Chapter 585 - 335 - 340

Chapter 335: Sudden Changes

Translator: WQL Editor: KLKL

Benefited from his preliminary recovered body which could help him recover twice the speed in the evening, Zhang Tie felt that he was gradually recovering all over.

After hearing a series of orderly footsteps from outside the gate of the hall, Zhang Tie opened his eyes.

With a solemn expression, Zhang Taibai arrived with more than 20 bodyguards in pitch-dark armors in 2 rows. Those bodyguards walked with power and evil spirit.

The moment Zhang Tie saw Zhan Taibai, he felt that person was obviously in charge of Long Wind Business Group, and he had let out a sigh, which seemed indicating that, "Thank god, you're safe!"

Zhang Taibai wore an official black tuxedo. He must be attending a campaign when he was told that Zhang Tie encountered assassination.

"I want to talk with you alone!" Zhang Tie put it straight.

After glancing at Zhang Tie, Zhang Taibai nodded as he raised his hand to tell all the powerhouses and bodyguards of Long Wind Business Group to leave the hall except that 2 people stood back-to-back outside the gate to stop anyone else from coming in.

"This time, these people I bring you are all the Long Wind bodyguards of Huaiyuan Palace. They are all descendants of Zhang Clan, I guarantee that they are loyal to you!" Zhang Taibai promised.

Zhang Tie just revealed a smile. From the perspective of big figures in Huaiyuan Palace, those people might not betray Huaiyuan Palace. However, after leaving Huaiyuan Palace, they would have no relationship with Huaiyuan palace. 'Even blood brothers might fight and harm each other for benefits, let alone them and I. We were just from the same big clan a long time ago. It's hard to say everybody in the big Clan has high morality. Additionally, some one doesn't even know that even if he has been taken advantage of.

"I've been assassinated by the powerhouse assigned by Long Wind Business Group to protect me. Therefore, I become more meticulous in front those people who I don't even know their names and have few social experience. I really don't want my talk with you be known by the public in only a couple of days!" Zhang Tie put it straight and didn't care about Zhang Taibai's embarrassed expression at all.

"What happened today?" The moment the message was told, I was in Yiyang City, I had hurriedly set out towards here.

Zhang Tie then told Zhang Taibai that how he met Liu Xiang and Zhang Haichao and how he was assassinated and chased by Liu Xiang.

"If Liu Xiang wants to cross you, what about Zhang Haichao then? How did you find that Liu Xiang was strange!" As a person in charge of Long Wind Business Group, of course Zhang Taibai would not directly believe in Zhang Tie's words for such a big problem. Therefore, he instantly asked two questions.

"Zhang Haichao might have been killed!" Zhang Tie sighed, "It was obvious that Liu Xiang was strange. Firstly, as Liu Xiang and Zhang Haichao were staying with each other, if they were attacked at the same time, Zhang Haichao should be the one who escaped instead of Liu Xiang; if it was true that Zhang Haichao could hold back those attackers alone as was told by Liu Xiang, Liu Xiang didn't have to escape with him, the two people were able to kill them all. If the attackers were more powerful than Liu Xiang and Zhang Haichao, it would be Zhang Haichao who escaped first, instead of Liu Xiang; if the attackers were equal to Liu Xiang and Zhang Haichao on fighting strength, Liu Xiang should not come for me at that moment; if the attackers could not match Liu Xiang and Zhang Haichao on fighting strength, Liu Xiang didn't need to come for Zhang Tie at all. After realizing something was wrong, I started to be vigilant about Liu Xiang."

Frowning his forehead, Zhang Taibai slowly nodded, "You're right; but not absolute. Because there are always special situations that are out of our imaginations!"

"I know that there might be some special situations that is out of my imagination, so I just doubt that and stop moving at the beginning!" Zhang Tie smiled, "I don't know whether Long Wind Business Group have fixed procedures on dealing with such an emergency. If I were Liu Xiang, I would have warned the protege from afar so that the protege could be prepared for the incoming danger or hide himself; instead of finding the protege with a injured body and bringing him the danger before telling him to escape together with me! However, Liu Xiang didn't send a signal; instead, he directly came here for me. This made him more dubious!"

"What else? I think you must have found something before seizing the opportunity to make the preemptive move!"

"Of course. What made me completely confirm my judgment was what he had done stealthily when we escaped!"

"What did he do when he ran away with you?"

"He had left marks that could be followed on the route. It was a very delicate and smart way of marking that commoners could not discover it at all. It was a natural marking system that combined the depths of footprints and distances between footprints and surrounding environment. He thought I could not recognize it, yet, I could!"

When Zhang Tie was working in Donder's grocery store, that Fatty had taught him a lot. At the beginning, Zhang Tie felt those knowledge was useless and stupid, such as identifying people by their ears. Whereas, after leaving Blackhot City, Zhang Tie realized that these knowledge became very useful. By comparison, those he learned at school became useless.

"Even though, it still could not indicate that Liu Xiang is a traitor!" Zhang Taibai stared at Zhang Tie, "Maybe he left those marks to Zhang Haichao and those people of Long Wind Business Group!"

"It's possible; but I prefer to think that he wanted to assassinate me compared to this minor possibility..." Zhang Tie revealed a casual smile, "with the above three doubious points, I could almost assure that he was abnormal. I prefer to surviving by myself while being condemned to have made a mistake compared to sacrifice myself for the alleged kindness which would be considered stupid!"

Whilst Zhang Tie was saying this, he took out that long needle and threw it onto Zhang Taibai's hand, "He wanted to stab this into my after-brain. Having been prepared for his attack, I directly stabbed my saber into his stomache. There's poison on the needle, you can check it..."

Taking that weird, long needle, Zhang Taibai didn't say anything; instead, his face turned completely blue, "Trust me, Long Wind Business Group will definitely give your an explanation!"

This was rightly what Zhang Tie wanted to hear. After that, Zhang Tie told him about how he escaped from their chase, except for how he acknowledged the old man as his master.

After asking Zhang Tie a few key questions, Zhang Taibai narrowed his eyes and considered for a while before signed, "Based on your description, that old man might be an alchemist master who save your life by chance. Only such a kind of people could be able to walk out of magma safe and sound and produce an explosion by hand. It's really out of my imagination that such a great powerhouse could appear in Dragon Cave. Pitifully, I don;t have a chance to visit him, alas!"

"Perhaps would appear in the future!"

"You don't know, such super powerhouses usually move very irregularly. They could travel as long as thousands of miles by foot in one day, even faser than airship. It was really lucky of you to meet him!" Zhang Taibai seemed being very pitiful for not meeting that old man. He then asked Zhang Tie, "What about the powerful fighter who chased after you? Has he exposed his real status?"

The moment Zhang Tie wanted to tell Zhang Taibai about the message that those assassinators came from Zhen Clan, Heavens Cold Town, Langye Prefecture, Jinyun Country, he suddenly heard a series of footsteps from those guardians outside the hall.

"According to the Lord's order, nobody is allowed in!"

"Including me?" This was a voice of a female, which sounded a bit lofty. Hearing her voice, the guardians didn't speak any more. They then entered the hall together and walked towards Zhang Tie.

At the sight of them coming in, Zhang Tie kept silent as he became infuriated inside. He had determined to build his own "ship". Even though this castle had not been completed, it was already his. However, he could not even talk about something alone with someone. What the f*ck! How could she just enter the castle without my consent? Does she really take this place as the square?

Although Zhang Tie was irritated inside, he looked nothing had happened; by comparison, hearing that voice, Zhang Taibai revealed a kind yet a bit embarrassed smile.

"Lady, haven't I told you to wait a minute in airship? I will come back soon after I deal with the event here!"

"I saw a castle under the airship. I thought that you've hidden young ladies here; therefore, I enter to have a look. If you really like some ladies, just tell me. I will help you marry them. I'm not a narrow-minded madam. Even if you have 8 concubines and want to marry 8 more concubines, I will have no complaint about that!" With this voice, a 30-odd beautiful lady had walked towards them accompanied by 2 female servants.

This lady was wearing a red bobtail decorated with crystals. With all sorts of jewelries, she looked extremely fascinating, charming and majestic that could never be violated. She was a state-of-art beauty.

The moment she entered, she had started to look around. When she found the hall was blazing with lights and no other female was inside, she raised her orchid finger and gave a slight smile. A 30-odd woman then looked as shy as a 10-odd maiden, "I thought you were slipping out of the ball to meet your young lover with the excuse of having something emergent to deal with. As you've applied this trick for many times before, I have not expected that this time was true. If so, I will not disturb you!"

The woman came here out of a sudden and left like nothing had happened. She really looked like a wife coming here to check whether there's a mistress here after. She was also very polite. After saying a couple of words, she looked around before left.

At this moment, at the sight of that shadow disappearing outside the gate, Zhang Tie felt a bone-reaching chill which had frozen his mind. Zhang Tie knew that he had hit the jackpot today.

The douchebag Donder once told Zhang Tie pleasantly that according to his observations, 1 of 20 male in Blackhot City was breeding kids for other male. Donder applied his ear-identifying skill into peering at others' privacy and satisfying his curiosity.

Zhang Tie had not imagined that this secret knowledge could bring him another unexpected message today. If it was a surprise for Zhang Tie for the first time, this time, it had become a fright.

"Erm...when I receive the message from here, I was attending a dinner party with my wife. Because it was not a too long distance from there to here by airship and my wife was worried about me, therefore, she came here together with me. Women are really jealous and dubious..." Zhang Taibai explained to Zhang Tie in a slightly embarrassed way.

"Madam looks elegant and dignified. She must be from a reputed clan. I wonder which powerful clan did she come from?" After forcefully recovering his composure, Zhang Tie praised.

"Haha, you were wrong this time. My wife doesn't come from powerful clan; instead, she came from a middle-class family. 20 years ago, we encountered each other, then we got married. Oh, you've not answered me; whether that powerful fighter that chased you exposed his real status?"

Seeing Zhang Taibai's unpredictable expression, Zhang Tie had numerous thoughts. Finally he shook his head, "That was a group of strictly organized killers. Of course they would not expose their status. Although that old man was super powerful, he didn't spare any time for them to explain where they came from at all. Therefore, I don't know what their real status was!"

"Trust me, Huaiyuan Palace would definitely figure out who tried to assassinated you!" Zhang Taibai replied calmly.

"It would be nice if we could figure out who's behind them!" Rolling his eyes, Zhang Tie said, "I was told that many pharmacists on the continent had been assassinated. Whether they were killed by the same batch of people who had tried to assassinated me?"

Frowning his forehead, Zhang Taibai thought a while before slowly nodded, "It's possible. By the way, you have to take care of yourself recently!"

"How can I take care of myself?" Zhang Tie responded with a bitter smile, "As long as we didn't arrest the man behind them, I would have to be vigilant everyday. This time, they assigned a LV 10 powerful fighter, next time, they might assign a person with higher levels. Given the limited territory of Hidden Dragon Island, unless I hide in the castle and Hidden Dragon Palace forever. If not, I would be their target the moment I go out!"

"I will assign a team of Long Wind Guardians here to protect you. As Long Wind Guardians are all elites of Zhang Clan, they would definitely be loyal to protect you."

"Even though they are loyal to protect me, what about their fighting strength?" Zhang Tie stared at Zhang Taibai, "If they assign a knight to kill me, how could a team of Long Wind Guardians hold back the attack of a knight? If not, Long Wind Guardians would be useless! They might have a knight kill me as easy as finishing a simple task. I believe that they could afford the cost. However, Huaiyuan Palace and Long Wind Business Group could not assign a knight to protect me forever. Could Huaiyuan Palace and Long Wind Business Group afford this?"

Hearing Zhang Tie's words, Zhang Taibai became silent.

"I always treasure my life a lot. I would never put my life in any risk. Perhaps my life is not worthwhile for someone, my life is priceless for myself and my family members. If a great amount of people could not protect me in front of the real powerhouse, they would be nothing effective except for marking me as the target!"

"What do you want then?"

"It's very simple——freedom!" Zhang Tie fixed his shrewd eyes on Zhang Taibai, "I know those rules in Hidden Dragon Palace. Previously, those rules posed no influence to me; but now, before I reach LV 9, those rules are nothing different than fixing me on the Hidden Dragon Island for other's assassination. I need freedom, the freedom of accessing to Hidden Dragon Island. As long as the opponent could not figure out my schedule, it would be hard for them to have a person assassinate me!"

Zhang Taibai knew that Zhang Tie was requiring the real freedom, instead of the simple freedom of accessing to Hidden Dragon Island. Although Zhang Tie mentioned it implicitly, Zhang Taibai could not pretend to be confused. He knew that the severe loophole of Long Wind Business Group brought Zhang Tie the sense of crisis and Zhang Tie had already determined to jump out of the circle that Huaiyuan Palace had drawn for its clan descendants on Hidden Dragon Island.

"What else do you want?" Zhang Taibai watched Zhang Tie in a wholly new look.

"As long as I could steadily provide all-purpose medicament for Long Wind Business Group every year, I think it's not an excessive request for the Clan to give me 5000 clan contribution points a year. Additionally, in order to avoid from the similar event, I should have right to refuse any task or request distributed or allocated to me by Hidden Dragon Palace!"

"What if I don't agree?" Zhang Taibai looked somewhat serious.

Zhang Tie then gave him a smile, "If so, I would exterminate the cooperation with Long Wind Business Group on all-purpose medicament after I pay off the 460,000 gold coins and the interests accrued from it. Although I like money, I don't have to make money at the risk of my life. You should not make profits from my all-purpose medicament so as to reinforce the power of Zhang Clan at the risk of my life."

"What if Zhang Clan could really assign a knight to protect you?"

"If so, I could give up all the requests and our collaboration will keep going. However, the one who's assigned here must follow my order. You'd better not fetch me a lord. " Zhang Tie put it straightly.

Zhang Taibai finally sighed, "I could not make decision on critical affairs of Hidden Dragon Palace alone. I need to negotiate it with others!"

"It doesn't matter. I will recover here these days. You can notice me when you've made the final decision!"

...

When Zhang Taibai was going to leave the hall of the castle accompanied by Zhang Tie, a guardian of Zhang Taibai hurriedly passed him a slip

After skimming over the slip, Zhang Taibai's face slightly changed. He then stared at Zhang Tie with a hesitated expression.

Zhang Tie had a terrible feeling and his heart raced as he instantly grabbed Zhang Taibai's hand and asked loudly, "Is it about my family?"

"It's your older brother, Zhang Yang...he's been attacked!" Zhang Taibai replied in a grave voice.

Hearing this, Zhang Tie was driven anxious at once as he felt his scalp numb...

Chapter 336: Leaving Hidden Dragon Island

Translator: WQL Editor: KLKL

At 6:00 am, June 23rd, after one day's tense atmosphere due to curfew, the first passenger liner had been fully crowded by passengers who were leaving Hidden Dragon Island. After several hours' travel on the sea, Zhang Tie finally arrived at a wharf in Jinhai City.

After more than half a year, when he landed in this city once again. Zhang Tie felt really gloomy and irritated this time.

He landed in Hidden Dragon Island on Dec 5th last year. After half a year's practice in the Hidden Dragon Palace, Zhang Tie had become totally different.

As Zhang Tie expected, after one day's curfew and capture, Hidden Dragon Palace and Long Wind Business Group finally gained nothing at all. All those who tried to assassinate Zhang Tie seemed having been killed by the old man in the Dragon Cave. Even though everybody knew that those people who died underground had accomplices outside the Dragon Cave, nobody could find out their accomplices.

When those assassins arrived at Hidden Dragon Island, they were scattered and entered Hidden Dragon Island by teams; each team only contained a couple of people. They were so strictly organized that when any part of them was in trouble, the others would automatically leave the control of the organization. It was similar to geckos which would break their tails when they in danger.

In this case, only by arresting all the outsiders on the island and interrogating them all could Hidden Dragon Palace and Long Wind Business Group find the accomplices of those assassins.

However, even though Long Wind Business Group was that powerful to arrest all the outsiders in this island, they would not do such a stupid thing. Because there were tens of thousands of outsiders on the Hidden Dragon Island, who came from everywhere, it would be very difficult to arrest them all; additionally, it would definitely cause great turmoil.

In such a case, after one day's curfew, Hidden Dragon Island had recovered its original order. Therefore, Zhang Tie finally gained freedom that he had expected for a long time——the freedom for him to access Hidden Dragon Island for free.

After balancing the benefits and shortcomings between gaining large-production of all-purpose medicament and allowing Zhang Tie to access Hidden Dragon Island freely, they decisively chose the prior.

Of course, big figures always dealt with things very considerably. They had to consider the faces from all sides. They would not directly cross the red tape of Hidden Dragon Palace without any concern. Therefore, if you had access to look up the students archive under the management of that set of differential machine in Hidden Dragon Palace, you would find a new task for Zhang Tie at the bottom of Zhang Tie's personal archive.

The information was as follows:

Name: Zhang Tie!

Task Acceptance Time: June 22th, 890 of Black Iron Calendar.

Quality of the Task: Class S, appointed by Zhang Clan.

Content of the Task: As a partner of Long Wind Business Group, Zhang Tie should provide mass batches of all-purpose medicament for the latter...

Reward: 3000 clan contribution points each year.

Duration of the task: Long term...

Task guarantee measures: As this task is of supreme priority, during the period of this task, the executor could carry out the principles of uniqueness and exclusiveness as are regulated in the task guarantee items and refuse to accept other tasks.

Special remark: during the completion of the task, for the sake of the completion of this task, responding to various emergencies and guaranteeing the safety of the executor, Hidden Dragon Palace especially grants Zhang Tie with the right to access to Hidden Dragon Island for free. His own traffic tool could freely access the surrounding sea and territorial air space of Hidden Dragon Island.

...

Beside the requested clan contribution points which were only satisfied by 60%, all the other requirements from Zhang Tie had been satisfied by those big figures of Zhang Clan in terms of a simple task appointed by Zhang Clan. Additionally, nobody could find a loophole of it. Zhang Tie became pleasant while Hidden Dragon Palace's authority was also maintained.

For this, besides being amazed that those big figures were cunning, Zhang Tie really didn't know how to comment them.

By now, Zhang Tie had become the first clan member of Huaiyuan Palace who was able to freely access Hidden Dragon Island before completed all his courses in Hidden Dragon Palace.

Zhang Tie gained his freedom, the real freedom! It indicated an adjustment of the relationship between Zhang Tie and Huaiyuan Palace and Zhang Clan and that Zhang Tie determined to master his own destiny.

On the way back to Jinhai City, Zhang Tie kept retrospecting himself since he entered Hidden Dragon Cave half a year ago. During the past one and half years, Zhang Tie felt that he had improved rapidly——from a LV 5 warrior to a LV 7 fighter. He had already realized a round of evolution of the throwing skill and formed his Iron-Blood Battle Qi; besides, he had improved greatly on all aspects including diving skill; however, compared to these improvements, Zhang Tie felt that the great improvement that he had made was that he had recognized the road that he needed to walk on in the future with the help of Castle of Black Iron and that miraculous Manjusaka Karma Fruit Tree.

The shortcut to gain privilege and social status was not to seek for a powerful reliance, but to express his own value and ability so that he could turn himself into a giant tree or a robust leg that could be relied on.

It was not wrong for Zhang Tie to decide to enter Hidden Dragon Palace. The only mistake he had made was that he lacked deep understanding about himself and his real ability. He failed to exert his ability to the utmost. He didn't realize that with the help of Castle of Black Iron and that small tree he was different from all the other people.

He didn't consider the difference between him and the other people seriously before; however, after thinking for a short while, Zhang Tie soon got the answer——his difference depends from others depend on how special Castle of Black Iron was and how many kinds of fruits the Manjusaka Karma Fruit Tree could bear.

For instance, when he was chased by that LV 10 douchebag, his own threat to that guy was his handbolts. Zhao Yuan, Zhang Tie's master told him that although his handbolts could realize sonic boom, its speed was only between 1.2 and 1.3 Mach. If he could raise the speed of his handbolts to 2 times of the sound speed, he would have killed that LV 10 powerful fighter with only one handbolt.

Like the development process of the kinetic energy weapons that were invented before the catastrophe, high speed was the most terrifying weapon. Even though it was just a copper coin, as long as it could fly at the speed above 20 times of the speed of sound, its momentum would be extremely destructive.

It was almost impossible for others to raise their throwing speed by one time in a short period because one's strength had to increase gradually; however, for Zhang Tie, there was a shortcut for him to realize 2 times that of sound speed for his handbolts——to eat 9 huge wolf seven-strength fruits.

Sitting on the ship, Zhang Tie had determined to make his handbots throwing skill as his trump card before he reached LV 8. By then, he would be able to explode the head of a LV 10 powerful fighter by throwing his handbolt twice or thrice that of sound speed in a split second.

...

"Dear passengers, may I have your attention, please, we will arrive at the harbor right now. Please carry your personal belongings and get off the liner to go through the gangway ladder orderly against the deck!"

On the passenger liner, the waiter inside the cabin had repeated the same words three times. After arriving at the wharf, with a slight shake of the liner, the engine of the liner powered off before the sirens sounded which indicated that passengers could get off the liner, everybody in the cabin then stood up from their seats and prepared to get off the liner in an order.

Zhang Tie kept his eyes closed since the liner moved. Not until all the passengers beside him had disembarked did Zhang Tie open his eyes and stand up from his chair. At the end of the line, he followed them off the liner silently.

The liner was anchored at a wharf of Jinhai City. This wharf lasted several miles where anchored various ships such as passenger liners, cargo ships and fishers. In a relatively elegant place, there were two rows of white private yachts. Although Jinhai City was not as prosperous as Yiyang City, it was also a big city.

It was noon while the sun was hanging in the sky like a ball of fire. Under the schorching sun, many workers and sailors on the wharf only wore a pair of short pants, sweating all over.

Fishery was very developed in Jinhai City. There were also many ice plants. When in summer, many people would buy ice from ice plants to do small businesses. On the street outside the platform of the ticket entrance of the wharf, Zhang Tie saw many small booths on triology which sold iced fruit juice and taxis and carriages which were waiting for passengers.

Most of passengers getting off the liner would buy a cup of iced fruit juice by hand to relieve summer heat.

Eyes slightly narrowed, Zhang Tie watched those persons exiting the ticket entrance. Accomplices of those assassinators might mix with them. It was impossible if the curfew on Hidden Dragon Island yesterday didn't pose stress on them. After the curfew was cancelled off, some of the assassinators would definitely leave Hidden Dragon Island today; but Zhang Tie didn't know whether they were in the first passenger liner.

If not his life was much more worthwhile than those guys, Zhang Tie really wanted to pick off his mask and have a look at who among these passengers would look disappointed at the sight of him.

'According to the Fatty Donder, in this case, no matter how they look at this moment, as long as those whose pupils suddenly contracted at the sight of me, they would have known whom I am. Additionally, for those who are malicious about me, their pupils would expand and contract from time and then which reflected their true moods and feelings.

"Do you want a cup of iced mango juice? 6 copper coins a cup without ice, 1 copper coin more for some ice..." At the sight of Zhang Tie, an old man who was selling ice water with her wife in tidy clothes on the roadside yelled towards Zhang Tie.

"2 cups, with ice, please!" Zhang Tie walked towards them and said in a slightly hoarse voice.

The Mrs. then got 2 cups of iced juice for Zhang Tie rapidly.

Zhang Tie bottomed them up at once before chewed up the ice cubes and swallowed them, causing a crispy sound.

After that, Zhang Tie felt a bit cooler. He then put his hand into his pocket. In a split second, a silver coin was taken out of Castle of Black Iron. Zhang Tie then threw that silver coin into the old man's small barrel which was used to hold money, making a crispy sound, "Keep the changes..."

"Argh, thank you. Do you want 2 more?" The old man asked passionately. As many people coming back from Hidden Dragon Island were rich, the old couple chose to sell fruit juice here.

Zhang Tie waved his hands and walked towards those taxis. Seeing Zhang Tie drop a silver coin for 2 cups of juice, a steam-driven taxi hurriedly parked towards him while a 40-odd baldheaded driver put his head ouf of the window, "Buddy, do you need a ride?"

After glancing at his slippery look, Zhang Tie directly pulled open the door and sat on the back seat without saying anything.

The driver then gazed at Zhang Tie's average face of about 20 years old and asked with a smile through the rearview mirror, "Where are you going, buddy?"

"Are you familiar with Jinhai City?"

"I've lived in Jinhai City over 40 years. Of course, I'm know it well. I'm not bragging, I know every place in Jinhai City, eating, drinking, entertainment, wherever you want!" The baldheaded driver boosted as he slowly started the car.

"I've missed my ID certificate in the Dragon Cave of Hidden Dragon Island. I was told there would be much inconvenience in Huaiyuan Prefecture if you have no legal ID certificate. Therefore, I want to get an ID certificate. Do you know where I can get it?" Zhang Tie asked calmly.

After hearing this, the driver shrunk his neck as his hands on the steering wheel shook, "I might be sent into the prison, even be chopped off my head if I help you get an ID certificate in Huaiyuan Prefecture. I don't know about this place; you'd better find someone else!"

"I'm not from Huaiyuan Prefecture, Jinyun Country, I don't want a fake ID certificate in Huaiyuan Prefecture; I only want a certificate that could help me live in a hotel!"

Hearing this, the baldheaded driver looked better as his eyes rolled twice towards the rearview mirror, "If so, I know a place where you could get an ID certificate. But it would be a bit expensive concerning a long distance and the counseling fee; at least...at least 1 gold coin!"

Zhang Tie puffed inside, 'he really wants to rip me off by taking me as an idiot. It's just a fake ID certificate. Such ads are pasted everywhere in the railway station of Blackhot City. This industry was one of the oldest for mankind. In Donder's words, as any old prostitute who could serve you twice for a silver coin could tell you everything that you want to know.

"Here are 10 silver coins. No crap. If not, you can only get 5 silver coins." Zhang Tie glared at him and swore in a hoarse voice, "f*ck, you really think that I make money so easily? I tell you, it only takes me 2 silver coins to find a woman who will take me there. 1 gold coin? with 1 gold coin, I could get 10 fake ID certificates!"

The driver ridiculed, "You are really informed. I'm wrong. Just 10 silver coins, take it easy, brother..."

...

Half an hour later, when Zhang Tie thought that driver would take him to a gloomy corner, the taxi parked in front of a 4-floor building which was a bit obsolete.

Below that building were some average hotels, which were selling stretched noodles with seafood and teppanyaki with squid. Besides, there was a board which was so frightening.

——Holy Golden Orchid Empire's Embassy in Jinyun Country.

Sitting on a back seat in the taxi, Zhang Tie looked at that wooden plate marked "Empire", lacquer on which had severely faded away and that board marked "Wang Defu's Teppanyaki with Squid" which was polished, Zhang Tie started to doubt whether who was playing a joke here.

'Is that an empire's embassy? F*ck! Even the public toilets in Breaking Heavens Department are much more senior than it.'

Zhang Tie then slightly rubbed his jaw with his hand, 'Is that driver that audacious? How could he play such a joke with me? Or "Come on, cheat me" is written on my face?'

After noticing that Zhang Tie gradually look gloomy through the rearview mirror, the driver hurriedly explained, "You can really get an ID certificate here. I swear it is true! This is the Holy Golden Orchid Empire's Embassy in Jinyun Country. I remeber that when I came here last time, there were 2 guardians outside the gate. Where're they now? They might be taking a nap!"

When Zhang Tie almost lost his temper, another person suddenly slipped out of the stretched noodles hotel. After sucking a piece of spaghetti inside, he started to look around, "Who wants an ID certificate? Who wants an ID certificate?"

Thus, he caught sight of the taxi parking outside the gate. He then instantly ran towards here. After wiping off the soup stains over his mouth corners, he pulled open the back door in a very professional way, "Sir, do you need an ID certificate? Philip, the senior commerical counsellor of Holy Golden Orchid Empire's Embassy in Jinyun Country is glad to serve you!"

This was Zhang Tie's first time to be treated so politely by a non-Chinese ever since he was born.

Chapter 337: A Declining Empire

Translator: WQL Editor: Millman97

Zhang Tie didn't get out of the taxi; instead, he carefully glanced at Philip. He still wasn't sure if he was being teased by them.

This kind of parody in public dated back to a time before the Catastrophe. The people who took part in these pranks or special scenes would tease the 'victim' to make those who were hiding aside laugh out loudly.

Zhang Tie had read about it before. This kind of parody was very popular before the Catastrophe; however, Zhang Tie had not seen such a thing before. He had not imagined that there was someone so bored in Jinhai City.

"Listen, my time is very precious; if this is a joke, I hope it comes to an end right now. If not, there will be very serious consequences!" Gazing at Philip, Zhang Tie warned him in very adroit and standard Hebrew.

Both the baldheaded driver and Philip were slightly shocked by Zhang Tie's fluent use of Hebrew. Only a few Chinese could speak Hebrew in this age, because Chinese was almost the standard diplomatic language for many countries, especially in Hebrew-spoken regions. In many cases, it had become a symbol of nobility and high social status if one could speak Chinese very fluently.

"Sir, as a diplomat of Holy Golden Orchid Empire, I truly feel shameful about the embarassing state of the Empire's Embassy in Jinyun Country. However, there's a reason for this. If you don't mind, I would like several minutes of your time to explain the reason. This is a tradegy of the country. Whereas, now that your time is very precious, we can talk about this question after I deal with the ID certificate for you. How do you feel?"

Gazing at Philip's embarrassed face, Zhang Tie threw 10 silver coins to that baldheaded driver before getting off the taxi. When he took out the silver coins, Zhang Tie noticed the shrewed light in Philip's eyes.

'It's only 10 silver coins. Do you need to be that thirsty for it?' Zhang Tie sighed inside, 'It seems that this embassy is more awful than I imagined. It's definitely a wonder!"

Seeing Zhang Tie getting off the car, Philip, the senior commercial counsellor of Holy Golden Orchid Empire's Embassy in Jinyun Country, became so diligent that he instantly guided Zhang Tie into the Embassy. This Embassy was really like that illegal agency's office which relied on cheating those foreigners nearby the railway station of Blackhot City.

"How could your embassy become so awful?" Zhang Tie asked in Chinese.

"It's a long story, sir. In the past 15 years, our embassy has not been able to gain even a copper coin for our budget from our country. What's worse, we have to submit an amount of gold coins to the country. The former embassy in the capital of Jinyun Country was auctioned 7 years ago. Since then, we've moved to Huaiyuan Prefecture of Yiyang City; after that, we moved to Stars Viewing City. Finally, with the help of some kind-hearted businessmen of the empire, we settle down here because of the cheap rent!"

When he explained, Philip looked like a dried bitter gourd.

"To tell the truth, even the center of any government-in-exile is much better than here!" Zhang Tie put it straightly.

"That's true! At least government-in-exile could gain a bit sympathy; not like us, if I leave here, I would even feel embarrassed to tell others that I am a diplomat!"

When they finished talking, Philip had already guided Zhang Tie in.

There were various photos, documents, and files in the showcases on two sides of the corridor, which might be used to make this place more imposing.

From the inside of one cheap glass showcase, Zhang Tie noticed the credentials that Holy Golden Orchid Empire had submitted to Jinyun Country, on which the seal of the state and the seal of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Holy Golden Orchid Empire could be clearly seen.

At the sight of this, Zhang Tie really widened his eyes. He felt that it was worthwhile even to be cheated by them. 'They're really f*cking professional! It was really great for them to counterfeit a letter of credence only for a few gold coins.' Zhang Tie had not seen such a senior document since he was born.

Noticing Zhang Tie becoming very interested in that letter of credence, Philip hurriedly started to introduce it from aside.

"Actually, there was another letter of credence submitted from the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Jinyun Country to Holy Golden Orchid Empire here. Later on, under the strict protest and negotiation of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Jinyun Country, we passed that letter of credence back to our country. This one left was brought by the new ambassador when he took office a few years ago. We don't submit it to the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Jinyun Country; instead, we just keep it here; no matter what, no one cares about it!"

When Philip introduced that letter of credence in the showcase to Zhang Tie, a sound drifted from a door aside while a man with whiskers and a big stomach in a loose shirt yawned and walked into the room.

At the sight of Zhang Tie, that man blinked his eyes as he became spirited at once, "Yo, you got a business today, Philip. We can have a good dinner tonight!"

Philip then rubbed his face by hand in an embarrassed way and introduced that guy to Zhang Tie, "Sorry, sir, I will give you an introduction about him; this is Colonel Gucci, the military attache of our embassy!"

"Where are Belli and Ary? Shouldn't they on sentry duty outside? Are they working in the wharf as carriers yet again?" Colonel Gucci swore as he rubbed his stomach, "Alas, smelling that food downstairs, I want to have a drink again. Philip, do you have money? Lend me a silver coin; I want a bottle of alcohol!"

However, hearing his words, Philip just ignored that guy as he directly pulled Zhang Tie away, "I will take you to the office of ambassador Nicolay. All the ID certificates in the embassy are arranged by Mr. Nicolay. This is the main source of income of the embassy!"

After turning a corner in the corridor, Philip took Zhang Tie in front of an office. He then knocked at the door. Receiving no response, he knocked at the door once again. Still not receiving a response, Philip directly pushed open the door and entered. He woke up a thin old man who was sleeping behind a desk by shaking him. After that, he whispered near the old man's ears. Hearing this, the old man instantly sat up straight and gazed at Zhang Tie with gleaming eyes.

"Hello, I'm Nicolay, the ambassador of Holly Golden Orchid Empire in Jinyun Country. Philip told me that you want an ID certificate?"

Since he entered this 'alleged' embassy, Zhang Tie had already figured out the existing state of it. Although it sounded great, it was actually a makeshift organization which was nothing different from those poor, small, illegal agencies.

The moment Zhang Tie entered the door, Philip had already pulled over a chair for Zhang Tie. After sitting down, Zhang Tie popped out a gold coin, which fell onto Philip's hand with a delicate arc, "Your tip!"

Philip swiftly seized that gold coin and foisted it into his own pocket. With a big smile, he replied, "Thank you, sir, your generosity really makes my effort worthwhile. It's my great honor to serve you!"

Seeing this, ambassador Nicolay's Adam's apple quivered as he forcefully swallowed his saliva and instantly jumped over here which could be rarely seen at his age. After being in front of Zhang Tie, he bent over with a big smile, "What can I do for you sir?"

Legs crossed, Zhang Tie patted his hand on the desk and instantly gained the initiative, "Tell me what kind of ID certificates you can deal with here?"

"We can deal with the official ID certificate of the citizen of Holy Golden Orchid Empire!" After saying this, Nicolay turned his head and ordered Philip, "Go make a cup of tea for this honorable sir. Use the best tea leaves that I've collected!"

Receiving the order, Philip left jubilantly.

"Is that a fake ID certificate?"

"It's real. It's absolutely a real ID certificate, with which, you could access Holy Golden Orchid Empire for free." Saying this, Nicolay became thrilled, "This is a business of our embassy!"

"Is it okay even if I'm not a citizen of Holy Golden Orchid Empire?" Zhang Tie wondered.

"It's okay. Definitely okay! Because Holy Golden Orchid Empire is an extremely open country which accepts the existence of multiple nationalities. Anyone who wants to join Holy Golden Orchid Empire will be welcomed in our country, regardless of their race, belief, or former nationality. With only a few gold coins and a simple ceremony, we will deal with the relevant procedures for you as soon as possible!"

'F*ck, this world is marvelous.' Zhang Tie mocked himself for being ignorant inside. He had not imagined there was such a bizarre country on Waii Sub-continent. Compared to this embassy, those faking ID certificates were really dwarfed.

With a cup of hot tea, Philip carefully walked over here and put it onto the teapoy in front of Zhang Tie. The moment Zhang Tie noticed that small defect on one side of the tea cup and a few "good tea" leaves which looked like straws, Zhang Tie instantly lost his appetite.

"I suddenly become a bit interested in your country. Introduce your Holy Golden Orchid Empire to me, please. Such a country really sounds attractive!"

With Nicolay and Philip's introduction, Zhang Tie started to better understand the Holy Golden Orchid Empire.

"Holy Golden Orchid country was established after the first holy war between human beings and demons. Although it's not prosperous, it is a second-class country on the continent. It has a population of over 26 million people at that moment and covered 6.8 million square meters. The country was composed of dozens of cities, small and big; it's also a member of the central state alliance of mankind on Waii Sub-Continent.

The only reason that caused Holy Golden Orchid Empire decline was the unparalleled, bizarre king of the country——Heiger VII.

What if a person who just indulged in wildest fantasy everyday became an emperor? Holy Golden Orchid Empire was the best example.

Heiger VII took the throne at the age of 16. After that, the first thing he did was to take out half of the national treasury to summon various persons who had excellent workmanship so as to build a weird aircraft which could match the plane created by mankind before the Catastrophe which could fly faster than sound...

According to his illusion, besides flying much faster than the airships of this age, this kind of aircraft could also transform into machine warriors on the ground, which could destroy everything. Heiger VII dreamed to build the only high-reaching troop in this age.

The word "high-reaching" was dubbed by Heiger VII himself. For its meaning, nobody understood it, even now. No matter what, based on Heiger VII's description, as long as Holy Golden Orchid Empire had such a troop, the empire would be able to conquer the whole world easily.

Heiger VII's dream shocked everybody; however, due to his pursuit for his dream, this country's national treasury was used up in only 2 years.

It was said that the reason Heiger VII was very mad about flying in the air and creating that strange high-reaching troop lay in some military books about the age before the Catastrophe that he had read in the imperial library of the empire. Nobody knew which military books he read; although there were millions of books in the Imperial Library of Holy Golden Orchid Empire, few people could enter it.

Therefore, Heiger VII's dream to make a plane became a terrifying bottomless hole, which not only consumed all the national treasury of Holy Golden Orchid Empire like water flow but also caused a crazier idea.

Heiger VII was not only a mad dreamer, but also a kind man. On the second year after he took the throne, he had abolished the death penalty of Holy Golden Orchid Empire, even though many people didn't agree.

On the 3rd year after he took the throne, he performed an inspection in a drought-stricken area of Holy Golden Orchid Empire. After that, he abolished all the taxes that had been levied on average citizens since the founding of the country and added "No Tax Forever" into the "Holy Code" of the empire, which had not been done by any former emperors of Holy Golden Orchid Empire.

On the 4th year, at the age of 20, he made a crazy decision in order to comfort the officials' fury about him and gain enough R&D expenditure so as to build the marvelous machine in his dream.

As long as the officials of the empire vowed to be loyal to the imperial household of Holy Golden Orchid Empire forever, swore to follow the "Holy Code" and paid a great amount of money in terms of their own positions, after signing an agreement and document, they would be able to change their current position into family hereditary positions.

Receiving this news, all the officials of the empire became mad...

As a result, numerous hereditary positions were sold by Heiger VII while countless wealth flew into the national treasury of the empire. After that, all the wealth was used to pursue for his exotic dream...

Heiger VII's crazy dream lasted 10 years. During that period, the Holy Golden Orchid Empire had almost been ruined by that lunatic. When everybody thought that Heiger VII would return to the normal track by giving up his terrifying dream, Heiger VII got a new dream.

Heiger VII finally woke up from that high-reaching dream; yet he immersed himself into the deep and profound Chinese culture on the Eastern Continent. He learned that there was a strange secret fist skill on the Eastern Continent which could block 500 kg's strength with only 0.2 kg's strength and defeat powerful one with weak body. Additionally, it could be learned by both male and female. Heiger VII was fascinated by this skill. He then took a great number of followers and flew to the Eastern Continent by airship without caring about Holy Golden Orchid Empire at all.

Heiger VII planned to bring back that marvelous fist skill and let all the citizens of Holy Golden Orchid Empire master it. By then, Holy Golden Orchid Empire would easily conquer the world too.

It took him another 12 years for him to return.

When he returned, the country didn't need an emperor any more as it had run 12 years without an emperor.

After a deep reflection, Heiger VII finally woke up, enlightened and sublimed...

High-reaching, fist, power, all this was bullsh*t. Heiger VII found that only light and love were the forever truth in the universe.

"As long as we have light and love in our hearts, one day, even demons would be moved by our selfless love. I will build Holy Golden Orchid Empire into a Paradise full of love and light. As long as you have love and light, you would be the citizen of Holy Golden Orchid Empire..." Heiger VII declared when he was celebrating his birthday at the age of 40.

...

This year, Heiger VII had reached 58 years old. After ruling Holy Golden Orchid Empire over 40 years, it was really a miracle for the country to still remain complete while the capital Aulis is still in the hands of imperial household.

Thanks to the resistance of all the imperial members, the taxes of Aulis were not embezzled by that mad emperor to carry out his great undertaking of "light and love" which could move demons. That amount of money could only roughly afford the imperial army of over 20,000 imperial army and the daily expense of the imperial palace.

...

"Previously the position foreign secretary was not profitable; however, after it was bought by Hillary family, people realized that it is really profitable. At least, after selling all the real estates of the country's embassies and consulates, the Hillary family would get back their investment from this position!" Saying this, Nicolay looked very admirable and regretful.

Zhang Tie was really dumbfounded by such a bizarre emperor and such a bizarre country, 'What the f*ck...'

Chapter 338: News about Pandora

Translator: WQL Editor: Millman97

"After leaving the capital of Jinyun Country, we moved to Stars Viewing City. The slave trade was very prosperous over there. After buying some slaves, especially some female slaves, some rich people would have some special demands, such as they would like to grant some strange official status to their female slaves. Our embassy could meet their demands. Benefited from them, we could live well for a few days!" Philip sighed as his eyes were filled with infinite desire for that period.

"Strange status? What kind of status can you provide for those female slaves?" Zhang Tie asked out of curiosity.

"As long as they have money, they could let their female slaves be official citizens of Holy Golden Orchid Empire. Besides, they could buy some imperial positions for those female slaves, positions which meant nothing but gave them some reputation, such as palace consultant, palace musician, secretary of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, military officer of the art troupe of the imperial army, etc!" Philip replied, "Among these positions, the most popular one was the status sacred, holy goddess of the School of Fraternity which was founded by our emperor!"

'F*ck!' Zhang Tie understood it at once. For some nouveau riches, of course, they bought beautiful female slaves to f*ck them; for some of them, making love with beautiful female slaves felt different compared to making love with female slaves with some exotic status; they wanted to experience something different.

"You make your living from this?"

"That's it. This is the only way that all the embassies of Holy Golden Orchid Empire could make money. What else could we sell except for the status of citizen and those official positions? After selling the position of foreign secretary, our emperor even sold out the positions of ambassadors in all the embassies!" Nicolay frowned his forehead gloomily, "I spent over 100,000 gold coins to buy this official position. Whereas, the only task for all the embassies of Holy Golden Orchid Empire in other countries is to spread the theory about light and love proposed by our emperor. Anyone could be a citizen of Holy Golden Orchid Empire as long as their hearts are full of love and light!"

Zhang Tie was struck speechless by that. There were truly populations and religions in this world that were bound up in terms of pure theories, values, or standards of conduct; for instance, the Jews, who were as well known as Chinese for their excellent business acumen before the Catastrophe. There was a old saying in the Jews' Sacred Codes about themselves: 'Anyone who gives up worshipping idols is a Jew.' There was another example, in Buddhism, which was the largest religion in the world before the Catastrophe, buddhists were defined as those who could insist on the four truths [1] of their belief.

Zhang Tie learned the above knowledge from the course "General History of Human Race" when he was in Hidden Dragon Palace. Those were all examples of the diversity greater population in terms of values and standards of conduct before the Catastrophe; however, Zhang Tie had not imagined that in a chaotic world like Black Iron Age, someone also wanted to unite people by an empty talk like "light and love".

A bizarre emperor builds a strange country with weird standards.

This was Zhang Tie's feeling at that moment.

"If you could live well in Stars Viewing City, why are you so pitiful now?"

"When the emperor knew that some embassies were helping some slaves gain the status of citizens and various other positions so as to satisfy someone's weird and abnormal requests, he had delivered an order to forbid embassies to gain the status of citizen for slaves. The emperor even said slave should not exist in a country full of light and love!" Nicolay explained while his eyes were full of tears, "My god, but I'd only got half of my investment back by that point!"

Zhang Tie sighed. Heiger VII was really worth his own novel. But Zhang Tie didn't plan to dig for further information about him then.

"I'm applying to join Holy Golden Orchid Empire. What forms do I need? Hurry up!"

The moment they heard Zhang Tie's request, Nicolay and Philip exchanged glances with each other as they became busy at once.

"Philip, call Piaster in. Let him prepare to take a photo for this gentleman along with the metal fingerprint collector. As this gentleman doesn't have much time, I will prepare the citizenship confirmation procedure for this gentleman!"

"Yes sir! Mr. Ambassador!" Philip hurriedly ran out of the office and shouted loudly, "Piaster, you lazybones, go get your machine prepared, we have a guest!"

...

Zhang Tie thought that alleged the citizenship confirmation procedures would be very sophisticated; he couldn't have imagined that it was as simple as a joke.

Nicolay took out of a book of "Sacred Codes" from his desk and asked Zhang Tie put his hand on it. After that, Nicolay asked Zhang Tie in a very solemn way, "Do you have light and love in your heart?"

Having been told what to say, Zhang Tie answered, "Yes, I do!" Then the whole confirmation procedure was finished. Zhang Tie was really stunned by this.

After that, Zhang Tie took a photo and left the fingerprint of his right thumb on a metal mold in a confined room. Piaster was a first secretary of the embassy. However, his work was nothing different than those workers in the workshops.

Zhang Tie then left the name of his current alias: Fei Yuao (费雨傲).

After receiving 12 gold coins from Zhang Tie, Nicolay told Zhang Tie jubilantly that it would take him only 10 minutes to get his ID certificate as the citizen of Holy Golden Orchid Empire.

During this period, Philip presented Zhang Tie with a service list which looked like a menu in a hotel as he and Nicolay stood on Zhang Tie's two sides respectively and started to introduce the other services that the embassy could provide to Zhang Tie.

At this moment, Fei Yuao was only an average citizen of Holy Golden Orchid Empire; however, as long as Zhang Tie wanted, he could have a very privileged official position at once. Even if Zhang Tie wanted to be a military officer, he could freely choose any of position from ensign to admiral of the fleet.

The status of ensign was the cheapest as it only required 10 gold coins. As long as Zhang Tie submitted 10 gold coins, he would gain a military officer certificate and two sets of ceremonial dresses of military officers officially issued and allocated by the imperial army headquarter of Holy Golden Orchid Empire. But, that would take one week.

"The price of the navy marshal of Holy Golden Orchid Empire is 300,000 gold coins. With this position, besides the above official ID certificate and other marshals' reliance, you could also gain a mace made of pure gold and have the chance to lunch with Heigner VII. In Holy Golden Orchid Empire, with this status, you would be able to enter many places where are limited to upper class talents. Additionally, the military department of the empire would engage you as a lifetime counselor of the military department of the empire and the honorary president of the navy university...briefly, you would enjoy many benefits with this status!"

Philip kept talking about the benefits of having various official positions in Holy Golden Orchid Empire while Zhang Tie became confused, "Isn't Holy Golden Orchid Empire a land-locked country? What does it establish navy for?"

"There's no regulation on forbidding the establishment of a navy in a land-locked country. No matter what, the navy department is usually a sub-department of the military department of the empire. Except for salary, fleet, and sailors, they could enjoy equal treatment like those of real military officers!" Philip explained in a smart way.

Zhang Tie then understood it. Because there was no navy in Holy Golden Orchid Empire, they set up a navy department to sell relevant official positions. In this way, they wouldn't shoulder any responsibility for that. Perhaps, there were truly some nouveau riche fools who liked the feeling of being military officers and big figures.

Following that, Philip introduced a great number of titles of imperial palace counselors of Holy Golden Orchid Empire. Noticing that Zhang Tie was not interested in those fake status, Philip hurriedly turned over 2 pages.

"How about this? It would only take you 600 gold coins a year to be authorized to use the badge of golden orchid of the imperial household of the empire and enjoy the royal naming right of the empire. These are successful cases. Take this as an example, after being named as the royal oak club of Holy Golden Orchid Empire, this business group avoided a robbery..."

"Additionally, after being crowned as the royal club of Holy Golden Orchid Empire, this club's trading volume surged by one hundred percent..."

Zhang Tie shook his head as he thought this naming right was a bit useful; however, he didn't need this status at the present. If back in Blackhot City, those nouveau riche fools in Blackhot City would definitely be mad for royal clubs or fighting clubs of Holy Golden Orchid Empire.

After that, Philip introduced some other items, such as with only 1 gold coin, one could buy several square kilometers' remote land, the right to exploit or reclaim wasteland out of the territory of the empire. But Zhang Tie kept shaking his head.

"Sorry, if you've finished my ID certificate, please bring it to me. I'm not interested in the other items here. No more sales pitches, please!" Zhang Tie said calmly.

"One more, one more. I bet you will like it!" Seemingly not feel that Zhang Tie would leave here with only 10-odd gold coins, Philip almost exclaimed, "As long as you are a man, you will definitely be interested in this. As long as you submit 200 gold coins, you will be qualified to attend a grand meeting in Aulis next year when you might have a chance to win the favor of Princess Pandora and become her husband!"

"What? What's the name of the princess?" Zhang Tie was dumbfounded as the name Pandora instantly reminded Zhang Tie of those warm memories. Zhang Tie thought the princess must be another girl with the same name.

"Your Highness princess called Pandora. She's just 16 years old this year. It's told that she learned outside when she was young. She came back to Aulis last year. Princess Pandora is the only daughter of Heiger VII and the first heir to the throne of the empire. When she becomes the queen in the future, there would be one more prince in the empire."

16 years old; learned outside when she was young; came back to Aulis last year. These pieces of message made Zhang Tie's heart pound.

"Do you have a photo of Princess Pandora?"

Nicolay pulled open the sketcher as he took out of a photo and gave it to Zhang Tie, "According to the order from the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the empire, 1 month later, when Princess Pandora is 17 years old, we will publish an ad on a whole page of the each mainstream newspaper of Jinyun Country for Princess Pandora's husband-selective grand meeting!"

In the photo, Pandora's hair and pupils were still. Being different from before, she was wearing a delicate and elegant princess crown and a brilliant set of blue palace dress while her hands were crossed and put before her lower abdomen elegantly. Besides, she was holding a nice-looking gold-made cane.

Compared to that emaciated look in Blackhot City, Pandora in the photo looked more balanced while her face radiated a wisp of brilliant and healthy light, making her beautiful, elegant and deep-thinking.

At the sight of this photo, everybody would consider her as a princess.

Zhang Tie then fixed his eyes on the fourth finger of her right hand which was holding a cane and obscurely saw a black-sealed ring on it.

Thinking that scene when he put on this ring for Pandora at the railway station when he left Blackhot City, Zhang Tie instantly dropped off tears...

At the sight of Zhang Tie dropping off tears with his eyes fixed on the photo, Nicolay and Philip were really stunned.

"I'm sorry. It's my first time to see such a beautiful princess!" Zhang Tie returned the photo to Nicolay, "You mean Pandora is going to select her husband next year?"

"Yes, on her 18th birthday! Any single man who can afford to spend 200 gold coins can go there to have a try!"

"Count me in!" Zhang Tie put his hand in his coat and threw a bag of gold coins onto Nicolay's desk.

...

Over 10 minutes later, with the ID certificate of "Fei Yuao", Zhang Tie left the Embassy. Outside the gate, he called a taxi and soon disappeared in the street.

Every 3 months, the Holy Golden Orchid Empire's embassy in Jinyun Country would have the photos, names and fingerprints of the persons who had joined the emperor registered in the administration of Huaiyuan Prefecture. However, Zhang Tie was not afraid of that; because he was wearing a mask. Nobody across Waii Sub-Continent would know about his true face except for Donder.

Half an hour later, Zhang Tie settled down in a middle-class hotel at the intersection between a boisterous business district and a red-light district in Jinhai City.

The rent of the hotel was 6 silver coins a day. There was a club under the hotel while on the roof of the hotel was a legal gambling house where were crowded with numerous people all day long.

Twenty minutes after entering the hotel, Zhang Tie changed into another set of clothes, took off his mask, and left the hotel.

Nobody cared about how Zhang Tie had entered; similarly, nobody cared about how he left.

After leaving the hotel, Zhang Tie circled around the area twice. He then walked into a boisterous region of a business district where he called a taxi and drove him to that rich men's villa area in the Longman Avenue of Jinhai City.

That was where Zhang Tie's family members lived.

Zhang Tie then rang the doorbell of the No. 76 on the Longman Avenue. After a short while, a small window opened and a 40-odd, tough man appeared in the window. At the sight of Zhang Tie, he slightly frowned his forehead.

"Whom are you looking for?"

Zhang Tie didn't know him; but he might be able to guess the man's status after his elder brother was attacked.

"I'm Zhang Tie. I was living here. Zhang Yang is my elder brother!" Zhang Tie answered calmly.

Hearing this answer, that man was pretty shocked. He then glanced over Zhang Tie carefully and spoke politely, "Please wait a second..."

In less than 30 seconds, with a series of hurried footsteps, the gate was opened while Zhang Tie's mom's haggard face appeared in front of Zhang Tie at once.

"Mom!"

"Guoguo, is that you?" Zhang Tie's mom was so excited that she instantly hugged Zhang Tie, "Shouldn't you be in Hidden Dragon Island? How did you come back? Your eldest uncle was worrying about you last night, your elder brother..." Speaking of Zhang Tie's elder brother, his mom's eyes instantly turned wet while tears kept dropping off.

"Mom, it's okay. I'm safe. I already know what happened to my elder brother. Let's talk about it later!" Zhang Tie patted her mom's back to comfort her before accompanying her into the courtyard.

There was one more ladder, a small wooden horse and some toys on the grassland of the courtyard. Seeing them, Zhang Tie took a deep breath.

Although looking calm, Zhang Tie had long developed a powerful killing intent inside and was extremely furious.

On the same day Zhang Tie was attacked, Zhang Yang was assaulted. If not some emergencies which made the attackers abort their plan, Zhang Yang might have been dead. Even so, Zhang Yang was still injured.

Those who assaulted Zhang Yang in Jinhai City were the same batch of people as those who attempted to assassinate Zhang Tie. When their plan failed, Zhang Tie was told that they committed a suicide as same as the LV 10 guy — releasing the terrifying poison in their metal teeth and turning themselves into a pond of blood, leaving nothing else.

No matter how great the background of the Zhen Clan of Heavens Cold City was and what tricks they designed in Huaiyuan Palace, Zhang Tie had determined to sweep off Zhen Clan from Heavens Cold City.

Zhang Tie realized that his biggest advantage was that Zhen Clan of Heavens Cold City didn't know that he had discovered their secret.

Chapter 339: Ambition

Translator: WQL Editor: Millman97

Zhang Yang looked much better than Zhang Tie had imagined. He was lying on the bed with one foot wrapped in thick gauze bandages; it was held in the air by a rack on one side of the bed. There was a small bandage above his left eye. Besides not being able to easily move about, he didn't look too bad.

Zhang Yang was telling Zhang Tie what happened to him 2 days ago. Although he was the one who was abducted, he could only recall some incoherent fragments.

"It was already late by then. My coworkers at the company had already left, leaving me alone. I was checking over the day's work. However, 3 people entered the company at that time. At the beginning, I thought they were guests and was not vigilant about them. They then asked whether I was Zhang Yang. I said yes. Then, I lost consciousness..."

Zhang Yang explained shamefully. Whereas, Zhang Tie could understand his feelings. Because his elder brother was only LV 5 and had not even formed his battle qi. He was like commoners who had no ability to fight those LV 7-8 fighters at all. Therefore, it was pretty easy to knock him out when his elder brother wasn't expecting it.

"What then?"

"When I woke up, I had been taken into a vehicle by the 3 people with my limbs bound and mouth covered. The vehicle felt like it was driving fast; but I didn't know where it was heading for. It should've been near Jinhai City. When they noticed that I was awake, they torn off the adhesive tape from my mouth and asked me a question — how is all-purpose medicament produced?" Zhang Yang forced a bitter smile, "As it was my first time to hear the name all-purpose medicament, of course I didn't know how to answer them. Therefore, they tortured me a lot. Receiving no answer, they then asked whether you had me hold onto something for you. I said no. They then covered my mouth with adhesive tape once again."

While he explained, Zhang Yang was extremely gloomy as he gazed at Zhang Tie who was sitting beside him, "I was so scared at that moment. Although they had covered my mouth with an adhesive tape, I could still clearly hear what they were talking about. After receiving no answer from me, they were negotiating about burying me. I then thought of you, Cheng'an, and our parents. I didn't know whether I would see you ever again!"

Hearing his elder brother's words, Zhang Tie said nothing; he just held Zhang Yang's hand tightly.

"When I thought that I would be buried, I heard a sudden braking sound. Then, I felt the vehicle we were in crash into another. As a result, our vehicle was knocked over. At the same time, I flew out of the vehicle due to inertia. As for what happened after that, I don't remember..."

Even if Zhang Yang didn't remember what happened next, Zhang Tie already knew about it. When those abductors drove their car on the highway of Cloud Snake Mountain in the north of Jinhai City, some affluent kids were racing cars illegally over there. Due to a malfunction, one of those cars crashed into the vehicle of those abductors and knocked over the latter's vehicle, making it roll down the hillside which was higher than 10 m.

Luckily, Zhang Yang flew out of the window due to inertia. Although one of his legs was broken and his body what quite bruised, Zhang Yang had already got out the control of the abductors.

When those rich boys and girls parked their cars and prepared to help those people in the vehicle, they caught sight of Zhang Yang with limbs bound and mouth pasted; they immediately knew something was not right.

Therefore, those bodyguards of the rich boys and girls moved, some of which were even powerhouses. As a result, one of the abductors were killed in an instant while all the rest were caught. However, they all committed a suicide by releasing the poison hidden in their teeth.

Realizing this accident was unusual, those rich boys and girls hurriedly sent Zhang Yang to the hospital as they called the police.

That was how it went. When Zhang Tie was told what happened to Zhang Yang on Hidden Dragon Island, the latter was still in coma in the hospital.

Zhang Tie knew that his elder brother was definitely suffering because of him. The head of this movement in Zhen Clan of Heavens Cold City was not sure whether Zhang Tie was the only person who knew about the manufacturing method of all-purpose medicament; therefore, he had contacted his accomplices in Jinhai City and decided to start the movement at the same time.

From this point, Zhang Tie realized that this organization was very huge and under strict administration. Because they needed to coordinate the two movements on both Hidden Dragon Island and in Jinhai City, they had to use at least 2 sets of crystal remote sensing equipment, which could not be easily bought by average people.

After listening to Zhang Yang's experience, Zhang Tie told Zhang Yang everything, including that he mastered the manufacturing method of all-purpose medicament and his attempted assassination.

After finding out that Zhang Tie encountered huge danger, Zhang Yang was really dumbfounded; however, compared to the assassination, Zhang Tie's current real strength and ability was more stunning.

"You're already LV 7 after entering Hidden Dragon Island for half a year? You can also produce all-purpose medicament?" Zhang Yang asked Zhang Tie doubtfully.

"Yes!" Zhang Tie nodded, "Don't tell dad and mom about what happened to me on Hidden Dragon Island; it would make them more worried!"

"I know. But are you really okay about all this? If you do this, you will have given up the opportunity to be well-known in Zhang Clan through Hidden Dragon Island. After living in Jinhai City for over half a year, I realize that our clan is definitely more powerful than the former Andaman Alliance!"

"Yay, Huaiyuan Palace is very powerful, but it might not be suitable to me to be an elite of the Clan like others aim to be!" Zhang Tie stared at Zhang Yang seriously, "I'm not completely out of Huaiyuan Palace's control. I'm still a member of Zhang Clan, but compared to others, I chose an easier way to get along with the Clan. This is good for both me and Huaiyuan Palace, otherwise, I would not have been here now!"

"I hope so!" Zhang Yang considered, "but I still feel a bit pitiful that you have to stay away from Huaiyuan Palace and become an irregular member of the Clan's system!"

"Nothing to feel pitiful about that. Where there is a loss, there is gain. Huaiyuan Palace is a huge ship, which carries so many people. Some of them cannot be easily identified which made me uncomfortable. I'm also not accustomed to letting others determine my own fate and my life direction on such a huge ship. Additionally, I don't intend to stay away from Huaiyuan Palace, nor do I want to become estranged from it. I chose this only to protect myself. They know it very well! My prospects in Huaiyuan Palace will be determined on my own ability and the value I can bring to this Clan, rather than how docile I am!"

Zhang Yang glanced over Zhang Tie and felt that Zhang Tie had changed too much over the past half year. Zhang Tie had grown taller and more robust; his eyes were radiating sharp light. What was more important was that Zhang Tie's heart and spirit had grown more mature and powerful.

Zhang Yang felt that Zhang Tie had become powerful enough to shoulder the load of the Zhang family and had become more confident and decisive when dealing with major problems.

At the age of 17, Zhang Tie had become the pillar of this family. Seeing this, Zhang Yang was filled with a sense of comfort.

"When I was abducted and was waiting to be buried in the vehicle, I was concerned about our parents and our kids. I have always been thinking about this over the past few days. It made me scared. Now, I've been reassured at the sight of your change. You have the capability to take care of our family!" Zhang Yang smiled pleasantly.

"Don't worry, elder brother. I would definitely take revenge against them!" A cold light flashed across Zhang Tie's eyes.

"Do you know who they are?"

In order to let his family members feel reassured, Zhang Tie didn't tell Zhang Yang about those terrifying truths that he had learned; instead, he told a lie.

"Those who can do this are definitely not average ones. As they've lost so many people this time, there must be some clues. As long as I am alive and can produce all-purpose medicament, I believe that they would find me sooner or later!"

"Oh, what's that all-purpose medicament that you're talking about?" Zhang Yang asked out of curiosity.

Zhang Tie then explained the function of all-purpose medicament. Hearing Zhang Tie's explanation, Zhang Yang's eyes almost popped out, "Isn't that super enzyme the all-purpose medicine which could cure all the diseases and strengthen one's body?"

"Almost like that!"

"When did you learn to produce this item?"

"After leaving Blackhot city, I had a chance to master some secret knowledge that cannot be mastered by others. With this secret knowledge, I was able to produce the super enzyme!"

"You say you are cooperating with Long Wind Business Group on selling it. According to my knowledge, it's very hard for average business groups to cooperate with super business groups like Long Wind Business Group and become the latter's suppliers. Additionally, Long Wind Business Group always requires a large quantity of good products. How many vials of all-purpose medicament can you produce a year?"

"More than 1 million vials!" Zhang Tie replied calmly.

"What?" Zhang Yang thought he didn't hear it clearly as he instantly sat straight with eyes as large as copper bells, "How many?"

"More than 1 million vials!" Zhang Tie looked at his elder brother calmly without considering how his elder brother was shocked, "From then on, our family will have a revenue of at least several millions of gold coins a year by selling all-purpose medicament. With this amount of money, we can do whatever we want. It's even possible for you and me to build a clan that could match Huaiyuan Palace!"

"More... than... one million... vials..." Zhang Yang gazed at Zhang Tie like a dead fish. His eyes were not focused on Zhang Tie as he had been completely stunned by that astronomical number. What was even more shocking was Zhang Tie's ambition to build a clan that could match Huaiyuan Palace.

Chapter 340: Home

Translator: WQL Editor: Millman97

"Elder brother, you can never expose this figure to anyone else. Although I am cooperating with Long Wind Business Group and they also know that I can realize the mass production of all-purpose medicament, they are still dubious and uncertain about my ability to produce such a large quantity of all-purpose medicament. This is to be tested by time and mutual cooperation. Additionally, those who want to assassinate me are also fixing their eyes on us. If this message were exposed to the public, it would very troublesome!"

Looking at his elder brother's shocked expression, Zhang Tie warned him. After experiencing an assassination attempt, Zhang Tie had become more meticulous than ever.

Because all the events were caused by the all-purpose medicament, before he was able to protect himself, Zhang Tie felt that he had better be a bit low-key. For the sale of all-purpose medicament on Hidden Dragon Island, Zhang Tie prepared to slightly slow down his productivity and gradually increase it as his power grew so as to keep away those who wanted to kill him until he could deal with them.

Previously, Zhang Tie thought that he didn't need to fear anything with the protection of Huaiyuan palace. Now, he realized that this thought was extremely naive as the biggest danger facing him might come from Huaiyuan Palace. If he was still that high-key, it would be no different than a kid running in a boisterous market with a treasure in hand.

Zhang Yang nodded. When he wanted to say something, the door was pushed open while Zhang Tie's elder sister-in-law walked in with Zhang Cheng'an in her arms, who was younger than six months, "Time for dinner, Mom has made it!"

Zhang Yang then smiled at Zhang Cheng'an as he opened his arms, "Son, come here to your dad!"

The little guy was sucking on a bottle and waving his small chubby hand, intending to come for Zhang Yang; however, his mom wouldn't let him go.

"Wait until your leg is recovered. This little guy is very naughty. He will agitate your wounds!" Zhang Tie's elder sister-in-law said.

Hearing this, Zhang Yang didn't insist.

Since his elder sister-in-law had entered, Zhang Tie then didn't say anything about the abduction or assassination attempts; instead, he changed the topic.

"Elder brother, when will you recover?"

"The doctor said it would probably take 1-2 months for all my wounds to recover!"

Zhang Tie then put his hand into his pocket when he utilized the space teleportation function of his Castle of Black Iron and took a vial of medicament from it. Of course, in the eyes of the others, he was taking it out of his own pocket.

Zhang Tie then gave that vial of medicament to Zhang Yang.

"What's this?" Zhang Yang asked.

"This is a senior recovery medicament. Drink it and your wounds would soon recover!"

"Argh, that's marvelous. How much does a vial of this cost?" Having heard this for the first time, Zhang Tie's elder sister-in-law walked towards him with Zhang Cheng'an; taking it from Zhang Tie's hand, she took a careful look at it.

"You might not easily buy this kind of medicament in the market now. It would cost above 600 gold coins in the market!"

It was a gift from the Gregory Clan as compensation in Blackhot City. Because Zhang Tie had experienced the marvelous effect of senior recovery medicament when in the Orphanage, Zhang Tie knew it was very precious; therefore, he'd kept this one in reserve.

When Zhang Tie attended the auction in Kalur City, the price of each vial of preliminary recovery medicament had been more than 30 gold coins while the price of each medium recovery medicament was about 200 gold coins. There was no advanced recovery medicament there at all.

The quality of the items being sold in auction was better than almost anywhere else; however, the price there was also much higher than normal market price. When one buys products at auction, it's like buying costumes in high-end shopping malls. The same product would be sold at different prices in different places.

Although the Breaking Heavens Department sold advanced recovery medicament, they were only sold for the students of Zhang Clan. The price of each vial of senior recovery medicament there was 500 gold coins plus 80 clan contribution points, which was equal to more than 600 gold coins.

Hearing this figure, her hand shook at once as Zhang Cheng'an was grabbing towards that vial; so, she hurriedly passed it back to Zhang Yang.

600 gold coins? That amount of money was more than the whole net worth of Zhang Tie's family or Zhang Tie's elder sister-in-law's family hen in Blackhot City. Although Zhang Tie's dad had worked over 30 years in the plant, all of his salaries combined were still less than this. For commoners, this was definitely a huge amount of money. Now, such a small vial of medicament was worth that huge amount of money. Of course, Zhang Tie's elder sister-in-law became very nervous.

"Zhang Tie, this...this is too valuable!" Zhang Tie's elder sister-in-law urged. Born in an average family, she clearly knew the meaning of 600 gold coins.

"For me, nothing could be more valuable than a family member's health. Just take it, elder sister-in-law!" Zhang Tie insisted with a smile, as directly hugged Zhang Cheng'an and kissed his tender face, "Sorry, your uncle came back in too much of a hurry this time and forgot to get a gift for you. When you are 1 year old, your uncle will gift you something!"

Gazing at Zhang Tie, Zhang Yang was moved inside; however, he didn't say anything; instead, he directly opened the vial and downed it.

Seeing a small amount of dregs were left in the vial, Zhang Tie's elder sister-in-law hurriedly took a kettle and made a cup of water. After cooling the water by blowing it, she cleansed the inside of the vial with the water and let Zhang Yang drink it.

The powerful effects of the senior recovery medicament started to work only 1 minute after Zhang Yang drank it.

"Argh, that's strange. The wounds on my legs feel itchy; it's like a lot of ants are creeping inside. It feels a bit hot!" Zhang Yang twisted on the bed.

"The wounds are healing. As wounds on bones will recover a bit slower than those bruises, after the recovery, your wounds should feel very cool and comfortable!"

...

10 minutes later, when Zhang Yang laughed loudly with Zhang Cheng'an in his hands and walked downstairs with Zhang Tie to have dinner, their mom and dad were really shocked. After hearing the reason, the whole family enjoyed dinner together even more so than usual.

This was the first reunion dinner of the family since Zhang Tie left half year ago.

On the table, when Zhang Tie's dad asked Zhang Tie about his situation in Hidden Dragon Palace, Zhang Tie described it as a vacation which was away from any danger or hardship. Everywhere was pleasant. Zhang Tie's mom laughed a lot at that. She laughed so much that a few tears rolled down her face. His dad couldn't stand it anymore as he directly flicked Zhang Tie's forehead with a chopstick.

"Fool, you think I don't know about life on Hidden Dragon Island? Others always have to work hard in Hidden Dragon Palace; how come you only play in the sea water with junior sisters or play on weird machines and toys with senior sisters in Hidden Dragon Palace? How come those magical beasts just lie in the Dragon Cave to be killed by you as long as you release your battle qi? Do you think the Dragon Cave is like one of those ditches where kids catch loaches?"

Realizing that his dad could not be cheated that easily, Zhang Tie hurriedly smirked, "My dad is smart. But the fact was really like what your son has described. If you don't believe me, you can ask anyone on Hidden Dragon Island about me. Ask if your son saved a junior sister when he was playing in the sea or whether your son damaged those hydraulic quincuncial piles when he played with his senior sisters at the fundamental footsteps training field! I had even paid for the maintenance fee. Many people know about it!"

"Have you always been that attractive? How come so many girls surround you every day?" Zhang Tie's dad pretended to glare at him.

"I've inherited your excellent genes. That's why I'm so handsome, kind, and sincere. Of course those senior and junior sisters like me," Zhang Tie said shamelessly.

"That's it. When I was young..." Hearing Zhang Tie's praise, Zhang Tie's dad became proud. When he wanted to say something, he found Zhang Tie's mom glaring at him. Therefore, he hurriedly coughed twice before shutting up. He didn't ask Zhang Tie about his situation on Hidden Dragon Island any more.

Zhang Tie's mom was feeding her grandson some chicken soup. After that little guy grabbed his own soup spoon, she turned her head and looked at Zhang Tie, "Now that you have so many senior and junior sisters on Hidden Dragon Island, do you have a girlfriend? Bring her back home when you are free. As long as you are in love with each other, you should be engaged as soon as possible!"

It was Zhang Tie's time to cough, "Your son truly has fallen in love with a girl on the island; but I've not dealt with that. When I make it, I will bring her back home!"

"The 3 girls who came for you in Blackhot City were nice. Besides that girl called Pandora who hadn't developed well yet, the other two both looked pretty good with good family backgrounds. Alas, what a pity..." Zhang Tie's mom then sighed.

"No need to feel pity about that. We can meet again if we want. This place is only a short flight from Blackhot City. As long as you like them, your son will marry them all in the future. How about that?"

"What do you mean by 'as long as I like them'. Most importantly, you should love your wives!"

"Okay, that's a deal. As your son likes so many girls, I will marry them all in the future; perhaps I will marry a princess. Don't be frightened then!" Zhang Tie made a grimace.

"Princess? Are you kidding me? As long as you could marry one as good as your elder sister-in-law and deliver me a grandson, I will thank the goddesses!"

"You want grandsons? That's easy. Let my elder brother and my elder sister-in-law deliver another one in a year for you!"

This time, Zhang Tie's mom knocked his forehead with a stick of chopstick while Zhang Tie's elder sister-in-law's face blushed..