Author: Xevinaly

Less than three seconds after the voice stopped talking, the entire world was shrouded in an incomparably bright light.

All of humanity felt a tingling sensation in their eyes as their vision went black. Their bodies seemed to be floating and they were unable to perceive what was around them.

After what seemed like hours, the light dissipated and everyone’s sight gradually returned to normal.

For the people outside the safe zones there wasn’t an obvious difference, but for those that were something major had happened.

Previously, the safe zone had a few buildings in the center but was otherwise filled with rubble. Now, all of the ruins had been replaced with rows upon rows of residential buildings. Not only that, but the area covered by the barrier had expanded by four or five times, covering an area of ten square kilometers.

The houses were arranged in rings. those closest to the class change statues were luxurious villas. Behind those were antique style family homes followed by three story lofts and finally wooden high rises that stretched all the way to the edge of the barrier.

Most people weren’t able to immediately understand what had happened but it only took a few minutes for them to realize what these were. Those building were the gods reward for humanity.

That’s when, similar to when they first entered the safe zone, information flooded into their minds. They were able to understand what those buildings were and how to use them.

These buildings were similar to the Meditation Halls in Phoenix Village as they allowed Professionals to train more efficiently. However, the difference between the two is that you needed to pay to use the ones in the safe zone. This could be done either by paying a monthly rental fee or by purchasing the property.

Obviously, the villas near the center of the city provided the highest bonuses but they had price tags to match. Just to rent one of those villas you needed to pay an outrageous 100,000 Experience Fragments every month. As for the purchasing price, no one even dared to think about it.

Originally, Yuan Jianzhe had considered himself the richest person in Cloud City but when he learned the rental fee for just the high rise apartment, he realized he was a poor man. A very poor man.

However, no one could ignore the benefits renting a place to live would bring.

Although it might seem cheaper to just spend ten Experience Fragments and double your training speed for an hour, the prices were deceptively high. The villas near the center fit ten people and only required a single monthly payment that could be shared. This meant that ten people could enjoy the benefits of Meditating in a villa for just over three hundred Experience Fragments a day. Once everyone got used to their skills, it would be possible for people like Yuan Jianzhe to spend that much every day.

Not to mention, renting a place to live gave them more than just a place to train. It was a place to live and a symbol of their social standing.

Compared to the villas, the one family homes were much cheaper, with rent fees ranging from five thousand to ten thousand a month. Those buildings actually provided the same bonus as the villas, a 50% increase, but could accommodate less people. The most expensive could fit five while the cheaper could only fit two.

The lofts fit one person for a monthly fee of one thousand Experience Fragments a month.

Finally, the high rise buildings could be rented either monthly or daily at the rate of ten Experience Fragments per person per day no matter how many people were squeezed into the apartments and suites.

The cheapest housing in the entire safe zone was the dormitory housing. Although it was just a room with eight beds, it was a measly two Experience Fragments per person to stay the night and experience a 10% training buff.

It could be seen that when they designed this new city, the gods valued those at the lowest end of society. As long as someone were to perform a class change ceremony and kill monsters, they would be able to give their family a home, or live in an apartment with their friends.

Other than the residential buildings, several new shops had appeared in prominent location to make the safe zones feel more like a city.

There were copies of the already existing shops like the Alchemy tower as well as new building such as the Adventurers Guild, the Trial Hall and a few Taverns.

Of those buildings, the Tavern was the most magical. Of all the buildings that would be unlocked when Phoenix Village leveled up, Cheng Yang was most excited about the Tavern. It wasn’t just a place for drinking and recreation, it also allowed humanity to communicate with each other again.

As long as you ordered a drink, the bartender would allow you to sit down somewhere. Once you did, a virtual screen would pop up. It acted as a conduit to a forum that included every human on Earth.

This forum was why Cheng Yang knew so much about the situation in other countries and how humanity discovered that the apocalypse had been a global crisis.

“My Lord, what just happened?” Ma Tao had fallen down when the light had appeared and the other’s hadn’t done much better.

“Didn’t you heard why the messenger of the gods said?” Cheng Yang shrugged, “I don’t know specifically what happened but it was probably something good.”

“He mentioned a reward…” Zhou Jie murmured, “Wait! Why do I have a system pane? Isn’t that only for Professionals?”

For a glorious moment, Zhou Jie thought that the gods made everyone a Professional but they weren’t so generous. His new system pane was incredibly simple.

Zhou Jie
No Affiliation
Class: None
Experience Fragments: 0

The biggest reward that the gods bestowed upon humanity today wasn’t actually the cities that were built in the safe zones. The truly important change was that even ordinary people could now collect Experience Fragments.

From now on, as long as they were brave, ordinary people could gather the funds needed for a class change ceremony on their own. Monsters were horrifyingly strong compared with a single ordinary person but what about ten ordinary people? Twenty of them? In the end, monsters were unintelligent beasts so with some planning and courage ordinary people could kill them.

As long as they were able to collect ten Experience Fragments, no one could stop them from becoming a Professional.

“Don’t worry about the god’s reward.” Cheng Yang reassured the six refugees he had brought with him, “I was already going to allow you to perform a class change ceremony.”

All it took was that one sentence to calm them down. To them, Cheng Yang represented a golden opportunity. How many people in the safe zone were selling they had in order to become a Professional? How much more would they sacrifice to gain political power too? Obedience was a much more reasonable price to pay.

Then, Cheng Yang urged them to speed up so that they would be able to reach Phoenix Village before nightfall.

The final part of the reward humanity was given was an increasingly hostile environment. All around the world, monsters underwent a mass evolution. Although it only affected a small portion of all monsters, that mass evolution had made Standard-Grade Immature monsters commonplace.

Fortunately, before he left that morning, Cheng Yang had ordered his generals not to venture too far from the village walls. Hopefully this allowed them to avoid any unforeseen disaster.

When Liu Wei and the others saw the tall walls of Phoenix Village, they were shocked. It seemed to magnificent for humans to have built in just a few short days.

Cheng Yang ignored their questions. After all, if they weren’t able to understand the ins and outs of the village in a day or two someone else would tell them.

Using his authority, Cheng Yang slowly opened the village gates and brought his guests into the Inner Village.

When Zhou Jie and the other saw the numerous refugees living outside in Phoenix Village, it seemed like this place was the same as the Cloud City safe zone. However, once you looked more carefully, there was one crucial difference.

The refugees were smiling.

Not all of them were but those that didn’t were the exception.

In Cloud City it was common to see people sell their bodies in public for a piece of bread but not here. Consistent meals had given these people the confidence to live as members of a civilized society.

Once Cheng Yang’s group passed through the Outer Village, they were greeted by an even more amazing sight. Every person in the Inner Village was a Professional. To them, it was clear from a single glance which side was stronger between the Cloud City safe zone and Phoenix Village.

They didn’t even know if all the people here represented the total fighting strength of Phoenix Village!

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Cheng Yang swaggered through the city while being escorted by Yuan Jianzhe.

This was a situation that none of the safe zone residents had seen before.

Along the way, the army commander amicably chatted with Cheng Yang, trying to probe him for information.

When Cheng Yang finally passed through the barrier without revealing anything, Yuan Jianzhe was gloomy.

These last few days he had believed himself to be the most powerful person in the city. Even though the shop managers were clearly far more powerful than he was, since they couldn’t leave the shops, Yuan Jianzhe was able to ignore their existence.

Today’s events had shattered that illusion. That NPC, that man? Where did he come from? This world or the one the NPC’s came from?

These problems plagued Yuan Jianzhe’s heart and he was eager to find answers.

“Commander, are we just going to let them go?” Sita Fu asked.

Yuan Jianzhe motioned to a man behind him, “Old Ho, send some members from your Citizen’s Defense Militia to intercept them. Fu, follow behind them secretly to observe their reaction.”

Lao Ho, the former deputy mayor used to be on the same level as Yuan Jianzhe but now he could only obey him like a lackey. After the apocalypse, Yuan Jianzhe’s authority experience massive growth.

Neither person dared to disobey his commands and promptly acted to follow them.

As Cheng Yang and the others walked back to Phoenix Village, Ma Tao was listening to his loved ones experiences during the apocalypse. Just like with any family, the end of the world drastically changed their lives.

The other three people just followed them nervously. Up until now they hadn’t been able to determine why Cheng Yang had brought them. Although Ma Tao had been talking with his family, they weren’t able to join the conversation.

They knew their fate was being controlled by the man leading their group if only because he was able to pressure Yuan Jianzhe into handing them over. Unless he was strong enough to do so, there was no way he would have been able to bargain with the military commander.

“Um, excuse me sir…” Zhou Jie couldn’t stand the depressing atmosphere and took the initiative to greet Cheng Yang.

“You don’t need to call me sir, I’m younger than you. Just Cheng Yang or my Lord is fine.”

Ma Tao stopped the six refugees when he heard Zhou Jie start talking, “This is the Lord of Phoenix Village and if you want to live there I suggest you address him as My Lord and not by his name.”

“Phoenix Village?” Zhou Jie asked in confusion, “I’ve never heard of a city with that name near here.”

“After the apocalypse we built a village where Phoenix Slope used to be so naturally we called it Phoenix Village.” Cheng Yang explained. “If you want to become a citizen of mine I will grant you the right to become a Professional but in exchange you must promise to become a government official and obey my commands.”

Zhou Jie was overjoyed by those terms. He would be able to gain both literal and political power at the same time? Phoenix Village couldn’t be in a worse state than Cloud City so what did he have to lose?

Cheng Yang grinned but didn’t elaborate.

“My Lord, can you tell us why you came to find us?” Liu Wei asked at that time.

When Cheng Yang stopped and looked back at her she tensed up. Hopefully she hadn’t escaped a pack of wolves to enter a tiger’s den.

Right before Yuan Jianzhe’s subordinates found her, she had been apprehended by the captain of the Red Cloud Militia. He wanted her to prostitute herself to him in exchange for a position in his militia. Although these were rather generous conditions, she had refused to sacrifice her dignity. If Cheng Yang hadn’t taken her away from the safe zone, the Red Cloud Militia captain would have made living there difficult for her.

“Someone asked me to save you.” Cheng Yang replied bluntly, “You should know her, Pang Sun.”

“Pang Sun? How was she…” Liu Wei exclaimed.

“She’s dating one of my good friends.” Cheng Yang explained.

Liu Wei relaxed after hearing that. If Pang Sun trusted this man to find her, he was probably safe to be with.

Suddenly, a pair of militia members approached the group.

One of them walked over to Cheng Yang and said: “Whew, isn’t she hot? How are you? Why don’t you let us take that pretty lady somewhere nice?”

“Shut your damn mouth.” Liu Wei snapped at him.

Whew… this one is feisty! I like that in a woman.” The man laughed lewdly.

Cheng Yang tilted his head and sneered. It seemed like Yuan Jianzhe didn’t respect him in the slightest, they’d only traveled half a kilometer from the barrier but someone had already jumped out to cause trouble for him. If claimed he wasn’t behind this not even a child would believe him.

What a shame these people were too quick to try and test him. If they just waited a while longer and watched him slaughter a monster horde neither of these messengers would have to die.

“If you want to leave there’s still a little time.” Cheng Yang said coldly, “Otherwise, I don’t mind killing you both.”

Cheng Yang’s vicious words shut up the man in front of him but he quickly recovered. He was acting under the orders of the military commander Yuan Jianzhe and this was his domain. Why would he be afraid of a single man even if he was a Professional?

“You want to kill us huh?” The lewd man asked, “If you’re not careful I’m going to-“

Cheng Yang didn’t even have the patience to let him finish. As soon as his Icicle Blast’s cast time was over, he sent it flying into the man’s chest. His voice went quiet and his life ebbed, but the look of arrogance in his eyes didn’t even have time to get replaced with shock.

Cheng Yang didn’t regret his actions in the slightest. He knew many of the original militia members and this one would have just harmed people if left alive.

“How dare you kill him?” The other militia member was panicking, he couldn’t understand how his partner died. He didn’t even recognize the skill Cheng Yang had used.

“Stop talking or I’ll kill you too. Now scurry back to your master and let him know that I’m not someone he can afford to offend.”

Cheng Yang cold attitude scared the militia member, the six refugees and even Ma Tao. Not one of the could help but let fear creep into their hearts when they looked at him.

The militia member swallowed his words and ran.

“Well, let’s go.” Cheng Yang turned around with a laugh. The look of his face was one of someone telling off a child, not someone who killed a man.

The six refugees had a complex expression on their faces but still obediently followed after him.

A couple hundred meters later, Cheng Yang slaughtered a monster horde.

The scene of him insta-killing monster after monster was almost more frightening for Zhou Jie and the others than when he committed murder. None of them could forget the insurmountable power of a monster horde and yet, Cheng Yang was tearing through them as if they were made of paper.

After exterminating the forty plus monsters in the horde, Cheng Yang turned around to stare at pile of rubble. Shortly after, his group left the area.

A few minutes later, two soldiers crawled out from under the rubble. Their hands were shaking and their eyes were filled with fear. Their imaginations couldn’t help but think of a scenario where Cheng Yang wasn’t killing monsters but their allies instead.

“Quickly, we need to report this to the commander! This man… this monster definitely isn’t from Earth.” One of them said in horror.

The duo was only able to calm down once they had safely reached the safe zone barrier.

Yuan Jianzhe had been waiting right inside the barrier for the last half hour and when he saw his subordinates faces, he knew he was about to receive bad news. He had already heard the story of the militia members Cheng Yang had threatened and was in a fowl mood.

“Commander, that monster he… he wiped out a horde of more than forty monsters all on his own.” The soldier quickly reported.

The commander frowned, “Why did you ignore my orders? You should have kept following him.”

“I’m sorry commander but we were discovered.” The soldier admitted with a bitter expression, “If we had kept following him I’m afraid he would have killed us. Since this news was important on its own we retreated. We will accept out punishment commander.”

　As Yuan Jianzhe thought about what punishment to administer, a loud voice boomed down from the heavens.

“Pitiful ants, congratulations! Today marks the tenth day of your pathetic struggles. Your hard work has pleased the gods and as such they have decided to bestow upon you a reward! They do very much hope you will enjoy it.”

It was that voice again!

It was a voice that every human on Earth remembered since it had announced the end of their peaceful lives.

What horrors had that voice announced this time?

It claimed to be rewarding them but who would believe that? Last time it had promised them the next stage in human evolution but instead nearly half of the population died!

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“I can agree to your first condition but the second is out of the question.” Cheng Yang countered, unwilling to give the manager the initiative, “Most of the potions I make will be used to satisfy my own needs, you can buy the leftovers. Moreover, I can only give you some of the Mana Recovery Potions and Health Recovery Potions I refine.”

The manager’s eyes filled with crocodile tears. “That’s far too little, what about just fifty percent?”

“I can’t do fifty percent but I’m feeling generous so I’ll sell you twenty percent of what I make every day.” Cheng Yang smiled mockingly. In a seller’s market what room did this manager have to negotiate?

The boss almost started to really cry. Twenty percent was still six potions but compared to the thirty he made a day that was far too little!

“You know,” Cheng Yang said, throwing the manager a carrot now that he had used the stick, “If I’m in a good mood I’ll give you a few more potions that day. Of course, if you want to pay more I can agree to give you more right now.”

The manager saw Cheng Yang’s wicked smile and sighed. He’d always thought of himself as a sly person but he’d been dancing on Cheng Yang’s palm this whole time.

Even though he had realized this what could the manager do? Cheng Yang already knew how valuable his potions were so if he didn’t buy them someones else would.

The dejected manager conjured a contract and allowed Cheng Yang to sign it. As a contract made using gods rules, the terms were inviolable. If either party were to violate the agreement, they would be killed by god.

Of course, before signing, Cheng Yang forced the manager to add a time period of one year to the contract. He planned to live for a long time and didn’t want to be tied to such an insignificant NPC forever.

As for how Cheng Yang was going to deliver the potions, the manager was able to provide him with a time saving solution. Since there was an Alchemy Tower in Phoenix Village Cheng Yang could just deliver the potions to that manager. She would then be able to deliver them to the manager in the Cloud City safe zone.

When the manager signed the contract, Cheng Yang was able to learn his name: Zhao Yi.

Seeing his name, Cheng Yang wanted to vomit. No wonder this guy was so greedy, he should have been named Zhao Yi instead.

TL Note: The manager’s real name literally translates as “To surpass one hundred million” and the manager’s suggested name literally translates as “One hundred million trillion”

“Mr. Zhao, I have a question.” Cheng Yang tucked his copy of the contract inside a bag, “Since you were able to tell how valuable my potions were, the manager for the Alchemy Tower in my territory should have as well, right? Why didn’t she offer to buy them from me?”

“That’s because your territory is still a village. The shop managers in villages do not have the authority to purchase good from residents of this realm. To compensate, god granted them the ability to bestow Professions. Not only that, but god also directly controls what they sell so sometimes really special items can appear in their stores!”

Zhao Yi was nearly drooling with jealousy when he talked about the territory shop managers. However, unless the manager had the power to fight god there was nothing he could do to change his station.

“Now, Mr. Cheng, if you wouldn’t mind giving me today’s potions…” Zhao Yi reminded politely.

Cheng Yang smiled and handed the manager six potions. “Twenty percent, as agreed.”

Zhao Yi sighed. When saw Cheng Yang refining potions he had planned to obtain all thirty of them. Who knew it was going to turn out like this?

With a flick of Zhao Yi’s finger, he transferred the payment to Cheng Yang.

When Cheng Yang checked the transfer he was overjoyed. The manager had sent him 180 Experience Fragments instead of 120! He had forgotten that everything was more expensive in the safe zones.

“If you raise the price a little, I’ll sell you the rest of the potions I made today.” Cheng Yang said, waving a potions in front of Zhao Yi’s face.

Zhao Yi nearly started to cry again. “Forty Experience Fragments each is the highest I can go.”

For Cheng Yang, thirteen times the original price was very satisfying. Although he felt bad about forcing the manager into a corner like this, what use did an NPC have for money?

When Zhao Yi bought the remaining potions he was fairly happy but didn’t dare to show it. If he wasn’t able to keep a poker face that demon Cheng Yang would try and raise the price again. Although he was a crafty merchant, in front of Cheng Yang he was more like a piggy bank.

Even so, he wasn’t a complete moron. Although he told Cheng Yang that certain instance dungeons would restrict potion use, the reality was that all Hell Difficulty instances would. Since the Hell Difficulty instances were the most cost efficient, Cheng Yang’s potions would likely be worth far more than what Zhao Yi paid.

As the two were finalizing their business deal, footsteps could be heard outside the shop. Eight people entered the shop but not a single one of the people Cheng yang wanted to find was among them.

Standing in front was a middle aged man that looked to be about forty. A Warrior’s sword was hanging at his waist, in striking contract to his commander’s uniform. This was Yuan Jianzhe, commander of the People’s Liberation Army of Cloud City and the highest authority in the safe zone.

“Commander, this is the NPC who issued the quest.” Sita Fu pointed at Cheng Yang from behind Yuan Jianzhe.

At this point, Cheng Yang was able to confirm that his plan had worked. Since he had operated out of one of the shops, the military thought he was an NPC.

Yuan Jianzhe walked up to Cheng Yang, standing just a foot away. “Tell me, why did you want us to find those people?”

“Does that mean you found them?” Cheng Yang ignored the commanders question.

“I have but I will ask you again. Why did you want us to find those people? If you plan to harm them I’m afraid I can’t give them to you.” Yuan Jianzhe was unphased by Cheng Yang’s rude attitude.

Cheng Yang felt this performance was rather dry. He knew the commander had strong morals as compared to most people but he knew what Yuan Jianzhe would become. Although he would never sacrifice a large number of civilians for his own benefit, when tens of civilians were dying every day why would he care about a mere half dozen. Especially when he had something to gain. If he were able to get his hands on the necklace Cheng Yang had shown Sita Fu his position as the leader of Cloud City would be more secure.

Still, Cheng Yang humored him. “Rest assured, no harm will come to those people.”

Sure enough, after hearing Cheng Yang’s promise, Yuan Jianzhe was satisfied. If he were truly worried about those people’s safety he wouldn’t have agreed so easily.

Yuan Jianzhe turned towards Sita Fu, “Bring them in.”

“Yes sir.” Sita Fu opened the door to the shop and six people were escorted in by a group of soldiers.

The people Cheng Yang had been looking for glanced around nervously. They had no idea what fate had in store for them.

When they entered the Alchemy Tower, three of them let out yelps of joy when they saw Ma Tao behind Cheng Yang.

“Little Ma?”

“Tao….”

Those three people tried to run over to Ma Tao but were held back by the soldiers. Until Yuan Jianzhe allowed it, those soldiers wouldn’t allow Cheng Yang or Ma Tao near the people they had gathered.

“Mom, dad, Little Bell, don’t worry.” Ma Tao said, tearing up.

It would seem that the three people Ma Tao was looking for were the right ones, but what about the others? Cheng Yang glanced behind Yuan Jianzhe to check for the people he was looking for. Zhou Jie was standing with a somber expression and next to him was a relatively handsome twenty four year old woman, Wang Lu.

Behind those two was a young woman that, even when covered in grime, was still quite beautiful. Although she seemed weak, her eyes were like those of a vicious beast.

“These were the people you’re looking for?” Yuan Jianzhe scowled at Ma Tao.

Yuan Jianzhe had already been suspicious about Sita Fu’s claim that these people were NPCs but now he was certain they weren’t. What kind of NPC would have family members on Earth?

“They are. Thank you for being so efficient.” Cheng Yang smiled, “I only really wanted those three in the back, the other’s are my servant’s family. Since you have found them, here is your promised rewards.” Cheng Yang handed Yuan Jianzhe two pieces of Green Bronze equipment and the Black Iron necklace.

Cheng Yang wasn’t afraid of the soldiers in front of him but he still didn’t want to have to fight his way out of the city was six ordinary people.

Before receiving the necklace, Yuan Jianzhe had planned to detain Cheng Yang. However, he knew what the unexpected necklace implied. Cheng Yang was asking him to forget everything that had happened today. Although he wanted to question Cheng Yang, he didn’t want to touch the bottom line of someone who had so much equipment.

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Walking over to a small wooden bench, Cheng Yang took off his cloak and sat down. Imitating his Lord, Ma Tao did the same.

Even so, Ma Tao felt that this plan was even worse than the first one! How was this going to help them find his family? In the end, he decided to trust Cheng Yang and give his plan time to work.

It only took ten minutes for Cheng Yang to put his plan into action. A man wearing a military uniform had just entered the Alchemy Tower. He wasn’t just a soldier but also one of Yuan Jianzhe’s trusted aides, Sita Fu. He was one of the few people with the authorization to buy things on behalf of the military from the shops in the safe zone.

When Sita Fu entered the store, he nearly jumped in shock. He’s made over a hundred visits to the various stores in the safe zone and every time the manager was alone. Whenever he saw another person enter the store, they would be thrown out seconds later.

This time there were two unknown people, both of which obviously were Professionals. Judging by the fact that they were both wearing eye catching pieces of equipment, Sita Fu reached the conclusion that these people were also NPCs like the manager. Otherwise, with the manager’s temper, those two would be lying on their faces outside the shop.

Just as Sita Fu decided to ignore the new NPCs, Cheng Yang walked over to him and said, “Brave warrior, I have a wonderful piece of equipment for you if you’re interested.”

“Equipment?” Sita Fu asked in a disinterest voice. He had seen plenty of equipment for sale but none of it could catch his eye. It was all overpriced junk that only increased a stat by one. The army had a hard enough time getting enough Experience Fragments to buy food and medicine for the civilians, how could they have enough to spare on trashy equipment?

“Yes, equipment and of a very high quality.” Cheng Yang said energetically, bringing out a necklace and handing it to Sita Fu.

Unable to suppress his curiosity, Sita Fu took the necklace.

“Black Iron necklace? Adds two to the Physical Attack stat and one to Physical Defense? This is…” Sita Fu was startled by how good the equipment was.

This necklace was enough to make Sita Fu reconsider his opinion on equipment. The Silversmithy only had low grade and crude jewelry that paled in comparison to this one necklace. However, how could such a good piece of equipment be cheap? Although he had a large amount of Experience Fragments on him now, it was for purchasing medication for the sick. He didn’t dare to misuse those funds.

“Is this necklace for sale?” Sita Fu finally asked after some hesitation.

“I’m sorry but I can’t sell this to you.” Cheng Yang said sadly, “but if you were willing to do a small favor for me I’ll gift this necklace to you.”

“An NPC quest?” Sita Fu wondered. The way that NPC was talking really made it seem like a quest. He showed off a great necklace and refused to sell it but was willing to give it to him if he completed a task. This was definitely a quest!

“Absolutely, what do you need me to do?” Sita Fu asked, his heart racing with excitement.

“I’m looking for a few people and need your help finding them. If it’s too difficult to complete on your own you can ask someone else to help you. As long as you find them on your own this wonderful necklace is yours but if you ask others for help I’ll give you two pieces of equipment of lesser quality.”

“Who are you looking for?”

Seeing this Cheng Yang chuckled to himself. It was obvious to him what this soldier was thinking but there was no way he’d let him take earn a piece of Black Iron equipment.

“I need you to find the Ma Xiangnan couple and their daughter in law Xiao Ling, Liu Wei, Wang Lu, and Zhou Jie…” Cheng Yang said before describing their appearances.

Hearing how many people he needed to find, Sita Fu knew the necklace he had seen was out of his reach. “I’m going to go ask my commander for help. Should we bring them here when we find them?”

“Please do. Once I see all six here I’ll give you your reward.” Cheng Yang smiled.

Sita Fu quickly bought what he came for and left.

After the soldier left, Ma Tao asked: “Are Wang Lu and Zhou Jie your friends?”

“No.” Cheng Yang replied pulling out his alchemy tools, “They are talented people who can be useful to Phoenix Village.”

Since he would have to wait a long time for the military to find the people he needed, Cheng Yang planned to refine his potions for the day.

Having leveled up his Profession to Standard-Grade, Cheng Yang was now able to attempt to make a potion forty times. In addition, his success rate was around seventy five percent after his Refine skill had leveled up.

This allowed him to make thirty potions with the forty Energy he had. When he was finished, his Profession was five percent closer to leveling up today. Extrapolating from that number, he would need to refine six hundred potions and twenty days to become a High-Grade Alchemist.

When Cheng Yang finished, he turned around to find the manager staring at him with greedy eyes. His appearance was that of someone who had discovered something amazing.

“You’re an Alchemist right? Do you have a Profession Talent?” the manager asked.

Cheng Yang frowned, why was the manager acting like this? The Alchemy Tower manager in Phoenix Village hadn’t acted like that when he earned his Alchemy Profession.

“I have one, yes. Is that odd?” Cheng Yang asked.

“Is that odd! This is a Profession Talent we’re talking about! Do you know what they represent?” The manager shouted in exasperation.

“All I know is that my potions are twice as effective as normal.” Cheng Yang snapped, “Why, can you not do that?”

“You…” The manager forced himself to calm down. “I cannot. However, you can so I wonder, would you be willing to make a deal with me?”

“What kind of deal?”

“It’s simple, I’ll buy any potions you make for three times the price of a normal one.”

Just as Cheng Yang was about to agree, he suddenly he remembered something: if there was a motive, there was profit to be had. Since this guy was willing to buy his potions that meant he was confident in selling them. This meant that his potions were worth far more than just three times the ordinary price.

“I’m sorry but I can’t accept.” Cheng Yang acted apologetic, “I can’t just take advantage of you, it’ll make me feel bad.”

“Don’t worry about me, you’re a talent worth nurturing.” The manager said with great sorrow, “I want you to mature as soon as possible so don’t worry about the terms being unfavorable. If there’s nothing else just sign here.”

“Absolutely not. When I was transferred, the manager in my village didn’t seem to care about my Profession Talent so how could it be profitable? If you buy it for three times the normal price I’m afraid you’ll go out of business. Unless you can prove you won’t suffer a loss I refuse to sell my potions to you.”

“If I tell you why I’m so confident will you promise to sell me your potions?”

“Of course.”

If a sly person like Liu Hau were here, he would instantly see through Cheng Yang’s façade. Unfortunately for the manager, Cheng Yang had completely fooled him.

“I trust you’ve noticed how beneficial potions are right?” The manager whispered to Cheng Yang, “However, there are several places where their use is limited. Some instance dungeons will only let you use a certain number of potions and others restrict you to using Standard or Low Grade potions. So, do you see why I’m so confident?”

“Oh? So they were so valuable?” Cheng Yang smirked, “In that case isn’t three times the price far too low”

“Didn’t you promise to sell?” The manager said with a sour expression, “How can you-“

“I promised that I would sell them, not what the price would be. Since these potions are so valuable doesn’t ten times the normal price sound much more reasonable?”

“That price is far too high!” The manager said after a moment of speechlessness. “Although it might sell the profit margin will only be slightly better than a normal potion! Isn’t that too unprofitable?”

“Why would I care how much profit you make?” Cheng Yang asked shamelessly, “All I care about is how much profit I’ll make. If you don’t want to buy them for that price don’t try and claim I broke my promise!”

Cheng Yang’s declaration shocked the manager. “If you promise to sell your potions in this safe zone then I’ll buy them at ten times the normal price.” He grunted through gritted teeth. “You also need to provide me with eighty percent of the potions you make every day. Now please just sign the contract.”

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The safe zone of Cloud City looked like a refugee camp. Aside from the shops surrounding the class change statues, rubble and ruins dominated the area. Countless tents were the only shelter for the thousands living in destitution here. Some civilians didn’t even have that; they were forced to sleep outside.

Without anything else to do, several hundred refugees could be seen doing nothing but staring at the sky. Motionlessly, they awaited their next meal while stewing in their despair.

Those people were the most pitiful people in the entire world; they no longer had the desire to live. An earthquake destroyed their whole world and monsters killed their loved ones. The only reason they hadn’t died out in the ruins was their fear of being eaten alive.

As the two slowly navigated through the crowds, a man rushed towards them and kowtowed. “Brave and mighty warriors, do you happen to be in need of a servant? This humble one is willing to serve you for the low cost of a full meal!”

“You…” Ma Tao tried to drive the man away but Cheng Yang stopped him.

The man was less than forty and seemed to be in good health when Cheng Yang took a quick look at him. Seeing that, Cheng Yang snorted. What a contemptible person. With his body, he could easily gather food from the ruins if he followed behind a group of soldiers. Instead, fearing for his life, this man had forsaken his dignity and begged him for help.

“Get out of our way. I don’t intend to hire a servant and even if I did, I wouldn’t hire a coward like you. Unless you want me to hurt you, walk away now.” Cheng Yang said coldly.

The man looked up at Cheng Yang and his mouth twitched. Even if he wanted to continue begging, Cheng Yang’s vicious gaze put fear in his heart. As the lowest caste in Cloud City, this man was clear that to people like Cheng Yang, he was like an ant. If a civilian were to offend one of the soldiers with some authority, it was likely they would be barred from collecting food that day.

As the man turned to leave, Cheng Yang could clearly see the resentment that flashed in his eyes. Even so, he didn’t pay any attention to the man after he left. This was a new world. Even if that man hated Cheng Yang, he was unable to get his revenge. Even if he hated Cheng Yang enough to seek him out when he performed a class change ceremony, that wouldn’t change. Not only was Cheng Yang a High-Grade Apprentice Cryomancer, but he was the Lord of Phoenix Village. An ordinary person stuck hiding inside a barrier was powerless before him.

“How could that man be willing to do that?” Ma Tao asked in shock.

“The world has already ended; in order to survive people will do all sorts of acts that would be unimaginable before. People with dignity will be hard to find and very few actions will be too taboo to take. Right now it’s just him but if we visit again in a month, every single civilian would fight for the chance to become our servants.” Cheng Yang said with a hint of melancholy.

Ma Tao wanted to refute Cheng Yang’s words but the scenes outside the city had clearly shown him that the era of peace and prosperity was long gone.

At present, there were eight thousand military personnel in the safe zone, of which about a thousand were Professionals. With about two hundred soldiers a day being added, and that rate increasing every day, it was a given that all eight thousand would be Professionals someday. As for the civilians, there were only about two hundred Professionals split into three militia groups. Moreover, the army selected less than twenty civilians each day to perform a class change ceremony.

For civilians, being able to perform a class change ceremony and gain the power needed to thrive was their biggest dream. However, since the army vetting process was incredibly strict, most people could only dream of joining one of the militias.

This made the three militia captains incredibly influential among the civilians. Almost more so than Yuan Jianzhe.

The captain of the Citizen’s Defense Militia was the former deputy mayor of Cloud City. With both the party committee secretary and the mayor dead, the deputy mayor had become the highest ranked person from the municipal government. His militia was composed entirely of individuals that held government positions in the past.

The former president of the local chamber of commerce was the acting captain of the Red Cloud Militia. Using the vast web of connections he had made as the chamber president, he was able to personally petition Yuan Jianzhe to make him a team captain. With the support of some previously influential individuals, he became the logical choice for the position.

The captain of the Bloodhound Militia Cheng Yang had pretended to be a part of was a person no one could have expected. An ordinary salesperson had become the last militia captain through skillful use of his eloquence to rally both the ordinary citizens and the wealthy businessmen that had been excluded by the captains of the other two groups. Together, they pressured the military into making him a militia captain.

The three militias needed to compete against each other for the few class change ceremonies permitted for civilians each day and needed to surrender all of the Experience Fragments they gathered to the military. In addition, the military provided a set number of activities they needed to complete each day that included resource gathering and rescue operation.

Even so, with their ability to select people to perform class change ceremonies, they became the most popular figures in the safe zone. The civilians were proud to see some of their own fighting back against monsters. Of course, if they were chosen to become a militia member, then it would be perfect.

In order to become a militia member, many civilians resorted to selling their bodies to current members, either as laborers or as prostitutes. With only so many spots open for class change ceremonies, the competition was a fierce race to the bottom. Even if you had to humiliate yourself ten thousand times, being able to join a militia was worth it.

The only alternative was to live in squalor.

The scent of decay swept through the city from outside the barrier and the stench of human excrement wafted up from the ground. Unless you were like Cheng Yang who had experienced such a horrid environment before, you would vomit from the stench, even if you were an experience soldier.

“My Lord, how are we going to find my family?” Ma Tao looked at the massive crowd of people and scrunched his brows.

“Don’t be anxious, let’s take a look at the situation first.” Cheng Yang said.

In reality, Cheng Yang already knew the exact situation of Cloud City safe zone. Having been lucky enough to become a founding member of the Bloodhound Militia in his past life, his true goal was to find people with rare Innate Abilities using the knowledge he gained as a member.

At this point, various groups should have recaptured all of the safe zones set up by god. As the number of Professionals increases, powerful Innate Abilities will be what separates the leaders from the followers.

Of course, Cheng Yang wasn’t looking for people with high rank Innate Abilities. In his last life there were four people with S-Rank Innate Abilities from Cloud City, which should still be the case. Of the four, one was Liu Hau, two were from the military and the last one was both a founding member and backbone of the Bloodhound Militia. He already had Liu Hau with him and it would be difficult to persuade any of the others to join him.

What Cheng Yang really wanted were people with Management Innate Abilities like Old Lee’s. Phoenix Village was a powerhouse when it came to powerful combat oriented Innate Abilities but only himself and Old Lee with non-combat ones. The only way he could easily find more was to rely on his past life.

The Cloud City safe zone currently housed nearly a hundred thousand people so finding a few from his memories would be hard. Still, it was a better option that picking people from his territory at random and hoping they had an Innate Ability he was looking for.

After two hours, Cheng Yang realized just how futile such a search really was.

“I have a better idea for finding your family.” Cheng Yang stopped and whispered to Ma Tao.

“Thank you, my Lord.” Ma Tao rejoiced. To be honest, after spending two hours wandering aimlessly he had grown anxious. If not for the respect he felt for Cheng Yang, Ma Tao would have already raised an objection to the current method he was using.

The duo soon entered the central area of the safe zone. At the center were the four class change statues and the six shops formed a ring about twenty meters away.

At present, the ruler of the safe zone, Yuan Jianzhe, fiercely guarded the class change statues. They represented power in this new world as well as the right to rule the safe zone. Only military personnel were able to approach the statues, anyone else was driven away.

As for the shops, why would Yuan Jianzhe waste his resources trying to guard them? Ordinary people would be thrown out if they entered and most Professionals would be too since the military confiscated the Experience Fragments they earned to buy food for the civilians.

This allowed Cheng Yang to slip into the Alchemy Tower with Ma Tao unnoticed.

The manage greeted Cheng Yang when he entered. “Welcome foreign Lord, how can I help your esteemed self?”

Cheng Yang wasn’t actually here to buy anything, why would he when he got the equivalent of a 5% discount in Phoenix Village? Besides, the selection of potions was just as sparse here. However, if he didn’t buy anything it would be hard to pull off his plan.

“I want to buy ten Low Grade Mana Regeneration Potions.” Cheng Yang said with a respectful smile, “I was also hoping you would let me stay here for a short time afterwards to take care of some business.”

Buying ten potions made Cheng Yang a rare big spender so the manager generously let Cheng Yang stay in the shop for as long as he wanted.

Cheng Yang knew that his big order wasn’t the only reason. He was also rich and a Lord. If anyone else had asked for the same treatment, the manager would have thrown them out with their purchases.

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With all of the shops available for a Standard Grade Village built, Cheng Yang decreed that every soldier needed to pick a Profession. Although every Profession was important for the territory, it was critical to have Professions that harvested raw materials. Cheng Yang hoped to collect a large reserve of stone before leveling up the village to prevent a shortage.

Along with the decree, Cheng Yang requested that Ma Tao come and find him. Today, they would visit the safe zone in Cloud City.

In his past life, there were several dozen civilian Professionals by this time and there would be now, too, if Yuan Jianzhe had made the same choices in this life. As long as Cheng Yang was careful, he and Ma Tao would be able to enter the safe zone without exposing their identities.

As Cheng Yang was leaving Phoenix Village, he heard Lau Hui call out to him. “My Lord, I heard you were going into the Cloud City safe zone today.”

“I am.” Cheng Yang said turning around to see Lau Hui and his girlfriend. “Why? Did you want to come?”

“Not me, I have my duties as a general to attend to. It was just that Pang Sun wanted to ask you for a favor.”

Seeing her chance, Pang Sun stepped up. “My Lord, since you’re going to the safe zone, I was hoping to have a chance to search for my friend. I know this is a bit excessive since most soldiers haven’t even found their families yet but my friend is very special to me. Since she was also a student of Yu Cheng University like we were, she’s close enough to the safe zone to have been saved by now. That’s why I’m hoping you’ll allow her to become a citizen of Phoenix Village if we find her.” Pang Sun rambled, ending with an apologetic smile.

When Cheng Yang heard the first sentence, he frowned. As Pang Sun said, many people hadn’t rescued their families but she wanted to save a friend. If this had come from anyone else, Cheng Yang would have scolded them. However, this request had come from his friends girlfriend so he couldn’t ignore it. There wasn’t really a difference between finding one person and finding two so Cheng Yang was ready to agree.

“What’s her name?” He asked.

“Liu Wei, were you ever in a class with her?”

“Liu Wei?” Cheng Yang asked in shock.

“Aha, I knew you would know her. She was the most beautiful girl in school so how could you have forgotten her?”

It was true; back when he was a student, Liu Wei’s had captured his heart. However, after experiencing the hardships of the apocalypse, Cheng Yang had a new definition of the word beauty.

“Beauty?” He asked with his head slightly tilted, “What use is beauty that is nice to look at? The most beautiful woman in this world isn’t a woman that is pretty but a woman that is strong. Regardless, if we find her I’ll bring her to Phoenix Village.”

Although it was a frivolous request, it gave Cheng Yang a bit of hope. If they were able to find Liu Wei maybe he could find some of his other old classmates? Although he had saved his closest friends, there were several people he had good relationships with at the university. If he was able to find them, he wanted to be able to give them a better life than they could get in Cloud City.

Cheng Yang would actively hunt monsters as he travelled on a normal day but, since the safe zone of Cloud City was over ten kilometers away, he couldn’t afford to slow down. If Cheng Yang were to run full speed towards the safe zone, he could reach it in just half an hour. Unfortunately, Ma Tao was far slower than Cheng Yang, so it took more than two hours for them to get there.

“My Lord, is that dome the safe zone?” Ma Tao asked when he saw the brightly glowing barrier at the center of Cloud City.

“Yes. That barrier prevents any monsters from entering the safe zone so, relatively speaking, its actually safer to live in there than in Phoenix Village even though we’re stronger than the citizens here.”

“Will we be able to set up a barrier like that for our village?” Ma Tao asked jealously.

Hearing him say “our village”, the corners of Cheng Yang’s mouth turned up. Even when tempted with absolute safety, Ma Tao was still willing to stay in Phoenix Village. Cheng Yang didn’t know it but nearly every soldier in Phoenix Village would have acted the same way. Although it had only been a week and a half since the world ended, the people living in Phoenix Village had started to consider it home.

“I’m not sure but I don’t think having a barrier will be necessary.” Cheng Yang replied firmly. “Living in a barrier just makes you lazy. The only way to be truly safe is to have the strength to protect yourself. One day, we’ll be strong enough to destroy any threat to Phoenix Village and grasp destiny in our hands.”

Ma Tao felt that Cheng Yang’s goals were too ambitious, but was it a bad thing to be optimistic?

“My Lord, rest assured, the soldiers of Phoenix Village will fight by your side for humanity’s future.”

“I’m glad. Now, let’s go check out the safe zone. Watch out for members of the military and don’t talk too much. Take this, use it to make sure no one will see your equipment.” Cheng Yang warned, handing Ma Tao a cloak.

The two hadn’t even walked a hundred meters before than ran into a military patrol.

The soldier’s from Ma Tao’s memories were an intimidating group wearing tactical body armor and armed with guns but the one’s in front of him looked like something out of a comedy sketch. The soldiers marched in orderly lines wielding stick and blades. Although he wanted to laugh, Ma Tao knew that he probably looked just as funny wearing his set of leather armor.

Once the soldiers noticed Cheng Yang and Ma Tao, one of the officers called out to them, “Halt! Identify yourselves. Why are you two operating alone?”

“Sir, we’re members of the Bloodhound Militia. The captain asked us to scout the area around the rest of the group.” Cheng Yang answered without batting an eye.

“Oh, so you were with the Bloodhounds? Led your leader know that he’ll get an extra new member today. The army has been really pleased with the Bloodhound’s dedication.” The officer laughed, “I’ve heard reports that a couple of small monster groups have broken through the perimeter so be careful. We’re still a kilometer away from the safe zone so it’s dangerous to be in such a small group. It would be a shame if you ended up in some monster’s gullet.”

“Thank you for the advice, sir. We’ll be careful.” Cheng Yang said respectfully as the patrol marched past them. Cheng Yang winked at Ma Tao and started to walk towards the safe zone.

“My Lord, how did you know one of the militia’s names?” Ma Tao whispered. “You’ve never been to the safe zone before.”

“I saw a vision of the future remember? I know quite a bit about the state of the safe zone actually.”

Ma Tao nodded with reverence, not doubting Cheng Yang in the slightest.

As they got closer to the barrier, they saw more and more humans. There were two distinct groups of people willing to leave the safety of the city, warriors and scavengers. The warriors either wore military uniforms or clean close fitting clothes. The scavengers were dirty and emancipated, wearing whatever they had on when the earthquake destroyed the city.

The warriors were obviously outside the city to kill the respawning monsters, the scavengers on the other hand were searching through the ruins for supplies. Although the army provided them with food, there was never enough. Not to mention other supplies such as medicine or sanitary items.

If the civilians wanted anything more than a thin bowl of soup two times a day, they needed to get it themselves from the ruins.

Whenever Cheng Yang and Ma Tao passed by a group of those refugees, their eyes would be filled with envy and fear.

Cheng Yang had become accustomed to receiving those glares a long time ago, but for Ma Tao this was a new and frightening experience. Although there were civilians in Phoenix Village, none of them needed to risk their lives scavenging for scraps.

Even now and then, Ma Tao would watch a monster spawn near a group of scavengers. Without being able to resist in the slightest, the monsters would devour the flesh of whatever person was unlucky enough to get caught. Although the warriors in the area would quickly slay the respawned monster, there was no way to bring back the dead.

Watching this, Ma Tao was on the verge of tears. His high expectations for the safe zone in Cloud City had been shattered.

“Do all the ordinary people in Cloud City need to live like this?” He asked Cheng Yang in a quiet voice.

Cheng Yang looked at Ma Tai with pity. “What else can they do? It’s impossible for the tens of thousands living here to all perform class change ceremonies in just a few days. Sadly, it will only get worse as a caste system begins to develop. Professionals will feel superior to normal people and, well, I’m sure you can guess the rest.”

“Are humans really so lowly that they’d act so selfishly in this kind of situation?” Ma Tao asked bitterly.

He didn’t need Cheng Yang to respond. The answer was all around him.

“You’ll be able to clearly see the plight of ordinary people in this new world when you enter the safe zone.” Cheng Yang said grimly.

Ma Tao became silent and just quietly walked behind Cheng Yang. What cruel fate had his family experience in the safe zone?

When they reached the barrier, Cheng Yang walked though without slowing down. Ma Tao on the other hand, hesitated in front of the brightly glowing screen of light. Clenching his teeth he charged through the barrier.

“I didn’t feel a thing?” Ma Tao whispered in confusion.

“Of course not.” Cheng Yang chuckled. “After all, the barrier only stops monsters.”

“Which is why the safe zones aren’t entirely safe,” Cheng Yang thought to himself. Since the barrier only blocked monsters from entering, Ascendants were able to enter the safe zones and wreak havoc. Ascendants had destroyed more than one safe zone in his past life.

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The most important factor that influenced Yuan Jianzhe decision was, that by his estimation, about a third of the population of Cloud City was still alive. If he refused to let civilian forces join the rescue operation, most survivors wouldn’t be able to hold on long enough to survive. As time passed, those trapped in the rubble would die off one by one. To Yuan Jianzhe, saving as many civilians as possible was more important than preserving the military hegemony.

People’s actions aren’t as complicated as you would think. Yuan Jianzhe had already made this decision once, perhaps countless times. In Cheng Yang past life, this decision had allowed the Zhang group to find the Imperial Guard House and become Yuan Jianzhe’s powerful rival.

Of course, this time, Yuan Jianzhe’s choice would have a different consequence. Cheng Yang’s reincarnation had jumbled the string of fate that governed this world. From this point forwards, who knew what would happen?

When Cheng Yang returned to Phoenix Village after a night of hunting, he could be heard humming a joyful tune. Xue Yu had been waiting at the gate to brag about killing the Boss and he had earned back almost all of his losses from earlier on the day, three thousand Experience Fragments to be exact.

In the end, none of his fears and anxieties had come to pass.

Before he started training, Cheng Yang funded the research option that increased damage for each class change statue. Thanks to the efforts of the Imperial Guard members, not only did Phoenix Village have enough to pay for all that, there was even a decent number of Experience Fragments left over.

The next morning, Cheng Yang’s experience bar was three and a half percent more full than the night before. At this speed, he would be able to level up in just twenty days. At that point he would become a Pinnacle Grade Apprentice Mage, however, in far less than twenty days, Phoenix Village would also level up. So, Cheng Yang needed to make a choice, use Divine Grace before leveling up or use it after he leveling up.

If he waiting, Divine Grace would allow him to directly become a Low Grade Novice. This would represent Cheng Yang entering an entirely new realm of strength. Not only that but, he would be the same level as the strongest fighters in his previous life.

On the other hand, if he waited, there was always the chance that he would run into an opponent he wouldn’t be able to beat with just the strength of a High Grade Apprentice. Trying to maximize benefits always came with a risk, so the safer choice would be to use Divine Grace as soon as possible.

Carefully weigh the pros and cons, Cheng Yang made his decision.

Afterwards, he went to find all three members of the Imperial Guard so that they could run the Blood Soaked Cathedral at the same time as him. Since they had finished their instances yesterday before midnight, they were able to go again this morning.

After collecting all of the loot, Cheng Yang left the instance. In just a few minutes, the Imperial Guard members left their instances as well.

After running the instance dungeon twice, each of them had put together nearly a full set of equipment. Even if it was just Green Bronze quality, it made them seem all the more intimidating.

Since all of the Experience Fragments the Imperial Guard gathered would go to Cheng Yang, he was now a very rich man. This allowed him to make another trip to the Imperial Guard Pavilion so that he could hire a Priest and Mage with SS-Rank Innate Abilities.

As for the rest of the Experience Fragments he had gained, they were given to his generals. This would allow even more soldiers to unlock faster training speeds. At this point, he had loaned out a total of fifteen thousand Experience Fragments.

The rest of the day was spent in Cloud City. At this point, all but ten of the original search and rescue locations had been checked. Although not everyone was able to find their families, with just the manpower of Phoenix Village it was impossible to do an exhaustive search of the city. Only hope remained for those soldiers with missing families.

When the group reached the last search and rescue location they were met with an odd situation. Although the soldier, Ma Tao, didn’t find his father, he did confirm that his family was alive.

The group of refugee’s explained that a group had arrived earlier in the morning with food and water. That group had later taken away all of the sick, old and injured after promising to come back for the others. Ma Tao’s father had been injured during the earthquake and thus wasn’t with the group anymore.

After listening to the refugee’s story, Cheng Yang frowned.

“My Lord, do you know who those people were?” Ma Tao asked anxiously, “Do you think they hurt my father?”

“I have a couple guesses but you don’t need to worry. Right now the military has absolute control of the city so even if those people had bad intentions they won’t be able to do anything. For at least a week or so, your father will be safe.” Cheng Yang replied.

“Would it be possible to go to the city center now my Lord?” Ma Tao asked, visibly more relaxed.

“No need to rush.” Cheng Yang said, “There probably aren’t too many civilian Professionals right now so if we visited the city center we would just draw unnecessary attention to ourselves. For now, we’ll return to Phoenix Village and draw up plans for tomorrow.”

Today, more than normal, as the group did they’re best to avoid being noticed by anyone from army as they returned to Phoenix Village.

As usual, when the group got back it was already dark. Cheng Yang let Old Lee handle integrating the newest batch of refugees as he built the last three shops the village was missing. Five hundred units of wood had been logged earlier that day, so Cheng Yang had some leftover wood to build houses with.

Cheng Yang ate a hurried dinner before going out into the forest alone. Early that morning he returned to start new research and then train. When he finished training he entered the Blood Soaked Cathedral. Busy day after busy day, Cheng Yang had eased himself into the life of a Lord.

Yesterday was the first day where the Imperial Guard members were the only ones patrolling the wall and they quickly proved their worth. Thanks to their ability to track invaders, the monsters surrounding the village were killed so fast that the respawn rate increased slightly to compensate. This resulted in a thirty percent increase in Experience Fragment collection.

However, even if the territory earned several thousand Experience Fragments each day, there were thousands in expenses as well. The Loggers needed to be payed around a thousand a day and the class change statues were a bottomless pit when it came to Experience Fragments. Even so, the territory had a positive economic balance.

In addition, yesterday the last of the large hordes within six kilometers of the village were annihilated. Now all you could find were newly formed hordes of thirty or so. In this case, every squadron acting in unison was rather wasteful. Cheng Yang had advised his general that from now on, they would have to operate independently if they wanted to efficiently gain Experience Fragments.

Right now, Phoenix Village didn’t have enough soldiers to regularly clear more than the few hundred square kilometers that stretched from the walls to six kilometers away. As such, that area was divided into five sections. One for each of the squadrons to handle.

Since it was still possible to run into hordes exceeding one thousand in size at the border, Cheng Yang warned his generals to be careful in those areas.

As for the housing shortage, Cheng Yang planned to have every one of his soldiers living in a Standard Grade Meditation Hall before making houses for the civilians. This would mean he needed 142 buildings, requiring three thousand six hundred units of wood in total.

Cheng Yang was confident that this could be accomplished relatively quickly. Today was the day that most of the Loggers would level up to become Standard Grade Loggers. In addition, most of them had also payed off their loan and had started earning Experience Fragments for their work.

Just leveling up doubled the number of trees they could cut down each day and the financial incentives would drive them to spend more time searching for the biggest trees they could. At a going rate of three Experience Fragments for a unit of wood, a Logger could earn just under what a soldier could with a much safer work environment.

Unfortunately, more wood meant more expenses. The village would have no choice but to rely on the Blood Soaked Church now that it too was close to leveling up.

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Even the soldiers present were clapping. It was clear to them what Cheng Yang meant. With the Imperial Guard patrolling the walls, they wouldn’t have to waste time clearing the occasional monsters at the wall while everyone else earned Experience Fragments in the wilderness.

At first, no one had complained since it was necessary to keep the civilians safe and earn Experience Fragments for the village. Now that someone else had come to handle that burden, no one was willing to share it.

“I hope that everyone will treat these brave soldiers with the respect. they deserve,” Cheng Yang said with a smile. As the crowd began to disperse, Cheng Yang led the Imperial Guard to the entrance of the Blood Soaked Cathedral.

“Xue Yu, are members of the Imperial Guard allowed to enter instance dungeons?” Cheng Yang asked.

“My Lord this…! How can…Why is this here?” When Xue Yu saw the entrance to the Blood Soaked Cathedral, she was shocked, “My Lord, how can an instance dungeon be this deep inside the territory?”

Cheng Yang cocked his head to the side. “Is it that strange?”

“In my dimension instance dungeons would only be on the very outskirts of large territories. There was no way to bring them in purposefully, instead you needed to wait until the border of the territory naturally enveloped it. Even the-” Xue Yu flinched, “My point is I’ve never seen one just a few feet from the Territory Altar.”

“Your dimension?” Cheng Yang asked, What happened to it?”

“I’m sorry my Lord but that information isn’t something I’m allowed to share with you. Entering your dimension binds us to the will of god so we can’t give too much information to new-” Xue Yu flinched again.

“Don’t force yourself, I understand.” He’d heard rumors in his past life but now he had confirmed it. The store managers and the Imperial Guard members weren’t from this world. However, since prying further didn’t seem like it would work, Cheng Yang filed that information away for later. “So, can you use the instance dungeon or not?”

Xue Yu nodded. “As long as the instance dungeon is within the territory, we can enter.”

“Wonderful! Hayashi, Sumin. Both of you will enter a separate Hard Difficulty instance. Although the Boss in this difficulty level is an Elite Pinnacle Grade monster there’s an easy way to defeat it…”

Then Cheng Yang told them how to utilize the environment hack to beat the boss.

Even if they had just arrived in this world, Cheng Yang was certain the Imperial Guard members had even more combat experience than he did. As long as they used his special clearing method there wouldn’t be anything to worry about.

“My Lord, let me go in too!” Xue Yu exclaimed.

“Absolutely not, a Warrior isn’t capable of beating the Boss. A one on one fight is too dangerous so I won’t allow it.”

“My Lord, you don’t need to worry about me. If I couldn’t even beat a pathetically weak Pinnacle Grade Immature monster how could I dare to claim I can protect Phoenix Village? IF you can get me some equipment and potions I’ll be able to defeat it easily. Even if I wasn’t bestowed the power of an Elite by you I’d still be capable of completing this task.” Xue Yu insisted.

“Fine.” Cheng Yang couldn’t refuse the young woman who was staring at him so intensely, “I’ll allow you to try but don’t force it. If you can’t handle the Boss just climb up the tree and wait for the instance to time out.”

“Thank you for your trust my Lord.” Xue Yu said with a bow. Even though she hid her excited smile, Cheng Yang could tell she wasn’t taking his reminder seriously.

Cheng Yang sighed internally. Hopefully Xue Yu wouldn’t get herself killed.

Cheng Yang gave her a stipend to buy potions with before going to track down Liu Hau. He had made sure his best friends had the best warrior equipment on the village. Although Liu Hau’s set wasn’t as good as his, it was far better than anyone else in the village.

It just so happened that Liu Hau’s brigade was training at the moment so Cheng Yang was able to borrow his equipment to give to Xue Yu.

Once she had changed, Xue Yu immediately followed the other two members of the Imperial Guard into the Blood Soaked Cathedral. Having been given high quality equipment, she wasn’t able to hide her blood lust any longer.

With that taken care of, Cheng Yang checked the state of the territories resources. Although earned Experience Fragments for himself was important, the growth of the territory was what he really cared about.

When he check the system pane, Cheng Yang found that the territory only had a pitiful one thousand four hundred Experience Fragments. Now that all of the class change statues were level three, the daily expenses for the territory were enormous. If it wasn’t for the newly founded Imperial Guard being able to clear the Hard Difficulty of the Blood Soaked Cathedral, it would be impossible to keep up with the research costs. Once he hired another two members, the Imperial Guard would be the source of more almost two thirds of the Experience Fragments earned each day.

Even if he had a few hundred more soldiers, there wasn’t another way for Phoenix Village to earn even half of the Experience Fragments the Imperial Guard could.

Next, Cheng Yang personally appraised civilians in order to find people that made suitable Priests. Now that the Priest class change statue was high grade, Phoenix Village could employ more than fifty Priests. This would allow each brigade to have ten.

Finally, Cheng Yang had to decide what to build today. The first thing he did was build a private Standard Grade Meditation Hall for himself. Although he felt a little bad doing so while more than two thirds of his soldiers had to sleep outside, he knew that following Old Lee’s advice and distancing himself from his citizens was a good thing.

Using the remaining wood, Cheng Yang built another six Low Grade Meditation Halls. This brought the total number of houses up to a measly sixty four.

Right now there wasn’t anything Cheng Yang could do to build houses any faster. Now that all of the nearby tree’s had been felled, wood production was falling. Alas, this was one of the barriers to progress every territory would have to deal with.

Unable to do anything else, Cheng Yang left Phoenix Village to go hunting.

As he fought, Cheng Yang couldn’t help but worry about his current state. Recruiting his Elite Imperial Guard members had totally cleared out his savings. If he wasn’t about to find enough monsters today, he might have to go back to eight times training speed. Although it wouldn’t be an enormous loss, it was critical that he maintain his advantage over others. If he wasn’t strong enough, how could he protect his friends and the civilians that depended on him?

Also, although the Imperial Guard didn’t need Experience Fragments to train, leveling up their skills was going to be difficult. Even with the added bonus of being able to use an instance dungeon, it would take days or even weeks for their skill levels to catch up with their experience.

Since Cheng Yang was a diligent and hardworking man, it was natural that he would be worried about Phoenix Village. He had taken up the heavy responsibility of being a Lord and now he needed to prove that he deserved it. Protecting Phoenix Village wasn’t just Cheng Yang’s duty, but something he wholly desired.

No matter what challenges he had to face, the important thing was to never back down.

Over the past few days, Cloud City had gradually stabilized.

The army, under the command of Yuan Jianzhe, had taken control of the city in just three days. During that time they were able to save almost fifty thousand civilians. Unlike the haphazard rescue operations of the Phoenix Village soldiers, the army used historical data to evacuate the most heavily populated areas first.

But as civilians fled to the safe zone, trouble followed.

First of all, with so many people there was no way to avoid food shortages. Several people almost died, but with the help of some brave soldiers, the army was able to discern which monsters were safe to eat. However, with so few soldiers able to focus on hunting, there was only so much meat they could gather in a day.

Secondly, some crafty refugees had begun to create cults using the events of the past few days as proof of their gods. The doctrines they had created spread like wildfire. It was all Yuan Jianzhe could do to stop his soldiers from being indoctrinated.

Finally, groups of refugees advocating fairness and freedom began to speak. They criticized Yuan Jianzhe and his control over the class change statues. They demanded that he let the public choose a class instead of hoarding it for his soldiers. Although it was obviously started by powerful groups looking to take advantage of the situation, the sentiment was quickly picked up by normal civilians as well.

These problems gave Yuan Jianzhe a headache but he couldn’t bring himself to use the army to silence dissent. He wasn’t willing to throw away old world values. Yet.

The food shortage was temporarily solved by looting supermarket warehouses and buying food from the Grocery. Even so, food was strictly rationed to the public. Most civilians would get just two bowls of soup a day.

In order to deal with the cults, Yuan Jianzhe enacted several measures to suppress their growth. Any person found trying to gather followers was banned from receiving food and those that created them were imprisoned. Although it helped somewhat, there was no way to stop an idea.

As for the final issue, Yuan Jianzhe caved and allowed civilians to use the class change statues.

Although it may have seemed like a rash decision, he needed to preserve the army’s strength. Over the last few days, casualties had been piling up. His soldiers didn’t have the combat experience or the numbers to win every fight.

It would allow other groups to gain power in the city but, they would be pressed into military service under the same restrictions as the soldiers. Those rallying against tyranny would be pleased, the army wouldn’t face as many casualties and there would be more people available to gather food.

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