Author: Xevinaly

Cheng Yang wandered around the safe zone, looking for Xiao Zheng. He wasn’t going to approach him yet, but Cheng Yang wanted to know where he was.

It was inconvenient to meet with him now since there were doubtlessly spied tailing his every move and reporting it back to Yuan Jianzhe. Even if there weren’t, Enlai wasn’t subtle, so Yuan Jianzhe would find out about any big moves he made.

Unfortunately, Cheng Yang couldn’t find Xiao Zheng and was forced to give up.

After leaving the safe zone, Cheng Yang glanced back through the curtain of light and sighed. Would Xiao Zheng still treat him well on this life despite them becoming strangers?

His next objective for the day was to clear the Sky God Island instance dungeon on Nightmare Difficulty. He already earned the first clear reward for the Sky God Island, so this was just to do his daily run. The other reason was that there was a small chance of obtaining a drop at the end on the same level as the first clear reward.

It was an incredibly small chance, but it was still worth trying. For reference, there were around ten thousand confirmed drops in his past life. Although the real number was probably double, it was far too unlikely.

On his way to Silkworm Mountain, Cheng Yang cleared The Forgotten Grave on Hard, and after clearing the Sky God Island instance, he made a trip to Joyous River Village. Instead of going straight there, Cheng Yang stopped by Phoenix Village.

“Old Lee, the class change statues leveled up recently, so why aren’t all the slots filled?” Cheng Yang had checked the Territory Altar system pane when he got back and saw that there were still hundreds of slots open. So, he went to find Old Lee, who had been in charge of recruitment.

“I’m sorry, my Lord, but there was a problem.” Old Lee said. “Once the Barracks was full, I stopped allowing people to perform class change ceremonies because you hadn’t given me instruction on how to handle the construction of Adventurer groups. I didn’t dare to make the decision in private since it involved hundreds of people and tens of thousands of Experience Fragments.”

Cheng Yang was slightly stunned. He’d forgotten to let Old Lee know about his plans.

“In that case, go and gather the generals. There are some things you’ll need to work together on.

….

On the other side, arrange for his Vice-Captain to come over since he won’t be back for a while.”

When he was done, Cheng Yang seriously considered finding a few secretaries. He was becoming far too forgetful lately.

His first thought was to turn Liu Wei into his secretary, but was she fit for the job? As a member of his personal guard, it seemed too wasteful. Her skills were combat-oriented, so maybe he could hire a civilian to be his secretary?

His ideal choice would be someone like Old Lee. He was loyal, confident, and a hard worker. Unfortunately, Old Lee was too useful in his current position and couldn’t become Cheng Yang’s secretary.

If he couldn’t find a competent secretary, Cheng Yang needed someone who could take over the administrative portions of his Lord positions. He had managed to handle everything well so far, but it was getting harder to control.

There was a woman in his memories with exceptional administrative abilities, but she wouldn’t arrive in the Cloud City area until the gods saved her. At that time, the safe zone would be too chaotic to track her down.

For now, Cheng Yang would have to put the issue on the back burner. Unless the right person was available, there was no use wasting time thinking about it.

Then, Cheng Yang cleared the Soaked Blood Cathedral on Nightmare Difficulty. With Enlai’s help, the instance wasn’t difficult in the slightest.

When he returned to the real world, Cheng Yang was fiddling with a pair of Purple Silver boots that increased Movement Speed. It was a great piece of equipment, but it didn’t suit him. However, since the Imperial Gaurd didn’t need to move quickly, it was even less suitable.

For now, Cheng Yang decided to switch from his Green-Bronze boots, increasing his Movement Speed by three. Although he was still slower than Liu Hau, he’d reached a milestone similar to the one for Physical Defense.

Usually, even if an attack didn’t draw blood, it would deal full damage as long as it hit. When someone’s Movement Speed was more than twenty-five times that of their enemy, it became possible to dodge an enemy attack. This meant that as long as the attack didn’t hit them directly, they wouldn’t take damage.

Cheng Yang had never experienced dodging an attack before, so he was eager to try it out.

On his own, Cheng Yang left Phoenix Village to find a Low-Grade monster to test his new abilities.

Not far from the walls, Cheng Yang found a Venom-Fanged Grey Wolf. He hadn’t taken monsters like this one seriously in weeks.

When the wolf noticed Cheng Yang, it growled at him, then charged forwards. Its jaws opened up to bit down on Cheng Yang’s neck.

To a civilian, the wolf might seem terrifying, but in Cheng Yang’s eyes, it was moving far too slowly to be a threat. Suddenly, Cheng Yang saw threads reach out from the wolf’s body, aimed at him. It was the trajectory of the attack and, in a sense, a visual representation of his hitbox.

It was a wonderful feeling!

Cheng Yang watched as the threads shifted and responded when he swayed back and forth. Then, he felt a sharp pain as his throat was bitten through.

He’d been so immersed in what he was doing that he forgot to dodge. Fortunately, the wolf was too weak to do any actual damage.

With a grimace, Cheng Yang forced open the wolf’s jaws with his hands and tossed the monster like a sack of flour over his head.

Undeterred, the wolf climbed onto its feet and attacked again.

Once again, Cheng Yang watched the threads of the wolf’s attack draw near. This time, he tried to move out of the way.

“Fuck!” When the wolf glanced his shoulder, Cheng Yang knew he had failed to dodge because the thread turned red.

Twenty-five times, the opponent’s speed was only the bare minimum requirement to dodge an attack, so Cheng Yang couldn’t guarantee that he could.

For the next half hour, Cheng Yang allowed the wolf to attack him continuously until he finally dodged an attack. It filled him with a feeling of satisfaction.

After another half hour, Cheng Yang improved to the point that he could dodge one in three attacks.

At this point, the wolf was in a sorry state. Cheng Yang’s fists didn’t deal much damage, but it was still too much for a Low-Grade monster to handle for a full hour. Thus, once he was done training, Cheng Yang ended the wolf’s pathetic life.

With a happy smile, Cheng Yang returned to Phoenix Village, completely forgetting his original intention to visit Joyous River Village.

At this point, Cheng Yang remembered the father-daughter duo he’d saved and the promise he made with Chu Yiling.

Now that there were open slots, he could allow the duo to perform their class change ceremonies. Now that he had some free time, it was the perfect opportunity.

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Yuan Jianzhe’s acting was perfect. If Cheng Yang hadn’t known they were enemies, he wouldn’t even know the man was hostile to him. Outsiders might even think they were old friends reuniting after years apart. However, the act only put Cheng Yang on guard.

“Commander Yuan, by the looks of things, you’ve worked out the issues from earlier.”

“It was only natural for me to do so. After all, it wasn’t just you affected by the incident. It also hurt my credibility and reputation, so I had someone look into it the moment you left. Care to join me inside for a chat?”

Cheng Yang nodded. Neither he nor the commander was in danger right now, so he was confident there wasn’t a trap. Whatever persona he’d put on for this was just so he could go through the motions.

The villa was a luxurious building made from beautiful hardwoods and marble floors trimmed with gold. It was three stories tall and ha a parlor on the ground floor.

It was in this parlor that five corpses were laid out on the ground. Judging by the lack of decay, they’d only been dead for a day at most.

Cheng Yang frowned slightly. Of the reactions he thought Yuan Jianzhe might have, this was one of the most annoying and effective.

“Commander Yuan, what is this?”

“These mercenary bastards were the ones who attack you, Mr. Cheng.” Yuan Jianzhe said in a voice filled with righteous hatred. “As you know, capturing someone alive these days is far too hard, so when he caught them trying to attack you again, they fought to the death to avoid capture.”

Cheng Yang didn’t respond and appeared to be deep in thought.

The crowd around him anxiously awaited his reply. They were worried Cheng Yang would see through their lie and then slaughter the whole group.

It was indeed an impulse Cheng Yang had but only a short one. If he were to execute the safe zone leaders, the resulting pandemonium would ruin his plans to monopolize the people the gods would save.

His plan needed there to be some semblance of control to work, and even if he exhausted all his efforts to somehow forcefully control the safe zone, the gods would find a way to remove him from power.

“Seeing you work so hard for my sake makes me think I was wrong about you, Commander Yuan.”

After hearing those words, the room let out a collective sigh of relief.

“Commander Yuan, over the next few days, some of my people will be visiting the safe zone. Since your people are visiting my area, I hope we can each turn a blind eye to the other’s presence.”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Cheng, I agreed to let you recruit in the safe zone, and I can stretch that to include a few helpers. In fact, I will welcome them. There are still too many people without a supporter in this world, so I hope you can alleviate some of their burdens.”

“Commander Yuan thinks too highly of me. My operation is a small one, and I cannot afford to support too many people. I am just trying to fill some vacancies in my team.”

“When your subordinates arrive, would you like me to send someone to help them?”

“That’s not necessary. My subordinates are competent, so I won’t trouble you.”

Yuan Jianzhe didn’t believe what Cheng Yang said about being a small force, but he was happy with the situation’s conclusion. He had snatched up anyone with even a little talent for service in the military, and there were only a few thousand normal people left, so Cheng Yang would only get scraps.

If Cheng Yang wanted to win over existing forces, he would be similarly stifled. Over a third of the militia and mercenary groups were taking orders from the army. The others were either trash or too arrogant to submit to another group.

Looking at it from his position, Yuan Jianzhe couldn’t see a way to profit off of recruiting in the safe zone. In his eyes, this was a waste of a political opportunity.

---

After Cheng Yang left, there was a brief silence in the villa.

“Someone make sure these bodies are disposed of.” Yuan Jianzhe’s nice guy act disappeared. “And clean up the bloodstains.”

“Commander, don’t you think he let us off too easily?” Lao Wu asked. “He must have some goal we can’t see.”

“I was worried about that too, but I can’t see any hidden ploy. The only cards he has are that absurd power and a few hidden villages.” Ding Ming interjected, “I almost feel like we’ve been overestimating his intellect. He’s nothing but a college student without the wisdom to use what he’s been given and was probably was too arrogant to think we lied to him and was just happy to see the commander licking his feet.”

“What you’ve said is true, but don’t put too much faith in that judgment.” Yuan Jianzhe responded. “Whatever the reason, he’s been satiated for now. We need to take advantage of the time this bought us.”

“Is it possible Cheng Yang knows something we don’t?” Lao Wu asked. “Maybe he found the equivalent of a game guide? How else could he have grown so powerful so quickly?”

“You’re just paranoid.” Ding Ming said. “There’s no greater intent behind Cheng Yang’s actions; he just got lucky. Once the commander’s plan is finished, we’ll be able to crush him directly. The villages he has aren’t well-staffed, and once we get our hands on them, we’ll obtain everything he has.”

No matter if it was what happened when they first clashed in front of the Forgotten Grave or when Cheng Yang rushed into the safe zone on a white tiger, nothing pointed to Cheng Yang being very clever. He acted with bravado and relied on his strength to accomplish his goals.

If any of them were in his position, they would have eliminated the threat posed by the safe zone when it was still possible to kill people inside it, but Cheng Yang hadn’t done that, and the opportunity passed for good. Even Yuan Jianzhe found it hard to believe that Cheng Yang’s actions held any forethought.

“For now, we can ignore the source of his strength and focus on what he does during his recruitment campaign. Send someone to watch what his subordinates do. If they try and recruit someone, take the opportunity to either bring them to our side, or arrest them.”

“This…” Lao Wu couldn’t understand Yuan Jianzhe’s intentions.

“Do you remember that girl, Liu Wei? When we first clashed with Cheng Yang, a group of elite soldiers chased after her, but none returned. At that time, she had only been with Cheng Yang for a few days. How was that possible?” Yuan Jianzhe asked. “The only solution is if it was her Innate Abilities. My guess is that somehow, Cheng Yang can identify people with powerful Innate Abilities. Maybe its a game guide like you thought or some kind of precognitive ability, but the result is the same. There aren’t many talented people left in the city, so if we can obstruct Cheng Yang, his talent will be useless.”

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Right before leaving, Cheng Yang found Yu Kai pacing around the pavilion of his Meditation Hall.

“Yu Kai? What are you doing here?” Cheng Yang asked in surprise.

“You didn’t come back last night.” Yu Kai looked like he hadn’t slept.

Yesterday was Cheng Yang’s last day in Copper Tomb Village, so he spent the night there wrapping up loose ends.

“Sorry.” Cheng Yang said. “Did something happen?”

“Someone is trying to infiltrate Silkworm Mountain. I don’t know who, and we don’t even know how many. They slipped in when the class change statues leveled up, and we recruited more soldiers.” Yu Kai explained. “They’re masters of deception and are great at hiding, so they must be from the military.”

“Are you saying Silkworm Mountain has been discovered?” Cheng Yang frowned.

He wasn’t particularly worried since he wanted to finish things today, but Silkworm Mountain was the weakest village in the Cloud City area. It separated from Phoenix Village and had very few high-level soldiers.

“I don’t know yet. We only discovered one person when someone found him wasting money in the Tavern. After some questioning, we realized he was from the safe zone.”

“It probably wasn’t Yuan Jianzhe, so what’s going on?” Cheng Yang mused.

“It wasn’t Yuan Jianzhe?”

“I caused a ruckus in the safe zone a few days ago, so with Yuan Jianzhe’s cautious personality, he would have spent the time I gave him trying to fix the problem instead of creating new ones. Someone else must have done it. Either a military official who went behind his back or an impatient militia captain. Maybe Yuan Jianzhe actually wasn’t responsible for the explosion?”

“What should we do then?” Yu Kai asked. “Should we ask Yuan Jianzhe to help us find the infiltrators?”

“No, why would we do that?” Cheng Yang sneered. “If Yuan Jianzhe wants to fish in troubled water, I won’t stop someone from stirring up silt. Let’s hope he doesn’t disappear under the murky surface.”

“Does that mean you’re planning to s-“

“Yes.” Cheng Yang interrupted. “As the saying goes, one mountain doesn’t allow two tigers. The Cloud City area can only have one ruler, and although he’s a competent leader, he’s proven unwilling to be subservient. As such, he’s unfit to run the safe zone for me.”

“Are we going to take over the safe zone then?”

“With the protection it has from the gods, forcefully trying to control the safe zone is impossible. I plan to fragment the people so that there’s a three-way or even four-way struggle for power. Only a united, safe zone is a threat to us. At most, one of the factions will be our representative.”

Three days from now, the massive influx of people would destabilize every safe zone in the world. Most of the people saved by the gods had at least a few Experience Fragments, so by pooling their wealth, new factions would form and strengthen instantly.

The same forces that prevented Cheng Yang from controlling the safe zone would work against established forces since they wouldn’t be able to suppress these new factions unless they left the safe zone.

At that point, Cheng Yang would only need a little force to make the Cloud City safe zone spiral into chaos. Then, even if he couldn’t control the safe zone, he could manipulate the situation to his benefit.

“Should we send someone to build a new force, or are you planning to buy one of the existing factions in the safe zone?” Yu Kai asked once he understood the situation.

A single man appeared in Cheng Yang’s mind. It was the image of a man with broad soldiers reaching into rubble to pull Cheng Yang out of darkness. Xiao Zheng, the militia captain that had saved Cheng Yang from the ruins of Cloud City in his previous life.

Xiao Zheng was a righteous person, which was rare after the apocalypse started. In his previous life, that kindness had gotten him killed, but if he had Cheng Yang as a backer, things would be different. A benevolent leader would win the hearts of the public, so Xiao Zheng was a great choice.

“Buy an established power. We’ll wait and see if we need to send a supervisor.” Cheng Yang said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to meet with Yuan Jianzhe.”

“What about Silkworm Mountain? I’m worried that it will be attacked since its existence was revealed. Without reinforcements, we’d have a hard time defending, but if they can infiltrate the village, the walls might be useless.”

“If they attack, let them have the village. It will be the last thing they ever obtain.” Cheng Yang promised. “Take this. It will allow us to communicate in case something happens.”

Cheng Yang handed one of the Transmission Mirrors to Yu Kai.

“How convenient! If I see anything, I’ll call you. With your speed, we would only have to defend for half an hour.”

“I’ll make sure to show myself around the safe zone for the next few days. My presence might be enough to scare the infiltrators into action, so be ready.”

“I will be.” Yu Kai promised. If a conflict was inevitable, he was confident in being able to hold on until Cheng Yang arrived.

After that, Cheng Yang left the pavilion and rode to the safe zone.

Ten minutes later, he arrived. The journey was much more accessible now than the first time he visited Cloud City. All of the monster hordes were gone, and a broad path had been cleared through the forest. Although monsters still spawned, they were only a threat to civilians.

Cheng Yang was infamous in the safe zone. When Yuan Jianzhe was forced to pay a ransom, he spread Cheng Yang’s name far and wide as a villainous man. He claimed that if Cheng Yang’s demands weren’t met, he’d slaughter the entire city. It wasn’t entirely true, but it did help convince people to pay the ransom.

Then, a few days ago, Cheng Yang rode Enlai into the safe zone. The imposing manner had shocked the populace. Seeing the commander humiliated in public only added weight to Yuan Jianzhe’s accusation. Although they knew the murder was impossible within the safe zone, some people believed Cheng Yang might be capable of slaughtering them all.

As a result, instead of panicking when he arrived like last time, everyone ran away in fear. The only people that remained were a few militia members who ran up to him.

“Mr. Cheng, are you here to see the commander?”

“I am, is he here right now?”

“Yes, sir. He knew Mr. Cheng was coming today, so he’s waiting in the main plaza.” The leader of the group said. “If you follow me, I can lead you there.”

Cheng Yang nodded, then followed the group. Along the way, he tried to guess what kind of surprise Yuan Jianzhe had prepared for him.

---

Cheng Yang walked into the safe zone’s plaza, which was ringed by high-end villas. It was his first time coming here. He never bothered in his past life since these villas weren’t something he could afford.

At the same time, one of the villa’s doors opened up. One after another, the high ranking military officials and militia captains walked out, with Yuan Jianzhe at the end fo the line.

“Mr. Cheng, you kept me waiting!” Yuan Jianzhe walked over with a bright smile on his face.

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The pillars of Phoenix Village were also strengthening at a rapid pace. Even without counting the Imperial Members, Phoenix Village probably had the strongest elite group in the world. There were six people at the High-Grade level with the new additions of Old Lee and Zhao Chuan.

Under the combined effects of multiple training speed buffs, it was far too easy for Cheng Yang’s chosen few to level up to become High-Grade Apprentices. They would only need another week at most.

Of course, the people who could enjoy those benefits were limited. Only the generals were capable of maximizing their training alongside a few high-level officers. Everyone else was at a much lower efficiency. However, that was on par with the elites of an ordinary safe zone.

The situation in the Cloud City safe zone was even worse than average. Thanks to Cheng Yang and his soldiers, the city was free from the threat of monster hordes, and the bridges were cleared. Unfortunately, this meant most soldiers wouldn’t have the chance to earn any Experience Fragments, a problem Yuan Jianzhe exacerbated by mandating that every citizen be allowed to perform a class change ceremony.

Yuan Jianzhe’s direct subordinates were still doing well since they hunted outside the city. Since ordinary people couldn’t bypass the hoard guarding the East bridge, most went full days without earning anything. As such, even if someone had enough Experience Fragments to unlock higher training speeds, they couldn’t afford to use them.

Although Yuan Jianzhe wanted to sift through the population for talented individuals rapidly, he wasn’t foolish enough to allow any new factions to establish a strong foundation. As a result, he fiercely guarded the border between the Eastern and Western halves of the city. Using his contract with Cheng Yang as a precedent, he protected both the secret that the other bridges were unguarded and the military monopoly on better hunting grounds.

Although it would be impossible to stop the conquest of theEast bridge, it would be several days before any attempts succeeded. For now, the situation in the safe zone was in equilibrium.

None of that mattered to Cheng Yang. His goal in signing a non-aggression pact with Yuan Jianzhe had been to buy time for the development of Phoenix Village, but he didn’t need to wait any longer.

With six generals at the High-Grade level and over a thousand Standard-Grade soldiers, Cheng Yang’s army had reached the bare minimum of what he needed to accomplish his plans.

Although he had no plans to become the Cloud City safe zone overlord, Cheng Yang needed unfettered access to the class change statues there. Without them, it was impossible to develop any further.

Take Copper Tomb Village, for example. If you used every quota in the village, you could form a somewhat decent army, but it wouldn’t be enough to accommodate all of the survivors in Yicheng performing a class change ceremony.

So, Cheng Yang needed somewhere to mass-produce Adventurers. If the army was the backbone of society after the apocalypse, then Adventurers were the flesh. Without them, it would only be a skeleton.

Cheng Yang planned to absorb the various people under Yuan Jianzhe’s control eventually, but right now, he wanted to recruit all of the people that would teleport to the safe zone in three days. These would be the people saved by the gods from death in a backwater village or town.

They had no current affiliations, and their appearance proved their abilities since the gods wouldn’t save useless cowards.

As long as Cheng Yang could recruit those people, the population in the villages he controlled would skyrocket, allowing them to become self-sufficient.

Although the villages had been rapidly growing, that was only because Cheng Yang continually poured resources into them. He provided the Experience Fragments necessary to level up and bought hundreds of sets of tools to enable rapid growth in their lumber and stonecutting industry.

However, without a large population of combat capable individuals, the villages would collapse. Joyous River Village could afford to rely on the Phoenix Village army, but the other three were too far away to reach if there was an emergency.

The two villages near Yicheng were in particular danger, but until Cheng Yang completed his plans, they would have to rely on their walls to survive. There was too much to do, so Cheng Yang couldn’t stick around, forcing him to put the protection and development of those two villages on the backburner.

He had even less reason to stay since he’d taken every first clear reward for the Shattered Midnight Forest and couldn’t find the other instance dungeon. He’d searched daily while protecting Loggers from monsters, but he’d never had the chance to explore the area thoroughly.

In the end, he could only post a reward for finding the missing instance dungeon and be content with the rewards from the other one: a Mage skill and a pair of special items.

---

Rupture Blaze
Using the Fireball spell as a baseline, Ancient Orcish mages developed a spell that when cast by archmages was capable of shattering the bodies of adult tarrasques.

Grade: Black Iron
Requirements: High-Grade Apprentice Mage
Cast Time: 2 seconds
Range: 60 meters
Effect: Deal 40% of the Magic Attack attribute to enemies within 4 meters
Effect: Knock back enemies near the impact point
Cost: 400 Experience Fragments

---

Transmission Mirror
Among the various communication methods developed across the lifespan of the empire, the best were the Transmission Mirrors. Each on carried a unique imprint which allowed instantaneous communication across the vast reaches of the Empire so long as it was known.

Effect: Allows tele-video communication between any two Transmission Mirrors
Cost: 10 Experience Fragment per minute per kilometer

---

Both rewards were useful items, but since Cheng Yang only had two Transmission Mirrors, the Mage skill inheritance bead was better.

The Transmission Mirrors also had a prohibitive cost. If he wanted to use it as a phone, Cheng Yang would go broke in less than a week, but it was somewhat useful as a strategic item. When Cheng Yang spent more time traveling outside the village in the future, the Transmission Mirror would show its worth.

With that, Cheng Yang had claimed every first clear reward he could. He still had the missing instance dungeon to get rewards from, but after that, he wouldn’t get anything good unless he challenged one on Hell Difficulty.

Back in Phoenix Village, Cheng Yang was preparing to confront Yuan Jianzhe in the safe zone. Three days ago, Cheng Yang issued an ultimatum, and now was the time to follow up.

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Early the next morning, when Cheng Yang left his Meditation Hall, he found Liu Hau waiting in the pavilion.

“You’re fast, Koko.” Cheng Yang greeted his friend. The night before, he’d sent someone to fetch Liu Hau to transfer to his unique class. “You must have started walking before dawn.”

“A little after actually. I was lucky not to run into any monsters.”

“Let’s go see how awesome a Battle Master is.”

The two walked over to the Warrior Class Change Statue. Then, Cheng Yang sacrificed the Battle Master’s Blade to the statue. After a brief flash, the statue’s original weapon was replaced by a shining steel sword.

Once Liu Hau switched to the unique subclass, Cheng Yang checked his system pane.

---

Liu Hau
Phoenix Empire Official
Joyous River Village Governor
Class: Warrior
Subclass: Battle Master
Profession: Blacksmith
Level: High-Grade Apprentice (52.1%)

Age	19	Life Span	150
HP	331.8	MP	69.1
Physical Attack	36.2	Magic Attack	6.9
Physical Defense	24.6	Magic Defense	6.9
Attack Speed	17.1	Movement Speed	32.1

Innate Abilities

• Receive 40% more stats in the Movement Speed attribute when you level up
• Receive 30% more stats in the Attack Speed attribute when you level up
• Movement speed is increased by 200%
• Warrior Spirit: Movement Speed and Attack Speed increased by 30%
• Two-Weapon Fighter: Replaces the Shield equipment slot with another Sword equipment slot

Skills

• Meditation (High-Grade): Meditate to absorb experience fragments and level up
• Extricate (High-Grade): Using a Mana imbued blade deal increased damage to both your target and their equipment | Damage: 52.3 | Cost: 4 MP | Cooldown: 3 min | Durability Damage: 5% | Proficiency: 14%
• Spirit Shield (Standard-Grade): Rouses your spirit and uses your Mana to reduce damage taken | Damage Absorption: 10 | Cost: MP proportional to damage taken | Duration: 3 min | Cooldown: 3.5 min | Proficiency: 32%
• Disabling Strike (Low-Grade): Sprint forwards at 200% speed for twenty-five meters and stun the target when you attack | Damage: 36.2 | Cooldown: 34 sec | Stun Time: 2.5 sec | Proficiency: 34%
• Warden’s Wall (Low-Grade): Quadruple the size of your shield, doubling its Damage Reduction at the cost of your Movement Speed | Penalty: Movement Speed becomes 0 | Penalty: Cannot use weapons | Proficiency: 0%

Equipment

• Bloody Long Sword (Black-Iron): This blade has survived thousands of battles and as a result is permanently bloodstained | Increases Physical Attack by 2 | Durability: 29/60
• Adamantium Armor (Black-Iron): High-quality armor made from solid adamantium | Increases Physical Defense by 5| Durability: 57/60
• Gladiator’s Helmet (Green-Bronze): Designed for use by gladiators, this helmet mildly affects the wearer’s adrenaline levels | Increases Physical Defense by 2 and Physical Attack by 1| Durability: 34/50
• Sky Wizard’s Boots (Purple-Silver): Although these boots were originally designed by the Sky Wizard Sprad to walk on air as if it were solid ground, the millennia have degraded them | Increases Movement Speed by 3 | Durability: 67/80
• Star-Spotted Gloves (Black-Iron): Gloves made from the hide of a star spotted deer, which are famed for their sturdy leather | Increases Attack Speed by 2 and Physical Defense by 1 | Durability: 34/60
• Ring of Dexterity (Green-Bronze): A classic ring often made by novice Enchanters as a right of passage | Increases Movement Speed by 1 | Durability: 45/50
• Healer’s Ring (Green-Bronze): Distributed to war-time medics, this ring increases the wearer’s natural healing processes | Increases Health Regen by 2 | Durability: 46/50

---

Cheng Yang was filled with admiration when he saw Liu Hau’s attributes.

After becoming a Battle Master, Liu Hau’s Movement Speed was increased to the extreme. Even Enlai wouldn’t be able to catch up with him. It was so high that it began to affect not just his speed when running but also his body and even his mind. With a little training, he would be able to dodge every leaf in a windy forest.

When you considered his absurd Attack Speed as well, he became a monster in close combat. His control of both his body and weapon pushed beyond human limits, allowing him to unerringly strike his opponent while they hit nothing but air.

It was, without a doubt, a powerful subclass. The only major downside was the relatively low damage. If he and Cheng Yang were to fight, Cheng Yang would only win thanks to his superior equipment.

The subclass also removed the Warrior’s flaw as a damage dealer by replacing the shield with another weapon. The change was similar to the assassin subclass but with two swords instead of dual-wielded daggers.

Once Liu Hau adapted to the Battle Master fighting style, he would become, and remain, one of the world’s powerhouses.

“Yoko, thank you so much!” Liu Hau smiled sincerely.

“Why are you acting like that? We’re friends! Brothers even!”

“Even so, I’ll repay this favor by defending the empire you’ve built. Even if a dragon attacks our territory, I’ll stand firm in my defense!” Liu Hau declared.

“Careful what you say, I’ve seen a dragon, and you’d better pray it doesn’t come anywhere near us.” cheng Yang chuckled at the thought of Liu Hau valiantly facing the dragon only to be defeated by a single sneeze. “Since you can use two swords now, get yourself another when you return to Joyous River Village. If you can’t find a light enough one, wait until you can smith one yourself.”

“As long as its not a heavy weapon, I can still reluctantly use a longsword.” Liu Hau mused, “I’ll also need to find someone to give my old shield to. I’ve gotten attached to it, so don’t like giving it up, but there’s no helping it.”

“You’ve only had it for ten days, and in a month, you’ll need to switch out your swords for better ones. Are you planning to horde every piece of equipment you’ve ever used?”

“It’s just a habit from when I played MMOs.” Liu Hau dismissed Cheng Yang’s concerns.

Before Liu Hau left, they had a chat over tea. When they were done, Cheng Yang prepared to visit Copper Tomb Village.

Before he could leave Phoenix Village, he found Pang Sun blocking his path. It was only then that Cheng Yang remembered his promise to bring her with him.

Pang Sun was worried about her boyfriend ever since he left, so when she heard Cheng Yang was in the village, she immediately confronted him.

After a short explanation, Cheng Yang had Enlai carry her to Copper Tomb Village with him.

---

After three days, Copper Tomb Village developed into a suitable base of operations. With Cheng Yang’s there for guidance and protection, everything proceeded smoothly.

Every night, he would return to Phoenix Village using a Stone of Return to train using the Nirvana Feather.

Phoenix Village was also developing smoothly. A large number of soldiers leveled up recently, allowing the territory’s income to exceed ten thousand Experience Fragments.

After leveling up, they had more Experience Fragments to spend, which filtered back to the territory through taxes. The Bank also made significant taxed gains as ordinary soldiers took out loans for equipment.

Fortunately, the taxes paid by the Bank were calculated based on its profits. If it weren’t, Cheng Yang might find his investment drained away.

Thanks to his sale of the Stones of Return, his account had a balance of nearly two million. As a result, of the Bank’s profit of twenty-thousand Experience Fragments a day, Cheng Yang received almost a tenth as interest.

Of course, the money wasn’t all of Cheng Yang’s assets. He had a million Experience Fragments on his person and six hundred thousand distributed among his generals and officers.

He had no plans of retrieving those funds, which allowed his officers experience bars to fill rapidly.

More than three hundred people leveled up in just a few days, and that number increased hourly. In addition, on the twenty-sixth day of the apocalypse, May 9th, the class change statues underwent a qualitative change as they leveled up.

With that, the total number of soldiers in Phoenix Village exceeded seven thousand. If you counted the soldiers in the satellite villages, Cheng Yang had a total of thirteen thousand soldiers under his control. Although this was an order of magnitude less than those under the control of Yuan Jianzhe, each one was far more powerful thanks to the class change statue research bonuses.

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After Cheng Yang left the safe zone, he rode straight to Silkworm Mountain. He wasn’t worried about Yuan Jianzhe attacking Phoenix Village in his absence since he would be too worried about the consequences.

Once he arrived, he found Yu Kai and a priest. Then, he challenged the Sky God Island Nightmare Difficulty.

The run ended just like the Abandoned Citadel one: complete victory. At the end, Cheng Yang obtained a unique Warrior subclass.

---

Battle Master’s Blade

Giving this blade to a Warrior class change statue grants access to the unique subclass Battle Master

---

It was precisely what Cheng Yang wanted. He put it into his ring and then left the instance dungeon.

Of course, the instance dungeon provided other benefits as well. Five pieces of purple equipment dropped. Of which, Cheng Yang took a ring and a pair of boots. The other went to Yu Kai for distribution. Until a large number of Blacksmiths were trained, this was the only source of good equipment.

On their way back to Silkworm Mountain, Yu Kai and Cheng Yang engaged in small talk. It quickly devolved into Yu Kai pestering Cheng Yang about his decisions. Although he knew he couldn’t change Cheng Yang’s mind, Yu Kai wanted to make sure his friend knew what he was doing.

“How is your training going, Yu Kai?” Cheng Yang asked once they were back.

“I’m about halfway to leveling up. I’ll probably only need another ten days.” Yu Kai said, “The Experience Fragments you gifted to me were really helpful.”

Cheng Yang nodded. It was a satisfactory amount of progress. Yu Kai was among the very peak of humanity. The combination of near-endless funding and the Nirvana Feather granted the Phoenix Empire’s leaders a tremendous advantage.

“Make sure to focus on your training even more than before. We need everyone to take hold of this opportunity.” Cheng Yang said. “If we can assemble a team of Pinnacle-Grade soldiers, we’ll be able to sweep across the entire Cloud City area.”

“We could do that now, couldn’t we?” Yu Kai was confused by Cheng Yang’s warning. “The soldiers in the safe zone hardly pose a threat to us.”

“I’m not talking about just the safe zone but the entire Cloud City Area, including nearby cities, villages, counties, and townships.”

Yu Kai was stunned. As someone who led soldiers on the front lines every day, he knew all too well the dangers posed by the wilderness. Although Pinnacle-Grade monsters were impossible to find near the villages, once you got ten kilometers away, they were as common as maggots. Not to mention that the Standard-Grade monsters almost outnumbered the Low-Grade ones.

If Cheng Yang wanted to dominate the entire area, it wouldn’t be easy.

“I’ll try to make sure everyone focuses on training.” Yu Kai said tentatively.

“That’s all you can do. We can give them everything they need, but if some idiot wants to waste their potential, there’s no way to stop them.” Cheng Yang sighed. “At the very least, once we only need an army of High-Grade soldiers to completely ignore the Cloud City safe zone. It would be for the best if we didn’t need to come into direct conflict with them.”

Although Cheng Yang was vicious when dealing with his enemies, he saw no reason to exterminate weaker opponents. Although he would be marginally safer, enough people were dead already. There was no reason to increase the body count.

After that, Cheng Yang began his return journey to Phoenix Village. This time, Cheng Yang had Enlai guard him as he collected various alchemical components. Since the Experience Fragments for monsters killed by a pet went to their master, this was killing two birds with one stone.

As soon as Cheng Yang returned to the village, he isolated himself in his Meditation Hall and started brewing potions. Tonight, Cheng Yang would become a High-Grade Alchemist and obtain the qualifications to make Magic Amplification potions.

After the fiasco with the Bone-Eating Ants, Cheng Yang had become less greedy with regards to selling his potions. Now he only sold the twenty percent promised by the contract between him and the Alchemy Tower manager in the Cloud City safe zone. Of course, his latest source of income helped him overcome the temptation to oversell.

It was almost to the point that Cheng Yang considered nullifying the contract since the profits were small. However, he knew better than to antagonize someone related to the gods. It was always better to be on their good side.

Once he had expended all of his Energy, Cheng Yang’s Profession was on the verge of leveling up. Then, after midnight, his Energy was replenished.

Once he used half of that, Cheng Yang became a High-Grade Alchemist.

Once he did, he took the Magic Amplification potion recipe out of his ring and used it. The scroll dissolved into light as a new option appeared under his Alchemy system pane.

The Magic Amplification potion had thirteen ingredients. Twelve were rather common, and Cheng Yang would only need an hour or so to gather a large supply. The last one was somewhat more difficult. It was called the Eight Treasures Flower, and it was considered a High-Grade Ordinary material.

Although it was harder to find that the other ingredients, that didn’t put it on par with once in a century Natural Treasures. It wouldn’t be a problem for someone to find one or two a day if they focused on searching for it.

However, that was unacceptable for Cheng Yang. Thankfully, he wouldn’t need to gather them personally. A person’s Harvesting skill only needed to be at the High-Grade level to harvest the flower perfectly. Even with a Low-Grade skill, a person would succeed fifty percent of the time.

Cheng Yang visited the QuestHall and posted a fetch quest for Eight Treasures Flowers. Each one could be exchanged for ten Experience Fragments and ten territory contribution points. Since he was the Lord of Phoenix Village, rewarding contribution points was a unique privilege he held.

He also had the option of using his Adventurer points from when he completed the God Quest. However, Cheng Yang had no desire to part with them. He wanted to raise his Adventurer Rank, so they were too important to squander.

Once he’d sorted out a supply chain, Cheng Yang began training

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Yuan Jianzhe sighed. “I said you wouldn’t be penalized, but that was before you asked me to commit suicide. There are dozens of people with strength on par with Liu Wei at the village, and if the walls are as durable as the stores here, even explosives wouldn’t be enough to guarantee our victory. Not to mention Cheng Yang would also be there. Wouldn’t handing you over as a sacrifice work much better?”

“I…” Ding Ming’s words caught in his throat. Although he had some power in the safe zone, all it would take was a single command for his execution to be set in stone. “Commander Yuan, you can’t hand me over! I’ve loyally followed you for all these years. Was all my hard work for nothing?”

Before the apocalypse, this scene would be inconceivable. Even if he was a military commander, Yuan Jianzhe didn’t have the authority to order a lieutenant executed, much less exchanged with hostile forces.

“Commander, although Colonel Ding made a mistake, I don’t think it’s appropriate to kill him, even if its to appease Cheng Yang’s anger.” Lao Wu interjected.

“Why do you say that?” Yuan Jianzhe always considered Lao Wu’s words seriously.

“The first reason is that it would harm your reputation as well as the military’s if we can’t even protect a colonel from Cheng Yang. Secondly, Colonel Ding is a talented leader, so giving him to Cheng Yang would be a great loss for the military. Finally, if you are willing to throw away someone like Ding Ming for a single mistake, none of your subordinates will be willing to stay loyal to you.” Lao Wu succinctly summarized his thoughts.

Yuan Jianzhe nodded in response. It was a reasonable argument, and since Lao Wu spoke up, he must have had an alternative solution.

“Commander, I have a plan that may solve our current dilemma.”

“What is it?”

“Since someone needs to be sacrificed to Cheng Yang, we should use this as an opportunity to remove the thorns created by Project Uplift.” Lao Wu suggested. “There are a few new militia groups that have been causing trouble that we can hand over instead.”

“I understand your intentions, but couldn’t Cheng Yang ask our scapegoats if they were the culprits? I don’t think he’s a big enough fool not to.”

“There’s an obvious solution. The dead cannot speak.”

Most of the people present were old foxes, so Lao Wu’s intentions didn’t escape them. Since Ding Ming’s death would create a bad precedent for them, no one opposed the proposal.

“You have until Cheng Yang gets back. See that it gets done.” Yuan Jianzhe said after a few minutes of contemplation.

Lao Wu immediately excused himself to take care of it.

After that, Ding Ming was reprimanded by Yuan Jianzhe before the meeting moved on to a discussion of the future.

The conclusion was that the only way to deal with Cheng Yang would be to tear out his roots. As far as they could tell, his only weaknesses were the villages they’d discovered. Thus, to stop Cheng Yang, those villages needed to be destroyed. So, until they had the power to do so, they would have to accept Cheng Yang’s audacious demands.

Shortly after the meeting ended, the door to an apartment was locked.

“Fuck! After everything I’ve done for him, he was willing to toss me aside like garbage! When is that old man going to fucking die?” Roared a wild voice. Even so, the sound insulation for the apartment was unparalleled, so nothing could be heard outside.

“Old Ding, Yuan Jianzhe’s barely fifty, so how is he an old man?” Another man chuckled from his armchair in the corner. “If you want him to die, you’d better not be hoping for natural causes to take him out.”

“I’ll send him to his death soon.” The Old Ding in question was, of course, Ding Ming.

“Does that mean you’re still going to carry out your plan?”

“Of course, we just got unlucky this time since we didn’t manage to kill one of Cheng Yang’s soldiers. Otherwise, how could he be so passive after an attack? If it were me, I would siege the safe zone until the desperate civilians pushed Yuan Jianzhe out.”

“What a dumb plan, is that what you were hoping would happen?” The other man cackled.

“What do you mean?” Ding Ming frowned.

“You’re a colonel. You’d be forced out too, not to mention that we have more than enough Experience Fragments to feed the safe zone for a month. Wouldn’t that be enough time for Yuan Jianzhe to finish his plans and gain the strength to fight back?” The man said. “Even a fool would rather take the money. I thought you planned to get Yuan Jianzhe demoted.”

“That’s only a guess.” Ding Mind stubbornly refused to admit his plan was terrible. “Besides, if I didn’t endanger myself a bit, that old fox Lao Wu would see right through me.”

“Well, I can’t tease you anymore since Cheng Yang revealed strength far above even your estimates. If he wanted Yuan Jianzhe dead, his pet tiger could probably make sure it happens.”

Ding Ming was unconvinced, but arguing with that man was useless.

“I don’t understand why Cheng Yang won’t act. He must know he’s at a disadvantage if this goes on, right? How many people could he have in those villages? A hundred thousand? We have more than three times that, and thanks to Yuan Jianzhe’s crazy plan, three quarters are Professionals. The longer we’re allowed to grow, the worse it will be for him. If I were him, I would have crushed the safe zone first, so why hasn’t he?”

‘Because he’s not a simple-minded easy to manipulate fool like you.’ The other man thought with a sneer. ‘You get what you pay for, but this man really is too stupid. If he messes up like this again, I’ll need to take care of him.’

“What is an opponent?” The man asked Ding Ming. “Powerful individuals will only consider people on their level to be their opponents. Perhaps Yuan Jianzhe is nothing in Cheng Yang’s eyes? After all, the only real rivals for someone like him in this new world are the endless streams of monsters. There’s also a chance he’s going easy on us since we’re all humans. He should have noticed that even if he’s strong, without the rest of humanity as support, he’ll die just like us when if the monsters evolve faster than us.”

“Well, what should I do next? If my plan was so bad, what’s yours?” Ding Ming said with an annoyed expression.

“Since the city resources are split between Cheng Yang in the East and Yuan Jianzhe in the West, we’ll need to find a way to break that gridlock. Either we entice Cheng Yang to take over the East or force Yuan Jianzhe to try and take control of the West. Either way, we need to be discreet.”

“Why don’t we sneak through the East? We could try to challenge the instance dungeon or search for resources near the other village?”

“It wouldn’t be that easy. The instance dungeon is guarded, and the village has a road to Cheng Yang’s village in the south.” The man said. “No, our goal will be to take over that village in the North.”

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“Cheng Yang, what are you trying to do?” Yuan Jianzhe’s cold voice had thrown all decorum aside.

Cheng Yang smirked.

“Brother Yuan, what are you talking about? Didn’t we agree that I can enter or leave the safe zone as I please? It can’t be that you want to back out of our contract, right?”

“That’s…” Yuan Jianzhe wanted to protest and point out that the deal didn’t extend to whatever the hell the tiger was, but the words were caught in his throat. He was so close to forging the knives that could kill Cheng Yang, so he didn’t want to openly declare war just yet.

“Maybe I’m here to build an army?” Cheng Yang suggested when Yuan Jianzhe remained silent. “A few tens of thousands would be nice. Or even a hundred thousand? What do you think? In my opinion, more is merrier, so I should make one as big as possible.”

Despite Cheng Yang’s taunting, Yuan Jianzhe didn’t get angry. He was never afraid of Cheng Yang’s political power and was even less so after discovering Phoenix Village.

It would be too easy to buy or bribe anyone Cheng Yang left in the safe zone, not to mention the cost of housing an army outside your base of operation. Thus, unless Cheng Yang had been kicked in the head by a donkey, Yuan Jianzhe knew he would never make that choice.

Since Cheng Yang had the energy to joke around, Yuan Jianzhe knew he wasn’t here to start a war. So, he sighed and let the tension flow out of his body.

“What’s your intention?” He asked in a much calmer tone.

“Do you think this is a good place for a conversation?” Cheng Yang motioned towards the large crowd gathering around them.

“I pride myself on transparency, so anything I have to say I can say in public.”

“Oh, in that case, let me put my cards on the table. Yesterday one of my soldiers was injured by an explosion. Probably a hand grenade or landmine. Aside from the army, no one has access to weapons like that. Care to explain yourself?”

“We had nothing to do with that. We’ve been strictly following the terms of our non-aggression pact.” Yuan Jianzhe denied the accusation without batting an eyelid. “There are plenty of deserters who might have one, and too many corpses have littered the city with lost military equipment. It’s even possible some bandits found a military supply depot.”

“Don’t take me for a fool. If I say you did it, that means you did, so don’t bother denying it. You’d better find a way to appease me within three days. Otherwise, our treaty will be nullified.”

Before Yuan Jianzhe could react to that declaration, Cheng Yang’s heels clipped Enlai, and the two disappeared into the distance.

Although Yuan Jianzhe was angry, he had no choice but to endure and stay composed. Since Cheng Yang had slapped his face in public, any outburst of anger would only lower his reputation further.

“Lao Wu, let’s go back. We need to discuss our plan for dealing with Cheng Yang.” Yuan Jianzhe’s only opportunity to regain face was to put on a strong front before leaving. Without a show to watch, the crowd gradually dispersed.

Once they were back at his villa, Yuan Jianzhe turned to Lao Wu.

“What do you make of the monster Cheng Yang was riding?”

“My guess is that Cheng Yang discovered a new game rule. That would make the monster either a mount or a pet. It could also be a new summoning ability he got from the Forgotten Grave. But, I don’t think that’s likely. The monster was too fast to be a summon.” Lao Wu succinctly analyzed the situation. “If its a mount, the speed makes sense, but the combat power wouldn’t be outstanding. However, if its a pet, we’re in trouble.”

“Why would you say that?”

“A monsters speed is a good indicator of its level. Since the monster was faster than Cheng Yang, it should be at least one level higher. Thus, I believe the monster was at least a Pinnacle-Grade monster if not stronger.”

“So its possible Cheng Yang tamed a Mature monster?” Yuan Jianzhe asked with a frown.

“It’s highly likely.”

“In that case, we’ll need to take Cheng Yang’s threat more seriously.” Yuan Jianzhe sighed. If it was just Cheng Yang, they could try to get him banned from the safe zone, but the chances of that affecting a monster were low. “Send out an order. We’re having an emergency meeting.”

With that, Yuan Jianzhe turned and walked up to the attic.

Lao Wu bowed before leaving to spread the word.

Half an hour later, anyone with even a bit of power was gathered in Yuan Jianzhe’s villa.

“Does everyone know about Cheng Yang’s visit today?” Yuan Jianzhe asked with a grave expression.

The crowd nodded.

“Since you all know what happened. Let’s begin. Cheng Yang has gone too far this time, and if we continue to act weak around him, we’re never going to have the opportunity to strike back. Any suggestions?”

“Commander Yuan, is Cheng Yang just looking for an excuse to attack us, or did you plant landmines in his territory?” The captain of the first militia, Lao He, asked.

“As far as I am aware, we did not. However, Cheng Yang doesn’t hide his emotions well enough for the attack to have been a lie. If anyone took the initiative to do what he claimed, please speak up now.”

Yuan Jianzhe glanced around, but no one answered.

“You won’t be punished if you did. Cheng Yang would find trouble with us either way. I just need to know so we can proceed with the correct information.”

“I ordered the attack.” Ding Ming, one of Yuan Jianzhe’s colonels, said quietly. “I believed it to be what the commander would want.”

“Stop. There’s no need to justify yourself. Since his claim is legitimate, we need to discuss how to proceed.” Yuan Jianzhe waved off Ding Ming’s control. “Why did you do it, and what did you learn.”

“As mentioned in my previous reports, my spies discovered a second village to the East of Cloud City. Since they couldn’t get close, we weren’t sure if they were related to Cheng Yang but had to assume they were. Since the two groups were related, the power level of their soldiers should be similar.”

“What’s your point?”

“Attacking the village to the South was too risky since Cheng Yang was there, but since the East was unguarded, it was easy to set a few traps and wait for someone to walk into them. This would allow us the gauge the feasibility of explosives against higher-level individuals.” Ding Ming explained. “I felt this was vital intel due to the presence of the high-level guards we’ve seen on the Southern village. Although they’ve never left, they have the same efficiency Cheng Yang does when it comes to killing.”

“What were the results?”

“A Standard-Grade soldier barely survives the explosion, and the resulting injuries incapacitate them for a few moments before their limbs regenerate.”

Yuan Jianzhe frowned.

“How many of those guards are there?”

“We aren’t sure, but their numbers don’t exceed eighty.”

“Tch, how can that bastard have so many strong soldiers.”

“Commander.” Lau Wu decided to speak. “Given the strength Cheng Yang has displayed, I think conceding one more time will allow us to delay until-“

“Commander, we can’t continue to give in to that man!” Ding Ming cut off the advisor. “As I said before, they seem almost incapable of leaving the village. If we can confirm that they are NPCs, we have nothing to worry about. even if we can’t attack him, we can at least stop Cheng Yang from attacking us!”

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“Young miss, what’s your name?” After Cheng Yang left, Wei Yun breathed out a sigh of relief. So long as Cheng Yang was around, an invisible pressure weighed down on him. It was only after watching him destroy Captain Zhou that he truly understood how little bargaining power he had.

“My name is Jie Zhengqing, Mr. Wei. I hope we can work well together in the future.” Jie Zhengqing’s speech was a little stiff since Wei Yun used to be her boss.

“No need to be so formal.” Wei Yun said with a tinge of bitterness. “My time as a leader is over. If you still think highly of me, just call me Old Wei. Since you have some sway with that irrational man, please take care of me in the future.

“Old Wei, don’t worry about Cheng Yang. He’s unreasonable and unruly, but from what Brother Lau told me, he takes care of his own.”

“Speaking of which, do you know where Cheng Yang will be taking us? You should know how hard it is to find a place monsters avoid, so why is he forcing us to abandon the settlement? Isn’t it too much of a waste?” Wei Yun asked.

“Don’t worry about that.” Jie Zhengqing said with a smile. “This place is a landfill compared to the village Cheng Yang controls outside of town. As long as we have the resources, we can build walls, buildings, and even a grocery store. We’ll be completely safe from monsters, and the village is the source of our powers.”

Wei Yun was stunned. How could Cheng Yang have a village outside Yicheng? There was nothing but dense forest for miles, so how did he build it? More importantly, how did he obtain such absurd powers from a mere village? How did it have a grocery store? Wasn’t it meaningless without farms?

At that time, one of the faction leaders cut in: “That village sounds like something out of a medieval sims game.”

“Yeah, that’s basically what it is.” Jie Zhengqing confirmed. “And our powers are like classes from an MMO.”

“If that’s the case, then we really are saved!” The faction leader cheered. “No wonder Cheng Yang was so strong!”

Wei Yun didn’t know anything about video games, but he was very good at reading the mood. Since the faction leader and Jie Zhengqing were so confident, he could abandon the settlement without worry.

“Ah! Old Wei, what should I do with the prisoners? Cheng Yang told me to deal with them, but I’m not sure what he meant. Should we kill them?”

Wei Yun looked over at the captured rebels, and a dark cloud passed over his face. On the inside, however, he was cheering. This was his chance to regain lost power by becoming an advisor.

“It seems Miss Jie is still new to governance. Cheng Yang was probably testing your resolve, so naturally, you must kill them all, and quickly.” Wei Yun explained. “You should go even further if you want to impress him. Root out Captain Zhou’s friends and allies. You don’t have to kill them, but at the very least, they need to be suppressed. The best way to do that would be to screen everyone from his faction. If Miss Jie is unwilling to do it yourself, this old one needs but an order.”

At first, Jie Zhengqing was hesitant to agree. Killing the people that tried to attack her was fine, but she felt that even killing those that were related was a bit much. However, when she thought about Captain Zhou’s treachery and how Cheng Yang handled it, she couldn’t bring herself to say no.

Even though she hated his guts, Jie Zhengqing respected the way Cheng Yang handled the situation. Moreover, she needed to make sure not to get on his bad side, so Wei Yun’s suggestion seemed to be a good one.

“In that case, I will leave this to you, Old Wei. Kill anyone that you feel must die.” Jie Zhengqing’s decision was resolute, and Wei Yun was happy for the opportunity to prove himself useful.

---

By the time Cheng Yang and Lau Hui returned to the settlement, Wei Yun had finished purging those close to Captain Zhou.

Then, Cheng Yang led the three hundred people selected by Wei Yu to the outskirts of Yicheng, and then to Copper Tomb Village. He could have taken more people, but this was already stretching his limits since he was the only useful person in a fight.

More than an hour later, the slow procession arrived at its destination.

Everything regarding the territory had been explained during the trip by Lau Hui and Jie Zhengqing, so the process following their arrival went smoothly.

Wei Yun’s closest aids, alongside Jie Zhengqing’s family, had their aptitudes tested then were allowed to perform class change ceremonies.

A few people, like Wei Yun, had the necessary Experience Fragments to pay for themselves. Everyone else needed at least a partial loan from Cheng Yang.

After the initial eighty slots were filled, Cheng Yang left Lau Hui behind to protect the rest. Then, he called Enlai, and they teleported to Phoenix Village.

---

When he arrived, Cheng Yang wired the necessary Experience Fragments to level up Copper Tomb Village to Lau Hui. Then he left the village since it was only seven in the evening.

His overall goal was to visit Sky God Island and obtain the Nightmare Difficulty First Clear. Although he couldn’t be certain, Cheng Yang had a hunch the reward would be a unique Warrior subclass.

However, before that, Cheng Yang had someone he needed to visit. So, he directed Enlai towards the Cloud City safe zone.

When Cheng Yang rode Enlai directly through the barrier meant to keep monsters out, there was a great deal of confusion and panic.

“How did a monster get inside?”

Most people were too shocked to move.

“Someone help!”

A significant minority ran for their lives.

“Calm down, as long as we handle this together, it won’t be a problem.”

Those who were Professionals did neither. They hastily pulled out their weapons and surrounded the white tiger.

“Back off!” Cheng Yang shouted so loudly that any nearby civilians felt their eardrums rattle. It was only at this point that anyone noticed the person on the “monster’s” back.

“How did you get a monster through the barrier?” A person that seemed to be the leader of the gathered combatants asked in a voice dripping with malice.

“Only ignorant eyes like yours could see a monster.” cheng Yang growled. “If Little White were a monster, you would already be dead.”

Cheng Yang couldn’t be bothered to waste any more time on people that weak, so he directed Enlai to move towards the city center. As long as he made enough of a ruckus, Yuan Jianzhe would come out eventually.

“You stop right there!” Although the person from before seemed to be filled with a heroic spirit, Enlai’s aura prevented them from taking a single step forwards.

Cheng Yang’s guess was spot on. He didn’t even reach the center of the city before an organized militia stopped him. At the forefront was Yuan Jianzhe.

Yuan Jianzhe’s face looked calm, but his entire body was filled with visible tension and rage. How could he not be in a bad mood when his worst enemy burst into his house without knocking?

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Even now, the settlement was facing a huge crisis, the same one every gathering of humans was. All of the easily available food was gone. Perishables had long since disintegrated, and everything else was either deep underground or in the territory of a monster horde.

As it stands, the settlement had a week to go before food riots started. Then, the only source of food would be monsters.

For the settlement’s citizens, the only option would be to throw themselves at the monsters in hopes of killing them with numbers. At that point, the settlement would be no more.

However, Cheng Yang’s arrival might change that. Or at least Wei Yun told himself it would.

Although Wei Yun and his aides controlled the colony, ten internal factions held considerable power as well. Since Wei Yun had submitted, the next step was to have the other important figures in the settlement submit.

Wei Yun summoned them to the center of the settlement, and although none of them were happy to lose what little power they had, none of them dared to fight back. Wei Yun had overpowered them, so anyone that could subdue him wasn’t to be messed with. They were especially hesitant when they saw Lau Hui’s dire wolf.

“Now!” One of the faction leaders suddenly shouted.

In an instant, two dozen people jumped up from behind the tents aiming guns at Cheng Yang and the other settlement leaders. This time, however, their arsenal wasn’t limited to meer pistols.

Cheng Yang’s brow wrinkled. Guns weren’t a threat to him, but no one enjoyed being held at gunpoint. It was also his second time today. Cheng Yang could forgive Wei Yun since he had provoked the man, but if these fools didn’t come up with a reasonable explanation, Cheng Yang was going to send them to visit King Yama.

“Captain Zhou, what a treacherous fool you are.” Wei Yun spat at a man in his thirties with long hair tied into a ponytail.

“Wei Yun, this is your fault for forcing an incident.” Captain Zhou said with a devious smile while pulling out a gun of his own and aiming it at Cheng Yang’s head. “I was willing to keep the peace until now, but we all worked hard to make the settlement what it is today, so who are you to give it up for personal gain? Isn’t that right, everyone? It’s so sickening it gives me the chills.”

The man’s words were addressed to the other faction leaders in the crowd. Although some of them agreed, no one dared to move around with so many guns pointed at them.

“It gives you the chills?” Wei Yun snorted. “Bullshit. You’ve clearly prepared yourself for a rebellion, so if you didn’t do it now, you would have done it later. I can only praise you for being too well hidden. I had no clue you’d stockpiled this many guns.”

“Rebellion? You’re senile old man. What loyalty do we have to you? This is simply us fighting to control our own destiny.”

“How ignorant.” Cheng Yang sighed. Initially, he had been willing to see how this played out, but he didn’t have the patience to listen any longer.

Captain Zhou’s only hint towards Cheng Yang’s abilities was the dire wolf next to Lau Hui and second-hand information from Wei Yun. The firepower he had now was more than enough to annihilate a small group of monsters, so how could he put a few humans and a wolf in his eyes? Even if Wei Yun wasn’t exaggerating, how could a human body withstand a bullet? As long as he hit Cheng Yang, it would be over.

Cheng Yang’s disdainful attitude did nothing to dissuade Captain Zhou. He felt himself a cat playing with a mouse in its claws. How blind he was not to recognize that the mouse was a tiger, and he was but a grasshopper.

“You may feel powerful, boy, but a bullet will end you like anyone else. If you want to live, you’d better tell me how you got those powers of yours. Otherwise, I’ll-” Cheng Yang suddenly charged at Captain Zhou.

The Captain’s words weren’t just for show, as soon as Cheng Yang moved, he fired his gun. Unfortunately, Cheng Yang was too fast. The bullet missed, and the distance was closed in an instance. With a fierce kick, he shattered the man’s kneecap sending him to the ground.

When Captain Zhou looked up, he saw a sharp iron sword pointed at his throat.

“Stay put, or I’ll gut you.” Cheng Yang said calmly.

Despite everything, Captain Zhou had a smile on his face still. His soldiers continued to point their guns at the center of the group, with only a few changing their targets to Cheng Yang.

“So that withered old man wasn’t lying about you.” Captain Zhou chuckled. “This makes me want your powers even more.”

“Do you not understand the situation you’re in? Order your subordinates to put down their guns in three seconds; otherwise, you’ll die.” Cheng Yang said bluntly.

“That depends on what you can give me.”

“Do you think you’re in a position to negotiate right now?”

“How could I not be? Your friend’s lives are in my hands even though mine is in yours.” Captain Zhou cackled. “Push me too far and well see if both of us don’t die.”

“What a crazy bastard. Its people like you who are the most troublesome to deal with.” Cheng Yang sneered before snatching the Captain’s pistol.

Then, Cheng Yang lifted the gun up to his temple and leisurely fired. The bullet didn’t even have the power to make his head move. It just bounced off.

One bullet after another, Cheng Yang methodically shot himself until the clip was empty.

Captain Zhou’s face oscillated between fear, excitement, despair, and ecstasy with each shot of the gun. At first, he had been confused, but now he knew why Cheng Yang was so confident.

“How can this be? You aren’t afraid of bullets! This is too amazing!” The Captain laughed despite the danger he was in.

“Three.” Cheng Yang ignored the man and started counting down.

“How wonderful, when I get that power, I’ll be unstoppable.” Captain Zhou grinned. “Even if you kill me now, Wei Yun and the others will still die. I refuse to believe everyone is as bullet-resistant as you!”

“Are you stupid? Even if everyone here died, I could just find someone else to serve me.”

“What about me, then? I’ll serve you loyally as long as you give me power like yours.” Captain Zhou said in an unconvincing tone.

“Your just another unfortunate soul, so if you submit to me, I’ll consider it. I also promise not to kill your subordinates.”

“Really? Great, everyone stand down!” Captain Zhou shouted.

Although their leader was crazy, none of his subordinates weren’t willing to die with him. As soon as they had the opportunity, they threw their guns to the ground.

A moment later, Wei Yun’s underlings rushed forwards to repossess the weapons.

Cheng Yang stored the sword in his ring and tossed the pistol back to Captain Zhou. Then, he turned to Lau Hui: “Ox, you know what to do.”

Before Captain Zhou had a chance to get up, Lau Hui’s dire wolf charged forwards and bit into his neck. Even in death, the man never stopped smiling.

“Even if I let everyone else go, a crazy and vicious snake like you needs to die.” Cheng Yang said coldly as the wolf ripped Captain Zhou into pieces.

“Jie Zhengqing, you and Wei Yun can take care of the rest. I promised to spare his subordinates, but that promise does not extend to you. Do what you want.” Cheng Yang turned to address Wei Yun. “Pick some people you trust. After me and Ox finish clearing the surrounding area, we’ll bring you to our village. We’ll bring the rest of the settlement in batches later.”

Then, Cheng Yang left with Lau Hui before anyone could ask him a question.

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