"I think you're just daydreaming."

Ivan raised a finger and said calmly, "For Earth Fire Professionals, there's no such thing as 'the power itself is neither right nor wrong, what matters is the goodness or badness of the person using it.' To become an Earth Fire Professional, one must inherently have an unkind heart; otherwise, they cannot become an Earth Fire Professional at all!

Simply put, whether it's a Flame Warrior or an Earth Fire Mage, their power has already been tainted by their thoughts and beliefs!

In such situations, asking them to reform is essentially asking them to give up their power! But professional power is stable and cannot be washed away with your Water Magic! It's a complete contradiction!"

"I see." Andrew mused.

If he remembered correctly, Barbara had also said something similar: The very existence of Earth Fire Professionals, from their thoughts to their power, is depraved. They can't be persuaded or transformed. The cultivation path of Earth Fire Professions is like a road of no return. Once you embark on it, there's no turning back.

Therefore, the Warm Fire Commerce Association's approach to captured Earth Fire Professionals is either to kill them outright or imprison them for life.

Why do those guys from the Scholar's Fortress commit suicide once captured?

On one hand, it's because their thoughts are already extremely radical; on the other, it's because once they're in the hands of the Warm Fire Commerce Association, it's basically a death sentence, with a possibility of a fate worse than death.

As for escaping, that's basically impossible.

The significant advantage of Warm Fire Magic over Earth Fire Magic is in "binding class" magic; it surpasses it by a notch! While its destructive power isn't as great as Earth Fire Magic, it has a much greater variety of control methods.

"In any case, don't waste time on this, Andrew, your Water Magic isn't omnipotent. Some guys have sins and filth on them that even your Water Magic can't clean away." That's how Ivan advised Andrew at the time.

"Alright..." Andrew chuckled, "But I still want to give it a try. What's the harm in trying?

Besides, I didn't originally plan to use my Water Magic in an attempt to reform the prisoners."

Ivan: "?"

He was the only one in this world who knew Andrew's true identity.

All of Andrew's actions, which seemed unbelievable to others, were completed using various Water Magic, weren't they?

Without using Water Magic, does he still think those stubborn Earth Fire Professional captives can be reformed? Too young, too naive! Ivan inwardly critiqued Andrew with the lingo he'd picked up from him.

"Hey, hey, there's no need to be so harsh even if you disagree with me." Through the Soul Whisper Channel, Andrew heard Ivan's snark and laughed, "Let me give it a shot, regardless of whether it succeeds, there's no loss. But if it succeeds..."

"So what exactly do you plan to do?"

Ivan was genuinely curious this time—could this kid have some sort of extraordinary ability beyond his Water Magic that he didn't know about?

Andrew pursed his lips, gave a peculiar smile, and asked, "Have you ever heard of... 'reform through labor'?"

Yes, reform through labor.

This was Andrew's core approach to handling the prisoners' issue.

For those among the prisoners who committed unforgivable sins, of course, they'd still be executed or imprisoned indefinitely, there's nothing more to discuss.

But for those whose crimes aren't deserving of death, Andrew decided to emulate the labor camps from before his transmigration and have the prisoners labor, have them work.

"A significant characteristic of the Earth Fire Professionals of the Magic Guild is that they don't regard the lives of commoners as anything.

Ultimately, they never considered themselves part of ordinary humanity."

Andrew thought, "So what if I have them, just like all the commoners in this Flame Realm, go to work, to labor? At the very least, it would provide extra free labor for the Wildfire Territory's expansion project, wouldn't it be great?

Moreover, if during the labor process, these prisoners gradually realize they are no different from ordinary people, maybe the persistent issues in their thoughts will soften, who knows."

Andrew roughly explained his idea to Ivan.

After hearing it, Ivan shrugged: "Alright, if you want to try it out, then go ahead and try it out. I still think it's a complete waste of time."

He had understood it—

Andrew's core idea was: since Earth Fire Professionals experience power degradation due to their depraved thoughts.

Then there's no need for using Water Magic to tamper with their professional powers.

Instead, use this so-called "reform through labor" method to directly work on changing their thoughts.

If professional power degrades due to depraved thoughts, conversely, will this degraded power also be purified if the thoughts are purified?

—that's Andrew's thought.

"Bullshit, utter bullshit, that's just a load of dog crap!!"

At this moment, in the sturdy fortress in the western Wildfire Territory—also the first "labor camp" in this Flame Realm—Sally was furiously screaming, "Kill me then, just kill me if you have the guts, I would rather die than do the work meant for those lowly peasants!!

Damn you, Andrew, don't think because you're something now you can just ignore me! Back under Professor Humboldt, what did you count for in front of me?!"

See, this is a typical Earth Fire Professional mindset.

They never regarded commoners as people, and looked down upon all manners of productive labor done by commoners.

Before Andrew could respond to Sally's words, Cook by Sally's side opened his mouth first, asking quietly, "So, as long as we work hard in labor, one day we'll regain our freedom? Is that so?"

Andrew solemnly said, "Yes!" though in his heart, he thought, "As if! Unless you turn into good people!"

Of course, wasn't this all an experiment right now? No matter what, luring them with the promise of "regaining freedom" would, at the very least, spark some willingness in the prisoners to work. Without it, forced labor could lead to substandard production parts, and the Wildfire Territory's expansion project wouldn't dare use them.

Cook nodded, taking a long look at the "Andrew junior" who was now unrecognizable compared to the Andrew he remembered, and said slowly, "Hope you remember this promise you made today."

Then, without another word, he walked over, put on the special magic handcuffs and shackles Andrew prepared to limit the Earth Fire Professionals' abilities, and began doing the various works Andrew arranged for the prisoners, which would help the expansion progress of Wildfire Territory.

"Ah, Cook, you're dead!" Sally quivered angrily, "Traitor, you traitor! I despise you, damn it, have you all given up too? You're all cowards! I despise you! I despise you all ahhhh!!"

However, no matter how much she raged and shouted, soon almost all the prisoners had put on the magic shackles and handcuffs, starting their work.

All these tasks, they once scorned and deemed only "lowly peasants" would do.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.