Chapter 225: Setting Free Earthworms
Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem
"Who's he, grandpa?"
When Zhang Tie and Harley were looking at that pile of dung and soil beside that earthworm pond, a maiden came towards them from the grassland behind Harley's house with a milk jug in her hand.
With sleeves rolled up, she wore a white shirt with patterns on it and a pale blue skirt. Outside the shirt was a blue skintight vest which covered her skirt with an apron. This was the favorite dressing of peasant maidens in Blapei and the Andaman Alliance as a whole.
The maiden was 18-19 years old and looked a bit older than Zhang Tie. She was very beautiful. With a string binding her hair, she had two golden braids hanging on either side, while her red face and shiny eyes were filled with vitality. Additionally, her skintight vest outlined the elegant curves of her waist and breasts.
These rural maidens' bodies were even more amazing that of those girls of Rose Association due to better development. In addition, they were exceptionally beautiful.
Only with one glance at this maiden, Zhang Tie had become slightly ashamed. The maiden carrying a milk jug looked both energetic and capable. She was simply a heifer. Coincidentally, all the heifers were extremely attractive to Zhang Tie.
"Hanna, this is our guest, he's here to buy our earthworms!" Harley explained.
"Buy earthworms?" Having just milked the cow, Hanna carried a milk jug as she walked towards them. At the same time, she peered at Zhang Tie several times before said straightforwardly, "You must be a liar!"
"Of course not. I've negotiated with your grandpa, cash on delivery!" Zhang Tie smiled while peering at that girl's breasts that were G cup size, which were even bigger than those of Sharapova and Alice. Based on his sharp eyes formed by the girls of the Rose Association, Zhang Tie instantly judged the size of Hanna's breasts.
'That's really a heifer.'
Zhang Tie silently swallowed his saliva.
"Are you that rich? Why do you buy these things that nobody would buy at all?"
"Dream and belief can not be measured by money!"
In the cave barbarian survival mode, Zhang Tie's words and behavior were so perfect that nobody could find any fault with him at all.
The maiden glanced at Zhang Tie with a pair of dubious eyes.
"Hanna, this young man is a pious believer of Guardian God School..."
Standing nearby, old Harley repeated what Zhang Tie had fabricated to him.
This lie was truly believable. After all, these small things that existed everywhere, almost no other idiot would buy them at all.
Hearing old Harley's explanation, Hanna's eyes revealed a bit of interest towards Zhang Tie. At the sight of his granddaughter being interested in this black-haired lad, old Harley who had experienced love affairs hurriedly assigned Hanna with a job.
"Hanna, have you milked the cows just now? Hurry up and take the milk to the kitchen to filter it before boiling. If it keeps still too long, it will not be yummy."
Old Harley didn't want to sell his granddaughter at the price of only several silver coins. Before being f*cked by a man, the female had to be interested in that man at the beginning. Nobody knew how long an outsider like Zhang Tie would stay in Blapei. Therefore, old Harley didn't want to assume the risk of allowing the lad to make Hanna pregnant before fleeing. Even though this lad was a pious believer of Guardian God School, there was no doctrine there on forbidding a believer to make a female pregnant.
Hanna then carried the milk jug away while turning back on her way to cast another glance at Zhang Tie.
Seeing Hanna going away, Zhang Tie continued to talk about earthworms with old Harley. Old Harley moved away a part of the straws covering the pile of dung and soil, then thrust a small wooden stick inside to open the dung. Zhang Tie then saw more than ten earthworms twisting under the dung, hurriedly worming and shrinking into the soil.
These earthworms were all fat and strong. If Zhang Tie didn't came here to buy them, they were destined to become the fodder of chickens and ducks.
"How many earthworms are in this pit?" Zhang Tie asked old Harley.
"At least one hundred thousand. No one can count them. To tell the truth, this organism reproduces very fast, having a very strong reproductive capability. Each earthworm will lay eggs three-four times a year, giving birth to dozens of babies each time. So one earthworm can give birth to more than one hundred new ones a year. I usually take some from here as fodder for chickens and ducks. As long as you add some wastes and cow dung, they will give birth to some babies in a few days. So I've never seen their numbers decrease!"
"Do you have a vehicle? I cannot carry a pond of earthworms and dung in to the wild and bury them just by hand!"
"Of course I have, I have a wooden handcart used for carrying cow dung and a spade. If you can not do it by yourself, I can find two helpers for you if you can pay me another two silver coins a day!"
"Fine!" After thinking for a while, Zhang Tie directly pulled out his purse and counted out 25 silver coins before handing them to old Harley. "21 silver coins are for earthworms, one silver coin is for renting your handcart and tools while the remaining three are for the helper you'll find for me from the village!"
Taking the silver coins, old Harley instantly revealed a smile. After a short while, a human-driven wooden handcart smelling of cow dung, two spades, and a strong male youth appeared before Zhang Tie. That male youth was old Harley's grandson, Hanna's elder brother.
He hadn't imagined that the pond of earthworms was worth 21 silver coins. Additionally he could also make three silver coins today. Even lending two spades would bring them a silver coin. Hanna's elder brother and the other family members of old Harley became very happy.
Generous people would gain a warm welcome everywhere they went.
The moment the tools were brought over, Zhang Tie and Hanna's elder brother started to work hard. They firstly moved away the straws off the earthworms; after that, they directly spaded the earthworms out of the pond and moved them onto the wooden handcart.
Zhang Tie was filled with excitement. He had never imagined it would go so smooth today.
With his physical condition much worse than before, Zhang Tie only worked for less than three minutes before starting to pant heavily. Supporting himself on the handle of his spade, Zhang Tie took a rest nearby while Hanna's elder brother became more and more energetic.
"Hehe, you'd better take a rest. I can finish this work alone!"
Seeing Zhang Tie's weak look, Hanna's elder brother burst out laughing as he moved his spade faster. In only a few minutes, the wooden handcart was already fully loaded with cow dung and soil. It at least contained ten thousand earthworms.
Seeing those earthworms rolling on the vehicle, Zhang Tie hurriedly covered it with some straws to avoid the adorable earthworms from being shined on by the sun.
"Where are we heading to?" Hanna's elder brother asked Zhang Tie.
"I'm not familiar with the neighboring topography. If you feel that there's a suitable place somewhere around for these earthworms to settle down, you can guide me there!"
Finally, Hanna's elder brother guided Zhang Tie to a riverside south of Chevli village. The river was dug a couple of years ago. Below its banks was silt which had been carried out of the river. Many trees were planted on the riverside. A bit farther away from there were vegetable fields. Many people piled the rotten vegetable leaves onto a concave land near the river, which had been covered with weeds. Zhang Tie decided that the environment here was really suitable for the earthworms to survive.
He opened the soil near the concave land using his spade and checked it. He found that the soil here was soft and had many earthworms. The moment Zhang Tie broke the earth, the earthworms had tried to hide into the soil from the sun's light.
For the earthworms who lived in the small pond before and were destined to be fodder for chickens and ducks, this place, although not being paradise, was almost like a Shangri-la.
Now that Zhang Tie was determined to set free his earthworms here, the following steps were easy. He worked together with Hanna's elder brother as they dug out a pit of 30-40 cm in depth. They then moved the dung along with earthworms into the pit with their spades. After that, they covered some fine land on it, making it ready for the earthworms to settle down here.
The process of setting free these earthworms was simply an engineering work. It took Zhang Tie and Hanna's elder brother almost a whole day only to clean 95% of all the earthworms and dung from that pond at old Harley's house. Finally, only a part of dung and soil the size of a dustpan in that pond which covered 7-8 square meters was left. According to old Harley's explanation, they were left to reproduce. Only by adding some dung and wastes, the pond would be fully filled with earthworms again in less than a year.
For the whole day, Zhang Tie and Hanna's elder brother pulled the wooden handcart and walked to-and-fro many times. At the same time, the message that Zhang Tie was buying earthworms also spread across the village. As a result, all the farmers in Chevli knew that a pious believer of Guardian God School came to Chevli, who wanted to set free their raised earthworms in to the wild. This person was not only pious, but also generous as he paid 25 silver coins to old Harley's family today. It was admirable for local residents to make so much extra money in one day. How could those earthworms value so much?
Because of his generosity, Zhang Tie received a passionate treatment in old Harley's house. He enjoyed a free lunch and a free supper. But because he was in too much hurry to go back to check his Fruit of Redemption, after supper, he didn't stay in old Harley's home any more, instead, he directly returned to his residence.
"Do you want more earthworms? I raise some too..."
"My earthworm pond is larger than that of old Harley. It contains more earthworms than his as well. I only want 20 silver coins for all of them..."
"I only need 19 silver coins!"
Seeing people arguing around him, Zhang Tie felt dizzy and shouted out loudly standing on the oxcart, "Be quiet!"
Everybody then became quiet with their eyes fixed on Zhang Tie, who was standing on the oxcart. As Zhang Tie was a military officer of the Iron-Blood Camp, since he left the battlefield, he had a special, firm personality, which could definitely help him control the situation at this moment.
"Please go back home, I will return in a couple of days. I want all your earthworms. Don't worry, I will come back to buy earthworms one house by another. I only buy those raised by you in your own pond. For the wild ones, I don't buy them. The price of your earthworms will be the same as that in old Harley's house today!"
Hearing Zhang Tie's explanation, everybody left satisfied.
Standing outside her home, Hanna watched Zhang Tie standing on the oxcart, persuading all the other people to leave with only a couple of sentences. Her eyes then became shiny.
Zhang Tie didn't know that as a handsome Chinese youth, who was utterly different from those muscled youths in the village, in many girls' eyes in this village, he was filled with an exceptionally "exotic" aura. What he did in this normal village aroused many girls' interests, like Hanna's.
...
When Zhang Tie returned to his rental estate, it was already dark outside. The sound of a violin still drifted from Mr. and Mrs. Green's residence on the first floor; the noise of the kid still came from the residence of the young couple on the second floor; and it was still empty on the third floor, while on the door of Zhang Tie's residence was a taped paper.
"I'm sorry for what happened last night. Thanks for your care. If I contaminated your clothes, you can take them downstairs and put outside my door. I will help you wash them all——Linda"
'It seems that woman is called Linda, and she came here to find me!'
Zhang Tie had almost forgotten this trivial thing. As she was just drunk, it was not necessary for him to be angry about her. Revealing a smile, he tore off the paper as he opened the door and walked inside.
At this moment, Zhang Tie's heart had long been pounded like boiling water. He was just trying to recover his composure.
'Patience is virtue!' he warned himself once again.
Because he had sweated too much today and the work today was not clean, Zhang Tie was still full of smell of dung and wastes. Before he entered the Castle of Black Iron, he spent ten minutes taking a bath and changing his clothes.
...
——Handsome and Magnificent Castle Lord, welcome to the Castle of Black Iron!
When this line of words slowly disappeared, Zhang Tie took a deep breath as he walked towards the small tree.
The small tree or the true karma rule didn't let Zhang Tie down. At this moment, on the twig in the middle of the small tree were quietly hanging two fruits.
The two fruits were both Fruits of Redemption: one was pale green while the other had become pink. They were like two peaches, one was already ripe while the other was not ripe yet.
The pale green one was "golden uangs' strength" which was not ripe yet. Zhang Tie didn't pay much attention to it, instead, he directly stretched out his hand towards the pink heart-shaped peach.
——Fruit of Redemption, from earthworms' appreciation, has become ripe. Usage: Pick and directly eat it. Notice: The fruit cannot be taken out of the Castle of Black Iron. After twelve hours of having been picked off the tree, its energy and vitality will gradually decline.
——This fruit can recover your wounds by 1.3%.
With more than twenty silver coins, Zhang Tie could improve his physical condition by 1.3%. After reading this, he became dumbfounded, then burst out laughing loudly. At this moment, Zhang Tie understood that money was very important, though it was not the standard to measure the value of everything. Without those earthworms, no matter how much he spent, he could not recover his body at all.
Maybe similar to the human kind before the catastrophe, people in this age were used to measuring the value of everything with money. He set free at least 70,000-80,000 earthworms today. Although those lives were only worth some silver coins in someone's eyes, they didn't knew that all the lives were the manifestation of the creator, whose value could not be measured by money. In the eyes of the creator, a live grass and a small earthworm might be more valuable than a magnificent palace.
Should the alleged wealth of a person be measured by the eyes of human kind or the eyes of the creator? In other words, a real rich man should be rich from the perspectives of both human kind and the creator!
The above enlightenment flashed across Zhang Tie's mind.
The heart-shaped Fruit of Redemption brought people an exotic sense that made their pores expanded due to excitement. After picking the fruit and eating it, it started to worm through Zhang Tie's body by creeping like an earthworm. Zhang Tie could obviously feel that the places where he felt uncomfortable before became comfortable after the warm flow crept through.
It was too nice eating this fruit. During the whole process, Zhang Tie felt like numerous small hands were giving him a massage both inside and outside. He was so immersed in that process that even after the fruit's effect had long ended, he was still sitting on the ground and enjoying it's memory for a long time before standing up.
After getting up, Zhang Tie made some movements to feel his current physical condition. Although it only recovered 1.3%, Zhang Tie could still feel a bit better than before. Because his physical condition was very bad, even with 1.3%'s recovery, he could still feel a very obvious improvement.
As long as he could insist on setting free earthworms, he would fully recover to a normal person in several months.
Zhang Tie let out a long breath inside...
At this speed, he knew that he would fully recover, as if by a miracle, in only 3-4 months. Perhaps when he had fully recovered, the reconditioning of the Iron-Blood Camp of No. 39 Division would have not completed yet. After all, the loss for the Iron-Blood Camp was really big this time.
If he could fully recover, would he go back to the Iron-Blood Camp? When he thought of this question, Zhang Tie became hesitant inside. He knew that if he just went back like nothing had happened after being judged a disabled man by a lot of doctors due to his terrifying experience, he would then be truly "well-known" in the entire Iron-Horn Army. He was afraid that if he did that, many people would start to doubt his lie about being struck by a lightning bolt. No matter how sharp a man with the Post-Lightning Stroke Savant Syndrome was, he could not do something like that.
Iron-Horn Army was not Blackhot City. If he aroused someone's suspicions, Zhang Tie wasn't sure whether he could keep the secret of the Castle of Black Iron.
Zhang Tie was really puzzled by this question. However, only after several seconds, he pushed it out of his mind. No matter what, whether he would recover or the Iron-Blood Camp would finish its reconditioning and reorganization, it would be at least 3-4 months later. He didn't need to think about this question now.
Thinking this way, Zhang Tie relaxed.
Because he had enough free time tonight, he firstly cultivated in the Castle of Black Iron for a while, then continued to produce two more binding chains using his spiritual energy. After that, he practiced mental arithmetic by two abacuses at the same time so as to recover his spiritual energy a bit. After doing all the above things, he felt very satisfied and fell asleep.
Later on, Zhang Tie became the most popular person in the whole Chevli village...
Chapter 226: The Most Popular Person in Chevli
Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem
On an empty land outside the Chevli village were stacks of dried wheat straw. Many households' wheat straw stacks were piled here in bundles. They were like rolling mountains. Additionally, the sparse wheat straws covering the land looked like a thick carpet. Even if people jumped off from the top of the stacks, they would not get hurt. Therefore, this place also became the most natural and enjoyable children's playground in the Chevli village as a whole.
In order to hide themselves well when they played the hide and seek game, the kids had emptied the bottoms of many tall wheat straw stacks. After blocking the entrances of the caves in them, one could sleep inside overnight.
The insides of the wheat straw stacks were ventilated, warm, and very soft.
The place where the wheat straws were piled was really a mini-maze in Chevli village.
Certainly, not only kids liked it there, even Zhang Tie liked it too.
At this moment, the sky was covered with stars. The kids in Chevly had just had supper after being called back home by their parents before dusk. They were preparing to play in groups outside.
In the period between the kids being called back home to eat supper and them returning to play outside, the whole wheat straw drying field was vacant. During this over 2-h period, people could do a lot of things here.
From the day before yesterday, Zhang Tie had fallen in love with this place.
After setting free earthworms the first time, he passed by this wheat straws drying field. He saw Hanna with her two golden braids on his way. She was hiding behind a wheat straw stack, peeking out only with her head and silently waving her hand towards him, who was walking after her elder brother and another helper in the village.
As the work today had been finished, Zhang Tie told the two helpers to go back first. He then found an excuse to take a rest around here. When they were far away, Zhang Tie stealthily moved to that wheat straws stack where Hanna was hiding.
Pulling Zhang Tie's hand, she said nothing but walked around the field in circles before guiding him in front of a wheat straw stack. She then pulled away a bundle of wheat straws from below, revealing a hole. Pulling her skirt up, she gave him a smile as she lowered her body and crawled inside, followed by Zhang Tie.
The moment Zhang Tie came in, Hanna's hot lips pasted onto his while her hands reached for his leather belt.
As a man, of course, Zhang Tie didn't wait at all. The following thing was needless to mention.
One lad and one maiden, staying alone, soon wrestled with each other.
It was Zhang Tie's first time doing this in a wheat straw stack. He felt it very stimulative and full of fun.
From that day onward, Zhang Tie also started to like these wheat straw stacks. At each dusk, Hanna would wait for him there. After he finished work each day, Zhang Tie would find an excuse to meet Hanna here like what he did that day.
Zhang Tie couldn't remember how many times had Hanna started her contractive spasm, but he could remember that after each time they made love, the greater part of the undid and padded apron under her body would be wet. He was really amazed when he learned that a woman's apron had such a function.
Each time when Hanna started to spasm, she would make shrill shrieks unconscioussly. Therefore, each time at this moment Zhang Tie would hurriedly kiss her lips.
Zhang Tie also enjoyed this sense of spasm as he felt a sense of achievement both physically and mentally.
This time, Hanna's spasm lasted as long as 3-4 minutes. Zhang Tie didn't move this time, instead, he just lay on Hanna's body and kissed her. Sucking Hanna's tongue, he could sense the coldness on her tongue's tip. Occasionally, he would move his d*ck which was in her body to make her quiver from excitement.
Zhang Tie liked to see a woman losing her mind under him.
Coming back from the paradise to the human world, Hanna could still feel the hardness of Zhang Tie's d*ck inside her body. At this moment, she was still soft all over. She had no more strength left while the apron under her was all wet and a bit swollen.
She had not experienced this crazy thing before. From the first time, she had felt that Zhang Tie was like a weird beast who grew up more and more powerful in a crazy way as days passed. Each time she felt like she was torn to pieces by him. Whenever she thought of Zhang Tie's panting after he had used the spade while working for only two minutes, she would be certain that that bad guy must be pretending at that time.
"Ha… have you ejected it?" Hanna gasped, face turning completely red.
"You guess."
Zhang Tie gave an obscene smile while moving his d*ck inside her body again, making Hanna's body quiver heavily.
"Ah… could you stop? I know what you're waiting for. I knew it when you saw me for the first time. Don't lift my legs any more, put them down, please, they are already sore..."
At this time, Hanna's skirt had been undid and been circled around her waist while her underwear were moved onto her knees. She was still wearing fine-heeled leather shoes, revealing a pair of snow-white legs. Her plump thighs were pressed by Zhang Tie to curl up close to each other. Zhang Tie then separated her legs and brought her knees against his chest.
After that, Zhang Tie put down Hanna's legs.
She then undid her skintight vest and moved it lower from her body. After that, she undid the buttons of the shirt under the vest and the front-button type corsage, exposing her huge and snow-white G-sized cup at once.
Hanna pushed them using her hands and forced a deep plump a and soft ravine. After that, she cast an enchanting glance at Zhang Tie and bit his ear.
"Come on, you scumbag, my sister-in-law taught me yesterday..."
With shiny eyes, Zhang Tie then did more funny gestures...
...
After twenty minutes, Zhang Tie was the first to walk out of the wheat straw stack with a refreshed look. Looking at the sky, he realized that they had played longer than yesterday. Like how she looked after milking the cow, this heifer was really gratified and was really good at milking.
Face blushed, Hanna drilled out of the wheat straw stack too while arranging her dress.
Zhang Tie then helped her to arrange her clothes and fastened the ropes on her vest.
After picking the straws from the other's clothes and hair, they smield at each other.
"Will you come here tomorrow?" Hanna asked, staring at Zhang Tie full of affection.
"I have something to deal with in Blapei tomorrow, so I will come here the day after tomorrow!" Zhang Tie explained.
Even though he was the Director of the No. 9 Equipment Administration of the Comprehensive Relief Branch of the Logistics Department of Iron-Horn Army, Zhang Tie had not went over to the plant for almost two weeks, since the first day after he had left the hospital. Additionally, the war was continuing on the frontline. Even if this was a leisurely position for retired officers, Zhang Tie still felt bashful being that lazy. He should go there and greet them at least.
"Then I will wait for you here the day after tomorrow!"
"Great!" Saying this, Zhang Tie suddenly thought of something. "What gift do you want, I'll bring it back for you from Blapei!"
Inclining her head, Hanna thought for a moment. "Bring me a packet of beer yeast then. As the beer festival will arrive in a few days, by then, each girl in the village will display the beer they brewed themselves, but there didn't seem to be enough beer yeast at home, so just buy one packet for me!"
"Okay!"
They then kissed before the wheat straw stack and stealthily departed from each other in different directions.
Now that it was a clandestine love affair, they were both very careful.
...
Only a few minutes after Zhang Tie left the wheat straw stack, before he walked out of the Chevli village, he encountered old Harley who was looking for Hanna.
The moment he caught sight of Zhang Tie, old Harley became stunned. "Zhang Tie, have you seen Hanna..."
"No… no!" Zhang Tie stammered out, unconfident like a thief.
"Why do you leave so late?" Old Harley gazed at Zhang Tie with a dubious look.
"Uhm… I was a bit tired today… after the work, I took a rest. When I woke up, it was already somewhat late! Hanna should be in the village or with her friends. No more chit-chat, it's hard to walk in the night. I have to go back!"
Zhang Tie hurriedly escaped.
Looking at Zhang Tie's anxious look, old Harley had a feeling of something wrong...
...
After setting the earthworms free, Zhang Tie had lingered with Hanna for more than two hours before returning to Tonikas town alone in the evening. After a casual supper in some hotel, he finally found a horse taxi to drive him back to the rental estate.
Today, Zhang Tie came back after 11 o'clock pm, later than usual. By now, all the people on the first and the second floor had fallen asleep. In order to not disturb them, Zhang Tie quietly moved upstairs.
...
"Linda, as I sent you back, why not invite me in to have a cup of coffee?"
The moment Zhang Tie moved on to the second floor, he heard the voice of a middle-aged man from the third floor.
'F*ck, you want to drink a cup of coffee in her residence at such a late time, I think you motherf*cker want her to drink your milk!'
Hearing that voice, Zhang Tie immediately understood what was happening. It was very normal and had nothing to do with Zhang Tie. He only felt that the man was a bit hypocritical.
"No… it's a bit too late, thanks for sending me back. I'm a bit uncomfortable. See you!"
The woman, who lived on the third floor, obviously knew what the man was thinking about. So after a slight hesitation, she refused his wish to "drink a cup of coffee".
"Are you uncomfortable? What's wrong? Let me see!" the man asked in an anxious voice.
"No need, I drank too much. I'll be okay after a rest… ah!"
When Zhang Tie arrived at the third floor, he saw a man in tidy clothes hugging the woman who lived in the residence on the third floor in the dim stairwell. The woman was struggling in resistance, grabbing that man's hand to stop him from fumbling all over her body. At the same time, she inclined her head to avoid being kissed by him as well.
Hearing Zhang Tie's footsteps, the man and the woman both stopped. At the sight of him, that woman seemed to become a bit embarrassed while the man older than forty frowned.
As it had nothing to do with him, Zhang Tie just pretended to ignore them. After a casual glance over them, he went directly upstairs.
The man stared at Zhang Tie, but after realizing that he just lived up the stairs, he relaxed and started to fumble again.
When Zhang Tie arrived at the fourth floor and prepared to open the door of his own residence, the man downstairs became more presumptuous.
"Ah… no… let me go, if not, I'll call the police..." the woman older than thirty exclaimed.
"Linda, I love you. Once you promise to be my woman, I can delay the debt of your distillery..."
The man started to gasp.
"Ah… haven't you agreed to delay it for me at the table!"
The woman still struggled to get out of his grasp.
"It depends on your performance tonight. Don't pretend to be a goddess any more. I know that women like you only want more benefits at the critical moment. Once you promise to be my mistress and make me comfortable on the bed later on, then, nothing is a problem..."
The man's voice became increasingly more anxious while the sound of their clothes moving about became louder. "Do… do you know, Linda, since the first time I saw you, I wanted to crazily f*ck you. At the sight of your little mouth, I wanted to make you kneel down in front of me and lick my pole. If you make me comfortable tonight, nothing is a problem later on..."
Besides more crazy movements, the man's words became more foul...
"Pah..."
The woman smacked the man. Soon after, her mouth was blocked by something, and she started weepign. With a sound of "Hua...", her clothes were torn to pieces.
Previously, as Zhang Tie had felt it had nothing to do with him, he planned to ignore it. However, at this moment when he inserted his key into the door, he couldn't stand it any more. He turned and rapidly went downstairs to the third floor.
When Zhang Tie arrived at the third floor, the man had already forced the woman to a corner of the stairwell. With one hand covering her mouth, he pinched her neck with his other hand. Part of her clothes had been torn open. Evidently, the man was going to use force to conquer her.
Zhang Tie instantly rushed forward and pinched the vein on the man's neck, dragging him off from the woman's body. Being pinched in a certain location on his neck, the man immediately felt dizzy and unconscioussly let go of the woman.
After setting the earthworms free for one week, Zhang Tie had already become as healthy as a normal person and had some strength. Plus, with his rich experience in killing people on the battlefield, the man wasn't even able to resist before being thrown to the ground.
He instantly became dizzy and didn't realize what had happened until ten more seconds passed. Before he could open his mouth, Zhang Tie, who had killed numerous people when he was in the Iron-Blood Camp, smacked him, having no wish to waste time talking to such a man. He then kept smacking the two sides of his face for more than ten times. The 40-odd man's face was soon turned into a pig-head covered with blood.
"If I see you again, I'll chop you to pieces and feed the dogs on the street."
Flustered, the man looked at Zhang Tie, who was filled with killing intent formed by killing numerous people on the battlefield. Even if he was not as sharp as before, once with a solemn face, he could still present a terrifying strength to others.
The man couldn't speak any more, so instead he just nodded.
Zhang Tie then gave him a fierce kick. "Piss off!".
The man then tumbled downstairs in a very embarrassed way. He even fell down on as it was dark there. Like a ball, he kept rolling to the second floor before escaping outside. He didn't even dare to look back.
Not until the man escaped away did Zhang Tie turn back and look at the woman who was standing outside her door on the third floor, hands on her corsage that had been torn open.
"Are you okay?" Zhang Tie mildly asked.
"Thank you!" the woman replied in a low voice, half of her body in the shadow.
Zhang Tie couldn't see clearly her expression, but the curve below her waist under the fluorite lamp was really seductive, to the point that he even wanted to commit a crime.
The woman was wearing a super short skintight skirt with scattered small flowers and plants, under which was a pair of slim legs. Additionally, she was wearing a pair of high-heeled shoes. All this exposed her mature and sexy figure at once.
'No wonder that man became a beast!' Zhang Tie mumbled inside. If it was him who had sent such a woman home at the midnight, he might not have been able to stop himself from being impulsive outside her door either.
"Have a good rest then! If he comes here to find you trouble later, just call me!"
After casting another glance at her, Zhang Tie went upstairs.
Not until she heard Zhang Tie opening his own door and entering his residence that the woman who was curling in the shadow pulled out her key and open her own door.
On that day, because she was drunk and the fluorite lamp in the stairwell was a bit dim, after vomiting on Zhang Tie's clothes, she could not remember how he looked in a military uniform. She thought of him as a kid, but at this moment, his brutality, real strength and righteousness that were far greater than that of an average 15-16 youth totally subverted his image in her mind.
When she thought back to that scene of her sleeping in Zhang Tie's residence and escaping from his parlor with embarassment, as well as his taunting loud laugh as he stood wearing a night robe, the woman had a weird feelign towards Zhang Tie.
When he entered his residence, Zhang Tie took a bath first before entering the Castle of Black Iron. After eating today's Fruit of Redemption from earthworms' appreciation, his total recovery was 15.8%, a bit more than yesterday. Now, Zhang Tie had finally reached the healthy state of a 15-old youth he was before he gained the Castle of Black Iron. Although he had no great strength, thankfully, he was a normal person at least.
——The system has detected that the physical condition of Castle Lord has recovered to the minimal physical condition that can bear the impact of Trouble-Reappearance Fruit. Therefore, the Trouble-Reappearance Fruit is available now.
This news was definitely the best gift Zhang Tie had received today. He burst out into loud laughter.
After that, he cultivated his spiritual energy in the Castle of Black Iron for awhile and formed another "binding chain". He then felt a bit tired, so he went back to his bedroom and had a good night's sleep.
...
At midnight, Zhang Tie was woken up by a loud sound that could shock the entire Blapei. He hurriedly came to the parlor and pulled away the curtain, catching sight of a place in the south of Blapei. Over there, flames were leaping to the sky, half of it already dyed red. Zhang Tie could barely remember that that place was an important logistics warehouse of Blapei...
Later on, a shrill air-defense alert started to reverberate across Blapei.
Dumbfounded, Zhang Tie gazed at the flaring flames in the horizon and that looming airship above the flames. A question flashed across his mind, 'Was that loud sound the legendary explosion?'
Ever since he was born, this was Zhang Tie's first time seeing an explosion.
Chapter 227: The Fall of the Curtain of Science
Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem
It was said that it was very simple to make explosives before the catastrophe. In that age, people had grasped a lot of methods to explode substances. They could also make bombs with terrifying power. With only one bomb, they could even destroy a city, killing millions of people. Many people could even easily make a lot of explosives at home.
With the arrival of the catastrophe and the God's star, every rule in the world had changed, which caused people to lose their ability to make explosives for hundreds years after the catastrophe. This lasted until the time before the second holy war between humans and demons, when during an excavation of underground relics and under the enlightenment of far-east civilization, people gained this ability once again. It was said that this ability was related to crystals. However, compared to before the catastrophe, the number of people who were able to make explosives was even less than the number of rare animals in the zoo before the catastrophe.
Many people were still attempting to find the mystery of why the substances that could explode before the catastrophe failed to do so after it. They posed many explanations, the most famous two being: first, the string change theory based on the opinion of the string science of universe; second, the God's particles theory based on the God's star.
According to the string change school, the catastrophe and the God's star changed the string state of materials, the basic constitution state of substances in this galaxy. As a result, many basic rules in this galaxy changed.
This opinion had a lot of supporters. The string theory was still disputable before the catastrophe. Although the opinion of string change theory seemed able to explain everything after the catastrophe—it was meaningless. Because average people could not understand it.
Besides the string theory, there was a theory about mysterious particles brought by the God's star. This theory also had a lot of basis and supporters. According to the God's particles theory, the God's star brought a kind of mysterious particles. After they were cast in this galaxy, every rule in this galaxy changed.
Besides always mentioning people's successful researches on the macro world before the catastrophe, people who supported the God's particles theory favored the "one vacant chair theory"—in a classroom with 50 chairs, even if 49 of them were occupied, with one chair vacant, all the other 49 people could change their locations for free. Because no matter how they changed, there was always a vacant chair.
This was the scientific rule worshiped by the world before the catastrophe. The foundation of this rule was that vacant chair in the classroom. With that vacant seat, everybody in the classroom could remain mobile and active to a certain degree.
However, after the catastrophe, the God's star occupied the vacant chair in the classroom. As a result, the mobility and activeness that was in the classroom suddenly disappeared. Although there was no vacant chair any more, with the brilliant rays of the God's star, the people in the classroom could now see the outside world. They started to realize the limit of their original living space. At the same time, they also begun to enjoy the colors of the outside space where they thought was nothing but darkness before.
This was the most popular opinion. The science teacher at Zhang Tie's school was also a supporter of this opinion. According to the current study and understanding of the human world before the catastrophe, humans before the catastrophe had already collapsed into an alleged "scientific trap" under the seduction of the demons and extreme self-consciousness.
In that age, people blindly thought that the science they grasped was the only and ultimate truth in this universe. However, the truth was that people's crazy worshiping of science was just a game of blind people touching the elephant [1] that most people played under the guidance of others. The elephant was the overall existence and truth of the universe while human science was not even a finger in front of the overall existence and truth. Even if it was a finger, the moment it touched the skin of the elephant, people would mistake the universe as a rough and flexible wall that could confine people's living space.
The largest myth of science was rooted in the limits of people's senses and awareness. What people could see, hear, smell and touch was actually an existing form of a substance within the range of a narrow frequency of visible light. The frequency within that range that people could perceive was only a bowl of water in the water vat or a key on the entire keyboard of the piano. When the hand of science pressed that key, people heard the sound and took that single key as the whole piano.
The alleged science was just an extension of people's five senses and awareness in exploring the universe. The limits of people's five senses and awareness led to the limits of science. At the beginning, the science that people grasped truly had played a positive role in their development. But after that, especially in the hundreds of years before the catastrophe, the alleged science became the shackles of confinement and the tool that demons used to destroy human beings.
At that time, the "science spokesman" told people that humans were the only smart life on this galaxy, even the entire universe...
At that time, the "science spokesman" told people that the galaxy was solid. Besides magma and rocks, nothing was inside...
At that time, the "science spokesman" told people that the full potential of people was to run faster, jump higher, and be more intelligent...
At that time, the "science spokesman" told people that the ancestors of human beings was a kind of carbon-based protein existence formed by a lightning bolt hitting water. After many years' evolution, the carbon-based protein finally became a kind of single-cell organism. After another long period of evolution, it became another kind of living being... In the end, apes became human beings. Human beings had no history at all. As long as you walked around a zoo and a geological fossil museum, you would understand it.
Oh, at that time, "science" told people that above 98% of human genes were wastes.
People trusted it. As a result, demons hiding among them became very happy.
At that time, humans were actually a lamb led to slaughter, its eyes covered with a black cloth by the demons. Humans were killed by demons in great batches in various ways, however, they didn't know who did it. In the human world, when unprecedented progress was made in science, the biggest role of science was actually to weld the cage that contained human beings more closely, to tighten people with ropes, to kill them in more terrifying ways, and to bring forth something new from the old to play the people.
Many people before the catastrophe were inserted with chips controlled by the demons the moment they were born. They were then tightly monitored by the demons.
In the name of injecting vaccines, some viruses would be injected in their bodies so as to completely destroy people's immune system. Those viruses could even restrict people's potential, as well as further improving and liberating people's DNA. After that, everybody was thrown into that terrifying world full of terrors, enmity, and violence designed by the demons.
In that world, people were killed in wars, chaos, environment that people had damaged and polluted. Besides, people were killed by the food that had been renovated by demons, the animosity, the gap between the rich and the poor and the oppressive system... Everybody was serving a set of terrifying orders that would finally eliminate all the people knowingly or not.
Many people in this age believed that the God's star had set people free from that terrifying, internecine trap. Most of people attributed all the changes that happened in this world to that God's star, expecting to find the answer to explain everything in it.
The arrival of the God's star indicated that the human science's curtain fell and the Black Iron Age started. Therefore, the God's particles theory became more influential.
Besides the above two explanations, Zhang Tie had heard another explanation from Donder—starting from the catastrophe and the arrival of the God's star, the galaxy in which the people were living in had entered another time and space density in the position of the universe. In a different time and space density, all the substances had different properties and performance. This theory of different time and space had already existed before the catastrophe, spread around in some mysterious associations. It was the most aged theory.
Based on Zhang Tie's knowledge and intelligence, he could not identify whether these theories were true or not. He only focused on the facts before him. These theories and hypotheses only stated one fact—in this age when the curtain of science had fallen, substances that could explode and the producers of explosives were both jewels.
Average people could not even have a chance to see a single explosion in their whole lives. Even in wars, explosives were rarely used. It didn't mean that they were useless, but the opposite - too useful. Few people could afford them. Using explosives in wars was akin to hitting people with gold bricks. Without above ten times' return, nobody would like to hit people with gold bricks.
Explosives came with thunder-like loud sounds and flames, which were two important features in identifying explosions, or so Donder had said. Because Zhang Tie had not seen explosions before, he was not absolutely sure whether it was an explosion or not. He only felt that the flames in the sky outside the window were very amazing at the midnight.
After that loud sound, the whole Blapei turned chaotic for the rest of the night.
...
The next day, when Zhang Tie prepared to leave his residence in his first lieutenant's military uniform, he found the streets in Blapei covered with soldiers in dark red military uniforms. They were interrogating passers-by. The atmosphere in the whole Blapei became ten times more intense compared to yesterday.
Since Blapei was only over 100 km or one hour's drive away from the frontline, the smoke and destruction due to gradually escalating battles between the two countries unavoidably extended toward it from the frontline after two weeks since Zhang Tie had come to the logistics department...
The tranquility of Blapei was broken.
The troubled times were coming. Where was peaceful?
A sense of crisis rose in Zhang Tie's heart once again.
[1] In ancient China, a king told a chancellor to present an elephant to a group of blind people. The blind people then touched the elephant with their hands. One touched its ear and said it was a winnowing fan; one touched its head and said it was a rock; one touched its nose and said it was a round wooden bar, bigger on one end and smaller on the other end, which was used to grind rice in ancient China; one touched its foot and said it was a mortar; one touched its back and said it was a bed; one touched its abdomen and said it was a jar; one touched its tail and said it was a rope.
Chapter 228: Alchemists and Secret Police
Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem
"It's so nice to know you're all right, sir!"
Whether it was true or not, when Zhang Tie caught sight of Pi Ping's slippery expression, he really felt warm inside and not hostile toward him. Zhang Tie was very good at making contact with these kind of people when he was in Donder's grocery store, so when he saw Second Lieutenant Pi Ping, he was not modest to him either. He instead hooked his hand around Second Lieutenant Pi Ping's shoulders and brought him into his office.
Since he became the director of the logistics administration two weeks ago, it was Zhang Tie's first time entering the director's office of this vehicle maintenance plant.
The office featured a military style—a desk, a sofa, a filing cabinet, some drawings on the structures of steam-driven engines and vehicles hanging on the wall. No more decoration besides these items. However, although Zhang Tie hadn't come here these days, the office was still well cleaned.
Entering the office, Zhang Tie instantly threw himself onto the sofa with eyes fixed on Second Lieutenant Pi Ping.
"Well, no crap, I know you're well-informed. Tell me what happened last night..."
Second Lieutenant Pi Ping had already realized that this military officer retired from the Iron-Blood Camp was different from others as he was more easygoing. However, actually, he was more complicated. As his subordinate, Pi Ping actually liked this kind of military officer. What Second Lieutenant Pi Ping feared most were those eccentric guys who didn't know anything but wanted to manage everything. If such a director came to the No. 9 Equipment Administration, that would be the nightmare of everybody here.
What Zhang Tie didn't know was that during the past two weeks, his indifferent attitude was even praised by people here. They all felt that he was a good officer and a good director.
Before telling Zhang Tie the news, Second Lieutenant Pi Ping glanced outside the office. After ensuring that nobody was there, he closed the door himself before moving close to Zhang Tie like a thief.
"I have a friend in the air-defense camp. He said many people were killed last night. One important warehouse of our Logistics Department was exploded by the airship of the Brilliant Feathers!" Second Lieutenant Pi Ping said, his voice low.
Zhang Tie became curious. "Was that really an explosive?"
"Really!" Second Lieutenant Pi Ping nodded. "It's said that this was Sun Dynasty's revenge. Because a couple of days ago, our Mad Shark Airship threw some heavy-type white phosphorous gel combustion bombs at the battle castle where their headquarters was located in the evening. Many people were killed there. The morale of Sun Dynasty was also weakened. Therefore, their move last night was to avenge themselves!"
Zhang Tie only felt frustrated. More revenge?
Sometimes, wars between two countries and between two armies were no different from brawls between 3-5 year old kids. When you give me a fist, I will give you a kick. No one wanted to suffer a loss. However, compared to brawls between kids, this revenge was more terrifying and bloody and would cause more people to lose their lives.
After the heads of the people of the Iron-Horn Army were chopped off, the people of the Iron-Blood Camp had to chop off their enemy's heads in revenge. As the Iron-Horn Army's air troop threw heavy-type white phosphorous gel combustion bombs towards the battle castle where the opponent's headquarters was located, the opponent drove an airship into the air territory of Blapei and threw off explosives onto a logistics base of the Iron-Horn Army,
Zhang Tie felt that perhaps, the battle castle in the frontline had long prepared for the sneak attack from the Brilliant Feathers. Then, since they couldn't find a chance to launch a sneak attack in there, the Brilliant Feathers extended the battle line to the back of the Iron-Horn Army and directly hit the most important part Due to the limited transportation capabilities, the logistics guarantee was truly one of the most essential parts of the Iron-Horn Army.
"Have their airship been brought down?"
After asking this question, Zhang Tie felt like an idiot. If the opponent's airship could casually drop off bombs onto the Iron-Horn Army's logistics base in Blapei which was more than 100 km away from the frontline and leave without sustaining any damage, the war would not have lasted this long.
"Done, that's what the trouble is!"
"Why?"
"It's said that our air-defense troop had truly hit their airship, so it crashed in a location over 20 km away to the south of Blapei. However, when our troop arrived there, with the exception of some dead people in the airship, all the rest had disappeared. This is the biggest trouble. Now, nobody knows where the rest people from the airship had gone."
Second Lieutenant Pi Ping let out a sigh.
"We didn't find many corpses on the airship, which means that all the others had left. This is big trouble since nobody knows whether those guys escaped back to their zone or are staying here. If some intelligence agents of the opponent who were lurking in Blapei take action together with those people who had fled, nobody can know what may happen next. If those guys have another bomb, they might even directly rush into the parliament house of Blapei as suicide bombers!"
Hearing Pi Ping's words, Zhang Tie understood why the atmosphere in Blapei suddenly became tense. This was not only because of the explosion that occurred last night but that it had been confirmed that the dangerous opponents were lurking somewhere in Blapei. Even in his military uniform, Zhang Tie had still been requested to present his military officer's certificate three times on the way from his residence to the maintenance plant of the Ninth Equipment Administration of the Comprehensive Logistics Relief Department.
In order to catch those fleeing people, all the soldiers of the division stationed in Blapei walked through the streets. They started to set checking points to investigate all the passers-by. By doing this, although they could not immediately catch those potential dangerous people, they could at least limit their movements to a degree. Before finally catching or killing them, this was the only method to deal with those people.
"Does the Iron-Horn Army have explosives?"
The word bomb reminded Zhang Tie of a question that he was interested in.
"Yes, they have. But the explosives of the army are the most important strategic material. Because they're very rare and precious, all the explosives's assignments and use had to be approved and signed by the commander of the Iron-Horn Army. In the entire Norman Empire, all the explosives are controlled by the imperial households. The only two alchemist masters who can produce explosives in the Norman Empire are both members of the royal seniors cabinet!"
Zhang Tie had only heard of the alchemist profession in legends. It was mentioned in the book "Initial Exploration about the Special Professions of Human Beings in the Black Iron Age" a couple of days ago. Whether in legends or reality, alchemists were ten times more rare than medicinal pharmacists. It was regarded as the most mysterious, wealthy, and terrifying profession in the Black Iron Age.
Although many cities of the former Andaman Alliance had medicinal pharmacists like Abyan, in the entire Andaman Alliance, there were no alchemists at all. Alchemists would spend their whole lives dealing with various weird stones and crystals. As long as they had a stone or a crystal, they would be able to turn it into a treasure that could be used to fight, cultivate, cure diseases, even to improve the attributes of a number of metals and machines.
After being processed by alchemists, many common crystals and stones could become ten thousand times more valuable, even more expensive than gold. As these people were truly able to touch a stone and turn it into gold, they were called alchemists. It was not only a description of their profession but people's obvious admiration for it.
Alchemists were the only group of people who could produce explosives. A person, once he became an alchemist, would never care about money any more. If one took the Norman Empire as an example, once any alchemist in this country was found to be able to produce explosives, he could instantly marry a royal offspring. Through kinship, that person would then benefit the Norman Empire on a military aspect.
Alchemists had many nicknames like "treasure producers", "mobile vaults", "human bombs", and "thermal weapon time-travelers in cold weapons era". It seemed that because of the last nickname which mentioned both science and technology before the catastrophe, many countries in the Blackson Human Clan Corridor would take owning an alchemist who could produce explosives as the symbol of powerful national strength and status.
The former Andaman Alliance had once intended to attract an alchemist with the chief position and a great amount of benefits. Unluckily, they failed.
...
When Zhang Tie arrived at the logistics base in the wild, over 30 km south of Blapei, the airship which had caused great turmoil and damage was scattered on the ground in pieces. This airship which was used to launch the sneak attack was painted dark.
Its pod was over 15 m in height. At this moment, the airship originally longer than 50 m had become a transformed rigid skeleton. For the coated fabric of the airship's air sac, besides a few remains, all the other parts were burned into solid pitch-dark carbides and were scattered around the pod and the airship's skeleton. Some corpses in aqua blue military uniforms were lying inside the wrecked pod in various shapes.
A group of soldiers in dark red military uniform of the Norman Empire had already blocked the scene. A group of people in black windbreakers were looking for something among the dead soldiers of Sun Dynasty, accompanied by some military officers of the Norman Empire. The surrounding soldiers were glancing at the sanguine gloves of those people in black windbreakers with weird eyes.
Those people in sanguine gloves were the main characters in all the darkest stories of the Norman Empire. They were the representatives of the cold and bloody side of the Norman Empire. If its soldiers were a group of fierce tigers, the group of people in sanguine gloves were a weird hybrid of jackals that lived on rotten meat and vipers that sprouted venom.
These people came from another powerful department of the Norman Empire besides the army—Order Review Committee. These people were "national secret police on order maintenance" under the affiliation of the Order Review Committee.
In Nordinburg, everybody knew that the viscount Nordinton, the head of secret police, and marshal Lin Changjiang didn't like each other.
Besides their superior, nobody else liked them in the entire Norman Empire.
Because of the explosion last night, these people appeared in Blapei like flies that had smelt a stink. This event was within the governing category of the Iron-Horn Army, however, these people in sanguine gloves wanted to get involve due to two reasons.
First, the explosion was a special event threatening national security. With the exception of explosions on the battlefield, the investigation of all the other explosions in the Norman Empire was carried out by the Order Review Committee.
Second, according to the laws of the Norman Empire, the Iron-Horn Army could only govern the area within 100 km of the frontline of Kalur's battle zone. Since Blapei was out of this area, although the victim of this explosion case was the Iron-Horn Army, the Order Review Committee still had the right to investigate this case.
Because the Order Review Committee of Nordinburg had sent a notice to the Iron-Horn Army, they expected that it would coordinate with the secret police to investigate this explosion case. So once they came to Blapei, even though unwilling, the military officers of the Iron-Horn Army were dispatched here to assist these people who accomplished their own tasks with cold expressions. Additionally, they should report the latest events and discoveries of the Iron-Horn Army to those in sanguine gloves when the latter inquired about what had happened last night.
The head of these people in red sanguine gloves and black windbreakers was a major, a 30-odd man with white hair and a pair of eyes as cruel as those of a wolf.
"Major, after our troop arrived here, we blocked the scene and it had remained unchanged. On the ground over 500 m away from the site where the airship crashed, our soldiers discovered truck tire marks which extended to the south. It's estimated that those fleeing had been picked up. We..."
The man in gray hair who was carefully checking the corpses revealed a wisp of an icy smile. At the same time, he raised his hand and interrupted the military officer who was reporting what had happened last night.
"No need to say it, I've already guessed what happened next. Your people found that truck over 10 km away with nobody inside. Then you investigated the source of that truck and learned that the truck has been stolen in Blapei several days ago. After that, you judged that those people had escaped to the south, right captain?"
Revealing a surprised expression, the captain asked, "How do you know?"
"Congratulations, captain, you've successfully let go of a group of dangerous Sun Dynasty's people. When your were attracted by that truck driving to the south, the remaining saboteurs of the Sun Dynasty had escaped to the north. If you had changed your direction and chased after them at once, we might not be here. Those spies of the Sun Dynasty who hid in Blapei clearly knew how to trick you..."
That gray-haired major put it straightforwardly. The captain's face blushed so much that he could not even say a word, while a major who belonged to the same No. 21 Division as the captain wanted to argue more.
"Major Franca, our soldiers tried our best last night. With only one glance, how could you confirm those people on the airship had fled to the north, instead of the south?"
"Of course I can!" Major Franca from the the Order Review Committee of Norman Empire said with an icy expression.
He took off his gloves and stretched hi index finger. In front of the military officers of No. 21 Division, he squatted down and thrust his index finger into the hard skull of a corpse like he was thrusting it into a bean curd.
He then moved up his index finger into the cranial cavity of that corpse before pulling it out with red and white brains juice. He then directly put it into his mouth and started to carefully taste it, eyes closed, as if he was tasting a yummy food.
Although the military officers of No. 21 Division standing nearby were used to seeing corpses, at the sight of this behavior of tasting dead people's brains, their faces turned pale at once. They felt a bit disgusted and chilled, especially by that weird smile on major Franca's face when he tasted the brains.
After a long while, Major Franca opened his eyes and licked his lips as if he had enjoyed the taste of the brains.
"These people's brains taste like bitter Parmelia saxatilis. It's the aftereffect of Sun Dynasty's secret medicine when it was applied on people. Those who take it would trigger their physical potential for a short time. They also become very clear-minded, although they don't live too long.
"Only dare-to-die corps would take this secret medicine. After taking it, in the troops of the Sun Dynasty, they had only one target—death instead of fleeing. These people would also face a death penalty even if they fled back.
"Before they arrived here, all of them had prepared not to go back alive. Therefore, they escaped to the north instead of to the south. If they escaped to the south, they would be held back by your frontline troops, however, if they escaped to the north, they could deal their damage to the greatest extent. In Blapei, they were picked up by spies of the Sun Dynasty. Additionally, their airship crashed in the south in order to cause an illusion for you that they were escaping to the south..."
"This is still your presumption!" the major of No. 21 Division kept arguing, face turning a bit pale.
"These people on the airship had died when the airship crashed. Those fleeing had to have been wounded, some even heavily. As they could not get medical treatment when escaping, even if they had strong vitality, their wounds must be deteriorating, which led to inconvenient movement. They would encumber the whole team. Based on the style of the Sun Dynasty, in this case, those heavily wounded people would be killed.
"Once we search all the way to the north while avoiding major routes, we will discover something..." Major Franca gazed at the officers of No. 21 Division with wolf-like sharp eyes, revealing a contemptuous smile. "You're good at fighting on the battlefield, but I'm not here to be your counter-intelligence enlightening teacher. I only hope that if what I said is true, before finding those potential saboteurs, yo won't interfere with my moves in Blapei. As my time is very precious, I don't want to waste too much time in Blapei for some trivial roles."
Forcefully holding back their fury, the military officers of No. 21 Division exchanged glances with each other before nodding.
"Fuck, if not assigned here, nobody would want to stay with these guys in red gloves," they mumbled inside.
Twenty minutes later, in a wild ditch 5 km to the north of the crashing site, they found the first corpse. It was buried underground. However, as it had not been buried too long ago and was hurriedly dealt with in the evening, even though the people of the Sun Dynasty had covered it up, it was still discovered by Major Franca.
In another place less than 2 km away from the first one, the second corpse was discovered...
Chapter 229: Learning
Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem
Zhang Tie only stayed in the maintenance plant for one morning. By afternoon, the notice from the logistics department of the Iron-Horn Army about that sneak attack had been delivered to various subordinate organs and departments. The No. 9 Equipment Administration had already received one formal notice.
It arrived in time. When many people in the entire Blapei became restless due to that loud sound and the flames last night, this notice made most of them recover their composure at once.
In all times, people were not afraid of fact or truth, instead, they were afraid of having it concealed or getting cheated.
The notice that Zhang Tie saw contained the details of the attack last night.
The airship that launched the sneak attack on Blapei was a disguised paradise-level war-time airship of the Sun Dynasty. This airship detoured around the air-defense frontline in Kalur and dropped off an explosive in Blapei, which destroyed an important logistics warehouse. The explosion and the following big fire caused 116 casualties in the Iron-Horn Army. Soon after that, the war-time airship of the Sun Dynasty was shot down. Twenty-seven corpses were found on the wrecked airship.
Additionally, 11-15 saboteurs of the Sun Dynasty had fled after the airship crashed. With the help of Sun Dynasty's moles in Blapei, they might have already entered the city and were preparing to implement destructive activities. Now, the soldiers of the Norman Empire stationed in Blapei were chasing after these saboteurs. If anyone could provide any clues on these people, once the information was verified, they would gain a reward of 2000 gold coins from the logistics department of the Iron-Horn Army...
The reward of 2000 gold coins was alluring, but speaking of gold coins, Zhang Tie realized that the No. 9 Equipment Administration under his management, a small first lieutenant director, had so many hidden profits that they were even out of his imagination. After Second Lieutenant Pi Ping brought old account books of the Equipment Administration and explained the mysteries inside, Zhang Tie finally understood why this position was a lot of fun.
The mysteries of No. 9 Equipment Administration was in the treatment of the wasted equipment here. Based on the rules on the management of military logistics equipment of the Norman Empire, in order to guarantee the quality and capability of the logistics transportation of the troops, besides normal wear, many parts and large-scale components like engines of the vehicles also had service limits. Once they were reached, the workers would be forced to discard them as useless and replace them with new parts and components.
The hidden profits and gray income of the No. 9 Equipment Department lay in the vehicles and various parts and components of vehicles that were to be discarded as useless when they reached their service limits.
Although those parts and components had reached their service limits, it didn't mean that they didn't work. If one took automobiles' engines for an instance, the service limit of a steam-driven engine regulated by the troops was ten years. However, if they were in good maintenance, many steam-based engines were still working even after fifteen years.
That's why due to strict requirements on the quality of military products, the one's discard as useless were very popular among commoners. This also brought a huge profit for the No. 9 Equipment Department.
After an overhaul and assemblage of the parts and components of automobiles, even whole vehicles might be discarded as useless iron when they reached their service limits. But they could be seen again and then sold, which was the largest legal income of the No. 9 Equipment Department.
The people of No. 9 Equipment Department weren't the only ones who knew this, even some major officers of the logistics department of the army knew it too. But this deed got the acquiescence of the superiors. Why? Because if the No. 9 Equipment Department wanted to gain this part of revenue, they had to do a good job on the maintenance of all the vehicles of the logistics department. Those whole automobiles and the parts and components of automobiles couldn't be sold and bring hidden profits until they were forced to be discard as useless.
This was also an acquiesced reward and a means used to stimulate the subordinate departments to work seriously by the officers of the logistics administration of the army. The better the subordinate worked, the more they would gain.
There were mainly three parties on this interest chain: the No. 9 Equipment Department; the Comprehensive Logistics Relief Branch of the Logistics Administration of the Iron-Horn Army which was the direct superior of No. 9 Equipment Department; a business group of the Norman Empire which had long cooperated with the Logistics Administration of the Iron-Horn Army.
No. 9 Equipment Department was responsible for renovation, recovery, and assemblage of whole vehicles as well as parts and components of vehicles that were discarded as useless. Some officers of the Comprehensive Logistics Relief Branch were responsible for selling these whole vehicles as well as parts and components of vehicles which were still available after renovation. The business group which had cooperated with the army's Logistics Administration was responsible for receiving deliveries. In this whole process, a set of stream-like profit distribution and working mode was formed from which all three parties could gain benefits.
After learning of the "mysteries" inside it, Zhang Tie had a better image of the Norman Empire. Besides the strict hierarchical system, its other aspects were actually flexible. Certainly, people's nature for profit remained unchanged no matter which country they were in.
The No. 9 Equipment Department that fought in the frontline could share 60% of the profits while the rest 40% of profits were taken away. For the 60% of profits, based on the current distribution mode of No. 9 Equipment Department, all the soldiers received half of the profits, namely 30% of the total profits. Second Lieutenant Pi Ping, the vice director of No. 9 Equipment Administration who was mainly responsible for managing the maintenance plant and solving various concrete problems could gain 10% of the total profits, while the director of No. 9 Equipment Department could gain 20% of the total profits.
After practicing for many years, the 4-3-2-1 distribution mode could satisfy everybody on this interest chain.
Only two weeks after he became the director of No. 9 Equipment Department, Zhang Tie had already gained 21 gold coins from profit sharing, which was many times higher than his salary as a first lieutenant. Additionally, it was legal. Zhang Tie knew that Colonel Scharto had really found a good position for him given his contribution to the Iron-Blood Camp.
After staying in the plant for a whole day, Zhang Tie found that he could learn a lot from the Iron-Horn Army. When in the Iron-Blood Camp, he learned how to fight and kill. While in the No. 9 Equipment Department in the back, he could still learn a lot.
Through the attitude of Logistics Administration to the No. 9 Equipment Department, he learned how to manage his subordinates. Although the system was fixed, the management was flexible. Everything was determined by the decision-maker's choices and attitude. Of course, the officers of the Logistics Administration could choose another way such as forcing the No. 9 Equipment Department to submit all the whole vehicles as well as parts and components of the vehicles that were discarded as useless.
However, if they truly did so, what they submitted might truly be useless. Additionally, in the Logistics Administration of the entire Iron-Horn Army, the number of accidents that arose due to improper maintenance would increase greatly. No matter what, once problems were found, they only needed to apply for new parts, components, or equipment and request for a superior's assignment. Nobody wanted to smell engine oil by lying under the vehicles everyday.
From that gray interest chain, Zhang Tie learned a secret on long-term development—teamwork and profit distribution. If a person could not finish it, then, you could gather a group of people, enabling them to share benefits from their contributions.
Besides, he also learned the most solid and practicable knowledge from the No. 9 Equipment Department—maintenance!
After taking off his first lieutenant's uniform, Zhang Tie put on work clothes and stayed with those technical sergeants in the maintenance workshop for an afternoon. He felt that he had learned more of maintenance here than that he had at school after three years. During this afternoon, he was taught how to change vehicles' tires and main driving axle and gained a general idea of vehicle maintenance.
Even Zhang Tie himself didn't know how his nickname "Second Lieutenant Mummy" had spread to the No. 9 Equipment Department. With this special nickname, he was not like an officer at all.
Besides, he was also kind to others. When he was confused about something, he would modestly ask the soldiers to explain it to him. Like when he came to the Iron-Blood Camp at the beginning, Zhang Tie quickly integrated himself with the people in the No. 9 Equipment Department in only one day. Everybody here now knew that the new first lieutenant was a funny guy.
After staying in the logistics base for a day, Zhang Tie left at dusk. This was a harvest day for him as he had come here with empty hands but left with gold coins and a lot of knowledge.
Zhang Tie wanted to buy some beer yeast and prepare some gifts for Hanna and see what other animals he could set free, so he didn't take a car. Instead, he got ready to look around Blapei after he walked out of the logistics base.
Zhang Tie didn't know that two farmers in grass hats who were bending over to do farming work on the roadside field close to the logistics base had their eyes fixed onto him from the moment he walked out of the base.
"A first lieutenant at a young age who can freely access this place..."
"From his walking pattern and strength, he seems to be lacking physical strength..."
"In the Norman Empire, officers in the logistics base don't need to have great strength..."
"Will we do it..."
"We need to test his real strength. Nowadays, these red-hide dogs are more anxious than us. Since we've lurked in Blapei for so long, we have to do a big one this time..."
The two farmers didn't say anything else, instead, they just exchanged glances which contained a lot of information.
...
Zhang Tie didn't know that he had been watched by others.
After hiring a horse taxi, he looked around Blapei for a while. In one shop, he bought a packet of beer yeast. The moment he held it, Zhang Tie recalled something. 'Oh, I almost forgot about the mutated yeast in the Castle of Black Iron. Mom said that that kind of yeast can be used to brew some light drinks. Why not let Hanna have a try?'
Chapter 230: Crisis in Paradise
Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem
In the next few days, Zhang Tie lived a tranquil life. Although the atmosphere was still intense in Blapei, he felt that it had basically nothing to do with him. He was almost a "disabled man" now who was just doing nothing on a post in the Logistics Department while that job of chasing after fleeing saboteurs had nothing to do with him.
With this mentality, Zhang Tie didn't feel restless at all. However, he didn't know that since he had not completely recovered, his sense for danger being close to him was not as sharp as before.
Zhang Tie didn't perceive any danger drawing close to him. In Chevli, he was still the most popular person. Each day, after setting the earthworms free, he would go to the wheat straws drying site to have a hot kiss with Hanna before returning to his rental estate downtown.
Using the special output function of the Castle of Black Iron, Zhang Tie only spent a bit of basic energy storage, aura value points, and merit value points before producing a packet of aura value yeast powder and gifting it to Hanna. The content of each indicator in that packet of yeast powder was only one third of the original content. Because Zhang Tie didn't know whether it would bring trouble if he took out the complete yeast, he only took out an abridged version. But even though he did that, it was still unique.
With the exception of yeast powder, Zhang Tie also sent a small gift to Hanna. Based on his style, like how he had sent gifts to the girls of the Rose Association, this small gift also worked well at the critical moment, which could also capture girl's heart.
He gifted Hanna with a pair of beautiful gold bracelets heavier than 200 grams that he bought in a jewelry store in Blapei. Hanna's skin was white and smooth, additionally, she was more plump than average girls. Zhang Tie felt that she should be more beautiful in this pair of bracelets as there was a sharp color difference between the gold and her skin, so he bought it. No matter what, Zhang Tie didn't lack money. If he was killed in a battle like that night's bloody fight one day, what would his remaining money be used for? For buying himself a cemetery?
Only by spending all the money he had to satisfy his beloved ones could it be meaningful. Otherwise, there was no difference between a kilogram of gold coins and a kilogram of iron sheets.
When Hanna received that pair of gold bracelets in that secret space under the wheat straw stack, she cried. Seeing such a sunny girl crying for the first time, Zhang Tie was so scared that he hurriedly comforted her for quite a while before managing to stop her tears. Hanna told Zhang Tie that even if she married someone later, she would not receive such expensive betrothal presents. This pair of bracelets could already be her family heirloom in the future.
"If you take this pair of bracelets to propose to me in my home, I'm sure, my parents would very willingly take you as a son-in-law to bear the bride's family name, although you don't seem like able to work harder than my elder brother in the fields..." Hanna said.
However, after saying this, before Zhang Tie could open his mouth, she had already giggled as she supported his face and kissed him, putting it straightforwardly and honestly, "However, I know you won't stay too long in Blapei. From the first day I saw you, I already knew that you were not meant for this kind of farming work.
"But I am doomed to live here. It's impossible for you and me to stay together forever. Since the first time when we started carrying on with this clandestine love affair, I've know that you must have a lot of women. Perhaps your women are waiting for you back home or maybe you like to thrust your bad thing into different women's bodies to conquer them. You want to let them beg forgiveness in front of you and heavily f*ck them so that they can obediently kneel down before you to drink your milk like me. Is it true or not, my little man?"
Hearing the words "little man", Zhang Tie's d*ck became so hard that it instantly became crazy. When he entered Hanna's body, he hadn't even taken off his pants. He just raised her skirt violently and pressed her onto the wheat straw stack. The next moment he pushed away her underwear and revealed her vagina. With Hanna's exclamations, a crazy storm arrived...
That day, Hanna cried twice: once for her soul being moved and once for having collapsed physically.
However, since that day onward, Hanna and Zhang Tie had carried out their clandestine love affair in a braver way. She usually stimulated Zhang Tie with the words like "little man", after which he always became rude and violent.
Zhang Tie liked that stimulation and excitement brought by the clandestine love affair between him and Hanna. He usually immersed in the limitless pleasure brought by her body. Additionally, when Hanna brought him pleasure, she also touched the most hidden side of their love affair.
Since he heard the appellation "little man" which triggered his passion on that day, each time they stayed with each other, Hanna would always stimulate Zhang Tie's nerves and tap the hidden source of excitement in his inner heart. From this, Hanna seemed to obtain the greatest pleasure and an unspeakable satisfaction.
If the girls of the Rose Association and Pandora, Beverly, and Alice had slightly opened one door inside Zhang Tie's body, Hanna had completely pushed it open.
In this average village, Zhang Tie felt that he was living in an absolute paradise these days. When he set the earthworms free, saw them drill into the soil and avoid becoming fodder, he really felt energy converging in his body. It immediately made him feel like he was filled with pleasure and lightness both mentally and physically. He felt like he was taking a bath in a river of pleasure, which made each of his cells cheer up, bringing him a sense of new birth.
That was the pleasure from the earthworms which was transferred to him, making him cheer up through a mysterious link pattern.
Whether it was a pleasure from setting the earthworms free or from staying with Hanna, Zhang Tie felt cool physically and mentally and had an impulse to immerse himself into it and never change.
Everyday, he would try his best to set free earthworms, take off his pants to f*ck a woman, and go back home to eat fruits. Such a life made Zhang Tie feel like living in a paradise. He thought that this might be the right lifestyle that people should have—redemption, pleasure, recovery and growth everyday. To please both oneself and others and to not harm anyone, isn't such a life better than the life full of intrigues and plots?
Go to hell, motherf*cking Kalur; go to hell, motherf*cking war!
In this happiness, Zhang Tie's wounds were rapidly recovering. Soon, his wounds had recovered by about one fifth, reaching 21.8% of his original physical condition. Although the strength of his burning points and his hidden strength of the Iron-Blood Fist skill were still not available, the effects of the numerous Wild Wolf Seven-Strength Fruits that he had eaten could already slightly be seen. At this moment, Zhang Tie's strength had almost reached that of LV 2 Glaze...
"Is there a mature woman who's much older than you in your heart? She's tall with plump breasts and buttocks. She's very womanly and might be the senior in your life. She's your teacher, right?"
Today, after making love, when the two put on clothes in the wheat straw stack, Hanna who was buttoning on her bras suddenly asked Zhang Tie.
Hearing Hanna's presumption, Zhang Tie became abruptly dumbfounded, stopping midway putting on his pants. With an amazed expression, he stared at Hanna.
"How did you know?"
"Each time I treat you as a kid these days, you want to prove yourself to me. At that time, you would always use more strength when grabbing my breasts and butt. You would try to grab me as a whole and would f*ck me forcefully. Today you wanted to prove it more than before..."
Hanna pointed at several marks left by Zhang Tie's hands on her plump breasts, which were caused soon after she said, "little man, come for your teacher",so today, Zhang Tie had become more barbarous than before.
'Are women born to be psychologists? How could she think of this?'
After being dumbfounded for quite a while, Zhang Tie became bashful and forced a smile. "I'm sorry, I don't know how could I become like this, is it painful now?"
Hanna shook her head and smiled.
"It doesn't matter, you're just taking me as that woman in your sub-consciousness. I also like this..." Hanna replied, squatting on the straws.
When she finished putting on her corsage, she grabbed Zhang Tie's mummy and swam her little golden fish around it. After that, she put it in her mouth, forcefully sucking and spitting several times. After that, she helped Zhang Tie put his pants back with a giggle and pulled up the zipper. She then slightly patted it.
"You bad thing, you most like to f*ck those mature women, right? I'll show you something next time!"
Being stimulated like this by Hanna, Zhang Tie almost could not stand it. However, as it was a bit late now, he held it in. Besides, Zhang Tie remembered something.
"Oh, I almost forgot it, do any people in your village want to lease their house?"
"What? Do you want to rent a house in our village?"
Hanna cast a weird eye at Zhang Tie before she quickly put away the apron that was spread on the ground.
"Yes, I feel like I'm wasting so much time on the way from the downtown to your village. I want to buy all the earthworms in your village and since there're many households queuing up, I have to come to your village everyday, which is too troublesome. I'd better just live here and go back to the downtown once a week from then on!"
After coming and going many times, Zhang Tie decided that he was a bit foolish. Why make it this troublesome? Why not just rent a room here in Chevli? Given the recovery of his body, Zhang Tie felt that he had to come here quite often. If he rented out a room here, it would not be necessary for him to spent a couple hours each day traveling back and forth. More so, it would not even cost him a gold coin to rent a house for a year here.
Hanna rolled her eyes in a witty way. "I can find you a house, but what's your reward?"
"Isn't this enough?"
Not knowing what Hanna was thinking, Zhang Tie felt very funny and forcefully pinched her butt twice.
"Of course not enough, I want you to give me a gift!" she said like a spoiled child.
"What gift?"
Zhang Tie became a bit curious. He knew that Hanna was not a greedy woman. As long as they've been staying together, unless he took the initiative, she had never asked for anything before; it was Hanna's first time asking him for a gift.
"You can buy me a set of clothes that your favorite woman always liked to wear," she whispered in his ear, exhaling.
Hearing her words, Zhang Tie was dumbfounded. He had never imagined that she might want this.
"All right!"
...
When he left Chevli once again, Zhang Tie was still recalling Hanna's requirement. After Hanna let him know that he likes most those mature and much older sexy women, Zhang Tie also realized that she had some weird hobbies of her own these days. When she made love with Zhang Tie, she seemed to treat him as any other person while fantasizing some scenes. The more rude he became, the happier she would be.
Hanna let Zhang Tie understand that perhaps everybody had a bit weird and utterly different thoughts about sex. He liked mature women while Hanna liked weird fantasies. Zhang Tie wondered whether those sanctimonious people liked some even weirder things or not.
...
Zhang Tie walked alone on the country lane from Chevli to Tonikas this time. Although he hadn't been familiar with the route when he came here some time ago, now, he could already return even in darkness.
As there were not many plants and chimneys, the sky of Blapei in the evening was more resplendent than that in Blackhot City. In a nice mood, Zhang Tie whistled as he walked on the country lane alone, thinking some weird thoughts inside. He was trying to recall in which set of clothes Miss Daina looked most beautiful. After carefully thinking it over a couple times, Zhang Tie still couldn't decide as Miss Daina was always the most beautiful no matter what she wore.
'What kind of clothes should I gift Hanna?'
Zhang Tie was puzzled by this problem. That goblin must be thinking of playing some tricks. However, thinking of the pleasures that Hanna brought him, Zhang Tie's heart pounded. No matter whether it was sprinting by embracing her butt or riding on her to enjoy a special tenderness, Zhang Tie would always feel that Hanna made him more comfortable and excited with her more mature tenderness than the girls of the Rose Association or Alice, Beverly, and Pandora.
While he was considering what kind of clothes he could send to Hanna, an image of a woman in a skintight skirt and high-heeled boots, full of temptation, suddenly appeared in Zhang Tie's mind. She was feeling helpless, and was covering her breasts while standing in the shadow.
It was the female tenant who had vomited on Zhang Tie the first time she saw him. She lived on the third floor of Mr. and Mrs. Green's house.
The moment he thought back to that mature and alluring woman, the 15-year old mummy suddenly became hard again. Hanna was right. He liked most those mature women who were much older than him as they were extremely attractive to him. He didn't know whether all male adolescents thought so or not.
A person seemed to be sitting on the roadside up ahead. That person who looked like a farmer was groaning, hugging his feet. He seemed to be suffering from a wound on his feet.
Walking closer, Zhang Tie didn't think too much about it. He just paused for a second before directly walking towards him, squatting down. "Hi, do you need help?"
That person then turned and stared at Zhang Tie with no pain in his expression. When Zhang Tie felt that something was not right, that person suddenly revealed a thin pipe in his mouth. Soon after that, a needle blew out from that fine pipe. Before Zhang Tie could make any response, he felt that his neck was stung. Moments later, heavy sense of dizziness attacked him like a huge wave. Squatting on the ground, Zhang Tie swayed twice before falling down.
"Come on, we got him!" that farmer said in a low voice.
A moment before he passed out, Zhang Tie saw people rushing out of the reeds next to the roadside and walking towards him.
Motherf*ckers, I did nothing these days, whom have I offended...
An irresistible darkness suddenly attacked him.
Zhang Tie was put into a bag and hefted up. The group of people then quickly disappeared from the country lane.