A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 343 Hamlet at 4 a.m.

Today is another new day.

At four in the morning, Hamlet's territory was silent, everyone was fast asleep, but some were different.

Cangzhou Skeleton Soldiers, or rather Guo Dejun, got up early to wash and start a new day.

He and his best friend went to the wrong military camp and ended up joining Jiang Shuzhou's army by mistake. They thought they had been tricked, but they never expected that they had stumbled into the emperor's family and their status rose rapidly. Now, they are considered leaders.

Guo Dejun is currently the Minister of Labour in Hamlet's territory, a position that is neither particularly important nor insignificant.

The three brothers are all currently leaders in the Ministry of Labor. However, because Guo Dejun is of sound mind and has never made any mistakes, he is the head, while the others are deputy heads.

"Minister Guo, are you up?"

The secretary outside knocked on the door.

"I'm up, I'm washing up."

Guo Dejun responded.

"It's good that you're up. The agents from the Department of Humanitarian Affairs are going to conduct a screening of the entire Department of Labor today. You should arrive as soon as possible to take charge."

"That's what the secretary said."

Guo Dejun rolled his eyes upon hearing this.

I don't know why the secret service is called the Department of Benevolence; these guys don't seem benevolent at all.

One or two of them either had eerie smiles on their faces, spoke coldly and emotionlessly, or covered their faces completely; in short, none of them seemed like normal people.

"I'll be there right away."

Although he was inwardly complaining, Guo Dejun showed no sign of letting up. As everyone knows, the Ren'ai Department has no compassion. Once you make a mistake and get caught, you're basically done for.

With a click, Guo Dejun pushed open the door and walked with his secretary down Hamlet's street.

Hamlet in winter is desolate, with wind and snow raging and thick snow piled up on the ground. Guo Dejun and his secretary left a trail of footprints on the snow, which were soon buried by the wind and snow and disappeared as they walked away.

The clanging and jingling sounds, along with the cacophony of voices, reached Guo Dejun's ears.

A huge, towering tower and a massive doorway came into view.

Countless laborers, like ants, built this enormous structure.

"Smooth that area, and reduce this by five millimeters!"

A deep voice rang out; it was Stone Man Murphy, the chief designer of Jiang Shuzhou's tower, who was in charge of all construction matters.

Guo Dejun glanced at the tall tower, then hid in a small building, which was where his office was located.

The Department of Labor, as its name suggests, is responsible for managing labor, but it does not manage ordinary workers, who are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Labor.

The term "laborer" is, to put it bluntly, slave. "Laborer" is just a more polite way of saying it, or to put it more civilly, these people can also be called indentured laborers.

Jiang Shuzhou himself was quite kind. Although these people were laborers, Jiang Shuzhou still protected their various rights, such as only having to work twelve hours a day, being able to eat meat every day, and having access to certain consumer goods.

Through labor, one earns points, and with those points, one can exchange them for various resources, and even freedom.

Of course, many of these people haven't committed any serious crimes, so they can still be freed. Those who are serious offenders, however, can only stay here for the rest of their lives.

However, Jiang Shuzhou showed mercy once again by giving their child a way to leave this place.

These people are human too; they also have children. And as we all know, children are innocent. After all, even if a child knew they were born in a place like this, they probably wouldn't be happy.

Therefore, the offspring of these people, after receiving education, can choose to join the army and become glorious soldiers.

This is a very good way out.

"Guo Dejun, are you there?"

Upon hearing the curt words, Guo Dejun immediately recognized them as the men in suits from the Benevolence Department.

He opened the door, and sure enough, a tall man in a black suit was standing at the door of his office.

"Detective, what can I do for you?"

Staring at the detective's expressionless face, Guo Dejun couldn't help but force a smile.

"The Most High will come here to witness the completion of the tower and the gates. We have come here so that the Most High's mood will not be disturbed."

Guo Dejun was initially a little confused, but he quickly came to his senses.

It means that Jiang Shuzhou is coming to provide guidance.

"So... is there anything I need to do?"

The detective glanced at him, and the cold look in his eyes sent chills down Guo Dejun's spine.

"First of all, you can't wear casual clothes. Didn't we already give you formal attire?"

"Secondly, why aren't these laborers dressed properly? Why are they shirtless? Did you withhold money from their clothing allowance?"

The cold, hard question slipped out, and the icy words sent a chill down Guo Dejun's spine.

"Ahem, I just forgot to wear it. I'll change right away."

"And about the workers' uniforms, it's not that I didn't want to provide them, it's just that they complained they were too hot, so..."

"Please wait a moment, I'll have these workers change into them right away."

Guo Dejun said, his forehead covered in sweat.

He was terrified that if he was even a little late, he would be arrested by these Benevolent Department personnel.

"Very good, that's all. After all, if you really had a problem, you wouldn't have been able to get here at all; you would have disappeared halfway there."

After finishing their conversation, the detective from the Benevolent Department left without even bothering to sit and rest with Guo Dejun for a while.

"Quickly, bring me my dress."

Working under Jiang Shuzhou is roughly equivalent to working in a state-owned enterprise. Although it's not usually that serious, you still have to follow the rules when it's time to go back to your post.

Of course, Jiang Shuzhou's approach is somewhat outrageous in some respects. After all, when you work in a state-owned enterprise, no one can just take you away and make you disappear without a trace.

Upon hearing this, the secretary brought Guo Dejun a gray uniform, which was the uniform of the Ministry of Labor. It was drab and looked no different from the uniforms worn by the laborers working below.

Of course, Guo Dejun's outfit is quite nice to look at. At least it has designs like pockets, and apart from the color, which is a bit gray and no different from a normal formal dress.

Combined with the medals he received and the metal plaque symbolizing his status, it still looks quite classy.

"That's much better. Pass down the order: all laborers must change into these clothes. Anyone who dares not will be taken away!"

Guo Dejun naturally dared not slack off when his superior was coming to inspect.

Although in theory Jiang Shuzhou and he are from the same hometown and both players, it is well known that the differences between people are greater than the differences between people and dogs.

Jiang Shuzhou is a high-level mage, while Guo Dejun is only a mid-level warrior.

Now, even Guo Dejun can only respectfully address Jiang Shuzhou as "Master."