Chapter 10: Benefits of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood
Translator: WQL Editor: Geoffrey
The next week was peaceful. Zhang Tie and the other members of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood familiarized with one another. Thankfully, none of the other members in the brotherhood did any manual single-cylinder piston movements at school any more. The change might be attributed to their promise to Zhang Tie or the risk of being caught doing that movement. Although Zhang Tie was still very weak, he was already satisfied by being able to protect Miss Daina this way. In comparison, Glaze, who would always bully the weak at the school cafeteria, was still arrogant; however, he truly had to strength to do that. In the test organized by the school last week, Glaze almost broke all the records made by the students at the school. His records made all the other male students desperate. The differences between a Lv 2 professional fighter and an average person could easily be seen.
Zhang Tie was happy that he was not the one who had his spot in the line stolen by Glaze in the cafeteria. Including Zhang Tie, Glaze brought a huge pressure to everybody. Zhang Tie thought to himself everyday about what would he do in the future if someone wanted to destroy something that he wanted to protect but didn't have the strength to overcome them. This huge pressure made Zhang Tie very lively. Besides training hard and learning at school, he also tried to save time to strengthen himself when he returned home. For Zhang Tie, the earlier he could light the meditation flame in the shrine, the earlier he could protect himself.
In reality, every undergraduate boy at the Seventh National Middle School had been exerting their utmost best. Because this was their last semester at school, they had to practice outside the school gates in the second half of the school year. Speaking of where the students trained, the city's army safeguarded Blackhot City and the surrounding farming villages as well as the arterial roads and mines where the students trained in. There was no danger when they practiced downtown, but if they were to practice elsewhere, someone would lose their life. Once they left the protection of the high walls of Blackhot City, they would hardly be able to find a safe place because of the wild and dangerous variant living beings and crypt fiends that would kill them at any moment. Besides, the legend that gays in the city army liked fresh trainees had been popularized amongst undergraduates from the Seventh National Middle School for many years.
No struggle, no life — the pet phrase of Captain Kerlin and the true reflection of this age.
"Attack, add more strength. Did you not eat lunch? Attack, add more strength..." the roars of the coach were drifting in the training ground in the afternoon. "Bastards, hold your spear tightly even if it was a red iron rod. You have no power even the women are stronger than you..."
Sweating, Zhang Tie repetitively exercised the attacking movements dully under the hot sun. Two hours later, the spear body made of hollow steel had become very hot. The blisters that had formed on his palms were broken repeatedly. Being stimulated by his sweat and wounded by the scorching spear body, he felt like he was holding red-hot charcoal and felt like he was being pricked by needles. However, seeing the coach who was standing upright like a javelin on the training ground under the sun with a solemn face, Zhang Tie had no choice but to grit his teeth and convert all the pain in his body into an angry growl — "Kill!". Raising his chest, he strode forward and attacked like a machine without knowing what being tired meant. In the students' eyes, the most hateful guy's records motivated them to work harder than the coach's orders. As a tradition at the school, all the records of the strongest person in each group of undergraduates would be recorded on the high platform in the training ground in red words for the worship of others. This was a form of encouragement — to be precise, it encouraged increasing aggression for others...
Glaze——
100 m——10.3s
Bench press——160 kg
Deep squatting——310 kg
Explosive punch—— Right fist: 510 kg ; Left fist: 340 kg
Maximum stamping explosive force——780 kg
Maximum number of continual armor-breaking attacks——137 times
Endurance——13—— The endurance value referred to the maximum effective power transmission distance at the standard speed with regular battle equipment, using kilometers as the distance unit. Although it sounded somewhat complex, it was the most accurate explanation. The endurance indicator was also a measure of the maximum tactic moving radius for the pikemen matrix on the battlefield. The maximum effective combat capability referred to the maximum personal combat capability that remained after three minutes of rest following a rapid march. The value should be more than half of the total personal combat capability. Glaze's endurance value was 13 which meant that he could still accomplish more than 69 armor-breaking attacks or could deal an attack with a force of 250 kg using his right hand after rapid marching for 13 km in standard battle equipment.
Those are the indicators of a LV 2 fighter!
The words on the high platform were still fresh. The scarlet words seemed as if it was mocking everyone beneath it. Since Glaze's name and data were written two weeks ago, the training ground became increasingly aggressive. Nobody would like to give up at this point.
On the day Glaze's name appeared on the high platform, the coach shouted at them coldly, "You either die or live on the battlefield. There is no good or evil, am I clear?" Zhang Tie thought to himself, "The people who survive the battlefield are the good ones."
After two hours of spear training, what waited for them was the 10 km armored march at a moderate speed. Finishing the last task, Zhang Tie's feet felt as soft as scotton. He found shade under a tree and gasped for quite a while like a dog. Zhang Tie failed to stand up while the other members of the brotherhood tilted themselves and sat on the ground. Besides Doug and Barley, Bagdad was the strongest one in the brotherhood; he was even one of the strongest in the school. By contrast, Doug looked special today. Today, he was especially thrilled as he kept drooling with a foolish grin during the class. When they trained in spear attacks, Zhang Tie occasionally saw that guy. Although he looked tired to death, the crotch of his trousers were raised like a tent. Zhang Tie was really shocked by this scene. What the f*ck! Was it that exciting to practice spear skills? Zhang Tie was really shocked!
Finishing the run, Glaze and his followers passed in front of Zhang Tie with their heads raised proudly. They even peered over most of the commoners laying on the training ground.
"Trash!" Glaze seemed to mouth. Zhang Tie was absent-mindedly trying to figure out what he had said. When he found out what was said, he clenched his teeth. When Zhang Tie recovered a bit after ten minutes of rest, he saw the pudgy Barley moving towards him quiveringly and squatted in front of him. "Do you have any plans after school?" he said in a low voice.
"I have a part-time job at the grocery store that I go to twice a week!"
"Are you a virgin?"
Hearing this, Zhang Tie instantly became irritated, "F*ck, I am a virgin, so what! You're the same!"
"Wrong, after today, you'll be the only virgin among all the brotherhood members!" Barley replied calmly. Zhang Tie didn't even notice Barley's compassionate look at that moment.
"What does that mean?" Zhang Tie couldn't think it through for a while.
"You will understand after school. It's a benefit for the members of our Hit-Plane Brotherhood. It's Doug's turn today, so I will arrange it for you next time…" saying this, Barley patted Zhang Tie's shoulders, stood up, and left, leaving Zhang Tie with his head spinning for quite a while.
Today was a special day. Walking out of the school gates with the other members, Zhang Tie noticed that Bagdad and the other members were bidding farewell to Doug solemnly at the school gate. Each one bidding farewell to him would bend their arms around Doug's shoulders and say something to him before making a lecherous laugh. Doug was also thrilled; his ears were even red. Zhang Tie could only hear something gloomily like "if you wash your mouth, you would get a surprised". When it was Bagdad's turn, his voice was loud enough that Zhang Tie finally heard what they were saying. "It's fast for the first time. Spirit up, you have enough time that you can make love many times. When I was there, I did it seven times…"
They patted shoulders and embraced each other as the last couple of guys bidded farewell to Doug with a lecherous expression. Hista wanted to follow Doug but was pulled away by Bagdad and Leit.
Zhang Tie had no words to explain what had just happened. Barely said that it was an activity of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood and suggested Zhang Tie to watch if he was free. Zhang Tie asked about the whereabouts and knew Barley and Doug were heading for some place past the railway station. In the end, he went along with them.
On the way, Doug was both thrilled and nervous. He kept asking Barley strange questions.
"Although I took a bath last night, I sweated a lot today, is it ok?"
"Have you changed your underclothes and underwear?"
"Yes, I changed them last night after my bath!"
"Then it's ok!"
"But Hista said there would be a surprise if I washed my mouth before going there!"
"Don't worry, I've already prepared this for you!" Barley replied and took out a small paper parcel from his pocket solemnly. The paper parcel was well packed and made Doug and Zhang Tie especially curious. He stretched his neck and found three or four slim leaves inside.
"What's this?" Doug asked curiously.
"These are expensive tea leaves. I stole them from my father. They were give to my father by others as a gift. We treasure it very much, as they were only produced in Eastern Continent. Here you are, put them in your mouth like this and don't chew or swallow them. They are much more effective than washing your mouth.
Barley carefully took the leaves and put them into Doug's mouth. Doug held them tightly in his mouth, saying nothing. He was afraid of dropping them when he spoke.
"How many times can I make love with her?" after a while, Doug asked another question.
"You can make as many times as you can within three hours!"
"Can I use the bottom hole?" Doug asked another question like a curious baby several minutes later.
"Bottom..." Barley was really shocked, "Who told you?"
"My brother..."
"You… can't do this. Hista and the others didn't try that!"
"Erm!" With tea leaves in mouth, Doug recovered his composure once again. After a few seconds, in order to safeguard his authority, Barley explained solemnly, "It's very expensive to use that hole. Yeah, very expensive and not healthy..."
Zhang Tie had already realized what would happen, but out of curiosity and his increasing male hormones, he followed Barley and Doug all the way from school to the old slum neighboring the railway station. They wandered in the low alley for almost four minutes before arriving in front of a vermeil door. Compared with the surrounding gates that were evidently broken, this place was much cleaner. Standing outside the door, when Barley knocked the door, a couple of people passed by and stared at them. It felt strange. Zhang Tie felt fleas jumping on his face, which made him itchy.
Although he didn't know what was behind the door, Zhang Tie guessed it must be very stimulating and became nervous as well. Doug was already sweating at this point. Hearing somebody vomiting, Zhang Tie turned and found it was Doug... Doug was constantly digging for something inside his mouth. Barley was also startled, "What's wrong!?"
"I was nervous… and swallowed those tea leaves… When I swallowed, It felt really uncomfortable..."
"Idiot..." Barley verbally abused and patted his own head painfully with a hand, "too shameful, no more drinking. Have a drink and flush it off when you enter!"
"Woo..." Doug kept acting like he was vomiting
With his eyes opened widely, Zhang Tie saw Doug's face turn red, and then his veins stood out and thickened. It seemed liked something wanted to exit his throat. His mouth bulged as he tried to keep his mouth closed. Covering his mouth, he finally swallowed it back down…
"Well, it's fine. I swallowed them. Thankfully, I solved the problem instantly!" patting his chest, Doug seemed like he survived a robbery. He then grinned shamefully and exposed a vegetable leaf on his teeth that was half digested.
Zhang Tie turned pale. Feeling disgusted, Zhang Tie thought to himself, "You're really great!" When Doug spoke now, Zhang Tie could smell the gastric acid, which was really disgusting. Barley was also shocked, as he had never dreamed that Doug would solve the problem in this manner...
Zhang Tie couldn't stand it any more. His curiosity and hormone both disappeared at this moment. "Have fun, I will leave first!���
Barley quickly took out four silver coins from his pocket and put them in Doug's hand. "You enter by yourself. Remember, don't tell her I brought you here and don't say you know me either!"
Zhang Tie and Barley ran away instantly and hid somewhere. Doug was left alone scratching his head outside the door. The vermeil door opened. Zhang Tie couldn't see anyone, but Doug, who stared straight and showed a "shameful" smile, greeted, "Hello..."
The person who opened the door must have almostly been suffocated to death by Doug.
The moment he greeted, the door was shut with a "peng". Doug was at a loss of words. After a few seconds, he looked over at Barley and Zhang Tie. Barley showed an encouraging gesture. Doug raised his chest and knocked on the door once again. Doug was still smiling coyly with four silver coins spread in his hands. Seeing his actions, Barley patted his head painfully again. As a result, the door was shut once again with a loud sound.
When Doug knocked the door for the third time, Zhang Tie found a basin of water was poured out from inside when the door was opened. Doug became a drowned rat, and the coy smile was frozen at that time...
What bad luck!
Chapter 11: Fool's Gold
Translator: WQL Editor: Geoffrey
Zhang Tie had already forgotten what had happened to Doug when he arrived at the grocery store. By tomorrow, Doug would definitely be the laughingstock in the Hit-Plane Brotherhood after what had happened. He might never be able to eliminate this stain for the rest of his life.
When Zhang Tie arrived, Donder was greeting guests in the store, so Zhang Tie just stood to the side. After the guests had left, he moved behind the counter and took the broom, rag, and basin to clean the store. After he finished, he used the abacus to calculate the accounts of the past few days. Ever since Zhang Tie started to work here, he found that Donder was becoming lazier and lazier. It would always take him about an hour to finish his work, and it was the same for today.
Seeing Zhang Tie working inside, Donder laid back on his lounge again and kept his eyes closed comfortably.
When Zhang Tie remembered the tea leaves, he started a conversation with Donder.
"Boss, do you know what tea leaf is?"
"Tea leaf?" hearing this, Donder turned with a weird expression. He glanced at Zhang Tie, "That's a very precious and rare drink. Those rich and powerful bureaucrats, who would like to be civilized and pretended to be stylish, always used tea leaves to show off!"
"No, it's not a drink. I saw others put it directly into their mouths"
"Idiot, tea leaves should be soaked in boiling water. There's a lot to learn about tea leaves!" Donder raised his voice, "Those nouveau riche always put tea leaves into mouths to refresh their mouths!"
"You said it was expensive!" "Not only expensive, it's very expensive. A bag of the lowest-quality tea leaves from outside is worth…!" Donder stretched out his hand. "As for higher-quality tea leaves, you should never dream about them!"
"Five silver coins!" it was already very expensive in Zhang Tie's eyes.
"Five silver coins…" Donder grinned dismissively. "You could only smell them with five silver coins. Five gold coins! It might even be much more expensive!" Zhang Tie was really shocked. No wonder Barley packed the ugly leaves with paper so carefully. Commoners could never afford it.
"So expensive. Why not plant them in Blackhot City? Then we will make a lot of money!"
"It would never be your turn. They were only planted in the Eastern Continent. Those could do business with tea leaves were large business groups and the chambers of commerce!"
"Teacher told us that there were many human countries in the Eastern Continent. Many powerful countries were over there! Some countries even owned thousands of cities like Blackhot City…!"
"Hick, Blackhot City is nothing compared with those cities that dozens of times bigger. You will understand when you visit them. There are human countries predominated by Chinese clans. When I was young… " Donder recalled and longer for that experience. He kept talking and Zhang Tie listened to him carefully. What he said should be true when he talked about his arrival at the Eastern Continent and his knowledge of it when he was young. As for the following scenes — becoming sworn brothers with strong fighters in accordance with the folklores, cooperating with his sworn brothers to beat the alien clans who threw everything away when they fled, discovering valuable relics with pioneers, exploring the underground word with a great wave of beauties and almost being ** by them, seeing numerous diamonds the size of the head and bullions the size of a house, Zhang Tie was sure that they were tales from common knight novels. Therefore, he ignored them.
While Donder was boasting about when he was discovering the underground world with a great wave of beauties that wanted to marry him to the point where they cried, two guests entered. They were thirty-odd years with experience faces, unshaven chins, and they wore leather boots, copper-cotton wristbands, and riveted half-body armors. They also hung a long sword on their waist and had a box full of steel crossbow arrows on their back. The shoulder armor matched with the hanging buckle of the wind-proof hooded cloak. They really looked like pioneers. During the past year working at the grocery store, Zhang Tie had cultivated a sharp judgement. They must be new pioneers, as Zhang Tie could tell from their equipment. The new pioneers always wore clothes like the regular the regular army, so as to tell others they were pioneering wastelands. They also usually purchased the entire set when buying equipment.
"Can I help you, sir?" Zhang Tie asked politely and professionally.
They glanced at Zhang Tie and looked around. They nodded to each other, as the taller man walked towards Zhang Tie, lowered his body, and said in a low voice, "Where's your boss? We have business!"
They usually met guests like them. Donder's grocery store did not only sell goods, but it also purchased goods. Considering their prudence and secretiveness, Donder climbed up from the lounge. While rubbing his hands, he bent his back and walked towards them.
"I'm the boss, what's up!"
The two stared at him for a while and looked at each other, then they nodded silently.
"Do you receive things?"
"Yes, once they are evaluated. If your goods are too expensive and I cannot afford it, I can introduce someone to you. If you agree, I want 5% as an agency fee!" The two pioneers finally surrendered to Donder's passion. Looking outside meticulously, they found that nobody was watching inside. One of the two lowered himself to block the line of sight from outside, while the other took out a fist-sized metal mineral from a leather bag of sundies and placed it on the counter.
The mineral was shining, somewhat like gold. It seemed very expensive and frightening. Zhang Tie opened his mouth, saying nothing, he just waved his head.
���This one..." a pioneer looked at Donder solemnly. "What's your offer? We can establish long-term cooperation with you if you can give us a proper offer!"
"A copper coin for five kilograms!" Donder offered.
"What? Are you kidding?" with eyes widened, the two pioneers looked at Donder angrily.
"I mean it. A copper coin for five kilograms!" Donder replied slowly, ignoring the red faces of the two pioneers. The shielding man had been impulsive and put his hand on the sword handle beside his waist.
"You must have mistaken it for gold ore. It's very beautiful like a gold ore!" hearing this, the two were shocked and nodded. The man with his hand on the sword handle also slightly loosened his grip on the sword.
"Hoho, some gold ores are truly similar to it. But pitifully, this is not a gold ore, but a common pyrite. That's why I offered you one copper coin per five kilograms!"
"Common pyrite?" one pioneer took the shining and beautiful ore into his hand and seemed to not trust that it was as rubbish as scrap iron. The other pioneer seemed to doubt Donder's words. Seeing their expressions, Donder didn't say anything to the pioneers. Instead, he spoke to Zhang Tie, "Take out the common pyrite sample in the store!" Zhang Tie turned and fetched a dusty bag from a corner of the grocery store.
He placed it directly on the ground and showed the contents to them. About ten kilograms of goods were poured out, which looked the same as the ore on the counter. Squatting, they took two common pyrites and compared them to the one on the counter. They became depressed like deflated balloons.
"There is a valley in the Red Highland more than a 100 km southwest of Blackhot City. Did you get the ore from there? They are similar to gold ores. In the past, there were pioneers who treated them as gold ores and were made laughingstocks. Never mind, you might see something new. Nobody is all might and knows everything!" Donder explained. This completely broke the last beacon of hope they two pioneers had. They stood up and gave their thanks to Donder in low spirits. Feeling as if they lost face, they left with their heads lowered. When they walked to the gate of the store, one of the pioneers saw the common pyrite that they treasured and cursed furiously. He smacked the common pyrite onto the ground of the street.
"Common pyrite, idiots' gold, two more idiots are cheated…" seeing them leaving, Donder shook his head and signed, then went back to the lounge chair.
"Common pyrite, fool's gold. Two more idiots got cheated…" seeing them leave, Donder shooked his head and sighed before returning to the lounge chair.
Later on, several waves of guests entered and Donder earned more than ten silver coins. As usual, when Donder said, "... I will not provide you supper according to the agreement!", Zhang Tie knew it was time for him to leave.
"What are Doug and Barley doing now?" Zhang Tie thought to himself when he walked out of the grocery store.
When the dusk drew close, lamplighters were waving bells and lighting lamps on the street. Within ten steps, Zhang Tie abruptly stopped as he saw something shining slightly at the corner of the wall in front of him under the lamp lights…
Oh, it was the common pyrite left by the two idiots. At this time, the common pyrite was found to have been smacked into two halves. Zhang Tie moved forward another two steps…
Oh, there was something inside the common pyrite. It flashed just now. The color was different from the common pyrite under the lamplight. Zhang Tie was curious and moved closer to it. Bending over, he pretended to squat to tie his shoelaces. When he found nobody around, he picked up the two pieces and placed them in his pockets. There was really something inside! Zhang Tie's excitement rose…
Chapter 12: Mysterious Object
Translator: WQL Editor: Geoffrey
On the way home, Zhang Tie couldn't contain his excitement. He held his pocket tightly in fear that the thing would escape. When he picked it up just now, he saw a round object that was smaller than a chicken's egg in the center of one of the halves of the common pyrite. There seemed to have been a beautiful decorative pattern on it. Nobody would have known that there was something inside the common pyrite if it had not been smashed onto the ground by that pioneer. It was definitely not created naturally. Additionally, it took at least several hundreds of millions of years to form a common pyrite geologically. Zhang Tie was really amazed about the object which entered the common pyrite several hundred million years ago…
Several hundred million years ago...
Not formed naturally...
Beautiful decorative patterns...
When the above information appeared in Zhang Tie's mind, he was really shocked.
On the way home, Zhang Tie maintained a normal walking speed at first, but he couldn't help but run when he was close to home. He continued to hold the common pyrite tightly as he ran. Zhang Tie might have been too nervous, he felt as if the common pyrite in his hand was becoming increasingly hot.
When he arrived home, his mom was making rice brew. Hearing Zhang Tie's scurry, she shouted without turning her head, "Supper is ready. It's still hot, so eat slowly!"
"Mom, I've eaten outside!"
After their exchange, Zhang Tie rushed upstairs. As his elder brother was not home today, it was much more peaceful now. Lowering the staircase, Zhang Tie dashed into his attic cell. He then pulled up the staircase and plugged in the socket of the floor slab. Lighting the oil lamp, he lowered the curtains and the cold-proof double-layer wooden partition. Zhang Tie was alone in the narrow space and would never fear about being seen by others. He sat on his bed while continually gasping for air.
While he was still gasping, Zhang Tie couldn't wait to take out the half piece of common pyrite and put it under the lamplight. His eyes widened…
The object wrapped inside the common pyrite was like a small crystal chicken egg that was carved with sophisticated and beautiful patterns. The patterns seemed as if it faintly formed an arched door. He noticed a miniature sapling inside the egg, which was really delicate and seemed to be naturally formed.
Two-thirds of the crystal egg had been exposed while the rest was stuck within the remaining common pyrite. Zhang Tie tried and easily pulled the crystal egg out of the cracked common pyrite. He then was able to see the entire object — it contained no "yolk" but a sapling instead while the "white part of the egg" was flowing with something akin to mercury. Zhang Tie carefully stared at the "mercury" and found that it was a colorful light fog that was exceptionally beautiful. The light fog was swirling about the sapling mysteriously. The faint flash that Zhang Tie noticed came from the colorful light fog.
Several blisters had formed on Zhang Tie's palms after the spear training at noon. Perhaps due to Zhang Tie holding the common pyrite too tightly on his way back home, the blisters on his palms were pricked broken by the edges of the common pyrite. As a result, the common pyrite and the crystal egg were dyed with Zhang Tie's blood. The crystal egg, being dyed with fresh blood, became not as beautiful. When Zhang Tie tried to clean the blood marks on the egg with his sleeve, he found that a small patch of dark blood could not be cleaned off. Instead, it penetrated into the crystal egg slowly. The blood mark gradually shrunk and became round. It slowly condensed into a drop of fresh blood at the top of the crystal egg. When the fresh blood condensed, the crystal egg began to shine brighter.
"Argh…" feeling hot, Zhang Tie naturally loosened his hold on the crystal egg. He was stunned because the crystal egg was steadily suspended in the air in front of the oil lamp with a faint glow. Zhang Tie was frightened and widened his eyes nervously. While he was confused and frightened, the small drop of blood finally came into being at the top of the crystal egg and dropped towards the small sapling in the center of the egg.
The moment the drop of blood fell, Zhang Tie felt dazzled; he felt as if he was falling from high altitude. He then saw the glowing crystal egg flying towards him. Almost at the exact same moment, he felt a sharp pain between his eyebrows. It seemed as if something had suddenly drilled into his brain, and as a result, Zhang Tie saw his vision dim and passed out...
He totally lost his consciousness then...
Zhang Tie finally recovered consciousness after a long time.
The first thing he felt was a cold feeling on his face. He was still somewhat frightened and didn't know what had happened to him. After several seconds of thinking, Zhang Tie opened his eyes and realized his face was completely on the floor.
Rolling his eyes, Zhang Tie tried to climb up. Sitting on the bed, he found the lamp was still lit, although it was a little dim. He estimated that three to four hours had already passed. He stood up and pulled away the cold-proof partition on the window. It was pitch black outside, and the barking of dogs reverberated from afar which confirmed Zhang Tie's judgment that it was currently midnight.
Hold on... Where was the crystal egg?
Zhang Tie was startled. He stared at his hands and looked around but found nothing except for the "fool's gold" in his room. He picked up the half of common pyrite and observed it. The only thing he could see clearly was the smooth and round track in the common pyrite which told Zhang Tie that what had just happened was all true.
CouldCouldn't it be that...it had flown away...
When Zhang Tie recalled that the crystal egg was suspended in the air, he checked everywhere in his room, including wall seams, doors, and windows. He found nothing and naturally accepted the above conclusion.
He took out a mirror from the drawer at the head of the bed. Besides the slightly pale face, he found no wounds between his eyebrows, thus he blankly sat on the bed for a while until his stomach thundered and reminded him that he had not eaten supper. Zhang Tie suddenly felt an unprecedented hunger and felt like he could eat an entire calfwolfing a calf.
Aside from the crystal egg event, the most critical thing for him was to fill his stomach. Otherwise, he would starve to death and the crystal egg would mean nothing to him.
Zhang Tie did not dare to make any noise as he carefully lowered the staircase. With an oil lamp in hand, he went down the stairs stealthily and found food in the kitchen. Thankfully, the staple food was boiled sweet potatoes, which were as delicious as when they were freshly boiled. There were seven or eight boiled sweet potatoes in the kitchen. Zhang Tie didn't think much of it and wolfed them down in the fastest speed he could. Surprisingly, he noticed that his appetite had greatly improved. The sweet potatoes weighed more than 1 kg. Usually, he would only be able to eat half of them at most. What was happening? To his surprise, he only felt half full and thirsty at the same time. He drunk another two gourds of water and three more bowls of cooked rice brew. It was really an unprecedented experience.
Under the light of the dim lamp, he simply brushed his teeth and washed his feet before returning to his room. Removing all of his clothes, Zhang Tie laid on his bed as he tossed and turned; he couldn't fall asleep at all. Finally, he made the decision to cultivate. Assuming the posture, he sat on the bed and evenly adjusted his breath. The moment he closed his eyes and visualized the abacus in his mind according to the book MENTAL ARITHMETIC BY ABACUS, he suddenly found something new in his mind. When Zhang Tie focused on it, he gradually recognized it. He almost cried out as it was exactly the simple yet brilliant arched door on the shell of the egg. The arched door was suspended in his deep consciousness. When Zhang Tie concentrated on it, it expanded quickly and became increasingly clear…
It seemed… seemed as if he could enter it, a hazy voice reminded Zhang Tie. Zhang Tie was also confused about this idea. Zhang Tie gazed at the arched door and said, "Enter!". The miserable 15-year-old teenager would never have imagined that his life would be different from before at that point forward…
Chapter 13: Castle of Black Iron
Translator: WQL Editor: Geoffrey
Zhang Tie faintly felt that the surrounding environment had suddenly changed as if he instantly exited a tunnel while on a train. At the same time, Zhang Tie also felt warmer. He could smell a much fresher air, a smell akin to the park after it rained. Zhang Tie couldn't help but open his eyes. When he did, he was really shocked with his mouth opened widely, saliva dripping.
What was presented in front of Zhang Tie was a square, broad, and empty land. Standing in the middle of the piece of land, Zhang Tie noticed that this land was several times larger than the Seventh National Male Middle School. He roughly measured the length and width of the land with his eyes and found that they were both at least 700m. It felt extremely open; there were only a few things left on the land. It seemed like a barren land with only one bulge at the center of the land. There was also a small tree as tall as a person not far away from Zhang Tie.
With great curiosity, Zhang Tie looked at the small tree.
It was growing well with its spreading branches and luxuriant foliage. Each leaf seemed as if it was flowing with a special brilliance, which made the tree very conspicuous. What amazed Zhang Tie was that the leaves were in various shapes and colors, making each leaf distinct from one another. How weird! However, Zhang Tie also felt strangely harmonious with the leaves of varying shapes hanging on the tree. The tree was neither made of gold nor wood; it was a material that nobody knew of.
Colorful fog swirled above the tree in ever changing shapes. Staring at the tree for a while, Zhang Tie naturally felt a sense of tranquility and peace.
What he had earlier seen in the crystal egg several hours ago was fully present in front of his eyes — the strange tree and the colorful fog…
"Am I dreaming?"
Looking at himself, he was wearing the same clothes he wore before going to bed — he only wore shorts. Even his posture in bed was unchanged. Zhang Tie pinched his !@#$% and realized that he was not dreaming, thus he got up and stood on his bare feet. Where he sat was just ten steps away from the tree. He moved towards it and circled it twice. He didn't know why, but he felt a sense of familiarity with the tree. He felt that he and the tree shared a blood-tie.
Being a relative to a strange tree, Zhang Tie was almost driven mad.
Circling it for quite some time, he couldn't figure it out. He only felt that there was something strange about those colorful leaves. Thus, Zhang Tie decided to further explore the land. As the soil was fine and smooth with a proper temperature and contained no impurities, Zhang Tie felt like he was standing on soft and wet sand, so he began to run in his bare feet. Although the area only covered slightly more than 0.5 km2 and was limited in space, it was still enough for Zhang Tie to make a dash. He explored the surrounding environment and the edge of this space. He could see the rolling colorful fog from far away. There was a strange elasticity that pulled Zhang Tie back from the barrier; therefore, he was never able to break through it. More than 300m away from the small tree, Zhang Tie found a black deep mire that was larger than 200m2. The mire was as black as ink, and it was still bubbling; however, there was no smell, which gave Zhang Tie goosebumps. After looking around, Zhang Tie found no other living being within this space besides himself, not even a single ant.
"Anybody here? Where am I?"...
"Can anyone tell me where I am?"...
"Anybody here?"...
Zhang Tie shouted yet got no reply, not even an echo. He spent another ten minutes to look around and finally ascertained that he really was the only living being here.
Therefore, Zhang Tie decided to start from the tree.
Circling the tree for a while, he felt increasingly intimate with it. Zhang Tie couldn't help but touch the small tree that had splendid leaves. Touching it, Zhang Tie abruptly saw a semi-transparent pale blue dialog box that had a line in it and was startled.
——Manjusaka Karma Fruit Tree
——The tree feels that energy is leaking from your body. With the leaking energy, you can produce Leakless Fruit. Do you want to produce it?
——Yes … No
There were two options below which Zhang Tie had never seen before. He was really stunned when he saw this. Moving his hands away, the dialog box disappeared; putting his hands on it, the dialog box re-appeared. He repeated this for many times and got the same response. Although he didn't know what it was, he knew that it was definitely a great thing...
Although Zhang Tie didn't know what energy was escaping from his body, he considered that the choice would do him no harm, thus he stretched out his hand and selected "Yes". It was a strange feeling. Although there was nothing in front of Zhang Tie, when he pressed the option, he felt like he really pressed something ——
——Leakless Fruit in production, 168 hours away from maturation!
——Space management system template of Manjusaka Karma Fruit Tree is established!
——Please name It. Attention, the name is permanent!
——Space name:———————— （followed by a line of sparkling spots）
The moment the old dialog box disappeared, a new one appeared. Seeing the line of sparkling dots behind the name of the space, Zhang Tie was stunned for a while. He then figured it out and replied — Castle of Black Iron!
After That, the four words appeared on the sparkling light spots. This also shocked Zhang Tie.
——Name of space: Castle of Black Iron!
——Enter … Back
Zhang Tie pressed the "Enter" button. Then, the old dialog box disappeared and a new one appeared.
——What do you want the system to call you?
——Your Name:————————（followed by a line of sparkling light spots）
Zhang Tie then naturally knew what to do next. After a while, he figured that nobody would even know. Even though he was a little arrogant, no matter what, he was not afraid of being called sick; therefore, he set his name — Handsome and Magnificent Castle Lord!
"It should be ok, nobody would know!" Zhang Tie thought to himself faintly. Finally, he made a decision and pressed "Enter"...
——Castle of Black Iron and the Lord of Castle of Black Iron confirmed!
——Preliminary management system template of Castle of Black Iron has been established!
When the dialog box disappeared, Zhang Tie's eyes turned bright once again. A semi-transparent pale blue icon, marked with a small tree in the center and "Castle of Black Iron" below the small tree, appeared in the upper left corner of Zhang Tie's vision and started to sparkle. Becoming braver and braver, Zhang Tie touched the icon with his hand, and as a result, the icon instantly expanded in front of Zhang Tie while several lines of words appeared on the branch of the tree and became a tree-like menu.
There were four options inside:
——Basic Attributes of the Castle of Black Iron
——Space and Topographic Creation
——Living Beings and Species Management
——Produce Special Seeds and Fruits of Manjusaka Karma Fruit Tree
Zhang Tie touched the first item, "Basic Attributes of the Castle of Black Iron", which was between the root and the branch of the functional tree. All of a sudden, a new data window opened.
Castle of Black Iron
——Length: 1 Krosa (a length unit in ancient India)
——Width: 1 Krosa
——Aura Value: 0
——Merit Value: 0
——Basic Energy Storage:0
——Special Output: Void
"Length unit 1 Krosa? What's that? How long does that mean?" Zhang Tie only heard about millimeter, centimeter, decimeter, meter, kilometer, sound second, and light second. However, what's "krosa"? "I've never heard about that!" Zhang Tie looked at the other basic attributes and heaved a deep sigh.
It was completely empty. Although it had poor data, Zhang Tie became vigorous as he felt like starting from scratch. Even though he couldn't understand the content, he continued to touch another button — "Space and Topography Creation". Unexpectedly, the following words appeared in front of Zhang Tie:
——As the three storage values of Castle of Black Iron are 0, the Space and Topographic Creation Function is not available!
Touching another option, "Living Beings and Species Management", a new window opened.
——Carbon Based Living Beings and Species Management
——Silicon Based Living Beings and Species Management
——Sulfur Based Living Beings and Species Management
——Other Living Beings and Species Management
This time, besides the first option, "Carbon Based Living Beings and Species Management" was available, while the other options were all gray. When Zhang Tie pressed the first button, a dialog box containing two messages jumped out.
——Input systematic resources into a biological population or an organism. You can help this living being mutate and evolve in an unprecedented way.
——The system has detected carbon based microorganisms on you, the Handsome and Magnificent Castle Lord. When you entered the Castle of Black Iron, the Microorganisms System of the Castle of Black Iron started.
After the dialog box disappeared automatically, three new options appeared.
Among the three sub-options of animals, plants, and microorganisms, only the option "microorganisms" was activated and available.
Therefore, Zhang Tie touched the option of microorganisms.
Zhang Tie then saw the microorganisms that he "carried" into the Castle of Black Iron under the option of "Microorganism". They were bacteria and microzyme. Everybody, more or less, carried bacteria. Some were good, while some were bad. The microzyme might have come from the rice brew at home. He remembered having drunk three bowls of rice brews downstairs just now. Some of the rice brew might have spilled onto his clothes and followed him into the Castle of Black Iron.
He touched the option "Microzyme", which enlarged and looked like a drop before another new picture appeared.
To the left of the icon of "Microzyme" was a red cross. Under the icon, the system showed three sliders that were similar to schedule bars and respectively corresponded to the three basic attributes: aura value, merit value, and basic energy.
As it did not seem that complex, Zhang Tie simply glanced at it and understood their uses. The three sliders seemed to represent that you agree to input systematic resources into these living beings. Once you have decided to do that, the selected living beings or species would mutate and evolve to a certain degree.
Zhang Tie touched the other red cross beside the icon "Microzyme"!
—— Will you, the Handsome and Magnificent Castle Owner, kill these living beings using the rules of the space? Attention! Once it has killed, it will never revive.
——Yes… Cancel...
Zhang Tie was startled and hurriedly touched the "Cancel" option and decided to use this function as little as possible.
It seemed very interesting. Closing this window, Zhang Tie tried again and found the function "Produce Special Seeds and Fruits of Manjusaka Karma Fruit Tree" was not available yet.
The Castle of Black Iron seemed to be full of secrets. When Zhang Tie was prepared to further study it, a dialog box appeared in front of him:
—— The system has detected that you, the Handsome and Magnificent Castle Owner, is already exhausted, both spiritually and physically. All functions are in negative conditions. As the aura value of the system is zero, it cannot provide a good environment for you to recover. It's suggested that you, the Handsome and Magnificent Castle Lord, leave the Castle of Black Iron and return after you have recovered.
Meanwhile, the "door" in his consciousness also sent a slight wave to indicate that once Zhang Tie would like to leave, he just had to lock the "door" in his mind and think to himself, "Return"...
After that, Zhang Tie felt very sleepy. It was a really energy-consuming day He made a deep yawn, and after thinking for a while, he held back his desire to continue exploring. He locked the door in his mind and thought to himself, "Return". He felt that feeling of traversing a tunnel once more. Zhang Tie's eyes opened widely, as he didn't know how he was out of there. He only felt that the door in his mind shook, and then he found himself standing on his bed and everything around him had instantly changed. What had happened just now seemed as if it came from nothing. It felt like a photographer pulled a line on the wall behind him to change the background when taking a picture of a family.
That was mother!@#$ing amazing!
Without recalling what had happened just now, Zhang Tie felt really sleepy and fell asleep instantly...
Chapter 14: Attributes
Translator: WQL Editor: Geoffrey
The next morning when Zhang Tie woke up, he regretted two things: firstly, he didn't hear his alarm clock go off and might be late for school, and secondly, he forgot to blow out the oil lamp, thus it continued to burn overnight. How wasteful!
Hurriedly blowing out the oil lamp, Zhang Tie put on his clothes. He then lowered the staircase and after walking down two steps, he realized something. He returned to his room and threw the remains of the common pyrite into a broken sundry box in the utility room before rushing downstairs.
Dad had already left for work by this time, only mom was at home. The porridge was prepared and being warmed by the water in the pot. Hearing Zhang Tie washing his face and brushing his teeth, his mom walked out of the rice brew store and helped Zhang Tie take out the breakfast from the pot. At the same time, she murmured, "Did you go to bed late last night? You should treasure your body!. Oh, I almost forgot. I already washed the underwear you hid in the drawer. Remember to take your underwear downstairs and throw them into the washing basin next time!"
Zhang Tie was rinsing his mouth, producing a "gulugulu" sound; however, when he heard what his mom had said, he instantly choked on the water. As a result, he coughed for quite a while before he was able to recover his composure. Perhaps due to choking or being irritated, Zhang Tie's face suddenly turned red. When he couldn't stand it anymore, he shouted, "Mom, I've told you more than three hundred times that I'll wash my own clothes. Please don't enter my room, I'm not a kid anymore!"
When Zhang Tie woke up yesterday morning, he didn't have time to wash the pair of underwear that had traces of seminal fluid. Thus, he took it off and hid it in the drawer under the wardrobe. After he came back last night, his full attention was on the mysterious object; therefore, he forgot to wash it. When he recalled that his mom found his "secret" while she washed his underwear, he felt really shameful and wanted to hide in a hole in the ground.
"I know, our Guoguo has grown up. I brought you up, so it's nothing strange…" Zhang Tie's mom said without a care in the world. Zhang Tie realized that what he said just now was useless. He had no choice but to try his best to prevent it in the future. He needed to keep it a secret. Once other people knew about it, he would lose face.
Zhang Tie didn't say anything. He wolfed down the porridge and ran out the door without even cleaning his mouth. He seemed to hear his mom's murmuring, "Don't run so fast when you're full. Walk slowly…"
On the way to school, in order to arrive as soon as possible, Zhang Tie, for the first tme, spent two copper coins to take a trolley traffic vehicle for several stops. However, when he had hurriedly arrived at school, he heard the rings of the school bell that indicated that the second class was over.
Miss Daina's class was over! As this was an even week in May, the first two classes on Friday were taught by Miss Daina, while during the odd weeks, they would be history classes.
Zhang Tie instantly became dejected. It was all his fault as he overslept.
Rushing to the amphitheater at school, as he expected, he could no longer see Miss Daina anymore. He only saw the undergraduate bachelors pouring out of the door and crowding into the washroom. Usually, when Miss Daina was in the classroom, those bachelors preferred not to leave the classroom to piss during the two hours so that they could keep looking at her attractive figure.
"Miss Daina is becoming more and more beautiful!"
...
"I met her last night in a dream!"
...
"I've observed her breasts for two hours, they are bigger yeah!"
...
"That round and sexy bottom is really mature, I really want to touch them!"
...
"I stood for two hours, it really was torture!"
Zhang Tie heard all talks about her when a crowd of bachelors passed by him. Nobody cared about what she taught in the biology class at all.
At last, the bachelors of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood also walked towards Zhang Tie. Zhang Tie saw them, and they also noticed Zhang Tie. Zhang Tie saw the fatty Barley winking his eyes towards him. Doug was also looking at him nervously, which made Zhang Tie confused.
"What's up? Why are you late?"Barley patted Zhang Tie's shoulder.
"Erm, I overslept!" Zhang Tie scratched his head coyly.
"Heh… heh… Don't be too !@#$ing tired. If you consume too much energy, you'll oversleep!" Hista always showed an obscene smile that was as evil as the acne on his face. Right then, the emphasized word "!@#$ing" really made people impressed.
"Your face seems pale today, did Hista hit the mark? I've experienced the benefits of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood, so you must have had a hard time sleeping last night!" Leit gave him a surreptitious wink.
"What did Miss Daina teach today?" ignoring the two, Zhang Tie turned to Sharwin. Among the members of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood, Sharwin was the only one who paid attention in Miss Daina's class and was really good at making notes; therefore, he would always be laughed at by others.
"Simple treatment with rotten vine and the living habits of man-eating spiders. I can lend you the notes if you want!"
"Ok, let me have a look!"
"Hurry up, I can't stand it anymore!" Bagdad urged. They then rushed into the washroom. However, Doug evidently slowed down. Seeing them leave, Doug silently drew Zhang Tie aside.
"Let's be friends!" these words made Zhang Tie tremble.
Noticing Zhang Tie's expression, Doug realized that his words were not precise enough, "Oh, no, I mean let's be at peace!"
"At peace?" Zhang Tie gazed at Doug, "What do you mean?"
"If you don't tell Bagdad about what happened to me yesterday, then I'll forgive you about the vomiting thing. You know, I was seen by many people that day, so some guys have already started to call me the Monster Mucilage!" Doug dejectedly twisted his face.
Zhang Tie finally knew why Doug was cold to him for the past week. What a narrow-minded guy! "If anyone dares to call me the 'Monster Mucilage' at school and in front of Miss Daina, I swear I'll beat them up until even their mothers won't recognize them" Doug added.
"Well, let's be at peace. I will not tell anyone about what happened yesterday!" Zhang Tie became generous since he didn't want to give back the money. "But what will I say if Hista asked about you?"
"Tell them I entered and did her for three hours! I've already talked about this with Barley"
"Ok, you did her for three hours. Additionally, when you left, she felt reluctant to send you off. She then kissed you and asked you to come visit her next time!"
"Good brother!" Doug patted Zhang Tie's shoulder excitedly as if he had met a bosom friend.
Zhang Tie could only succumb to him.
The next morning class was the carpenter class. For the next two hours, all the bachelors in Zhang Tie's class would use the two-man saws to saw the wood in the practice workshop at school. Until the bell rang, they continued to saw wood until even their hands were swollen.
The classes in the afternoon were physique training and testing. As usual, Glaze would always attract all the attention. He renewed his records on the deep squats and the maximum continuous armor piercing strikes he made one week ago to 320kg and 123 attacks respectively. Even the instructor thought that Glaze was a natural born fighter.
Compared to the glorious Glaze, the achievements of most students in the Hit-Plane Brotherhood were as plain as the airport landing areas before the Catastrophe. Only Bagdad ranked in the top twenties in the 100m dash with a time of 10.8 seconds in the afternoon and became the only shining light in the Hit-Plane Brotherhood. As for the other members, take Zhang Tie for example, he had no records at all, as the instructor only recorded the achievements for the top 3 in each 100m dash. However, Zhang Tie's achievements were always below tenth place. His best achievement was ninth place with a time of 11.6 seconds, while the record for third place of the group was 11.2 seconds. There were even four or five people ahead of Zhang Tie. Evidently, his record was nothing special in the group of undergraduate bachelors. As for the fat Barley, he definitely had one of the worst time among the group of undergraduates with a time of 13.7 seconds, though he was never ashamed of his record.
After the physique training class, Zhang Tie got his latest personal data:
Zhang Tie
100m——11.6s
Bench press——90kg
Deep squat——170kg
Explosive punch——right punch, 240kg; left punch, 190kg
Legs' maximum stamping explosive——270kg
Maximum continual breaking-armor pricks——48 pricks
Endurance: 4
In the age dominated by fighting force, Zhang Tie's achievements were as miserable as the 15-year-old youth. Before the first strand of meditation fire was ignited in the burning point of the Shrine, the physical difference between professional fighters and the average person of the same age was decisive and rarely overcome.
"I should ignite the meditation fire in my Shrine as soon as possible!" the 15-year-old teenager thought to himself urgently...
Chapter 15: Red Scarf Burglars
Translator: WQL Editor: Geoffrey
"Why does this guy always run so fast after school?" seeing Zhang Tie waving his hands and disappearing, Barley smacked his lip and said languidly.
"Is he heading to the grocery store?" added Sharwin.
"He has to be there twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday. He was there yesterday, and today is Friday, so what would he do there?" Barley explained.
"Maybe he's in a rush to get home!" Doug covered for Zhang Tie for the first time since they made peace.
"The males that go back home after school are hopeless!" Bagdad added proudly with arms crossed.
"What are your plans?" Leit asked Bagdad.
"I'm getting ready to apply for a part-time job at the Fierce Tiger Fighting Palace. This weekend, a couple of part-time waiters are needed over there. If I get employed there, I would be able to use the training equipment inside for free, and If I'm lucky enough, I might be able to meet several great fighters over there!"
"Well, good luck. That place belongs to the rich. I heard that Glaze would train for a few more hours in the fighting palace after school everyday…" Leit shrugged his shoulders.
"Glaze is always heading to the Fierce Fire Fighting Palace, which is one of the best fighting palaces in Blackhot City!" Bagdad admired. "If only part-time waiters are needed over there!"
The last few words Bagdad said made Barley disgusted.
"What about you, Leit? What are your plans for the weekend?" Sharwin asked.
After some hesitation, Leit decided to finally tell the truth, "My dad is going to take me to visit one of his old friends. He had arrived at Blackhot City just two days ago and was appointed as the vice director of the Storm Business Group in Blackhot City. Dad might be planning to pave a road for me! What about you, Sharwin?"
"I will be a private teacher over the weekend. 40 copper coins a day!" Sharwin became coy.
"Your dad is really narrow-minded. You're only 15, yet he wants you to make money during the weekends?" Doug foolishly asked.
"It's understandable. Shawin is the elder since he has two younger brothers. He should fulfill the responsibility of an elder brother."
"Yea, what about you, Hista? What are your plans?"
"Hoho, I have some spare money this month, so I plan to relax myself this weekend!" saying this, Hista kept thrustingraising his waist up.
"Son of a !@#$%, you saved your spare money for a month, including the money for your breakfast, just for that?" Bagdad said, shooting a contemptuous glare at him.
"I will die without doing women! After the first time, I now understand that I am living only for women..." Hista replied seriously. He then started murmuring with Barley with his arm wrapped around Barley's shoulder
In this fashion on the last day of the school week, the core members of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood chatted and joked freely before separating to do their own business.
Zhang Tie was running rapidly across the alleys neighboring the school. After running for about two blocks, he finally arrived at where he had always gone to — the train station at Wesley Avenue. Zhang Tie stood at the mouth of a small alley beside the station, breathing heavily as he gazed at the corner on the other side.
For the past two years, he had always waited here on numerous occasions and for the most part, he could see the one he was waiting for. In the past, he would always wait with many other students outside the school gate after school and followed her for almost two blocks. However, ever since the terrifying one-eyed man appeared, whichever horny student decided to follow her would be fiercely beaten by him. As a result, nobody dared to follow her anymore. However, Zhang Tie still stuck to it. Naturally, he didn't dare to follow her in the usual manner, so he would come here to appreciate her after school each day, even if it was only for a single glance.
After Zhang Tie peacefully waited for more than ten minutes, a figure walked out from the corner of the avenue more than 40 meters away from the station. The moment Zhang Tie saw Miss Daina, he felt like he was appreciating a living painting instead of a person in front of him. At the sight of Miss Daina, Zhang Tie felt the whole world become alive, and the 15-year-old teenager felt breathless.
Walking towards him from afar, Miss Daina arrived at the station. The shadow that was more than 20 meters away from the mouth of the valley where Zhang Tie hid was the most beautiful. With the most beautiful hair, the most beautiful figure, the most beautiful clothes, the most beautiful legs, and the sexy black high heels, Zhang Tie felt that Miss Daina was the reincarnation of a goddess.
Her hair definitely smelt fragrant, just like her body fragrant. Gazing at her beautiful hair, Zhang Tie thought to himself, "What would it feel like if I touched it?" The teenager was in the mire of an illusion…
On the station platform, there were several passengers waiting for the vehicle and were talking loudly. However, when Miss Daina arrived, Zhang Tie realized that they lowered their voices. Even the two gentlemen who were reading the newspaper on the chairs silently began to sit straight up. A man even turned his head and silently adjusted his hair against the billboard beside the station.
Zhang Tie really hoped that the vehicle would never arrive. That way, he could continue to appreciate her. However, only five minutes later, a railed vehicle arrived slowly from afar. All the railed vehicles within the city were just smaller train with narrower rails, smaller heads, lower-powered steam-powered units, slower speed, and less capacity. They were naturally more available in the city.
When it was close to the station, the train slowed down, and a wisp of steam rose from the deceleration valve at the end of the coach. With one foot in the doorway, a man showed half of his body while waving a bell. He yelled to remind the passengers to cast their coins for tickets. The passengers then started to board the train.
Zhang Tie dejectedly couldn't recover his composure until Miss Daina boarded and the railed train moved far away. He reluctantly walked home.
...
As it was the weekend, Zhang Tie's elder brother, Zhang Yang, would also come back as usual. On each Friday, his family would reunite and eat supper together, thus the supper would be very superb today. His mom had boiled a pot of fresh beans with the remaining half of bacon. Before Zhang Tie entered the house, he could already smell the fragrance of the meat soup. When he saw the steaming oily and milky meat soup tumbling in the pot, Zhang Tie's appetite instantly rose Taking the spoon against the pot, he scooped up a spoonful of soup. With cheeks puffing out, he heavily blew on it for a while. Although the soup was still hot, he wolfed it down quickly and the taste that could be described as happiness slipped into Zhang Tie's mouth instantly.
"Greedy cattle, you can enjoy a bowl of soup first if you're hungry!" his mom walked over from the rice brew store and scratched Zhang Tie's head like what she used to do for the past ten years.
Swallowing his saliva, Zhang Tie replied, "No, I'm not hungry. Let's wait for dad and elder brother!"
"Our Guoguo has grown up!" saying this, his mom tied her apron. "Dad is going to work overtime, so he'll probably be back a bit late. You go take a look at the store, I'll cook supper!"
"Okay!"
Half an hour later, Zhang Tie's father returned. After greeting Zhang Tie, he went to the kitchen to help the mom. Twenty minutes later, Zhang Tie was about to sit at the dinner table, and just when he thought his elder brother might not come back tonight, Zhang Yang arrived. Zhang Yang was 1.88m in height and had a strong stature with fairly slim hands. Like Zhang Tie, his eyes and eyebrows were slightly longer and narrower, which gave him a sense of elusive spiritual energy. Wearing the pitch black military uniform of the City Guard Army of Blackhot City, he wore a yellow leather military belt with a copper buckle, had uniformed long sword that hung from his belt, and on his shoulder was a military emblem that signified that he was a sergeant first class. As the little captain of the City Guard Army of Blackhot City, he was almost a military officer.
Ever since Zhang Tie was a child, his elder brother has been always his idol.
Zhang Yang came back with a knapsack in hand. He opened the knapsack and took out two things and foisted them into Zhang TIe's hands. "Open them, it's enough for a meal!"
"Canned beef!" taking the two cans, Zhang Tie's eyes turned bright as saliva began to pour out. Unexpectedly, his elder brother brought back such a good thing
"Sit here, I'll open them... " his mom took the two cans away before Zhang Tie could respond. She put one of them in the cupboards when she went to get another pair of chopsticks for Zhang Yang in the kitchen. She opened only one can of beef. Seeing this, the three men at the table began to laugh. His mom was really shrewd and frugal when it came to their daily lives. All the family members have already gotten used to her.
"Elder brother, what else is in your knapsack?" Zhang Tie sharply gazed at the filled knapsack. In Zhang Tie's eyes, his elder brother was like a magician who would always conjure many things.
"Look, here you are!" Zhang Yang directly tossed the entire knapsack into Zhang Tie's hands. Zhang Tie couldn't wait to open it, and when he did, a pair of black leather training shoes appeared before him. Additionally, there were two dark green sleeveless sweaters, and two pairs of dark green underwear. Leather shoes, sleeveless sweaters, underwear, towel, and soap were all personal living necessitiesutilities given to the City Guard Army in Blackhot City. These goods were in great demand in the black market of Blackhot City. His elder brother had saved them all for Zhang Tie. Looking a the new pair of leather shoes and then at the heavily worn out pair on his elder brother's feet, Zhang Tie felt like crying.
"I've replaced them for you, their sizes should be suitable for you. Mom said you had grown up, so don't cry!" when he said this, he stretched out his huge hand and rubbed Zhang Tie's hair, making it a mess.
Hearing the last few words, Zhang Tie instantly felt that he was losing face. He became coy and irritated all in a moment. At the same time, the elder brother felt it was funny and murmured something to his dad. His dad also laughed out loud, not caring about how embarrassed the young soul was.
"Mom!" Zhang Tie cried unhappily.
"Well, well, supper time, I promise not to disclose it in the future~!" with an opened canned beef on the plate, mom walked over recklessly.
The family started eating happily...
"Don't play outside in the evening during this period!" Zhang Yang told Zhang Tie at the table, "Blackhot City is not peaceful recently!"
"What's happening?" his dad became a bit nervous. The mom also became alert. Only Zhang Tie was chewing on the beef tendon in his bowl dejectedly. "Any news?" added the dad.
"A couple of days ago, Sara, the number two of Bloody Hand Bucher of the Red-scarf Burglars Group, was captured in Andaman City. Yesterday, the alliance parliament voted to hang Sara. The Red-scarf Burglar Group then released news that they're going to take revenge!"
"Will this… affect Blackhot City?" the dad doubted.
"When voting if they should hang the Bloody Hand Butcher, 11 of the 17 city-state representatives of the Andaman City-State Alliance agreed, including the representative of Blackhot City. Nobody knew how the voting results were disclosed, but the Red-scarf Burglars Group has targeted the 11 alliance members who voted "yes" for revenge. Blackhot city is remote geographically and at the northernmost end of the alliance, and its surroundings are matched with the weaker alliance forces; therefore, it might be the place that's the most easily attacked by the Red-scarf Burglar Group!" the elder brother explained peacefully.
"Is the alliance deteriorating? How was the voting result of the alliance parliament leaked? There must be a spy in the alliance. For killers like the Red-scarf Burglars group, some may want to sympathize with them and want them alive…" the dad cursed cynically. "I don't know whether there are any spies, but vacation for all the guards in the City Guard Army have been canceled for the following two months, so I can't come back home for the next two months!" said the elder brother with his hands stretched out.
"Son, is it dangerous?" the mom worried.
"Mom, trust me, the Red Scarf Burglars are not strong enough to attack our city yet. Us members of the City Guard Army and the city defense of Blackhot City are sturdy enough. They could at most launch terrorist attacks and destroy in secret. We at the City Guard Army don't feel too much stress, but you should watch out for yourselves!"
Opening his mouth, Zhang Tie wanted to pour out everything about the Castle of Black Iron at this moment. However, he clearly knew that if he told his secret to the family, it might cause an unpredictable catastrophe for the happy family since Zhang Tie, his elder brother, and even his dad and mom were trivial figures in Blackhot City. Zhang Tie had heard many similar stories. He remembered that the trivial figures in those stories had all died miserably. Therefore he decided that keeping it a secret might be the best choice.
After supper, his elder brother left, his dad went to black chess with the neighbors, which was his number one hobby, and his mom went to church. Before she left, she closed the door to their home. Zhang Tie was then left alone at home. After collecting and washing the bowls and chopsticks, Zhang Tie returned to his room. It was now the perfect time for him to further study the secrets in the Castle of Black Iron...
Chapter 16: Re-entering the Castle of Black Iron
Translator: WQL Editor: Geoffrey
To be honest, Zhang Tie sometimes felt that he was a lunatic. Like now, although he knew there was nobody home, Zhang Tie still checked his room carefully before he would enter the Castle of Black Iron. He then tightly closed the window in his room and the mouth of the staircase. After all, this was a special experience. Zhang Tie himself also didn't know if there would be any strange sound or light when he entered the Castle of Black Iron. Besides astonishment and surprise, he also felt stressed about having to keep the secret. Hence, it would always be better to deal with it carefully.
After checking his room, Zhang Tie felt like he had forgotten something. His mind spun before he patted his head and murmured, "How could I forget this!?" Zhang Tie lowered the staircase and went downstairs to the courtyard neighboring the kitchen. On a wall of the courtyard hung two strings of dried corncobs. Zhang Tie took one of the corncobs, and after thinking for a while, he entered the kitchen and found two sprouted potatoes from a bag in the corner of the kitchen. He then returned upstairs, back to his room in the attic. Moving to the utility room, he found the two halves of the common pyrite that had been thrown aside. He also found an abandoned steel bar that was longer than a meter. Finally, he found the dagger which was given to him as a present by his elder brother from the drawer at the head of the bed. By either holding onto these articles or by hanging them onto his clothes, Zhang Tie kept his eyes closed in the room and started to touch the arched door in his consciousness.
It might have been because he had already experienced the Castle of Black Iron twice, but he was able to touch the door much faster this time. Within approximately twenty seconds after Zhang Tie had closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, the door had already appeared in his mind.
"Enter!" Zhang Tie thought to himself. He felt the surrounding rays of light slightly sway, and by the time he opened his eyes, he was already in that weird space.
——Handsome and Magnificent Castle Lord, welcome to the Castle of Black Iron!
Once again, a familiar systematic dialog box appeared in front of Zhang Tie and disappeared in several seconds.
"Handsome and Magnificent Castle Lord", "Welcome". "Those are some really mother!@#$ing good words!" Zhang Tie thought to himself pleasantly. He then hurriedly checked his "equipment".
With a steel bar in his right hand, a dagger buckled to his waist, potatoes and corn cobs in his left hand, and two halves of a common pyrite in his pocket, if someone had seen Zhang Tie's weird appearance, they would definitely mistake him for a lunatic. They would never believe that Zhang Tie was thrilled at this moment
Zhang Tie sprung up from the ground and yelled with increasing excitement, "Great! I can actually bring things in." Suppose he had not discovered the other functionalities of the Castle of Black Iron, this function alone would have already made Zhang Tie thrilled for a long time. This function meant that Zhang Tie could hide things in this secret warehouse and would definitely be useful in the future.
"I'm rich, I'm rich…" with his excitement rising, Zhang Tie spun many times on the ground before recovering his composure. Now that the first function of the Castle of Black Iron has been confirmed, it was the right time to look for its other functions. Thinking of this, Zhang Tie let go of the steel bar and potatoes that were held in his hands and pulled out the two pieces of common pyrite and the dagger that was buckled on his waist before throwing it all on the ground. After this, Zhang Tie squatted. Holding onto the dried corncob, he began to peel off the kernels. There were more than two hundred niblets on the corncob, which occupied almost half the space of the pockets on his trousers. After the niblets were removed, he threw away the bald corncob. Zhang Tie then held onto the steel bar, stood up, and began to look around.
The space was exactly the same as it was yesterday — the colorful fog swirled above the space, and the weird small tree and the black mire at the center of the space remained unchanged.
After circling the extremely spacious land, Zhang Tie finally selected a place and brutally inserted the sharp end of the steel bar into the mud.
Puh, 20cm of the steel bar was fully submerged into the mud.
"Oh, it's a little bit deep. I remember that teacher said 10cm was enough," Zhang Tie scratched his head bashfully and pulled the steel bar out of the mud. Given the quality of the mud, the moisture of the soil under this land was ideal, so Zhang Tie became more confident.
Puh, he inserted that end of the steel bar into the soil once more. Its depth this time was almost half of the previous attempt. "It's ready," Zhang Tie thought to himself. He then pulled out the steel bar, and a shallow hole appeared in the mud. He pulled out a dried niblet and placed it inside the hole before covering the hole with soil. In this manner, he sowed his first niblet; this was the simplest method to plant corn. Zhang Tie was filled with excitement. After he did it for the first time, the following attempts would be easier. Zhang Tie imitated what he had done the first time: steel bar in, make a hole, niblet in, and cover it with soil with 50 cm distance between the two holes.
Puh, a niblet in, bury it...
Puh, a niblet in, bury it...
Puh, a niblet in, bury it...
Puh, a niblet in, bury it...
Only after more than 10 minutes did Zhang Tie finally finish sowing all the niblets. He irregularly sowed them in seven or eight rows. After that, Zhang Tie ran back to the pile of articles he had left. He pulled out the dagger and sliced the two sprouted potatoes into five or six pieces. He returned to where he had sown the niblets and dug several pits in a row beside them with the dagger before he buried the potato pieces one by one. After all this work, Zhang Tie patted his dirty hands with satisfaction and smirked for a while. He then inserted the steel bar between the area with the niblets and the area with the potatoes as a marker.
The niblets were on the left side of the steel bar, while the potatoes were on the right. Whether or not they would grow up, only God would know.
Zhang Tie felt pretty happy when he had finished the second task in the Castle of Black Iron. Sorting through the articles, Zhang Tie walked towards the mire with black bubbles. He had already thought it through and came to the conclusion that everything in this space would be useful, including the black mire.
This time, Zhang Tie moved closer to the mire until he was at the edge. Naturally, Zhang Tie was no fool. He didn't directly touch it, as this place gave him the feeling that it was extremely dangerous and that people should stay far away from it. Zhang Tie knew that if he touched it with his hands, the result would be extremely miserable.
After circling the edge of the mire twice, Zhang Tie could still not figure out what it was used for. Finally, his eyes turned bright as an idea came to mind. He needed to verify his idea, thus he went back to the two halves of common pyrite, took them into his hands, and ran back to the mire. About ten meters away from the mire, he waved his hands and threw one of the halves of the common pyrite into the black mire. The moment the common pyrite was cast into the black mire, Zhang Tie hurriedly opened the management panel of the Castle of Black Iron and clicked the Basic Attributes of Castle of Black Iron on the menu:
——Castle of Black Iron
——Length: 1 Krosa
——Width: 1 Krosa
——Aura Value: 0
——Merit Value: 1
——Basic Energy Storage: 0
——Special Output: Void
"The Merit Value has increased to 1. That's strange, where did it come from?" Zhang Tie was slightly confused. However, all of a sudden, the value of "Basic Energy Storage" changed from 0 to 0.1. At the same time, the font of the option also became brilliant and alive, changing from a gray font to a raised blue font.
——Basic Energy Storage: 0.1 (blue)
The raised item reminded Zhang Tie of the "Enter" button in the system, thus Zhang Tie attempted to press the item "Basic Energy Storage". As a result, a semi-transparent log window appeared in front of Zhang Tie. There were two tips on the dialog box. The first tip was at the top center of the dialog box and read:
——Everything in the universe is a manifestation of energy. Matter is a form of condensed low-frequency energy, and space is a form of sublime high-frequency energy. Therefore, all matter and space can be reverted to its original energy.
——At 20:38, May 13th, 889th year of the Black Iron Calendar, a common pyrite was converted by the Pool of Chaos. As a result, the Castle of Black Iron has gained 0.1 unit of basic energy storage!
"The strange black pool is called the Pool of Chaos. It's somewhat useful; I can throw objects inside and convert them into the most basic energy. Isn't it similar to the garbage disposal incinerator in Blackhot City? Garbage was burned in the incinerator, while the heat generated from it can be used to provide central heating for the residents in Blackhot City. By contrast, the Pool of Chaos seems much greater!" Zhang Tie's excitement rose when he solved the problem and knew the function of the strange black mire. As for the first tip on the log, Zhang Tie blurrily felt that it was important, but he could not understand it at all. Hence, he ignored it.
"Energy? Matter? Space? What the !@#$!" Zhang Tie became irritated as he could not understand it. "It's just a mother!@#$ing pool, a garbage treatment plant. What the !@#$?"
Closing the dialog window, Zhang Tie touched the "Merit Value" option. He clearly remembered the value of "Merit Value" was 0 last time. How could it have become 1 today? Additionally, the font color and state of the two words, "Merit Value", were evidently the same as that of the "Basic Energy Storage". He opened it without any hesitation.
Similar to the previous dialog window, there were two tips in the dialog that popped out.
——
Do good deeds and eliminate evil — the largest mercy in the Human World;.
Worship the gods and love the people — the nearest stairway to heaven;
Lucky people, please show the mercy of the creator to the secular world, so that the Gods can understand you;
Please receive the most sincere pleasures and appreciation presented to you by the hundreds of millions of living beings;
Please end the evil souls and the endless darkness to become the light, and when you are the light, you are definitely walking on the light and a magnificent road will be prepared for you.
The first tip on the log brought Zhang Tie a huge impact. Reading it, Zhang Tie's eyes inadvertently became wet. When he read the second tip, his tears kept flowing down.
——On the evening of May 13, 889th year of the Black Iron Calendar, Handsome and Magnificent Castle Lord ate together with his family members. You took initiative and washed the bowls after supper, cleaned the kitchen, and kept your house clean, which made your parents appreciative. Therefore, you gained 1 Merit Value.
It turned out that dad and mom were so easily happy!
Although the problem of "Aura Value" has not been solved yet, he had already gained a lot. In a complex mood, Zhang Tie left the Castle of Black Iron. All of a sudden, he returned and stood for a period of time before rushing out of his room madly.
Three hours later, when Zhang Tie's dad and mom opened the door, they found that the house was clean, including the floors, walls, table, and chairs, as if they were new. Everywhere was well cleaned, even the places and corners piled with sundries. Being startled, the dad and mom stood there for quite a while.
"What happened? We were just out for two hours, did we open the wrong door?" Zhang Tie's dad felt it was strange.
Opening her mouth, Zhang Tie's mom doubted that there was something wrong with her eyes. Right then, lifting a barrel of water in one hand and a map in the other hand, Zhang Tie walked upstairs. At this moment, they understood.
"Son, did you do this?" the dad stared at Zhang Tie with a weird look.
"Yea!" Zhang Tie smiled, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"Son, what's wrong? Don't scare me!" the mother stretched out a hand to touch Zhang Tie's head nervously. Usually, Zhang Tie had never been that enthusiastic and diligent, although he had also taken initiative to help with some housework in the past.
Hearing this, Zhang Tie became moved and bashful. "Dad, mom, I'm ok. Whatever, I'm free anyway, so here's a surprise! How about it? Are you happy?"
A surprise from their son? Zhang Tie's dad and mom looked at each other. Heaving a deep sigh, they showed a smile, nodded, and replied, "Happy!" in unison.
Zhang Tie also smiled, feeling endlessly satisfied...
Lying on the bed, Zhang Tie entered the Castle of Black Iron once again and threw the remaining half of the common pyrite into the Pool of Chaos so as to eliminate the last evidence of the Castle of Black Iron in this world. He opened the Basic Attributes Panel of the Castle of Black Iron:
——Castle of Black Iron
——Length: 1 Krosa
——Width: 1 Krosa
——Aura Value: 0
——Merit Value: 2
——Basic Energy Storage: 0.2
——Special Output: Void
As expected, "0.1" was added to the Basic Energy Storage. Opening the dialog box of the Merit Value, Zhang Tie saw a new log:
On the evening of May 13, 889th year of the Black Iron Calendar, Handsome and Magnificent Castle Lord took the initiative and cleaned his home and made his parents happy. As a reward, you have gained 1 more Merit Value.
With a satisfactory smile, Zhang Tie fell asleep...
Chapter 17: Growing Up
Translator: WQL Editor: Geoffrey
As the old saying went, "Kids in poor families always grow up early". Zhang Tie had already begun to help his parents with housework ever since he was a student in preliminary school. His dad worked diligently in the mill, while his mother stayed at home and sold rice brew as a side job. In this manner, they brought up Zhang Yang and Zhang Tie.
In the past, Zhang Tie didn't know how to treasure his parents. Two years ago on a weekend when he was home, he found his mom doing housework even after closing the rice brew store. He noticed his mom's slightly plump and fat back as she mopped the floor. It was completely different from the slim and beautiful figure that he had in his mind from when he was a child. All of a sudden, Zhang Tie felt frustrated and grew up overnight. He started to understand that a man should be responsible for his family and parents. From that day forward, Zhang Tie would stay home every weekend and help his mom with the housework, while other kids played outside. Naturally, Zhang Tie also learned how to make rice brew from his mom. A year ago, the rice brew made by Zhang Tie was already the same as those made by his mom. By then, even the regular customers failed to notice that half of the rice brew was made by Zhang Tie.
Oddly enough, Zhang Tie didn't have any dreams last night and fell asleep very easily. When Zhang Tie opened his eyes at 6:00 am, the sky was still slightly dim. Zhang Tie glanced at the clock and found it was just 6:15 — a time when young people were reluctant to get up. In Zhang Tie's memories, he has rarely got up before 7:00 am. Closing his eyes, he planned to have a nap; However, he was unable to fall asleep again. He felt clear-minded and energetic all over and didn't feel like sleeping at all. He felt as fresh as a white cabbage being scooped from the water after soaking overnight. He usually felt sleepy when he woke up in the morning; however, today, he felt like a polished superb crystal that was free of impurities.
After failing to fall asleep, Zhang Tie decided to get up instantly. With only a pair of underwear on, Zhang Tie twisted his bottom as he stood beside his bed. No matter what he did, nobody could see him. He continued to stretch his waist by rotating it sixty circles clockwise and sixty circles counterclockwise, ignoring the obscenity of his actions. He had become used to this habit. His father had told him that men should twist their waists in the morning to strengthen their Yang Qi. Zhang Tie had always kept this in his mind, and later on, he slightly understood it. One day, when he saw his elder brother doing the piston movements with a woman, he understood the function of strengthening one's Yang Qi. Henceforth, he would slightly practice this series of actions every morning. Although Zhang Tie was still a virgin, for more than ten years, with the exception of his wet dreams, he had not ejaculated once. Men… hm… hm... always wished to be more fierce in that aspect.
The moment he began to do that exercise, Zhang Tie lowered his head and noticed a high-raising tent. Removing his underwear, he found his !@#$% to be really big. Raising its head with blue veins all over, it was truly terrifying. Zhang Tie tried to bend it, but it was as hard as a stick.
"Stand for a while. Maybe one day, you will perform well!" Zhang Tie thought to himself.
After twisting his bottom, he opened the small window in the attic. He lifted his legs and stretched waist several times. Zhang Tie then put on his clothes and lightly stepped downstairs. After cleaning his teeth, he made breakfast for his family. Their breakfast consisted of nothing but porridge. The rice had already puffed well last night and had already turned soft. These grains of white rice were really appetizing.
After the rice grains were puffed, Zhang Tie started to make a fire. Blackhot City was rich in coal resources, thus coal was very cheap in Blackhot City. Residents were able to buy a small wheelbarrow full of coal cinder balls made from broken coal cinders with a few dozen copper coins. Although coal cinder balls were cheap, skill was necessary to burn them in the chamber of a stove. Thankfully, after many years of "practice", Zhang Tie had already become very familiar with this. In the past, Zhang Tie needed the aid of some pine oil to help ignite it, but he was now able to make fire with the coal cinder balls within ten minutes without the usage of pine oil.
Ten minutes later, Zhang Tie made a fire in the chamber of the stove. He washed the pot and began to boil water. With the fierce flames under the pot, the water soon began to boil. He then put the puffed rice into the pot and covered it. Zhang Tie glanced at the fire and smiled. He found it very satisfying to faithfully serve his family and give them a surprise.
It would take at least one hour to boil the puffed rice in the pot, thus he had a lot of free time. He walked around the kitchen and thought for a while. Zhang Tie then fetched several big ceramic mugs from the rice brew store, retrieved some water from the well in the backyard, and thoroughly washed them. After he finished washing the mugs, he put them under the eaves of the backyard to dry them. At this moment, day had already broken. After working for almost an hour, Zhang Tie's forehead was covered in sweat. The moment Zhang Tie had placed the last ceramic mug under the eaves, he found his mom standing at the doorway from the kitchen to the backyard, staring at Zhang Tie in surprise.
"Guoguo, what are you doing?"
"Ah, mom, I got up early, so I wanted to do something with my hands!"
"Foolish boy, you're not grown up yet, you can't just get up so early!" his mom walked over and wiped the sweat off Zhang Tie. She went and removed the pot lid to check the porridge. Looking at the porridge, she knew when Zhang Tie got up. "Go take a nap. You've finished most of the housework this morning. Come down and eat breakfast when you wake up!"
"Mom, I'm really not sleepy!" Zhang Ti explained languidly.
"Come here, tell mom. Have you gotten a girlfriend recently and spent all the money I gave you? I feel like you were strange since last time…" His mom moved closer to him and added, "If you want money, I'll give you some. A man should be generous to attract a girl. I have some saved up money, but you can't tell your dad about it!"
Staring at his mom, Zhang Tie was at a loss of words. What!? In the end, his protests were useless and was almost kicked back upstairs by his mom while his ears were pinched. His mom insisted for him to take a nap...
"You are still growing, so you have to sleep more to grow taller!" Seeing his mom's murmuring shadow, Zhang Tie was moved and went back to his room and pretended to return to sleep.
But in reality, he was not able to fall asleep at all. Thinking for a while, he tightly closed the door and the window of his room and entered meditation for the Castle of Black Iron once more. Due to experiencing this a couple of times, he was able to link to the Castle of Black Iron much easier than before. This time, the door appeared naturally in his mind, almost at the moment Zhang Tie closed his eyes and thought about the "Castle of Black Iron". He said to himself "Enter" and entered the Castle of Black Iron.
——Handsome and Magnificent Castle Lord, welcome to the Castle of Black Iron!
The same dialog box appeared in front of Zhang Tie's eyes and disappeared instantly. although it was disgusting, Zhang Tie was really happy each time he saw the appellation that he made for himself.
Handsome… Magnificent… Lord... Hahahhaha...
Raising his chest, Zhang Tie stood still and looked around. Through his naked eyes, he found no change to the land — a strange small tree, a vast land, plus the steel bar he erected.
He then circled the strange small tree, the "Manjusaka Karma Fruit Tree", twice and found no changes which made him lose interest. He decided to check on the seeds he sowed yesterday. When the niblets and potatoes came to mind, his excitement instantly rose. He ran to the marked land and squatted on the ground to observe them carefully.
Only a night had passed, nothing had happened to the niblets at all. Zhang Tie was also not that anxious, as he had learned at school that it would take about a week since it was buried in the soil for a niblet to sprout. It was still too early at this point. Thinking of this, Zhang Tie patted his head fiercely and cursed that he had forgotten to water them. This was a really low level error; however, it was still not too late to remember it. He planned to bring in two barrels of water next time. After checking the buried niblets, he moved to the buried potatoes. Surprisingly, some of the stubborn potatoes had already sprouted. He specifically put those sprouted parts upside down yesterday when he buried them. Unexpectedly, some of them should have sprouted this morning. The fresh saplings broke out overnight. Like bean sprouts being soaked in water overnight, they had grown up a lot. The potato with the largest twig had already sprouted out two fresh tender shoots. Marvelous!
Zhang Tie was thrilled, "Mother!@#$er, with this land alone, I would never have to worry about starving to death even if only potatoes could be planted in it!" Zhang Tie could only make this association at this moment.
After a while, Zhang Tie opened the basic attributes panel of the Castle of Black Iron:
——Castle of Black Iron
——Length: 1 Krosa
——Width: 1 Krosa
——Aura Value: 0.3
——Merit Value: 3
——Basic Energy Storage: 0.2
——Special Output: Void
Merit value rose by 1 as expected. Aura value also rose from 0 to 0.3 which instantly attracted the attention of Zhang Tie...