Hidden Moth

Chapter 646 379: Paradise for One Hundred Thousand in District One

In Stone District, there is a school locally known as "Shi Family Academy," with a plaque inscribed with Eastern Country characters hanging at the school entrance. Despite being called an academy, under United States law it is unequivocally a private school.This is because it is not funded by the local government, but rather established as an educational institution by the Shi Family, with all funding coming from private investments.

It might be the most rundown private school He Kao has seen in the United States, with only three old four-story buildings: one for elementary classes, one for middle and high school classes, and the last one serving as offices and various other facilities.

A hallmark of private schools in the United States is that admission is application-based, allowing for autonomy in deciding teaching content and curriculum.

The school's textbooks are almost entirely from the last century's Eastern Country, with courses taught in the language of Eastern Country. The only difference is the offering of two "foreign language" classes: one in English and another, an elective in high school, in Spanish.

Unlike other private schools in the area that charge exorbitant fees, Shi Family Academy's tuition is very low. As long as the children are of appropriate age in Stone District, and their parents or they themselves have not violated local regulations, their admission applications are generally approved.

Following the principle of voluntariness, the Stone Organization does not force local families to send their children to school. But if anyone causes trouble at the school, such as forming gangs or bullying, whether adults or kids, they'll have to experience genuine gang methods.

Stone District also has a hospital legally designated as a private hospital funded and established by the Shi Family, cooperating with local healthcare insurance groups, though its overt operational scale is not large.

One of the hospital's most important legal tasks is to issue birth certificates for newborns in the district.

Private hospitals in the United States are typically perceived as high-end and expensive, but this hospital was rebuilt on the foundation of an abandoned shopping center and gives the impression of a factory and mining affiliated hospital from last century's Eastern Country.

Residents of Stone District can receive medical care without needing an appointment, the fees are reasonable, and hospitalization just requires a nominal entrance fee, with the rest reimbursable by their employment units.

This reimbursement doesn't follow the United States' commercial health insurance system but a separate local accounting system unrelated to individual or hospital bank accounts. Some outsiders simply pay in cash.

Indeed, outsiders also come here for medical treatment, treating this hospital as a large underground illicit clinic, with its visible medical business merely the tip of the iceberg.

The Shi Family's technique heritage is mainly based on Micro-Entry Skill but includes other techniques as well. For example, the Dean of this hospital is named Shi Haoji, a Tier Four Physician in the Observing Body lineage and also a city councilor of Luoshan City.

As previously mentioned, the hospital has been reported multiple times since its establishment, and it's not just the Stone Organization wanting to silence those reporters.

Have the actions of this group of sorcerers from the Luoshan Family violated the Magic Sect's rules? Actually, they haven't!

They currently resemble an independent loose cultivator lineage organization, with most secular matters irrelevant to the Magic Sect, and the Sect need not intervene across oceans in their internal affairs.

The former Patriarch Shi Zhizhai of the Huiming Shi Family, when initially choosing a group of clansmen to migrate overseas, should, by common reckoning, have sent away those with issues, right?

However, Shi Zhizhai did the opposite, selecting people with clear records to migrate overseas, at least they had no offenses while in Eastern Country.

As for coming to the United States, driving out local gangs, establishing Stone District, vigorously promoting production, maintaining public order, safeguarding and improving the lives of ten thousand people… all these are praiseworthy actually.

The subjective intent of the Luoshan Family might have been to cultivate a base for technique heritage, but objectively, they've done a lot of good. As for tax evasion and operating outside medicare regulations in the United States... these matters aren't under the control of the Ancestral Hall.

After on-the-ground inspection, He Kao finally understood why the Ancestral Hall didn't act against these "Shi Family remnants," and instead watched the Huiming Shi lineage develop overseas into the Luoshan Family.

Huiming Shi Family indeed deserved death, but not every Shi family member did. Shi Haotu and Li Chun are still alive and well and are even partners with He Kao in business.

Luoshan Family has turned Stone District into a pure land, allowing ten thousand people to live and work in peace and contentment... This is no exaggeration, depending on the context and comparison.

If the overall environment expects everyone to score above ninety, then someone scoring sixty is dragging behind. But if everyone scores twenty or thirty, and someone starts from zero and reaches sixty, that person stands out as a top student!

What was this old district originally like? Saying it was a hell on earth would not be much of an exaggeration! But after the Luoshan Family took over and spent over ten years remodeling, what is it like now?

Stone Organization focuses on livelihood, promotes production, facilitates employment, implements infrastructure, and improves public services, combating gangs and illegal trade, vigorously maintaining neighborhood security, reducing residents' burdens and improving their living standards…

Compared to the surrounding chaotic neighborhoods, this is indeed a land of peace and prosperity.

As for the dirty work it does secretly, it means little in the broader context of the United States, perhaps even necessary to maintain local peace!

Today, Stone Organization no longer seeks to expand its territory but instead has established cooperative relationships with many local powers, supplying interests to various external channels, so no one finds targeting it necessary.

As for the authorities or local government view? It's a godsend, of course!

A previously "governance negative asset" abandoned district now brings in a batch of taxes annually without requiring additional public services, and officials have perks to enjoy.

Stone Organization doesn't like causing trouble proactively. The crime rate within Stone District is practically non-existent statistically, making it a model community!

For private or official organizations, maintaining the status quo benefits them, and bothering Stone Organization offers no gain and risk, so who would target them?

Now its main enemy is the Xiao Alliance.

The Luoshan Family wants to establish and develop here naturally needs to consider the Xiao Alliance's stance. Arthur Manor now serves as the headquarters of the Xiao Alliance, just a hundred miles away, very close.

What's the Xiao Alliance's stance toward Stone Organization? It's rather subtle, with three different historical phases.

Phase One — Strong Support!

Originally, the Huiming Shi Family was a significant faction within the Magic Sect, deliberately relocating a branch overseas. Though conducted covertly, it drew immediate attention from the Xiao Alliance leadership.

Ignoring it wasn't an option; their foothold was in the suburbs of Luoshan City, practically under the Xiao Alliance's watchful eyes.

The proximity actually provides reassurance since they're within the Xiao Alliance's control range, unable to escape their surveillance. The Xiao Alliance could mobilize forces against them anytime, preventing any significant upheaval.

Early on, the Xiao Alliance provided crucial support to the Shi Family's attempt to establish foreign influence.

Not to mention, such large farms aren't easily procured by foreign ethnicities, and constructing that small reservoir wouldn't have been possible within eight years without local power groups' help.

Why did the Xiao Alliance support Stone Organization? Because the Supreme Council saw Huiming Shi Family as a separatist force within the Magic Sect, an unstable factor, helping them meant causing trouble for the Ancestral Hall.

Supporting the growth of the Huiming Shi Family force and strengthening their collaboration with the Xiao Alliance was akin to planting mines for the Ancestral Hall, potentially nurturing them as proxies within the Magic Sect.

This has been something the Xiao Alliance intended and attempted for years.

The initial period was a honeymoon phase for both sides, with the Xiao Alliance not only refraining from hindering Stone Organization's development but also assisting through various means to establish and strengthen their power.

This honeymoon period spanned five or six years, but eventually, subtle changes began occurring as the relationship between the Xiao Alliance and Stone Organization entered the second phase.

Some high-level members of the Xiao Alliance felt that Stone Organization had become perhaps too strong, and Stone District too well-managed, causing some discomfort.

Stone Organization was unwilling to be annexed by the Xiao Alliance, insisting on developing as an independent force, with independent territory and technique heritage relationships.

Note that during this time, the Huiming Shi Family hadn't collapsed, and combined with domestic and overseas forces, it wasn't weak. Having secured a stable foothold in the suburbs of Luoshan City made them somewhat difficult to handle.

This aroused suspicion among some high-level Xiao Alliance members, but overall it wasn't taken seriously, as the Supreme Council had differing internal opinions.

During this phase, both sides were generally at peace, with Xiao Alliance mainly drawing in Stone Organization without overt support, which eventually dwindled to nothing.

Mutual profit and reciprocal business dealings persisted, with Stone Organization often offering concessions to maintain relationships...

However, just over a year ago, following the downfall of the Huiming Shi Family, substantial changes occurred, and Xiao Alliance's attitude towards Stone Organization dramatically deteriorated, entering the third phase.

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