Super Righteous Player
Chapter 1040 - 98: Not Entirely Meaningless, Just Far from Enough

Chapter 1040: Chapter 98: Not Entirely Meaningless, Just Far from Enough

At this point in time,

Having resurrected after a hundred years, Isaac could finally calm his heart and return to his hometown. After witnessing the world that had seemingly changed, yet remained the same,

he finally began to doubt his past endeavors and the worth of his life.

Annan was not surprised by this.

Rather, it was rare for souls like Hugo and Salvatore, who would spare no expense or guarantee of results, to sacrifice themselves wholly for the sake of others... that were the true minority.

It was a qualification that could be called saintly.

But Annan could not hold Isaac to Salvatore’s standards.

After all, hoping that one’s efforts would yield returns was quite human.

"As for what you said... this country has changed a lot over the past hundred years, yet it seems as if nothing has changed. That’s actually quite normal."

Annan held a glass of wine with both hands, took a sip, and quietly answered, "Because what you changed was ’a lot’, not ’everything’."

"...Not everything?"

"Correct. After all, hoping that social conditions and progress could be directly improved by simply ’increasing productivity’ is a very idealistic expectation. It’s a kind of productivism."

Annan calmly said, "Whether it’s the Jade Tower or the Heath Tower of Black, the technologies you’ve developed have indeed driven the evolution of the era and brought great convenience to people.

"But why were you able to notice that the world had indeed changed?"

"...Probably because I haven’t come back in a long while."

Isaac took a deep breath, "It’s been more than one hundred forty years... no, over one hundred eighty years since I last returned here. It’s like not noticing your own child getting fatter or taller day by day."

"That means, you also know—that no new technology can immediately impact the entire society."

"Yes. After all, the spread of information takes a lot of time, and people will not easily change their way of life. Invention to civilian use, civilian use to popularization, and popularization to habit are different concepts."

As a transformational Wizard, Isaac understood such situations.

Graduating transformation Wizards often hope to immediately change the whole world.

Whenever they develop a new technology, they long for it to be immediately promoted, wishing for everyone to start using it right away... without realizing what the public’s most urgent needs are, or whether the public truly needs to spend money on these things.

And when they discover that their inventions are ignored and misunderstood, they can’t help but feel unappreciated.

Thus, it’s part of the instructors’ duties in the Wizard’s Tower to administer this preventative advice before the young Wizards graduate, to prevent them from having an emotional collapse.

"Then you should be able to understand... the changes in the relations of production caused by the increase in productivity, both temporally and spatially, are not uniform or immediately effective."

Annan slowly spoke, "People have a ’habit of following habits’. Unless necessary, they won’t realize that these production relations need to change. For a long time, these ’habits’ that form will be quite fixed and not easily changed.

"As long as productivity continues to develop, societal change will eventually occur. Although you feel that Dennisiowa has not changed at all compared to the past... is that really just your subjective feeling? Is it true there haven’t been any changes, not even a little better or worse aside from the urban landscape?"

"...No, that’s not the case."

By this time, Isaac had already calmed down.

He was never a rash young man. When he heard that "the change would not be uniform or immediately effective," he had already recognized the crux of his problem.

Yet he still didn’t know how to deal with this issue.

So, he could only seriously think along the lines of Annan’s words, "A hundred years ago, in each city, there were multiple pirate gangs fighting for power. For slightly larger cities, new gangs were born and old ones vanished every day.

"But now, it seems like the Zipper Gang has completely controlled ’Black Sail Town’. There are no piles of bodies appearing on the streets anymore."

"That’s right."

Annan nodded, "But it’s not because they are more conscientious or moral than in the past... rather, it’s because of the artillery, because the scale and technology of the ships have improved.

"In this way, it’s difficult for pirates to engage in fights as gangs. When one side gains an advantage, it quickly turns it into a winning position; and after they’ve completely won, they would find ways to consolidate their ’rule’ in these port cities, which in turn suppresses the formation of other gangs.

"Isn’t the relationship between these pirates changed because of these new technologies? But are these changes the result of some ’Pirate Relations Modifier’ technology?"

...Yes.

Isaac’s previously dimmed pupils became bright again.

He had realized where the problem

The inventions of Heath Tower of Black were all things that could "immediately improve people’s lives."

Such as convenient and useful medical ointments, cheap and safe illumination technologies, widely affordable paper and printing technologies, underground equipment that could explore tunnels more safely and effortlessly...

These things, to say they hadn’t changed society... but surely they achieved something?

—Not so.

In Isaac’s time, a book cost at least one Gold Coin to start. Those books were handwritten, and it was impossible for the poor to even afford them because the price could not be lowered... the cost of labor for scribes and cost of paper were not negligible.

Yet now, with the popularization of paper and printing technologies, books had become inexpensive. One could buy a book for one to two silver coins, which still included a markup... and in Noah, acquiring a newspaper didn’t involve purchasing with a silver coin, but through a "donation."

Wanting to read books or newspapers, one didn’t even need to spend money—every city had public libraries open to the general public. With very little money, one could "buy a monthly pass" to enter and read.

And this was made possible because the cost of printing had significantly decreased.

It was also because of the development of illumination technology that "streetlights" had become possible. With these, the rate of nighttime crimes had also markedly decreased.

"What you have done is not meaningless."

Annan softly said, "It’s just... not enough. Far from enough."