Chapter 571 - 231 - 238

Chapter 231: Abducted

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

Zhang Tie was woken up by a basin of cold water. He quivered at once. The moment he wanted to move, he realized that his hands could not move. When he opened his eyes, a brilliant fluorite lamp was lifted before his face. Affected by the strong light, Zhang Tie instinctively closed his eyes again while turning his head in the direction the light wasn't as strong.

When Zhang Tie's eyes adapted to the light, he turned and checked his current situation.

It seemed like he was inside a warehouse where many barrels were piled. This place seemed to be used to store beer. The moment he saw those beer barrels, Zhang Tie knew that he was still near Blapei because these beer barrels were the forever symbol of Blapei.

Right in this warehouse, Zhang Tie could even smell the fragrance of beer in those barrels.

Zhang Tie was sitting on a chair while two people were pressing his hands with much greater strength than he had now. Although his own current strength was almost like that of a LV 2 warrior, he felt that the two people on his sides were much stronger than him as they seemed to be suppressing him very easily.

Given their strength that was close to that of LV 4-5 warriors, Zhang Tie knew that at this moment if he wanted to fight these people with his trivial fighting strength, any one of them could casually beat him up. Perhaps he could have dealt with them all before he was wounded, but he was not able to do that at the moment.

Before him were a lot of people who were gazing at him with icy eyes, in which, Zhang Tie saw a bloody madness that he could hardly understand.

What was really out of his imagination was that these people, including the two people who held him on his sides were in the military uniforms of the Norman Empire.

'What the hell!'

Zhang Tie became slightly muddle-headed as he had not offended anybody in the Iron-Horn Army.

"Who are you, what do you want?"

After experiencing the life or death situations on the battlefield, Zhang Tie recovered his composure at once, fixing his icy eyes on these people without any fear on his face.

Zhang Tie knew that he had only one chance for a comeback. Once it was missed, he would really be in danger tonight.

"You are truly an officer retired from the Iron-Blood Camp. It's said you've even gotten an Iron-Blood medal. How many people have you killed to get that..."

One of the soldiers walked towards Zhang Tie. His face was a bit familiar, as if Zhang Tie had seen him before. But before he could recall where he had seen this person, that person punched with his fist at Zhang Tie's lower abdomen. Zhang Tie quivered all over, the blue veins on his neck raising. In a split second, sweat covered his forehead.

Gritting his teeth, Zhang Tie didn't utter even a sound.

"Hoho, I've not realized that although young, you are a tough man!"

Saying this, that man punched another fist into Zhang Tie's lower abdomen. If not being held down by others, Zhang Tie might have been sent flying through the air. After the second fist, Zhang Tie's face suddenly turned pale while a wisp of blood appeared at his mouth corners.

"Red-hide dog, it's said that you were very great on the battlefield. Are you good at killing? Show me!"

With these words, that guy suddenly became grim and took a fierce hold on Zhang Tie's neck. Zhang Tie instantly felt it hard to breathe.

Ten seconds later, Zhang Tie started to feel dizzy.

"It's enough. Keep him alive. We need him to coordinate with us in the follow-up actions!"

Another person from the crowd opened his mouth. Hearing his words, the first person moved his hand away from Zhang Tie's neck.

After coughing twice, Zhang Tie heavily panted. Facing these people, after hearing that appellation "red-hide dog", Zhang Tie immediately understood something.

"You… are not soldiers of the Norman Empire!"

"Of course, we are descendants of the Brilliant God!"

Another person, who was that farmer lying on the roadside, walked closer. At the sight of him, Zhang Tie suddenly recalled why that person who punched him just now looked familiar. Several days ago, when he was in Tonikas town, he had met that person. He had crashed into him on the road and almost pulled him down.

Zhang Tie finally realized that the man had crashed into him on purpose as he wanted to test his real strength. In that simple way, they knew that his real strength was almost like a LV 2 warrior's. It seemed that these guys had noticed him at least a few days ago.

"You are the fleeing soldiers of the Brilliant Feathers Army from that airship?"

Zhang Tie immediately understood their status.

"Hoho, you're not foolish. I like dealing with smart guys. Now that you know our status, you should understand your own situation!"

"As you didn't kill me, you must want to reach your target with my help, right?'

"Right, if you'll cooperate with us, we'll consider letting you go!"

'Letting me go?' Zhang Tie sneered inside.

These people truly took him for an idiot! He had seen them and now knew where they lurked. Some of them might even be Sun Dynasty's spies in Blapei. In such a case, how could these people let him go?

Seeing Zhang Tie become silent, that guy who had crashed into Zhang Tie slightly smiled as the brilliance in his eyes weirdly flashed. "I know what you're thinking. Once you help us escape from Blapei, we won't kill you. I know your experience in the Iron-Horn Army. You might not know that, but since you killed the Double-Moon Muling in a black robe of the Brilliant Feathers Army, if we could bring you back, we would make a meritorious deed. Therefore, it's more meaningful to keep you alive than killing you."

Zhang Tie sneered inside as he pretended to be dumbfounded. He understood that these people wanted to give him a beacon of hope by saying that so that he would obediently cooperate with them. They must be thinking that if he clearly knew that he was doomed to be killed, he would never be obedient.

This was a psywar, aimed to soften his willingness to resist. Additionally, Zhang Tie was just a small role—a disabled first lieutenant. Of course he was not worth for Brilliant Feathers' Army to send an airship and so many people to arrest him here. That would be ridiculous!

"Will I stay alive if I'm taken to the Sun Dynasty?" Zhang Tie sneered. "Now that I'm destined to be killed sooner or later, why would I choose to be killed after being taken to the Sun Dynasty by you?"

"You will definitely not die if we bring you back. You might be more useful to the Sun Dynasty if you're alive. Here's one chance. As you're only 15-16 years old, you have a lot of time left. You can experience many splendid things and have a lot of women. As you were a resident of Blackhot City before and had joined Norman Empire only for a few months, you should think twice whether it deserves you to sacrifice your life for it. If you cooperate with us, you can at least live a bit longer; however, if you refuse, you will die at once!"

Once he said this, the man took out a dagger and put the icy blade to Zhang Tie's neck.

Hearing his words, Zhang Tie exclaimed inside, 'Sharp!'.

Although the truth of those words were doubtful, each sentence was persuasive. To tell the truth, besides really stubborn people, anyone hearing them would dream of living for at least a few days more by cooperating with them.

This person was too shrewd and good at persuading people. He could never be one of those dare-to-die soldiers of the Brilliant Feathers Army on the airship, but instead could only be a spy of the Sun Dynasty in Blapei.

All the others in the warehouse had their eyes fixed on Zhang Tie. His life or death would be determined in one split second.

Through the questioning, Zhang Tie had already counted how many people were in the warehouse. Besides himself, there were twelve with none of them being farther than four meters away from him.

'I only have one chance. I should double-check it as I don't want to die together with these guys,' Zhang Tie told to himself inside.

Pretending to struggle, Zhang Tie considered it for several seconds while the dagger on his neck was being pressed with greater strength.

Zhang Tie then looked down, and his shoulders seemed to collapse at once. "What do you want me to do? I know that Blapei is under strict investigation now. Do you want me to send you out of Blapei directly?"

At his words, the dagger on his neck became loose.

"We truly want you to send us out of Blapei, but before that, we should make a chaos in Blapei to attract others' attention, which would be beneficial for us when leaving here!"

"What chaos?"

I know you can freely access the Comprehensive Logistics Relief Base, so before leaving Blapei, we need you to bring us in. If some material warehouses catch on fire tonight, the whole of Blapei would be in chaos. If that happens, we can leave much more easily!"

They man looked sincere when he said this, his eyes shiny with an exceptional brilliance.

Zhang Tie knew that the true reason that they abducted him and took him here was that they wanted him to bring them into the Comprehensive Logistics Relief Base in Blapei. They would then destroy things inside, as well as him, instead of taking him back for some reward. His life might come to an end when he took these guys into the base.

'Damn, these bitches really found a cowardly lion to deal with. F*ck!'

"If we're going to the base, I have to change my clothes. I need to get my officer's uniform from my residence!" Zhang Tie replied after thinking for a while.

"Don't worry, we've already prepared your clothes. You can change here. Since you have your officer certificate with you as well, you've saved us a lot of time!"

Ridicule flashed on his face He then waved his hand while another man in a soldier's clothes of the Norman Empire threw a military uniform in front of Zhang Tie.

Zhang Tie didn't know how these people had gotten these military uniforms, but this problem was trivial right now, so he just ignored it. As spies of the Sun Dynasty in Blapei, if they couldn't do this, they would be too stupid.

Zhang Tie then pretended to change into the military uniform, but he noticed that his hands couldn't move at all. He then glanced at the person who had talked to him. That man then looked at the two men on Zhang Tie's sides, who then let go his arms.

No matter what, a great amount of people were watching Zhang Tie. Additionally he had been searched all over, so they didn't fear such a simple guy playing any trick.

Zhang Tie rubbed his wrists that had been heavily pinched by the two guys and had turned purple. Standing up from the chair, he bent over to pick up the military uniform. Under the others' gazes, he obediently took off his clothes and put on that first lieutenant's military uniform, including the military boots.

After putting on this the military uniform, Zhang Tie naturally moved the length of his height. He faced the twelve people in the warehouse. Everybody was then in his vision and within four meters of him.

Seeing Zhang Tie cooperating with them so well, these people who were gazing tightly at him became slightly relaxed. At the same time, a wisp of a sneer and contempt appeared on their faces.

'Red-hide dog, you want to live, humph humph... It seems that the one who has gained the Iron-

Blood Medal of the Norman Empire was not as sharp as in the legend!' they thought to themselves.

Not until Zhang Tie put on that military uniform and fasten his belt, when he found them most relaxed, did he ask a casual question .

"How many people do you have? If you have too many, I cannot bring all of you in to the base!"

"We have fifteen!" Seeing Zhang Tie wanting to cooperate, the first man also slightly relaxed. He didn't know what Zhang Tie had truly meant by asking him about their numbers, so he immediately added, "Besides the twelve here, we've got three guards outside the warehouse. We've already got a military SUV. You and me will sit in the cab. When we drive in, you just tell them we're here to repair vehicles."

"Fifteen?" Zhang Tie double-checked.

"Fifteen!"

That man nodded while he giving Zhang Tie a weird look. Unexpectedly, he found an intricate expression on Zhang Tie's face.

"Then..." Zhang Tie took a deep breath as the smile on his face disappeared. At the same time, his two eyes radiated killing intent. "You can go die now!"

Soon after he said this, the twelve binding chains that swam around the mysterious rune in his mind flew out of the middle of his eyebrows and immediately hit the twelve people in the warehouse like invincible lightning bolts and chains...

Chapter 232: Unexpected

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

The second Zhang Tie activated the binding skill in the warehouse like an invisible storm, he knew that he had succeeded because the effect of the chains hitting all the twelve people was brought to his mind at once.

Among these people, the highest rank was LV 6 while the lowest was LV 2. The effect of binding skill ranged from over three to over eight minutes, which depended on the ratio of their spiritual energy to that of Zhang Tie.

Before releasing the binding skill, Zhang Tie had bet that no figure above LV 7 was in this warehouse. As spies of the Sun Dynasty, they should have high intelligence instead of high fighting strength, so their levels should not be too high.

What Zhang Tie was most concerned about were those fleeing guys from the airship. He was not sure about the highest level among the figures sent from the Sun Dynasty.

Zhang Tie didn't know that those people had taken the secret medicine of the Sun Dynasty before coming here and didn't plan to come back alive, so he presumed based on usual rules. But in reality, since those people were doomed to die in this mission, the Sun Dynasty would not have assigned officers with high levels. After all, fighters above LV 6 were not cheap white cabbages.

He was right. The highest level of the people in the warehouse was that person's who had punched him just now, a LV 6 fighter whose battle-qi totem was black spider.

The whole warehouse immediately froze up. With the exception of Zhang Tie, the rest could only move their eyes. Nobody understood what was happening. The moment they were hit by the binding chains, everybody lost control of their body. They could still see, sense, and think, but not move.

What was happening?

Zhang Tie then moved his wrist and grabbed the dagger from that guy who had wanted to trick him just now. In a split second, that guy's eyes were full of fear and shock. He wanted to say something, but he could not even open his mouth. As if posed with an immobilization skill, he just stood there like an idiot with eyes widely opened, watching Zhang Tie taking the dagger from his hand.

After taking the dagger, Zhang Tie cast a smile at that person. "Unexpected, right? What you wanted to do had nothing to do with me, so I didn't want to kill you, but now that you want to kill me, I have to say sorry..."

Putting his left arm on that person's shoulder, Zhang Tie fiercely thrust the dagger into hischest, directly hitting his heart. Once the man's eyes lost their spirit, Zhang Tie then carefully put him on the ground without making any sound.

Due to his experience in the Iron-Blood Camp, Zhang Tie didn't hesitate to kill a person. He did it fast, like killing a chicken.

After killing this one, Zhang Tie walked towards the person who had beat him just now. It was the only LV 6 fighter among them. Putting his arm around that person's shoulder like how he did to the first one, Zhang Tie thrust the dagger into his chests and slowly lowered him to the ground.

In a minute, Zhang Tie quickly ended the lives of all the twelve people in the warehouse the same way.

He had not imagined that he would have to kill so many people when he used his binding skill for the first time. Actually, he didn't want to kill them. He had killed too many people on the battlefields. Previously, he thought that he could remain peaceful in Blapei, but unexpectedly, he had to kill people again. In this age, many things were out of one's control!

After killing the twelve people in the warehouse, Zhang Tie sighed inside. He cleaned the dagger on the last person's military uniform, then silently walked around the wooden barrels, towards the exit of the warehouse. When he reached it, he saw clearly that this warehouse was on the second floor of a building, so, he walked downstairs to the first floor.

In the "hide the blade" move, he put the blade against his wrist and slowly walked downstairs, leaning against the wall.

A pile of sundries were piled under the stairs, while a truck marked with the symbol of the logistics department of the Iron-Horn Army parked nearby.

...

Two people in the military uniform of the Norman Empire's soldiers were guarding that truck with their eyes fixed on the entrance of the building. If that person didn't lie to him, with the exception of the two near the truck, there should be another sentry in the courtyard outside the distillery to make them fifteen people in total.

The distance between the entrance of the building and the truck was over ten meters. The gate of the distillery was right in front of the truck. If he wanted to leave, he had to kill the two people next to the truck without catching the attention of the sentry outside. After thinking for a while in the entrance, Zhang Tie came up with an idea.

Making some noise on purpose, he walked out of the shadow at the entrance of the building towards the two people at a medium speed, moving towards the truck.

The moment the two people caught sight of Zhang Tie casually walking out of the entrance in military uniform, they became stunned.

"Is it that truck? It looks nice. But something's not right with it. I agree to take you into the logistics base, but if you want to pretend this truck needs to be repaired, you have to make it look dirty..."

As if not seeing the two people at all, Zhang Tie walked towards them and started to judge the truck.

"Stop, where are the others?"

The two soldiers immediately became alert.

"They're arranging their uniforms upstairs. For average soldiers, their military uniforms are too clean. If they want to pretend to be soldiers coming back from the battlefield or the transportation team, this would bring them trouble, so they told me to come downstairs first. Your clothes should be a bit dirty too..."

Ignoring their suspicions, Zhang Tie still moved closer toward them. Soon, he was less than eight meters away.

Zhang Tie's leisurely attitude and his familiarity with tonight's plan stunned the two for a bit more. They felt that what he said was reasonable, and he could not have killed all the people upstairs alone, so they instantly loosened their vigilance around him.

When he was seven meters away from them, Zhang Tie let out a breath and immediately froze the two people with binding chins. As a result, they could only stare at him with fearful eyes.

"Where's another one? Hurry up, call him in. We're going to set off. If it's too late, the investigation on the vehicles accessing the base would be stricter..." Zhang Tie shouted loudly on purpose as he passed by the two soldiers and opened the side door of the warehouse. He then exclaimed towards outside impatiently, "Hurry up, come on in, after preparations we'll have to go!"

After saying this, although his heart pounded, Zhang Tie still pretended to sit down calmly at a desk in front of the two frozen soldiers, seemingly waiting for that person outside to come in.

Through the open side door of the warehouse, the sentry outside could easily see the two soldiers standing beside Zhang Tie, safe and sound.

Zhang Tie just sat there and waited for that one to come in. Based on the effect of the binding chains on the two soldiers, he had eight minutes left. He didn't believe that the sentry outside would not come inside to have a look when he saw the side door opened and was called inside for preparations.

Generally speaking, sentries outside would always stay in a very hidden place. Compared to finding that person out at the risk of his life, it was wiser for Zhang Tie to let that sentry come in by himself.

Certainly, after less than half a minute, a head popped out from the side door of the distillery. Although a bit suspicious, at the sight of Zhang Tie sitting well on the chair while the two soldiers were standing beside him that sentry immediately loosened his vigilance and walked in.

When he came, that sentry was still holding a crossbow with a bolt on it. At the sight it in that person's hands, Zhang Tie was drenched in cold sweat all over. If he had hurriedly slipped out of the distillery just now, he might have already been a corpse.

Zhang Tie's decision was right. Binding skill was not an all-purpose skill, especially in crisis when a calm mindset, courage, and insight counted most. Although risky, his decision had saved his life tonight again.

Zhang Tie then let out a long breath inside.

"Where are Victor and the others?" asked the sentry in a very meticulous way, becoming doubtful as he came in.

Zhang Tie didn't know who was Victor, but he knew he must me a partner of this guy.

"They're dressing upstairs..."

Right then, the sentry caught sight of the two frozen people beside Zhang Tie. As Zhang Tie was paying full attention to the sentry's expressions, the moment he saw his face suddenly changing, Zhang Tie immediately threw the desk before himself. Almost in a split second, with a sound of "duo", Zhang Tie felt was shocked as a half of a sharp arrowhead with icy light penetrated through the thick desk and stopped right before his forehead.

Zhang Tie then rolled on the ground. At the same time, that person pulled out his dagger and rushed towards Zhang tie. As a result, the distance between the two of them was immediately reduced to seven meters.

Zhang Tie felt a bit cold between his eyebrows...

A binding chain flew out like an invisible lightning bolt...

While that person rushing forward fell to the ground...

The whole distillery became calm once again.

Zhang Tie panted heavily. The past two seconds were as adventurous as that bloody fight that night. If he was a bit slower or the desk was a bit thinner, it would have been a totally different outcome.

After gasping a couple times, Zhang Tie stood up from the ground. He then walked towards that person fallen on the ground. Ignoring the vacancy and shock in that person's eyes, Zhang Tie immediately pulled out his dagger and directly thrust it into his chest. With eyes popped out, that person then sprouted blood from his mouth corner before finally tilting his head to one side and moving no more.

Zhang Tie then walked before the two soldiers who had been struck by binding chains and carefully stared at their faces for awhile. After staring for a short time, he finally discovered the problem. They had their eye popped out and weren't blinking at all! Additionally, there was a wisp of panic in their eyes. Once having watched it for several seconds, careful people would find that there was something wrong with their faces.

'Thank God.'

Zhang Tie let out a long breath...

Several seconds later, nobody was alive except for Zhang Tie inside the distillery. After dressing up, he stealthily slipped away.

Although 2000 gold coins' reward was a huge sum of money, Zhang Tie was not mad enough to make money by exposing his secret. At this time, he didn't lack money at all. If he was questioned how he could kill so many people alone as a disabled person who had not even recovered yet, how would he reply? Telling them that he ate a Fruit of Judgment or that the saboteurs and spies of the Sun Dynasty suddenly became idiots and just stood still to be thrust to death by him?

Zhang Tie didn't want to be notice, so he silently left this place!

After leaving the warehouse, Zhang Tie didn't know that in a building on the opposite side of the road, a person with wholly gray hair, black coat, and sanguine gloves was standing in a dark room with his eyes fixed on him who was slipping away from the courtyard of the warehouse. All of a sudden, the man's eyes as sharp as that of wolves radiated faint lights...

Fifteen minutes after Zhang Tie left the distillery, the man who was standing before the windowsill waved his hand and a group of people in black coats suddenly rushed into that distillery like ghosts that appeared in the darkness.

...

Nobody in this world could grasp and predict everything. Zhang Tie had not predicted that he could be abducted by others; those people who abducted him had not predicted that the first lieutenant of the logistics department who had been almost disabled had such a terrifying trump card. Additionally, Zhang Tie had not predicted that when he left the distillery, all his movements had been watched by other people as this warehouse had been monitored for several days.

That person with gray hair and sanguine gloves had not predicted that the good play that he had been expecting for tonight would cease all of a sudden. According to his plan, those saboteurs and spies of the Sun Dynasty were just a tool which could be used to smack someone's face while making others pleased. From the start, he fully understood what these people's plan was. Since the third day he arrived at Blapei, they had been completely under his control.

The Iron-Horn Army might be very sharp on the battle field, but speaking of the ways used to deal with these mice, the elephant Iron-Horn Army didn't enjoy a good reputation. Although they could turn cities into battlefields by building wire meshes and moats, they didn't know that those mice were exceptionally good at accessing wire meshes and moats.

The most perfect plot was that when the saboteurs and spies of the Sun Dynasty made the whole Blapei chaotic, the dark robed guys would catch the boring mice and send them to Nordinburg, which could make these guys in red gloves more attractive in some big figures' eyes, just like cockroaches on a cake or mice in a ball!

This was how this world went. No matter whether you liked it or not, many people would encounter each other due to various emergencies like two trains driving on the same rail from opposite directions, which, after crashing into each other, would change their directions out of control...

Whether they would derail or fly out of the precipice and cause damage and casualties, only God knew...

Chapter 233: Chop You to Feed Dogs

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

Zhang Tie didn't feel good. Nobody would feel good after experiencing what happened tonight—being plotted against, abducted, lied to walk into a deathtrap, used by others like a tool; he had almost lost his life. Additionally, he had to even use his trump card to escape...

He had no other choice but to kill fifteen people in total.

Because it was not too late yet, after leaving that distillery, Zhang Tie stopped a horse taxi and arrived at the block where his residence was located in only a bit more than twenty minutes.

Not until his belly uttered 'gulu gulu' after he got off the horse taxi did Zhang Tie realize that he had not eaten supper.

Damned.

After hurriedly eating supper in a roadside hotel, Zhang Tie came back to his residence with a gloomy expression.

He intended to leave here two days later. After that, he intended to come back at most once a week. In wartime, Blapei was not a peaceful land any more. If he put on his military uniform, he would stir up many troubles downtown, such as this time. In contrast, the Chevli village was like a paradise where he could set free earthworms and f*ck women, bringing himself power and happiness. Although Chevli was a small village, Zhang Tie only wanted to completely recover in that small village.

After experiencing another fatal danger, he sincerely felt the importance of real strength required to live in this world. This time, if he had been a bit weaker or didn't have that binding skill brought by the god rune, he might have been killed in the rear instead of a battlefield.

'Real strength, real strength, real strength...' Zhang Tie mumbled inside several times as he walked out of the hotel, even more strongly wishing to move to Chevli. If he moved there and made good use of his time, he could set free earthworms several times faster than before.

Zhang Tie had already made his decision.

Nevertheless, he had not expected that his bad luck tonight hadn't yet ended.

Mr. Green was silently waiting for him at the end of the lane. The moment he caught sight of Zhang Tie, the landowner ran out at once.

"More than ten people are looking for you. They look ferocious and are waiting for you to return..." Mr. Green told Zhang Tie, full of concern.

'More than ten people are waiting for me? Ferocious?' Zhang Tie frowned. 'After killing so many people in the battlefield with the other members of the Iron-Blood Camp, even breaking my "Woman's Excellence" and "Man's Certificate" and killing fifteen people just now, how could anyone still dare to find me trouble? Vicious? They dare to play this role in front of me...'

"Do they wear military uniforms?" Zhang only asked Mr. Green one question.

"No, but many of them are holding steel pipes and iron chains..."

Saying this, Mr. Green glanced at Zhang Tie's weak body.

Since Blapei had been peaceful for a long time, everybody had become too relaxed. When the Iron-Horn Army arrived here, no casualties were caused, so most people here, including the innocent Mr. and Mrs. Green, might have forgotten what the military uniform he wore meant. Did they consider the Iron-Horn Army as the vigilante group in Blapei composed of volunteers?

'Someone dares to find trouble for military officers of the Norman Empire on a newly occupied land?'

Zhang Tie was so annoyed that he almost became thrilled. They really didn't know what death meant.

"Mr. Green, thanks for your warning. You go back first and close your gate. Forget about them. I will solve this trouble!"

After comforting Mr. Green for a while, Zhang Tie then asked him to go back first before leaving this lane.

As those spies and saboteurs of the Sun Dynasty in Blapei had not been caught, there were many patrols and sentries of No. 21 Division on the streets.

Only after less than 100 m, Zhang Tie had already found a team of patrolling soldiers of the No. 21 Division. He casually showed his military officer's certificate to them and explained was happening. All the soldiers then pulled out their sabers and followed Zhang Tie back full of killing intent.

Before Mr. and Mrs. Green's house, more than ten people were lazily standing in the shadow under the tree.

"Mr. Beise, don't forget the benefits you've promised us after we deal with that lad for you..."

A ruffian with a ring hanging off his nose and legs full of tattoos was talking to a 40-odd man who had been ferociously beaten up by Zhang Tie last time and driven away from the female tenant's on the third floor door.

After a week, most of that middle-aged man's wounds had recovered, except for a plaster on his forehead. The moment he heard someone beside him mention that lad who had beaten him up that day, he gritted his teeth. That day, Zhang Tie had not only ruined his happiness but also deeply impressed him with the ferocious beating.

What he couldn't understand and felt a bit humiliated by was that he was scared away by a brat of 15-16 years old. This really annoyed him. So the moment his wounds were almost all recovered, he immediately fetched some helpers to find Zhang Tie trouble.

On that day, when Zhang Tie had beaten him, he was wearing plain clothes, so, he had not imagined that the kid would be an officer of the Iron-Horn Army. Additionally, Zhang Tie was truly much younger than him. Due to such simple negligence, Mr. Beise would encounter a great tragedy.

"Besides that brat, I'll definitely get that woman tonight!" After those words, the man thought of Linda's hot figure and charming face and felt his lower body becoming slightly hot. "Linda, bitch, you really thought that the brat could help you refuse me? I'll show you something tonight..."

"I've heard that the woman is very beautiful!" The guy with a ring in his nose said, revealing an obscene smile. "I think Mr. Beise will not mind me receiving some benefits from her!"

Hearing this, all the other guys with iron rods, sabers, and iron chains burst into laughter.

However, that middle-aged man became a bit uncomfortable. Nevertheless, knowing that he had to rely on them to deal with Zhang Tie, he responded with a 'Hmm'. It was just a woman. After he enjoyed Linda himself, it would be good to punish her in this way so that she would be a bit more obedient from then on.

While they were talking about how to distribute the rewards, Zhang Tie slowly showed himself in the lane near Mr. Green's house. As there was no lamplight on the two sides of this lane and outside Mr. Green's house, they could only see Zhang Tie's figure when he walked out of the darkness. They could not see clearly what he was wearing, neither did they notice that he was not alone but followed by a team of soldiers.

"That's him..." Zhang Tie's figure and height were deeply impressed in Mr. Beise's mind, so the moment Zhang Tie appeared, Mr. Beise caught sight of him. Afraid of the boy escaping, he pointed at him and shouted loudly, "Don't let him escape, beat him to death!"

After waiting there for quite a while, over ten "ferocious" ruffians and rogues rushed out with various weapons. That guy with a ring on his nose and an iron chain in his hand ran fastest. Not until he rushed in front of Zhang Tie did he clearly see Zhang Tie's military uniform. The brim of the hat covered a small half of his face, while Zhang Tie was followed by a team of soldiers of the Iron-Horn Army who had long pulled out their sabers. They were all full of killing intent.

In a split second, that guy froze as if struck by a lightning bolt. His face immediately turned pale while the other ruffians followed up with exclamations and grim expressions...

"Keep them alive..."

After delivering the order, Zhang Tie waved his hand, and all the soldiers of No. 21 Division behind him growled and rushed out of the darkness.

Before the soldiers of the Iron-Horn Army who were as ferocious as wolves and tigers, those ruffians didn't have a chance to make any response before being beaten up and left sprawled on the ground, wailing like ghosts and howling like wolves. After a single round, in less than five seconds, all of them were already lying. If it was not Zhang Tie's order, none of these people would've been still alive tonight.

The ruffians were instantly shocked. Until then, they still hadn't thought it through. Weren't they here to deal with a brat? How could so many soldiers of the Iron-Horn Army have rushed out? At the sight of Zhang Tie's icy expression, they were more spiritually afraid than physically pained.

However, as Blapei had been peaceful for such a long time, even now, not everyone had understood their situation. Some muddle-headed person from among the ruffians was used to being brutal. He still thought that there was no difference between these guys in dark red military uniforms and the former vigilante groups.

"Bastard, you bastards, do you know who I am. You dare to tramp me. You're doomed to death. I'm..."

"Kill him!"

Hearing Zhang Tie's emotionless order, one of the soldiers instantly slashed with his saber. Almost at the same time, a head with a mouth still opening to swear rolled to Zhang Tie's feet. Without even an extra blink, Zhang Tie casually kicked it to one side.

In a split second, all the ruffians lying on the ground peed from fright. When that soldier flicked his saber, Zhang Tie heard an exclamation from the residence on the second floor and a hurried closing of a window. He guessed that the young couple must have been terrified when they saw the scene here, same as Mr. and Mrs. Green's whose residence's curtains were also drawn at the same time.

Zhang Tie didn't see those ruffians lying on the ground at all, instead, he just pulled out the saber from the waist of one soldier standing beside him and walked directly to that man who had been ferociously beaten up that day.

At the sight of Zhang Tie walking toward him with a saber in hand, Mr. Beise quivered how a mandarin duck did to shake off water from its feathers and immediately knelt down on to the ground.

Patting Mr. Beise's forehead with the blade of the saber, Zhang Tie said, "Do you remember what I said last time. If I see you again, I'll chop you to feed dogs. Now, I will count from 1 to 10. If you cannot give me a reason to forgive you, I will chop off your head to feed dogs..."

Chapter 234: Mercy and Tactics

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

"One..."

Zhang Tie opened his mouth without any mood.

"Ah, it's my fault, it's my fault..."

That middle-aged man's face turned pale.

"Two..."

"I didn't know you were a military officer of the Norman Empire..."

The man started to ooze cold sweat.

"Three..."

"I just wanted to give you a lesson. I didn't want to kill you, ah..." that man cried out.

"Four..."

"I didn't mean it..."

He became soft all over.

"Five..."

"I will never think about Linda any more! That woman is yours, she's yours! You can do whatever you want..."

The man's mind entered a confused state.

"Six..."

"Linda owes me 187 gold coins. I won't ask her for any of it any more... I won't want it any more. Here's the contract between us..."

The man pulled out a paper from the inside of his coat and put it before Zhang Tie in his quivering hand...

"Seven..."

Zhang Tie's voice remained unchanged at all.

"I'm just an average businessman. Forgive me please..."

Fart and pee were almost scared out of the man...

"Eight..."

Zhang Tie raised his shiny long saber...

"It's my fault... it's really my fault..."

The man was in such despair that he started to weep...

"Nine..."

Zhang Tie raised his long saber high, readying himself to slash down to kill this guy. He would never feel reluctant in killing someone who had been exclaiming to attack an officer of the Norman Empire and beat him to death. If he did that, he would not have any trouble at all. When that person shouted to beat Zhang Tie to death, all the others' lives had come in possession of Zhang Tie.

"...I have three kids to feed at home, I'm sorry for them..."

By now, the man's face was covered with nasal mucus and saliva. At the last moment, he just sat down on the ground, losing all hope and started to mumble whatever came to his mind.

Hearing this, Zhang Tie slightly lowered his saber, then raised it up again, intending to slash down. However, after thinking for a while, he let out a sigh. He then put down his saber again. Given this guy's age, his three kids might be at a young age. For some reason, the moment he heard this guy caring about his kids at home at the critical moment of life or death, he grew soft-hearted and stopped his slash.

After throwing the saber to the soldier beside him, Zhang Tie grabbed the contract from Mr. Beise's hand and glanced at it twice. The alleged contract was just a delivery contract between that guy and a distillery which was signed several months ago. In Blapei, these kind of contracts could often be seen. Since Blapei's beer was sold to the whole former Andaman Alliance, many dealers had similar agreements with distilleries on delivering: how much beer, at what price, in which period, and how to deal with it if one party could not fulfill this agreement.

After a single glance at the contract Zhang Tie understood what was happening. Obviously, this time, the distillery didn't fulfill the agreement. This agreement was signed before the Norman Empire and Sun Dynasty encountered the former Andaman Alliance, and the the delivery should have been fulfilled two weeks ago. The price of beer on the contract was also calculated based on the market price before the war.

Previously, there was no problem with this contract. However, after the war broke out, the market price of grains soared while the cost of beer brewed with wheat had risen more than once. If they continued to delivery goods based on the contracted price, the distillers would need a lot of money to fulfill this contract. The liquidated damages were 187 gold coins, which was twice the contracted trading volume of beer. This was not a small amount of money for a small distillery.

Did this man then use the debt which was due to force that woman on the third floor to be his mattress? Zhang Tie immediately understood what had happened. That distillery might have been opened by that woman's family members.

Zhang Tie then threw the contract to the man. "Remember what you said just now. Eat this contract, then I will forgive you!"

Hearing Zhang Tie's words, that man hurriedly tore the contract and put it into his mouth before forcefully chewing on it. He then directly swallowed it. Finally, he opened his mouth and let Zhang Tie check it.

Zhang Tie then left this man alive before looking around at all the other ruffians of Blapei. When one of them had his head chopped off, all the others had become so scared that they almost lost their minds. Seeing Zhang Tie coming towards them, they all quivered like screening rice chaff.

Zhang Tie then glanced at the weapons left by these craps on the ground. He then pointed at one iron rod and casually stared at one of those guys on the ground being trampled by soldiers.

"You have one minute to break others' legs using this iron rod. If you can do that, I will not chop off your head!" After saying this, Zhang Tie ordered two soldiers standing on two sides of this guy, "You check the time. From this moment if he cannot do it in one minute, you will chop off his head!"

"Ah..."

At Zhang Tie's words, that guy became stunned for a second before screaming like a lunatic and jumping up from the ground. Without any hesitation, he hefted up that iron rod and started to knock at his partners' legs.

Among the continual sounds of breaking bones and miserable screams, all the other ruffians had their legs broken. That person truly completely his mission in one minute. However, the fear of those ruffians towards Zhang Tie and the soldiers of the Norman Empire had already become animosity. They all stared at him with flaring eyes. The survival law of ruffians was very simple. As they wanted to find Zhang Tie trouble, they found him trouble due to his lack of any background. Therefore, they should owe their bad luck to Mr. Beise, but facing their partner's betrayal, all them started to swear...

"Pah... Bilis, you bastard, we're really cheated by you..."

"...Don't fall in our hands from now on..."

"Ah... you bastard, you really broke my knee..."

"...I will kill you..."

Zhang Tie then glanced at them with an icy expression. From then on, these ruffians became as uncooperative as a plate of sparse sand. The guy called Bilis was also over. If he didn't want to be thrust with something to death by others, he'd better bury his name and hide far away in an alien area. If he still wanted to stay in Blapei, he would soon become a corpse thrown into a dark ditch. Otherwise, if he was smart enough, he had another choice...

He did not know since when, but Zhang Tie perceived that he could use tactics. Perhaps, this was the alleged growth.

"Take away your partner's corpse and clean up here. You're not allowed to leave even half a drop of blood before Mr. Green's house. Then, you can roll out of here!"

...

In the next ten minutes, after arranging the corpse who had its head chopped off, all the other ruffians including Mr. Beise left as if they'd lost heir souls, except for one who had his head lowered, not even daring to look at Zhang Tie. From all the people, Bilis was the only guy who was safe and sound. Before all the other ruffians left, they cast dagger-like eyes towards him, which really made him tremble.

When Bilis was going to leave, not knowing what to do next, Zhang Tie glanced at him. Whether he lived or not, it depended on his choice tonight.

...

"Brothers, thanks for solving such trivial trouble!"

After those bastards left, Zhang Tie extended his appreciation to those soldiers that had followed him here.

"It's our honor to solve such a little thing for an officer who has gained an Iron-Blood Medal! Sir, what you have done in the battlefield can reduce a lot of casualties of brothers like us."

A first class sergeant and all the other soldiers then gave a military salute to Zhang Tie.

On Zhang Tie's military officer's certificate were the records of his retirement due to his wounds, and the honors in the Iron-Blood Camp. Each soldier of the Norman Empire clearly knew the extremely low possibility for an officer of the Iron-Blood Camp gaining an Iron-Blood Medal in a battlefield. They knew that Zhang Tie might have killed more officers of the Sun Dynasty than there was of them.

After reading the records on Zhang Tie's retirement and what honors he had gained, those soldiers paid more tribute to him. This explained how a tiger still looked ferocious although sick. Any soldier who had won the Iron-Blood Medal could gain respect in any place across the Norman Empire, let alone in the army.

After seeing them off, Zhang Tie returned to his residence on the fourth floor. When he walked upstairs, the couple on the second floor immediately turned off their lamps. Zhang Tie guessed that they must be too flustered as they toppled over something on the ground and caused some noise. Hearing no footsteps from the inside of their residence, Zhang Tie knew that they were probably holding their breath and waiting for him to go upstairs before dealing with the broken item.

Shaking his head, Zhang Tie forced a smile. Because he had killed so many people today, he didn't want to kill anyone else. He had been too merciful to those bastards by only killing one of them. Although for him it was too soft, this kind of event might be too bloody for average people. Zhang Tie knew that he had changed a lot compared to himself several months ago. If it was back then, facing this affair, he might respond similarly to the young couple on the second floor.

Returning to his residence, Zhang Tie took a bath, ate a fruit, and cultivated his spiritual energy.

The Fruit of Redemption today helped him recover 1.2% more. However, he only had three binding chains left. These items which could save his life, Zhang Tie certainly could not ignore them. He then hurriedly consumed his spiritual energy to process two more binding chains, using that god rune in his mind sea. After that, he slightly recovered his composure. No matter what, five binding chains were more powerful than three.

Finally, after processing the binding chains, Zhang Tie cultivated "Mental Arithmetic by Abacus" for more than an hour to slightly recover his spiritual energy before sinking in to sleep.

Previously, "Mental Arithmetic by Abacus" was very effective in recovering his spiritual energy, but after his spiritual energy had surged dozens of times, that recovery effect was becoming increasing more trivial, however, it was better than nothing at all.

The next morning, after he got up and cleaned himself, Zhang Tie went downstairs to see someone already waiting for him outside Mr. and Mrs. Green house—Bilis.

Chapter 235: Hatchet Men and Lackeys

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

Bilis squatted on the side of Mr. and Mrs. Green house's parterre, eyes red, face blue. He was quivering all over with some dew on his clothes. Given his look, this ruffian might have waited next to the stairs through the whole night. Since it was already autumn, even if he was a 30-odd youth, it was still not easy for Bilis to stay overnight outside.

The moment he caught sight of Zhang Tie going downstairs, Bilis picked himself up and walked towards him. He then immediately knelt down before him with tearful eyes.

"I will follow your orders from now on, and will do whatever you want me to do!"

Last night, Bilis didn't even dare to return home; instead, he hid here for the night. Previously, he considered to leaving at once, but if he left this familiar place, he didn't know where he could go and what he could do in the chaotic world.

If he stayed in Blapei, though, Bilis knew that once those people whom he had crippled recovered, what awaited him was a pain-to-death outcome. After thinking it over carefully, Bilis found that his means of livelihood was that place where he picked up the iron rod last night. That young officer who could beat him into the hell with only one word was his last hope.

Even now that person could kill him at any time, but he could also make him live at any time. He had no other choice but this.

Of Zhang Tie, after experiencing what had happened last night, he had an instinctive fear—those ruffians would use weapons to kill people, but Zhang Tie only needed to move his lips. Certainly, Bilis knew who was sharper.

"It seems that you're not that foolish. Have you thought it through?" Zhang Tie asked him.

The moment Zhang Tie opened his mouth, Bilis showed more awe to him. It turned out that this man already knew what was his next step. Forcefully swallowing his saliva, Bilis nodded.

"Then, follow me!"

Zhang Tie walked in to the lane, closely followed by Bilis.

...

He went to eat breakfast in a hotel on the block. He also ordered one for Bilis along with a glass of brandy to help him warm up. This made Bilis feel really flattered. Although they sat on the same table, Bilis was as obedient as a primary school student. He dared not make a noise when he drank and ate.

Zhang Tie kept eating his own breakfast without a word. He didn't even glance at Bilis. After breakfast, he cleaned his mouth with a napkin and put down his knife and fork.

Seeing Zhang Tie putting down his knife and fork, Bilis, who kept gnawing at food, not daring to make a noise, hurriedly swallowed and put down his own knife and fork. With hands on his knees, he obediently listened to Zhang Tie's words.

Zhang Tie was less than half his age, but before him Bilis was as obedient as a rabbit in front of a tiger.

"Your name is..."

"My name is Bilis..."

The moment Zhang Tie opened his mouth, Bilis hurriedly answered, afraid of offending him.

"Hmm!" Zhang Tie cast a glance at him. "How much did that guy pay you to beat me last night?"

"Two... two gold coins!"

When the conversation shifted to what had happened last night, Bilis started to restlessly twist on his chair. He knew that the scumbags led by Beise would never dare to offend an officer of the Norman Empire. Beise was really a bad-luck scumbag, who didn't even figure out Zhang Tie's status before moving against the latter. The outcome was that everybody got a miserable lesson.

'Two gold coins?' Zhang Tie became slightly dumbfounded. 'There were at least ten ruffians last night. Would they risk their lives for only two gold coins?'

Thinking of this, he found that his attitude was now different from before, especially on money.

Two gold coins was a small amount of money to Zhang Tie now, but it was a great sum of money for small figures living at the bottom of society. Of course they would agree to beat him up for over ten silver coins per person, as this amount of money were not a small figure for both villagers of Chevli and those ruffians.

Wasn't he himself very jubilant after gaining two silver coins after being beaten up by fatty and the other members of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood several months ago? At that time, he even begrudged spending several copper coins to go to school by a public vehicle.

As he started to recall his previous living, Zhang Tie became slightly dumbfounded. When he spoke up again, it was already half a minute later.

Bilis was nervously watching him, afraid of him being annoyed.

"Don't worry, I just recalled something before!" Zhang Tie smiled as he comforted Bilis. "Do you know what I want you to do now?"

"No... I don't know!" After saying this, Bilis flattered Zhang Tie once again, "I'll do whatever you want me to do!"

"Go to Beise and get back your compensation!"

"Ah..."

Bilis widely opened his mouth. He really had not imagined that Zhang Tie would order him to do this.

"However, the amount is not two gold coins, but twenty gold coins. You go to Beise and tell him this is the price for him finding people to beat me. I dispatch you there, so he'll definitely give you the money!"

Zhang Tie leisurely sipped a mouthful of juice.

Bilis tried his best to remain calm as he forcefully swallowed his saliva. "Do you want me to bring this money back to you?"

Zhang Tie forced a smile as he joyfully looked at Bilis. "Do you think I'm that kind of person who would rip someone off using this affair, or that I urgently need twenty gold coins?"

"Oh, no, of course not, I just, I just..."

Since he was a bit nervous, a lot of sweat oozed out on Bilis' forehead at once.

Zhang Tie then interrupted his speech. "No more explanations, I know what you want to say. I don't need that money. It's for you. You will arrange this amount of money, then take it and go find your partners whose legs you've broken last night. This amount of money will be for their medical treatment and settling-in allowance during this period. Tell them that you're working for me and let them follow your orders. Do you need me to teach you about such a simple thing!"

Face blushed, Bilis thought of something before his face turned gloomy once again. "Then, how should I deal with my bo... boss then?"

"Boss?"

Zhang Tie didn't understand what Bilis meant for a second as the moment he heard the appellation, he immediately thought of Reinhardt.

"I mean that guy who rushed towards you, the guy with a nose ring. He's our boss. His name is..."

Seeing Zhang Tie's narrowed eyes, Bilis lowered his voice. Finally, he didn't even dare to look straight into at those eyes...

Saying nothing, Zhang Tie just calmly looked at Bilis, who then became as restless as if he was sitting on a needle. Under the silent gaze for more than seconds, Bilis gritted his teeth and bottomed up the cup of brandy in front him.

"I know what to do next..."

Several minutes later, Bilis left the hotel. Before which, Zhang Tie told him their secret way of contacting each other and then told him to collect recent news about the spies and saboteurs of the Sun Dynasty in Blapei.

After experiencing what had happened last night, Zhang Tie found that his power was too weak in Blapei. This place was not like Blackhot City where he had a lot of friends and brothers who could look after each other in an emergency. If it was not Mr. Green who had stealthily warned him, he might have suffered a lot from those ruffians.

Given their performance last night, among the ruffians, two of them were LV 2, one of them was LV 3 while others were all LV 1. On the premise that he had not enough binding chains and based on his current situation, he might have been wounded if he got surrounded by them.

Feeling the crisis, Zhang Tie made the arrangement last night. These guys might not help him too much, but if they could be his lackeys, they could also help him a lot. In emergencies, these lackeys could also be dispatched at any time so as to prevent a similar situation.

They were all jobless people who usually hung round with those scumbags in the entertainment venues and beer hotels at the bottom in Blapei and survived on casually solving small troubles for others. Their lives were in the poorest situation as they could only keep themselves from starving to death. They were scumbags who would fight others for only dozens of copper coins and and get killed.

What had happened last night, this kind of business paying two gold coins was the biggest one that they received for the past half a year. Their monthly compensation might not be enough for Zhang Tie to buy a pond of earthworms in Chevli village.

He only needed to throw 2-3 gold coins to these people per month to make them obediently follow all his orders. Even if they were ten lowest-level hatchet men, they would definitely work for him for only 2-3 gold coins. No matter what, he didn't lack money now.

...

The atmosphere in Blapei wasn't at ease yet. The amount of sentries and patrolling soldiers across the city were no less than yesterday. Zhang Tie thought that maybe what he had done to those spies of the Sun Dynasty last night had not been discovered.

He took a round in the Equipment Administration today again. Whether he was talking with Second Lieutenant Pi Ping or learning vehicle repairing after taking off his military uniform and lying on the ground, Zhang Tie felt that he was really learning a lot.

Facing such an officer who liked learning without lording over others and could get along well with other people, all the experienced technical sergeants in the Equipment Administration surrounded Zhang Tie to impart all their experiences and technologies on repairing vehicles to him. In this way, with experienced teachers' hand-to-hand teaching and a great number of vehicles suffering from various problems, Zhang Tie today learned more than many people could learn in a month at school. .

Chapter 236: An Encounter

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

The leisurely atmosphere in Blapei could not be completely felt until night.

Even if there was war... even if the atmosphere in the city was a bit tense because of the spies and the escaped saboteurs of the Sun Dynasty... even if the price of beer was already twice of what it was before, the businesses of beer hotels and bars in Blapei were not influenced at all. For those who didn't forget to have a glass of beer in the evening even in this situation, what they should do was to only take their ID certificate with them.

Men in Blapei didn't have to smoke, eat too much, even dress too good, but they had to drink beer. Even if the most prosperous streets here lacked a bit of magnificence compared to the Avenue Bright in "rural areas" like Blackhot City, even if there were fewer gentlemen and fair ladies in high-consumption places here than in Blackhot City, after supper, men here always left home with a casual coat to head to their favorite beer bars or hotels. So did women here. Without having to dress in delicate and expensive clothes, they displayed their own beauty.

Men and women drank beer, talked, and laughed, and flirted with each other in the beer hotels or bars, which became one of the most important parts of people's lives in Blapei. In the former Andaman Alliance, with the exception of its beer, Blapei was also famous for its uninhibited life.

Even if people here got married, they could still have their own dalliances. The significant other just ignored that as long as their partner didn't break the bottom line, such as bringing his or her paramour back home in the presence of the other one.

The marriage here lacked that sacred sense of marriages in other places. It was more like a certificate for two people to willingly live together for a period of time. For many couples that had gotten married, the roles of wife and husband were just another appellation of "main lover".

Men had their favorite places to drink beer, while women had their favorite places to drink beer too. As one of the weird phenomena in the downtown of Blapei, except for some specific societal activities with family as the unit, few couples would drink in the same place. Couples here had their own pleasures. They treated each other very good. What made someone in the former Andaman Alliance puzzled was that the divorce rate in this "indulgent place" was the lowest across Andaman Alliance, even across the Blackson Human Clan Corridor. Why? Perhaps only anthropologists or sociologists could answer it.

When he went to "strike a bell[1]" in the Equipment Administration today, Second Lieutenant Pi Ping of No. 9 Equipment Administration proudly told Zhang Tie that he had two mistresses in Blapei. Women in Blapei all liked officers of the Iron-Horn Army. Therefore, many officers of the Logistics Department had mistresses in Blapei. In order to strike up an acquaintance with Zhang Tie, Second Lieutenant Pi Ping didn't even mind being a "pimp". He told Zhang Tie that if there was a need, he could introduce some mistresses to him.

Walking on the most prosperous street of this city and listening to the laughter of men and women and the music drifting from the beer hotels and bars, Zhang Tie suddenly had an absurd thought—with the exception of the geographic location of Blapei, one reason that the officers and marshals of the logistics department of the Iron-Horn Army had set their headquarters here was for the convenience of finding willing women here. This was not impossible; sometimes, the most absurd and unspoken reason might also be the most important one.

In this city, men were dissolute and women were audacious. Actually, compared to Blackhot City, Zhang Tie liked here more as this place was very close to his dream of being surrounded by a great number of gold coins and women.

Just now, walking on the road, Zhang Tie even experienced "flirting" for the first time—some beautiful girls, older than 20 years old, in short skirts saw him outside a beer bar. Then, one of them started to whistle towards him, and all of them laughed. They then entered the boisterous beer bar beside him. Before entering the bar, that girl who had whistled towards Zhang Tie even looked back and smiled at him...

Zhang Tie seemed to see Hanna stealthily waving her hands towards him from behind the wheat straw stack.

Seeing that 20-odd girl's smile, Zhang Tie's mummy became grim like a wolf again. As a 15-year old juvenile, his hormone content was always at a high level all day long. After the flirting, the reading jumped up like the mercury in the mercury column...

Perhaps Hanna was right. He truly liked to thrust into different women's body so as to conquer them using his d*ck, enjoying the delight of conquering them. If one took that 20-odd beautiful girl for an instance, wasn't it nice to conquer such a girl and make both him and her happy by irrigating her like how he irrigated Hanna.

Although he thought so inside and his heart started to pound, Zhang Tie didn't follow the girls into the boisterous beer bar, instead, he still wandered through the street. He still remembered his promise to bring a gift for Hanna tomorrow—a gift that could make Miss Daina, the goddess in his dream, most beautiful and sexy.

By the time he finished supper, Zhang Tie had already wandered through many women's clothing stores in the streets of Blapei. However, he didn't see any proper clothes. Generally, few people would visit these stores, so the moment Zhang Tie entered, he would always gain some weird gazes. However, having long gotten used to it when he was in Blackhot City, he didn't care about it at all. He had even bought whole sets of underclothes for 85 women at once, not to mention now.

There was one average women's clothing store in front of him. In the glass showcase outside the store some wooden models were standing in beautiful skirts along with some pairs of leather boots, sandals, and some accessories on two small counters. This store sold solely women's items, although it was evening, under the special lamp lights, the decorations of the store still looked very ambient and stylish.

This was a clothing store full of womanly style.

With a casual attitude, Zhang Tie pushed in to the store and walked inside. What he had not imagined was that after wandering through the streets for a long while, he would encounter two familiar people here—Blapei was really too small.

Hearing the bell rings when Zhang Tie pushed in, the two people in the store both turned around. In a split second, three of them became dumbfounded.

At the sight of Zhang Tie coming in, Mr. Beise's face turned pale once again. Looking at Zhang Tie, he stammered, "You... you... don't misunderstand, I... I'm here to give the real... real estate contract of this store that Linda had pledged to me back to her... our debts have been cleared last night... I didn't know that you would come here to pick her up; I will not be here from this moment on then... wish you a good night!"

After saying this, before Zhang Tie had even uttered a word, Mr. Beise quickly escaped without even having the courage to look back at Zhang Tie.

This store only occupied over forty square meters. After Mr. Beise hurriedly escaped, there were only two people in the store—Zhang Tie and that female tenant on the third floor of Mr. and Mrs. Green house.

The atmosphere in the store was a bit embarrassing and ambiguous. Neither of them knew how to start the topic, especially after hearing the last sentence of Mr. Beise before he left. The 30-odd female boss looked quite bashful.

Zhang Tie became embarrassed too. God knew that he was here only to buy clothes. He had never imagined that he would meet the two people here. However, if he explained this now, will she trust him? This woman seemed to know what had happened last night. However, he appeared at this moment when she was going to go off job, which seemed to contain something special. How to say... it seemed... seemed that he was threatening her to get some reward...

"I... I didn't know you were here.. .I'm just... just... here to buy a set of clothes!"

For some reason, seeing this 30-odd mature and delicate woman who was as old as Miss Daina standing behind the cashier of the store and looking at him with intricate eyes, Zhang Tie also became flurried like Mr. Beise.

Seeing Zhang Tie's embarrassment, Linda's intricate eyes became tender at once.

After biting her lips, the female boss moved away from the cashier. "No matter what, thank you very much. When I have enough money, I'll pay you back!"

"Really no need, I just beat him up last night as I didn't like him... uhm, I'm really here to buy clothes!" Zhang Tie kept explaining with his eyes fixed on the body of the beautiful female boss.

She was wearing an overskirt that looked great on a mature woman. The black overskirt with floral patterns was skintight while a circle of lace was exposed from the deep, upturned V type collar of the overskirt, making her very womanly. Additionally, the lotus leaf decoration over her waist made her upper body and her lower curve more outstanding and plump. When she moved close to Zhang Tie, he smelt a special perfume that almost immediately made his mummy expand and become hard.

Zhang Tie finally understood the difference between mature women and female students, namely mature women would be more sensitive and insightful to the man next to them. When the female boss's expression became weird, Zhang Tie then looked along her eyes before noticing that a high tent was rose up in his pants. A bit bashful, Zhang Tie hurriedly used his "Right Hand Covering Skill". In a split second, the two people both felt their faces becoming hot while pretending that nothing had happened...

Chapter 237: Choices

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

Mature women were both sensitive and compromising. Although Zhang Tie felt a bit embarrassed, the female boss seemed to not mind it at all. After a loud laughter, she started to introduce her products to Zhang Tie like a warm-hearted guide, easily settling his embarrassment. Zhang Tie then finally let out a long breath, making the atmosphere in the store more relaxed.

In the end, he bought a skirt, a pair of leather shoes, and a set of inner wear for Hanna. In total, these only cost him over ten silver coins.

"No need to pay. Just take it as my appreciation for dirtying your clothes and that you took care of me for the night. If you don't feel comfortable doing that, you can invite me for a tankard of beer a bit later! After all, I'm going to close my store soon; let's go back together!"

The female boss looked calm yet seemed to be indicating something, which made Zhang Tie's heart pound.

Zhang Tie was truly the last guest in her store tonight. After packing the items for him, she closed the door with his assistance, and they then left together.

When they left, Linda naturally held Zhang Tie's arm. In a split second, his arm had a sense of a plump and soft side of her breast, making his heart race like a beating drum.

Walking on the streets, they encountered a lot of people's ambiguous glances.

Zhang Tie spent the next hour in a nearby, tranquil beer bar, where he learned of what had happened to this female tenant.

It started when the Norman Empire and Sun Dynasty dispatched their troops towards the Andaman Alliance. Such a huge change truly changed numerous people's fates, including this women's fate.

Previously, she had a happy family. She had a father and a fiancee. Her father managed a family beer distillery in Blapei with her fiancee as an assistant; she had a women's clothing store. Although the distillery was not large, it was well reputed in this area. Her family was well-off. If everything had remained unchanged, this December, she and her fiancee would have gotten married as they had been engaged.

However, everything changed due to this war.

Before the war, her father's beer distillery received many transactions like usual. However, the sudden arrival of the war turned those transaction contracts into terrifying bills. With the exception of the contract that he had signed with Mr. Beise, there were ten more contracts which meant over 1000 gold coins of debt. This amount of debt could completely destroy a well-off family.

On the second day since the Norman Empire dispatched troops towards the Andaman Alliance, the price of grains across Blapei surged several times at once, which immediately led to her father's heart disease. As a result, her dad passed away.

The moment her father's funeral ceremony ended, a group of businessmen heard the news and came to her house to ask for explanations with contracts in hand. She then was forced to sell her real estate and distillery to pay for the debt. Linda even sold her matrimonial house that she had bought using her own money as well as her wedding jewelry.

In the end, she still owed Beise some liquidated damages. However, she only had her one-story store left, which was worth less than 100 gold coins. Even if she sold her store, she would still owe Beise a lot of money, which was a huge sum that a lone woman could not pay off without many years' hard work.

After that, when the woman needed someone's support and comfort, her fiancee declared that he's canceling off his engagement with her. When the man left her, he put it straight that he had not planned to marry her for love but for her distillery. Because he didn't want to live always paying off debts after marriage, he left her.

Linda then moved into that residence on the third floor of Mr. and Mrs. Green house, trying her best to pay off debts while carefully managing her store. At the same time, she had to deal with Beise, who was obsessed with her beauty and had the contract in his hand for an excuse.

The story was very simple, containing no adventurous or stimulative plot. The whole story was about how over 1000 gold coins changed an average woman's daily life and some familiar or obscure faces that appeared in her life. When he brought this mature woman to drink beer for the first time, Zhang Tie was a bit thrilled; he even started to indulge in fantasy. However, after hearing her story, all the fantasies in his mind disappeared, only leaving sympathy...

...

After drinking beer, they went back to Mr. and Mrs. Green's house. The most challenging period was when Linda went upstairs, followed by Zhang Tie. Because of her twisting plump and sexy butt and that pair of beautiful legs below her skirt, the short passage became the most challenging thing that Zhang Tie had experienced tonight. He took a deep breath.

Soon after, they arrived at the third floor.

Linda took out her key and inserted it into the lock of her door. After that, she looked back at Zhang Tie with something special in her eyes. "Do you want to... come in and drink something?"

To tell the truth, Zhang Tie's heart really raced uncontrollably at once.

"No, thanks, it's too late, you need to have a rest!" Zhang Tie smiled as he looked at this beautiful and weak woman who had to be firm. He was then moved. "Don't consider Beise's affair any more.

You don't owe me anything, so don't feel stressed inside. I don't lack money. Additionally, I won't stay in Blapei for too long. I'll move to the rural area tomorrow and come back here only once a week. If you have any problems and need my help, you can leave a slip of paper or a letter through the space under my door, I will see it when I'm back!"

Linda just gazed at Zhang Tie with intricate eyes, not knowing what to say...

"Good night!" Zhang Tie smiled as he waved his hand and went upstairs.

As a mature woman, Linda had an irresistible allure. For Zhang Tie, it was happiness to conquer a woman; however, he didn't want to find a chance for happiness from a woman's bad luck. Neither would he like to turn it into a threat and exchange for his assistance. Therefore, he left.

Several minutes later, Zhang Tie and Linda almost simultaneously walked in to their own washrooms and took a bath. As the residences on the third and fourth floor had the same structure, the two washrooms were only separated by a floor. So, Zhang Tie heard the sound of Linda taking a bath downstairs. At the same time, Linda heard Zhang Tie taking a bath upstairs too. Right then, both of them started to imagine how the other one was taking a bath without wearing any clothes. They then both had a weird feeling...

This night, both tenants on the third and fourth floor couldn't sleep well.

...

The same night, in Blapei, when someone found it hard to sleep by rolling left and right on the bed, someone else didn't sleep at all.

Major Franca was one of those people who didn't sleep at all.

If you had to use a word to describe the efficiency of secret police in the Norman Empire, it was "terrifying". After barely a bit more than twenty hours, a complete personal record of Zhang Tie was put on the desk of Major Franca. It was so detailed that even Zhang Tie didn't know some of it. At least he had not seen his original birth certificate in Blackhot City.

There was a thick pile of documents about him. Besides those, there was another pile of documents in front of Major Franca—all the studies about "Post-Lightning Strike Savant Syndrome" that he could collect from the difference engine in the National Archives of the Norman Empire using his own privilege.

Would people become extremely powerful after being struck by a lightning bolt? Would one form the Iron-Blood hidden strength after being struck by lightning bolt? Would one not be afraid of the toxicity of blue frost after being struck by a lightning bolt? Would one master excellent spear throwing skills after being struck by a lightning bolt? All the above questions might belong to a mysterious region that nobody could figure out.

However, could one be able to kill people by letting them remain still after being struck by a lightning bolt? Obviously not possible! However, according to the autopsy report and the on-site survey, Major Franca was clearly told what had happened. With the exception of one person who had shown resistance before being killed, all the other spies and saboteurs of the Sun Dynasty had been standing still, waiting for someone to thrust his dagger into their hearts with eyes wide-open. They didn't resist nor struggle at all. Neither had they been poisoned.

How could that person do that? How could a first lieutenant who was almost as weak as an average person after recovering from his heavy wounds force them to stand still and wait for him to kill them after being abducted by them? What was more, he was afraid of being recognized by others and chose to slip away while giving up on honor and reward.

The only reason was that the person didn't want to tell others of what he had done so as to protect his cover for it was far more important than the reward he would win. Now that he could force others to stand still and wait for him to kill them, the question to be asked should be whether his other talents were from a different cause as well, the ones such as not being afraid of the toxicity of blue frost, suddenly forming Iron-Blood hidden strength, and suddenly becoming extremely powerful...

'Being struck by a lightning bolt was only a lie that he used to bury his own secret. What if I can get his secret...'

...

Major France didn't sleep the whole night as he immersed himself in the piles of documents and words. Once dawn arrived, his sharp eyes like those of a wolf radiated a wisp of bloody brilliance because of excitement, as if he'd discovered a treasure.

After reading those documents through the night, he burned them all in a fireplace. Additionally, he mashed those ashes with tongs before leaving the room.

The only problem was that they were in Blapei and under the control of the Iron-Horn Army while that person was a small first lieutenant of the Iron-Horn Army who had won an iron-blood medal.

This would be a bit troublesome...

Chapter 238: A New Attempt

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

After putting some clothes into a bag, Zhang Tie came to Chevli. Knowing that he was going to be here today, Hanna was waiting for him at the entrance of the village. At the sight of him walking towards her, she started running towards him with two cute golden braids.

If one didn't see how Hanna ran, they would never know what were the true roaring waves.

Even though Zhang Tie had ridden this girl who was three years older than him many times, at the sight of her running towards him, he still forcefully swallowed his saliva. After a careful comparison, he realized that after being irrigated by him these days, Hanna already looked more brilliant and alluring than when he saw her for the first time.

Hanna never minded holding Zhang Tie's hand, and he didn't mind that either. After staying in Blapei for many days, Zhang Tie found that the residents in Chevli were very bold and unrestrained. They were very compromising with the love affairs between men and women. As long as you didn't do something too excessively in public, nobody would care about you.

Certainly, in front of Hanna's family members, they had better not be too casual. Her grandpa seemed to worry that Zhang Tie might escape after making Hanna pregnant. In this village, abortion was almost like murder; it was one hundred times more serious than having a stealthy love affair. Women who had abortion would have a bad reputation here because residents here thought that they had bad luck, were unable to marry others.

Hand in hand, the two of them walked inside the village with jokes and laughter. On the way, besides some people teasing them, all the others thought it was normal.

"Zhang Tie, will you come to my house today?"

The one who was even more eager for Zhang Tie's arrival than Hanna was another peasant household in the village who raised earthworms. As Zhang Tie was here to purchase earthworms home by home, they all queued up. Whichever household he came to, the family members of that household would be very happy; while those households which he hadn't come to yet would always worry that he, the pious believer of the Motherland Goddess, would not come to their households. After all, such an idiot who would buy earthworms could not be easily encountered every year.

Zhang Tie remembered that the farmer who was waiting for him to buy his earthworms was called Billy. The 30-odd man raised four sons, the eldest among which was 11-12 years old. His economic status was not very good, so he was very eager to sell his earthworms. Besides Hanna, this person also squatted at the entrance of the village, waiting for Zhang Tie's arrival.

"Okay, you can go back home and prepare for it, I will come to your house soon!"

Hearing Zhang Tie's words, that man became happy and hurriedly wanted to leave. However, Zhang Tie stopped him.

"Are there any laborers in the village these days?

"Yes, there are. As it's already autumn, after sowing wheat seeds, men in the village are free!"

"Fine, besides you, I want you to find five more people for me. Take your own tools and wooden handcarts, I will pay you three silver coins a day per person!"

Billy then happily left. Hanna became curious and looked at Zhang Tie.

"Why would you hire so many people?"

"Because I want to accelerate my speed of setting the earthworms free!"

After experiencing the abduction that day, Zhang Tie was stimulated. Due to this crisis, he felt that he was recovering a bit too slowly, so he wanted to speed up his recovery. Previously, he thought that he had to free the earthworms by himself, so as to gather their appreciation onto himself. However, these days, he had thought about it for a while and wanted to test it whether he could speed up his redemption and increase the amount of earthworms being set free so as to increase the effects of the Fruit of Redemption only by paying and performing as a commander. If this method worked, he had already made a plan inside which could definitely accelerate his recovery greatly.

"Have you found a place for me to settle in?" Zhang Tie asked Hanna.

"Of course!"

"Where?"

"Guess?"

Hanna then peered at Zhang Tie in exceedingly fascinating and charming way, like how she looked back at him when he hugged her butt and heavily crashed into her.

At the sight of Hanna's alluring look, Zhang Tie's heart pounded and he abruptly thought of one possibility. "In your home?"

"Right!" Hanna giggled as her enchanting figure shivered. "I didn't expect that you could hit it."

"Aren't you afraid?" Zhang Tie asked her.

"Afraid of what?" Hanna asked in reply.

"Will your grandpa like me?"

"You'll rent his house, why won't he like you. In addition, won't he be more reassured if he can keep you and me under his vision!"

'Sounds right.' Zhang Tie scratched his head speechlessly. 'However, if so, it won't be that convenient to do that stimulative thing with Hanna.'

Even if they could still date in the hay like before, even idiots could figure it out what happened if they always appeared and disappeared from the house at the same time.

"What were you thinking about just now?"

Hanna seemed to guess that Zhang Tie was thinking about something, so she threw another alluring glance at him.

"Nothing!" Zhang Tie replied, pretending that he was thinking about nothing.

"Really?"

Looking at Hanna's teasing smile, Zhang Tie then looked around and found nobody els, so he drew his head close to her ear while thrusting one finger into her butt. He pressed his finger onto her skirt and directly hit a part in the deep groove of her butt. After that, he even kneaded that place.

"I'm thinking that if I live in your home, it might become inconvenient if I want to thrust you with this bad thing!"

Zhang Tie's brave stimulation slightly disturbed Hanna's walking frequency. Face blushed, she hurriedly beat off Zhang Tie's weird hand.

"You little rascal!"

...

There was truly a vacant room in Hanna's home. It was above the room piled with farming tools, grains, and some random items. Hanna's elder brother had lived there before. After Hanna's elder brother got married, that room was left vacant. Hanna had already cleaned it yesterday, so Zhang Tie could move in straight away.

AT first, old Harley didn't like Zhang Tie living in their home, but it quickly changed once Zhang Tie used gold coins to satisfy him along with Hanna's parents, elder brother, and elder sister-in-law.

Three gold coins for living in Hanna's home for three months, three meals a day. This payment could enable Zhang Tie to live in high-end beer hotels in Blapei or Tonikas, let alone in a peasant household of Chevli, though the first choice might even cost him less.

Thus, Zhang Tie lived in Hanna's home.

...

Including Hanna's elder brother, Zhang Tie hired seven people that day in Chevli village to set free earthworms together with him. This way, he could accelerate his redemption speed by three times.

Through paying and commanding other people to work for him, he emptied three earthworm ponds in Chevli in one day, which contained over 300,000 earthworms in total.

Zhang Tie estimated that if what they did today was effective, he could at least recover 4% today. If this method didn't work, he would just take this as a lesson and would honestly do it by himself from then on.

In others' eyes, Zhang Tie performed very calmly today, but he himself knew that he was not calm inside at all. He was waiting for the small tree's judgment.

...

Seemingly to greet Zhang Tie's arrival and appreciate his generosity, Hanna's family made bumper lunch and supper today. At supper, at the sight of the chicken on the table, Zhang Tie knew that this must be much better than what they usually eat. In rural areas, few households would eat fish and meat every meal, especially chickens. Because many households raised chickens to lay eggs instead of eating them.

"The supper is too hearty, I know you want to show your appreciation to me, but you'd better not treat me so solemnly. I'll eat what you usually eat from today on. I wasn't used to eating so good before!" Zhang Tie sincerely explained to Hanna's family members.

Seeing this juvenile being so polite, Hanna's family members were all very happy. Even old Harley, who had always been dubious, felt that Zhang Tie was a good person.

"Where's Hanna?" Zhang Tie asked as he didn't see her at the table.

"She's heading for the Tonikas town to have a perm with the other girls in the village. She's coming back late tonight!" Hanna's elder sister-in-law answered.

...

Not until Zhang Tie finished supper and took a bath in the washroom of old Harley's home did Hanna, who had had a perm in the Tonikas town, came back home.

Before the catastrophe, people had already invented a bathing equipment heated by solar energy. It was very convenient wherever it was. There was also one set of this kind of bathing equipment in old Harley's home. They built a small bath room beside the courtyard. When Hanna came back, the dusk had just fallen. After taking a bath, Zhang Tie walked out of the bath room with a basin and a towel in hand and instantly noticed Hanna.

Her two long braids had disappeared and become golden wavy hair. This hairstyle seemed to match her face better, making her more womanly and alluring.

Hanna then revealed a smile to Zhang Tie, making him slightly dizzy.

After the bath, Zhang Tie came to his own room in the small building. After closing his door, he calmly sat inside for awhile to recover his composure. He was used to doing this as he needed to recover composure before anything important.

After sitting quietly for ten minutes, Zhang Tie took a deep breath and entered the Castle of Black Iron.

——Handsome and Magnificent Castle Lord, welcome to the Castle of Black Iron!

Zhang Tie walked towards the small tree. Like a couple of days ago, on the twig in the middle of the small tree, there seemed to be hanging a ripe Fruit of Redemption.

He stretched out his hand...

——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 4.6%.

Zhang Tie rubbed his eyes and then lowered his hand back. He then stretch out his hand again. It was still 4.6%.

'No change... no change... no change...'

"Hahahaha..."

Thrilled, Zhang Tie burst out laughing.

'That's too great! It turns out that my wounds can recover faster!'

Without saying anything, Zhang Tie immediately picked the Fruit of Redemption and put it in front of his nose. After taking a deep and intoxicating breath, he then swallowed it at once...

After a long while, Zhang Tie opened his eyes while a powerful sense that had not appeared for a long time reappeared in him.

His wounds had recovered by over 25%...

...

At midnight, when Zhang Tie was sleeping soundly, he heard someone lightly knocking at his door. He then got off his bed to open the door.

In an alluring pose, Hanna was standing outside the door. Under the dim light, Zhang Tie recognized her look. Right now, Hanna had already put on those clothes and that pair of high-heeled leather shoes that Zhang Tie had gifted her.

It had a super short hip skirt, its side only a palm's distance away from Hanna's bottom. In this set of clothes, her curves became outstanding, putting on display her huge and plump breasts, while that place between her pair of snow white thighs and her raising butt was looming.

Along with her beautiful wavy blond hair, Hanna became full of womanly charm that could not even be described in words.

Not until then did Zhang Tie realize that those clothes that he had gifted to Hanna were the same as those of the female tenant on the third floor that he'd seen in the passage. No wonder the female boss' expression became slightly weird when he bought these clothes. As he bought them unconsciously, Zhang Tie didn't think too much, neither did he know what he was thinking at that time.

"Little boy, your teacher will follow your orders tonight. You should be kind to your teacher."

Hanna lightly entered the room and closed the door. After a short while, various weird sounds and voices could be heard from the room...

As he was going to completely recover very soon and a beauty in a sexy skirt had entered his room at midnight, who was very obedient and tempted him in various ways, Zhang Tie felt very cool during the night...

This night, Zhang Tie found that he truly could not resist in front of a hip length skirt...