The mass production of the jade seals succeeded.
They were made of pale green jade. But the beauty was only the skin of it.
Before Lucien began the restructuring, he ordered the seals distributed first.
That took time.
Because the scale of it was absurd.
And yet, once the process began, the entire territory moved with the disciplined weight of a people who understood they were receiving something important even before its full meaning had been explained to them.
The seals passed from hand to hand, district to district, quarter to quarter.
Citizens. Workers. Practitioners. Beasts.
By the time the distribution ended, the whole of Lootwell stood holding proof that it belonged to something larger than a temporary refuge.
Only then did Lucien speak.
He stood where all could see him through projection arrays. His voice wa carried clearly across districts, halls, plazas, towers, camps, markets, and training grounds.
In his hand rested one jade seal like all the others.
