhou strolled through the streets of the Central Hub Base. He saw order in front of the granaries, workers full of energy in the factories, children laughing and playing in the schoolhouse, and the Law Enforcement Supervisors' copper rulers glinting in the sunlight.

A child who had just finished class saw the badge on Lin Zhou's chest, stopped, and gave a somewhat non-standard military salute: "Division Commander Lin, when I grow up, I want to be a survival instructor and teach more people how to fight Mutants!"

Lin Zhou bent down and rubbed the child's hair with a smile: "Alright, Uncle will be waiting for that day."

The afterglow of the setting sun spilled onto the street, stretching people's shadows very long. Looking at this vibrant scene, Lin Zhou felt incredibly certain in his heart—with such order and such public support, even if future storms were more violent, Dawn City would stand firm.