Aint Translations

INS Chapter 107: Gaining Both Wealth and Goods, Omens of Strange Phenomena! (Part Two)

The sea-sinew ropes bundled into balls looked space-consuming but were actually very light, which explained why the fourth truck's total weight was only just over 10 tons.

Rope balls the size of hula hoops were carried down from the truck and piled on spread waterproof cloth. Staff weighed and recorded each one individually. Judging by weight alone, they matched the manifest records exactly without any discrepancies.

Snake crouched down and tried pulling at a corner of a rope ball, wanting to check if there were hidden layers inside.

But this sea-sinew rope had toughness comparable to steel wire and was wound very tightly. No matter how much force he applied, the rope ball remained completely motionless, let alone creating any gaps.

"Sir, these rope balls are wound too tightly. I'm afraid we'd need machinery to forcibly dismantle them."

Snake looked up for instructions, his eyes showing some difficulty.

Normally, this type of rope ball was the best place to hide things, but without solid evidence, they couldn't damage the merchant convoy's goods.

Cheng Ye said nothing, only walking to the pile of rope balls stacked like a small mountain, his gaze slowly sweeping over them.

Under the light, the translucent amber-colored rope balls gleamed with an oily luster, looking exactly like what he had seen in the intelligence.

"So amazing, this search function is really useful."

Cheng Ye touched the sea-sinew rope, secretly marveling.

The rope surface felt like nylon, looking smooth yet with just the right amount of friction. Just this one rope ball alone had a purchase price in Happiness City of up to 200 contribution points.

Counting the rope balls that had been unloaded, there were exactly 24, making this truck alone worth 4800 points.

The miscellaneous items from the third truck, calculated at 1500 points, meant the Red Mountain merchant convoy's openly declared cargo had a total value of 14400 points, with profit around 3000 points.

But because the 1860 points of moonbird crystals needed to pay 20% tax, the profit was 2700 points.

However, the hidden cargo was the big prize: steel crystal powder worth 5000, mutated crystals in fish bellies valued at 2000, calculated as 7000 in total value.

If undiscovered, they would net 1400 points clear profit, bringing total profit to 4100 points.

But being caught by him meant not only losing those 1400 points, but also paying an additional 700 points in fines, reducing profit to 2000 points.

Calculating this way, Cheng Ye had a clear picture and turned to ask, "Jin Dafei, can you untie these rope balls for us to inspect?"

"Sir, these... were wound up by machine. We can't untie them by hand."

Jin Dafei feigned difficulty, continuing to explain, "This is a famous specialty of our Red Mountain Shelter City. Sir, if you can get machinery here, we can guide you on how to untie them."

"Is that so?"

Cheng Ye smiled slightly.

He had to admit, he really enjoyed this feeling of control.

"Snake, carry one rope ball back into the truck bed, and find me a flashlight."

"Yes, sir!"

As soon as this order was issued, Jin Dafei's expression changed instantly.

The rope ball was carried into the truck bed. Snake held the flashlight, and Cheng Ye quickly found the pull string.

With a gentle tug, the rope bundle blossomed layer by layer like a flower bud, completely exposing the silver fine threads inside.

Snake was stunned for a moment, then exclaimed, "Sir, this..."

"What it is, we'll carry it down and ask him."

Seeing Cheng Ye jump down from the truck and dust off his hands, all the staff gathered around.

Everyone clearly saw the blossomed rope ball in the truck bed and immediately let out exclamations, their voices full of undisguised excitement:

"Really hiding something, these people are too bold!"

"Hey, he just said they needed machinery, but the sir opened it directly by hand!"

"What's this stuff inside? Looks somewhat like steel crystal powder?"

"Hey, it really is. Under the flashlight it's flashing blue-white light, that's the characteristic of steel crystal powder."

"My god, so much of it, there must be at least 100g in here!"

The staff chattered away, each sentence piercing Jin Dafei's heart like needles. His expression grew darker and darker, his clenched fists showing white knuckles.

Not until Cheng Ye walked back to the inspection table, his right hand inconspicuously resting on the Thunder-1, did this act like a basin of ice water, instantly extinguishing any thoughts that had just emerged in Jin Dafei's mind.

This was Happiness City.

He was facing Happiness City's inspector!

Anyone who dared harbor crooked thoughts about an inspector on this territory would only face endless manhunts. Even hiding back in Red Mountain Shelter City couldn't protect this life.

"S-Sir..."

"30%."

"Yes, no problem."

Jin Dafei replied through gritted teeth, his heart bleeding. This directly cost him 500 points.

Converting to firearms, that was at least 25 guard rifles lost.

Fortunately, the mutated crystals inside those salted dried fish were preserved. Calculating it out, he only lost less than a hundred points.

Still acceptable!

Following the method Cheng Ye had just used to find the pull string, Snake quickly untied all the rope balls.

Cutting open the seaweed glue tubes, all the steel crystal powder was poured into the checkpoint's special collection bottles.

After weighing, there was a full 1.7kg.

This stuff was sold by the gram, 3 contribution points per gram, with a cargo value reaching 5100 points.

30% inspection tax meant 1530 points, with Cheng Ye getting half, earning a massive 765 points.

"Sir..."

Seeing Cheng Ye approaching, Jin Dafei immediately straightened up.

Being discovered first, his heart had been full of both hatred and urgency, thinking some part of the process had gone wrong, perhaps the rope balls weren't tied tight enough or the pull strings had revealed flaws.

But after Snake followed Cheng Ye's taught method to untie the remaining rope balls one by one, all that resentment instantly dissipated completely.

Now he had no superfluous thoughts whatsoever.

This young inspector truly had substance. It wasn't luck, he clearly knew how to find the pull strings.

In this situation, no matter how tightly hidden, it would be useless. If other merchant convoys came, the result would be exactly the same.

Thinking this way, Jin Dafei actually felt relieved.

This rain had made him rush over urgently in the early morning, fearing Happiness City's checkpoint might close for several more days. He never expected to land right in this young inspector's hands.

Heaven's will, inferior skills, he admitted defeat!

"Those salted dried fish you're taking inside, what price do you usually sell them for?"

"Dried fish?"

Jin Dafei was stunned, obviously not expecting Cheng Ye to suddenly ask this. He then honestly answered, "When we came to Happiness City last time two years ago, the inner city officials purchased them at 240 points per ton."

With about 14 tons in the truck, at that price it would be 3360 points.

The price per ton wasn't expensive, but this stuff definitely wouldn't circulate in the buffer zone.

It's not about absolute poverty but relative inequality. Buffer zone residents drinking nutrient paste every day posed no problems whatsoever.

But if salted dried fish flowed into the market for old residents to taste and develop cravings for food, it would inevitably create various conflicts.

The inner city had no such concerns. It could both let residents change their diet and serve as welfare to highlight inner city superiority, actually winning hearts and minds.

"How about selling me two tons personally?"

Cheng Ye paused, his tone flat. "I'm not asking you to give them away. I'll purchase them from you at 120 points per ton."

"120 points?"

Jin Dafei was stunned and looked up sharply, the anger he had just suppressed instantly surging up again.

When had Happiness City become so bullying?

Having already found so many things, why were they still finding ways to scrape profits from merchant convoys?

However, just as his anger emerged, it was nailed in place by Cheng Ye's next words.

"I heard from someone that sword-tooth fish mouths, if you press behind the fish head, you can pry them open and reach inside." Cheng Ye squeezed out a faint smile. "Team Leader Jin, I wonder if this information is correct?"

"Uh..."

Jin Dafei opened his mouth, momentarily not knowing how to respond.

So not only the steel crystal powder in the sea-sinew ropes, but even the mutated crystals hidden in fish bellies had been seen through by this young inspector?

Looking at Cheng Ye's face still carrying youthful innocence, the bit of anger in his heart instantly transformed into bone-deep helplessness.

"Sir's information is correct. Fish mouths can indeed be opened that way."

"Then..."

"I'll make the decision, I'll give the sir two tons!"

"No, I said buy, so it's buy. How can we inspectors take merchant convoy materials?"

Cheng Ye reached out and patted Jin Dafei's shoulder.

Dealing with smart people was indeed effortless.

Initially, Cheng Ye had considered purchasing two tons at 240 points, but that would have been too pretentious.

In the wasteland world, no one would think highly of him for following such minor rules. On the contrary, if they knew the situation, they would call him a fool behind his back.

This way, purchasing at half price, he neither broke the rules nor clearly took advantage.

Anyone who knew would praise him for having methods.

As for why he didn't expose the mutated crystals in the salted dried fish, the inspector handbook had clear guidance.

Leave a line in everything, for easier future meetings.

Cheng Ye had really liked this saying at the time, and now seeing Jin Dafei's performance, it further validated this point.

Steel crystal powder blood loss of 500, mutated crystals earned back 400, plus 240 for the salted fish, total loss of 340 points.

But if everything had been discovered, that would have been a loss of 700. The difference back and forth was enough to exchange for 18 guard rifles.

"Thank you, sir. If you ever visit Red Mountain Shelter City in the future, please send word to Dafei. I must properly fulfill the duties of a host."

Jin Dafei understood the connections and forced out some smile on his face.

After all the back and forth, he actually now owed this young inspector a favor.

What could he say? This was an inspector's wisdom, and also a super shelter city's foundation.

Too many veteran inspectors from small and medium shelter cities who mixed until middle age still couldn't comprehend this principle.

Either they rigidly followed rules and handled affairs impartially, forcing merchant convoys to maintain respectful distance, or they were insatiably greedy, ultimately digging themselves into holes.

Someone like Cheng Ye who grasped the balance so perfectly was truly rare, and could only be encountered in super shelter cities.

"Go for disinfection. The city hasn't been very peaceful recently, so your merchant convoy should also be careful."

"Sir, rest assured. We know about the infection tide, but Happiness City... won't be defeated by a small infection tide."

Watching the truck slowly drive toward the disinfection area, Jin Dafei clung to the car window and cupped his hands toward Cheng Ye from afar, showing several degrees more genuine respect than before.

Only after the isolation door closed did Cheng Ye let out a long breath, taking out his defense communicator to check the time.

Without noticing, it was already 11:30.

Inspecting this one convoy had taken a full two and a half hours, keeping everyone busy and sweating profusely, their clothes soaked with large patches of sweat.

Fortunately, the harvest was substantial. Just the confiscation commission from steel crystal powder and crystal powder was enough for everyone present to earn a small merit.

Especially Snake, when he finished tallying the documents and walked over, his gaze no longer contained only respect, but additional emotions: admiration, and some awe.

"Sir, this is the inventory."

It recorded the discovered smuggled goods and corresponding confiscation points.

Cheng Ye took it and glanced over, his fingertip pausing on "dried fish." "I purchased two tons of dried fish from the merchant convoy, remember to add that."

"Right!"

Snake immediately agreed, picking up his pen to make the addition.

According to checkpoint regulations, inspectors indeed had the right to purchase merchant convoy goods on the spot, which wasn't against rules.

But Snake had worked at the checkpoint for six years and this was the first time he'd seen someone do this.

Young inspectors mostly had shallow foundations and not much spare money, while older inspectors didn't lack materials, at least not urgently enough to buy at the checkpoint.

But Cheng Ye was different. This single transaction earned him 889 points, spending 240 of that still left 649 points.

"Hiss, if yesterday's three merchant convoys had run into me, wouldn't I have earned nearly two thousand in one day?"

Cheng Ye stroked his chin, unable to help calculating in his mind.

Of course, it was just thinking.

There were opportunities to make money, but if he inspected every convoy that came, the efficiency would seem strange to anyone watching.

After all, he was just a trainee.

Being able to find the smuggled goods hidden by Red Mountain merchant convoy was already eye-catching enough.

Although these could be attributed to Liu Bi, if he continuously found contraband in three to five merchant convoys and kept pushing everything onto Liu Bi, Big Brother B probably couldn't handle the blame.

After all, in other inspectors' eyes, Liu Bi was a complete hothead through and through.

If he could bring out such an outstanding new person, then the future trainee assessment instructor shouldn't be Harlin, but Liu Bi instead.

Just imagining Big Brother B standing at the podium, loudly teaching all trainee inspectors to learn anger, made Cheng Ye want to laugh.

Bang, bang bang.

Just then, several gunshots came from neighboring Zone B. Cheng Ye looked up through the isolation net.

He saw two people fallen on the ground, blood pooling around them.

This was the South Station's first conflict of the morning, unexpectedly occurring in Zone B.

Cheng Ye frowned but didn't move, having no intention of going over to greet Song Hai.

They had met at the hospital before and exchanged pleasantries, but couldn't really be considered familiar.

It wasn't that Song Hai was aligned with the Westerners, but rather this guy liked putting on the airs of seniority, probably one of those who had gone too far in taking sides.

And he was now a promoter of new concepts. Going to contact these people might actually invite trouble.

After twelve o'clock.

Since completing inspection of Red Mountain merchant convoy, Zone C's passage had remained empty, with no second external merchant convoy arriving.

However, the rainy summer season was naturally the off-season for merchant convoys. Muddy roads would slow travel, and humid air could easily cause goods to mold.

Unless it was urgent merchandise that needed quick disposal, no one wanted to risk it.

But what was troubling was that not only showed no signs of weakening, the rain seemed to have opened floodgates, falling harder and harder.

Cheng Ye simply stood up and left the inspection area, planning to take shelter from rain in the back while dealing with lunch.

However, as soon as he looked up toward the wilderness, his brows unconsciously furrowed.

Fog had risen!

The city ruins that could still be vaguely outlined before were now completely swallowed by white misty vapor, leaving only blurred dark shadows, like a giant beast lurking in the fog.

Even the surrounding wilderness that should have shown green vitality was gradually soaked by fog, falling into an eerie stillness.

No insect chirping could be heard, no wind sounds, even the sound of raindrops hitting the ground seemed absorbed by the fog, becoming muffled and distant.

The entire South Station seemed enclosed in a huge glass cover, surrounded by light fog, emanating an indescribable oppression.

Cheng Ye turned toward the buffer zone direction, seeing the city was now also shrouded in a layer of light mist, like being covered with a thin veil.

Normally, this kind of natural phenomenon was very normal, nothing particularly strange.

But somehow, he instinctively felt somewhat panicked, suddenly having a restless feeling.

That was fear of the unknown!

[NEXT CHAPTER]

INS Chapter 107: Gaining Both Wealth and Goods, Omens of Strange Phenomena! (Part One)

With the scale of a shelter city, if they truly wanted to strictly investigate smuggling, it would actually be as easy as turning one's hand.

They would only need to register all goods when merchant convoys entered the checkpoint, then verify against the registration list when goods were shipped out. Comparing the two would easily expose any smuggled items.

But the reason no shelter city chose to do this, instead tacitly allowing merchant convoys to trade freely after passing inspection, was mainly because shelter cities that had tried strict investigations in the past had, without exception, all been collectively blacklisted by merchant convoys.

First, the 20% inspection tax was actually a gambling-style incentive.

Wasteland merchant convoys had always been driven by profit. Without sufficient profit incentive, no one would risk attacks from infected entities, mutated creatures, and raiders to run trade routes.

Pure normal goods trading simply couldn't attract a steady stream of merchant convoys.

Even during Happiness City's most prosperous times, they had to take out an additional 5% profit as "sweetener."

Now that 5% was gone, the additional inspection tax had become the new incentive.

If they got away with it, it was equivalent to earning the profit of an entire truckload of goods.

If caught, at most they would only lose all profits from the smuggled goods and pay an additional 10%, which was still within acceptable range.

This gambling temptation made merchant convoys both love and hate the super shelter cities, unable to resist coming to try their luck again and again.

Second, even if shelter cities conducted strict investigations, where there were policies above, there were countermeasures below, which would only force out more complex smuggling chains.

Merchant convoys could completely sell goods to surrounding settlements first, then have scavengers bring them into the city batch by batch.

But each additional link in the chain meant another layer of profit had to be shared.

Once or twice was nothing, but with occasional accidents, more and more merchant convoys found it troublesome and simply put such "inflexible" shelter cities directly on their blacklists.

After all, there was more than one shelter city in the wasteland, and merchant convoys had plenty of choices.

You want strict investigations? Then I'll just go do business with the neighboring shelter city that turns a blind eye to smuggling.

For shelter cities, losing merchant convoys meant material circulation stagnation, which was a much greater loss than tolerating a little smuggling.

This was the tacitly understood balance between both sides.

"Shelter cities tacitly allow merchant convoys to test the boundaries of rules in exchange for continuous material circulation. Merchant convoys accept the percentage taken by inspection taxes, treating smuggling as a gamble where risk and profit coexist."

Cheng Ye didn't call off the inspection but stood beside the staff members, quietly contemplating. His mind constantly flashed through the handbook's introduction to smuggling.

These game rules written on the surface had seemed somewhat mysterious when he memorized them initially, but now they suddenly had vivid annotations.

Looking back now, wasn't the inspection tax not only an incentive for merchant convoys, but also for inspectors?

If they couldn't scrape up any profit, who would be willing to carefully inspect every vehicle, every corner, checking for contamination by infection sources?

If there was any oversight and an infection tide was unknowingly triggered, the cost would be unbearable!

More than ten minutes quickly passed.

The staff were still buried in checking the dried fish, everyone exerting themselves to search without the slightest negligence.

For them, discovering smuggled goods was also a great achievement.

With enough accumulated merit, they would have the chance to be promoted to observer, or apply for transfer to formal departments within the buffer zone, thus securing the "iron rice bowl" of official employment.

But reality was often disappointing.

Conventional inspection methods had long been thoroughly understood by merchant convoys. Finding problems under their noses was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Someone had indeed considered splitting open the dried fish to inspect, but this thought was suppressed as soon as it emerged.

Because once split open, if there was nothing inside, it would be equivalent to damaging the merchant convoy's goods.

Among everyone present, only Cheng Ye, the inspector, had the authority to make this decision.

And whoever rashly suggested Cheng Ye do this, if nothing was found in the end, would have to bear responsibility.

At minimum, they would have to compensate for the goods at their assessed value, and at worst, be held accountable and dismissed by the checkpoint.

After all, the rules were clear: they couldn't search blindly for the sake of searching, and must have solid evidence before getting serious.

Otherwise, if everyone made random suggestions just to climb up, without any order, the checkpoint's discipline would have fallen into chaos long ago.

"Alright, everyone move the dried fish back into the truck. No problems found."

Cheng Ye raised his hand to call a halt, deliberately raising his voice a few notches. "Everyone be careful of the sword-tooth fish's mouth parts, don't get scratched again."

As his words fell, Jin Dafei, standing outside the isolation net, indeed showed an almost imperceptible smile at the corner of his mouth, somewhat pleased.

Of course, this was from Cheng Ye's perspective of observation.

In other people's eyes, it would appear as relief mixed with some sense of finally passing the test, tinged with grievance.

Bundle after bundle of dried fish were moved back onto the truck, stacked and arranged in the same manner as before.

"Snake, guide the truck in later, but don't rush to disinfect. Just let it wait there."

Cheng Ye said nonchalantly, nodding toward the isolation chamber. "You should know what to do without me reminding you, right?"

Snake was stunned for a moment, a flash of confusion crossing his face, which he quickly suppressed before nodding in agreement.

Had this young Inspector Cheng already discovered a problem?

"Sir, rest assured, I understand."

"Good, don't give him a chance to contact the outside, keep an eye on him."

This "him" naturally referred to the driver.

All the salted dried fish were moved back into the truck bed, and the truck was guided toward the disinfection area under direction.

Because the previous truck was still undergoing disinfection, the driver was guided by Snake to park the truck in front of the isolation chamber.

The moment the truck came to a stop, four guards who had originally been stationed in the corner quietly emerged, surrounding the truck in a four-corner formation. Their movements were so natural they seemed like routine security, yet invisibly cut off communication between the cab and the outside world.

Simultaneously, two guards quickly took positions on the left and right sides of the truck.

"Friend, get out of the truck first. You can get back in when it's your turn."

"Oh, alright!"

The driver in the cab sensed something wrong with the surrounding atmosphere. His hands gripping the steering wheel tightened, but he could only follow the guards' orders, getting out and standing in front of the truck.

Turning to look toward the inspection area, the distance was far and the rain affected visibility.

Jin Dafei obviously hadn't noticed anything amiss, completely unaware that the second truck had already been controlled.

Snake walked over and nodded slightly.

"Next truck!"

Cheng Ye called out, his gaze falling on the third truck slowly driving in, already roughly guessing what was in its cargo hold.

The truck was weighed, showing 14.7 tons.

Just as it stopped in the inspection area, Little Black began barking at the truck bed, attracting everyone's attention.

"Sir, there are some mutated crystals in there, it's written on the manifest!" Jin Dafei called out across the isolation net, his tone carrying deliberately obvious frankness.

Mutated crystals?

Everyone remained calm, knowing in their hearts that this was the toll fee.

After the driver completed inspection and went to the corner, as soon as the truck's rear cargo door opened, Little Black leaped up, barking frantically at wooden boxes in the corner.

"Quiet, Little Black!"

Snake patted the dog's head and led people to open the wooden box. Inside were indeed neatly arranged pale white mutated crystals, with what seemed like flowing clouds within the crystal interiors.

"Sir, these are the most common moonbird crystals, market price around 42 points per kilogram."

He crouched down and hefted the weight, which wasn't light.

Placing it on the scale, excluding the wooden box weight, the net weight was 44.3 kilograms, totaling 1860 points in contribution value.

According to the 20% inspection tax, this brought in 372 points of income for the checkpoint.

"Sir, as you can see, we all conduct business properly. We pay every bit of the inspection tax we owe."

Jin Dafei called out again, his face wearing just the right amount of deference.

Cheng Ye turned around and nodded slightly. This guy was quite the character.

Or rather, all the leaders who could run merchant convoys were shrewd people. Whether they had hidden anything or not was one thing, but their surface work was flawless.

According to Snake, yesterday Inspector Qiao had inspected three merchant convoys larger than this Red Mountain merchant convoy and only found a total of 2100 points.

Yet this Red Mountain merchant convoy alone had voluntarily submitted crystals worth 1860 points.

"Looking at it this way, they're quite sensible. They have quite a lot of smuggled goods, and they're willing to offer quite a bit as well."

Cheng Ye nodded slightly, his mind suddenly producing an additional thought.

Whether this thought could succeed still depended on Jin Dafei's reaction and attitude in what followed.

The third truck was quickly inspected. It was loaded entirely with small items from other shelter cities, including industrial products and handicrafts, all novel goods they hadn't seen before.

Prices couldn't be calculated, but they all fell within tax-exempt categories and couldn't be considered high-value items.

"Alright, drive it away!"

Cheng Ye waved his hand to let it pass. Only the last truck remained in the queue at the checkpoint.

This time Jin Dafei didn't continue waiting but climbed onto the truck door, following along with the truck as it entered.

This guy really had nerves of steel. Despite having 5000 points worth of smuggled goods in his truck, he showed no nervousness and appeared increasingly relaxed.

The truck was weighed: 10.9 tons.

The weights of the four trucks decreased successively. By this one, excluding the truck's own weight, the cargo load wasn't even half capacity.

Little Black's sense of smell was indeed sharp. The truck had barely stopped when it began barking at the rear cargo door again, its tail rigid as a rod.

Visibly, Jin Dafei's expression finally changed, putting on a nervous appearance.

After getting out of the truck, he muttered under his breath, his eyes mixing surprise with apprehension.

"Sir, I don't know someone else loaded things in there. It might have been missed during loading, but we definitely registered everything. All our goods are recorded on the manifest, we can prove it!"

"Is that so?"

Cheng Ye pulled out a faint smile, raising his hand to signal the staff to first conduct basic inspections on Jin Dafei and the driver.

Without reason, Jin Dafei shivered, reading something in that smile.

It was confidence, and also composure.

After completing the entire procedure, both men had no problems and were instructed to retreat to the corner.

"Good thing Old Lu insisted I prepare some toll money, otherwise this young inspector would really be hard to fool."

Jin Dafei secretly felt fortunate.

When he first saw Cheng Ye from a distance, he had even regretted it.

The crystal powder in the fourth truck was originally "passage money" left for the inspector.

In general large and medium shelter cities, inspectors who saw this stuff would mostly just let it pass directly.

Even in super shelter cities, where inspectors had become stricter, they would still show leniency after receiving benefits.

He had originally thought that since Cheng Ye was young, perhaps he wouldn't need to spend this money. Now it seemed fortunate he hadn't saved this expense.

Damn, that smile was too frightening.

It gave him the illusion that all his methods had been seen through.

"Open it!"

Little Black could no longer contain itself, its tail sweeping rapidly on the ground, throat emitting urgent low growls.

As soon as the rear cargo door was lifted a crack, it shot up like an arrow leaving the string, frantically clawing and biting at wooden boards on the truck bed floor, its canine teeth leaving shallow marks on the wood.

This black dog was really formidable!

Jin Dafei watched from the corner, his eyelids twitching. He had previously heard from other merchant convoys that Happiness City had a black dog that, as long as items weren't completely sealed or their scents masked, would leave absolutely no fish escaping the net.

Seeing it today, it truly lived up to its reputation.

Snake signaled his subordinates to step forward. Using crowbars along the wooden board seams, they pried with force, and the entire movable floor panel lifted with a sound.

Underneath were dozens of scattered crystal powder packets neatly arranged, all moonbird crystal ground into fine powder.

This stuff mixed into anti-inflammatory medicine could greatly enhance its effectiveness. Even in powder form, the purchase price was the same as whole crystals.

Staff quickly gathered and weighed the powder. The electronic scale displayed the numbers:

19.8kg.

At 42 points per kilogram, this was another 831 points in contribution value.

15% commission meant Cheng Ye the inspector could get 124 points, almost matching his entire day's earnings from working in Quarantine Zone A yesterday.

"30% tax rate according to regulations, no problems with that, right?"

Cheng Ye turned around, his gaze falling on Jin Dafei's face.

Jin Dafei was stunned, forcing out a stiff smile. "No, no problem. It was our oversight. We deserve the penalty!"

Cheng Ye hadn't clung to the registration issue relentlessly, indicating he already understood the twists and turns involved.

Since the other party had provided a way out, he was too lazy to continue performing that act of ignorance, and simply agreed readily to avoid complications.

"Sir, inside are all sea-sinew ropes."

"Bring them all down."

[NEXT CHAPTER]

NEC Chapter 130: Production Corps, Iron Mine Construction Begins

As a newly emerging territory, Vast Sea Territory had development opportunities everywhere, with blank fields in every direction.

However, all previous development had been highly dependent on the lord's investment, with severely insufficient self-sustaining capabilities.

Agriculture, for instance, was a typical microcosm of the territory's development.

Food self-sufficiency was a development goal that Vast Sea Territory had marked as a red line, and it was also one of the first targets achieved through expanding cultivation areas with membrane greenhouses. But what did this earth-shattering miracle rely on?

It relied on the miraculous grain varieties brought by the lord, soil improvement agents, fertilizers, and temperature and humidity control systems supported by electricity.

Oh right, there was also the irrigation channel that the "deity" had dug.

With the continuous increase in population, the territory's food pressure would grow ever greater, thus requiring continued large-scale land reclamation, cultivation, and planting.

But the reality was that merely because the lord had launched one land reclamation operation against Blood Fortress, with altar transportation capacity allocated to weapons and equipment, and magnetic war vehicles for two consecutive months, this directly resulted in the Council's estimated food security period being cut in half.

With the lord's various material supports, membrane greenhouses could yield eight hundred kilograms per acre in seventy-five days. Without greenhouses and soil improvement agents, land could only be expected to yield three hundred kilograms per acre in half a year.

Moreover, this was still the planting result of first-generation grain seeds. If local rice ears were used as seeds for replanting, the yield would be cut in half again.

This led to one consequence: once the lord's special material supply was cut off, Vast Sea Territory would have to desperately expand its cultivation area, and the significant decline in per-capita planting efficiency would force the territory to invest more labor.

This would inevitably greatly squeeze the completion progress of other plans.

How to balance this? There was no way to balance it, it could only be decided by the lord's absolute authority.

"Limited agricultural guarantee, concentrate all efforts on the steel industry!"

Chen Mo made this decision influenced by multiple factors, and his final determination came precisely from this expedition.

Although East Xia had consistently advised that Vast Sea Territory should prioritize military matters, being in the desert with heavy troops surrounding them, plus having the huge psychological advantage of firearms over cold weapons, with the classic battle example of a three-person cavalry squad defeating hundreds of bandits.

This made it very difficult for Chen Mo to abandon the realistic benefits of the "farming development" path right before his eyes and put most of the manpower and resources into military preparations that showed no immediate results.

After all, he hadn't planned any external expansion in the short term, preferring to develop cautiously.

This ruin exploration trip, although the entire process could be considered smooth sailing, witnessing that broken wall beneath the towering peak firsthand created a real shock that was very difficult to describe in words.

Several questions kept bouncing back and forth in Chen Mo's mind.

If what had attacked that day wasn't three hundred orcs, but three thousand orcs, thirty thousand orcs, how many of his group would have survived?

Razor Fortress, such a super stronghold, Aurelio, such a powerful warrior, ultimately became nothing more than a speck of dust in history.

Hmm, Aurelio was that armored warrior bound spirit, a great swordsman who had been seventh-tier Void Breaking in life.

If Vast Sea Territory faced such a siege someday, how long could it hold out?

Even more, in exchanges with the mercenary groups and others, elemental mages had a spell specifically targeting necromancers called "Spatial Disturbance," which could delay or even interrupt a necromancer's summoning process for a period of time.

In Chen Mo's view, if not for relying on East Xia's modern industrial system's targeted equipment, then unless he used large-yield aerial bombs for carpet bombing, otherwise this ruin that could manifest iron-blood determination might remain forever sealed there, locking away Aurelio's forever incomplete dying wish.

Obviously, without East Xia's support, what would the current Vast Sea Territory amount to?

As the saying goes, people teaching people might not get through, but events teach people in one go.

Having clarified the development path for the current stage, Chen Mo tapped the table, "The direction is this direction. Let each department take a look, what are your thoughts, how do we coordinate?"

Once the lord spoke, all interest group disagreements disappeared completely. There was only one direction, one voice.

Herlan raised his hand first.

Well, now in territory meetings, speaking required either the lord's nomination or raising one's hand to request permission. Things had become increasingly orderly.

"Very early on, the lord had foresightedly pointed out that building a steel industry is one of the core steps in Vast Sea Territory's overall development!"

Chen Mo waved his hand, signaling Herlan to get to the point.

He didn't know when this trend of opening with flattery toward the lord had started becoming popular in Vast Sea Territory.

"Yes, our Council and its subordinate industrial development departments have also conducted multiple assessments. Steel workshop construction has several necessary conditions: ore, fuel, equipment, and personnel!"

"Previously, Vast Sea Territory had nothing, so although we had ideas, we lacked the capability."

"Two months ago, the iron mine discovered by the exploration team in the Guli Desert area south of Vast Sea Territory offers hope for partially solving the territory's iron ore source problem."

The reason he said "partially" was because that desert area was not only a considerable distance from Vast Sea Territory, but the ore quality wasn't very high either.

As determined by Xia Country's geological department, it belonged to pseudomorphic brown iron ore, with an iron content around 35%.

Among iron ore types, this was typical low-grade ore.

Moreover, mining in the desert was obviously much more troublesome than in plains or mountainous areas. Adding transportation and a series of other factors, the comprehensive cost was only slightly cheaper than directly purchasing iron ore from the south.

The main reason was that the lord paid his people too well. If they treated miners like slaves as those southern mines did, costs could be reduced by at least one-third.

However, this was the lord's grace, and now the leaders of the emerging "Loyalty Faction" were right there in the meeting hall. Herlan certainly couldn't mention this.

"According to the Council departments' calculations, at least two thousand laborers and over two months would be needed to complete construction of the mining area and transportation roads!"

Chen Mo directly interrupted Herlan, "Send those two excavators from the territory over there. Except for necessary agricultural production and city maintenance, use all available workers. Oh, and also draw people from the Field Army and City Defense Army to speed up progress, the faster the better!"

The excavators the lord mentioned were actually East Xia's custom-made micro excavators. Although they weighed less than 800 kilograms, these things were treasures of the territory.

Not that they could dig much, realistically speaking, an entry-level warrior with an iron shovel wouldn't dig much slower. The main thing was that alloy steel blade, plus replaceable impact drill bits, which could forcibly demolish many hard rock terrains.

Combined with the ogres' ice and fire magic for thermal expansion and contraction blasting, it was equivalent to a low-grade version of explosives, greatly improving construction efficiency in complex terrain during engineering projects.

As for the excavators' power, East Xia had provided two human-powered generators, hand-cranked and foot-pedaled. Three people working in rotation could maintain the excavators' continuous operation.

This was also a new form of energy conversion.

Having solved the ore problem above, the next bigger problem came from energy.

The exploration team had already walked through the entire desert several times, digging pits and drilling holes for samples. It could be basically confirmed that no coal mines existed in this desert.

This constraint was even greater than the iron ore, because once the steel workshop started operating, fuel consumption would be extremely massive. With Vast Sea Territory's transportation conditions, buying fuel from outside would cost more than buying iron ore when calculated comprehensively.

"You don't need to worry about this problem, and the equipment problem is the same. I'll handle it!"

Chen Mo clarified the direction once more, then added, "Iron ore and iron sand, including finished iron ingots, we need to continue finding ways to buy them. Buy as much as we can!"

"I'm giving you a special privilege. For this steel factory construction project, I'm providing one hundred unrestricted citizen status quotas, and all work points for laborers can be doubled according to current standards."

"If necessary, you can come to me for additional conditions!"

"Are there any other questions?"

Then there were basically no problems left. The department heads only had the pledge of determination segment remaining.

That afternoon, new notices from the Council were posted throughout the territory, beginning comprehensive recruitment and mobilization.

If this were anywhere else, mining work would be something that only slaves unable to make their own choices or desperate hungry people would be willing to do, as the death rate was indeed too high.

However, in Vast Sea Territory, upon seeing "doubled work points" and "direct promotion to citizen status for excellent performance," this became a job that people would fight tooth and nail for.

This forced the Council to significantly raise recruitment standards, setting limits on height, age, and strength.

However, for Copperbeard, this wasn't a problem.

Standing at the recruitment station, he thumped his chest and introduced himself, "My father is a dwarf, I know iron smelting!"

The surrounding territorial citizens in line burst into laughter.

"Hey, don't think that just because you grew a tuft of beard you can call yourself a dwarf. Just look at your height!"

"That's right, that's right. If your father was a dwarf, your mother must have been a giant..."

"A giant wouldn't work, how would his father reach?"

The guys from the bottom slave camps didn't understand what it meant not to hit people where it hurt. Everyone had come from broken families and homes, joking crudely with each other like this. This made Copperbeard somewhat angry, yet he could only take it as normal.

He bent down, lifted his little brother over his head, and put him on his shoulders. Then the little guy who obviously had dwarf bloodlines shouted at the top of his lungs, "My father is a dwarf, my brother knows iron smelting! I'm from the Youth Corps. Lord above, I don't lie!"

The recruitment officials conferred in low voices, "Alright then, count yourself in. Pack your things, leave when the next bell rings!"

Having successfully obtained the "Mining Team Work Permit," Copperbeard carried his brother back triumphantly, chattering as he walked, "If I can earn citizen status, plus these doubled work points, if I save up a bit, I can earn your citizen status too!"

"Then we brothers will both be old Vast Sea citizens!"

"Brother, you should marry your girlfriend first. Don't let too much time pass and have her run off with someone else! We Youth Corps members become citizens upon graduation. We don't care about these one or two years!"

"Look, she's watching you from over there."

This massive recruitment took away nearly half of the territory's strong laborers, as well as two-thirds of the professional soldiers. Large numbers of pack animals carried tents, food, tools, and supply materials, setting up temporary camps at the edge of the Guli Desert area.

Bright slogans hung everywhere on the simple fencing.

"Steel is the backbone of the territory, we are the territory's vanguard!"

"Follow the lord's wise command, strive forward with united hearts!"

"Work hard for thirty days, Vast Sea Territory will produce steel!"

"Production Corps, united as one!"

Hmm, the lord had given this force a resounding name: Vast Sea Production Corps!

Following these banners outward, red flags fluttered everywhere in the wind. These banners meandered along the dunes and slopes, outlining a large mining area.

Those were the boundaries and markers laid out by the exploration personnel.

After resting for half a day, the entire mining team threw themselves fully into work.

Copperbeard suddenly discovered that the bits and pieces about mining he'd heard from his old man were completely useless.

The team's first task was sand clearing, removing all floating sand from the surface of the designated mining area.

To prevent sand movement, the Production Corps also had to perform sand-fixing actions around the perimeter, which meant digging thirty-centimeter-high sand barriers along the mining area's outer edge, and digging grids in the adjacent ground, laying thorngrass seeds, striving to firmly block sand particles outside the mining area.

The commanding captain held papers in his hands, repeatedly shouting loud reminders, "Everyone pay attention, block that sand tight for me. Whoever's area gets flowing sand in it, I'll use military law to cut off heads!"

The sand clearing and sand-fixing work took a full five days. During this period, following the sand people's guidance and actual measurements from exploration instruments, the engineering team's machines roared day and night, drilling the first well on the western side of the mining area.

This alone could save the Production Corps several hundred pack animal transport capacity per week.

Next came digging mine shafts.

The entry-level warriors from the City Defense Army stripped off their shirts, enduring the blazing sun's exposure, working like human excavators, cutting exploration trenches, sinking exploration shafts, digging mine tunnels, while auxiliary technicians installed lighting and opened ventilation.

Copperbeard, as "technical personnel who might have some mining experience," was assigned to the inspection team, walking back and forth many times through the arched exploration tunnels.

The compacted tunnel walls on all sides, sturdy support pillars, appropriately spaced lighting, compared to these mine tunnels, Copperbeard felt that the mine tunnels he'd walked through with his father in the north could only be called rat holes.

Just when Copperbeard thought they could start mining along the tunnels, he learned these were only passages. From several points in the tunnels where brown iron ore was relatively concentrated, extending outward, they still needed to build foundation pits and excavate mining chambers.

The tunnel floors needed grooves cut so that two-wheeled carts could achieve rapid transport under the pull of traction ropes.

Each newly excavated area required reinforcement, support, and inspection.

There were even temporary emergency shelters to prevent collapse, drainage channels to prevent water influx...

After a full thirty-two days of construction, the first batch of officially mass-produced iron ore from deep within the mining chambers was piled onto a long transport convoy and pulled out of the mine tunnels by traction ropes.

Little Kaga, now tanned black as a horse, raised his arms and cheered.

"Report to the Lord, Guli Iron Mine is officially in production!!!"

[NEXT CHAPTER]

NEC Chapter 129: The Sun Returns, Vast Sea Boiling

The past few months of Sky Empire Year 1427 were the most stable and peaceful months that Copperbeard had ever lived through.

Copperbeard was a slave's name. At the end of last year, he had huddled in an underground pit in the northern Fang tribe's slave camp, with heavy snow falling outside and bone-chilling cold inside the cave.

He thought he would surely die.

One-third of that batch of slaves eventually died, but Copperbeard was lucky enough to survive.

But what good was surviving? It was still just a matter of dying today or tomorrow.

From his name, one could tell that Copperbeard's father was a dwarf.

But Copperbeard wasn't a dwarf, he didn't even know what race he counted as.

Copperbeard's mother was also a slave, bought and sold throughout the slave camps, drifting from place to place. Later she fell seriously ill, and when it became clear she wouldn't make it, the camp overseer dragged her to the gate and hung her by the chest with ropes on a pole beside the main entrance.

This counted as cheap disposal, anyone could take her for just a few dozen copper coins.

If nothing unexpected happened, Copperbeard's mother should have become a pile of chopped meat at a butcher's stall, ending her brief and desperate life.

Then Copperbeard's father passed by, paid money to buy this pitiful woman, and even treated her illness.

His father later held little Copperbeard many times, muttering to himself, "Back then, when I saw your mother hanging there, completely motionless, I thought she was dead."

"When I got closer, I saw those eyes of hers, staring straight ahead at some distant place, her pupils bright blue, just like two sapphires, so beautiful!"

"Yes, so beautiful!"

Copperbeard's father was a craftsman in the camp who helped orcs, repairing iron pots and shovels and such ironware, putting saddles on dire wolves, shoeing horses.

Sometimes he would also polish gems and make ornaments for orc nobles. His love for sapphires probably came from this.

Dwarves did indeed have some talent for handicrafts, so Copperbeard's father could save up some property and had a few words with the overseers in the orc tribe, able to find healers.

Copperbeard's mother survived, and five months later gave birth to Copperbeard.

His dwarf father wasn't angry, but rather cheerful, raising Copperbeard like his own son, teaching him mining, ore selection, blacksmithing, and repairs...

Later, Copperbeard had a younger brother, and the family of four lived together quite happily.

Later still, the Fang tribe attacked.

Orc tribes not only fought humans and robbed goblins, but various tribes also frequently fought each other with mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

If defeated tribes had no relatives to ransom them, they either became corpses or became slaves.

That's how Copperbeard's family all became slaves.

Soon, the family died or scattered, leaving only Copperbeard struggling alone in the slave camp, enduring year after year.

Across the vast northern plains, there were countless humans, dwarves, and elves whose lives were as cheap as paper... and of course orc commoners too.

They struggled to survive under the rule of various orc tribes, praying that this year's orc tribe chieftain would be kinder, the leaders gentler, the climate more favorable, so they could live a bit longer.

The fortunate survivor Copperbeard was resold several times until this time, when he was sold to Vast Sea Territory.

On his first day in Vast Sea, Copperbeard received a large bowl of rice, some pickled vegetables, and a small piece of hard jerky.

He couldn't remember how many years it had been since he'd eaten such a meal. Copperbeard thought he must be eating his last meal, and after eating he'd gather some strength to be driven onto the battlefield as cannon fodder like orc tribes did, to trade for enemy spears.

He still had to eat his fill first.

Then he heard that shout:

"Listen well to the lord's commands, don't slack off or be lazy, work hard, and Vast Sea Territory guarantees you'll have food to eat, clothes to wear, places to live, and medical care when sick!"

Copperbeard completely disbelieved it. Only fools would believe it!

But it didn't matter. Whether slaves believed or not, they still had to work the same.

Then the days passed one by one.

The great lord of Vast Sea fulfilled all his promises.

Although the food was just brown rice mixed with some hard flatbread, he could basically eat his fill. The clothing fabric was rough, but sufficient to keep out cold. The earth shelters blocked wind and sand, and Copperbeard kept his little nest spotlessly clean. As for medical care, the old man in the health station holding the thick "Barefoot Doctor's Manual," though his treatment methods could only be described as crude, really did provide treatment and could cure minor ailments!

Although Copperbeard still didn't know why that old man, who clearly wore boots every day, was called a barefoot doctor, this wasn't important at all.

Being able to live, and knowing he would probably still be alive tomorrow, felt wonderful!

Copperbeard began working desperately to earn work points, waiting for the day he would become a provisional citizen.

Then, among a new batch of slaves, Copperbeard saw his younger brother.

His brother had dwarf blood and looked quite small. When he arrived, though in his teens, he was shorter than the cafeteria benches and so thin he was just skin and bones.

When Copperbeard hugged him, his brother's terrified, desperately dodging eyes made Copperbeard burst into tears.

Copperbeard unhesitatingly spent the work points he'd saved for many days to treat his brother to a hearty dinner at the cafeteria.

Then, because long-starved people couldn't handle rich food, his brother vomited and had diarrhea. If the lord hadn't sent a professional healer, after struggling all this way, his brother would almost have been killed by one meal...

"Vast Sea is our home, the Lord is our heaven!"

His brother was young and could attend school for free without working according to territorial arrangements. The first thing he said when returning from school brought tears to Copperbeard's eyes again.

After holding back for a long time, Copperbeard nodded heavily.

"Yes!!!"

Vast Sea Territory changed day by day. Farmland in the desert grew grain, and the people cheered for the great lord.

Fresh water supply doubled, and now they could wash their bodies with water daily. The people cheered for the benevolent lord.

Lights reached every household's doorstep, bringing brightness to long nights. The people cheered for the brilliant lord.

For Copperbeard personally, the little craftsmanship he'd learned from his dwarf father got him promoted to territorial craftsman, responsible for repairing tools and sharpening weapons.

His work point income doubled.

His brother also joined the Vast Sea Youth Corps, learning much new knowledge Copperbeard himself didn't know. Every evening, he would pull Copperbeard to study something called Xia script, said to be writing from ancient gods.

Recently, the shelter chief responsible for Area 14's earth shelters had specially come over, saying he wanted to introduce Copperbeard to a wife.

Copperbeard had secretly looked once. She was a nice girl. Though she had a small child, what did that matter? He himself had been raised this way by his dwarf father.

When the child grew a bit older, they'd be good labor. In Vast Sea where more work meant more work points, one more family member meant one more share of harvest.

He had already begun looking forward to a beautiful future life.

Just as Copperbeard emerged from the territorial workshop once again, waiting for his brother's school dismissal, suddenly cheering came from the distance.

The sound grew closer and louder, like a surging tsunami continuously building higher waves, sweeping up everyone far and near, old and young, throughout Vast Sea Territory.

"What's... what's happening to them?"

His brother, now reaching Copperbeard's waist, stood on tiptoes looking into the distance, seeing signal flags raised by Youth Corps members in the distance.

"It's the Lord! The Lord has returned!"

Yes, the lord had been away for over half a month, and Vast Sea's people had been eagerly anticipating the return of Vast Sea's radiant sun.

Cheers shook heaven and earth, echoing through every corner of the entire territory.

When the red flags of the lord's procession appeared at the entrance, Copperbeard, who had been pushing forward, fell heavily to his knees, then was pulled up by his brother.

"Brother, the Lord doesn't allow kneeling!"

"Right, right, no kneeling. We bow, we bow!"

Facing the people's almost fanatical welcome, Chen Mo felt somewhat embarrassed.

Honestly, what he'd done wasn't really anything special. At most, he just treated the people like people.

It's just that this world was like this.

Everyone treated those with money, power, connections, and relationships as people, but didn't much treat those struggling at society's bottom as people.

Even modern Blue Star society couldn't escape this. Giving the least money for the most work, taking the heaviest scolding, even having wages delayed the longest.

With such peers for comparison, Lord Chen Mo seemed like a chosen leader.

This scene was somewhat too shocking for those Night’s Edge mercenary group members who had just decided to follow the lord.

The mercenaries looked at each other.

Even though they were all super-tier fighters, all professionals who normally never regarded these common folk highly, when facing such mountain-calling, sea-roaring, uniform cheering, they couldn't help but tremble all over.

Returning to the lord's mansion surrounded by crowds all the way, Lord Chen Mo immediately had to throw himself back into the complex work of territorial governance.

As leader of a new territory, as long as Chen Mo wanted to work, there would inevitably be endless tasks.

During his absence, the council had accumulated a pile of problems.

When Chen Mo was normally present, when people had small disagreements about matters, they'd report to the lord, and after the lord spoke, issues would be resolved.

But when the lord wasn't present, certain small disagreements would gradually expand into major disagreements.

Behind each councilor's high-sounding reasons "for the territory," there were more or less some interest calculations.

As the saying goes, "no factions outside the party leads to imperial thinking, no cliques within the party leads to strange phenomena."

The newborn Vast Sea Territory was no exception.

In just a few months since establishment, three distinct power groups had emerged under the great Lord Chen Mo in Vast Sea Territory.

First was the currently ascendant military group.

Though Vast Sea's armed forces weren't numerous, they had a large framework with strict division of responsibilities from the beginning.

Currently there were mainly three forces: the Guards, Field Army, and City Defense.

The Guards were centered on the lord's summoned skeletons, fully equipped with light hot weapons, plus one large meat shield, the territory's primary combat force Liu Zaiyue. For skirmishes, this force could sweep the field.

The Field Army consisted of the centaur brigade plus reconnaissance squads formed by some sand people.

This force was equipped with most heavy hot weapons, supplemented by some cold weapons. In both numbers and combat power, they were the territory's largest military group.

More notably, since the main force among centaur groups were mostly minors, those selected for the Field Army were basically all Youth Corps members, so other human minors in the Youth Corps naturally became Field Army supporters.

Currently, with Field Army support, the armed guards organized by the Youth Corps themselves, also called the Loyalty Guard, had trained quite impressively.

Just looking at formations and combat doctrine, they were no worse than the territory's regular army.

The final force was the City Defense led by veteran mercenary Lynn, upgraded from the former patrol team.

The former patrol team, nominally the territory's human regular army, was truly unloved by uncles and grandmothers alike, leading to a territory saying: "Patrol, patrol, only patrol, no defense! Guard gates by day, watch beds by night!"

When did it upgrade? After Lynn returned from the Royal Central Spiritual Energy Academy in the Resting Moon Dynasty capital.

That's right, Lynn used this business trip to wholeheartedly bring Lord Chen Mo's warmth to the then somewhat struggling little girl, thus establishing connections with Lady Frost.

Though somewhat fortuitous, Lynn seized this opportunity and did the job beautifully, catching the opportunity when it came.

From then on, Lynn entered the lord's trusted list, receiving great commendation from the lord. His subordinates transformed overnight from patrol team to City Defense.

Besides city perimeter patrols and industrial/agricultural zone security, City Defense also took on urban security management responsibilities and undertook militia training for slaves and commoners.

With over three thousand adult slaves in Vast Sea Territory, that meant over three thousand militia members. Before being assigned to other forces, all were under City Defense jurisdiction.

Though not as prestigious-looking as the Field Army, in terms of actual power, it was incomparable to before, completely transformed.

Vast Sea's second power group could be called traditionalists.

Including Chief Administrator Herlan, the sand people's elder and various leaders, and conveniently also pulling in old mage Downs as backup.

These people's characteristic was being managers from the moment Vast Sea Territory was established. Herlan was undoubtedly a high-ranking figure among human captives and later slaves, while sand people chieftains and leaders were accustomed to giving orders and having subordinates submit.

Feudal system influences existed not only between nations and territories, but also widely between lords and powerful subordinate tribes.

The simplest manifestation was that everyone was accustomed to the lord needing to go through intermediaries like sand people chieftains to command sand people scouts.

But as the lord's forces achieved great military victories and created great civilian miracles, these old traditions instantly crumbled.

The third power group took the stage.

They were progressives among sand people, outstanding captives, intelligent slaves who fanatically worshipped the lord, seeking every opportunity to serve him, even willing to bypass existing fixed political layers.

In this process, they used obviously more positive attitudes and stronger execution capabilities than those old fellows, completing control over partial domains under the banner of "serving the lord."

They were standard emerging interest groups. Though everyone gained benefits as Vast Sea Territory developed greatly, these people gained somewhat more.

After all, they originally had nothing.

So this group's worship of Chen Mo exceeded other factions, leading territory old bureaucrats to privately call this faction the "Loyalty Faction"!

These people were relatively high-intelligence humans who received full East Xia-model education. Some advanced representatives could already read most East Xia books.

In their words, military forces were left-leaning radical, traditional forces were right-leaning conservative, and only they, the Loyalty Faction, were the lord's most reliable assistants!

During Chen Mo's absence, the three major factions continued working while privately competing.

For example, with this phase's main work plans completed, should Vast Sea's next key development direction be south, east, or north?

Continue major agriculture and land reclamation? Or prioritize infrastructure construction? Continue current part-work, part-training military mobilization? Or increase industrial population investment, striving to achieve partial product self-sufficiency soon?

Each path had more or less some interest shadows behind it, leading to mutual stalemate.

Everything needed the lord's decision.

Of course, this situation was also somewhat a pit left by the management framework East Xia designed for Chen Mo.

Even an intentionally left pit.

Except for the lord, no single person or group of forces could complete integration or assimilation of other factions.

Chief Administrator Herlan, the territory's second person, couldn't mobilize even a patrol squad without the lord's authorization.

The mighty centaur Field Army group similarly couldn't take away a penny's worth of supplies without the lord's written order.

During the lord's absence, everyone could only proceed step by step according to tasks the lord left behind.

So not only did the people eagerly await, but all the territory's big shots also constantly anticipated the lord's return.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

NEC Chapter 128: Be Sensible, These Are Lord Chen's Soul Contract Chains

The strength displayed by the armored warrior was somewhat beyond normal parameters, causing everyone from the front lines to the rear camp to fall into a brief state of speechlessness.

Everyone just watched this guy drag the magnetic combat vehicle like a rabbit dragging a fallen mammoth, like an ordinary person pulling an overturned armored car, with some apparent effort, swaying unsteadily, step by step, pursuing forward.

Those footprints were pressed quite deep.

However, although everyone was somewhat dazed in this situation and stopped their intercepting actions, trying to pursue Simple Bull while carrying this vehicle was still rather underestimating centaurs.

After hearing Kaga's command, little Ma Baoguo darted out without looking back, grabbed the half-dead Simple Bull from the ground and ran.

Even as exclamations came from behind, he never hesitated for a moment, nor did he look back at the commotion.

To go from Kaga's annoying rival to his most trusted partner, this was a stubborn little fellow.

The little centaur just ran without looking back, dragging Simple Bull all the way out of Blood Fortress.

Leaving behind a shocking trail of blood.

Only after Simple Bull was dragged out of Blood Fortress's range did the mysterious armored warrior stop, letting out several unclear roars toward the direction the "enemy" had fled.

It seemed joyful, yet also tinged with some sadness.

Then he slowly turned around, dragging that giant "trophy," and stepped heavily back the way he came.

Wait, you should return our vehicle...

Whether he returned it or not no longer mattered. To reduce weight, the vehicle's driver cabin was semi-open, and the control room operator had already been thrown off during the bumping. Now no one could get up to cut the power switch.

Everyone could only watch helplessly as this guy treated the "magnetic combat vehicle" like an accessory, producing harsh metallic scraping sounds all the way as he dragged it back to the lord's mansion.

Apparently also feeling the "burden" behind him was too awkward, the armored warrior clumsily swayed his body left and right several times in front of the lord's mansion's remaining half portico, trying to shake it off.

Unable to achieve the desired effect, he ultimately ignored it and walked into his lord's mansion.

Boom! Crash!

The house that still had some half-walls and broken pillars was now completely leveled.

Wherever the large vehicle passed, walls collapsed and houses fell, with dust rising everywhere.

The armored warrior struggled to move to the steps where he once sat, trying to sit down as he had countless days and nights before. However, the steel mountain on his back ruthlessly prevented this.

Once, twice... he tried forcefully, both the armor and combat vehicle continuously producing unbearable friction sounds.

Finally, he gave up.

The armored warrior maintained a strange posture, legs rigidly standing, body leaning slightly forward, as if using all his strength to resist the enormous dragging force behind him, then solidified again into a silent metal statue.

A heavy and long sigh seemed to echo in the air.

Outside the fortress, Simple Bull was dragged into the temporary field hospital.

The Vast Sea forces, strictly following East Xia combat regulations, had set up a simple frontline field hospital on the first day of camp establishment. Several Night’s Edge mercenary group warriors injured in the first day's pioneering operations all received excellent care here, which was one of the reasons the mercenary group was particularly devoted to this lord.

The medic held a bilingual Resting Moon and East Xia text version of the "Field First Aid Manual," loudly issuing commands.

"Cut open his outer clothing, stop the bleeding first, stop the bleeding!"

"Watch his heartbeat, blood pressure, measure them! Check his pupils!"

"Healing spells, continue casting healing, don't stop!"

"Prepare adrenaline! Quick!"

After a chaotic scramble, with herbs, healing magic, tourniquets, injections and a whole bunch of miscellaneous treatments working together, Simple Bull's bleeding was finally stopped. It looked like he wouldn't die anytime soon.

One could only say this guy's life shouldn't end yet.

Although he wasn't wearing metal armor, Simple Bull was still covered in a large anti-stab vest. The high-toughness fiber material greatly blocked the armored warrior's already dulled sword, preventing the swordsman from cleaving Simple Bull in half and instead sending him flying from the slashing force.

Of course, they also had to thank the centaurs and human warriors' desperate physical blocking, as well as the "magnetic combat vehicle's" sacrifice.

Otherwise, given the opponent's speed and strength, Liu Zaiyue could never have escaped.

The assault team vanguard, having come to their senses, had all withdrawn from the inner city and formed a combat defensive formation just outside the wall boundary, somewhat bewildered and at a loss.

"What kind of monster is this exactly?"

"Lord, I have some guesses!"

Doyle was granted permission and brought before the video communicator at the advance base, his expression grave. "This, this is very likely an earthbound undead that has evolved into a complete greater undead!"

Chen Mo frowned. "Withdraw first, explain slowly!"

At the hastily convened military meeting, Doyle carefully explained his guesses to Chen Mo.

So-called earthbound undead were a type of native undead creature.

"Undead creatures, according to summoner classifications, have three types: native to this realm, necromantic resurrection, and underworld secondary."

"Netherworld secondary undead creatures are the most numerous, all pure undead creatures born in other dimensions, under the jurisdiction of underworld lords, and sometimes respond to necromancer summons to come fight in the Starry Continent."

"Your skeletons are this type."

"Necromantic resurrection refers to undead liches or human death mages using spells to raise creatures whose soul fires haven't completely dispersed after death, becoming resurrected undead."

"This type is strictly prohibited by various nations on the Starry Continent, so resurrected undead are rarely seen, though some countries or nobles secretly raise some."

"Native undead creatures of this realm are those that, in certain special environments on the Starry Continent, due to magical corruption, can move independently again after death, without underworld lord control and not bound by death mages or liches. We necromancers call this type native to this realm."

"Native undead that can only move within the area where they were born and cannot leave are called earthbound undead."

No matter which aspect one looked at, this armored warrior in Blood Fortress perfectly fit the above characteristics.

Doyle's explanation was very detailed. To become native to this realm, an earthbound undead, required multiple complex factors mixing together, truly heaven-made.

According to Doyle's speculation, this earthbound undead must originally have been a core general defending Razor Fortress, possibly even the last city lord himself.

To serve as leader of such an important stronghold, his rank in life must have been very high.

It was precisely because of his powerful strength, unwillingness at the fortress's fall, chaotic spiritual energy currents after the local magical protection arrays were destroyed, perhaps combined with this place being a magical battlefield of blood and fire for hundreds of years, that ultimately created such a powerful earthbound undead.

"Usually we necromancers believe that among native undead creatures, those that can wander around may have varying abilities, but those restricted to one area and unable to move must be extremely powerful!"

"Earthbound undead rank quite high in the undead creature hierarchy, above cursed corpse shamans and death knights, slightly below greater liches and bone dragons."

"Regional restrictions are both shackles and enhancements for earthbound undead."

Chen Mo stopped writing, heavily dotting his notebook several times with his pen tip, asking several consecutive questions.

"Does this thing have intelligence? Can it be communicated with?"

"What methods are there to deal with earthbound... this earthbound undead?"

Doyle rubbed his somewhat messy hair. "Lord, earthbound undead do have intelligence, but not the kind we usually understand, the kind that can think and communicate."

"The birth of earthbound undead must involve a very strong desire or resentment, which is why they're bound to this land."

"They will always act around this goal, completely ignoring other matters."

"Unless you can help the earthbound undead fulfill their wishes..."

"Or fight them directly. Earthbound undead are still undead creatures and can be fought. However, I feel this one in the city may already have sixth-tier or even seventh-tier strength. My Dark Knights facing him would probably be a one-slash matter... it won't be easy to fight."

Kaga stood up. "I have an idea."

"This guy only attacks Simple Bull and ignores us. We can approach and attack with various weapons. If we attack enough, we'll eventually defeat him!"

Doyle smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Just because he doesn't actively attack you doesn't mean he won't fight back. Your previous shooting probably wasn't considered a threat. If the earthbound undead feels threatened, the entire area becomes the enemy's graveyard!"

"Then let's go big!" Kaga continued strategizing. "Plant enough high explosives around him and blow him up hard. I don't believe he can withstand it!"

Chen Mo waved his hand, stopping Kaga's words. "Wait, Captain Doyle, I have a question. Why does this earthbound undead only attack Simple Bull, ignoring other members of our team, not even attacking the centaurs?"

"The lord doesn't know!"

"Earthbound undead inherit memories from life. At Razor Fortress back then, orcs were the greatest enemy. To resist orcs, those participating in fortress defense included not only humans but also elves, dwarves, and half-orcs living in this region..."

"Moreover, because Razor Fortress was besieged for too long, well, those with weak will had long since fled or surrendered!"

"Those who could stay by this general's side and persist to the final moment must have been the strongest and most resolute warriors."

"So, probably in this earthbound undead general's eyes, except for orcs, everyone else are comrades-in-arms."

Kaga, who had been eager to try, immediately deflated.

The lord's own values could greatly influence his subordinates. Even originally bad characters would at least follow the lord's morals and values on the surface, let alone little centaurs like this who were somewhat naive and had their values essentially shaped by the lord.

Needless to say, facing such a "human hero" character, the lord had definitely softened.

Having softened, they could only try the gentle approach first.

For the entire next day, the Vast Sea assault team tried various forms of communication.

The black mist raised by this earthbound undead armored warrior had manifested many more ruin guards through iron and blood, but embarrassingly, these guardians were all stuck to the magnetic combat vehicle's magnetic disc.

So this armored warrior was now not only carrying the huge magnetic combat vehicle but also the hundred or so ruin guards on the vehicle.

One person carrying an entire fortress on his back!

The assault team cautiously approached, first clearing up the building debris around the area that had been crushed beyond recognition by the combat vehicle, then began various earnest persuasions and heartfelt conversations.

"General, this vehicle, this vehicle belongs to us. Could you... return it to us?"

"Big brother, uncle, grandpa? Aren't you tired carrying this? Take a rest?"

"How about I turn off the power and remove this burden from your back?"

"These noisy guardians are too bothersome. I'll remove them, you don't mind, right?"

"Don't you have anything to say to us? Our lord is here. Do you have any wishes?"

"Big brother, I'm turning off the power, I'm really turning it off. Be careful!"

As the vehicle power was cut, the magnetic combat vehicle that had been lifted high crashed down heavily, raising a large cloud of dust.

The earthbound undead felt relieved, twisted his body, and finally managed to sit on the steps, slightly lowering his head, seemingly returning to his original appearance.

Kaga looked behind him for a long time, unable to figure out what material this armor was made of, how it could pull such a heavy combat vehicle without falling off his body...

Rather too fantastical.

Slanted radiance fell on the earthbound undead, with countless dust particles dancing around him in the light beam. The atmospheric tone shifted from horror-comedy back to peaceful tranquility.

As the magnetic combat vehicle was dragged away, everyone carefully cleaned every space at the scene according to the lord's requirements.

More traces left from war were discovered.

Magic letters from the Emerald Duchy with stern wording demanding to "hold position and await reinforcement."

Draft rescue letters written with every word dripping blood but never able to be sent.

A fortress defense diary half-burned by flames, with desperate writing on the remaining yellowed pages: "...supplies exhausted, reinforcements cut off, only twenty-two warriors remain. Tomorrow, perhaps the... final battle..."

Ten minutes later, a fallen stone tablet was discovered in the main hall of the lord's mansion.

The camera clearly projected the image onto the large screen at the distant perimeter.

[By the Ancestor God of Beast Souls, in the 127th year of White Deer, the Clawsplit tribe chief broke the human Razor Fortress and destroyed the city here, announcing to all directions!]

[Any who dare establish a city here again will face the great orc tribes' hundred hammers and thousand axes, torn to pieces!]

"The year the beast tribes completely captured White Deer Plains and gained full control of Flag Mountain's north, to celebrate victory, they called that year White Deer Year One!"

Geddy continued serving as the city lord's commentator, quietly providing supplementary information.

The camera shifted slightly. Beside these two lines of finely carved characters full of triumphant swagger, there was a row of crooked small characters that seemed written with some sharp implement.

"Rebuild Razor Fortress, return north to White Deer Plains!"

The experienced necromancer Doyle seemed to understand something. He quietly requested instructions from Chen Mo, then ordered the centaurs on site to slightly grind away part of these characters, making some words appear blurred, then brought the stone tablet before the earthbound undead warrior.

Indeed, the armored warrior moved.

He extended his broken gauntlet and traced over the ground-away characters again.

Stone chips flew, the characters clear as ever.

"Lord, this is the earthbound undead's obsession."

Chen Mo sighed deeply and asked, "Must his wishes... these two wishes be fulfilled to collect the relic core?"

"Well, not necessarily. Promises work too!"

"Necromancers control underworld secondary undead through underworld lord authorization contracts, while controlling native undead can establish soul contract chains."

"In the process of establishing soul contract chains, if the main mage promises to fulfill the earthbound undead's obsession, there's a certain probability of gaining the earthbound undead's recognition and becoming the necromancer's soul-contracted creature."

"This way, both the relic core and earthbound undead can be taken away."

Chen Mo looked puzzled. "That simple? What if you deceive... deceive the undead?"

"Not so easy to deceive!"

Doyle smiled bitterly. "First, you need the foundation to make the earthbound undead believe in you, your status, strength, actions. A random child couldn't convince them no matter what they said."

"Second, during the necromancer's soul contract chain casting, the undead creature can sense the thoughts you actively transmit, just like, like when you command your skeleton warriors without speaking, it's a kind of sensing."

"That means you must sincerely believe you will help fulfill their wishes and convey this intention. Only then might they accept your soul contract chains."

"Finally, if the necromancer betrays the promise in the future, the earthbound undead will devour their master."

"Their soul power will backlash along the soul contract chains, burning and annihilating with the mage's mental power until one side burns out and completely perishes. This is a contract staked on souls!"

Chen Mo was moved, very moved!

Rebuilding the fortress, I think that's no problem. Reclaiming White Deer Plains, if there's an opportunity, how could I not want it?

This is expanding territory!

Chen Mo slightly controlled his emotions. There were several more important questions to ask.

"Do soul contract chain agreements have time limits?"

"Undead creatures have sufficiently long lifespans, so they don't care much about this point. However, the shorter the promised time, the higher the possibility of acceptance."

"Then, do soul contract chains have tier and mental power magic limitations?"

"Well, almost none. This is a kind of agreement, like, like if both parties agree, even a fishman could ride on a dragon's back..."

Chen Mo excitedly clapped his hands. "Old Doyle, having an experienced master like you really helps me tremendously!"

"So what are we waiting for? Quickly, tell me how to establish these soul contract chains!"

Half an hour later, surrounded by stars and layers of guards, Chen Mo cautiously approached the armored warrior and extended his carefully woven soul contract chains.

The other party neither attacked him nor acknowledged him.

That indifference and... faint disdain was like,

What are you doing here with this level of skill, kid, go play somewhere else, I'm busy!

"Forget it, what's meant to be will be, what's not meant to be shouldn't be forced!"

"Old Doyle, you establish the soul contract. You're already fourth-tier, the success rate should be much higher."

Doyle almost knelt down. "Lord, even fourth-tier isn't enough! The key is, the key is, I don't believe I can rebuild Razor Fortress and reclaim White Deer Plains!"

"Soul contracts... can't be deceived!"

Chen Mo encouraged him, "It's fine, I've got your back. Relax, don't you believe in me?"

Doyle was almost in tears.

"Lord, I believe in you, but, I really don't believe in myself..."

"How about, you wait a bit, wait until your tier is higher, then try again?"

Things had reached another deadlock.

Just leaving like this made Chen Mo somewhat unwilling, but if soul contract chains couldn't be established, should they really use violent means to forcibly eliminate this earthbound undead?

Just as Lord Chen was deeply troubled, news came from outside that Simple Bull had awakened.

This guy had strong enough vitality. Under circumstances where Chen Mo hadn't left a single Everchant Essence and had sent them all back home, he managed to survive this shocking severe injury through his own physical strength and miscellaneous treatments.

After accepting the lord's concern and condolences, the grateful Simple Bull, upon learning of the lord's predicament, offered a self-sacrificing solution.

"Lord, that guy hates orcs so much. How about you kill me in front of him? Maybe that could move him."

"Don't talk nonsense!"

Chen Mo stood on his toes, reaching up to pat the half-reclining Simple Bull's head.

"Regardless of whether this method would definitely work, even if it did, I couldn't trade your life for it!"

"You're my personal guard captain, a brother-in-arms! How could you be the same as those damn orc brats?!"

Before he finished speaking, Chen Mo suddenly stopped!

Eh?

Those orc brats!

Speaking of which...

Didn't I just kill quite a few orcs recently?

Chen Mo jumped up on the spot, slapping the still somewhat confused Liu Zaiyue on the head. "Simple Bull, you're truly my lucky star!"

"Kaga, Kaga, quickly take people and dig up those orcs we killed a few days ago!"

Half an hour later, the silent Blood Fortress was once again filled with clamor.

Lord Chen strode confidently in the front, followed by his guard warriors dragging hundreds of tattered orc and dire wolf corpses, forming neat long lines as they marched in magnificently.

From afar, that armored warrior whose true face had never been seen stood up, seeming somewhat bewildered, with a hint of suspicious uncertainty.

"Hey you!"

"Brought you gifts, big gifts!"

"Hurry up, don't be ungrateful. My sincerity is already here. If you don't agree, I'll really take action!"

[NEXT CHAPTER]

NEC Chapter 127: Earthbound Undead, Pursuit with a Cart on One's Back

The Blood Fortress, which was formerly known as Razor Fortress, was built with its back against the most treacherous section of Flag Mountain.

The fortress designer must have fully considered the prospect of facing prolonged orc sieges and the possibility of the outer city falling. Therefore, within the outer city, near the deep Flag Mountain ridge, they erected an inner city.

The inner city's building materials were quarried from the Dark Steel Valley to the south. This dark steel rock was dense and hard, as solid as refined steel. Conventional metal swords could at most leave a scratch when striking it.

On the Starry Continent, it was generally used for the shells of large magical arrays or the outer walls of super noble residences.

Using it to build a city was equivalent to using golden nanmu wood for courtyard fencing on Blue Star, truly wasteful.

But back then, in that glorious era when the Resting Moon Dynasty's power was at its zenith and they fully supported their allies, the spirited founding Grand Duke of the Emerald Duchy conquered the great desert to the east, took the plains to the south, conquered Iron Ridge Valley to the west, and watered his horses at Crystal River's banks...

At the same time, he spared no expense in transporting the costly dark steel rock across hundreds of kilometers to Razor Corridor, forcibly constructing the framework of Razor Fortress.

Of course, the cost was too great. They could only erect an inner city, while the outer city was slowly built using traditional stone materials quarried locally around Flag Mountain.

At that time, although the White Deer Plains north of Flag Mountain were still under human control, all nations knew that completely abandoning the regions north of Flag Mountain was only a matter of time.

The civil war flames that swept across the entire human world had burned across the continent for thirty years, with southern nations even lowering their conscription age below ten years old.

No nation could continue to mobilize their entire national strength to block the rolling torrent of orcs advancing south while trapped in their own precarious internal struggles.

Building such a majestic fortress precisely to abandon the northern human territories was somewhat absurd in itself.

As events proved, the Razor Fortress that the Emerald Duchy had built in advance became humanity's northernmost and the duchy's most solid barrier after the northern lands completely fell.

Of course, even the most solid inner city, without provisions inside or reinforcements outside, ultimately could not escape the fate of falling.

To eliminate future troubles permanently, after toppling the outer city, the orcs mobilized massive numbers of beast race laborers to completely dismantle this inner city's walls bit by bit.

While the outer city still had some scattered remnants of walls, the inner city here was truly an open field, with only a few foundation stumps remaining where the inner city entrance had been.

During the first three days, the outer city area of Blood Fortress had been repeatedly swept, and guards had entered multiple times at different periods to confirm safety.

Therefore, the Vast Sea expedition force placed their advance camp on an open area two kilometers from the inner city and launched a new round of advancement from there.

Unlike the heavy black fog of the outer city, the mist in the inner city area appeared quite thin, with much improved visibility.

The reconnaissance drone looked down from above, giving a clear view of the entire inner city area.

Behind it rose the towering Flag Mountain, its gray-brown rock layers cut as if by knives and axes into steep cliffs from top to bottom. Only at heights of several hundred meters above could one vaguely see some scattered green dots.

At Flag Mountain's peak, the mountain's color suddenly changed, showing bright red through the yellow. This was the unique red rock of Flag Mountain's summit, as if dyed by ten thousand rays of sunlight.

The fortress ruins nestled closely beneath this peak also seemed to brighten in the camera lens, radiating a wild, natural magnificence that lifted one's spirits.

Looking at the magical scene on the large screen, veteran Geddy quietly recounted the fortress's history to the lord.

"Look, Lord," Geddy pointed at the steep mirror-like cliff face of Flag Mountain on the screen. "This main peak section was forcibly transformed by the duchy's great mages working together. Forget orcs, even real wild beasts couldn't climb up there!"

Chen Mo had limited experience and didn't understand this logic. Wild beasts had better climbing ability than orcs?

Never mind, he'd quietly research such minor questions later rather than expose his ignorance here.

"You mentioned attacking the fortress from the peak earlier... theoretically feasible, but the cost, well, that cost was too great! You simply couldn't get many people up there!"

"The orcs did try it! They once used their air force to forcibly hoist elite warriors up to Flag Mountain's peak."

"Then what? They threw stones, hurled war spears, even had those madmen dive straight down to attack the fortress from above!"

"The result? Completely useless! The city had elite warriors and large protective magical arrays. Even if you survived jumping from the peak, you'd face the inner city's rear wall, which was full of pit traps!"

Speaking of this, Geddy seemed somewhat emotional, his voice carrying a hint of gritted teeth. "The most dangerous time, the orcs bought many dwarven thunder jars from some despicable northern nation, threw them down from the peak while coordinating with frontal attacks, and nearly broke through the fortress."

"But at that time, everyone in the fortress, from top to bottom, were the duchy's bravest warriors. They literally filled the gaps with their lives and finally held the line. That battle produced over ten barons, six viscounts, and even one marquis!"

"Tsk tsk, that truly was..."

"Something bards sang about for many years!"

As they spoke, the mercenaries' eyes took on a hint of yearning admiration.

The drone's lens continued forward. The inner city appeared somewhat empty. Besides the scattered wandering ruin guards, the most eye-catching feature was the half-collapsed building at the end of the central axis.

Chen Mo, now dignified as a city lord, immediately recognized it as the former lord's mansion.

Just as the drone prepared to zoom in closer, a high-level ruin guard threw a short spear.

Unsurprisingly, another drone was lost.

Chen Mo deeply hated this, but there was no help for it.

Drones were convenient and easy to operate, but simply too fragile.

They didn't even need mages. Any slightly higher-level warrior could bring them down with bows, throwing spears, or even picked-up stones.

Compared to the armored griffon knights covered in hard feathers and sometimes magical protection on kingdom battlefields, they could only be described as utterly vulnerable.

Originally, cost was the drone's greatest advantage, but since Vast Sea Territory couldn't produce them domestically and needed to transport them through Sacrificial Altars, the comprehensive cost calculation became quite high, making the lord unable to not feel the pain.

No choice but to have backup drones continue reconnaissance from far distances while the vanguard forces directly pushed magnetic combat vehicles into the inner city.

Clear the area first.

The moment the combat vehicles crossed that broken wall foundation line, the entire inner area seemed to sound some kind of assembly horn, instantly activated.

The originally wandering ruin guards all turned their heads in unison toward the intruders' direction.

After a brief pause, the ruin guards wielded their spears and great shields, charging toward the Vast Sea assault team.

Then they were promptly stuck to that sturdy magnetic disc.

Although the inner city mostly contained high-level ruin guards, after being firmly deprived of their weapons, they were like top fighters strapped to the front of an armored vehicle.

No matter how hard your fists or how strong your striking power, you couldn't exert any effect.

Vice-captain Geddy, who had watched this scene for several days, still couldn't help but exclaim sincerely, "This, this is truly magical!"

"This reminds me of mages' wind binding. But even incarnation-level elemental mages could only restrain a few opponents at once with wind binding, and absolutely couldn't sustain it for so long..."

As the inner city's ruin guards successively lost combat capability, the tense Vast Sea assault team could finally relax.

Once they found a targeted method, this large relic manifested with iron and blood elements seemed no different from collecting scrap iron from a junkyard.

The inner city's range wasn't large, and the number of guardians was relatively limited. It took only about ten minutes total. Except for the final lord's mansion area, all ruin guards had been completely "kidnapped" onto the magnetic combat vehicles.

Over ten observation lenses of various sizes aimed at the lord's mansion from several directions.

There had been no movement there, only ruins and a motionless figure.

The assault team's searchlights focused on this area, completely illuminating those architectural remains that still vaguely retained hints of their former glory.

The former center of power had completely collapsed into a vast, menacing field of rubble.

Several broken massive stone pillars tilted crookedly toward the gray sky like snapped giant ribs, barely supporting the overhead dome remains that had long since shattered beyond recognition and hung precariously.

Because the walls and dome had mostly collapsed, the lord's mansion was like having a huge wound torn open, allowing light to pour in unrestrainedly and illuminate the internal decay and desolation.

The great hall was deathly silent, as if time had frozen here.

Broken beams supported tottering architectural remains. Several rafters hung down from above, their ends apparently fire-scorched, leaving long charcoal-black marks on the ground.

The floor was scattered with broken porcelain shards, rotted wood, fragments of shattered weapons, and several faded torn pages with blurred writing that could no longer be deciphered.

Most eye-catching was the motionless silhouette in the center.

It was a warrior.

Or rather, had once been a warrior.

He sat on the stone steps beside a stone seat, his tall frame wrapped in broken armor. From afar, both the armor and the steps beneath him were painted gray by dust.

The warrior's sitting posture had become one with the surrounding desolate ruins.

The drone attempted to zoom in closer again.

The armor's design was exquisite and magnificent. Even covered in thick grime, the delicate intricate patterns and carefully carved reliefs on its surface showed it must have been a master's handiwork.

However, the entire suit of armor was covered with wounds large and small. A huge dent in the chest had sunk deep with twisted, curled edges, as if hammered by some terrifying force. The joints at plate connections had long since broken. Several vicious cracks on the arm armor snaked upward like serpents, exposing sharp, curled edges. The right shoulder guard was missing entirely, leaving a jagged break that revealed dark inner lining beneath. The exposed leather had withered and curled like autumn leaves, seemingly ready to crumble at the slightest touch.

A helmet pressed down on his head with the face plate completely lowered, shutting off everything within and leaving only two deep eye slits that reflected faintly in the light.

This warrior just sat there motionless, a two-handed sword thrust point-down into the ground beside him, its hilt slightly tilted.

Around him on the ground lay scattered mottled emblems, rusted weapon cases, broken small round shields, and various debris whose purposes could no longer be identified.

This scene seemed to transport everyone back to that era of war and iron-blooded passion, as if glimpsing the final warrior who fought with all his might to write a heroic epic's conclusion.

Then he grew tired and simply sat down.

One sitting, and a hundred years passed!

"Something's wrong!"

Just as the assault team warriors were somewhat infected by this tragic atmosphere, Doyle issued a warning.

"Captain Kaga, Razor Fortress was completely destroyed by orcs, and the inner city was swept countless times. How could such a complete warrior's remains still be left, complete with armor?"

"There's a problem!"

Kaga's heart tightened, and he immediately requested instructions from Chen Mo in the rear through communications equipment.

The lord's reply was very clear: Safety first!

First dispose of those ruin guards stuck to the magnetic combat vehicle, then push this "magnetic" vehicle closer to "invite" that "hero" over too!

As for what kind of "goods" he really was, knock him down first and study slowly!

Kaga quickly relayed the orders. Everyone began to spread out, expertly powering down, igniting, disposing of ruin guards, finishing them off, and clearing the battlefield...

Throughout this entire process, that "armored warrior" remained motionless, indifferent to the destruction of these "companions" or "subordinates," seeming truly dead.

Until Liu Zaiyue, who had been responsible for providing bull power to push the cart behind the combat vehicle, curiously poked his head out for a look while pushing the magnetic combat vehicle to turn and avoid metal debris ahead, preparing to advance toward the lord's mansion.

Just this one glance!

"Click... click..."

An extremely faint sound like rusted joints grinding against each other rang out.

On the stone steps, that helmet that had hung low for a hundred years suddenly lifted! In the deep eye slits behind the face mask, two points of crimson light blazed!

"Beast... man..."

"Die!!!"

A wave of violent black mist expanded outward with this nameless warrior at its core, like ink dropped into clear water instantly spreading, like a great stone falling into water and splashing ripples, sweeping outward!

The two-handed sword thrust into the ground let out a clear hum, instantly flying up and landing steadily in the warrior's gauntleted hand!

Immediately after came a black shadow, closely following the circular trajectory of the black mist, pointing directly at the magnetic combat vehicle.

The armored warrior charged out!

The moment this warrior raised his head, the human warriors and centaur warriors who had been closely watching the scene simultaneously issued warnings.

"Enemy contact front!"

"Open fire! Open fire!"

The assault team responded extremely quickly. Over ten automatic rifles opened fire simultaneously, with dense crisscrossing fire lines locking onto the armored warrior's charge route.

However, in that split second, the armored warrior completely ignored all attacks, charging straight through the barrage and even slightly sidestepping to bypass the roaring Kaga, bringing his two-handed sword down heavily toward Simple Bull.

Liu Zaiyue's reaction was already quite fast. The moment this unknown enemy charged over, Simple Bull had already tensed all his muscles, filled with spiritual battle qi, while lowering his body slightly and advancing instead of retreating, directly meeting the charge head-on.

Violence against violence.

But the gap was simply too great.

In one exchange, Liu Zaiyue was not only stopped cold in his savage charge but also caught by his opponent's combination of charge, power gathering, and furious slash, torn with a shocking wound from shoulder blade to chest.

Between ramming and slashing, he was sent flying far away.

"Stop him!" Little Kaga let out an angry roar, his assault rifle spraying wildly while he recklessly charged again, trying to use his body to block the opponent's pursuit!

The armored warrior made another agile sidestep, as if that seemingly cumbersome armor was merely a bundle of light feathers, lightly avoiding Kaga's charge and continuing relentlessly to pursue Simple Bull.

"He's not attacking me?"

No time to think further. Kaga exerted force with his legs, caught up from behind, and again used his body to ram toward the opponent's path while shouting sternly, "Baoguo, drag Simple Bull away, quick! Everyone else come stop him!"

"Power up quickly, power up now!!!"

A group of centaurs and human warriors swarmed forward, desperately pulling and grabbing, trying to stop the armored warrior.

But this guy charged left and right, not letting anyone touch even a corner of his clothing. However, the armored warrior's movement was greatly delayed, forcing him to take a wide detour to avoid interception and continue his pursuit.

The magnetic combat vehicle operator pressed the power button in time.

The recently cleared battlefield's scattered metal fragments and broken weapon remains were seized by invisible giant hands, emitting sharp whistling sounds as they flew rapidly toward the magnetic disc!

The assault team members near the vehicle felt their hands lighten as their only metal items, their firearms, also instantly flew from their hands!

As for that armored warrior, he ultimately couldn't resist such close-range, ultra-high magnetic field strength magnetism and was involuntarily stuck to the front armor of the magnetic storm vehicle.

Then, a scene that left everyone dumbfounded occurred.

Although this armored warrior couldn't break free from magnetic restraint, he didn't give up!

Suddenly sinking his waist and bending his knees, the armored warrior let out a muffled roar, then exerted force, actually lifting the vehicle body while planting his feet on the ground, as if carrying the magnetic combat vehicle on his back.

He forcibly carried this behemoth of steel that originally weighed 1.6 tons but now, loaded with additional armor plating and stone weights on the front armor, exceeded seven tons total weight, on his back covered in broken armor!

Oh right, there was still a driver in the cockpit.

Under the gaze of over a hundred eyes, this armored warrior, with some apparent difficulty, step by step, half-dragging and half-carrying the combat vehicle, scraping a deep groove in the ground, pursued in Simple Bull's direction.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

NEC Chapter 126: Asymmetric Battle, The Stunning Debut of the Magnetic Combat Vehicle

The mercenary group members who had formed a shield-and-spear formation stared blankly at the bizarre spectacle before them.

The charging wave of the orc army seemed to be severed at the waist by a giant scythe! The front ranks of orcs and wolves fell, rolled, and shattered in masses under the metal storm! The cavalry in the rear, driven by massive inertia, had no time to turn and met the same death storm, tumbling together with their fallen comrades ahead.

The mere few hundred meters of distance became like a deadly chasm.

Doyle and Geddy were extremely grateful at this moment that the Night’s Edge mercenary group hadn't entertained thoughts of abandoning formation and fleeing, otherwise those strange contraptions with power a hundred or thousand times greater than dwarf firearms would probably have let their group enjoy a taste first.

"They... they were prepared for orcs from the beginning. Those thick-tubed fellows never even entered the fortress..."

When the front ranks of orc cavalry fell into this bloody death trap, the orc wolf cavalry reserves remaining on the hilltop, after experiencing brief agitation, surprisingly didn't retreat but also launched a charge.

Unlike the previous wolf cavalry, they had already gripped their javelins early, borrowing the momentum of their charge to boldly initiate long-range bombardment.

Javelins were the orc tribes' favorite ranged weapon.

Most green-skinned brutes disliked using bows and arrows, considering it "sissy" behavior.

This habit might stem from ancient grudges between elves and orcs, when those pointed-eared bow-wielders had waged long, endless wars with orcs over grasslands.

Though elven archers were also muscle-bound and broad-shouldered, orcs always felt that slender arrows couldn't match their wild temperament.

Only thick javelins that could produce sharp air whistles, vibrating as they crossed most of the battlefield through the sky, were orcs' favorite ranged weapons.

Of course, there was another theory that orcs could only count to single digits, since their main counting method was using fingers.

Some orcs had four-digit hands, causing their mathematical ability to plummet by twenty percent.

Bows and arrows... a quiver held too many arrows for orcs to count clearly, so javelins were more suitable.

Unlike the Bonebreaker Tribe, the Fang Tribe's javelins were thicker and longer.

The spear shafts were made from quality ridgebark tree trunks, repeatedly soaked, dried, and processed until they became solid spear shafts, fitted with iron spearheads that could fly over three hundred meters when driven by cavalry charge momentum.

Though they might not understand physics, orc craftsmen had learned front-weighting techniques through centuries of experimentation, knowing how far a spear would fly just by hefting it.

Of course, captain-level orcs had greater strength and even longer range.

A strong orc captain, rising and falling with his wolf's charge, bone chains symbolizing glorious battle achievements bouncing on his neck, tensed all his muscles and let out a piercing howl, using all his strength to hurl the javelin he'd been gripping.

The long spear shaft cast a rapidly flying shadow in sunlight, carrying tremendous kinetic energy as it slammed hard into sandbags piled at the front of Vast Sea positions, sending dust flying.

Now the value of trenches finally showed.

Against any ranged attack weapons or spell attacks, trenches were important protection for infantry safety!

This orc captain unsurprisingly became the target of concentrated fire, lifted directly into the air by dense bullets.

Especially Little Kaga, whose marksmanship had become increasingly refined, used a dual-purpose machine gun to give this big guy a burst. The orc captain was torn into several pieces in mid-air before even falling from his wolf.

At this point, victory and defeat were decided.

The most formidable orc chieftain, braving gunfire to desperately charge Vast Sea positions, ate a ground-to-ground missile.

This chieftain inflicted the only damage to Vast Sea defensive forces in the entire battle, sandbags blasted up by violent javelins hit a human warrior's shoulder, causing a large bruise.

From beginning to end, Doyle and the Night’s Edge mercenary group members behind him stood petrified, staring dumbfounded at this hellish scene.

Vice-captain Geddy had the best eyesight and saw most clearly.

The veteran's sword-gripping hand kept shaking and shaking!

His understanding of war and death was completely crushed at this moment!

The orcs' proud charge became a one-sided, bloody slaughter before firepower from another dimension.

Of course, this also relied on orc cooperation.

In terms of fighting spirit, orcs were truly formidable, of over three hundred wolf cavalry, fewer than five percent fled; all the rest died on the charge route.

The centaurs unsurprisingly completed pursuit and killing of fleeing orc cavalry. From those already-broken orcs, Chen Mo learned the general circumstances.

Orcs had indeed received word from Seven-Radiance Garland, and Seven-Radiance Garland had indeed gotten a friendly response from the Fang Tribe chieftain.

However, which tribe didn't have some restless opposition faction?

The orc great chieftain operated differently from human succession, it wasn't hereditary but elective.

Every six years, the thirteen major tribes and over forty medium and small tribes under the Fang Tribe would gather to jointly select the next six-year chieftain.

After selection, the new chieftain would delineate everyone's grasslands and distribute some wealth, then each tribe would return home to tend their flocks.

The current Fang great chieftain had served four consecutive terms, was advanced in years with diminished ambition, only enthusiastic about trading with humans to accumulate wealth for descendants.

All expectations rested on his own tribe producing another great chieftain or two, naturally causing strong dissatisfaction among other suppressed major tribal leaders.

Thus arose this armed parade.

Initially, orcs hadn't planned to completely tear their faces, just making a symbolic circuit to extort some wealth and demonstrate their presence, using this to attack the old chieftain's "weakness"!

"Look, the great chieftain 'bows and scrapes' to humans, we are the true defenders of orc tradition!"

But Vast Sea Territory's hard-line attitude forced opponents to appear even harder, deciding to charge and teach these ungrateful fellows a lesson.

From the battle process, it was clear that even until preparing to charge positions, orcs still somewhat considered the great chieftain's instructions, not throwing javelins immediately.

For Chen Mo, this conflict with orcs was merely a small interlude during his long wait.

Some ammunition was consumed, troops were trained, and a striking crimson mark was added to the monotonous desert time.

But for Night’s Edge, this was destiny's great moment.

Commander Doyle resolutely expressed acceptance of this Vast Sea lord's recruitment, going to that place that currently had no mercenary guild but would soon build one, becoming the first registered mercenary group.

The deposit loss at Emerald didn't matter, Lord Chen Mo said he'd compensate.

Past team credit zeroing out overnight was fine, who hadn't started from white group status?

There might be many member losses, but that was okay, temporarily Vast Sea wouldn't have overly difficult missions, or rather, Doyle had a feeling that following this lord, what he'd actually do was assist.

Being able to establish connections with a lord was already his rare fortune, and being able to establish connections with a powerful lord was simply a heaven-sent opportunity from the goddess of fate!

Doyle and Geddy conferred and announced this decision, from now on they'd follow the Vast Sea lord through wind and rain, through fire and water, unto death without regret!

A few days later, they were extremely grateful for making this timely and correct choice.

The Vast Sea lord, a necromancer with only stellar dust level ability, had summoned across dimensions a powerful steel behemoth.

After Lord Chen Mo activated the Sacrificial Altar and sent his problems and ideas back to East Xia, it undoubtedly immediately triggered a general mobilization of East Xia's think tank and relevant physics experts.

In the response to Chen Mo, the supervising leadership lavishly praised Chen Mo's imaginative, unconventional problem-solving approach, though they also tactfully offered a small suggestion.

Permanent magnets weren't quite suitable.

Why weren't they good? First, these things were easy to attract but extremely difficult to remove.

Second, such powerful magnetic fields would cause massive interference to friendly equipment, requiring constant vigilance during operation.

So they'd use electromagnets instead, though power-consuming, they were controllable!

East Xia spent about three days working around the clock with sparks flying, completing construction of this special-type "magnetic combat vehicle."

The magnetic combat vehicle's core consisted of sixteen groups of high-temperature superconducting electromagnets arranged in a Halbach array. This complexity was mainly to give magnetic attraction clear directionality, avoiding serious effects on sides and rear.

Called high-temperature superconducting, it actually operated in ultra-low temperature environments, with rare earth barium copper oxide packaged under liquid nitrogen materials as the superconducting core structure, capable of carrying current density far exceeding traditional conductors and generating extremely powerful magnetic fields when energized.

To maintain superconducting working temperature, it was equipped with a closed-loop micro Stirling super-cooler, ensuring main energized areas maintained stable temperature at 77 Kelvin, minus 196 degrees Celsius.

It wasn't that temperature couldn't be higher, but each degree increase required greater pressure intensity compensation, creating additional weight burden that wasn't cost-effective.

The vehicle structure was brutally simple, just a bulldozer-like contraption with the electromagnetic array held high in front while the rear was packed with battery groups and driver's compartment.

To prevent enemies attracted by strong magnetic force from damaging the magnetic structure, the electromagnet front was made into an encompassing composite inner armor.

The composite armor's first layer was artificial single-crystal diamond coating, emphasizing surface hardness and anti-cutting, anti-piercing capability; the second layer was high-strength boron carbide ceramic composite plate, absorbing violent impacts and dispersing energy; the third layer was ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber composite material, providing excellent anti-collision and anti-fragmentation capability.

The armor structure used honeycomb corrugated plate design, maximizing weight reduction while ensuring rigidity and strength.

This wasn't the end. Though weight limitations prevented stacking ultra-thick outer armor, they could supplement locally.

East Xia made a simple framework at the magnetic vehicle's front end, forming a four-meter-wide semi-arc structure where additional protection could be crammed.

They couldn't completely stuff iron blocks, as this would affect magnetic field line penetration, so Vast Sea Territory interspersed some cast iron plates in the framework while stuffing large amounts of wall bricks, making total outer armor thickness reach sixty centimeters.

That was enough, any thicker would affect magnetic attraction distance.

As part of Blood Fortress's once-impregnable walls, these wall bricks were inherently hard and specially processed. Though eroded for ages, they could still withstand a professional's simple attacks for a round or two.

Thus, after local modification, the magnetic vehicle's front end resembled holding an enormous elongated bumper filled with thick iron plates and stone protective layers.

Testing showed that even Dark Knights couldn't substantially damage this mobile fortress-like outer armor structure without using refined-grade or higher weapons.

Though the vehicle was packed with ultra-high power density solid-state battery groups, most of the battery system's capacity fed the "greedy" electromagnets, leaving pitifully little power for the drive system, which would stall on slightly complex terrain or inclines.

Insufficient power? Cattle and horses made up the difference.

Vast Sea Territory deployed an entire push-cart group led by Simple Bull, responsible for using pure muscle power to push the vehicle forward.

How effective was this thing?

It could only be said that East Xia's targeted device was somewhat over-targeted.

July 6th, perfect sunshine, gentle breeze. Chen Mo checked the almanac on his tactical watch: auspicious for breaking ground, dismantling, moving house, relocating graves...

What were they waiting for then?

The magnetic combat vehicle was slowly pushed into position. As switches opened, current flowed through superconducting materials, activating electromagnetic coils, instantly releasing magnetic field strength reaching 15 Tesla within a roughly 60-degree fan-shaped range ahead of the vehicle.

Though magnetic field strength would decay severely over distance, this wasn't a problem, enemies would "actively" rush over!

The cattle-and-horse group only needed to sway the vehicle left and right, push forward a bit more, then sway left and right again.

Those ruin guards originally manifested from various armors and weapons were unsurprisingly firmly attracted to the vehicle's front armor, shrieking shrilly, struggling forcefully, gesticulating wildly, punching and kicking...

But it was meaningless, they'd only attract more and stack thicker.

Ruin guards' bare-handed attacks could only leave shallow white marks on ancient city bricks or break off some stone chips.

Weapons? Under this level of magnetic field, could they still wield metal weapons?

As the armor surface became covered with ruin guards, subsequent arrivals had even less ability to attack, with "their own people" cushioning below.

When encountering occasional enemy ranged units, they'd either tilt the vehicle head to avoid magnetic field influence while sniper rifles behind took them down with one shot, or have the mercenary group's mages act with simple attack magic to dispose of ruin guards.

Troop advance speed depended entirely on the cattle-and-horse team's pushing speed.

Soon, the front armor's surface formed a thick, wide "guardian wall", layer after layer of continuously attracted ruin guards covering the "magnetic combat vehicle's" front section completely.

Countless ruin guards intertwined together, clawing and tearing at each other, with hundreds of hands and feet waving within just a few square meters.

This scene was enough to make any trypophobia sufferer gasp and bristle with goosebumps.

Kaga at the rear command position held a megaphone, shouting at the top of his lungs, "All units attention, take positions, prepare for release processing!"

He didn't use communicators because warriors on the vehicle's left and right sides within possible affected areas didn't dare carry even iron fragments, and East Xia currently lacked spare transport capacity for all-engineering-plastic walkie-talkies.

The combat vehicle slowly stopped, control groups cut power, and ruin guards tangled at the vehicle front clattered down, piling into a writhing small mountain.

The sound of metal friction merged into one incredibly harsh noise.

Attack groups already in position immediately advanced, precisely throwing white phosphorus incendiary bombs into the "mountain's" center! Blinding white light accompanied by terrifying heat instantly erupted, igniting those twisted energy bodies!

Guards on both sides formed arc defenses, finishing off escapees with guns and blades, while mercenary mages also joined the fun, tossing area-damage magic like exploding fireballs.

Kaga and Simple Bull, exhausted from pushing the cart, finished smoking at the vehicle rear, carefully extinguishing the butt and tossing it into the rear garbage bag.

Not out of civility, but really spooked by this damn elemental manifestation, what if cigarette butts manifested something? They'd be laughed to death by colleagues.

Checking front progress and dusting off his rear, Kaga raised the megaphone again, "Continue, continue! Cleanup crew stays to handle this, we advance!"

A major expedition into Blood Fortress ruins had apparently become a hiking activity.

Cleanup crews with pushcarts transported cart after cart of blackened, deformed metal debris from the ruins, dumping it into pre-dug pits outside.

When sunset's afterglow dyed the desert golden-red, the expedition team finally finished the day's work. One-third of Blood Fortress's second layer area had been cleared.

Carrying a cart of struggling ruin guards, the team withdrew from the fortress.

This final cart didn't require wasting ammunition, ruin guards would rapidly lose the force maintaining their existence once taken from the fortress area, dissipating like smoke into air.

Without this boundary mechanism, the entire desert would probably be running with these things.

A grand dinner, ample rest, and the next day brought another boring walk.

Lord Chen Mo, who remained in the camp outside the fortress remotely observing progress, received flowery, comprehensive, all-around praise from mercenary group commander Doyle, vice-captain Geddy, and various mercenary group leadership.

"Our mercenary group has operated in this region for eight years, never hearing of any team that could see the third layer walls. Lord, your power is incomparable, your wisdom unfathomable, your great radiance sufficient to illuminate the entire desert!"

Chen Mo learned for the first time that Doyle could speak so eloquently.

Geddy's words were relatively plain, "This is truly a great operation. I think this is the greatest expedition I've witnessed in my lifetime!"

Other mercenary group members weren't behind in flattery.

"My life's greatest fortune was doing this one thing right, accepting the lord's summons and coming here to become your subordinate!"

"Lord, witnessing and participating in such a miracle is my lifelong honor! I can't wait to set foot on Vast Sea Territory's land and see what magical place it is under your governance!"

Frankly speaking, Chen Mo now somewhat understood why certain monarchs liked flatterers, the emotional value was simply too fulfilling.

In three days, Vast Sea Territory's forces cleared the entire second layer range.

On the fourth day morning, the magnetic combat vehicle with replaced battery groups slowly entered Blood Fortress's inner city.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

NEC Chapter 125: The Enemy Will Neither Arrive Early nor Late

Chen Mo's idea was excellent, and he was even deeply moved by his own cleverness.

Being able to solve problems with wisdom rather than bullets was a big step toward maturity for a lord.

Although the permanent magnet he envisioned would still need to be provided by home, at least Lord Chen had used his brain for once.

His family would surely be gratified!

Calculating the time, he still needed to wait here for a week before the next altar cooldown period would end.

During this time, he decided not to let himself idle.

Nor would he let his subordinates idle either.

Watching the young lord beckoning to him once again, Doyle, a fourth-tier Eternal Night necromancer, felt mixed emotions, a hundred feelings stirring in his heart.

He dared not claim to be the lord's teacher, only accepting the role of the lord's magical advisor, having to spend time each day providing guidance on related summoning magic techniques for the lord.

To be fair, he had never seen such an approachable lord.

Of course, he hadn't actually seen many lords up close either.

The scenes in his memory were basically of watching those noble lords from afar, waving their hands and saying a few ceremonial phrases like "Gentlemen, work hard, pillars of the nation," before swaying away leisurely.

Leaving him and his mercenary group to risk their lives for a few jingling gold coins.

Yet this lord before him, though his necromantic knowledge, skills, and realm were utterly chaotic in an expert's eyes, was unexpectedly kind in his treatment of people.

So kind that he didn't seem like a lord at all.

In Starry Continent terms, warmth easily breeds contempt.

Of course, those minotaur and centaur soldiers behind him were enough to strangle any contemptuous feelings.

During the time the Night’s Edge team had been following along, whether working or not, expenses were settled daily, and meals were provided in unlimited quantities by the other side. Such generous conditions had never been experienced before.

The old comrades in the team had visibly grown a size rounder.

This filled Doyle with anxious unease.

After all, there was a saying in mercenary circles: if gold coins could be earned without effort, then blood would probably be required.

With Blood Fortress clearly unwinnable, this lord's insistence on staying here and not leaving made Doyle's uneasy feelings deepen day by day.

So far, this lord's actions all indicated that he still hadn't given up the idea of exploring Blood Fortress. Daily, Vast Sea Territory's troops would take turns entering the outskirts of Blood Fortress, clearing the ruins section by section back and forth.

After disposing of ruin guards, those territorial soldiers would repeatedly search and remove all metal debris, even specially arranging transport personnel to carry out wall fragments and building rubble entirely, assigning cleaning personnel to sweep the ground sand inch by inch like combing hair.

When the cleanup team came out, the treated ground was as clean as if it had been licked, cleaner than the plaza of the Emerald Court.

His robe wouldn't even pick up a few dust particles after dragging across it once.

But this couldn't continue forever! At this efficiency, Doyle felt he wouldn't see Blood Fortress's inner city before dying of old age. And this lord couldn't possibly squander life like this, could he?

What were they preparing? Summoning evil gods? New blood sacrifice?

With each passing day, Doyle felt he had lived one more day, anxiously awaiting the bolt from the blue that could come at any moment.

Until this day at month's end.

The centaur captain most trusted by the lord rushed in like a gust of wind, chattering away in a language Doyle couldn't understand at all.

The young lord's expression suddenly darkened, as if a dark cloud had suddenly covered the sky overhead.

Doyle's heart sank.

When Lord Chen Mo turned to inform him that orcs had arrived, Doyle's ominous premonition finally heard the other shoe drop.

Better than blood sacrifice to evil gods, but finally, the time to shed blood had come.

Chen Mo was extremely, extremely displeased.

From the beginning, based on his deep understanding of the surrounding situation, Chen Mo had been mentally prepared for orc interference.

After all, those guys were all bloodhounds, wherever there was meat, they'd come sniffing around.

More importantly, Blood Fortress held a special position. Over hundreds of years, orcs had repeatedly battered themselves bloody beneath this city. If not for human infighting, Blood Fortress might still be an unconquered city.

How could orcs forget the mountain of ancestral orc bones piled beneath this city.

For a long time past, the main reason Blood Fortress received little attention from major powers was precisely because orcs wouldn't allow another fortified city, another strong fortress to appear here.

Any force lingering in the Blood Fortress area would immediately trigger orc vigilance, without exception.

So Chen Mo had made many preparatory arrangements.

Before formally setting out for Blood Fortress, he had posted a "Blood Fortress Exploration" mission at nearby mercenary guilds, indirectly revealing his intentions.

At the same time, timing it carefully, he had sent letters via swift owl to Seven-Radiance Garland Trading Company, expressing his intention to practice first with Blood Fortress.

He asked this trading company, which had long-term dealings with orcs, to report his side's actions to the orcs and convey Vast Sea Territory's "respect" for orcs, avoiding unnecessary misunderstandings.

According to estimates by experienced old sand people in the territory, when orc scouts discovered their group's movements and reported to the orc great tent, the orcs would have already received Seven-Radiance Garland's information, perfectly completing an orderly coordination.

Seven-Radiance Garland soon replied confidently that they had thoroughly communicated with orc tribes and gained full understanding.

"That damned dwarf trading company, not one true word from their mouths!"

Regardless, the orc tribe had ultimately come, and what came was a formidable elite force, a heavy wolf cavalry brigade.

According to front-line sand people reports, their numbers wouldn't be fewer than three hundred.

Just as Chen Mo's side finished assembling and troops entered positions, the orc army had already climbed to the top of that gentle slope to the northwest, sending out two cavalry riders whose mount wolves strode directly toward the human battle lines.

These were envoys, coming to deliver a message.

From one perspective, Seven-Radiance Garland really had delivered the message, so the orc scouts' message wasn't about fighting, but since someone was active at Blood Fortress, they had to come "supervise" the situation.

They demanded humans lower their defenses and accept orc inspection.

Orcs were just that direct.

Chen Mo nearly laughed in anger.

Letting orc cavalry enter his own battle lines for inspection, what kind of enormous heart would it take to do such a thing?

"Negotiate once more. This is an uncontrolled zone at the desert's edge. Currently, my army has formed battle lines, which by convention should be considered temporary territory. Any enemy daring to cross my army's positions will be regarded as an act of war against my territory!"

Vast Sea Territory's troops quickly assembled, entering positions in sequence. Doyle also dragged out the trembling Night’s Edge mercenary group members, gathering them at the front.

They were already familiar with this lord's style.

Gentle and refined, extremely opinionated, since he had arranged this stance, a fierce battle was surely unavoidable.

However, Doyle still offered Chen Mo a suggestion: "Orc wolves can't run fast in the desert. If... if the situation goes wrong, we'll try to hold back the orcs while you find a fast camel beast and head deep into the desert, you might be able to escape."

Chen Mo nodded, "Much appreciated!"

"It just so happens that during this idle time, these beasts are willing to come practice with me, that's also a good thing!"

Orc scouts drove their mounts back and forth, finally proposing conditions one last time.

Allow orc cavalry inspection, or provide sufficient military funds, orc cavalry had come from afar and couldn't come for nothing, as there were costs involved.

Chen Mo ignored Doyle's earnest, hopeful gaze that practically begged to contribute some money himself, and coldly spat out his refusal.

Negotiations completely broke down!

Woooo, !

A deep horn sound rang out on the hillside.

In the orc wolf cavalry formation, a fierce blood-colored wolf fang battle flag suddenly rose, fluttering fiercely in the dry wind, that was the symbol of the "Fang Tribe"!

This powerful tribe occupied the most fertile grasslands in the north, famous for its massive wolf cavalry.

In raids and plundering of human territories, "Fang" had always been the vanguard and absolute main force of the beast clan. It was precisely their habitual contempt for human pioneers that filled them with inevitable arrogance for this "disciplinary" expedition.

Having rushed across hundreds of miles, they would either extort sufficient wealth or plunder enough slaves back, how could the orc wolf pack return empty-handed after mobilizing?

The blood-colored wolf fang banner pointed downward at an angle, and orc cavalry began their charge.

On Vast Sea Territory's side, Liu Zaiyue had somehow brought out the lord's exclusive chair, placing it steadily on high ground with a good view, allowing Chen Mo to observe the entire battlefield relatively comfortably.

At this moment, orcs occupied the high ground to the northwest, racing down the gentle slope while continuously accelerating.

They left sixty-odd cavalry holding the line while the other two hundred-plus heavily armored, massive wolves carried equally imposing orc warriors, like a bursting flood pouring down from the dune's peak.

The dust kicked up resembled a yellow dragon racing along the ground, charging furiously toward human positions!

The charging momentum shook the earth and mountains.

The human position was on small high ground to the southeast. Near the top of this slope, Vast Sea Territory's guards had dug two curved, winding trenches running front to back, with multiple longitudinal communication trenches between them.

In front of the trenches were properly stacked sandbag emplacements.

A hundred meters behind the human position, on another small hill, the Night’s Edge mercenary group had arranged a standard heavy infantry anti-cavalry charge formation.

Front-row soldiers had driven massive tower shields deep into the sand, with three-meter-plus rejection spears protruding from slots atop the shields.

The spear shafts were braced against the ground, with second-row spearmen using their feet to firmly pin down the spear butts while pushing down on the spear bodies with both hands.

Behind them were reserve spearmen and crossbow troops.

Their faces were pale as they murmured prayers.

As mercenary group commander, Geddy nervously adjusted the formation back and forth, trying to make the formation even more compact.

This experienced veteran had already written off the Vast Sea Territory guards in front as dead men.

He didn't know why those lord's warriors in front dug such narrow horse traps, so narrow that enemy wolf cavalry could leap across with one bound, nor why soldiers would still hide in those tunnels, waiting for enemy heavy weapons to pour down on their heads.

He could only pin all hopes on his own people's resistance, hoping that lord behind them would collapse early and flee early.

That way his Night’s Edge could also scatter into the desert early, perhaps saving a few more lives.

In any case, among the three warring factions, orcs didn't take this battle seriously at all, over three hundred wolf cavalry with six squad leaders could easily crush the opposition.

Vast Sea Territory's troops also didn't take this battle seriously, with two machine guns, more than ten assault rifles, ten grenade launchers, hundreds of hand grenades on position, plus the dual-purpose machine guns from the last shipment all mounted here, if the enemy managed to charge through, Kaga felt he could commit suicide directly.

The lord took it even less seriously, skeleton troops were defending the second trench line, ready for collective self-destruction to blast the enemy to bits.

Only the Night’s Edge mercenary group caught in the middle trembled with fear, faces bloodless!

Then, at a certain instant, orcs crossed that line drawn on the ground that Vast Sea warriors had repeatedly emphasized as the "forbidden line."

It was also the optimal range line for the position's main firepower.

"Open fire!!!" Kaga's roar transmitted through communicators across the position.

Boom! Rat-a-tat-tat-tat, !

The violent metal storm erupted for the first time on this barren land with dense roaring.

The fire suppression came from those two heavy machine guns! Since exploration began, they had been mounted on shooting positions in the outer trenches, covered with thick dust cloths, not firing a single bullet, lying dormant and waiting to explode.

Their crisp shooting sounds filled the battlefield, thick tongues of flame like two furious poisonous dragons spewing from dark gun barrels!

Previously forced to conserve ammunition with only burst fire, gunners finally had the chance to squeeze triggers to their heart's content. Cold ammunition belts were devoured by steel monsters, rattling as they fed into gun breeches, while hot shell casings shot out from ejection ports like sudden rain, clattering and bouncing across the sandy ground!

The crisp, dense bursts of assault rifles, the dull "thump! thump!" of grenade launchers, the continuous thunderous explosions of hand grenades... merged into a symphony of destruction!

Heavy armor was fragile as paper before specially-made armor-piercing rounds! The dull sounds of bullets tearing through armor, penetrating flesh, and shattering bone instantly drowned out the violent war cries of the orc clan!

The massive bodies of wolves and their riders were like being struck hard by invisible giant hammers, stopped headlong during high-speed charges, then tumbling into sand and dust! Scalding blood and shattered internal organs mixed with metal fragments, splashing open patches of red mist in the scorching air!

In their first engagement, Vast Sea Territory used full force.

This was a confrontation between organized Blue Star hot weapon clusters and Starry Continent large-scale heavy cavalry.

The outcome of this confrontation was predetermined from the start.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

NEC Chapter 124: Each Bullet Births an Enemy

Lord Chen Mo's graceful demeanor of pointing out the country's affairs and commanding with vigorous spirit vanished without a trace like mist scattered by a fierce wind when the dawn's first light appeared the next morning.

He was even somewhat flustered and exasperated!

Although the exploration team had only fought one battle, adhering to the rigorous and meticulous traditions inherited from East Xia, the assault team had continuously deployed a large number of concealed surveillance equipment along their advance route.

On top of walls, in stone crevices, even within armor remnants, tiny cameras were scattered like stars.

Their mission was to allow Vast Sea Territory to observe changes within the fortress during non-combat periods, summarize patterns, and prepare for the next attack.

Then, the personnel responsible for monitoring discovered a bone-chilling sight.

It was footage recorded and transmitted by night vision cameras.

At some point during the deep night, a wave of dense black mist, rippling like water, emanated from the depths of Blood Fortress in concentric circles.

This black mist gently stirred the dust, swayed the sand grains, and also moved the broken armor pieces on the battlefield.

In the command center, the high-ranking military officers of Vast Sea Territory held their breath and watched with wide eyes as the huge screen displayed the scattered remnants of ruin guards from yesterday's battle, their armor debris covering the ground, swaying slightly under the black mist's influence.

The amplitude grew larger and larger, as if awakening some form of life, until at a certain moment, under the pull of some invisible force, a figure swayed unsteadily to its feet.

Without flesh and blood, only cold twisted metal and shadows, a brand new ruin guard had thus declared its birth before the camera's lens!

One after another... on the battlefield that had been swept clean yesterday by the Vast Sea Guards like a devastating storm, those scattered components writhed and spawned countless ruin guards, filling the gaps in the ruined walls.

It was simply a merciless mockery of Vast Sea Territory's victory from the day before.

This wasn't the end. Right under a camera's nose, a metal artillery shell casing that hadn't been retrieved in time gradually became tainted with a heavy black color in the black mist.

After a much longer "gestation" period than the armor fragments, in the dead silence of deep night, this shell casing also slowly "came to life"!

It twisted, stretched, and finally manifested as a new guardian with a bizarre form and staggering gait, swaying as it joined the ranks of Blood Fortress.

"Additionally, according to our cross-observations, our cameras... our cameras have also been infected."

"By 8 AM, all cameras within a one-kilometer radius from the second ring inward had lost contact!"

"This is... this is the scene recorded by our outer perimeter cameras."

A camera embedded in a stone crevice, under the high-magnification night vision mode of monitoring personnel in the rear, had its sturdy engineering plastic outer shell rapidly curl and peel away as if corroded by strong acid, exposing the cold metal skeleton inside.

Then, like all the metal objects before it, it turned black, swayed, extended "arms," and slowly climbed down from the wall.

After a brief signal interruption, there was a large black screen.

The video surveillance team spread numerous captured photos across the big screen.

Besides yesterday's ruin guards that clearly showed cold weapon characteristics, embedded with armor pieces or swords, the photos showed many new varieties.

Some had drone rotors on their heads, like wearing a "head propeller";

Some had twisted shell casings protruding from the sides of their entire heads;

Some had fragments of disconnected cameras embedded in their chest cavities, their cold "electronic eyes" swaying with their body movements as if still scanning back and forth;

There was even a guardian with a piece of wood that everyone found extremely familiar protruding from its shoulder blade!

It was the wooden handle grip that Vast Sea Territory had added to hand grenades.

"So you're saying all our battle achievements from yesterday were wiped out?"

"I'm afraid... it's not just wiped out, my Lord." The reconnaissance team leader swallowed hard and replied, "Although we tried our best to recover shell casings, it was an active battlefield after all, so there were bound to be omissions."

"And the crossbow bolts from the cold weapon group, most of them weren't specifically recovered..."

Another veteran from Vast Sea Territory added, "From their movement patterns, these newly born ruin guards might be somewhat weaker than the previous ones, but their numbers have definitely increased significantly."

Chen Mo held his head with some distress.

"What is this? Each bullet births an enemy?"

Indeed, this bizarre magical world really wasn't so simple!

For some unknown reason, an absurd yet infinitely terrifying scene spontaneously appeared in his mind.

On a vast open space stretching beyond sight, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of abandoned shared bicycles were densely piled up, yellow ones, blue ones, green ones... rusted and corroded, forming a boundless "bicycle graveyard" emanating a decaying stench.

Then, waves of black mist swept over, climbing onto every frame, every wheel hub...

Chen Mo couldn't help but shudder, every hair on his body standing on end.

The conference room was silent as death. After a long while, Chen Mo finally managed to shake those chaotic thoughts from his mind and instructed the guards to invite the people from Night’s Edge over.

When the several regiment commanders of the Night’s Edge mercenary group heard this incredible bad news, they too looked utterly despairing.

After yesterday's bloody battle, they had already seen hope for completing their mission. This wasn't just about money, it meant enormous reputation and honor.

If they could add this battle achievement to their record, their credibility and bargaining power when taking on future missions would certainly be much stronger.

Yet they had ended up with such a result but they dared not speak carelessly.

"Respected Lord, I know of this mechanism, it's called elemental manifestation."

The speaker was Geddy, vice-captain of Night’s Edge. This veteran pressed his eyes against the photos on the screen, examining them repeatedly, and explained in a somewhat reverent tone:

"Many powerful ruins have their unique elemental manifestation mechanisms. As long as these elements exist within the ruins, they can manifest various types of spirits."

"For example, Greenspine Kingdom has a tome-manifesting ruin where any books thrown into it will, after some time, transform into terrible monsters that constantly ask questions from the books' contents."

"Those who cannot answer will be attacked by them."

"The Silver Alliance even actively built a gold-manifesting lair."

"As long as gold is thrown in, it will manifest golden humanoid spirits. It has become a famous lair that all professionals passing through the Silver Kingdom must visit!"

At this point, Geddy took a deep breath and bowed deeply to Chen Mo, nearly at a ninety-degree angle.

He had already heard about yesterday's ruin exploration, where Vast Sea Territory's exploration team actively asked the Night’s Edge mercenaries to fall back.

Though deeply moved, he had suspected at the time that this lord was powerful and felt victory was assured, so he was willing to show some care for these mercenaries.

But if this lord discovered that clearing Blood Fortress had become a pipe dream, would he become angry from embarrassment, or to save on mercenary fees, forcibly order Night’s Edge to attack and fill this bottomless abyss?

Geddy didn't know, so he could only plead in advance.

"Previously, people had speculated that Blood Fortress's element was blood manifestation, because mercenary groups had discovered that companions who died inside were infected and transformed into ruin guards."

"Now it appears it's likely dual-element manifestation, 'iron-blood' manifestation!"

"If that's the case, we... we currently have no hope of breaching the fortress. My Lord, perhaps we should retreat early!"

Doyle also stood up. Yesterday during the final phase, this necromancer had summoned large numbers of underworld creatures to draw fire, which seemed to have overloaded him, and his face was still somewhat pale even now.

"We, our mercenary group, are very ashamed that we cannot complete the task you assigned, and we're too embarrassed to accept your payment. I'll go get it right now to return to you!"

His face twitched, then he added with difficulty, "Also, there's a little extra token of our appreciation, please accept it."

"You're overthinking it!" Chen Mo suddenly waved his hand, his gesture carrying an unquestionable decisiveness. "Whether we can take Blood Fortress or not has nothing to do with you, and the payment is what you've earned."

"I'm not such a petty person."

"Rest assured, I won't send you to your deaths. Tell me, can you think of any useful solutions?"

The solution was actually obvious.

Since this elemental manifestation occurred during specific time periods, they could concentrate forces and push through to the end, flattening the entire Blood Fortress before the elemental manifestation time arrived.

Even if they couldn't finish the job, they could arrange personnel to withdraw all metal objects and fallen personnel, giving the fortress no opportunity to replenish its guardians.

But the difficulty of this was somewhat absurd.

Chen Mo made a quick calculation. Based on yesterday's intensity of consumption, his ammunition would be completely depleted after at most three such battles.

Even if he completely disregarded damage to firearms and gun barrels and focused solely on replenishing ammunition, using the next or even the one after that Sacrificial Altar entirely to transport ammunition from East Xia, facing this steel fortress that had accumulated for over a hundred years and god knows how many guardians hidden in its depths, it probably still wouldn't be enough.

Moreover, more powerful ruin guards must be lurking in the fortress's depths.

Did he really have to retreat in disgrace and train for another year or so, raising his level a bit higher and increasing the altar's transport capacity before making a comeback?

"Let's adjourn for now, let me think about it!"

During this idle time when the lord was troubled and tossing and turning, Doyle became the lord's temporary magical advisor, responsible for answering the lord's bizarre yet only entry-level necromantic summoning questions.

For example, today's question about the distinction between summoners and necromancers.

"I've always been puzzled. From professional classification and etymology, 'summoner' on the Starry Continent originally meant 'interdimensional summoner.' Why did it later become almost equivalent to 'necromantic summoner' or 'necromancer'?"

Doyle followed closely behind the lord, his wide gray robe's hem trailing like a clumsy tail on the uneven ground, stirring up dust clouds.

His robe could be tied up, but he didn't know how.

Usually, there were plenty of people serving the regiment commander, support troops in the group, and Dark Knights at home.

Yes, intelligent Dark Knights could also do housework.

But now, because Chen Mo had gotten up early and called hastily, the mercenaries and undead creatures who usually assisted were all kept at a distant isolation line.

Vast Sea Territory's guards wouldn't let these fellows approach the lord, especially dangerous weapons like Dark Knights.

These Night’s Edge members could only watch from afar as their fourth-tier grand mage regiment commander, like a large broom, followed behind that young lord who was said to be first-tier but wore no first-tier insignia, slightly bent over and following step by step.

"Lord, summoners and the medium through which summoners communicate with otherworldly lords, summoning altars, were not originally specifically targeted at the undead."

"In the glorious era of antiquity, summoners could summon all kinds of creatures, even entire tribes from other worlds."

"For instance, the blood clan in history was summoned as a whole from another world."

"But at the twilight of the ancient era, a great event occurred, the deity worshipped by the summoner clan fell!"

"Ah?" Chen Mo turned around abruptly, somewhat surprised.

"Is this credible? Can deities fall? What was the reason?"

"Yes!" Doyle nodded. His robe got caught on a weathered rock again, causing him to stumble before steadying himself, but his words didn't stop. "We don't know the reason for the fall, mortals cannot glimpse affairs of the divine realm."

"However, our summoning lineage has traditions. Though many things aren't found in public historical records, they've been passed down through generations. I believe it's truly real!"

Chen Mo became interested and, unable to bear watching Doyle's awkwardness any longer, beckoned him to sit on a large stone nearby, finally sparing the mercenary commander from his dragging embarrassment. "Continue!"

Doyle said, "Before the ancient era, interdimensional summoning had divine protection, and living beings could safely pass through summoning altars shrouded in divine power without being affected."

"But after the summoning deity fell, summoning channels could only be maintained by the summoners' own magical power. Most living beings simply couldn't withstand the forces of crossing space, what was summoned would only be a corpse."

"From then on, lords of life from distant worlds no longer responded to summoners' prayers."

"This was the first decline of summoners!"

At this point, Doyle smiled helplessly. "Summoners used to have high status. My teacher heard from his teacher's teacher's teacher that summoners who could communicate with hell and summon succubi were honored guests at various lords' tables!"

"Unfortunately, we weren't born in that era!"

After a brief moment of nostalgia, Doyle put away the longing in his eyes.

"From then on, except for a very few who could advance to the pinnacle as grand summoners, other summoners could only summon undead creatures, elemental beings, and... non-living things!"

Lord Chen nodded. At least logically, this explanation was quite clear.

"Right, you mentioned the first decline, so there must have been a second."

"Mm, the second was called the Elemental Catastrophe."

"It was around the 300s of the Sky Calendar. The Sky Empire still dominated most of the Starry Continent then, and there was an ambitious emperor who wanted to build what he claimed would be an unparalleled super elemental pool in the Sky's imperial city."

"He used numerous magical arrays as support, arranging for summoners to mass-summon elemental creatures from other worlds, including many commander-level elemental beings."

"After summoning them, they immediately killed them and filled the corpses of the elemental creatures into elemental pools within the Sky's arrays."

"Eventually, the elemental lords discovered what was happening."

Doyle laughed self-mockingly. "Actually, given enough time, such things would inevitably be discovered. They were blinded by greed and lost their minds!"

"They thought that after summoning, with summoning contracts in place, they could trample on summoned beings like slaves."

"But high-tier summoned creatures all have intelligence, even emotions. How could they tolerate such things!"

"Several enraged elemental lords joined forces and, following the summoners' summoning channels, injected large numbers of chaotic elemental creatures that carried out frenzied slaughter in the Sky's imperial city."

"After the Elemental Catastrophe, elemental creatures never again responded to Starry Continent summoners' calls. Summoners became completely necromantic summoners."

"The Sky... the Sky Empire also began its decline from that time, having lost too many top-tier professionals, and has been falling ever since."

"The Sky Empire, which once shared glory across the continent with summoners, shared the same fate as summoners, retreating again and again, losing battle after battle, watching helplessly as the Resting Moon Dynasty and Mistmoon Divine Court became the continent's new overlords."

This was truly... heartbreaking.

Chen Mo felt quite distressed. If he could return to before the summoning deity's fall, he could summon tens of thousands of elite troops from home with a wave of his hand. Why would he be stumbling around like this...

Oh right, I didn't exist then!

And it seems the home team couldn't have won back then either... never mind then.

He could only continue working hard himself.

"So only necromancers who reach very high levels can summon living beings, right?"

"What specific level would that be?"

Doyle shook his head helplessly. "I really don't know. Although necromancers on this continent aren't considered extinct, they're no longer mainstream."

"During the Elemental Catastrophe, the continent's top-tier necromancers were almost all killed by chaotic elements. Much knowledge about necromancers can only be explored by ourselves."

He paused, looking at the young and promising lord before him, his tone carrying a hint of flattery. "I only know... first transformation should not be enough. At least second transformation is needed to have some hope!"

"However, the lord is still so young and exceptionally talented. You need only pay attention to your health, and second transformation will be effortless. By then, I'll have to call the lord a great senior and ask for your guidance!"

Although Chen Mo knew Doyle was flattering him, at this moment, being stuck by Blood Fortress in an awkward position, hearing that at some future time he might possibly invite comrades from home to help, even knowing the goal was still distant, he couldn't help but feel somewhat relieved.

He also developed goodwill toward Doyle, who answered all questions without reservation.

Gazing at the vast desert, Chen Mo rubbed his somewhat stiff shoulders and casually joked with Doyle.

"Mm, health, of course I need to stay healthy. I'm carrying the hopes of a country... a territory on my shoulders!"

"If my posture weren't upright, I'd probably be compressed into cervical deformation and herniated discs by now."

"There's no MRI or CT scan here to check!"

Doyle smiled along, saying auspicious words about the lord's wisdom, prowess, and eternal health. Finally, he asked curiously, "So... is nuclear magnetic some new type of magic?"

"Oh, that's a device for examining the body. You can scan and know what problems are inside the body."

Doyle frowned slightly. "Isn't that an embedded detection eye? Using spiritual energy to scan inside the body, the body can't handle that, right?"

"What can't the body handle? As long as you're not wearing metal, that thing isn't dangerous..."

"?"

"Nuclear magnetic? Metal?"

Chen Mo stopped walking and turned to look at the mist-shrouded Blood Fortress behind him.

An extremely bold idea, like lightning splitting the night sky, thundered through his mind!

So it's iron-blood manifestation, relying on metal, is it?

How about a permanent magnet with hundreds of thousands of times Earth's magnetic attraction, wonder if you can withstand that?

[NEXT CHAPTER]

NEC Chapter 123: Ruin Exploration, Firepower Clears the Way

What exactly were ruin guards? Even Chen Mo, praised by Vast Sea Territory's people as all-knowing, couldn't explain it clearly.

According to the Magic Academy, this was called a "manifested spirit."

Ominous things formed by ruin cores that had condensed through some special mechanism, driving regional spiritual energy to coalesce in the magical black mist that had accumulated on ancient battlefields.

It was said these had no relation to the original soldiers, being merely aggregations of energy.

However, since mercenaries' and summoned creatures' swords could deal with them, it meant physical attacks were effective.

For Vast Sea Territory's forces, it was just a matter of a few more bullets.

"Bang! Bang! Bang, !"

Deafening gunfire echoed through Blood Fortress's ruins, shattering the century-old silence.

"Prepare to engage! Maintain positions, watch your crossfire coverage!"

Kaga's roaring voice continuously reverberated among the broken stone walls. As one of the earliest trusted generals to become the lord's confidant, Kaga had learned East Xia's tactical requirements most thoroughly and mastered them most completely.

What the assault team was deploying now was a standard comprehensive enemy-seeking formation, ready to engage at any moment.

Three columns front-left-right, each team with twelve combat members, arranged from position one to position twelve.

Since firearms were still relatively scarce, each squad's standard equipment included three assault rifles, two grenade launchers, various hand grenades, with the rest using cold weapons.

The middle and rear ranks mostly carried long-range crossbows, while the front ranks had swords, spears, and shields as support.

Walking at the very front was position one, wielding a long sword in one hand and a large shield in the other, responsible for pathfinding while observing the ground nearby, ready to alert teammates to suspicious pits, traps, and mechanisms.

Position two was a tall, sturdy centaur carrying a high-powered searchlight on his shoulder, armed with an assault rifle, also watching the front but responsible for observing the distance ahead, forming a staggered pairing with position one.

Those watching far weren't allowed to look near, and those watching near weren't allowed to look far.

According to tactical doctrine, the centaur in position two was forbidden from looking at the ground, so he could only hold his rifle in his right hand while his left hand rested on position one's shoulder, being led forward by position one.

Position three was responsible for watching the front-side sky.

Position four covered left-front, position five right-front, position six left-rear, position seven right-rear, position eight directly behind, position nine rear-side sky.

Position ten was responsible for observing the overhead drone footage, position eleven was command, and position twelve was the substitute.

Although theoretically, since several teams were advancing abreast, one side would necessarily be friendly forces requiring no vigilance, Kaga still arranged the formation according to the most rigid tactical doctrine.

No battlefield flexibility whatsoever, just following the strictest methods.

For these green recruits, fighting the way they trained was the greatest protection for them.

This fortress was said to have been razed by orcs, but clearly the orcs had done a rough job. Half-standing low walls, giant stones, and building debris several people tall were everywhere.

From time to time, one or two ruin guards would come roaring out of the shadows.

The warrior in the corresponding position would give a warning, "Enemy contact left-front!" raise his assault rifle for several bursts, and dispatch the charging enemy.

If enemy numbers were large and the squad leader issued an engagement order, then the entire squad's close-combat cold weapons would continue maintaining vigilance while all other firearms and long-range crossbows would turn to concentrate fire on the attack.

This tactical system had been drilled countless times. Initially, the team's movements were somewhat rigid. Whenever engagement orders came, there were always some warriors who shouldn't turn their heads panicking and looking back, losing their assigned watch positions.

The commanding squad leader would sternly rebuke, "Watch your position!" using punches and kicks to maintain the overall formation.

Soon, after just one or two brief engagements, the team's proficiency rapidly improved, gradually executing methodical offensive and defensive operations.

The "Night’s Edge" mercenary group members, ordered to drag behind the team and follow step by step, had completely freed themselves from their earlier panic and were quietly communicating among themselves.

"What are they carrying? Dwarven firearms?"

"Doesn't look like it. Dwarven firearms need reloading after each shot, but theirs seem to have unlimited ammunition. Must be magical items!"

"No magical fluctuations. Our captain is a mage, wouldn't he know?"

"Too terrifying. Not a single first-class professional among them, yet I feel they're more frightening than the duchy's imperial guards!"

"Captain, looking at this, can they really break through the second layer?"

Doyle shook his head, "Difficult!"

Walking quickly a few steps to approach the central main position of Vast Sea Territory's forces, Doyle issued a warning to Kaga.

"Captain, there will be intermediate-level ruin guards ahead. They often move in groups and are very dangerous. Please be extremely careful!"

Actually, without Doyle's reminder, Kaga had already sensed the different atmosphere.

The first forward reconnaissance drone's signal suddenly disappeared, not even knowing what had shot it down. Kaga had to order the drones above the battle line to advance while continuing to launch backup aircraft.

The rear-positioned drone's lens clearly recorded this scene.

The forward drone dragging a searchlight cast a bright yellow circle of light. Where the lens swept, behind that broken, tattered wall were ruin guards in groups of three to five, seven to eight, densely packed together.

A disturbed ruin guard raised its head, and red light could be faintly seen flashing under its rust-covered helmet. Then an arrow shot out from somewhere unknown, instantly shattering the forward drone into pieces.

Clearly, this was a main defensive line of the ruin guards.

Kaga pressed his communicator.

"All units, halt advance. Grenade launchers in position, prepare for bombardment!"

The Vast Sea pioneering squad concentrated ten grenade launchers at once. With the command "Fire!" the whistling high-explosive grenades exploded in brilliant flashes of fire among the ruin guard clusters, instantly illuminating this black mist-shrouded area bright as daylight.

After continuously washing the area with grenades for six rounds, the exploration force began true close combat.

The enemy density was too high. Although most clusters had been scattered by explosions, from behind those broken low walls, ruin guards wielding damaged spears, wearing shattered armor, or even bare-handed, kept charging forward endlessly.

Gunfire completely merged into an impenetrable web of death. The assault formation quickly contracted into a solid semicircular fish-scale array.

Shields positioned at the very front defended against enemy ranged attacks. Spears thrust out from behind shields like venomous snakes in neat, orderly fashion, while broadswords flashed with cold light as they slashed and chopped.

Hand grenades continuously flew out from the middle and rear ranks, with explosions echoing throughout the ruins.

Wave after wave of enemies were killed, turning into scattered rusted armor pieces on the ground.

In this fierce battle, two figures were particularly eye-catching.

One was the Dark Knight summoned by Doyle.

This fellow wasn't particularly imposing in stature, appearing even smaller than ordinary warriors, covered entirely in jet-black bone armor with flowing dark light, with two jumping points of cold light in his eye sockets.

High-tier undead creatures possessed intelligence. Doyle's Dark Knight had accompanied him for over ten years and had incredibly rich combat experience.

Even though Doyle could now summon Death Knights, he still regarded this Dark Knight as his core and ace.

This Dark Knight was like a dancer on knife edges, each strike cutting in at exactly the right moment, cleanly and efficiently severing ruin guards' heads with precision, efficiency, and ruthlessness.

Seeming unwilling to waste even a bit of strength, as the Dark Knight drifted through enemy formations, he left behind a ground littered with guard corpses.

The other conspicuous figure was Liu Zaiyue.

Unlike the Dark Knight's light elegance, this guy's fighting style could be called earth-shaking.

Simple Bull was holding a staff... no, it couldn't be called a staff anymore, it should be called a pillar, fully three meters long with a diameter approaching twenty centimeters.

This thing was an imitation of a beastman totem pole, beloved by those powerful-type beast warrior, a standard heavy blunt striking weapon. Although made from the cheapest gray cast iron, its overall weight still exceeded seven hundred kilograms.

After Chen Mo commissioned Seven-Radiance Garland Trading Company to buy it from orc tribes, Liu Zaiyue couldn't walk away when he saw this thing, even sleeping while hugging it. As for its effectiveness...

How to put it, getting knocked by this thing would not only imprint the totem pole's patterns on your face, but might even carve them into your bones.

The totem pole had several gripping rings nested front and back. Simple Bull wielded this thing with tremendous force, specifically drilling into areas where enemies were densely packed.

Seeing masses of enemy squads, Simple Bull relied on his thick armor and tough hide to charge straight in, following with War Trample for control, then grabbing the pillar and spinning in place.

Ruin guards touched by that giant pillar were either torn to pieces or smashed directly into the ground, ending these local battles.

Kaga led the core mobile group, wielding a long sword in one hand and an assault rifle in the other, moving at high speed through ruins and rubble, specifically targeting enemy ranged attackers. Once discovering arrows flying from somewhere, he'd immediately respond with a burst of bullets, making those ruin guards wielding longbows and crossbows, just emerging from the black mist, shake violently all over.

On the field were also four "Bedrock" combat robots carried by skeletons, their rotating radar towers and compound-eye sensor arrays slowly turning, with cold red dots precisely marking every energy reaction source in the black mist.

With vision spanning the entire field, they used heavy sniper rifles to pick off those ruin guards with relatively intact armor, especially those wearing helmets, which were typical characteristics of intermediate-level guards and above.

Although the "Night’s Edge" mercenaries were also fighting, in this battlefield environment, they could only handle cleanup work and deal with scraps.

Those ruin guards from past memories, once fierce and unstoppable, were like clay chickens and pottery dogs before such an organized force.

Doyle, recovering from his shock and confirming he no longer needed to conserve strength to protect his teammates, immediately fully displayed his specialty as a great undead summoner.

He summoned an entire squad of thick-skinned zombies from the void. These creatures had skin of an eerie dark blue color, like over-tanned leather, with thick liquid seeping from stitched areas, emitting a strong rotting smell.

The zombies stood like a wall at the very front, attracting most of the ruin guards' ranged fire.

The greatest advantage of undead creatures was that as long as the soul fire in their skulls remained unextinguished, even if shot full of arrows like pincushions, they could still stubbornly fulfill their meat shield duties.

However, this exhilarating offensive ultimately ended with the pioneering force's withdrawal.

The deeper they went, the more building ruins surrounded them, and the permeating black mist became increasingly viscous.

The density of ruin guards increased exponentially. Kaga even deployed 84mm recoilless cannons.

Whistling shells swept through, repeatedly blasting ruin guards to scattered pieces, but it was useless. There were always endless ruin guards surging forward.

The troops began frequently sustaining casualties, keeping the first aid teams and stretchers busy.

At this distance, higher-level ruin guards also began appearing.

This tall guard immediately attracted the alert group's attention upon appearing, prompting urgent warnings.

This fellow's armor was no longer rusted, broken pieces patched together, but relatively complete full-body armor gleaming with dim luster.

The humanoid guard's joint connections were covered with chainmail, the helmet's face mask was down, leaving only two deep slits from which flickering red light danced.

It dragged a two-handed great sword, charging toward the exploration team at extreme speed. Multiple assault rifles' firepower instantly concentrated on it, bullets continuously striking the heavy plate armor, producing dense explosive sounds like heavy rain hitting a tin roof, sparks flying!

However, this high-tier guard only swayed slightly, its charging speed barely slowing! Its breastplate clearly showed only a mass of dense dents and scratches.

"Roar, !"

Accompanied by a strange bellow, the great sword became a terrifying arc of light slashing down!

With just one sword strike, the thick-skinned zombie that had been holding the front line for over half an hour, riddled with various ranged crossbow bolts, was dismantled into scattered meat scraps.

If not for Doyle's Dark Knight arriving at the critical moment to the key position, using a series of exquisite blocks, dodges, and feint attacks to forcibly divert this giant monster's path.

Otherwise, once it crashed into the fragile center of the battle line...

The consequences would be unthinkable!

Finally, this big guy among the guards welcomed shoulder-fired missile baptism.

A massive fireball shot skyward, violent shockwaves sweeping in all directions.

The previously seemingly indestructible full-body plate armor was finally torn and twisted, collapsing thunderously in the raging flames, turning into scattered, scalding, smoking wreckage.

Chen Mo, who had been monitoring the scene, decisively called a halt to the troops' continued exploration and ordered withdrawal.

After experiencing roughly seven hours of combat, advancing about three kilometers, expending two basic loads of ammunition, and bringing back over ten lightly and seriously wounded, the first exploration mission was terminated.

Lord Chen displayed considerable magnanimity.

"Isn't this excellent? Our casualty exchange rate was fantastic!"

"As long as we keep fighting like this, no matter how many enemies there are, we can eliminate them all. It's just a matter of time."

"Hurry up and arrange for rest and reorganization. Oh, and expand the field medical center's scale a bit more!"

"Perfect, we'll fight them several more times. Consider it live combat training!"

[NEXT CHAPTER]

NEC Chapter 122: Vast Sea's New Army, First Arrival at the Fortress

Doyle was a fourth-tier undead mage of the Eternal Night level, and also the captain of the "Night’s Edge" mercenary group.

You couldn't tell from the name what connection this mercenary group had with undead mages. After all, for those wealthy merchants and rich families, being associated with undead mages always felt somewhat uncomfortable.

And these very people happened to be the big patrons of mercenary missions. A single escort mission could offer dozens or even hundreds of gold coins, while in comparison, taking missions from various governments was not much different from mining and hard labor.

If you encountered a black-hearted noble, it was equivalent to doing charity work.

Among nobles, there was no shortage of clever people, and even less shortage of bastards.

He had just been cheated by one such bastard. After completing the mission, they hadn't even earned back the team's expenses. If Doyle hadn't used undead creatures to absorb most of the damage, the death compensation alone could have bankrupted the mercenary group.

That's right, nobles could act unconscionably toward mercenary groups, but mercenary groups had to strictly follow the mercenary guild's industry standards.

This was the same principle as how large corporations could act as they pleased while small companies had to obediently follow laws and regulations. It was too easy for them to manipulate you.

Seeing that the team's funding was already struggling, continuing like this would likely make it impossible to maintain the mercenary group's qualification, and they'd be downgraded to a mercenary squad.

Doyle gritted his teeth and accepted the assistance mission for pioneering Blood Fortress.

"Night’s Edge," as a medium-scale mercenary group, had thirty-two members. Besides the fourth-tier captain and vice-captain, there were twelve third-tier professionals. After accepting this mission and carefully calculating the compensation, leaving a small number of personnel to guard the headquarters, "Night’s Edge" departed early and arrived at the Blood Fortress perimeter.

After setting up camp, the members began cautiously clearing the magical energy creatures from the perimeter, at least to leave a good impression for the approaching patron.

Vice-captain Geddy returned covered in sand and dust, looking somewhat worried.

"These magical energy creatures are getting harder and harder to handle!"

"Blood Fortress has stood for over one hundred eighty years. How could a newly arrived pioneering lord possibly attack it? Captain, are you perhaps..."

Doyle looked at this old comrade who had fought alongside him for over ten years, knowing what he was worried about.

Having the nearby Dark Knight summon pour Geddy a cup of water, Doyle patiently explained, "I've thought about this matter for a long time and feel there shouldn't be much of a problem!"

"I've inquired about it. This lord went to that place called Saltwater Flats less than six months ago, and when he went, he only brought a dozen or so mercenaries, none exceeding third tier."

"During this time they've been recruiting people everywhere, but no one wants to go to that godforsaken place, which means the other party has at most twenty or thirty professionals."

"Talking about attacking Blood Fortress and pioneering, I estimate it's just some noble young master having a whim, coming here to play around."

The vice-captain gulped down half a bag of water and wiped the water droplets from his beard, "But what if he forces us to go deeper?"

"It's still the same principle. If the other party has few people and insufficient strength to devour us, then they can't force us to go die. Don't you think so?"

"You know the group's situation. After the last war, several old brothers' injuries still haven't healed, and the duchy's compensation hasn't come down yet. It's all been advanced by the group. If we don't find a big job, we're going to fall apart!"

"Don't worry, I guarantee you, I absolutely won't joke around with the brothers' lives. Once there's danger, I'll terminate the mission and leave immediately!"

Seeing vice-captain Geddy's unwilling yet helpless expression, Doyle patted his broad shoulder, "Alright, alright, I heard that the lord of Saltwater Flats is also an undead mage. Maybe for the sake of the Underworld Lord, he'll take care of us a bit!"

Suddenly, a loud horn sounded from the perimeter.

The sentinel brought news that the other party's advance sand people had made contact with the mercenary group's outposts. The employer's forces had arrived!

"Let's go greet them!"

A few minutes later, standing before the observation post outside Blood Fortress, Doyle brought all the group's mobile personnel to watch as a red flag slowly rose from the distant sand dune peak.

A centaur holding a battle flag paused briefly on the sand dune, then waved the banner left and right.

Soon, the earth seemed to begin trembling slightly, and squad after squad of centaurs rose up from the sand dunes.

These robust and fierce creatures weren't wearing armor, but instead wore jackets with interspersed brown, yellow, and white fragments that created a blurry visual effect when they moved. At this moment, Doyle didn't yet know this was called desert camouflage.

Each centaur carried large bundles on their backs and had pouches hanging from both sides of their bodies. Like angry dragons, they swept down the sandy slopes like a whirlwind, instantly forming a large arc from the front, left, and right directions, surrounding them.

The "Night’s Edge" mercenaries nervously gripped their weapons. Doyle could already hear the muffled sound of his old comrade's arm guards hitting his waist armor.

Fortunately, the centaur troops didn't charge directly at them. The cavalry on the left and right simply bypassed the mercenary group, cutting directly toward the rear camp behind them, while the frontal forces split in two, forming two neat rows in front of the mercenary group.

Next, large numbers of camels began appearing on the sand dunes.

Following East Xia's style of never fighting unprepared battles, Vast Sea Territory had brought a full one hundred sixty camels. The long convoy had started appearing on the sand dunes over ten minutes ago and still hadn't finished passing even after another ten minutes.

However, the lord traveling with the convoy had arrived.

With one guard on each side, the left one was a minotaur warrior nearly three meters tall, the right one was a human Silver Armor Warrior in full heavy armor, and behind them followed sand people and what appeared to be translator attendants. So the one in the middle, who looked ridiculously young, must be that lord.

Doyle bowed down somewhat frantically.

The other party's scale far exceeded his imagination. This... surely they weren't really going to attack Blood Fortress!

The following scenes continuously confirmed his most worrying speculation.

Carefully accompanying this Vast Sea lord back to camp, the centaur troops that had arrived first had already established two defensive lines here.

One curved defensive line faced outward, covering all passages from the Blood Fortress front plaza area to the outside world, while a straight defensive line faced inward, positioned between the "Night’s Edge" tents and the campsite selected by this lord's subordinates.

Centaurs moved back and forth, continuously placing bundles and supplies of various sizes at different points along the defensive lines.

Then Doyle saw skeleton spearmen emerging from the bags dropped by the centaurs.

Doyle rubbed his eyes. That's right, although each joint was fitted with strange protective gear, their form and movement frequency fully proved these were the lowest-grade skeleton spearmen.

They didn't even have bone spears...

These cannon fodder among the underworld's cannon fodder, Doyle couldn't remember how long it had been since he'd seen them.

After the skeletons crawled out, they found tools nearby and began digging holes in the ground, while behind them were first-tier resurrection necromancers holding serpent staves and sporting two large horns, wandering around like supervisors.

First-tier necromancers were also quite rare.

Doyle was now completely certain that this lord was indeed an undead mage, and quite a rookie undead mage at that.

Second-tier resurrection necromancers would have a bat wing unfold on their bone staff and gain an additional skill called "Death Frenzy," which could continuously consume the life force of the living or the soul fire of the dead to dramatically increase the subject's speed and agility, allowing them to achieve "ten strikes per second, each strike severing heads!"

After third tier, the bone staff would unfold into a complete bat wing form and gain the final skill, "Soul Crippling." When successfully cast, it would dramatically reduce the opponent's speed and agility, essentially turning them into a hemiplegic paralysis patient.

The power of resurrection necromancers was more reflected in their latter two skills. Abandoning the future growth of such powerful underworld spellcasting units to bring them out early for summoning skeletons... how to put it, it felt like using a unicorn to turn a millstone.

But regardless of how rookie they were, this was a lord, currently the lord who controlled the life and death of his group.

Being able to accept the Blood Fortress mission, the "Night’s Edge" mercenary group was relatively familiar with this area.

In front of the opened map, Doyle somewhat tremblingly explained to the young lord across from him.

"The magical energy creatures wandering around the fortress perimeter are mostly dark-type magical monsters formed by the manifestation of dead orc remains. Because Blood Fortress doesn't allow them entry, they can only wander around the fortress ruins for long periods."

"These guys aren't difficult to handle. We've already cleared all the monsters in the city front plaza area, so we won't be disturbed by them for a short time."

"Blood Fortress's second layer begins from entering these city wall ruins, the black mist-shrouded outer city. Here are the manifested ruin guards of the tens of thousands of fortress warriors who died in battle back then. In the chaotic magical currents, they generally have the strength of second to third-tier warriors, with individual leaders even reaching fourth-tier level."

"As for the third layer's inner city, no one has touched it, but according to records, that was where the fortress's final battle was most brutal, with at least thousands of first-class professionals from both humans and orcs dying there..."

Doyle stole a glance at Chen Mo's expression, attempting to carefully advise, "Respected Lord, this ruin is extremely dangerous. I think you must be very careful..."

"Good! Your preliminary work is excellent! Very solid!"

Chen Mo stood up and instructed the accompanying translator, "First pay them the preliminary fees according to the contract."

"Next, we're going to start working. Time is tight and the mission is heavy. Everyone get moving!"

Doyle let out a long sigh.

"Geddy, I'll take the Dark Knights and the old brothers inside to accompany them. You... you stay outside with the youngsters!"

"Even if we don't come back, this money will be enough to support you for a while!"

Following the lord's instructions, Vast Sea Territory's troops worked through the night to dig trenches, build fixed fortifications, set up active phased array biological detection radar on the high sand dunes, and deployed sand people sentries at a distance.

The main force rested well, and the next day, they began advancing toward the Blood Fortress ruins.

Entering the black mist area, visibility dropped to less than fifty meters. The mages in Night’s Edge began casting light spells, trying to disperse the heavy gloom as much as possible.

The ground was covered with city wall bricks eroded by wind and sand to the point of being fragmented, cracking into powder with the slightest step.

From time to time there were sounds of weapon clashes, roars, and vague singing, sometimes loud and sometimes soft, floating around everyone's ears like a poorly tuned stereo system, sometimes near and sometimes far!

Suddenly, a shadow burst out of the black mist.

The Dark Knight summon walking at the front precisely struck down with one blow. The ruin guard that hadn't yet managed to touch the Dark Knight was shattered by the violent blade light, dissipating in the wind created by the weapon.

Liu Zaiyue, experiencing this for the first time, shook his head, "Isn't this quite simple?"

"Sir! These things can't be killed completely, and the more armor pieces they wear, the stronger they are. Later on, they'll be everywhere!"

The ruin guard just now had indeed only been wearing a small piece of chest armor, likely an ordinary soldier.

As Doyle had said, the deeper the team went, the more ruin guards kept charging at them, and the stronger they became.

After advancing less than three hundred meters, casualties began appearing in the team. A "Night’s Edge" warrior was surrounded by multiple ruin guards, and when the Dark Knights couldn't provide adequate cover, his waist and abdomen were torn open with a huge gash.

Doyle's lips trembled as he directed the mercenaries to frantically bandage the wound, once again making a request to Vast Sea assault captain Kaga.

"Sir, we can't... can't go any deeper. It's too dangerous inside!"

Kaga didn't even look at him, raising his right arm high, "All units attention, form assault formation, continue advancing!"

Doyle was completely in despair.

Although none of these youngsters here might be able to withstand a single blow from his high-tier Dark Knight, Doyle still didn't dare resist.

There were still brothers outside, family back home. The "Night’s Edge" mercenary group couldn't bear the crime of betraying and harming a pioneering lord in battle.

Then he heard an order that sounded like heavenly music, something he could hardly believe.

"Have your people fall back, don't block the path up front!"

A few dozen seconds later, the surviving "Night’s Edge" team huddled tightly in a small circle, watching as those warriors from Vast Sea Territory took over the battle line, forming an arrow-shaped battle formation pointing forward.

Having observed for so long, Kaga had basically understood the "Night’s Edge's" path-clearing method.

Opening the communicator and having a brief communication with Chen Mo, who remained outside the ruins observing the scene through video systems, Kaga issued a series of commands.

"Turn on the lighting system!"

"Deploy reconnaissance drones!"

"Skeleton regiment assault squad advance, maintain spacing!"

"Engage enemies freely, watch your crossfire coverage!"

"Attack!"

The light from over ten searchlights pierced through the black mist like bright swords.

Gunfire thunderously erupted in this ancient and profound fortress ruin.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

NEC Chapter 121: "Arcane Origins”, Ideographic Writing!

Chen Mo arranged the military training time for three weeks. That is to say, he planned to launch exploratory development of Blood Fortress in late June.

From the beginning of the Year of Thunder of the Resting Moon, arriving at this desolate land with only salt frost covering the ground and ruins scattered about, in over five months, the territory had achieved construction accomplishments that drew attention from all informed parties.

During the period when the troops were sharpening their weapons and actively preparing for war, Chen Mo had deeper communication with Scholar Aidan Elliott.

Elliott was very interested in the electrical energy system of the Mechanical Sovereign behind Chen Mo, while Chen Mo was also very interested in the Magic Academy's spiritual energy conversion research. Both sides, based on principles of honesty, friendship, cooperation, and mutual benefit, established the following cooperation plan.

Chen Mo would regularly and freely provide Elliott's team with photovoltaic power generation equipment, energy storage equipment, and electrical application equipment to assist Elliott's team in their research.

As equivalent compensation, Elliott would provide Vast Sea Territory with his two most recent research results involving the mutual interference and influence between spiritual energy and other energies.

This was the first time Chen Mo learned that the Magic Academy had so-called internal academic journals.

Most mages weren't particularly short of money, but earning money still had distinctions between fast and slow, difficult and easy.

The kind that followed mercenary groups through wind and sun, life and death struggles, earning unpredictable and fluctuating blood money, was undoubtedly the lowest level.

Entering the ranks of various kingdoms, accepting patronage, usually taking students during peacetime and accepting conscription during wartime, this was the most common state for most mages.

That's right, as long as you erected a magic tower within a country's borders, you were by default considered that country's official contract mage. Once the nation had issues, the mage's disciples, the mage's vassals, and even the mage himself could potentially be conscripted to the front lines.

Otherwise, why would the country give you such generous treatment? Did you think operating licenses were so easy to obtain?

The highest level was these big shots from the Magic Academy. They earned money through research.

For example, a certain grand mage, after years of research, improved a wind-type magic array model, adding a speed enhancement effect that increased the original foundation by another twenty percent.

If this magic master had his own channels, he could directly cooperate with enchanters, directly applying it to armor, weapons, or even cavalry, taking all the profit from this technological innovation.

Or he could directly sell the technology, earning a one-time buyout payment. Even if there were no further achievements afterward, he probably wouldn't worry excessively about money.

Of course, if he wanted to earn even more, he could submit his results to "Arcane Origins."

This was the Magic Academy's internal journal, specifically providing a display platform for mages with new discoveries and new creations. They only needed to report their results to the Magic Academy and conduct one or two field tests. After obtaining the Academy's confirmation, they could publish their related achievements in "Arcane Origins."

This journal would be distributed to various countries through mercenary guild channels, placed before that portion of people qualified to read it.

Of course, the published research results only described effects without explaining causes, obscuring principles and hiding models.

This was equivalent to a commercial advertisement facing the entire Starry Continent, allowing for orderly competition where the highest bidder won.

Elliott and his team conducted basic energy research, belonging to the category where results came slowly, and even when they did emerge, one couldn't immediately see any "money prospects."

But the Magic Academy equally needed such research results. First, they could fill gaps in the journal when there were no major achievements. Second, certain results could provide reference and inspiration for other mages' research.

Of course, what Elliott provided to Chen Mo in exchange wasn't the superficial version from the internal journal, but the kind that could be referenced and replicated. As for whether there were any secrets held back, Chen Mo couldn't tell at all since Elliott provided the Mistmoon Divine Court text version, and they didn't share a language.

That's how it was published originally, so it couldn't be considered deliberate obstruction, but it was somewhat unfriendly to small places like Vast Sea. Vast Sea's translation personnel could handle daily matters fine, but for such professional literature, translating it was equivalent to having pages full of X's or circles.

However, Chen Mo didn't mind.

He had specifically collected complete language databases from various countries and sent them back to East Xia long ago. With the level of those language and writing experts, they could decipher even heavenly books, let alone currently used scripts.

However, Elliott's slightly self-aggrandizing cooperation display made Chen Mo realize a problem.

The Magic Academy had academic journals!

Could he let this pass?

Chen Mo shamelessly clung to Elliott, absolutely demanding back issues of "Arcane Origins."

"I'm also a mage! I'm also a lord! No way, you have to share with me."

"What? Vast Sea doesn't have a mercenary guild? I'll establish one immediately!"

"Where do I apply? The Emerald mercenary guild headquarters, right? Don't worry, I'm sending people there right now!"

"Call Herlan over for me. Isn't he well-connected with broad relationships? Take people, take money, take enough gifts! Take Vast Sea's sincerity and get this matter settled for me!"

This was the first time Elliott had seen this usually calm and composed lord so anxious and agitated. He could only reluctantly agree to Chen Mo's request, providing cloudstone versions of the two most recent journal issues.

Chen Mo secretly recorded data from Elliott's magic cloudstone displays, finally obtaining some "professional literature" from the Starry Continent.

Although many descriptions in these journals only covered "appearances" rather than principles, Chen Mo had no doubt that the research workers back home would treasure them.

Just like when East Xia was newly established and spent precious foreign exchange resources to purchase foreign scientific journals.

To obtain more sharing of "Arcane Origins," Chen Mo waved his hand grandly. Except for a very few core equipment areas, Vast Sea Territory opened most areas for Elliott's visits and research access.

For example, the saltwater rice greenhouses.

The saltwater rice brought by Lord Chen Mo was like a miracle in Vast Sea Territory, but the Seven-Radiance Garland Trading Company that came and went previously showed no interest whatsoever.

The reason was simple, who would want to plant rice in saline-alkali soil?

In this world, it was always those who didn't grow grain who never lacked grain.

As for those who did grow grain, first, they lacked the ability to develop large-scale planting in saline-alkali land, and second, even if they managed to grow it, they probably couldn't protect it.

Moreover, Chen Mo had priced the saltwater rice seeds at an astronomical figure and stated bluntly that the offspring of these seeds would show significantly declining yields.

So whether it was Farrell or Oren, they only looked for novelty.

The Magic Academy was different. This group specialized in various research, and anything novel, strange, or peculiar was a research topic to them.

Elliott showed intense interest in the saltwater rice, especially this kind of saltwater rice that grew rapidly in special environments.

Grain crops that could be planted in saline-alkali soil with decent yields, this magical plant characteristic quickly attracted Elliott's attention.

Elliott himself wasn't conducting this type of research, but that didn't matter. Getting hold of such interesting new specimens, he could exchange them with colleagues for experimental subjects and magical materials.

In the hands of some old fellows who studied plant production research, this could easily generate ten or eight articles for "Arcane Origins."

In this atmosphere of mutual enthusiasm, the cooperation between both sides became increasingly harmonious. With the saltwater rice seeds, Elliott provided two more copies of the Magic Academy's internal journal.

There was another point that Chen Mo completely hadn't expected: Elliott displayed an attitude of admiration and amazement toward East Xia's writing system.

After extended contact with Vast Sea Territory, both Oren and Farrell knew that this necromancer lord had accidentally connected with a mechanical construct plane and gained the favor of some "Mechanical Emperor," which explained all these strange otherworldly artifacts.

To make it more convenient for the territory's people to use the "Cyber Sovereign's" equipment, Chen Mo had even brought over the other party's writing system and taught it publicly in his territory. This could be considered a reasonable matter.

Farrell and others curiously studied it briefly, only finding it extremely complicated and not taking it seriously. But falling into Elliott's eyes, what the scholar saw was completely different meaning.

"This is... this is ideographic writing!"

"What about ideographic writing?"

"No, Farrell, you don't understand what this means!"

Elliott's hand caressed those square characters representing "mountain," "fire," "water," and "sun," his eyes sparkling.

"From the Year of Sky's Bloom, Starry Continent mages who had initially mastered spiritual energy laws attempted to seek the universe's ultimate truth from one plane after another in the name of summoning."

"The final conclusion: spiritual energy is the only answer!"

"But I... actually saw ideographic writing on a mechanical construct. This is truly miraculous!"

Farrell's curiosity grew stronger. He humbled himself to ask for instruction, "Respected Scholar Elliott, what's special about ideographic writing?"

"The writing itself certainly has nothing special. What's special is the history behind it!"

Elliott used a light spell to write East Xia's character for "fire" in front of him, raising a flame beside it. The flickering firelight and the gently moving "fire" character seemed to overlap through the air.

"Master Lamar of the Magic Academy once wrote a brilliant analytical article about writing that I still remember vividly."

"Any civilization, at the moment they transition from having no writing to having writing, what they create must be ideographic writing."

"Because no one knows how to say what 'fire' is, so whether the drawing resembles it becomes the first step for mutual communication at the dawn of civilization."

"Individual graphics accumulating into a complete writing system, this is the writing characteristic of enlightenment civilizations."

"But ideographic writing is too complex. I have to learn its form, learn its meaning, and separately learn its pronunciation."

"Well, there might be more than one pronunciation!"

"Later-born civilizations lack the ability to complete such complex creation. They directly learn the writing of enlightenment civilizations, imitating and modifying to create their own writing. This is imitative writing."

"Imitative writing has already lost ideographic function, becoming only a... mechanical, childish imitation."

"Finally, as long as history is slightly interrupted, all writing will take the path of convenient, rapid phonetic writing, because this is simply too convenient. If you can speak, you can read and write. It spreads like a plague, infecting everyone."

"Look, throughout the entire Starry Continent, only Sky's writing still shows traces of imitative writing. All other writing systems have become phonetic."

"So what does discovering writing that's primarily ideographic mean?"

"It means this is a primordial enlightenment civilization that emerged from having no writing at all, having experienced who knows how many eras with never-broken inheritance."

"This is simply... unimaginable!"

"I'm already imagining how crazy Master Lamar would become if he saw this kind of writing!"

While Farrell and Oren were still somewhat puzzled, Elliott, with a pilgrimage-like attitude, reached a complete agreement to exchange "Arcane Origins" for East Xia writing.

Both sides got what they needed, each thoroughly satisfied.

The technical cooperation progressed quite smoothly, and collaboration regarding ruin exploration was also advancing in an orderly manner.

The magic array that could drive ruin cores, or nest cores, though expensive, wasn't a problem for current Vast Sea Territory since problems solvable with money weren't problems.

Chen Mo also kept one eye open regarding ruin exploration.

Or rather, mixing truth with deception.

The truthful part was excluding Thunder Plain. That place was too far from the orc's uncontrolled zone and had already shown trends of becoming a Starry Continent "internet celebrity check-in spot."

Not only had mages who enjoyed studying lightning set up observation stations on the wasteland, but some high-level warriors who liked tempering themselves in various ways would also draw lightning and endure electricity on-site, claiming to enhance their lightning resistance.

"In this situation, with our small arms and legs, let's not join the excitement!"

The deceptive part was when the lord waved his hand grandly at the joint meeting with the Magic Academy!

"The primary target is still Falling Feather Canyon!"

"We're a pioneering territory. It's better not to get too close to the orcs. Mixing in human territory feels somewhat more secure!"

Scholar Elliott and High Priest Farrell looked at each other and shook their heads. For these people who had long been active in the north, humans were far more sinister and despicable than beastmen. But such matters couldn't be discussed deeply with this lord given their shallow relationship, so they could only smile and let it pass.

As Lord Chen Mo made Falling Feather Canyon the first priority target, the entire territory began moving.

The Vast Sea Council began issuing missions to mercenary guilds in the southern Crescent Moon Federation, purchasing information related to Falling Feather Canyon.

Three advance teams departed in succession, directly conducting specific investigations of the situation around Falling Feather Canyon.

They hired mercenary groups and teams with regional exploration experience to begin establishing Vast Sea outposts.

Transport teams began constructing temporary warehouses in the southern desert, gathering supplies as transit stations for the expeditionary force.

Of course, as a backup plan, they also sent two reconnaissance teams to Blood Fortress to gather information and conduct preliminary exploration.

Days passed one by one. The centaur troops' "armored transport tactics" drills became increasingly mature. In mid-June, as Farrell and Elliott's visiting delegation left Vast Sea, Vast Sea immediately began a major pivot.

The lord personally led the team: ten squads of centaurs, all skeleton regiment warriors, over three hundred human auxiliary troops, assisted by the sand people's camel beast brigade, conducting continuous forced marches directly toward Blood Fortress.

When they reached Blood Fortress's outer perimeter, it was exactly the first day of late June.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

📅 August 17 (UTC +8) - Chapter Releases

For Pledged Members:
God's Imitator — Chapters 61 to 70
Daily Divination: From Market Rogue Cultivator To Immortal Venerable — Chapters 41 to 50
I Run A Prison In America — Chapters 31 to 40

For Free Members:
Necromancer, What the Hell Is A Type 055 Summon? — Chapters 71 & 72
Wasteland Border Inspector — Chapters 71 & 72

My Father Is Superman, But I'm Just An NPC? — Chapters 61 & 62
Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems — Chapters 61 & 62
American Hunting: Starting From Alone In The Wilderness — Chapters 61 & 62

We Agreed On Experiencing Life, So Why Did You Immortals Become Real? — Chapters 37 & 38
God's Imitator — Chapters 37 & 38

Daily Divination: From Market Rogue Cultivator To Immortal Venerable — Chapters 23 & 24
I Run A Prison In America — Chapters 15 to 18

PRI Chapter 40: Eagle-Breaking Style Interrogation

Lind currently had quite a few tasks on his hands. Besides the 6 major tasks for prison upgrades, there was also the task of eliminating the Grande Gang.

Now there was another wish mission.

However, he expressed that having more debts wasn't worrying, since the tasks didn't have any time limits anyway. As long as he completed them, he could get rewards.

Of course, Cohen's wish mission wasn't difficult and wasn't as troublesome as James's.

He just wanted a promotion and raise.

Lind was willing to give him this opportunity.

After all, although he was a bit young and his abilities weren't yet at the level of handling things independently, loyalty was the best makeup for ability.

As a warden with the system, he could stuff some advanced skills into Cohen at any time, letting him grow through cramming.

Not to mention the wool came from the sheep itself.

Without hesitation, Lind called over Cohen, this young man who had been following him since the prison's beginning.

After experiencing prisoner riots, drug dealer threats, and prisoner kidnapping incidents, Cohen looked much more mature.

His originally buzz-cut hair had grown considerably longer, and his physique was much more robust than at the beginning.

You could tell at a glance that he spent every day in the gym.

Now sitting on the sofa, he also carried a steady temperament that very much suited Lind's preferences.

So he didn't say any high-sounding words and went straight to the point, "Cohen, I've been watching your work during this period. Honestly, I really appreciate you and Carter."

"Thank you, Warden." Seeing that his idol was actually paying such attention to him, Cohen couldn't help but feel flattered.

Lind waved his hand, "However, compared to Carter, you're more mature. So I hope you can help other guards more in future work, helping them adapt to prison work quickly and find the value in their work. Can you do that?"

"Of course, Warden!" Cohen immediately agreed.

Lind smiled, "That's the spirit I like to see. But don't rush. I'm also planning to give you a promotion opportunity. Do you need it?"

Cohen was extremely excited, "I very much want to contribute more to the prison!"

"Very good, very spirited!" Lind's smile grew broader, "For this, you'll come into contact with some unsavory aspects of prison affairs. Can you accept that?"

"I believe anything the Warden does is for the prison's benefit!"

Lind was perfectly flattered by this, secretly delighted.

Look, this was high emotional intelligence!

Compare this to that guy Ottavio Miller. If he had understood the principle of superficial compliance while harboring different thoughts, why would he have been framed and imprisoned?

Sometimes struggle was necessary, but methods could be flexible.

Lind looked at Cohen Snow with his bright eyes and said, "Then fine, I'll tell you the specific task now."

...

Walking out of the office, Cohen clenched his fists tightly, wishing he could cheer out loud immediately.

He had long wanted to further gain the warden's trust.

Ever since witnessing the warden's heroic beating of criminals and his calm demeanor in the face of danger, he felt it would be wonderful if he could become someone like the warden in this lifetime.

Cohen grew up in a family where his parents didn't get along.

His father was usually alcoholic and gambled, utterly useless, only bullying his mother while being as docile as a slave when facing outsiders.

So young Cohen was furious every day watching his father beat his mother after drinking. When he grew up and his father picked up the belt again, he stopped him and beat him up.

Although this vented his mother's anger, it also led to the family's breakdown.

Cohen didn't want to face his mother's blame, which was why he came to work in the prison.

Initially, under George's leadership, they guards had no dignity whatsoever, being bullied by prisoners every day.

Fortunately, Old Edward died. Although saying this was somewhat unfair to the warden.

But Cohen felt Old Edward died well. Everything Lind did after taking office particularly suited his preferences.

When dealing with prisoners, you had to use tough methods and attitudes.

Never allow yourself to be bullied.

However, Cohen was just a guard. Even though he very much wanted to follow behind Lind and listen to the warden's teachings, he couldn't do it.

So he worked desperately hard, wanting the warden to turn his attention to himself.

Fortunately, he really succeeded!

The warden personally promised that as long as he made Alvaro, this Mexican drug dealer, confess everything, he would promote him to team leader.

Honestly, the promotion wasn't actually what made him happiest.

What made him happiest was that the warden hadn't forgotten him.

Therefore, Cohen decided to give everything he had to repay the warden!

...

On the other side, Lind was also wondering whether this young man Cohen could take down Alvaro.

In fact, after Alvaro's fear value reached 85, it couldn't be raised anymore.

Even when James used money as bribes, this death-fearing drug dealer still wouldn't budge.

Lind wasn't clear why, but he could roughly guess.

His weakness assessment could only see one weakness, but Alvaro couldn't possibly have only one weakness.

If his other weaknesses were all held by the Mexican drug trafficking groups, such as family members or his wife being strictly watched by drug dealers, he definitely wouldn't dare to completely betray them.

Moreover, weaknesses also had priorities.

Selfish people were more afraid of their own death, while people who valued family often saw relatives as more important than themselves.

Therefore, he didn't tell Cohen about Alvaro's weakness, but planned to let this young guard try on his own.

After all, he still had a basic interrogation skill.

This skill was different from torture.

Perhaps it could have miraculous effects.

The next day, Lind spent the morning inspecting the prisoners' work in the factory and determined the planning location for the electronic ankle bracelet production line.

At noon, he ate in the cafeteria while checking kitchen hygiene.

In the afternoon, he and Angelina handled some prison affairs and confirmed the remaining construction schedule with the construction company.

However, he never saw guard Cohen the entire time.

Even on the second and third days, he didn't see Cohen's figure.

So that evening, he went alone to the most hidden Interrogation Room No. 1.

Walking into another small compartment equipped with one-way glass, Lind finally saw Cohen and Alvaro.

Only now both men were in somewhat strange states.

Cohen was staring with wide eyes, chewing gum, holding a belt in his hand, questioning Alvaro while always ready to whip him.

Meanwhile, Alvaro looked exhausted, with thick dark circles hanging on his face, like an eagle that had been caught by hunters and kept awake for several days, seeming like he could drop dead at any moment.

"Speak! Who exactly ordered you to come to Border Prison!"

"I've already said it eight hundred times, it was that bastard Gian Fraser!"

"Then tell me where he usually lives?"

"I don't know where he lives either, I've never been to his house!"

"Then where does he usually hang out?"

"I told you, Violet Club!"

"How many underlings usually follow him?"

"Five, no, seven, six? Shit... I can't remember clearly... really... can't remember." As he spoke, Alvaro closed his eyes, wanting to sleep.

However, the next moment, "Smack!"

The belt hit his face, waking him up instantly.

"I'm fucking fed up!" Alvaro's face was full of resentment, emotionally agitated as he cursed, "When the fuck are you going to interrogate until? I feel like I'm going to die, I haven't slept for 3 days! Bullshit! If you want to kill me just do it, don't torture me like this anymore!"

"I can let you sleep, but first you have to agree to my demand."

Cohen said quite calmly, "Become our undercover agent and help us take down Gian Fraser."

Alvaro spread his hands, then raised them high, "Fine, I agree! I agree to everything, fuck! Let that bastard Gian Fraser go die! I want to sleep!"

After saying this, he suddenly collapsed onto the table.

Soon, thunderous snoring echoed in the interrogation room.

Behind the one-way glass, Lind was dumbfounded because he discovered that Alvaro's previously stable fear value had actually reached 100!

So the most terrifying punishment was keeping criminals awake!

Lind felt like he had learned another lesson.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

PRI Chapter 39: New Prison Philosophy and Cohen's Wish Mission

Ottavio Miller was just a microcosm of the American prison system.

Like that judge who later desperately sent juveniles to prison, which was far more vicious in nature than this case.

But Lind didn't care about wrongful convictions in other prisons; he only cared about his own little territory.

He could exploit criminals, he could use criminals, but he absolutely could not wrongfully convict criminals.

Even the most heinous killer, once in prison, he would view with fair eyes.

Not to mention unlucky guys like Ottavio Miller who were purely victims of undeserved disasters.

Even without the sudden challenge, he would help him escape prison as soon as possible.

This wasn't a place where he should stay.

Of course, now that there was a new blueprint reward, that was even better.

After all, the system task about building different special facilities was just one facility short of completion.

Lind returned to his office with Andy and instructed him to keep an eye on Ottavio Miller recently, but not to make things difficult for him, and not to let others make things difficult for him either.

"Understood, Warden." Andy left with his orders.

Lind sat in his chair gently swaying, his face showing a thoughtful expression.

"Warden?" When Angelina entered, she found Lind's face and shoulders bathed in sunlight, making it somewhat unclear whether he had fallen asleep.

However, Lind quickly responded, "Is there something? Or is there more bad news?"

"No, this time it's good news." Angelina came to Lind's side and handed him the document, "After receiving our first batch of headphones, the military thought the quality was good and placed another large order with us through the Federal Prison Industries."

"Oh! That is indeed good news." The order Lind had taken before would only last until April, but now with another batch of new orders, it should be enough to keep them working for a whole year.

Although the profit wasn't as good as electronic ankle monitors, headphones were stable and technically simple.

It was still very suitable as the first step in training prisoners.

Otherwise, having those rough guys assemble electronic ankle monitors right away would probably result in a defect rate that would become an insurmountable pit.

After signing his name on the contract, Lind returned the document to Angelina.

Angelina was about to leave but was called back by the warden.

"Angelina, what do you think should be done if there's someone in prison who has been framed?"

"Someone who has been framed?" Angelina was somewhat puzzled, not knowing why Lind would ask such a question.

In America, being framed and imprisoned wasn't commonplace?

When major companies had accidents, someone always had to take the fall. They couldn't have board members go to prison, could they?

She was used to seeing such things and didn't think there was anything wrong with it at all.

But since her boss Lind had asked, she couldn't directly state her thoughts and could only say tactfully, "That's a matter for the courts. Perhaps we could help this prisoner file a new appeal?"

"Appeals alone treat the symptoms but not the root cause." Lind shrugged, "After all, when all the evidence is against you, you're just a moth stuck in a spider web. No matter how much you struggle, it's useless."

"Then what do you plan to do, Warden?"

"I plan to establish an invisible system in the prison."

"Invisible system?" Angelina raised her eyebrows. Today she had drawn black curved eyebrows and painted a beauty mark above the corner of her mouth, which combined with her blonde hair gave her a very Marilyn Monroe feel.

Lind nodded, "That's right. This system will be a reward for those who committed minor crimes or no crimes at all, allowing them to leave prison faster."

"Why?" Angelina didn't understand.

Private prisons made money by exploiting criminals. If criminals could all leave quickly, how would private prisons make money?

And why would this capitalist fool Lind do such altruistic things?

This completely contradicted CIA intelligence.

If his previous hatred of drug dealers could still be explained as regret after his detox, then his current behavior was equivalent to being possessed by Jesus.

Was he really planning to become a philanthropist?

With various thoughts turning in her mind, Angelina showed a puzzled look.

Lind explained, "It's simple. This is a new philosophy I've created. Let people beneficial to society receive forgiveness, and let people harmful to society receive punishment. How about it? When we go public in the future, could this slogan ruthlessly suck in a wave of investors' money?"

Hearing this, Angelina immediately put her heart back in her stomach.

Very good, it seemed the CIA intelligence was correct.

This guy was still a money-obsessed, iron-blooded capitalist.

With such a small scale, he was already thinking about going public in the future!

"Great slogan, better than CCA's."

However, Angelina nodded in affirmation of Lind's idea.

CCA's slogan was "Redefining Excellence," a double entendre that quite suited the preferences of America's elite groups.

But for the vast masses of retail investors who hadn't even finished high school, this slogan was a bit too obscure.

Border Prison's kind of slogan was more suitable and more eye-catching.

Lind smiled, "Also, help me investigate someone else. Gabe Jensen, a department leader at BGE Civil Engineering Company in Houston. See if he has any dirt on him."

This time it was Angelina's turn to shrug. She found that Lind really treated her as an all-purpose tool.

He came to her for communication with government departments, for arranging prison affairs, and even for having private investigators investigate people.

The key was that she now felt herself getting busier and busier, with much less time to slack off.

Really annoying.

She should have known better than to let Lind know she had channels to find people for investigations.

"Fine." Angelina answered reluctantly, and her high heels clicked loudly as she turned around.

Lind couldn't help but show a hint of a smile, then called out to her again, "Don't rush."

"Is there anything else you need?" Angelina forced out a smile, almost making Lind laugh out loud.

He said, "I just wanted to say thank you for your hard work, and I'm giving you a gift."

With that, he opened the drawer, took out a gift box, and handed it over.

After Angelina accepted it, she teased, "Warden, are you pursuing me?"

"What, don't you like the feeling of being pursued?" Lind didn't fall behind at all and teased back.

"I like it, it's just..." Angelina waved the gift box in her hand, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

"It would be nice if there was less work."

Lind voiced the little vixen's thoughts, then watched her swaying waist and the accompanying alluring slender black-stockinged legs, and couldn't help but let his imagination run wild.

"Sooner or later I'll make you call me daddy in bed.” He muttered to himself, then got up, just about to go to the bathroom to take care of his urge to urinate.

A system notification suddenly popped up.

[Cohen's Wish: As a young man born and raised in Texas, he originally joined Border Prison as a guard to make a living, but after seeing Warden Lind Edward, he discovered his life's ideal and wants to become the warden's right-hand man]

[Mission: Help Cohen fulfill his wish by giving him a challenging promotion opportunity and successfully completing the promotion.]

[Reward: 1. Cohen's loyalty increases to maximum value. 2. Random skill upgrade]

[NEXT CHAPTER]

PRI Chapter 38: Good Deeds Are Rewarded, Evil Deeds Are Punished!

"Sue us?" Lind said in surprise, "What human rights of theirs have we violated?"

Angelina didn't speak, just stared at Lind with a look that said "are you kidding me."

Even with Lind's thick skin, he couldn't withstand such a direct gaze. He coughed twice and said, "Alright, I was just trying to make them work hard so they could become useful people when they return to society. Who in the prison doesn't understand my good intentions?"

"So what's his name?"

"I don't know." Angelina shook her head, "I just received this news. A prisoner has hired a lawyer and is about to file an appeal."

"Fine, I understand. Help me call Andy over."

"Click, click, click!" Angelina left in her red-soled high heels.

Not long after, Andy Cock knocked and entered, "Warden, you called for me."

"Sit down." Lind gestured for him to sit.

As soon as Andy's bottom touched the sofa, Lind asked, "What's been happening in the prison recently?"

Andy immediately stood straight and reported methodically, "Recently, the Mexicans and the Barr Gang had an argument over the dining order in the cafeteria. We intervened and punished each group with sleeping on the floor for 3 days and deducted $10 from their wages."

"Prisoner Andrew accidentally jammed the assembly line equipment while working this week. We've arranged for a maintenance worker to repair it. Currently, production is 500 units short of the target, and we're having them work overtime to complete it."

"During yard time on Monday, a prisoner attempted to escape through the wire fence. He was shot down with a tranquilizer gun by the watchtower guard and sent to solitary confinement."

"Prisoner West attempted to rape another prisoner with soap in the bathroom the day before yesterday. He was stopped by Carter and has been sent to solitary confinement."

"Prisoner Watson stuffed toothpaste into his rectum in his cell last night and had an accident where he couldn't remove it himself. Guards sent him to the medical room, and I heard they only retrieved the toothpaste tube but not the cap."

Even though he had been warden for some time, Lind still found these absurd incidents hard to handle.

This was truly Texas, where you could choose not to live, but you couldn't be without entertainment.

Even though the prison was managed very strictly, these prisoners could still create all sorts of bizarre antics.

This wasn't the first time Lind had heard of prisoners ending up in the medical room because they stuffed things into their rectums.

However, normal people would at most stuff a toothbrush, but this Watson fellow actually stuffed toothpaste directly.

It seemed his body had been developed quite extensively, as he didn't even feel pain anymore.

However, what Lind wanted to hear wasn't these trivial matters. He tapped the table and continued asking Andy, "Do prisoners frequently make outgoing calls? Are there any guys that seem unusual to you?"

In Border Prison, to obtain visitation rights and meet with family and friends, prisoners first had to work hard and accumulate working hours.

After reaching a certain number of working hours, they would use their wages to buy visitation vouchers, allowing their families to apply for prison visits.

Making phone calls also required paying for time, 20 cents for within 10 minutes, with prices doubling for calls over 10 minutes.

This was to prevent some criminals from making hour-long calls, being all lovey-dovey and refusing to leave, wasting everyone's time.

In Lind's view, once you're in prison, you should work well. Your wife at home probably has another man anyway, so why keep bothering them!

If they discovered they were being cuckolded, they would inevitably get angry.

Getting angry would lead to arguments, arguments would lead to fights, and after fights, solitary confinement would be overcrowded.

Then who would do the work, and who would compensate Lind for the lost labor!

That was all pure profit!

Anyway, Lind never overestimated the moral standards of Americans, especially the wives of these criminals.

After hearing Lind's inquiry, Andy was slightly stunned, his expression somewhat tense.

Although he didn't know why the warden was asking this, Andy had long learned that the warden never asked questions without purpose.

So he quickly recalled the recent list of frequent callers in his mind.

Finally, he gave a name.

"Ottavio Miller."

"Who is he?" Lind didn't have a deep impression of this prisoner.

"Warden, he's from the third batch of prisoners, just arrived here two weeks ago." Andy truthfully reported what he knew about the situation.

"He's a German-American, supposedly imprisoned for construction embezzlement. He's relatively honest and works very hard. However, in recent days, he makes phone calls every day, and each time only for 20 minutes."

Upon hearing this news, Lind immediately locked onto the target.

"Where is he now?"

"He's currently in the factory. He's been working overtime lately, seems like he doesn't have enough for bed fees."

Making phone calls every day meant spending all his wages on phone bills, so naturally he couldn't afford a bed.

Without hesitation, Lind had Andy take him to the factory to find this Ottavio Miller.

Fifteen minutes later, the two saw him on the second floor of the factory.

Natural brown curly hair, very pale skin, with patches of brown spots visible on his face, plus a stick-thin figure. One glance was enough to know this person had definitely been white-collar before.

However, what impressed Lind most wasn't his appearance.

It was his profile information.

[Ottavio Miller]

[Crimes: United colleagues, sought benefits for workers, offended leadership]

[Evil rating: 5 (Level F)]

[Fear value: 30]

[Weakness: Two children]

"Ah, this."

This was the first time Lind had seen such a crime.

Seeking benefits for bottom-level workers, what kind of crime was this?

If this were his previous life, knowing about such deeds, he would have called the person "comrade" at the very least!

Damn, this could only mean that American capitalist society was terminally ill.

Not to mention distant examples, after the 9/11 incident in 2001, over 3,000 emergency rescue personnel who rushed into the World Trade Center towers died from inhaling asbestos.

Yet for many of them, the government still refused to acknowledge that their illnesses were related to the 9/11 incident and wouldn't allow compensation.

Moreover, after 9/11, to resume work quickly, then-EPA Administrator Whitman confidently stated, "The air quality around ground zero is good, with no health threats whatsoever."

But in reality, 400,000 people were affected to varying degrees by harmful dust.

These people's illnesses broke out successively over 20 years, but the government turned a blind eye.

So to survive in a place like America, you had to abandon the weaknesses of humanity and lower your moral standards to the minimum.

Otherwise, when everyone above and below was corrupt, you'd be the only one acting noble and pretentious.

If they didn't target you, who would they target?

But this wasn't a reason for someone like Ottavio Miller to be imprisoned, at least Lind didn't think so.

Even if some leader didn't like him, found him an eyesore, and felt he was hindering money-making.

They could have just fired him, or at worst, blacklisted him from the industry.

How did they go to such great lengths to get this guy into prison?

This wasn't just about ruining his reputation, they wanted his life!

Lind felt this was very wrong. Although he was a capitalist who profited by exploiting prisoners, before becoming a capitalist, he was still human.

Perhaps influenced by his previous life, he still retained some simple values.

Such as evil deeds being punished, good deeds being rewarded.

Just as Lind had this thought.

[Sudden Challenge: You have discovered an innocent person in your prison. You feel this goes against the prison's philosophy. The prison should bring good fortune to kind people and misfortune to evil people!]

[Help Ottavio Miller clear his name and get Gabe Jensen imprisoned. Reward: Modular Water Storage Facility Blueprint]

[NEXT CHAPTER]

PRI Chapter 37: $6.96 Million About to Arrive

A week later, the electric shock interrogation room was officially completed.

But the electric shock control equipment would take a few more days to arrive and be installed.

Lind had originally planned to use this time to find a hacker to help set up an overseas website, but he was worried that if someone traced back to the hacker, they might sell him out.

So he planned to handle production and sales himself.

Moreover, this wasn't difficult. The prison had recently received a batch of new prisoners, and when he looked through their files, he found one prisoner who happened to be arrested for cybercrime.

This little guy was only 18 years old, named Mike Heywood, a Canadian.

The reason he was in prison was because he and other hackers had launched DDoS attacks on Yahoo and Amazon, causing these websites to be down for several hours.

So after trial, he was quickly thrown into prison.

His sentence was two years.

As for the mastermind of their case, since he was only 15 years old, he was sentenced to only 8 months.

When Lind learned about this, he was overjoyed and hurriedly went to the prison block to check this young hacker's panel.

He found that his weakness was having an insatiable sweet tooth.

So Lind waved his hand grandly, had Cohen go to town to buy a bunch of sweets, and put them on the interrogation room table.

He then brought Mike over, keeping his eyes fixed on the high-calorie sweets.

He even thoughtfully cut open each sweet item and put it in front of his nose to let him smell it.

But no matter how much Mike craved them, he wasn't allowed to eat the sweets.

Under this test of willpower, in just 3 days, Mike's fear value reached maximum.

Seeing the timing was right, Lind immediately proposed using sweets as wages, suggesting Mike work for him building websites.

Mike agreed readily and that day ate 6 donuts, 3 cream cakes, and 2 buckets of popcorn.

Then he spent a day building the website, which Lind named "Electric Shock Devil Live Room."

When he came up with this name, he also planned to have someone dressed in a white coat, wearing glasses, with a 3-7 parted hairstyle serve as the main electric shock operator in the future.

America needed its own Mr. Yang too.

After establishing the website, Lind had the prison maintenance worker install the newly acquired hidden camera opposite the electric chair.

This thing was praised by everyone who used it.

Not only did it provide 360-degree viewing without blind spots, but it also had high-definition picture quality with color mode.

It was cheaper than a video camera, more controllable, and more convenient.

So Lind wished he could immediately draw dozens of them from the prize pool and distribute them throughout the prison.

However, this item was indeed worthy of being used as a reward by the system, as it was very hard to draw. Lind had only obtained one from the prize pool so far.

The same went for the tranquilizer spray can.

If he could have production lines for these things, Lind guaranteed that all prisons would come knocking on his door for orders the next day.

However, the electronic ankle monitor production line blueprint he currently had wasn't bad either. Although it wasn't anything exclusive, if he could make it, it would be extremely profitable.

So during this period, he had been looking for factories to purchase facilities.

But the hardest part about producing electronic ankle monitors wasn't technical issues, but legal ones.

Because electronic ankle monitors needed to pass qualification audits from the U.S. Department of Justice or state Department of Correctionss, and also had to comply with FCC (Federal Communications Commission) certification.

Besides these, Lind also had to purchase patents.

In America, any high-tech gadgets, or gadgets related to high technology, couldn't escape patents.

Electronic shackles were naturally among them.

Lind calculated an account. If he wanted to purchase the electronic ankle monitor patents, including positioning technology, casing, software, and hardware patents combined, the package price would be at least $3 million!

If he only purchased usage rights, he could choose to pay annual fees or take a percentage of sales revenue.

For annual fees, $100,000 to $150,000 per year would be sufficient.

For sales revenue sharing, it ranged from 5% to 15%.

According to statistics, an average of 2 million people in America were under community corrections supervision each year, of which only about 10%-15% needed electronic ankle monitors.

Therefore, America's annual production of electronic ankle monitors was around 200,000 sets.

This market had limits, so Border Prison couldn't blindly expand production lines, one would be sufficient.

According to the blueprint description, this semi-automatic production line would require 30 prisoners and could produce approximately 15,000 sets of electronic ankle monitors annually.

He estimated annual profits would be around $2 million.

So in Lind's view, paying annual fees was naturally more suitable.

It's just that he currently had no channels to purchase patents, or rather, he wasn't confident about bringing down the patent prices.

Fortunately, he had joined ACA certification, because the electronic ankle monitor patent company was called BI, which was a subsidiary of GEO Group, one of America's largest private prison companies.

ACA held annual conferences where all major private prisons would participate to discuss the new year's prison development directions and various matters.

Lind, as the owner of Border Prison, naturally also received an invitation for late February.

He would go to New York to attend the conference then, and would surely meet many bosses and definitely be able to handle the patent matters.

As for government certification, he naturally had to rely on Avery. Lind renewed their friendship fee.

$20,000.

It wasn't that Lind didn't have more money, but he was very clear that he couldn't give too much at once, otherwise Avery's appetite would be spoiled by him.

Raising a tiger was naturally something to boast about, but raising a tiger that became a threat would be bad.

However, although patents and certification couldn't be secured temporarily, the production line couldn't be delayed.

Lind visited many companies and finally negotiated prices for all the production line manufacturing equipment in advance, just waiting to pay and purchase.

But calculating this investment made him gasp.

It was much more expensive than the headphone production line, requiring $1.3 million.

During this period, many employees had been hired, and their wages were much higher than the original E-level guards. Adding various construction and renovation costs, he now had only $300,000 left on hand, enough only for a down payment.

If not for the money obtained from robbing the Iron Riders Gang boss before, Lind would still need to get a bank loan now.

"Damn, why does money keep getting less the more you use it!"

Lind sighed as he sat in his office, but couldn't help feeling somewhat fortunate.

Although he owed a lot of money, the prison's future was also bright!

As long as he got through this period, there would be a large income coming in.

Yes, he was talking about the prisoner funds that the American government approved for him, a total of $6.96 million.

This would be the largest amount he had seen since transmigrating.

According to Avery, the state Department of Corrections's preliminary review had already passed, and the materials had been submitted to the Federal Bureau of Prisons for review.

Of course, when the federal prison officials would finish their review was unknown, but no matter how ridiculous, it should be done by April.

Although it was 2 months slower than big companies like GEO and CCA, it was still quite fast.

After Lind sorted out all the matters at hand, he whistled.

Just as he was about to go to the shooting range to try the power of automatic rifles, Angelina suddenly knocked and entered the office.

"Boss, I received some very bad news."

This CIA little bitch's loyalty had finally passed 50 after daily high-intensity cosmetics feeding recently.

The effect of increased loyalty was obvious, that is, Angelina's subjective initiative was getting higher and higher.

Look, she didn't even need Lind to inquire, she came to find him proactively to discuss matters.

Lind looked up at Angelina, "What news?"

Angelina closed the door, came to the desk and said, "Boss, there are prisoners suing our prison for violating human rights."

[NEXT CHAPTER]

PRI Chapter 36: Electric Shock Interrogation Room and Chat Room

Lind hadn't expected the guard tower to make a great contribution on its very first day after completion.

If there hadn't been the tower and sniper rifle, even if the guards had discovered these Mexicans, they could only have notified James and the tactical squad.

With the two groups exchanging fire, who knows what might have happened.

If these Mexicans had escaped, it would have been even harder to deal with them later.

Fortunately, the goddess of luck lifted her skirt for Lind to see, probably because these Mexicans had rather dark faces.

After arresting Alvaro, James immediately began interrogating him.

And since he wasn't a prisoner of the prison, the so-called prisoner abuse naturally didn't apply to him.

James directly used everything he had learned in his lifetime on him, just like those two drug dealers who had been broken before.

So within a few days, Alvaro had confessed everything.

First, this operation was arranged by Gian Fraser. It was mainly because Border Prison had repeatedly refused the Grande Gang's proposals, so they planned to retaliate using the most bloody methods.

Since they couldn't get it, they would destroy it.

The gunmen were all native-born Mexicans who would return to Mexico through special channels after completing their mission, not fearing American police enforcement.

Second, although Alvaro himself was Mexican, he had come to America three years ago. As someone who organized drug transportation routes for the trafficking organization, he rarely carried out killing missions like this.

The reason he was chosen by Miguel this time was simply because he and Miguel knew each other in Mexico, nothing more.

Finally, they served the Gulf Cartel's drug trafficking business.

Besides Gian Fraser, the boss of the Grande Gang, and businessman Travis McCallo, there were two other accomplices, one from the border patrol and one from the local police station.

Although Alvaro didn't know what these two people were called, he had seen them playing with women at a club together with Gian Fraser.

James expressed doubts about the credibility of this intelligence, but Lind said the credibility was very high.

Because through the panel, he could see Alvaro's fear value.

This was a new use for the prison he had discovered after detaining those two drug dealers.

As long as these guys were outside the prison, they were ordinary people, not prisoners.

But if he detained them in the prison, then sorry, they all became prisoners and possessed fear values.

So as long as the fear value was maxed out, Alvaro couldn't lie even if he wanted to.

At this time, his fear value had already increased to 78 after a series of torments.

With such a high fear value, what he said should not be lies, but he might just not have confessed everything yet.

Therefore, Lind encouraged James to continue his efforts, reminding him he could use money to bribe Alvaro.

This guy's weakness was being particularly greedy for money. As long as they could prescribe the right medicine, his fear value could probably be maxed out soon, and then Lind could plan to make a move against Gian Fraser.

After giving instructions in the interrogation room and leaving, Lind went to the solitary confinement cells located on the 3rd floor of the prison block.

This was originally used to detain disobedient prisoners and punish them.

It's just that the prison currently had too few prisoners, so there was no need for so many solitary cells. Therefore, Lind made a request to the construction company to renovate them into electric shock interrogation rooms.

The blueprint for the electric shock interrogation room was simple. The room didn't need any special equipment, just an electric chair and an electrical control system to be completed.

After the engineer got the blueprint, at Lind's request, he worked at full speed. In just a few days, the room had already taken rough shape, and it would probably be completed in another week.

"But why do you need an electric shock room?"

Jimmy, who was watching from the side, looked excited, as if he had thought of some special use for the electric shock interrogation room.

"Do you want to play something exciting?"

"What?" Lind asked in confusion.

"Don't pretend!" Jimmy pushed Lind's shoulder. "Do you remember that website we talked about before? You can see footage of each victim being tortured on it, and you can place bets on how long the victim will last. We both placed bets back then."

Hearing this, Lind searched his memory for the website Jimmy mentioned.

After recalling briefly, Lind stared at the back of Jimmy's head with the look one gives to trash.

He couldn't help but slap himself lightly.

What a fucking beast.

Was the daily pleasure of these American rich second-generation kids, besides trampling on the poor, watching how the poor suffered?

Lind had completely remembered now. That so-called torture website was actually a gambling site.

Its administrator was unknown, its executors unknown, and even the website address was a foreign IP.

The website would find a poor person each week, have him undergo various tortures, and tell him that if he persisted for a certain amount of time, he could get a $10,000 reward.

Upon hearing this reward, those poor people all expressed disbelief and said they would definitely clear it.

But when they actually started experiencing the torture, they showed their ugly sides, with all kinds of foul language and pleas for mercy.

Often they could only end after they became incontinent.

The website viewers would place bets in various gambling games on the site, such as betting on how many seconds the victim would last, whether the victim would become incontinent in the end, how many times the victim would beg for mercy, and so on.

Anyway, it was all about sensory stimulation, giving these rich people looking for fun a moment to vent.

Young Edward was one of them, having spent $20,000 on the website back and forth.

Jimmy bet even bigger, but lost more than he won.

After being reminded by Jimmy, Lind's expression toward the electric shock interrogation room also changed.

"If we could establish a website and use the time prisoners are being tortured for gambling, surely many people would be willing to watch."

"Of course!" Jimmy heard Lind's muttering and smiled. "I can help you bring in a bunch of bored rich second-generation kids. They have plenty of money, they just lack entertainment."

"But wouldn't electric shock alone be too monotonous?"

Lind chuckled, "How about adding an anonymous chat room?"

Jimmy's eyes lit up, "That's a fantastic idea!"

The previous website only allowed viewers to place bets, with no room for talking. If you wanted to chat with people, you could only find friends in real life.

But if a chat room was added to the website, things would become interesting.

Maybe those rich second-generation kids would chat about some explosive private topics in there.

However, Lind was thinking deeper than Jimmy. As long as there was a chat room, he could arrange for people to specifically stir up trouble, antagonize and make enemies with the various rich second-generation kids.

The power of internet trolls was undeniable. Those rich second-generation kids would probably be impotently furious.

Then he could add some special items that could be purchased with money on the website, letting them pay for peace, which should be a good money-making method.

Also, if an internet enemy bet $10,000 against you, would you follow?

After following, if they bet another $100,000, would you follow?

Anyway, as long as there was a chat room, there would always be ways to stimulate those rich second-generation kids to place bets.

Thinking of this, Lind was already eager to take money from their pockets.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

PRI Chapter 35: Judgment from the Guard Tower!

Inside the vehicle, several dark-skinned Mexicans were loading bullets into their guns.

"Diego, how much longer?" A gunman with yellow hair stuffed the remaining magazines into his waist and looked at the driver.

The bearded driver Diego checked his watch, "Three more minutes until we reach the prison."

After speaking, Diego lit a cigarette for himself, "You guys be careful, don't drag it out too long."

The bald Mexican in the passenger seat mocked, "Don't worry, Diego. A bunch of white pigs, their courage is smaller than bullets. As long as we point guns at their heads, they'll cry for their mommies and then kneel on the ground begging for mercy!"

"Hahaha, Miguel, you're absolutely right."

"These American lords have long forgotten what backbone means!"

"We should make them spend a few days in Mexico, guaranteed to scare the piss out of them!"

The other Mexicans joined in the mockery, completely looking down on the Border Prison guards in their words.

Compared to the yellow-haired Mexican who was leading the way, the Mexican in the passenger seat was the real leader of this operation, also a minor boss in the drug trafficking organization.

He had participated in many drug dealer conflicts, killed many people, and his methods were bloody.

So everyone trusted him more.

However, the yellow-haired Mexican waved his hand, "Hey, don't say that. Those guys from the Grande Gang died pretty miserably last time."

"Come on, Alvaro, those disgraceful guys actually didn't follow the boss's arrangement and ran off to rob the Iron Riders Gang! Fuck, they deserved to die!"

"I don't think it was necessarily them who did it," Alvaro shrugged. "How would they know the Iron Riders Gang boss was in the villa and had hidden a large sum of money there?"

"Then who else could it be?" Miguel spread his hands. "You don't think it was those stupid prison guards who led them to the Iron Riders Gang villa, do you?"

"Of course not, I'm just a bit worried about those two who escaped..."

"Fuck, Alvaro, have you been in America too long and forgotten how Mexicans handle things?"

Miguel's face turned vicious, "If there's betrayal, then kill his whole family!"

"No matter where those guys run to, I'll find them, slit their throats with a knife, and hang their heads at the door!"

Miguel paused for a moment and pulled the bolt, "This prison is the same. They rejected Osiel's kindness, so let us bring death to them!"

"Yeah! Right, bring death to them!" The Mexicans in the car all started cheering.

Seeing this, Alvaro could only follow along and raise his gun.

Diego opened the car window and exhaled a puff of smoke, "Guys, don't be impatient. Wait until we get to the prison to vent. But I'm only waiting at the door for half an hour. If you don't come out after half an hour, I'm not waiting."

"Don't worry, half an hour? I can slaughter through the prison in fifteen minutes!"

Miguel sneered, "By then I'll hang that damn warden's head on the guard tower, let them see the consequences of going against Osiel's will."

"Very spirited, Miguel. After you finish the killing, I'll get you across the border," Diego threw his cigarette butt on the ground and stepped on the brakes. "We're here."

"Get out!"

...

Riley was watching the prison entrance through night vision goggles, seeing bright green human figures getting out of the car, sneaking toward the prison.

From their body postures and the way they held their guns with both hands, Riley easily understood these people's ill intentions.

So he didn't hesitate at all, directly picking up the M82A1 sniper rifle and aiming at those uninvited guests through the night vision scope.

At the same time, Miguel and his group had just arrived near the prison entrance.

Looking at the 5-meter-high wall and barbed wire, everyone knew they could only break through from the main entrance.

"Miguel, it's best not to make too much noise and alert the people inside, otherwise once they close the main gate, we won't have a chance."

Alvaro was afraid Miguel would get bloodthirsty and charge into the prison recklessly, ruining the mission.

However, Miguel wasn't stupid either. He looked at the nearby guard room, "Later we'll push open the window directly and take out the guard with a knife."

"Got it!" His subordinate nodded, pulled out a dagger from his waist, crouched down, and walked toward the guard room first.

Miguel and Alvaro slowly followed behind, holding their guns, ready to provide support at any time.

However, just as that subordinate tried to stand up and climb through the window, a muffled gunshot came from above.

"Bang!"

Alvaro watched helplessly as his neck was pierced and exploded by the bullet, his entire body instantly folding in half.

"Fuck!"

"Damn it!"

"Get down!"

The Mexicans immediately panicked, no longer caring about being discovered, hurriedly crouching to avoid the bullets.

Unfortunately, their position was really terrible. In Riley's eyes, these people were like having their pants stripped off, standing naked in the cold wind, completely exposed.

So he turned his gun barrel, aimed at a Mexican who was sticking his butt up, and pulled the trigger.

"Bang!"

The Mexican lying in front of Alvaro had his butt blown up.

"God!"

This scared Alvaro enough that he didn't dare stand up, didn't dare stay in place, and could only crawl forward like a lizard, hiding directly in the shadow of the wall.

Seeing his good position, Miguel and the others also ran over.

"What the hell happened!" Miguel's face showed both terror and anger. "Why is there a sniper rifle!"

"I want to know why too!" Alvaro was also very annoyed.

"So what do we do now?" his subordinate asked in terror.

"What else can we do!" Miguel pointed to the right. "The sniper must be hiding in the guard tower. Later we'll shoot directly in his direction! Then run to the car!"

"Okay!" The panicked crowd immediately agreed upon hearing Miguel's words.

"3, 2, 1! Go!"

Miguel led his boys rushing out from behind the wall, firing a barrage at the guard tower. Bullets crackled against the wall, leaving only shallow bullet marks, posing no threat to Riley whatsoever.

And Riley responded to their courage with 12.7mm bullets.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

Two subordinates were successively shot through the chest and head, leaving their lives near Border Prison. Only Miguel escaped sniping because he ran fast.

However, just when Miguel thought he had escaped with his life, he discovered that the vehicle in the distance was actually turning around on the spot, planning to flee without regard.

"Fuck! Diego! Wait for me!" Miguel roared angrily.

"Wait for your mother's head!" Diego gritted his teeth, wishing he could install rockets on the car's rear.

If he had known Border Prison had a sniper, he wouldn't have taken this job no matter what.

Fortunately, he was hidden in the car. As long as he drove to the nearby woods, the sniper couldn't do anything to him!

"Bang!"

The next second, Diego suddenly heard the sound of glass shattering, like death's prelude before swinging the blade.

Before he could react, a bullet pierced through the glass, through his facial skin, and drilled into Diego's mouth.

The sharp sound of brakes rang out. Miguel looked at the overturned vehicle, stopped in his tracks, his eyes full of despair.

"Shit!" He raised his gun toward the guard tower, firing while letting out the desperate howl of a dying beast, "I'm going to kill you! Kill..."

But before he could finish speaking, a bullet plugged his mouth.

Under the wall, Alvaro, who had witnessed everything, collapsed to the ground.

"It's over, everything's over."

Before long, he heard the sound of light footsteps. Several well-equipped soldiers carrying M4 carbines rushed to his front, surrounded him, and pointed their gun barrels at him.

Then a burly strong man walked out from among the soldiers, punched Alvaro to the ground, and skillfully removed all weapons from his body.

Afterward, he said, "Warden, he's no longer a threat."

After speaking, the soldiers made way, letting the man in the black trench coat walk in front of Alvaro.

The man crouched down, used his hand to lift Alvaro's chin, his face full of smiles.

"Thank you all for using your lives to perform an opening ceremony for my guard tower."

His smile didn't diminish at all, but his dark pupils revealed waves of coldness, "So next, I'll have to trouble you to accompany me in a little humanity test."

[NEXT CHAPTER]

PRI Chapter 34: The Reassuring Guard Tower

Lind looked at the dazzling array of firearms on the table, unable to resist touching each one.

Like caressing a lover's body, the smooth feel was utterly captivating.

Especially the M82A1 sniper rifle. This thing was produced by Barrett Company, specifically designed to deal with trucks and helicopters, a famous anti-materiel rifle.

It could be said that with this thing, even if the drug dealers drove out an armored car, it would be useless.

Besides it, the other items were also familiar.

The M4 carbine, standard U.S. military weapon, currently in service with various units.

The M203 grenade launcher, mounted under the barrel, could be used to fire high-explosive rounds, smoke rounds, illumination rounds, shotgun shells, and gas rounds.

There were also night vision goggles and night vision scopes, both standard Marine Corps equipment, nighttime combat artifacts.

With this batch of weapons and equipment, James's tactical squad was directly armed to the teeth, even fighting an urban battle wouldn't be a problem.

Currently, the only thing limiting these weapons' effectiveness was ammunition.

Although each weapon came with several magazines, using them without restraint was impossible.

So Lind was even more envious of that automatic bullet production line, wishing he could build it immediately.

Unfortunately, meals had to be eaten one bite at a time, and people had to be killed one by one.

To upgrade the prison to E-level, Lind still had many tasks to accomplish.

"Let's start with this one then," he looked at the task panel and decided to first raise 20 prisoners' fear values to maximum.

This task was the simplest to complete.

Because these prisoners bullied the weak and feared the strong, Lind had counted that 23 prisoners all had weaknesses of fearing violence or torture.

Besides these two weaknesses, there were also 9 people who feared losing property.

This was naturally a guiding light for Lind. He immediately used a sudden theft incident in the prison as an excuse to bring the prisoners to the interrogation room one by one.

After screening, he released those with lighter crimes and only kept those with serious crimes who showed no remorse.

A week later, in the interrogation room.

Lind looked at the panel, where the number of prisoners with maximum fear values had increased to 7.

Putting down the rope in his hand, he turned and left the room, saying to Angelina, "Have Carter come over and take the prisoner back."

"Okay." Angelina seriously suspected that Lind was a psychopath.

During her observation period, Lind didn't like playing with women, didn't smoke weed, and had no other bad habits.

Every day he either stayed in the prison handling work or stayed at the shooting range practicing, just like a monk.

His only hobby was torturing criminals. For some unknown reason, he could spend several hours in the interrogation room every day.

What was strange was that logically, with such high-frequency prisoner abuse, these prisoners should have appealed long ago.

But the prisoners Lind had tortured seemed to genuinely become better after returning to their cells, completely losing their former arrogance and instead working seriously and overtime diligently.

Therefore, rumors began spreading among the prisoners that the warden was actually brainwashing prisoners in the interrogation room, that he himself was a witch.

Old Edward's suicide was also because he was brainwashed by Young Edward.

This rumor was quite ridiculous, but everyone quite agreed with it.

Otherwise, why would the tortured prisoners still speak up for Lind when they badmouthed him to those prisoners!

What a joke!

Were they such kind people?

However, Lind paid no attention to these people's private speculations. Anyway, before long, all these prisoners would become docile one by one.

Lind walked and talked with Angelina.

Angelina said, "In 2 days, the state Department of Corrections will escort a batch of new prisoners to the prison. This time there are 30 prisoners, including 10 felons and 20 misdemeanants."

Lind replied, "Tell James to arrange the felons on the third floor, assign additional guards, and manage them uniformly."

Angelina said, "The tower renovation has been completed and can be inspected tomorrow."

Lind replied, "Good, notify the state Department of Corrections today to have them send people over tomorrow to inspect it together with us."

Angelina said, "The new batch of guards has all been hired and are receiving training."

Lind replied, "Just in time, let's go take a look together."

Border Prison's previous guard orientation training was no different from playing house, with HR Mary first giving a talk about philosophy, then George explaining guard regulations, and finally leading everyone through a few practice sessions.

However, after Lind took charge of the prison, he changed the orientation training for guards.

Now, all newly hired guards underwent two weeks of special training.

Training in different courses was conducted by instructors from the state Department of Corrections and James.

Such as combat training, tear gas training, baton training, and interrogation training.

When Lind reached the door, he heard the state Department of Corrections instructor telling the guards actual cases of prisoners tricking guards.

"When I was a block supervisor, there was a female guard who fell asleep in the work area."

"But she forgot to close one of the block doors, and a prisoner quietly slipped in and did his utmost to mess around with the bird near the female guard."

"When she woke up, she didn't know who had messed up the back of her clothes."

"Soon after, the prisoner was released and wrote to the prison asking them to review that day's footage."

"After watching the video, I fired that female guard."

"So Lena, you mustn't fall asleep in the work area, or your warden might fire you too."

"Hahahaha!"

The guards laughed because the Lena Collins the instructor mentioned was a female guard.

However, facing everyone's teasing, Lena's expression didn't change much. She just said to the instructor, "Harrison, let's have a match during the combat practice later."

"Oh, God, no, spare me," the instructor shouted, and the laughter in the classroom grew louder.

Lind looked through the glass at that Lena Collins. He had a deep impression of this muscular female guard.

Because she was the only guard who possessed advanced Jeet Kune Do skills.

Obviously, she was a Bruce Lee fan, even her black hairstyle was exactly the same.

Honestly, even Lind might not be able to beat her.

So if those prisoners wanted to take advantage of her, the first thing they needed to consider was whether they could withstand a punch.

...

The next day, state Department of Corrections personnel inspected the guard tower together with Lind.

The original tower was just a concrete pillar, with guards at most using binoculars for patrol from inside the tower.

Now, the entire tower had completely changed appearance.

Cast iron gate, concrete walls a full 30 centimeters thick, looking particularly imposing.

The tower had three levels. The first level was covered with honeycomb-shaped shooting ports, the second level had a mid-section circular glass curtain wall with a 360-degree surveillance center inside that could see every corner of the prison.

The glass was specially made single-sided bulletproof material, with night vision imaging screens embedded on the inside. Even if the entire prison lost power, there was sufficient backup power.

The third level was the top, with 4 searchlights suspended, as well as four-corner high-precision sniper positions. With just one anti-materiel rifle, the entire area within 1000 meters of the prison could be covered.

It could be said that with this tower, if drug dealers dared to drive over next time, their cars could be blown up directly!

Of course, the night vision equipment and sniper rifles weren't equipped yet.

After all, Lind couldn't explain where he got all these things.

After inspecting the tower, the state Department of Corrections staff couldn't help but marvel in amazement.

"This is the most reassuring tower I've ever seen."

"That's right, this is also the most high-tech tower we've contracted," the construction company people also couldn't help joking. "I initially thought this was a military base."

Lind was also very satisfied, so after completing the tower inspection, he returned to his office, took out the sniper rifle and night vision equipment, and gave them to James, asking him to find time to install them on the tower.

James was also very surprised by the weapons he brought out, thinking his boss was becoming more and more impressive, actually able to get military equipment.

He turned and handed the sniper rifle to Riley, the best sniper in the team.

After Riley got the gun, he couldn't put it down, happier than seeing his wife. That night he ran up to the tower.

Time quickly came to the early morning hours. Just as the prison was completely quiet, a car suddenly approached the prison stealthily.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

PRI Chapter 33: Big Haul!!!

Lind encountered no obstacles on his way back to the prison.

In fact, after taking out those drug dealers blocking the road, James's wish mission was already completed.

And the rewards were quite generous.

First, after James's loyalty was raised to maximum value, a new identity was unlocked.

[Tactical Commander: When serving as squad leader, personal ability +50%, team coordination ability +50%, team members' loyalty +50% improvement speed]

This identity was different from something like Head Guard which was just words on paper. It was equivalent to a permanent effect, which could be said to be extremely useful.

The second reward, the Electric Shock Interrogation Room, was targeted at prisoners.

[Electric Shock Interrogation Room: When prisoners undergo electric shock interrogation, fear value +50% improvement speed, lying probability -50%]

Lind's eyes lit up the moment he saw this blueprint. If the prison had this facility, then the prisoners' fear values could be quickly raised to maximum.

And after the fear value reached maximum, the various information that the prisoners revealed would become the prison's best means of earning extra money.

Just like this time, the property hidden in the Iron Riders Gang leader's villa was worth a full 600,000 dollars. After splitting it up, Lind received 540,000, and each member of the tactical squad received 10,000 dollars.

This was much faster than honestly selling headphones to make money.

However, getting this kind of precise information wasn't that simple, and not all prisoners knew where their boss's property was hidden.

Moreover, they were lucky this time. The Iron Riders Gang was originally a third-rate gang with low personnel vigilance.

If it were one of those highly vigilant drug trafficking gangs, trying to take down a villa with just 6 people would be wishful thinking.

After the group returned to the prison, the two remaining survivors were secretly sent to Interrogation Room No. 1 by James.

"Only one of you two can live," Lind said, looking at the drug dealers tied to chairs. "Whoever speaks first lives. It's that simple."

After speaking, he had James separate the two.

Facts proved that this prisoner's dilemma was very effective. After enduring more than ten minutes of torture, the two couldn't help but confess everything.

Including who their boss was, where the gang's gathering place was, how many people usually guarded it, and what weapons they carried.

After confirming that the information the two confessed was consistent and they weren't lying, Lind said to each of them separately, "Unfortunately, the other person spoke faster than you."

Subsequently, the two drug dealers took turns embarking on the road to hell.

As for the bodies, Lind instructed James to throw them into the cement mixer, letting their flesh and blood mix with mud and sand to become the prison's new foundation.

After finishing this matter, James came to the solitary confinement cell.

From yesterday until today, Phoenix had one eye covered with gauze and one eye staring blankly without focus.

James had no doubt that if this guy learned that his mother and siblings were harmed, he would commit suicide directly in the prison.

Fortunately, nothing had happened.

Walking up to Phoenix, James squatted down and handed him a photo.

Phoenix didn't notice at first, until the photo touched his body and he came to his senses, instinctively taking it.

"This is..." He looked at it and found it was a photo of himself with his mother.

Phoenix immediately grabbed James's arm and said excitedly, "Where did this photo come from! What did you do to them!"

"Calm down, buddy," James pressed Phoenix down firmly, staring directly into his bloodshot eyes.

"Your mom and your siblings are fine. They're currently on their way to Ohio. You should know, right? They have friends there."

"I know, Ohio. My mom's ex-boyfriend is there," Phoenix said. Upon hearing this, the worried expression on his face immediately dissipated by more than half.

James shrugged and didn't ask why they weren't going to find his father.

As everyone knows, one of America's famous intangible cultural heritages is the black father.

"So you can rest assured," James stood up. "But even though you were threatened, we'll still prosecute you. Unfortunately, your sentence will be delayed again."

"It doesn't matter," Phoenix said gratefully. "As long as my family isn't harmed, that's good."

As he spoke, the young black man shed tears.

If Lind had been there at this moment, he would have found that his fear value had risen to maximum.

...

"Warden, according to the drug dealers' confessions, the Grande Gang is a gang established by Mexicans. Their initial purpose was to transport drugs for the Gulf Cartel."

"It's just that in recent months, the border patrol's patrol intensity has increased significantly, and several batches of their drugs have been intercepted."

"So they set their sights on our prison, wanting to take over here as a transit station for transporting and processing drugs."

Lind listened to James's report while thinking and tapping on the desk.

"Who is their boss?"

"Gian Fraser, one of Osiel's subordinates, nicknamed The Butcher."

"The Butcher? How so?"

"Because this guy likes to torture people. He often uses knives to make dozens of consecutive cuts on enemies' bodies, waiting for them to die naturally from blood loss."

"Sounds quite fierce," Lind narrowed his eyes, thought for a moment, and continued, "James, have the squad investigate them. I want to know when this guy gets up, when he eats, when he has sex, every detail. Understand?"

"Understood."

"Also, investigate their gathering place and drug trafficking routes clearly. Since we're going to strike, we need to grab him by the throat directly!"

"Yes."

After James left, Lind washed his hands and looked at the deterrence value on the prison panel.

Although the drug dealers' various interferences had slowed down the deterrence value's growth rate considerably, after several prisoners and guards reached maximum fear and loyalty values, the deterrence value also experienced a rapid growth wave.

It now had 150 points, enough for 15 consecutive draws.

Lind secretly prayed in his heart that he would draw more useful items and not get more bulletproof vests and bulletproof shields.

After praying for a moment, he reached out and clicked. Suddenly, a system notification popped up.

[Special combat squad formation detected in prison, extraction adds "weapons"]

"Can draw weapons now?" Lind expressed his love for this humanized system.

He hurriedly clicked again, and immediately rewards flooded the screen.

C-grade Guard [Gore Reyes]

C-grade Guard [Layton Kent]

C-grade Guard [Lena Collins]

D-grade Guard [Edwin Seck]

D-grade Guard [Candy Jackson]

First was a batch of new guards, perfectly filling the vacancy left by departing guards.

Then came a batch of weapons and equipment.

Weapon [M82A1 Sniper Rifle]

Weapon [M4 Carbine2]

Weapon [M1014 Combat Shotgun]

Weapon [M203 Grenade Launcher]

Equipment [PVS-14 Night Vision Goggles]

Equipment [Night Vision Scope]

Equipment [M26 Hand Grenade1]

Equipment [Tranquilizer Spray Can1]

Equipment [Hidden Camera1]

"Holy shit, jackpot!" Lind thought to himself that he probably hadn't used up all his luck for this lifetime.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

PRI Chapter 32: Black Eats Black

9 PM.

Val Verde County, outside the villa of the Iron Riders Gang boss.

A Dodge pickup was parked nearby.

Inside the vehicle, Lind had already changed his outfit. Not only was he wearing a bulletproof vest and gloves, but he had also put on a balaclava.

James across from him wore the same gear, clearly dressed to play bandits.

"Let me emphasize once more," James spoke into the radio, "Covert operation, don't disturb the nearby neighbors."

"If you encounter Iron Riders Gang members, eliminate them directly."

"If you encounter women and children, use sedative spray to knock them out."

"Understood?"

"Copy!" "Copy!" came the voices of team members through the radio.

"Begin operation!" James got out of the car, and other team members also exited the vehicle.

Lind watched them jog toward the Iron Riders Gang boss's villa, then pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one for himself, and held it between his fingers, waiting for it to burn out.

He wasn't addicted to smoking, just simply wanted something to do to ease his tense emotions.

Soon, scattered gunshots rang out from inside the villa.

James and his team members' operation went very smoothly because nobody in the Iron Riders Gang could have imagined that someone would raid the villa tonight.

When James climbed over the fence using a team member's shoulders, he immediately went to the main gate and used a knife to slit the guard's throat directly.

Then he opened the gate and welcomed all the team members inside.

"Pat, Karen, you two handle the first-floor living room."

"Riley, you're responsible for the yard."

"Norman, Garon, you go straight to the second floor!"

After James finished giving orders, he headed straight for the pool with his gun.

The villa was very quiet tonight because they had investigated and knew there was no party here today.

So besides a dozing underling by the pool, there was no one else.

James quietly approached and stuck a knife into the guy's heart before he could open his eyes and ask who was coming.

However, at that moment, gunshots rang out from the living room.

James hurried over and returned to the living room.

When he walked through the door, he discovered that Pat and Karen had already finished the battle. Several gang members lay sprawled on the ground, blood splattered on playing cards across the carpet.

"Norman, what's the situation upstairs?" James held his gun at the stairs, not rushing up.

"There's one last room, locked from the inside!"

"Break down the door!"

"Yes!"

Gunshots rang out upstairs, and James immediately arranged for Karen to guard outside the villa's second-floor windows.

Before long, Karen's voice came through the radio: "Boss, caught a guy who jumped down!"

"Good."

James entered the second floor, confirmed all Iron Riders Gang members were dead and other women had been drugged unconscious, then returned to the living room.

Receiving the signal, Lind also drove the car into the villa.

"Quick! Don't waste time." He called for team members to unload the drug dealers' corpses from the car and dump them everywhere.

Then he followed James to meet the only survivor.

The Iron Riders Gang boss.

His eyes were already blindfolded.

Perhaps because James and other team members killed too quickly, or perhaps thinking of his future fate, the boss was trembling all over and would lean back desperately at the slightest touch, trying to avoid contact.

Lind grabbed his head, then pointed the gun at his throat and demanded, "What's the safe combination?"

"Let me go and I'll tell you," the Iron Riders Gang boss still wanted to struggle.

"Fuck, don't try to bargain!" Lind punched him, then used the gun barrel to forcefully lift his head, looking at him and saying, "Do you know what two kinds of people I hate most in this life?"

"What, what are they?" The Iron Riders Gang boss's voice trembled, his expression very frightened.

"One is drug dealers, and the other is human traffickers like you."

"Garbage like you who sells women and children only deserves to be sorted into hell!"

"I just gave them a better destination!" the Iron Riders Gang boss argued, "I gave them money, they were willing!"

"Come on." Lind stepped on his face, pressing his head against the floor.

"Three years ago you sold Molly's little daughter to the red-light district. Two years ago you sold Ralph's son to a priest. You also tricked those illegal immigrants and harvested their organs for transplant."

"A guy like you, how can you deserve God's forgiveness!"

"So, listen." Lind put his mouth to the man's ear and whispered like a demon, "I know where your daughter is, Del Rio, right? If you don't tell me the password, I'll grab her and make her a sex toy for homeless people. Do you believe me?"

"No! Don't do that! I'll tell!" The Iron Riders Gang boss finally panicked.

He rarely talked about his daughter with anyone and had never told gang members where his daughter was located.

So when Lind mentioned the specific location, he pleaded in panic, "Don't, please, don't touch my daughter!"

"Now you know fear?" Lind felt like a movie villain, but there was no choice. To deal with evil people, you had to use methods more evil than theirs.

"I'll tell you, tell you everything!"

"Very good." Lind raised his hand, signaling James to take the man to open the safe.

Before long, James returned to tell Lind, "There are hundreds of thousands of dollars, ten gold bars, and a pile of jewelry, boss."

Really fucking rich!

Just a gang in a remote county had seized so much money. Lind didn't dare imagine how much money gang bosses in places like Houston and New York could hide at home.

Damn, it seemed he needed to quickly raise the prisoners' fear values to maximum.

These guys were a big treasury!

After confiscating the Iron Riders Gang's treasury, Lind dragged the boss to the poolside and executed him by gunshot, ending his sinful life.

Subsequently, the group kept firing shots throughout the villa. After creating a bunch of bullet holes, they stuffed guns into dead people's hands and left.

The next day, the belated police surrounded the villa. When they opened the door, they discovered an exciting scene of gang warfare aftermath.

Dead bodies everywhere, bullets everywhere.

The entire villa was as chaotic as if it had experienced the Syrian war.

Soon, reporters came for filming and reporting. During interviews, the police's external statement was consistent:

After on-site investigation and confirmation, two local gangs had a shootout inside the villa. Based on the opened safe and the killed boss, the reason should be robbery of property.

The identities of both sides were quickly investigated by police: members of the Iron Riders Gang and the Grande Gang respectively.

Additionally, high-purity drugs were found on Grande members.

Therefore, police believed the Grande Gang was involved in drug trafficking and smuggling drugs, and would begin investigation as soon as possible.

...

"Bang!"

Lind performed an American-style quick draw and shot through the last drug dealer, putting an end to the gunfight.

This was prisoner Phoenix's home in Alamo.

When the tactical squad arrived here, they quickly discovered several unwelcome guests had appeared at his house.

They were eating and drinking recklessly in the living room, treating Phoenix's family like slaves.

Just when they were nestled on the sofa watching Friends, the tactical squad burst in and directly shot these drug dealers to pieces.

"Watch it in your next life." Lind kicked away a drug dealer's head blocking the way and looked at the trembling children and the Black mother trying to appear strong.

"We're Phoenix's friends. We heard his family was threatened, so we came to help."

When Lind said this, he hadn't even removed his mask, so it had no credibility at all.

But Phoenix's mother still nodded in agreement. After all, when your life is in someone else's hands, it's best to choose compliance.

"So please don't call the police. If we get caught, Phoenix will be in trouble too."

After a small threat, he continued, "By the way, although we've cleaned up these guys, you never know about the future, so do you have somewhere to go?"

"Yes! We do!" Phoenix's mother was afraid Lind's next sentence would be: If you have nowhere to go, we can help send you to heaven.

After nodding repeatedly in haste, she said, "I have friends in Ohio, we can go live there!"

"It's not necessary to change states." Lind smiled wryly, but since the other party could understand his meaning, that was perfect.

Thirty minutes later, Phoenix's mother, having abandoned many possessions, drove away from Lind with her children.

Seeing this, Lind also returned to the car and ordered James, "Mission accomplished, time to go back."

[NEXT CHAPTER]

PRI Chapter 31: Want the Prison? Then Fill It With Your Lives!

Phoenix's mouth wasn't hard to pry open.

After Lind had blinded his eye, he fell into an infinitely depressed state.

James didn't even need to torture him much before he spilled everything.

In reality, the news that his family had been taken hostage by drug dealers came from a guard.

It was the guard who had resigned two days ago after Parker's vehicle crash incident.

The guard told him that if he didn't follow the drug dealers' wishes, they would kill all his brothers and sisters.

What the drug dealers wanted was for Phoenix to turn the prison upside down, preferably killing a guard.

Only this way could he save his family's lives.

Therefore, Phoenix had squeezed half a tube of toothpaste into his mouth today, disguising himself as having epilepsy, trying to kill the doctor and make a big scene.

Unfortunately, he was just one step away from success when Lind deceived him, causing the drug dealers' assigned task to fail completely.

Now there was no hope for anything. His brothers and sisters would be killed by the drug dealers, his family would be torn apart, and even if he got out, he wouldn't have the face to see his mother again.

Thinking of this, Phoenix felt he should be shot dead rather than trapped in solitary confinement enduring both physical and mental torture as he was now.

After James collected all the information, he suddenly asked, "Where is your home?"

Phoenix stared blankly, not responding.

James continued asking, "Don't you want those people to pay the price?"

The corner of Phoenix's eye twitched slightly.

"Perhaps your relatives haven't been harmed yet. At least they have to wait to receive news, right?"

Phoenix looked up at him and after a moment of silence said, "My home is in Alamo..."

Meanwhile, Lind was looking at the new reward he received from the sudden challenge.

[Sudden Challenge: A prisoner in the prison plans to threaten you with a hijacking operation. You naturally cannot let him succeed]

[Perfectly handled the hijacking incident, reward obtained: Basic Negotiation Skills]

[Basic Negotiation Skills acquired]

[Basic Negotiation Skills learned]

[Basic Negotiation Skills: When facing negotiation events, your words are more likely to gain the other party's agreement]

Lind found this skill very useful, so he reorganized his skills.

His current status panel was as follows:

[Lind Edward]

[Identity: Warden]

[Rating: 39 (Level C)]

[Skills: Advanced Wing Chun, Intermediate Marksmanship, Torture Interrogation, Intermediate Driving, Basic Negotiation Skills, Basic Weakness Assessment, Basic Force Intimidation, Basic Speech Eloquence]

His skill slots were full. If there were new skills, he could only replace the original old skills.

Skills like Advanced Horsemanship and Intermediate Driving seemed less useful to Lind.

He didn't need to participate in horse racing, and driving was now handled by the tactical squad. These two skills could be completely replaced with more useful ones.

So he replaced Advanced Horsemanship with Torture Interrogation.

When he drew useful skills later, he would also replace Intermediate Driving.

Not having driving skills didn't mean he couldn't drive, just that he drove averagely.

After Lind finished switching skills, he came to the solitary confinement door just as James walked out.

"Warden, Phoenix has told us everything."

Then he informed Lind of all the information from Phoenix.

After hearing the report, Lind squinted his eyes and glanced at his watch, "Got it. Are things arranged?"

"Everything is arranged." James nodded.

"Good."

Then Lind called Angelina over and had her investigate whether the resigned guard, Hans Adams, belonged to a drug trafficking organization.

If this guy was also threatened, Lind could slightly forgive his actions.

But if this guy was part of the drug dealers, then don't blame Lind for putting a hole in his head!

...

7 PM.

A Dodge pickup left Border Prison.

After December, the weather gradually cleared up, and the fog in Val Verde County had weakened considerably.

The snow on the road melted one after another, revealing withered yellow weeds and gravel.

Logically, after multiple incidents occurred outside the prison, passing vehicles would be doubly careful and speed up.

But the Dodge pickup's speed was neither fast nor slow along the way, seemingly completely unaware of possible risks.

Sure enough, when the vehicle reached a narrow road, two cars happened to stop at the intersection ahead, completely blocking the road.

Then two men in leather jackets got out of the cars. Their waists were bulging, and their faces were full of malicious expressions.

After seeing this scene, the Dodge pickup's driver decisively reversed, but another car appeared and blocked his way.

The Dodge pickup was trapped in the middle of the road, unable to move.

The leather jacket man walked to the right side of the wheel, raised his pistol at the driver, and said:

"Dear Warden, did you think you could avoid us by driving a broken car?"

He stared mockingly at the face under the driver's hat in the car window.

That's right, that was their target, Lind Edward.

Although Lind had disguised himself, unfortunately, they had people near the prison for the past two days. When this car appeared, they observed with binoculars for a moment and had already captured Lind's appearance.

Now it was time to make this warden pay the price for refusing Osiel.

"Roll down the window if you don't want to die."

After speaking, the leather jacket man came to the driver's side door, planning to pull Lind out of the car.

However, just as he put his hand on the car door, gunshots suddenly rang out from not far away!

"Bang!"

The leather jacket man instinctively wanted to crouch down, but the bullet was faster than his movement.

A .308 bullet directly blew open his temple, giving his head a through-and-through.

The originally arrogant bandit became a dead dog on the ground the next second.

Then gun flames emerged from the tarp covering the truck bed behind the pickup, directly killing the driver blocking the rear.

Subsequently, James and other tactical squad members burst out from the woods and fired wildly at these bandits.

Under orderly and reasonable tactical deployment, the other drug dealers collapsed at first contact and couldn't fight against regular troops at all.

Even if they relied on courage to stand up and return fire, they would quickly have their lives ended by the sound of Remington gunfire.

Inside the Dodge pickup, Lind half-lay in his seat, gripping a gun in his hand, not participating in the gunfight.

If it weren't to lure these bastards out, if it weren't for knowing that these drug dealers still needed a living Edward, he wouldn't have put himself at risk.

Fortunately, the results were good.

Three minutes later, the gunshots stopped.

Lind opened the door and got out.

James and Karen dragged two blood-covered drug dealers over like dragging dead dogs.

"Boss, there are still two survivors, their limbs have been broken."

Lind grabbed one drug dealer's hair and spat in his face, "Not so tough now? Son of a bitch, if you want my prison, then fucking fill it with your lives."

After saying this, he threw him aside, "Clean up the ground, let's go!"

"Yes!"

The tactical squad members quickly dragged all the corpses to the cars, diluted the blood on the ground with water, then split into several members to drive the vehicles. The group headed straight to their destination, Val Verde County.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

DIV Chapter 50: Abundant Harvest

One strike successful!

From the shadows, Li Chang'an breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fortunately, this person didn't have very good defensive magical artifacts, otherwise a prolonged battle would have been inevitable."

That Ghost Needle just now was shot out by Big Yellow.

Big Yellow's strength was greater than this robber cultivator's.

However, if it came to direct combat, a life-and-death struggle, it would be difficult to determine victory or defeat in a short time.

The longer it dragged on, the easier it would be for accidents to happen.

"There's still one enemy left. It shouldn't be difficult to resolve." Li Chang'an's mind stirred.

His superior-grade defensive puppet appeared and came to the black-clothed cultivator's corpse.

To prevent accidents, he raised his blade and chopped off the head with one stroke.

Only then did he begin searching for valuables on the body.

"This person's weapon is a first-tier superior-grade water-attribute magical artifact 'Wave-Stacking Ring,' his defensive artifact is a superior-grade soft armor, both quite valuable. There are also quite a few pills and talismans in his storage bag..." Li Chang'an roughly counted.

Truly worthy of being a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

The treasures on his body, adding up everything together, were worth over two thousand spirit stones!

"During this period, to craft puppets, my wealth shrank considerably. Finally, there's a big harvest."

Li Chang'an looked at the treasures in the storage bag, feeling especially satisfied.

This kind of killing and robbery was indeed more profitable than honestly drawing talismans.

Afterward, he collected the black-clothed cultivator's head and released a talisman, burning the corpse to ashes.

"Zheng Ling'er ran quite fast."

Li Chang'an looked back.

Although the black-clothed cultivator had been killed, Zheng Ling'er hadn't stopped.

She was still fleeing for her life, her speed not slowing in the slightest.

After all, she couldn't be certain which side the mysterious strong person who killed the black-clothed cultivator was on.

Perhaps the other party intended to save her, or perhaps they planned to kill both of them.

"Not stupid at all. She has a cautious nature." Li Chang'an nodded slightly.

"Time to check on Zheng Songhe's side."

His figure flickered as he headed straight for that area.

...

At this moment, Zheng Songhe was still locked in fierce battle with another black-clothed cultivator.

Rumble!

Magical power surged, water and fire clashed.

Originally he could still suppress that black-clothed cultivator.

But as the Spirit Explosion Pill's effects weakened, his aura became unstable.

He couldn't hold on much longer.

"This old man is ultimately inferior by a notch."

Zheng Songhe's face was deathly pale, knowing he would surely die today.

The black-clothed cultivator also sensed his condition.

Immediately he let out a strange laugh.

"Heh heh, old thing, why has your magical power weakened?"

His eyes were cruel as his attacks became increasingly vicious.

Zheng Songhe gradually couldn't support himself.

His magical power continuously weakened.

If nothing unexpected happened, this battle would end in just a few more breaths.

But...

Just at this moment, the black-clothed cultivator's expression changed, his hair standing on end as he caught a whiff of death's scent.

"Sneak attack!"

He reacted extremely quickly, bending his entire body forward.

He actually dodged the Ghost Needle that Big Yellow had shot out.

"Who is it?"

The black-clothed cultivator was furious, releasing two magical artifact shields to protect himself.

Then he activated over ten first-tier superior-grade defensive talismans.

He looked around with vicious eyes.

"Despicable coward, do you only dare hide in the shadows for sneak attacks?"

From the shadows, Li Chang'an was secretly surprised.

This person's reaction speed truly exceeded his expectations.

"This person should frequently engage in battles with others, otherwise he couldn't have cultivated such fast reaction abilities." Li Chang'an pondered.

Being able to succeed with one strike earlier had some element of luck.

At that time, the black-clothed cultivator was chasing Zheng Ling'er and had relaxed his guard.

"Since the sneak attack failed, I'll try a different approach."

Li Chang'an's mind stirred.

That superior-grade defensive puppet immediately appeared.

Wearing a bamboo hat and shrouded entirely in robes, it was impossible to tell it was a puppet.

"Late-stage Qi Refining!"

Sensing the aura it emanated, the black-clothed cultivator's heart sank.

A first-tier superior-grade puppet, when properly controlled, was equivalent to a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

And Li Chang'an's puppet used extremely fine materials.

The aura it currently released was considerably stronger than the black-clothed cultivator's.

"Fellow Daoist, this is a grudge between our Black Wind Mountain and the Zheng family. Are you certain you want to interfere?"

The black-clothed cultivator felt like retreating, extremely wary.

Li Chang'an didn't respond.

He backhanded a magical artifact and directly attacked the black-clothed cultivator.

Seeing this, Zheng Songhe was overjoyed.

"Thank you for your assistance, Fellow Daoist. After this battle ends, my Zheng family will surely repay you handsomely!"

The black-clothed cultivator's face was grim as he had no choice but to respond.

In the blink of an eye, the two had exchanged over ten moves.

During this time, the black-clothed cultivator's expression became increasingly ugly, because he realized how troublesome this puppet was.

"Is this person a body cultivator? Why is he so hard to fight?"

The spells he cast, when they landed on the puppet, at most made it tremble slightly.

They couldn't even force it to retreat half a step.

"Damn it, I can't delay any longer!"

The black-clothed cultivator quickly retreated, no longer entangling.

If he dragged this out further, other Zheng family cultivators would arrive.

At that point, even with wings he couldn't escape.

"Today's matter, our Black Wind Mountain remembers!"

His expression was fierce as he left behind a threatening remark.

Then his entire person transformed into a stream of light, swiftly heading for the distance.

"Trying to run?"

Li Chang'an's expression was cold as he stared in the direction of his retreat.

This puppet body remained in place.

Secretly, he controlled another puppet that excelled in speed, pursuing together with Big Yellow.

Not far away, Zheng Songhe swallowed some healing pills.

He remained vigilant while cupping his hands toward Li Chang'an.

"Thank you for the rescue, Fellow Daoist."

"Just a small effort, as it should be." Li Chang'an replied.

The two then exchanged a few words.

During this time, Zheng Songhe deliberately probed Li Chang'an's identity.

But Li Chang'an didn't reveal it.

...

At this moment, that black-clothed cultivator was still fleeing.

Seeing no one had caught up, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief and was about to take out pills to swallow.

Suddenly, he felt a warning, sensing a deadly chill rapidly approaching.

"Not good!"

Another sneak attack!

He hastily gathered his breath, bending his entire body again.

He narrowly avoided the incoming Ghost Needle.

But what he never expected was that following the Ghost Needle came a net that covered the sky and earth.

"Shadowless Net!"

His face turned deathly pale.

He simply couldn't dodge in time, his entire person trapped within the net.

No matter how he struggled, he couldn't break free.

In the blink of an eye, the Shadowless Net completely tightened, making the black-clothed cultivator within unable to move.

"This combination of Shadowless Net and Ghost Needle is really useful."

Li Chang'an sighed in admiration as his puppet body appeared.

The black-clothed cultivator immediately glared with fury.

"Who exactly are you? Why oppose our Black Wind Mountain?"

Li Chang'an didn't respond.

He stepped forward and directly threw him into the spirit beast bag.

After this, he and Big Yellow sank into the deep underground.

In a sealed underground space, he released this person.

"I have questions for you."

Li Chang'an's tone was cold as he began interrogating him.

This person wasn't particularly tough.

Not long after, he confessed everything.

"Black Wind Mountain has seven late-stage Qi Refining cultivators. I rank sixth, and my subordinates all call me Sixth Chief."

[NEXT CHAPTER]

DIV Chapter 49: Zheng Ling'er in Danger!

In the Zheng family's library, a large collection of cultivation techniques and spells was stored.

According to legend, there was a fire-attribute technique that reached the superior grade, making countless rogue cultivators with fire spiritual roots covet it.

Additionally, the other four attribute techniques all had mid-grade ones, and they were high-quality among their class.

"I hope this favor can be exchanged for a chance to enter the library," Li Chang'an thought.

The Zheng family's library was very difficult for outsiders to enter.

Even clan descendants mostly needed to accumulate contributions before they could enter the library to select techniques and spells.

"This time I need to face two late-stage Qi Refining enemies. Although the divination shows auspicious, I still can't be careless."

Li Chang'an stared at the divination content for a long time.

"Zheng Songhe, since this person is a Zheng family elder, he must have late-stage Qi Refining cultivation. He can handle one enemy."

Under normal circumstances, Li Chang'an would only need to deal with one late-stage Qi Refining enemy.

Whether using puppets or directly sending Big Yellow would be fine.

But he was always cautious, preparing for everything according to the worst-case scenario.

"I need to prepare a few more life-saving talismans for Big Yellow. If things go wrong, we'll run."

Li Chang'an pondered, simulating various possibilities in his mind.

Time gradually passed. Before he knew it, an entire night had gone by.

...

The next day, early morning.

Li Chang'an changed his aura and left the market.

Following his usual route, he headed straight for the black market.

Not long after, he paused, hearing sounds of battle.

"As expected, I encountered it."

Li Chang'an's mind stirred as he commanded the Mysterious Water Turtle to use its lending power talent.

Then he activated multiple aura-concealing talismans, suppressing his presence to the minimum.

"Let me see what the situation actually is."

Li Chang'an's figure flickered as he used the Minor Five Elements Escape Technique, silently merging into the earth.

Ahead, not far away, magical power raged and battle was fierce.

Li Chang'an saw four figures, with Zheng Ling'er in her white dress particularly conspicuous among them.

"That old man protecting Zheng Ling'er should be her grandfather, Zheng Songhe."

The situation was much worse as Li Chang'an had imagined.

Zheng Ling'er's strength was insufficient. She could only use talismans and magical artifacts to try to influence the two enemies, but the effect wasn't great.

Zheng Songhe was essentially fighting one against two.

At this moment, a fire dragon formed from magical power soared into the sky, flames rolling, claws bared and fangs showing, its aura frighteningly powerful.

This was exactly the Zheng family's mid-grade fire spell, Fire Dragon's Roar!

"Go!" Zheng Songhe's hair and beard stood on end, his robes fluttering as he waved his hand.

That fire dragon roared once and immediately attacked the two black-clothed cultivators.

"Heh heh, Zheng Songhe, is this all you've got?" The two black-clothed cultivators didn't dodge or avoid, showing no fear on their faces.

Water-attribute magical power fluctuated around both of them. They were clearly both water spiritual root cultivators.

The five elements restrain each other. Water perfectly restrains fire!

"Dark Water Arrows!"

Both cast the same spell simultaneously.

Surging water-attribute magical power formed countless deadly water arrows that erupted instantly, heading straight for the fire dragon.

Rumble!

Water and fire clashed, shaking heaven and earth.

After just a few breaths, the fire dragon wailed once, unable to maintain itself, and dispersed on the spot.

The remaining water arrows continued unabated, all striking toward Zheng Songhe.

"Defend!"

Zheng Songhe flicked his sleeve, and a spiritual light flew out, transforming into a defensive magical artifact that blocked in front of him and Zheng Ling'er.

Many water arrows struck the artifact, producing thunderous sounds.

The artifact trembled, seemingly unable to support itself.

Zheng Songhe maintained it with difficulty, his face paling somewhat.

"Tsk tsk, a Zheng family elder, nothing more than this," the two black-clothed cultivators laughed strangely.

Zheng Songhe didn't speak, still gritting his teeth and persisting.

Both of these men's strength was no weaker than his, and their attributes directly countered his.

Even facing one would be very difficult.

What about two?

Moreover, he had to divide his attention to protect his granddaughter Zheng Ling'er.

"Ling'er, I'll find a way to entangle these two. Don't hesitate when the time comes. If you get a chance, leave!" Zheng Songhe's tone was heavy as he transmitted to Zheng Ling'er.

Hearing this, Zheng Ling'er's heart trembled as she said urgently, "Grandfather, I can help you."

"You can't help with anything. Just listen to me!"

Zheng Songhe's attitude was resolute.

Zheng Ling'er became even more anxious, wanting to do something.

But she quickly discovered that in this situation, she couldn't do anything!

Staying here would only drag down her grandfather.

"If only I had Sister Qingqing's cultivation..." Tears welled up in her eyes as a deep sense of powerlessness spread through her heart.

At this time, the attacks of those two black-clothed cultivators became increasingly fierce.

Spell after spell continuously bombarded Zheng Songhe's defensive artifact, surging water-attribute magical power rippling outward.

"Old fellow, stop struggling!"

"No matter how much you struggle, it's futile. Why bother?"

Their words were full of mockery.

At this moment, Zheng Songhe suddenly swallowed a Spirit Explosion Pill, his aura dramatically surging.

Terrifying fire-attribute magical power spread out, as if it would burn the entire sky red.

He pointed with his finger.

Flames connected with each other, instantly forming a cage that trapped those two within.

Mid-grade spell, Flame Prison!

"Ling'er, go quickly!"

Zheng Songhe knew the cage couldn't hold them for long and immediately transmitted to Zheng Ling'er.

"Grandfather..." Zheng Ling'er's eyes were filled with tears, her heart full of reluctance.

But she didn't hesitate.

She immediately activated all her life-saving methods, transforming into a stream of light and turning to flee toward the market.

"Hmph, trying to run?"

The two black-clothed cultivators snorted coldly.

They joined forces, casting spells together.

After just a few breaths, this Flame Prison was broken through by them.

"I'll chase that girl. You stay here and don't let this old man escape."

"Good!"

The two divided the work.

One of them flickered, his speed surging as he chased in the direction Zheng Ling'er had fled.

Zheng Songhe intended to intervene.

But the other man laughed wickedly, blocking his path.

"Old fellow, you can barely protect yourself, yet you still want to save others?"

"Bastard!"

Zheng Songhe's eyes showed anxiety as he glanced in the direction of Zheng Ling'er's escape.

Although his magical power was now stronger, no matter what methods he used, he couldn't break through this man's obstruction.

Moreover, the Spirit Explosion Pill's effects wouldn't last much longer.

...

At this moment, Zheng Ling'er was fleeing at high speed.

As a Zheng family descendant, she naturally had quite a few life-saving treasures on her.

Unfortunately, the gap in strength between the two sides was simply too great.

In just a short time, that black-clothed cultivator had already caught up.

"Heh heh, little girl, why are you running? It's just dying in a different place."

Hearing this, Zheng Ling'er's body trembled.

Seeing that black-clothed cultivator getting closer and closer, despair began growing in her heart.

Just then, something unexpected happened.

"Swoosh!"

A needle as fine as hair suddenly appeared from nowhere, instantly striking toward the back of the black-clothed cultivator's head.

The black-clothed cultivator sensed danger, his hair standing on end.

But it was already too late to dodge.

"Chi!"

That strange flying needle pierced straight into his brain.

Terrifying magical power suddenly erupted within his skull and his body stiffened as he slowly fell to the ground.

No breath remained.

Dead!

[NEXT CHAPTER]

DIV Chapter 48: A New Favor

Zheng Qingqing gave her conditions.

As long as Li Chang'an was willing to become a guest elder, she would help Li Chang'an enter the Zheng family's library and freely select a wood-attribute cultivation technique.

The Eternal Spring Technique that Li Chang'an currently practiced was really too ordinary.

Even among low-grade techniques, it was considered inferior, not much better than defective techniques. It provided little help to his cultivation and was even somewhat of a hindrance.

If he could obtain a better technique, his efficiency in absorbing spiritual energy would greatly increase, and his cultivation speed would be faster.

"The Zheng family's library should have mid-grade wood-attribute techniques," Li Chang'an thought.

He had to admit he was somewhat tempted but he still refused.

"Thank you for your kind offer, Young Miss, but I truly lack the capacity to take on the duties of a guest elder."

"Since Fellow Daoist Li is unwilling, I won't force it," Zheng Qingqing smiled brightly, her tone remaining gentle.

She had expected this.

Coming here today wasn't really to make Li Chang'an a guest elder, but to discuss a business deal.

"Fellow Daoist Li, I wonder how many mid-grade talismans you can draw each month?"

"This..." Li Chang'an thought briefly, then said, "Currently my magical power is somewhat weak, so I can't draw many."

After some discussion, Zheng Qingqing proposed a trade.

Going forward, Li Chang'an would steadily provide the Zheng family with a batch of mid-grade talismans each month, and the Zheng family would pay according to market prices.

This was equivalent to Li Chang'an having a fixed sales channel.

Of course he wouldn't refuse.

Before signing the trade contract, to verify his talisman-drawing ability, he directly drew a mid-grade "Wind Escape Talisman" in front of Zheng Qingqing.

Afterward, both parties signed the contract.

This contract placed very loose constraints on Li Chang'an. Even if he couldn't provide talismans on time, it wouldn't matter much, and he could unilaterally break the contract at any time.

This made him very satisfied.

"Now that the spirit contract is formed, I won't disturb Fellow Daoist Li any further," Zheng Qingqing smiled charmingly, put away the spirit contract, and took her leave.

...

After returning, she handed that Wind Escape Talisman to Zheng Ling'er.

"Ling'er, Li Chang'an's talisman skills have indeed broken through. He's become a mid-grade talisman master."

"He actually broke through?" Zheng Ling'er was surprised, looking at that Wind Escape Talisman.

No matter what, skills couldn't be faked.

Zheng Qingqing smiled, "Ling'er, if you're looking for someone to entrust your life to, Li Chang'an is actually a very good choice."

"But... but he ultimately lacks the potential for Foundation Establishment..." Zheng Ling'er's heart was conflicted, her ten fingers all twisted together.

...

For the following period, Li Chang'an's cultivation was relatively peaceful.

Perhaps due to Zheng Qingqing's intimidation, neither Zheng Lingfeng nor Zheng Jinbao came to trouble him again.

Before he knew it, a month had passed.

"It's time for the agreed trade with the Zheng family," Li Chang'an calculated the time and had already prepared a batch of mid-grade talismans.

According to the agreement, for the first trade, Zheng Qingqing would personally come to collect them.

At this moment, Zheng Qingqing hadn't arrived yet, but another female cultivator had come to his door.

Liu Yue!

She had slender eyes and brows, slightly pursed vermillion lips, and a graceful figure, carefully dressed up.

During this period, Liu Yue had thought for a long time.

"Although Li Chang'an doesn't have mid-grade talisman inheritance, being able to live in this area clearly shows he has considerable ability, and he's much younger than Luo Kun..."

As long as she could become dao companions with Li Chang'an, she could share this cultivation spiritual land with him.

Although he was somewhat rigid, Liu Yue was quite confident in her own charm.

Just then, a familiar voice appeared by Liu Yue's ear.

"Fellow Daoist Liu, do you also have business with Fellow Daoist Li?"

Liu Yue was startled and looked toward the voice.

The speaker was none other than the Zheng family's young miss, Zheng Qingqing.

"Young Miss," Liu Yue immediately adopted a respectful demeanor.

She thought about the word "also" in Zheng Qingqing's words, and her heart immediately filled with disbelief.

"Young Miss, you're also here to see Li Chang'an?"

Liu Yue really couldn't imagine what business the Zheng family's young miss could have with Li Chang'an. The disparity in their strength and status was too great.

"Fellow Daoist Li and I have a prior arrangement," Zheng Qingqing smiled without explaining further.

She then came to the courtyard gate and knocked.

Inside the house, Li Chang'an heard the sound, got up, and went outside to open the gate.

What surprised him was that outside the gate were not only Zheng Qingqing, but also Liu Yue.

"Young Miss, Fellow Daoist Liu," Li Chang'an cupped his hands and invited both women into the courtyard.

Afterward, according to their agreement, he handed the prepared first-tier mid-grade talismans to Zheng Qingqing.

"Young Miss, these are this month's talismans. Please count them."

"No need, I trust Fellow Daoist Li," Zheng Qingqing's expression was gentle as she took the talismans with her fair hands and handed Li Chang'an the spirit stones for purchasing the talismans.

Seeing this scene, Liu Yue's mouth opened slightly as she stared at those talismans in shock.

With her talisman accomplishments, she could naturally see that the talismans in this transaction were not low-grade talismans at all!

In other words, Li Chang'an could already draw mid-grade talismans!

His talisman skills were far higher than what he had shown publicly!

"Fellow Daoist Li, you... you're already a mid-grade talisman master?" Liu Yue's beautiful eyes flickered as she looked at Li Chang'an, unable to help asking.

Li Chang'an smiled and nodded, "I was fortunate to obtain a mid-grade talisman inheritance and just broke through recently."

Hearing him admit it personally, Liu Yue was even more shocked, and many of her doubts were instantly resolved.

No wonder Li Chang'an could live in this area rich in spiritual energy.

The talent he now displayed was much stronger than that old man Luo Kun!

Worth the Zheng family's courting.

"By the way, Fellow Daoist Liu, I wonder what brings you here?" Li Chang'an put away the spirit stones and looked at Liu Yue.

"I..." Liu Yue's thoughts raced as she answered, "I've recently had many doubts about the talisman path. I came today to discuss them with Fellow Daoist Li."

"I see," Li Chang'an nodded slightly, seeming to believe her.

But he was clear in his heart.

Previously, he hadn't displayed mid-grade talisman skills.

If this Liu Yue had doubts about the talisman path, it would be better for her to find Luo Kun next door. What use would finding him be?

Not long after, Zheng Qingqing took her leave.

Before leaving, she looked at Liu Yue meaningfully.

"Fellow Daoist Li, my previous promise to you still stands. As long as you change your mind, I can introduce you to a Zheng family clan woman with spiritual roots at any time."

She suddenly spoke to Li Chang'an about this matter.

Li Chang'an was startled.

He politely said, "Thank you for your regard, Young Miss, but I truly don't have such thoughts right now."

Hearing this, Zheng Qingqing smiled and said no more, turning to leave the courtyard.

In the courtyard, Liu Yue looked incredulous.

"Fellow Daoist Li, the Zheng family plans to recruit you as a son-in-law?"

"Mm, the Young Miss has already introduced one to me."

Hearing him say this, Liu Yue found it even more unbelievable.

She had already been introduced to one.

Looking at the current situation, Li Chang'an clearly hadn't agreed.

"Many rogue cultivators outside want to cross the Zheng family's threshold and can only marry ordinary Zheng family women without spiritual roots, not daring to hope for Zheng family clan women with spiritual roots... yet Li Chang'an actually refused!"

Thinking of this, Liu Yue immediately felt somewhat defeated.

Li Chang'an didn't even think highly of Zheng family clan women with spiritual roots. Would he think highly of her?

Afterward, Liu Yue began asking about talisman skills.

She did everything she could, trying to make Li Chang'an look at her more.

But Li Chang'an remained rigid throughout, only discussing talismans and giving her no opportunities whatsoever.

In the end, Liu Yue had no choice but to leave.

...

Over the following months, Li Chang'an's trade with the Zheng family proceeded smoothly.

During this period, Liu Yue came several times, but each time Li Chang'an casually found reasons to send her away.

News of Li Chang'an becoming a mid-grade talisman master also gradually spread throughout the market.

Many people were quite surprised when they heard this news.

The most surprised was none other than Luo Kun, who lived next door.

"That kid actually has mid-grade talisman inheritance, and advanced so quickly?"

Hearing this news, Luo Kun was stunned for a long time.

He had once said that Li Chang'an was too rigid and wouldn't achieve much in the talisman path.

But Li Chang'an said nothing, only using his own strength to respond to his past words.

Thinking of this, Luo Kun felt stifled in his heart, and even drinking had no flavor.

"That kid actually hid so deeply. No wonder the Zheng family values him."

In the cultivation world, being young represented potential.

Li Chang'an was decades younger than him!

It was normal for the Zheng family to value Li Chang'an more.

But Luo Kun refused to accept his age and secretly became competitive.

"Hmph, this old man will definitely draw high-quality mid-grade talismans before he does."

High-quality talismans of every grade were more valuable than ordinary talismans of that grade, and much more difficult to create.

Luo Kun was confident that his understanding of the talisman path was deeper.

He would definitely be able to draw high-quality ones before Li Chang'an.

...

During this time, Li Chang'an paid no attention to outside reactions.

He maintained focus, daily rotating between cultivation, drawing talismans, and crafting puppets, never wasting any time.

"Under the borrowing technique state, the success rate for drawing first-tier superior-grade talismans has exceeded eighty percent," Li Chang'an thought silently.

Such a success rate was already quite remarkable.

At this moment, a new divination appeared before his eyes.

[Divination has been refreshed]

[Today's Divination: Auspicious]

[You go to the black market to sell talismans. Midway, you discover that Zheng family elder "Zheng Songhе" and his granddaughter "Zheng Ling'er" are being ambushed by two late-stage Qi Refining experts. You save them in passing and gain the Zheng family's favor]

"A Zheng family favor?" Li Chang'an's heart stirred.

If he gained this favor, could he enter the Zheng family's library?

[NEXT CHAPTER]

DIV Chapter 47: The Young Miss Comes Calling

"Don't be anxious, speak slowly about whatever it is," Zheng Qingqing said in a gentle tone with a smile.

Zheng Ming took a deep breath.

Then he began recounting what he had experienced in the secret realm.

When he mentioned that Xu Fugui had used a large number of mid-grade talismans, Zheng Qingqing was slightly startled, a trace of surprise flashing in her beautiful eyes.

"Are you trying to say that Xu Fugui's talismans were given to him by Li Chang'an?"

"I..." Zheng Ming's speech faltered.

He hadn't yet had time to voice his speculation when Zheng Qingqing spoke first.

"Young Miss, I think it should be like that," he nodded, then continued.

"I've known Xu Fugui for a long time. He doesn't know any skills, hasn't had any great opportunities, and has been cheated several times buying secret realm treasure boxes. His pockets are cleaner than his face. He simply can't afford to buy so many mid-grade talismans."

"Good, I understand," Zheng Qingqing nodded slightly, looking thoughtful.

After a moment, she bestowed several bottles of pills and a low-grade magical artifact upon Zheng Ming.

"I know you're unwilling to be mediocre for life, which is why you venture out to take risks. But the outside world is far more cruel than within the clan. You should be more careful."

"Thank you, Young Miss!" Zheng Ming was overjoyed, expressing his thanks repeatedly.

The several bottles of pills already met his psychological expectations. The magical artifact was an unexpected delight.

Afterward, he left happily with this harvest.

Zheng Qingqing's bright eyes were like water as she glanced in the direction of Li Chang'an's residence.

"I originally thought that Li Chang'an had no subsequent talisman inheritance, and would sooner or later come seeking me for a legacy."

But what Zheng Ming had just recounted made Zheng Qingqing understand that Li Chang'an was hiding much deeper than she had imagined!

"To think he's already become a mid-grade talisman master," Zheng Qingqing sighed softly, gently smoothing the surprise in her heart.

This Li Chang'an always managed to exceed her expectations, causing her to misjudge repeatedly.

Beside her, Zheng Ling'er found this hard to believe.

She blinked her large eyes, a trace of confusion appearing on her cheeks.

"Sister Qingqing, why do you judge him to be a mid-grade talisman master? Couldn't those mid-grade talismans have been bought by him? Or perhaps Xu Fugui simply had an opportunity?"

"Hmm, I plan to go ask him," Zheng Qingqing stood up, lightly arranging her cloud-like hair, preparing to go out.

She glanced at Zheng Ling'er and asked with a smile, "Ling'er, would you like to come with me?"

"I..." Zheng Ling'er's expression changed several times.

She lowered her head, her voice as quiet as a mosquito's buzz, "Sister Qingqing, I won't go. It's not my business anyway."

"Very well, focus on your cultivation," Zheng Qingqing spoke gently, not forcing her.

...

At this moment, two guests had arrived at Li Chang'an's residence.

One of them was Zheng Jinbao.

His visit truly exceeded Li Chang'an's expectations.

As for the other person, Li Chang'an was somewhat unfamiliar with him.

"Steward Zheng, this person is..." he looked at the young cultivator beside Zheng Jinbao.

Zheng Jinbao forced a smile and introduced him.

"This is Young Master Zheng Lingfeng. He is also an administrator of this Qinghe Market, but he usually focuses on cultivation and rarely appears in public."

"So it's the Second Young Master," Li Chang'an realized, roughly guessing the origin of that Shadow Chasing Puppet.

Within the Zheng family, the ranking of the younger generation didn't depend on age, but only on talent and strength.

Therefore, Zheng Lingfeng and Zheng Qingqing were not biological siblings.

The reason he was called Second Young Master was because his talent and strength were second only to Zheng Qingqing's, ranking second among the younger generation.

"I wonder what brings you both here today?"

"It's about Zheng Jinbao's matter!" Zheng Lingfeng's tone was indifferent as he spoke directly.

Beside him, Zheng Jinbao's entire body trembled.

More than ten days ago, after that Shadow Chasing Puppet entered Li Chang'an's courtyard, it never came back out.

At that time, he felt as if he had fallen into an abyss.

He knew that puppet must have met its end at Li Chang'an's hands but he had no way to deal with it.

He dared neither to go ask Li Chang'an to return it, nor tell Zheng Lingfeng the truth. He could only inquire everywhere, planning to spare no expense to buy a new Shadow Chasing Puppet to return to Zheng Lingfeng.

However, neither the market nor the black market had Shadow Chasing Puppets for sale.

With no choice, he had to ask someone to inquire at Yellow Crane Immortal City.

But... before news from the immortal city could return, Zheng Lingfeng had come knocking, demanding he return the Shadow Chasing Puppet.

In the end, he really couldn't hide it anymore and had to tell the truth.

"What a waste!" Zheng Lingfeng was furious upon learning the truth.

After that, he brought Zheng Jinbao directly to find Li Chang'an.

"Li Chang'an, I heard you had a conflict with Zheng Jinbao?"

"A conflict?" Li Chang'an showed surprise on his face.

He thought briefly, then realized, "That was all years ago. It wasn't much of a conflict, and I've long since reconciled with Steward Zheng."

"Is that so?" Zheng Lingfeng's gaze was cold as he looked at Zheng Jinbao.

Zheng Jinbao lowered his head, fearful in his heart.

Li Chang'an continued, "Yes, over these years, Steward Zheng has taken great care of me, treating me like a nephew. I've long forgotten those past unpleasantries."

Hearing this, Zheng Lingfeng frowned.

He didn't beat around the bush, saying coldly, "If that's the case, return my Shadow Chasing Puppet!"

"What puppet?" Li Chang'an looked puzzled.

He had already prepared his explanation.

However, before he could continue, a pleasant voice rang out from the doorway.

"The Shadow Chasing Puppet is one of the protective treasures bestowed upon him by the family head. This puppet can track enemies based on their scent."

Zheng Qingqing appeared at the door with a smile in her eyes.

Li Chang'an immediately cupped his hands, "Greetings, Young Miss!"

Zheng Qingqing nodded slightly, entered the courtyard, and looked at Zheng Lingfeng.

Her gaze was very gentle, seemingly without any intimidating force.

But Zheng Lingfeng's imposing manner instantly diminished by half, and his voice became much quieter.

"Sister Qingqing."

"Lingfeng, this Fellow Daoist Li is my good friend. You must not make things difficult for him."

"But..." Zheng Lingfeng gritted his teeth, wanting to say something more.

But facing Zheng Qingqing's gaze, he really couldn't bring himself to speak.

In the end, he could only give up.

No matter how unwilling he was, he could only leave with Zheng Jinbao.

After he left, Li Chang'an cupped his hands to thank Zheng Qingqing.

"Thank you, Young Miss!"

"It's a small matter," Zheng Qingqing laughed lightly. She knew about the grievances between Li Chang'an and Zheng Jinbao.

Today's scene required no explanation. She had already roughly guessed the specific situation.

"If Fellow Daoist Li truly wants to thank me, then become a guest elder of my Zheng family."

"This..." Li Chang'an was startled.

"But my talisman skills..."

"Fellow Daoist Li need not hide anymore," Zheng Qingqing smiled warmly and recounted what had happened in the secret realm.

After hearing it, Li Chang'an understood.

"So that's how it is."

The exposure of mid-grade talisman skills wasn't a big deal anyway.

After all, he had already mastered superior-grade talisman skills.

Looking at the time span, his current mastery of mid-grade skills, while slightly fast, was still within the normal range.

Regarding what Zheng Qingqing said about becoming a guest elder, Li Chang'an didn't think much about it and politely declined.

"Young Miss, I'm currently focused on cultivation and truly don't wish to expend energy on other matters."

"Fellow Daoist Li, there's no need to refuse hastily," Zheng Qingqing said gently.

"The cultivation technique you practice is just the most ordinary Eternal Spring Technique, isn't it?"

[NEXT CHAPTER]

DIV Chapter 46: The Shock of the Zheng Family Descendants

The next day, early morning.

Li Chang'an had already finished dismantling the Shadow Chasing Puppet.

He studied the spiritual patterns on the materials for a while and found them too complex.

"I can understand the outermost spiritual patterns, but the deeper ones are too difficult. This core region's spiritual patterns are especially complex. Could this be the reason I can't control it?" Li Chang'an pondered.

In the end, for safety's sake, he stored the puppet's core components in a separate storage bag.

The external materials had their spiritual patterns erased by him, returning them to a drawable state.

"If I want to craft a high-quality defensive puppet, the materials are still insufficient. I still need to make a trip to the black market." Li Chang'an thought.

He didn't set out immediately.

Instead, he waited until evening. After the divination refreshed and showed "Auspicious," he used earth escape to leave.

Not long after, he bought enough puppet materials and returned to the market.

"In the coming days, I'll focus on crafting this defensive puppet."

...

More than ten days later.

In front of Li Chang'an stood a puppet with a completely black body, similar in build to himself.

This was exactly the first-tier superior-grade defensive puppet he had crafted by hand after countless failures.

"This puppet is of excellent quality, much better than the turtle puppet. It can continuously withstand Big Yellow's attacks."

Big Yellow's strength was equivalent to a human cultivator at the late stage of Qi Refining.

Li Chang'an was very satisfied with this.

Although this puppet couldn't be called high-quality, among ordinary first-tier superior-grade puppets, it was extremely good.

Additionally, Li Chang'an had also created a superior-grade puppet that excelled in speed.

This puppet was mainly used for tracking enemies.

After all, he couldn't always rely on Big Yellow.

There was only one Big Yellow, and it couldn't be in multiple places at once.

"I have both defensive and speed puppets now. I still lack an attack puppet, but there's no rush. I'll save some spirit stones." Li Chang'an thought.

For attacks, he could temporarily make up for it with superior-grade talismans.

...

At the same time, within the secret realm.

Xu Fugui encountered the greatest danger of his life.

This danger didn't come from the secret realm, but from human cultivators.

A group of robber cultivators had blocked his path and that of several companions.

"Heh heh, a few fat sheep at the early-stage of Qi Refining."

This group of robber cultivators wasn't particularly strong in general membership, but their leader had cultivation at the fourth layer of Qi Refining.

His strength alone was enough to crush Xu Fugui and the others.

"Fugui, what should we do?"

Several companions showed panic on their faces.

"I don't know either..."

Xu Fugui was the same, appearing flustered and at a loss.

However, he remained calm inside, secretly gripping a talisman tightly.

"Big Brother Li said this talisman is for killing enemies."

Xu Fugui felt nervous.

Could this talisman kill an expert at the fourth layer of Qi Refining?

Ahead, the robber leader saw how panicked Xu Fugui and the others were and immediately relaxed, sneering, "Hand over all the valuables on you, and I might consider sparing..."

Before he finished speaking, a golden light suddenly blazed in front of him.

Mid-grade talisman, Golden Blade Talisman!

"Not good!"

The robber leader's face changed dramatically.

Terrifying golden radiance arrived in an instant, spiritual power surging, slashing down on him.

"Swish!"

His body trembled.

The entire person was split in two, cut into two pieces, falling to the ground.

Everything happened too quickly.

Only now did the other robber cultivators react.

"Not good, retreat quickly!"

They showed horror on their faces, about to retreat.

But in the next instant, several more golden blade lights appeared.

Like brilliant golden blades cutting through the sky, carrying incomparably sharp momentum, they instantly enveloped the entire robber group.

"Ahhh!"

From within that golden light came only a few screams, then silence.

Moments later, the golden light dispersed.

No living person remained on the spot, only a pile of shattered flesh and blood.

"These talismans... actually have such great power!"

Xu Fugui's heart was shaken, his hands trembling slightly.

Beside him, several companions had long been shocked speechless.

Each one seemed frozen in place, staring dazedly at the corpses of those robber cultivators.

After a long while, one of them finally spoke.

He opened his mouth, looking at Xu Fugui with disbelief.

"Fugui, where did you get the spirit stones to buy so many mid-grade talismans?"

Just now, Xu Fugui had thrown mid-grade talismans as if they cost nothing.

This truly shocked him.

"What mid-grade talismans? I was using low-grade talismans, wasn't I?"

Hearing this, Xu Fugui began to play dumb.

He knew Li Chang'an didn't want to be exposed, so he had already thought of excuses to deal with these companions.

"You don't know?"

That person was dumbstruck.

He pointed at that bloody pile of remains, his finger trembling.

"The Golden Blade Talisman you just released is one of the most lethal talismans among mid-grade talismans!"

"What?"

Xu Fugui deliberately showed a shocked expression.

He opened his mouth wide, staring blankly at that bloody scene.

"The talismans I picked up in that cave dwelling before were actually mid-grade talismans?"

"These talismans were all picked up by you?"

Several companions were all dumbfounded, hardly daring to believe it.

At this time, Xu Fugui urged, "Stop talking, let's go quickly!"

"Right, right, let's leave the secret realm first!"

...

That evening, Xu Fugui's group finally returned to the market.

"Fugui, thank you so much for this time."

Thinking of their previous encounter, everyone still felt lingering fear.

They expressed their thanks, then said their goodbyes and departed separately.

Although they felt there was something wrong with the origin of Xu Fugui's talismans, they didn't probe to the bottom of it.

After all, everyone had their own secrets.

"This matter should be covered up."

Xu Fugui watched the others leave, thinking silently to himself.

...

What Xu Fugui didn't know was that among his previous companions, one person was hurrying toward the center of the market.

That person's surname was Zheng, named Zheng Ming.

He was a descendant of the Zheng family!

Due to his poor talent, his spiritual roots were only "inferior spiritual roots."

The Zheng family didn't plan to cultivate him, only requiring him to take several concubines and have many children to continue the family bloodline.

To put it bluntly, they treated him as a tool for spreading their bloodline.

But he wasn't willing to accept this.

That kind of life of debauchery and embracing wives and concubines, was that what he wanted?

His heart was set on the immortal path, so he joined Xu Fugui's team of rogue cultivators, following them to venture through secret realms and seek opportunities.

At this moment, the reason Zheng Ming was hurrying toward the market center was to inform Zheng Qingqing of something.

"Those mid-grade talismans on Xu Fugui were most likely given to him by his big brother Li Chang'an! Li Chang'an probably became a mid-grade talisman master long ago, just keeping it hidden..."

The more Zheng Ming thought about it, the more shocked he felt.

Becoming a mid-grade talisman master so quickly indicated strong talent in the talisman arts.

Worth the Zheng family's courting!

"I must quickly tell the young miss this news. Maybe the young miss will reward me with some treasures."

He hurried to the outside of Zheng Qingqing's residence and knocked on the courtyard door.

Then he called out urgently, "Young Miss, I have important matters to report!"

[NEXT CHAPTER]

DIV Chapter 45: Puppet Materials Delivered to the Door

"Strange, the patterns on this component are already carved, so why can't it conduct magical power?" Li Chang'an was puzzled, his face full of confusion.

"Where did it go wrong?" He fiddled with the component for a while and finally discovered his error, correcting it promptly.

Before he knew it, most of the day had passed. Li Chang'an had only successfully crafted three components, while a large pile of wasted precious materials had accumulated beside him.

He felt some heartache over the spirit stones but didn't give up.

"As long as I succeed, no matter how much material is wasted, it's worth it," Li Chang'an glanced at the discarded materials, then gathered his thoughts, focused intently, and continued crafting the remaining components.

Time flew by, and several more days passed. After wasting a large quantity of precious materials, a turtle puppet half a person's height finally took shape!

"This puppet barely crosses the threshold of first-tier superior-grade puppets," Li Chang'an looked at the puppet with a slightly furrowed brow, not entirely satisfied.

He wasn't dissatisfied with his skills. After all, the success of this turtle puppet meant his skills had reached the requirements of a first-tier superior-grade puppet master.

However, this turtle puppet's defensive capabilities didn't meet his expectations. It could barely block Big Yellow's attacks but couldn't withstand them for long. After a slightly longer period, cracks would appear in the surface materials and it would begin to collapse.

"It's a problem with the puppet materials. I need to gather some precious materials specifically for crafting defensive puppets," Li Chang'an pondered.

Thinking about materials made his heart ache. He would need to spend quite a few spirit stones again.

However, as long as the crafted puppet could perfectly withstand attacks from late-stage Qi Refining cultivators, it would be worthwhile.

Before he knew it, it was already midnight. The divination appeared before Li Chang'an as usual.

[Divination has been refreshed]

[Today's Divination: Auspicious]

[Zheng Jinbao deploys a "Shadow Chasing Puppet" planning to eliminate you completely, but that puppet ultimately gets trapped and falls into your hands]

Shadow Chasing Puppet? Li Chang'an was somewhat surprised, his eyes scanning through the divination content.

He had heard of this type of puppet.

"It's said this type of puppet requires no control and can actively hunt based on aura. Though only a first-tier puppet, it can only be crafted by puppet masters of second-tier or above."

The puppet inheritance Li Chang'an had obtained didn't include the crafting method for such puppets. The market and black market didn't sell such puppets either.

This was why he was surprised.

"Where did Zheng Jinbao get this Shadow Chasing Puppet?" Could he have exchanged it from within the Zheng family? Li Chang'an pondered for a moment.

"Forget it, regardless of where he got it, once it enters my courtyard, it's mine!" He immediately began preparing.

Though the divination indicated auspiciousness, he couldn't be careless. After all, Shadow Chasing Puppets had quite a reputation.

"Since it hunts based on aura, my crafted superior-grade talisman Phantom Body Talisman will be useful."

The Phantom Body Talisman was a higher-tier version of the mid-grade Image Retention Talisman. It could not only create phantom images but also phantom auras.

At this moment, outside Li Chang'an's residence, Zheng Jinbao was gritting his teeth, staring fixedly at the courtyard gate.

"What's wrong with this damned Li Chang'an? Is he really like a turtle?" Since he hadn't found an opportunity all along, the Shadow Chasing Puppet in his hands had been unused.

The Shadow Chasing Puppet wasn't his own after all. During this period, Zheng Lingfeng had already urged him twice to return the puppet promptly.

"No, I can't wait any longer. I'll act tonight!" Zheng Jinbao steeled himself.

He spent a large quantity of spirit stones to purchase a full ten Prohibition Breaking Talismans. More would be useless since the power stacking of these talismans had an upper limit.

"The combined power of so many Prohibition Breaking Talismans could easily break even first-tier superior-grade formations!" Zheng Jinbao stuffed all these talismans into the Shadow Chasing Puppet.

Subsequently, he took out a hoe and several baskets. These items had been used by Li Chang'an when he tended spiritual fields for the Zheng family and still retained his aura.

"Remember this person's aura and kill him!" Zheng Jinbao instructed the Shadow Chasing Puppet.

The Shadow Chasing Puppet nodded stiffly, its form flickered, and it headed straight for Li Chang'an's small courtyard.

Under Zheng Jinbao's expectant gaze, it leaped directly into the courtyard.

At almost the same moment, Li Chang'an detected formation fluctuations.

"It's here!" His true body had already hidden underground, leaving only a puppet body in the courtyard.

At this moment, that Shadow Chasing Puppet had been trapped within the formation. The ten Prohibition Breaking Talismans on its body were activated simultaneously, immediately releasing brilliant golden light.

Countless burning golden patterns outlined a golden giant hand that grasped toward the surrounding void with alarming power, as if it wanted to completely tear apart the entire Cloud Mist Hidden Kill Formation!

Li Chang'an didn't just watch idly. He vaguely sensed the formation was approaching its limit.

"Strike!" he shouted coldly.

The Green Light Sword unsheathed, transforming into a phantom that instantly slashed toward that golden giant hand. Big Yellow was also casting spells to weaken the giant hand's power.

Simultaneously, that Shadow Chasing Puppet roared and charged straight toward Li Chang'an's puppet body.

Li Chang'an's form flickered as he threw out a Phantom Body Talisman. A phantom body immediately appeared in place.

"Boom!" The Shadow Chasing Puppet struck the phantom body, only causing ripples to appear. It didn't see through the deception and continued attacking.

"This puppet has no one controlling it, so it's still somewhat stupid. As long as one prepares targeted countermeasures, it can be dealt with."

Moments later, the Shadow Chasing Puppet finally noticed the problem. It changed direction and continued pursuing Li Chang'an's puppet body.

Li Chang'an continuously threw out Phantom Body Talismans, interfering with its judgment and consuming its magical power.

Before long, the golden giant hand formed by the ten Prohibition Breaking Talismans dissipated. The formation stabilized again.

After another incense stick's worth of time, the Shadow Chasing Puppet's attacks began to slow. Due to excessive magical power consumption without replenishment, it became increasingly weak.

Finally, the Shadowless Net descended from above. It was trapped in the net, unable to attack anymore, and could only be slaughtered by Li Chang'an.

"Can this thing be used by me?" Li Chang'an's thoughts stirred as he erased Zheng Jinbao's mark left on this puppet.

Subsequently, he tried to refine it. But he was never able to leave his own mark. Moreover, this puppet still showed extreme aggression toward him, occasionally emitting roaring sounds.

"Strange, could there be other control methods?" Li Chang'an pondered for a long time.

His puppet crafting skills were already quite remarkable, yet he couldn't control this puppet at all. No matter how he tried, he failed.

In the end, he had to give up.

"Forget it, since it can't be used by me, I'll just dismantle it into materials!"

Li Chang'an immediately took action.

After all, he happened to lack materials, and the quality of materials used in this puppet was quite good.

Outside, Zheng Jinbao was still waiting anxiously.

"How is there no commotion at all? Could it have failed?"

[NEXT CHAPTER]

DIV Chapter 44: Breakthrough, Superior-Grade Talismans!

Li Chang'an focused intently, sitting cross-legged before his desk. He held the talisman brush in his hand, slowly drawing complex patterns on the talisman paper.

The entire room was silent, so quiet he could hear his own breathing.

Suddenly, Li Chang'an's brow furrowed slightly as he stopped drawing.

"Failed."

A wisp of blue smoke rose from the talisman paper, and the patterns drawn on it slowly lost their spiritual essence. Spiritual power dissipated, turning it into waste paper!

This attempt was quite unsuccessful, with the entire talisman less than twenty percent complete.

"This time, my magical power is still somewhat insufficient. Though the Mysterious Water Turtle can lend me power, his magical power isn't deep enough either," Li Chang'an looked at the talisman paper and quietly reflected.

At its root, it was still a problem of magical power.

In the past, to deal with insufficient magical power, he would prepare several recovery pills in his mouth beforehand. However, the action of swallowing pills, though minimal, would still distract a trace of his concentration, and a moment's carelessness could lead to drawing errors.

Now, with the Mysterious Water Turtle, perhaps he no longer needed to do that.

"I can have the Mysterious Water Turtle swallow pills to recover his magical power, then lend it to me," Li Chang'an pondered.

This method should work.

He had the Mysterious Water Turtle cancel the power-lending talent and swallow some magical power recovery pills.

One person and one turtle rested for about half an hour, both recovering to peak condition.

Subsequently, Li Chang'an placed more pills and water element treasures in front of the Mysterious Water Turtle.

He instructed, "Try to keep your magical power at peak state. If it drops slightly, immediately swallow pills or treasures to recover."

The Mysterious Water Turtle was very intelligent and nodded repeatedly, indicating he understood.

"Good, let's try again!" Li Chang'an took a deep breath.

Gripping the talisman brush, he attempted once more.

The brush tip stained with spiritual ink slowly moved across the talisman paper, leaving deep patterns.

Gradually, Li Chang'an's complexion began to pale, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. An indescribable sense of fatigue slowly rose in his heart, but he still gritted his teeth and persisted.

Suddenly, his hand holding the brush paused.

"Hiss..." A wisp of blue smoke rose from the talisman paper.

Failed again.

Li Chang'an frowned and looked at the talisman beneath his brush. This attempt was more complete than the last, roughly half finished.

"This time, magical power barely sufficed, and mental strength was adequate. Though somewhat fatigued, I hadn't reached my limit," Li Chang'an silently pondered, recalling the previous talisman drawing scenes.

"The failure was probably due to insufficient proficiency."

The inheritance content regarding first-tier superior-grade talismans in the jade slip was already thoroughly memorized. But having only attempted twice, failure was normal.

Many geniuses only appeared brilliant on the surface, who knew how many times they had failed behind the scenes?

"Can't rush it, take it slow," Li Chang'an's mood remained peaceful.

"These two attempts at drawing Profound Sword Talismans were attack-type talismans. Perhaps I should try the escape-type Wind Shadow Talisman."

This Wind Shadow Talisman was a higher-tier replacement for the low-grade talisman Wind Speed Talisman and mid-grade talisman Wind Escape Talisman.

Since Li Chang'an frequently drew escape talismans, he was particularly skilled with these two types. He could draw them even with his eyes closed.

"My proficiency with escape talismans far exceeds other talismans," Li Chang'an thought and made his decision.

He wasn't hasty and continued adjusting his condition, resting with the Mysterious Water Turtle for about two hours.

Subsequently, he entered the power-lending state, held his talisman brush, and began slowly drawing.

This time, he drew very smoothly, flowing like clouds and water with natural ease. The patterns on the talisman paper became increasingly complete.

Before long, Li Chang'an's face showed joy as he stopped his brush, looking at the completed talisman on the desk.

"Talisman crafting skills have finally broken through!"

This Wind Shadow Talisman was perfect without the slightest flaw. This meant his talisman crafting skills had officially advanced, making him a first-tier superior-grade talisman master!

"This power-lending technique is truly remarkable. My investment of so many spirit stones in cultivating the Mysterious Water Turtle wasn't in vain!" Li Chang'an smiled, his mood excellent.

One must know that first-tier superior-grade talisman crafting skills were already at the pinnacle in Qinghe Market. The entire Qinghe Market had no second-tier talisman masters.

After all, if one had second-tier skills, why would they remain in the market? Going to Yellow Crane Immortal City would make earning spirit stones easier.

Moreover, drawing second-tier talismans required higher magical power that even most late-stage Qi Refining cultivators could barely support.

"A first-tier superior-grade talisman master would be treated with courtesy even by the Zheng family," Li Chang'an suddenly felt somewhat emotional.

Unknowingly, he had reached this step. His current achievements were beyond what he had dared to imagine in the past.

"The road ahead is still long, I mustn't be proud," Li Chang'an secretly warned himself.

A superior-grade talisman master was merely a small step on his cultivation path.

"First, let me consolidate my superior-grade talisman skills and see what the actual success rate is," Li Chang'an rested briefly, then continued attempting.

The next two talisman drawing attempts both ended in failure. His expression remained unchanged, having expected this.

Over the following days, Li Chang'an continued attempting. He failed many times, consuming considerable talisman paper and spiritual ink.

Overall, his success rate for drawing first-tier superior-grade talismans was roughly thirty percent. Not particularly high, but as his proficiency deepened, the success rate was gradually increasing.

"After practicing for some more time, the success rate should stabilize above fifty percent," Li Chang'an was confident, feeling his skills improving.

Through continuous attempts, he discovered that not only were his skills improving, but he and the turtle were becoming more synchronized.

"This is a good thing," Li Chang'an smiled.

The higher the synchronization between spiritual beast and master, the better. Greater synchronization meant closer bonds.

He had heard that some spiritual beasts had extremely poor relationships with their masters, often being beaten and scolded, harboring resentment, and eventually willing to endure spiritual contract backlash just to harm their masters.

"The Mysterious Water Turtle and Big Yellow probably wouldn't do such things," Li Chang'an felt he treated both spiritual beasts well and wouldn't cause them to harbor resentment.

After several more days, Li Chang'an temporarily stopped drawing talismans. As he had predicted, his success rate for drawing first-tier superior-grade talismans had stabilized above fifty percent.

"This success rate is basically sufficient. In the days ahead, I still need to slowly refine my talisman crafting skills," Li Chang'an put away the tools needed for drawing talismans.

"Now let's see if I can breakthrough in puppet crafting," his thoughts stirred.

A large quantity of materials for making puppet components appeared before him.

"Humanoid puppets are quite difficult to make. For now, let me try something simple."

As usual, Li Chang'an planned to start with the simple ones. He intended to craft a turtle puppet skilled in defense.

"The structure of a turtle puppet isn't complex. The main issue lies in its flexibility," Li Chang'an began contemplating.

Combining content from the superior-grade puppet inheritance, he gradually formed a specific structure in his mind.

About the time it takes to burn an incense stick later, he selected materials and began crafting.

Superior-grade puppets were far more difficult than mid-grade ones. Just making the most ordinary components, Li Chang'an failed multiple times.

[NEXT CHAPTER]