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Chapter 1: Arrival of Black Iron Age
Translator: WQL Editor: Geoffrey
After raining for a night, the breathless coal ash was cleaned off. Rarely breathing fresh air, Zhang Tie walked alone on the road to school. "It should be more azure without the black smoke from the towering chimneys rising into the sky," he thought while absent-mindedly striding over the black puddles on the cement ground. After it rained, the remaining water on the ground was black and smelt like the coal ash in the mill areas. While this city brought people a sense of safety, it also brought the feeling of being bound and the feeling of congestion. Looking into the distance, Zhang Tie found the huge chimneys to be pretty dazzling under the crystal blue sky.
Teacher said that chimneys symbolized human civilization and guaranteed the prosperity and survival of human beings. Those upright chimneys, however, reminded Zhang Tie of his p*nis and the black smoke his seminal fluid. They polluted the air like how the liquid polluted his underwear. Although he couldn't remember who was in his dream last night, for the third time this week, he could feel something sticky inside his underwear. In this age that severely lacked living necessities, Zhang Tie only had four pairs of underwear. Two pairs were tailored from his father's torn sweaters, while the other two were his brother's hand-me-downs. As it was always raining these days, two pairs of his underwear were still wet, including the current one. He only had the last half-dried one left; therefore, he had no other choice but to go to school miserably in this pair of underwear.
The half-wet, coarse cloth turned hard and felt uncomfortable in the trousers. As a result, he always felt pain on his d*ck. It also felt very cold; Zhang Tie couldn't help but shiver. What's more is the 15-year old's d*ck got damaged. What torture!
It was said that human society owned rich materials before the Catastrophe. In that age, underwear was sold by the dozen. Moreover, many precious articles like cigarettes, wine, meat, and as well as various rare and eccentric goods could be easily bought from a place called the supermarket. At that time, an ordinary man could afford 40-70kgs of rice or wheat through a day of labor, which was enough for him to live for half to one month, or perhaps even longer. It was also said that a mysterious energy called "electricity" was made; human beings could use it to do many unimaginable things. Additionally, people also invented many great weapons which made them the only ruler on the celestial body. They were so arrogant that they held everything else in contempt. Unfortunately, what waited for the heyday was the Catastrophe.
Zhang Tie always thought that even the gods could not stand the unending greed of humans; therefore, it launched the Catastrophe and created the Star of God. As punishment, the gods beat human beings back from their peak into a simpler age. As a result, human beings lost all the magical powers brought by science and technology. They had neither electricity, nuclear power, explosives, nor those amazing weapons. According to the most accepted saying, there was some particle in the unknown rays carried by the Star of God that greatly changed all micro components of the substances on the celestial body. Take the original star as a pot of plain water. Once the almighty god or any celestial beings found human beings uncomfortable, they could spray a hand of salt or pepper powder onto it casually, and as a result, the plain water was no longer plain. Likewise, the star was not the very same either.
After the catastrophe, what people felt was fortunate might be that steel and iron were still as hard as before; they could be used to cast into cutleries, swords, and armors for the army. Black coal was still combustible; they could still bring light, heat, and energy to human beings. In other words, everything made from the above two such as cutleries, swords, armor, thermal energy, and steam engines would be the last dependence of human beings in this age…
It was more than a 40 minutes walk distance between home and school. Zhang Tie had to go through the slums in the western parts of Blackhot city and the barren region at the margin of the urban mill district before he arrived at school. The name of Blackhot City originated from the Blackhot Mountain next to the city. It was said that Blackhot Mountain was one of the longest mountain ranges on Kun'ang Continent before the Catastrophe. Back then, people created an aircraft that could fly faster than sound; however, it still took the aircraft several months to fly across the range from one end to the other. Take Blackhot City for instance. It was actually a fine branch south of the Blackhot Mountain Range. It stretched over 20,000km, a length that many people would not traverse in their whole lives.
When the Catastrophe arrived, the Kun'ang Continent, which covered hundreds of millions of square miles, was divided into pieces due to the tremendous geological and plate movements, akin to a loaf of bread being split by kids. Numerous parts formed, while the others directly disappeared. Through vicissitudes, people today could not imagine the magnificence of Blackhot Mountain and the grandeur of this vast continent. Even now, the world was still too large for everyone. The location 800km west and north of Blackhot City has yet to be explored; it was still an unknown. However, the area where Blackhot City was located, south of the Blackhot Mountain Range, covered more than 400 million square km. More than 9 billion lived here. It was a gathering of numerous countries, city-states, and clan forces; however, it was merely a slim and narrow belt on the map of the whole continent. With lofty mountains on the northernmost and westernmost regions and vast oceans on the southernmost and easternmost regions, it was the area with high population density. On the map, it was named the Corridor of Blackson Human Clan.
After the Catastrophe, it took human beings about 100 years to find out what happened to the planet when the Catastrophe fell. It then took the remaining people almost 100 years to recover slightly. Unexpectedly, they found that human beings were no longer the only ruler of the planet. Those eccentric demons and dark clans from underground took human beings as delicious dim sum and slaves. They made the planet dangerous and posed several challenges to the survival of human beings.
Today marked the 889th year on the Black Iron Calendar after the Catastrophe. Human survivors continued to multiply and now stood firm on the Kun'ang Continent once again. Furthermore, driven by countless steel, iron, and steaming machines, they became ambitious to further explore the planet and convince the world that they were the rightful rulers once more.
Blackhot City was younger than 40 years; it was the symbol of humankind's rejuvenation and re-ignition of ambition. It was young compared to the numerous human countries and city-states in the southern area of the Blackhot Mountain Range. Blackhot City was founded by businessmen and mill owners. As an industrial city, it occupied a seat in the Andaman City-State Alliance Parliament. Same as most emerging cities in this age, the city relied on rich resources, which included rich coal and mineral resources. The entire city and its 3 million inhabitants were depending on the rich resources from underground the city. It was ruled by the Coal, Steel, and Iron Federation of Blackhot City (CSIF). Numerous steam locomotives would carry coal, steel, iron, cutleries, swords, and armors, as well as other weapons and equipment, out of this city from factories. Meanwhile, they also transported in goods from outside the city.
Under the most firm chimney was the mill where Zhang Tie's father worked. As an iron and steel mill, it almost always ran around the clock. Ever since Zhang Tie was born into this world, the chimney always emitted black smoke. It witnessed the human's decision to rejuvenate.
When Zhang Tie arrived at school, he found that Captain Kerlin, the military representative and educational director of the school, was standing upright like an iron tower at the school gates as he usually does. His ox-egg eyes gazing at each student entering the Seventh National School of Blackhot City seriously. He was patting an iron rod like a toothpick on his other hand, which produced a frightening sound. No student dared to look at his scary face that was covered by a black eye patch. They all passed as fast as they could, with their heads lowered.
"Stop!" A boy with bad luck standing not far from Zhang Tie was stopped. The thunder-like voice caused everyone to shiver. When they found out that they were not the one, they quickly lowered their heads and passed the gate while silently praying for the boy.
The poor boy turned pale. When he saw Captain Kerlin walking towards him, his legs shook heavily as he staggered, "Captain… Kerlin…"
As the most terrifying one-eyed man in the school, perhaps even in the whole Blackhot City, he preferred Captain Kerlin instead of Director Kerlin. It was a precious experience accumulated by numerous predecessors in this school at the cost of blood and tears. As Captain Kerlin could fight terrifying monsters, any resistance or struggle in front of this terrifying man was in vain and would only make him more thrilled.
Silently, Captain Kerlin simply pointed at the trousers of the boy with the iron stick in his hand. Perhaps due to the rain, there were some mud marks on the boy's trousers; that would be seen as guilty by Captain Kerlin.
"I… I will clean it right away!"
With his wrist raised high, Captain Kerlin glanced at the shiny watch, slowly and expressionlessly. He held that pose silently for more than 10 seconds while he patted the iron stick, which produced a horrible sound.
Zhang Tie doubted that this guy aimed to just show off his valuable watch. When he patted the iron stick, it reminded Zhang Tie of a timber wolf wagging its tail.
"You know what will happen if I see you like this after school!"
"Yes… yes…" the boy hurriedly rushed into school after having been remitted. When Zhang Tie was curious as to why Captain Kerlin was so kind today, unexpectedly, the one-eyed man looked at Zhang Tie's direction and rapidly arranged his mane-like hair. He stood upright, showing his well-developed pectoral muscles and made a magnificent pose. He raised his developed pectoral muscles and even shook them like a sexy lady. Besides that, a smile appeared on his ferocious face which almost frightened Zhang Tie.
"Miss Daina, good morning!"
A fragrant wind blew past Zhang Tie, as a mature and beautiful lady passed by him. Needless to say, Zhang Tie knew who was coming; the dream last night became clear now. Zhang Tie became breathless when he saw that exaggerated, undulant curve of her waist and hip from behind. With her beautiful curly brown hair, Goddess Daina entered the school gate under the thirsty look of all the male animals. The proud goddess nodded to the one-eyed man who greeted her. He instantly became thrilled, and his face turned red. As a result, the iron stick in his hand was bent, reflecting his horrible face.
Miss Daina was the very woman that all male students in the school desired to see in their dreams; they also fantasized about her when they masturbated. Her husband had died in the front lines soon after they got married. She was the goddess and the only scenery in the school. She was the flower on the cliff and the person whom Zhang Tie fell in love with secretly. She made the young beasts live an enthusiastic life.
"In two more years, I can afford a house downtown!" shouted the one-eyed man towards her back like a lion in heat — No, a disgusting and horny boar. Zhang Tie would even like to kill and replace him when he thought of the scene where Goddess Daina is groaning painfully under him…
"What are you looking at?" glancing at the rest of the people maliciously, the one-eyed man shouted. As a result, everybody, including Zhang Tie, lowered their heads and rolled through the school gates. Zhang Tie greedily smelt the last fragrance in the air. That beautiful and mature figure always made Zhang Tie self-abated. He was not even brave enough to have a face-to-face look at her. If Goddess Daina was a noble and beautiful swan flying elegantly over the tranquil late, then Zhang Tie felt that he would be a wild duckling that fell into a quagmire full of coal ash. Lowering his head, Zhang Tie gazed at the pair of old leather boots and became somewhat frustrated. What could a poor student like him give to Goddess Daina? Even Captain Kerlin was striving for her? **? How long would it take him to live downtown with high city walls like Captain Kerlin? Thirty or forty years? Thinking of this, Zhang Tie suddenly turned blue. However, the very thing inside his trousers, once again, became hard once he smelt the fragrance of a mature female in the air…
On the stony wall before him, several words were carved into it — WELCOME TO THE AGE OF BLACK IRON
Chapter 2: National Male Middle School
Translator: WQL Editor: Geoffrey
The Seventh National School in Blackhot City was a standard male school; there were literally no female students in the school. Courses for male students were completely different from those for female students. For the purpose of conserving resources and increase teaching efficiency, boys and girls were separated into different schools after five years of compulsory preliminary education in the same school. All courses in the school for males were for survival. Each young man entering school should be able to accumulate their survival assets in the fastest speed and at the least cost! Each graduate had no graduation certificate at all; the best certificate was surviving in this world. Thus, each course in the school was closely related to your survival. In the male school, besides learning basic Chinese, laws, and math, they also had to learn skills like taking care of seeds, letting it mature, and turning grains into food. In contrast, education in the female school would be more human-friendly with courses like music, literature, cooking, fine arts, and dance.
How to use all resources near you and turn them into basic survival tools.
How to use convenient resources and build the simplest house.
How to identify and avoid attacks from dangerous wild animals.
How to make basic medicine with wild plants.
How to deal with several common diseases.
How to use weapons.
How to increase your own physical strength...
After eight years of national compulsory education, 99% of the common graduates would leave school and enter society. They had to start their own lives. If you had learned well at school, you could be a tenant with a hoe, a worker inside a factory, or a soldier in the army —or the food of alien clans or cannon fodder, although you have a little training. The national education spirit in the Age of Black Iron was to cultivate survivors instead of wild animal wastes, in the most efficient means and at the least cost.
Of course, same as before the Catastrophe, compulsory education in this age was not the greatest. After eight years of compulsory education, only a few elite students with a strong background or exceptional talents were qualified to learn more professional knowledge and receive true elite education in more senior and mysterious places. Naturally, Blackhot City didn't have any senior elite colleges at all since it was founded by a group of businessmen and mill owners. It only had an ordinary commercial school which was already much-in-demand for commoners.
Only the human cities with deeper cultural deposits and core agglomerations owned true elite colleges; however, they had strict enrollment conditions that only one in ten thousand students could be enrolled. To put it simply, the Seventh National School in Blackhot City had one thousand graduates each year. Despite this, for eight consecutive years, it failed to cultivate a single graduate that was qualified to enter a true elite college. Eight years ago, a Chinese talent named Li Shizhen was selected by the Continental Alchemists Trade Union. He was directly taken away after graduation. The man became the pride of the entire school, and as a result, his personal photo was hung in the exhibition room of the school for eight years. In each general assembly, the headmaster would always talk about Li Shizhen's glorious past. The other two photos that were hung together with Li Shizhen's photo were both legendary graduates from the school. The high-end education in this age was definitely true elite education. By contrast, the enrollment scale of ten million students a year in national high-end colleges before the Catastrophe was utterly a myth. Knowledge in this age was unexpectedly expensive and was only mastered by the minorities, a few clans, powerful schools, and all shrines and churches. Only the true elites could have the opportunity to touch that.
Although Zhang Tie worked hard at school, he failed to become an elite or a lucky dog in this age where everyone was striving for survival. As none of Zhang Tie's family members or relatives were big figures, Zhang Tie was also common in every aspect. He was not the worst, good, elite, or crap. If it went on like this, Zhang Tie felt that he would have to follow in his father's steps. He might look for safe and stable work after serving the military. He would strive to be a common worker in a city mill and marry a diligent woman with common looks. He would have several kids and work hard like an ant for food for the whole family until one day, he would lay in bed, almost dead, recalling his miserable and dark life like a tiny screw in this age and missing the beautiful ladies like Goddess Daina whom he had met, but never slept with. Then he would raise his quivering hand and raise his middle finger towards this motherf*cking age before kicking the bucket…
Zhang Tie couldn't help but shiver when this thought came to mind. He entered the classroom and swore to never live such a life. Although he had long made such a decision, he especially reminded himself to live long enough to have gold coins and sleep with enough beautiful women. If one day he had to pass away, Zhang Tie hoped for such a scene: a great number of beautiful and sexy ladies would weep for him, perhaps even die for him. Meanwhile, many disobedient children and grandchildren couldn't help but chuckle to themselves, or even LOL, that thankfully, the old man kicked the bucket.
Zhang Tie imagined that he might also live those big figures' lives one day — dozens of pairs of underwear in the cabinet, dozens of pairs of new leather shoes, meat in each meal, and a personal maid with plump, sexy breasts and bottom...
Zhang Tie always thought this way. He always thought that all big figures would never worry about food and clothes. However, it was unreachable like an ugly duckling rolling in a quagmire yet dreamed of being a giant dragon.
About ten minutes before the technical class, when Zhang Tie entered the classroom, he found several beasts peering out the windows with one hand rubbing fast. Some of them even slightly groaned. Zhang Tie looked out a window, and what impressed him was Goddess Daina's big breasts as she passed by the flower terrace with her slim and supple figure…
Zhang Tie swallowed his saliva…
"Bastards!"
"Bighead, what's up! Come on! Let's enjoy it..." the acne covered guy who was rubbing his d*ck out of his trousers turned around and suggested "sincerely".
"No, I saw Captain Kerlin heading for our classroom. You keep enjoying it!"
Hearing this, everyone stopped and turned pale. Their d*cks shrunk in a speed that could be identified by naked eyes, like deflating balloons. Then the classroom was in general turmoil. Several people's flesh, even the pubic hair, was caught by the zippers. Therefore, howls and wails spread throughout the classroom. God bless. Zhang Tie would bet that Captain Kerlin would actually rush in and break their eggs if he knew what was happening in the classroom…
Everyone instantly returned and pretended to stand in front of their operating tables. All of a sudden, the classroom became peaceful. Zhang Tie also went to his operating table and cleaned it casually. He then started to check whether the tools on it were well arranged. Ten minutes soon elapsed. When the bell rang and the teacher walked into the classroom with a large amount of things in hand, Captain Kerlin still hadn't shown himself. Relaxing, those bastards glared at Zhang Tie furiously, although they dared not to be presumptuous in the classroom.
The teacher was a 50-odd year bald man; he always looked gloomy and spoke as little as possible. However, no one dared to look down on him, as the old man once made a pile of waste into a small, single-cylinder streaming machine in a single morning by using several simple tools in front of them. The streaming machine started to rotate when a fire basket was put on it. Besides the old man, every teacher in this age was great.
As usual, when the bald man entered the classroom, he wrote "man-made spiral spring" on the blackboard. He then began his lessons, and after that, he left formulas and relevant data on the spring winding ratio, compressive slenderness ratio, core diameter, and tensile strength and designated people to distribute his steel wires. Each student received three steel wires. Their work this morning was to casually manufacture three kinds of spiral springs. Receiving the steel wires, everybody started to work on their own operating table. Those bastards looked totally different from before since they were striving for their survival now. The bald man walked out of the classroom with a glass of water in hand.
The largest difference between human beings and the powerful beasts and alien clans that only knew how to massacre was that human beings could create and use tools. Springs, although tiny, were applied in many areas. Undoubtedly, creating springs by hand became a survival skill.
Getting his own steel wires, Zhang Tie thought for a while and got an idea. He kept the formulas in mind and measured his three steel wires in different lengths and thicknesses. Then, he started to calculate on a writing board. Finally, he had decided the shape of the three springs. Namely, a simple column compression spring, a concave type compression spring, and a column-type torsion spring with a round hook...
Chapter 3: Fight
Translator: WQL Editor: Geoffrey
Each operating table was an iron desk that was longer than a meter. A rotary vice clamp was fixed on one end of each iron desk, and tools were placed in the tool slot at the front of the desk. The tools included: a hand saw, file, hammer, chisel, screw tap, incisor, straight steel ruler, divider calipers, scratch awl, and vernier calipers. On the other end of the table, there was a set of pedal-type grinder and an anvil that was placed beside the grinders. This was the most common and the cheapest operating table that was meant for apprentices. It was said that the senior operating tables were matched with a steam-powered module and a melting furnace. As for the experienced workers, a senior operating table was enough because they could make almost everything on it.
With his plan in mind, Zhang Tie instantly put on his work uniform and wore his protective goggles. He then started with the largest steel wire. As he had no special steel wire control panel, he had to utilize the existing tools to process it. He fixed the steel wire and the wooden board onto the jaw vice. He then placed the core well inside and fixed one head of the steel wire onto it. After rotating it clockwise carefully, he checked and found no problems, thus he continued to rotate it. Generally, it was not that hard. After a while, Zhang Tie had almost finished his first spring. He counted the number of spring circles and cut off the excess circles on the anvil. He then grinded the two burry ends of the steel wire with the grinder, and finally, the simplest column-type spring was made. He tested it and found it to be truly flexible. Zhang Tie's spirit rose and finished the remaining two springs easily. It took him a bit more time to complete the round hook. By comparison, when Zhang Tie was working hard on a round hook with a chisel, someone else had already finished three springs. Finally, the bald man walked inside and answered the questions of the students who raised their hands. He checked each student's three works and explained tempering heat treatment on the springs. He emphasized that the ends of the springs should be round and tightened. He then solved problems regarding the coiling of springs and the creation of internal and external torque arm tools. The students then had another try. Three hours in the morning soon passed in this fashion…
The students ate lunch in the school cafeteria. This was also a benefit of the school, although the food was not that good. They often saw no oil for a couple of weeks, and the food could only sated their hunger, but was not enough to fill them. Even then, the crowd that rushed towards the cafeteria at lunch time was really horrible. According to the arrangements of the school, cafeterias were divided by grades, and even the number of diners was fixed. As the number of dining plates was always less than the number of students in each grade's cafeteria, there were always some people with bad luck that failed to get their lunch at each noon. As a result, they would directly pass out on the playground where they accepted military skills training in the afternoon. Zhang Tie himself had encountered this occasion twice. From then on, he deeply understood the first rule in the Age of Black Iron, namely striving to fill his stomach.
The only rule in the school cafeteria was to line up; therefore, if you didn't want to part of the starved group, you would have to line up as soon as possible. Besides that, you should also be strong enough in case of aggression from others. Certainly, luck was also very important.
Take this time for instance.
Zhang Tie was standing in the middle of the line. After three hours of classes, the group of fifteen or sixteen-year-old male students were starved. The line was already long, while many students continued to in. Thankfully, Zhang Tie slipped away extremely fast after class. Otherwise, he might have had no food today. When the slowest students arrived at the end of the line gloomily, the students at the front had already gotten their lunch and were ready to eat it. Right then, the noisy school cafeteria suddenly became quiet. Zhang Tie looked back and found a group of people led by Glaze swaggering over. Although they arrived last, they didn't line up at all. Instead, they strutted directly to the front of the line. Seeing this group, the students who had just received the dining plates turned pale.
F*ck, disgusting craps. They do this every noon! Zhang Tie verbally abused inwardly.
"Ho ho, sorry to trouble you today!" They moved in front of the students who were receiving lunch. Speaking kindly, they showed off an arrogant air with their heads raised and nose towards the sky. They crossed their arms while showing a smile of ridicule. They looked at the students, whose faces had already turned pale, like what a cat would do to a mouse.
"Mother f*ckers! They're really arrogant!" Zhang Tie abused in a low voice.
"You can also be arrogant and grab others' food like them if you are able to beat them!"
"It's said that Glaze has already passed the examination and is qualified to be a LV 2 soldier. Two burning points inside him have already been ignited. Seventh National Middle School has not seen such a great figure for many years!"
TL note: The more burning points ignited, the greater the soldier would be.
"He was just born strong; he nothing to be proud of. They are just simple-minded guys with well-developed limbs. Are they attracting the school party in this naive method just to gain a recommendation?"
"Humph… humph… no more jealousy. He's born with that exceptional aptitude, and they are much stronger than us, so we should stay away from them..."
"He has a great dad, a big figure in the CSIF!"
"Big figure? Bah! He's just a head guard !"
"Naturally, those behind him are also big figures!"
"I will never concede to that motherf*cker! No matter the reason!"
"They will beat you when you walk out the school gate, and it will take you one month to get up. Isn't that enough of a reason?"
When the people beside Zhang Tie discussed in a low voice, the boys being grabbed walked over dejectedly. When seeing the unlucky fellows, some showed looks of sympathy, while others looked cold. However, nobody dared to comfort them, not even with a single word. Each student at the school had to strive for themselves. This was why the cafeteria was several dining plates short everyday. If you didn't fight for yourself, nobody would fight for you. As for the weak people, they had no options. They either had to submit to humiliation or suffer from nosebleeds and broken bones.
Seeing the gloomy and embarrassed passersby reminded Zhang Tie of something. What would I do if it were me? What if they grab my beloved Daina instead of just a dining plate? What would I do? Zhang Tie suddenly became worried. It seemed that he had already seen the desperate and weeping face of Miss Daina. The teenager felt painful inside.
Never...
The youth growled inside like a beast
...
The second floor of the cafeteria was for teachers. There were also several pairs of eyes peering over from behind the glass wall.
"LV 2 soldier. He was so powerful in front of those kids. Glaze himself could easily beat a dozen of them easily. He has such a physical advantage!"
"The group led by Glaze was composed of four people. By comparison, there were several hundred people behind them. They simply understood half of teachers' patient lessons and had learned how to compete and fight for their own lives, but they ignored the other half — teamwork, which was extremely critical to their survival..."
"This was the difference between human beings and beasts. No matter how weak they are alone, weak individuals can be powerful enough to take down a strong beast once they have united."
"They might understand this in the future..."
"I will see who among them can realize it first!"
The voices behind the glass wall gradually became unclear amidst the sounds of friction from the forks and knifes and the crunching of food.
Although Zhang Tie had no appetite, he still ate his poor lunch. He then queued up and seriously washed his dining plates and dinnerwares under a water faucet. After giving them back to the cafeteria, he felt somewhat frustrated, as the desperate and weeping face of Daina constantly appeared in his mind as if it truly had happened. He walked away with his head lowered; he became more depressed whenever he occasionally noticed the pair of heavily worn leather shoes with two patches on it. When he walked into the woods close to the school, he found himself surrounded by several people.
"Are you still satisfied with what you did to us this morning?" A fist had already landed on his stomach before he had realized. Zhang Tie almost vomited his lunch. Bending over painfully, Zhang Tie finally realized what was happening. "!@#$! I'm surrounded by them. I already noticed their hostility in class, so I shouldn't have forgotten that."
"Beat him!" the moment the bent over Zhang Tie heard this voice, he found a pair of feet in front of him. Without thinking, he instantly tried his best to hug the pair of feet, and surprisingly, he knocked him over. Zhang Tie then quickly threw himself onto the opponent and punched the boy's nose before the he had realized what was happening. As a result, the guy fell flat on his back...
Chapter 4: Fighting Back
Translator: WQL Editor: Geoffrey
In the woods at school, Zhang Tie was wrestling with that guy for a while before he got on top and punched him twice. Right then, he felt a great force hit him from behind, and Zhang Tie was kicked away from the boy under him by another foot.
In response to the force, Zhang Tie rolled forward along the direction of the force and instantly stood up by using "Carp Jump". Carp Jump was a martial arts skill where a man would use the force generated by his legs, waist, and stomach to stand up when he is laying on the ground. The moment he stood up, he noticed two people pouncing towards him from both sides simultaneously. Zhang Tie kicked the person on the right; however, the boy was agile and instantly leaned his body while raising his leg at the same time to block Zhang Tie's kick. Feeling the pain, the man grimaced and seized Zhang Tie's right hand by using both hands. Zhang Tie threw a punch at the boy with his left hand, but another pair of hands seized Zhang Tie's left hand the moment he sent it out. The moment he wanted to struggle, a heavy kick landed on his stomach, and Zhang Tie instantly lost his will to fight.
The whole fight ended within thirty seconds. It was predictable; Zhang Tie fought six adversaries alone without any preparation while his opponents attacked him after delicate planning. Compared to the other six people, the yellow-skinned and black-haired Zhang Tie was evidently weaker. He was 175cm in height and 15 years of age. By contrast, among the attackers, even the shortest among them was as tall as Zhang Tie, while the tallest one was taller than 180cm and was 1.5 times as heavy as Zhang Tie. This was the difference between races.
Bending over, Zhang Tie continued to vomit as his two arms were held up by his attackers. The attackers groaned and rubbed the areas where Zhang Tie had previously hit them before they surrounded Zhang Tie. The boy who Zhang Tie hit ferociously also stood up. All of a sudden, the boy felt something salty and wet in his mouth, and when he touched it, he noticed that he was bleeding from his nose which caused his hand to be dyed with blood. Being irritated, he strode forward and punched Zhang Tie in the nose as revenge for what Zhang Tie did to him. As a result, Zhang Tie was dazed as his nose ached. He felt a salty liquid instantly cover the inside of his throat from his nasal cavity. Zhang Tie instantly coughed. "Motherf*cker," Zhang Tie cursed inwardly, "what a quick revenge!"
Soon after, the rest of the group began to punch and kick him ferociously. Zhang Tie suffered from more than 10 punches and kicks. Had he not been supported, he would have long fallen to the ground. Zhang Tie kept gasping for air; he felt like a suffocating fish that had been thrown into the sand. He didn't even have enough strength to move his fingers.
A boy intended to give Zhang Tie another punch, but his hand was held back by another person.
"That's enough, Doug. His nose will be fully broken with another punch. It will be trouble if he's disfigured!"
"Yeah, we made a deal. No more punches and don't kill him. Motherf*cker, the zipper tore off my hair this morning. It's still aching now…" explained the guy who held Zhang Tie's right hand.
"Bighead has average performance during the usual paired exercises. Unexpectedly, the two of us alone might not have been enough to control him today!" said Barley, the most goddamned horny fatty in the class and the one who had suggested Zhang Tie to enjoy the view this morning. The acne covered boy was the founder and organizer of the jerk-off campaign and was one of the most infamous scums in his grade at Seventh National Male Middle School. He had stolen his father's money and sought for a prostitute to end his virgin status. He always treated this as glory and showed off constantly in front of others.
Doug hurriedly rolled paper into slim columns and inserted them into his nostrils to stop the bleeding. Raising his head, he pointed at his nose madly and showed the wounds to the others. "F*ck, you're not as wounded as me. How do I have such damn bad luck…"
He gave another punch to Zhang Tie's stomach in anger. As a result, Zhang Tie completely poured out his lunch like a fountain; a great amount of wet and steaming vomit sprayed onto Doug's head. The others were stunned. Looking at Doug, who had paper columns still inside his nostrils, being sprayed by Zhang Tie's vomit caused everyone's face to twitch. Everyone tried to control the compulsion to laugh out. The two helpers beside Doug also moved back two steps with their hands pinching their noses. Similarly, the two men who were clasping Zhang Tie's arms also let him go instantly. They were really afraid of being sprayed on by Zhang Tie when he turned his head around.
"Argh…" screamed Doug weirdly before he rushed away in an unprecedented speed.
Seeing Doug run away, the five other guys began to laugh out loudly. Zhang Tie recovered his composure after vomiting; he gasped for air and struggled to stand up. Noticing this, the two guys closest to him became alert and moved one step back. They were afraid of being sprayed on by Zhang Tie, who, at that point, could not even walk.
Zhang Tie stood to attention quiveringly and gazed at the bear-sized figure behind the group. He squeezed out a smile as he said, "Captain Kerlin…"
"Haha, you plan to attack us when we turn around? Bighead, do you think we're idiots? You read too many crap novels about knights!"
"Do you want another beating!?"
"Too young, too naive! We have not used that trick for many years…" the pudgy Barley grinned shamelessly as he shrugged his shoulders with jumping fat.
"Really?" a horrible voice was heard behind them. All of a sudden, the five pleasant individuals were like frozen Mandarin ducks. Being rigid all over, their faces turned pale, and they kept sweating, as their legs begun to shake. Zhang Tie was really amazed at the series of difficult performances and movements in such a short period of time. Hearing Captain Kerlin's voice, Zhang Tie looked calm, yet his brain spun rapidly...
With his arms crossed, the most terrifying one-eyed man in Blackhot City wandered out from the woods behind them. Although he only had one eye, the way he gazed at people was like how a timber wolf would when they stared at chicks.
"Ca… Ca… Captain Kerlin!" the five people staggered in unison.
"What happened?" raising his head, Captain Kerlin asked with his nose facing the sky.
"We are… are…" staggered Barley, who was stopped by Captain Kerlin with a crude look.
"Shut up, it's not your turn to speak!" Captain Kerlin stared at them with wide eyes and pointed at the miserable Zhang Tie with a finger as strong as a wooden club. "You! Tell me what happened!"
Hearing Captain Kerlin ask Zhang Tie, the group of five instantly turned blue. They were scared to death. With eyes opened widely, they stared at Zhang Tie with a frightened, imploring, and desperate look. If Zhang Tie told the truth, Barley dared to bet with his ass that when the captain knew that his beloved goddess was dirtied by some students this way, he would definitely make them impotent for the rest of their lives. Because of the special education system and courses, Blackhot City allowed a couple of injuries or deaths each year in each national middle school with no one who would claim responsibility for them.
"Yes sir, Captain Kerlin. We were betting…" Zhang Tie made a decision inside. He considered fights between boys in the male middle school to be normal. In the recent years, he had fought with others many times. Although he suffered a little bit this time, it was still fine. Afterall, his father always taught him to forgive other people, and once he did, he would insist that they need to compensate him for what they did.
"Betting…?" Captain Kerlin frowned slightly and looked at the innocent Zhang Tie. He then turned and stared at the rest of the five, "He said you were betting, is that true?"
Betting? Of course, the five nodded like chicks who had been starved for three days.
"How were you betting? What was the wager? You want to lie in front of your smart Captain?" Captain Kerlin gazed at Zhang Tie.
"We made a bet that if they failed to beat me together, then I can beat them back and take all the money in their pockets! I've won the bet, so I invite Captain Kerlin to be the witness and do the righteous thing for me…" Barley and the rest gazed at Zhang Tie and finally became relaxed. Some of them started to curse inwardly, "He's still scheming for our money at this critical moment!"
Zhang Tie strode forward towards them while cleaning his nose. He then punched and kicked each one of them on the nose and stomach respectively in front of Captain Kerlin. In an instant, the noses of the five continued to bleed with their heads lowered to the ground. They groaned painfully, yet no one dared to fight back.
When the five stood up, Zhang Tie stretched out his hands in front of them and twiddled his thumbs with his index finger. Everyone knew the meaning of this…
Getting paid for beating others, what a wonderful life!
Chapter 5: Hit-Plane Brotherhood
Translator: WQL Editor: Geoffrey
Under the glare of Captain Kerlin, the five had no choice but to take out the money from their pockets. The least contributed was five copper coins while the most contributed was ten copper coins. Zhang Tie put the coins into his pocket without any hesitation. When it was Barley's turn, the damned fatty took out nine copper coins from his upper pocket and said while shaking and presenting an embarrassed but flattering smile, "You win…"
Looking at Barley furiously, Zhang Tie didn't say anything. He didn't move back his hand at all. "Are you sure that was all of your money? You know what the wager was. All of it, all of it..." Zhang Tie stressed the three words. They had been classmates for several years. Zhang Tie naturally knew how much the damned fatty had since he was always the richest among them and always took groups of people to restaurants.
Barley and Zhang Tie glared at each other for a few seconds as their nose continued to bleed. Barley noticed Zhang Tie becoming increasingly confident with his raised shoulders. When Zhang Tie pretended to open his mouth to release the news, Barley's fat face finally twisted as his acne filled face turned blue. "Ho… ho… I almost forgot that I had some more…" saying this, with his eyes closed, Barley took out four shiny silver coins from his left pocket and placed them in Zhang Tie's hands.
Seeing the four silver coins, Zhang Tie also opened his mouth slightly. "I'm rich now! One silver coins is equivalent to one hundred copper coins. He might have stolen his father's money again…"
This was a "huge amount of money" for Zhang Tie; however, Captain Kerlin didn't even glance at the silver coins. With arms crossed, he kept an eye on how Zhang Tie slapped the poor guys as one of his hands continue to stroke his short mustache, which was as hard as steel needles. Zhang Tie felt a little weak under the stare of Captain Kerlin.
"Erm, interesting. Boy, what's your name?"
"Zhang Tie!"
"You were good at being beaten. You dared to bet with them in this way. Well, I'll remember you!" saying this, Captain Kerlin left right away.
"Bighead, we're even…" raising his head, Barley sat on the ground so as to reduce the nose bleed. "We beat you and you also beat us. You got our money, but you saved us. To be honest, we have to thank you!"
"You're welcome…" Zhang Tie also hurriedly took out some toilet paper from one of the trouser pockets. He rubbed the toilet paper into two columns and tucked them into his nostrils to stop the nosebleed. "After all, we're students. It's ok to fight. I also didn't want to see anything happen to you, just like how you didn't want to see anything happen to me!"
With the paper in his nose, he spoke in a low and muffled voice. It felt somewhat uncomfortable.
"Do you have more paper?" Barley stretched out a fat hand.
Zhang Tie pulled out all of his toilet paper and divided it with them. The others instantly imitated Zhang Tie's actions to stop their nosebleed. After a while, the six boys looked at each other and felt that it was very funny. A Chinese proverb came to everyone's mind at this moment, "With scallions into the nostrils, pretend to be an elephant." Motherf*cker, it was really ironic. Everyone wanted to laugh, but they didn't.
After murmuring with the others with their heads lowered, Barley solemnly said to Zhang Tie something that Zhang Tie would never have thought of before.
"After what happened today, we felt that you're good enough. Therefore, we have solemnly decided to invite you into our organization. We hope you consider it…"
"Your organization?" Zhang Tie glared at them in a doubtful manner. These craps shouldn't establish an organization. They were just a ragtag group.
Noticing Zhang Tie's doubt, the crew pretended to be magnificent. Although their depressive expressions were not persuasive at all, Zhang Tie could still feel their enthusiasm.
"Out of blows, friendship grows. We have a good opinion of you; therefore, we have decided to invite you after discussion. Don't look down on us. Saplings today might grow to be towering trees in the future. Nobody is born to be a big figure. Once we have united, we will win a place in Blackhot City sooner or later!"
The words moved Zhang Tie. Unimaginable. These guys should not be this ambitious. Compared with them, he would be the most timid one. Barley noticed that Zhang Tie was somewhat moved, so he continued, "We will graduate this year. After graduation, we basically have to serve in the army for eight years. We may encounter dangers and frustrations. It is really hard for one man to survive in this age, but brothers can always help you with whatever you meet in the future. There will always be a solution. With the help of brothers, we will not be easily bullied even in the troops!"
The last words finally moved Zhang Tie. Zhang Tie began to be interested in their organization. "What's the name of the organization?"
"Hit-Plane Brotherhood!" said Barley proudly.
Hit-Plane Brotherhood? Zhang Tie suddenly felt a chill when he thought of the scene from this morning where the group stood and masturbated in front of the windows. It was said that people had already invented an aircraft called the plane that could fly in the sky. Only god knew how and when "masturbation" became associated with planes for the numerous adolescents. Zhang Tie could never think through how the dull and boring manual single-cylinder piston movement was related to that aircraft. He felt that the most holy place in his heart was stained when the scene of the damned fatty Barley masturbating in front of the windows that faced Miss Daina came to mind.
"I'm willing to join, but you have to promise me one condition!" Zhang Tie told Barley after several seconds.
"What condition!?"
"Nobody is allowed to treat Miss Daina that way in school from now on!" the 15 year old young man felt great when he said this. Zhang Tie was a bit thrilled. No matter what, although he was weak, he could still protect Miss Daina in his own way.
"No problem, that's a deal. From today onwards, you are one of us!" the fat Barley responded frankly. It was not the first time for them to do this to Miss Daina. Even so, many animals in the school were doing the same thing every day; however, after today's event, the crew also realized what they did this morning was too risky. It was truly over for them if they were seen by Captain Kerlin. It was not an excessive condition while at school. No matter what, no one would stop them if they did that at home.
Zhang Tie joined the Hit-Plane Brotherhood in this fashion. The crew's spirit rose with their new member. They seemed to have forgotten what had happened just now. Zhang Tie also didn't intend to give them their money back. He had made this decision, and if this damned fatty Barley asked for him to pay back in the name of the brotherhood, then he would instantly leave this motherf*cking brotherhood. Zhang Tie also understood the other members, which included Barley, Doug, Sharwin, Bagdad, Leit, and Hista. He was familiar with them as they were all classmates. The only contemporary rule in the Hit-Plane Brotherhood was being confidential about all situations regarding the brotherhood. They had no boss, and all decisions were determined through discussions.
What amazed Zhang Tie was that the brotherhood was divided into different ranks ever since it was founded several months ago. Everybody agreed with the rules and considered it to be very fair. Barley naturally enjoyed the highest rank. According to Hista's explanation, Barley might be the largest contributor to the brotherhood; therefore, only Barley was qualified to be a Lv 2 member which meant Barley himself could vote twice each time. Consequently, a Lv 3 member could vote three times. As for Zhang Tie, since he was a new member, with the exception of Barley, he was only qualified to vote once like the others.
When walking out of the woods, the fat Barley looked at Zhang Tie and hesitantly said, "That… the money…"
"It's mine!" Covering his pockets, Zhang Tie looked at Barley in an alert manner.
The damned fatty scratched his head embarrassingly with a bitter smile, "It's fine. Let doug wait for another couple of days…"
When the others heard what Barley said, they showed an obscene smile.
"Doug was really unfortunate today, hahaha..." squinting his eyes, Sharwin laughed. "What bad luck!"
"He had waited two weeks for today!" Hista shrugged his shoulders.
"Let him wait a few more days…"
"Then his face will be full of acnes!"
"Hahaha..."
Zhang Tie couldn't understand what they were talking about at all. However, he felt the way they talked was somewhat obscene.
"Hey… hey… you will know about it later. This is benefit for members!" Barley said secretly.
Chapter 6: Blackhot City
Translator: WQL Editor: Geoffrey
Zhang Tie had no idea how he was going to stand the hunger until school was over. He completely poured out his lunch earlier when he was beaten by the other members of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood at noon, hence he had no choice but to stand the starvation. When he could no longer stand the hunger, he would drink water like a fish at a water faucet at school between classes. This was also a survival skill that he learned at school in this age. Drinking clean water like a fish could alleviate starvation and slow down the deterioration of physical strength. A person without food and water could survive two days at most, yet a starved person with only water could survive for more than three days. This showed the importance of water.
What made Zhang Tie feel fortunate was that the class this afternoon was collective military drill, the class that consumed the least energy. In the training grounds for the entire afternoon, each undergraduate would wear infantry uniform and light armor and would carry a spear that was longer than three meters on their shoulders for training. They would perform formations and bayonet charges under the orders of the instructor. To be a level 1 pikeman and attain an emblem of a Level 1 pikeman symbolized the beginning of manhood and was the dream of most students when they served the army. Pikemen were the ones in the army that focused on formations and collective cooperation. They can be both the strongest arm and the weakest. A pikeman square matrix solely composed of first-ranked pikemen could easily defend against the attacks from enemies who were not in formation and had three times their number.
Similarly, a heavy-armored square matrix composed of fifth-ranked pikemen was an important force on the main battlefield. With the citizens of Blackhot City and the millions of inhabitants that surrounded it, only three fifth-ranked heavy-armored square matrixes could be formed. This was the ultimate force used by the Coal, Steel, and Iron Federation (CSIF) to rule the city.
Zhang Tie's physique was not greater than others; he looked thinner and weaker compared to the rest of the group. He didn't really like this profession. Zhang Tie had difficulties when he brandished and pierced with the three-meter long pike, which was heavier than 10kg. In the later stages, whenever he saw his powerless pike, Zhang Tie would always doubt whether he would be able to strike and kill the enemy with such low speed and force. Speaking of the pike, even the damned fatty Barley looked better than him. Zhang Tie gradually felt weak after fifty attacks; however, the damned fatty didn't weaken until more than seventy moves. Clearly, Zhang Tie was the weakest one in the Hit-Plane Brotherhood.
Although he didn't like this profession, Zhang Tie had to admit that even though he disliked it, the square matrix composed of pikemen brought him a great sense of safety. Whenever he stood in the middle of the square matrix conspicuously and looked at his classmates around him, he would always feel a sense of safety. This feeling was very contradictory. It seemed that this was the reason why a small figure like Zhang Tie felt depressed in such an age — on many occasions, you had to depend on those you disliked.
When the afternoon training ended, Zhang Tie felt like his whole stomach and belly was like a sac full of water. Whenever he moved, the water inside would always make a sound which made him uncomfortable. Whenever he attacked, each time he made a slightly fierce, big movement, Zhang Tie would always feel the water inside his stomach dash to his throat like a rising tide with a weird taste. The moment it made his throat uncomfortable, it would fall back. His hands were always powerless. For several instances, Zhang Tie felt the instructor's sharp stare on him and felt reluctant to leave. Zhang Tie had no other choice but to grit his teeth.
The coach especially paid attention to Glaze. The square matrix with Glaze was the most spectacular among the six square matrixes on the training field. Glaze, a LV 2 soldier, instantly displayed the difference between him and the other green birds. He was as tall as 190cm and wielded a standard military pike that weighed more than 30kgs and had a red-headed flag attached to it. Glaze stood out and commanded the whole square matrix. Under the appreciative eyes of the coach, Grace became very thrilled. He would always wail like a ghost and howl like a wolf for each movement. As a result, the whole training ground was filled with his howls.
Although Zhang Tie despised him to some degree, he would never deny that he would be killed by Glaze within a couple of movements or perhaps in a single move. Glaze truly had the right to be proud. With the exception of Glaze, the rest of the students in the graduating class were just reserve soldiers, not even first-ranked soldiers. Normally, most people would be promoted to first-ranked soldier before the age of 18, namely two years before providing military service. During the eight years of military service, more than 95% of the commoners would retire at the third or the fourth rank, while a few of them would reach the fifth rank. Only professional soldiers and people who survived on the force might reach the sixth rank. Soldiers who were promoted to be fighters could gain respect wherever they were.
The moment training ended, Zhang Tie removed his smelly uniform in the locker room, hurriedly wore his shoes, and rushed out with his hands on his stomach without greeting the other members of the brotherhood, who were led by Barley. This made the members of the brotherhood embarrassed, as they were preparing to greet Zhang Tie. As a result, they kept staring at each other with a vacant look.
"What's wrong with him?" the freckled and brown haired Sharwin scratched his head.
"I saw him drink a lot in the afternoon. He might not be able to stand it!" replied Bagdad. As a black man, he was the strongest in the brotherhood. The training this afternoon was very easy for him. Naturally, he was the one with the highest fighting power in the brotherhood.
"Hoho, poor guy!" smiled Leit.
"I am the poor one!" Doug, even now, was still resentful especially when he recalled that he was sprayed with Zhang Tie's vomit at noon. Doug always felt that he was the laughingstock throughout the afternoon.
"Easy, man. Barley will fetch those silver coins for you!" Hista winked and made a obscene posture that everyone understood. Staring at Barley, he instantly became generous, "We brotherhood members have to eliminate the status as virgin and become true men!"
"Trust me, you will have your benefit!" Barley comforted the sad Doug as he patted him. Seeing Zhang Tie's shadow, Barley's fat face shivered painfully when the four silver coins came to mind. He shook his head. "What an interesting guy! Although I have not seen what he's capable of, I find him to be smart and not bad. He's a reliable guy! At least I don't have to worry about being screwed over!" rubbing his chin, fat Barley said in an experienced way.
With the exception of Doug, who was still sulking, the rest of the group nodded.
Zhang Tie rushed to the washroom and had a long piss. He finally became comfortable. Meanwhile, his belly also thundered. Walking out of the washroom stall, he simply washed his hands and dashed out the school gate. With four silver coins and thirty to forty copper coins in his pockets, he had to find something to eat, otherwise he wouldn't even have enough strength to return home.
There was a bakery a short distance from the school gate. Usually, Zhang Tie could only swallow his saliva whenever he saw the delicious bread. Touching his pocket, today, Zhang Tie was finally brave enough to enter this bakery. He spent 10 copper coins to buy a loaf of brown bread. As he devoured the loaf of brown bread like a wolf and exited the bakery, Zhang Tie instantly noticed Miss Daina.
Miss Daina was always eye-catching. Captain Kerlin and another male teacher were talking about her diligently and gently. Zhang Tie's face even transformed with the bread still inside. Zhang Tie was suddenly stunned when he saw Miss Daina. Captain Kerlin didn't even glance at him, probably because he felt it was too shameful to be familiar with him. However, Zhang Tie didn't realize until they were far away. He instantly turned back and looked at himself in front of the beautiful glass showcase. With the half loaf of bread that he almost choked to death on in his hand, his mouth was opened while his head inclined. Because he continually trained in the afternoon and hadn't stopped his nose bleed yet, two paper balls were stuck inside his nostrils. His eyes were squinted like a crack, and his face showed that he had been beaten by others. He just stood there like an idiot with bread crumbs and saliva hanging at the corners of his mouth. He was clearly slow-witted.
Miss Daina should have seen him just now? Zhang Tie became endlessly frustrated and gloomy. No wonder she didn't even glance at him. He really was slow-witted… Lowering his head, he saw the pair of grinning and wretched leather shoes once again...
The 15-year old depressed teenager felt nothing but frustration.
Seeing Miss Daina leave, Zhang Tie felt the beautiful shadow was becoming increasingly far away from him. At this moment, Zhang Tie didn't even feel like following her silently for a distance. He stood outside the bakery and stared at those passersby. He finally finished the remaining loaf of bread with one bite after another. Then, in a sluggish manner, he walked towards the commercial area that was located in the eastern parts of Blackhot City. His parents had found him a part-time apprentice job through someone they knew. He had to work two hours a day for two days a week before going back home...
Chapter 7: Commercial Area and Grocery Store
Translator: WQL Editor: Geoffrey
Naturally, since Blackhot City was founded by the Coal, Steel, and Iron Federation (CSIF), Blackhot City had a rich commercial atmosphere.
Its commercial areas were naturally located in the best place downtown; it was far away from the production area and in the upper eastern region. The commercial area in Blackhot City was very prosperous. Bulk commodities exchanges were established in the prosperous sections of the commercial region, and any trade volume there would make commoners scared. Rich coal, iron, and steel in Blackhot City made it a prosperous city. There would always be trains that carried the specialties outside of Blackhot City around the clock.
The small grocery store that Zhang Tie worked for was also located in the prosperous commercial area of Blackhot City; however, it was much more remote and shabby compared to the magnificent facades and barracks of the large-scale business groups, free trade bodies, and exchanges.
As the railway station was less than three hundred meters away from the store, its guests were from all walks of life. The store was close to a flea market that was founded spontaneously by local residents and foreign pioneers. It was very noisy every day. From the way they dressed, most people here were in the lower-middle class. People struggled to survive here. The people here hoped to become the very vendor in folk fairy tales who found a special object and became rich of it. Those fairy tales also encouraged groups of uninformed pioneers who traveled from afar to enter the unknown lands west and north of Blackhot City with their chests raised high. Naturally, if one had enough luck and foresight, they could also buy good items here.
When Zhang Tie arrived at the grocery store, Donder, the fat owner, was huddled up on a lounge chair outside the store. He was enjoying the sunset afterglow and peered at the passersby with half-closed eyes. Unless a plump or beautiful woman passed by the grocery store, he wouldn't even slightly move his head. In the event that one passes by, he would always watch them walk off for a long distance.
As usual, Zhang Tie's first task was to clean the store. Next, he had to check and clean the counter. Finally, he would adeptly calculate on an abacus. After a year of practice at the grocery store, Zhang Tie's largest achievement was that he now knew how to use the weird mathematical tool known as the abacus. This was a really practical skill that he had never learned at school. Zhang Tie always thought that it would be helpful for his development later on in life, as his father had always planned for him to be the bookkeeper at the Blackhot Coal Exchange. Naturally, he didn't need to think about it until he finished his military services. For commoners, It was satisfactory to find a job in the downtown area after serving the army, no matter the job.
The moment he finished bookkeeping, a guest entered. Before the fat Donder sat up, Zhang Tie had already closed his accounting book and started to greet the guest.
"Excuse me, sir. What can I do for you?" asked Zhang Tie. The guest was a 40-odd year man who wore the uniform of porters from the Blackhot Railway Station and smelt of coal ash. Zhang Tie guessed that he was a passerby, as it was the closing time in downtown.
"I'd like to see some white crystals!" said the porter while skimming through the cases containing crystals on the counter. Most of them were common Class-I crystals while there were also some Class-II crystals. White crystals accounted for the highest percentage among all crystals. Some white crystals were natural, while others were artificially created. Compared to the crystals with the same size and quality, double-headed crystals were usually more expensive than single-headed crystals, and natural crystals were much more expensive than artificial crystals, although the latter looked more beautiful. Nevertheless, given the effect, artificial crystals were still poorer than natural ones. It was said that crystals were just used for decoration before the Catastrophe. During that time, people had not known that crystals could be used to help humans cultivate. The usage of crystals had become a common sense that even street vendors knew about. Crystals in this age were a standard strategic material which supported the lives of many.
"Is this all that you have?" the forty-odd year man seemed a little bit disappointed. It seemed that he was not satisfied with these common commodities. Zhang Tie was slightly amazed by his expression since even common Class-I crystals were not cheap for commoners.
"We have something better, but they are more expensive. Do you want to have a look?"
With a smile on his face, the man casually patted his waist pack. Zhang Tie knew what the man meant. He put on a pair of white gloves and took out a more delicate case from a container drawer behind him. Zhang Tie placed it on the counter carefully and opened the case in front of the man. The case contained four white crystals, two of them being double-headed crystals while the rest were single-headed crystals. They were crystal clear with little impurity. However, what was most attractive about the crystal was the hazy and pyramid-like fine sand in each crystal. The two larger two-headed crystals contained the better pyramids. When observed carefully, each side of the pyramid shined mysteriously. It was the divine workmanship between the heaven, the earth, and the natural combination of the energy in the universe. Not only could white pyramid crystals help the user enter meditation quickly, but it also enabled its user to absorb the energy from the universe faster and arouse their physical potential and vitality.
As expected, much like Zhang Tie when he first saw them, the forty-odd year man didn't want to avert his gaze when he saw the pyramid-based crystal. Class-III crystals were the highest-end commodity in the store; each crystal's market price was more than two gold coins. In Blackhot City, a single gold coin could sustain a family of three for two months.
The price of each crystal was marked beneath it. When the man saw the price of the crystal, he became hesitant and pointed at the single-headed crystal. "Is it possible… for the price to be lowered?"
"218 silver coins is the lowest price we can afford. Our commodities are all marked honestly. Pardon, sir, are you buying this as a present?"
"En? my son will be sixteen next year, and I want to give him a surprise. He's a genius!" saying this, the forty-odd year man smiled with warmth and pride on his face which reminded Zhang Tie of his own father.
"Well, 215 silver coins, and I will gift you a packing case and 100g of crystal sand. This is the lowest price we can provide..." explained Zhang Tie honestly. As the 40-odd year porter might have been introduced by a friend, he might have understood the situation and the reputation of this general store and knew that this was a very fairy price in Blackhot City. Given the bonuses, he agreed instantly.
The man carefully took out his purse from his clothes and paid with two gold coins and fifteen silver coins before he left with the commodities and presents that were well packed by Zhang Tie. A business worth more than two gold coins was big even for the store.
The store's luck might have been used up because besides two loiterers, there was no more business an hour after the man had left.
Zhang Tie sat behind the counter with his hands supporting his jaw as he watched the street outside and thought about the events that transpired today.
The sun had finally set, and darkness had arrived. The dead fish on the lounge chair moved and twisted as he stood up reluctantly and moved his chair back into the store.
"What's happened? Did you get beaten up today?"
The boss smiled pleasantly when he saw the wounds on Zhang Tie's face.
"It's nothing, I fell!" responded Zhang Tie.
"Well, boy, no more pretending. It's nothing serious. When I was your age, I also got into fights often. Beat or beaten, it was normal. Fight back when you lose!" Donder lectured him generously.
The only thing in Zhang Tie's mind was his stupid look when Miss Daina saw him. Hearing what Donder said, he couldn't help but murmur, "What if I can't fight back?"
"Boy, so you're a green bird. You can always fight back. Only idiots and good-for-nothings dare not to win. If your opponent is stronger than you, then you have to surpass him with ten times more effort. Then, you can beat him with a more powerful strength. If you can't reach their level, you'll have to play tricks. Under the mask, you have to beat them stealthily!" the boss lectured him while making gestures. Seeing Zhang Tie's idiotic look, the boss seemed to be dissatisfied. He patted Zhang Tie's shoulder heavily. "Boy, I think that you're clever, so I'll teach you what I've learned in my life over the past dozen years. When you can't fight your opponents with your fists, then you have to compensate in this way…" pointing at Zhang Tie's head, he raised his head high. "Listen! A soft tongue is sharper than any weapon as it can even break hard bones and smart brains!"
The last words of Donder slightly moved Zhang Tie; he felt that it was reasonable. "Who's proverb is that?"
"Donder!"
"Liar, I don't believe you!"
"Whatever, erm. I will not provide you supper as usual!" Donder added meanly.
Chapter 8: Mental Arithmetic by Abacus
Translator: WQL Editor: Geoffrey
Walking out of the grocery store, Zhang Tie kept Donder's words in mind. Thinking of Donder's words, "soft tongue is sharper than any weapon as it can break hard bones and smart brains!", the depressed teenager felt a bit better.
When Zhang Tie passed the flea market, carbide lamps along the street were ignited one by one. Lamplighters in the Blackhot City were shaking bells on their four-wheelers and parked them in front of each lamp. They climbed onto the poles, removed the lampshades, added fuel, and ignited them. When they left, sexy women with half exposed breasts appeared under the shadows of carbide lamps close to the railway station as the passersby ogled. A couple of those women gathered and talked about something to their companions. Following that, some of them laughed presumptuously and madly.
Zhang Tie walked and peered at those women under lamps. They made him upset and gradually aroused his desire.
"Baby, come here to your aunt. Let me teach you how to be a man..." a forty-odd year plump and enchanting woman with red curly hair greeted him at the end of the alley beside a lamp pole. Zhang Tie could see her clearly. Looking into Zhang Tie's eyes, the woman slightly lowered herself so that Zhang Tie could notice her magnificent white breasts. She squeezed the two exposed balls outside the collar and groaned slightly, "Mmm...". She then opened her mouth and slowly licked one finger. Seeing this, Zhang Tie felt that a muscle in his throat was shaking like a rubber band, his blood had rushed to his brain, and his crotch instantly rose up. Zhang Tie escaped under the lecherous laughter of the women.
The flea market beside the railway station became really noisy at night. People from all walks of life appeared when the darkness arrived. Zhang Tie recovered his composure when he was almost 100 meters away from that terrifying and alluring woman; however, the untamed thing was still raising high. In order to avoid embarrassment, Zhang Tie had to pretend to hide his hands in his pockets so as to press down the wild thing.
The moment Zhang Tie walked out of the flea market, a voice from a roadside stall slowed him down.
"Boss, you got all these things from the ruins?"
"Of course, look at this book. The characters on it are Chinese and Andaman City-States Alliance has no such publishing. Look at its cover. it's an abacus from a Chinese clan, a computing tool that could date back to several thousand years before the catastrophe. How could it be preserved so well if not from the ruins?"
"We are not idiots, I also know that this is Chinese; however, nobody recognizes it. Bullshit, what motherf**king abacus. Nobody uses such an antique at all..."
"I'm telling you the truth..."
Zhang Tie was attracted by the word "Chinese". He moved over towards the stall and squatted together with the other two in front of the roadside stall. Many things were placed on a water-proof cloth in a disorganized way. The cloth was no larger than two square meters. The only attractive goods were daggers and copper wrist guards on the four corners of the cloth. In the flea market, each stall owner would declare that their odd goods were from the ruins after the Catastrophe, and even idiots would never trust their words...
One of the two beside him purchased a nice sheathed dagger for 8 silver coins and 60 copper coins. Then, the two went away, leaving Zhang Tie alone.
The stall owner was a sixty-odd year obscene man with a red brandy nose. Once Zhang Tie spoke to him, he could directly smell the smell of hedge wine. The old man reminded him of an animal — a mouse.
After Zhang Tie glanced over the stall casually, he took an abacus book and asked, "How much?"
"This is a treasure from the ruins, so at least twenty silver coins... " replied the old man treacherously.
"What's it used for?"
"Well, it may be a technical book on how to compute using an abacus!" the old man was also not sure about it. He had read it, but didn't understand its contents at all. He also invited an alleged expert to authenticate it; however, the expert could only identify some simple numbers inside. The contents were strange number arrangements like three three two two five five six six...
"What is it used for? Teach me how to count sheeps to fall asleep?"
"Erm, well... Sixteen silver coins, no less!" the old man added reluctantly.
"Do I look like an idiot? The book is no more than sixteen pages in total which is not even enough for me to clean shit. You want sixteen silver coins? No way! I asked about it out of curiosity," Zhang Tie threw the book angrily. He was familiar with the flea market. If you didn't bargain aggressively, you would be ripped off by them.
"So how much can you afford?"
"Eighty copper coins!"
"Eighty copper coins?" the old man sprung up like a mouse having its tail stepped on. "Boy, at least ten silver coins. I got this out of the ruins!"
"What motherf*cking ruins, I am not an idiot. There is no ruins within one thousand kilometer radius of Blackhot city. Even if there truly were some, they would have long been removed. It was never your turn. Eighty copper coins!"
"Nine silver coins, no less!"
"Well, as I respect you, ten more copper coins! "
"Ninety copper coins?" exclaimed the old man like a pig being slaughtered. "It's even lower than my price!"
"One silver coin!"
"Seven!" the old man gritted his teeth...
After a ferocious bargaining for two minutes, Zhang Tie directly stood up and left instantly. Surprisingly, the old man shouted anxiously after Zhang Tie took five steps, "No, don't leave. As you said, pay me four silver coins and the book is yours!"
A slight smile appeared on Zhang Tie's mouth. Naturally, those outsiders didn't know the name of the book; however, Zhang Tie was stunned when he saw it — . He skimmed over it and found a mental arithmetic method that was related to the abacus. He thought it was special and decided to buy it...
On the way home, Zhang Tie's stomach was already growling; however, Zhang Tie was satisfied when he touched the book in his pocket. In this age, knowledge was expensive and any skill or knowledge acquired outside the school gate was unique and precious. Zhang Tie remembered that Donder watched him for more than three months before he taught him how to use the strange thing known as the abacus. Even then, he still felt reluctant to teach him. Whereas, Zhang Tie found that only a few people in the Blackhot City knew how to use the abacus. Ordinary calculations were usually made on paper. As for superior calculation methods, there were metal hand-driven calculators in exchanges and commercial firms. Thus, the abacus seemed useless. Still, it was a special skill that could not be easily gained. When Zhang Tie noticed the abacus pattern and pithy formula on the title page of the book, he recognized the value of this book. Generally speaking, Zhang Tie thought it was worth the price. Even if its value couldn't be seen for now, Zhang Tie still felt it was valuable, let alone the fact that those silver coins weren't even his to begin with.
"Learn more, at least it's not harmful to you," Zhang Tie's dad always taught him when he was young.
His parents had always forced him to learn Chinese by slapping his hand with a bamboo clapper when he was young. It took him ten years to recognize all characters on the big-headed Chinese dictionary; it was Zhang Tie's darkest period. A dozen years later, today, Zhang Tie finally found what he had learned to be useful. He was a little pleased about this experience.
Zhang Tie never trusted the old man's word when he said that this book was from the ruins. As goods from the ruins were at least one thousand years old, this book doesn't seem that old. He suddenly found several gloomy Chinese characters under the abacus pattern, "Recommended afterclass reading for students". "I almost ready to enter society, yet I don't know about this at all. What students?! After-class reading?! Comparisons are unpleasant!"
After being beaten inexplicably, he joined the brotherhood and lost face in front of Miss Daina. Besides that, he used his war trophy to buy a book.
On the way home, Zhang Tie recalled that he had spent money and gained money today; he didn't even know whether he earned or lost today... Zhang Tie's house was in the commoners gathering area north of Blackhot City. When the upper eastern area in Blackhot City was the backyard garden of the rich, the northern areas were the cozy nests of the regular workers and citizens. Compared with the upper eastern areas, blocks in the northern area were not beautiful; however, they were tidy and safe. The parasol trees on the two sides of streets here made it somewhat warm and ordinary. Through a dozen years of effort, his parents could only afford a building with less than 100 square meters on one side of a street. The building was attached with a small log cabin in the backyard. His parents opened a roadside rice brew store in the room downstairs. His dad was a worker in the mill, while his mother ran this store. The business was so-so as it was mainly taken care of by neighboring households, and the thin profit could only slightly improve their quality of life.
When Zhang Tie returned home, it was almost 9pm. His parents were not at home; he guessed that they were at church. The rice brew store was also closed. Supper was in warm water to keep the food warm. It contained a pot of mixed vegetables, a bowl of bacon braised with kidney beans, and a huge bowl of cooked white rice. A few slices of broad bean-like sliced bacon could be seen on top of the kidney beans. This was specifically left by his parents who always said that they didn't like them as an excuse. Eating the supper, Zhang Tie felt somewhat moved. He vowed to himself that when he became rich in the future, he would provide enough fish and meat for his parents everyday.
He finished supper quickly and cleaned the kitchen. With a fatigued body, he went upstairs. When he arrived at the second floor, he could hear the rhythmed clashes and evidently depressed breath from his elder brother's room, although the door was closed. This was not the first time, and Zhang Tie naturally knew what was happening. Silently passing, he moved to the hallway. At the end of the hallway, Zhang Tie touched the rope on the wall and slightly pulled it down. Then, a wooden plank glided from the ceiling at the end of the hallway, and a flight of stairs appeared on the other side of the plank which directly connected to the above attic.
These days, the pulley might be in need of lubricating oil, as there was a big creak when the flight of stairs was lowered. The rhythmed clashing from his brother's room stopped for a few seconds before it continued more violently than before Zhang Tie had climbed up.
He finally reached the top and pulled the stairs back to reset the plank. The tiny attic with a triangular roof belonged to Zhang Tie.
The house was not large, and with a rice brew store opened downstairs, less space was available; therefore, Zhang Tie had no other choices but to live in the attic. Almost half of the tiny space was occupied by iron sheets and planks for sundries. As a result, the rest space was only available for a bed, a desk, and a small wardrobe. There was only enough space for one person to move in. The paint on the furniture had already started to fade. They were all second-hand commodities that Zhang Tie bought in the flea market and were worth less than two silver coins in total...
A room smaller than eight square meters and several second-hand furnitures were all that the miserable 15-year old teenager owned...
Chapter 9: The Attic
Translator: WQL Editor: Geoffrey
The only natural source of light in the attic was from the triangular window at the foot of Zhang Tie's bed. It was a little bit bright in the daytime, but when night fell, the attic was dim just like it was now.
With the faint moonlight outside and his familiarity with the attic, Zhang Tie lit the oil lamp inside the attic. In order to save oil, Zhang Tie lowered the lamp flame to the smallest possible. Hence, the soybean-sized flame flickered as it brought some light and warmth to the attic.
After adjusting the lamp, Zhang Tie directly threw himself onto the bed without removing his shoes. He stared at the sharply pointed roof with the faint light and noticed a small web woven by a spider in the corner of the beam. Gazing at the poor spider and its web that could hardly capture a fly, Zhang Tie instantly felt pitiful.
The shaking of bed boards downstairs became clearer as Zhang Tie laid down, which made It harder for Zhan Tie to cultivate. Lying on the bed bored, Zhang Tie tossed and turned; his heart felt like it was being scratched at by a cat. He was bored to the point that he began to count the shaking from his elder brother's room downstairs. When it came to around 700, the sound accelerated all of a sudden, and dozens of seconds later, everything returned to silence. Zhang Tie then gasped and recovered his composure; however, Zhang Tie himself was amazed, as he had found his right hand holding on to the untamed thing below him. It was already very hard. It seemed that he had already unconsciously done the manual one-cylinder piston movement for quite a while.
Could it be that he had been affected by the members of the brotherhood?
He pulled out his right hand from the trousers as if he had touched a red-hot metal and recovered his composure after some time. Unlike the others, Zhang Tie especially felt guilty about what he did. His father once talked to him about this topic solemnly when he was twelve. As the Chinese clan was shorter and smaller than other clans physically, the average Chinese soldier didn't have the advantage in traits like speed and endurance. However, in this age, it was evident that physical differences between soldiers and their opponents were always fatal, especially between soldiers between LV1 - LV3, and normal soldiers. Take Zhang Tie for example, he was well developed for being in the Chinese clan; however, in school, Zhang Tie was slightly below average in both height and physical strength. In the brotherhood, Zhang Tie reluctantly admits that he's similar to the pudgy Barley and Sharwin in height, but Barley was much fatter and stronger than Zhang Tie. The physical difference between the Chinese clan and other clans would be very clear before they became true soldiers. Although the higher the rank the solder the less important the physical difference would be, physical disparity seemed like a huge gap that could never be overcome.
In Blackhot City, in order to narrow down the physical differences between the Chinese clans and others, the most important thing was to quickly become a soldier and raise your rank so as to protect yourself. The higher the rank the less physical difference there would be. The wider the future road the easier you would survive in this world. However, in order to become a Lv 1 soldier and constantly improve your occupational rank, the more important it was to ignite the meditation flame on each burning point inside the body. Everybody had to experience it. In this age where all clans fought against each other, it was the most important standard used to measure personal value. Physical quality was critical for burning the meditation flames and each manual one-cylinder piston movement would damage the health of the teenager, as it might consume a lot of energy and vitality which would make it harder to ignite meditation flames. Teenagers who always made that movement would be weak both physically and mentally.
"Masturbation is a chronic suicide process that is hardly observed; therefore, whatever others do, you should never be influenced. There are legends that anyone being obsessed with this will damage his health, be unfortunate, and live a poor life!" as his father ended with this, he made Zhang Tie promise to never be influenced by this malicious habit as he heaved a deep sigh...
Of course, as for what happened last night, his father explained, "When seminal fluid is full, it overflows automatically." He told him that this was a natural phenomenon and wouldn't damage his physique too much.
When his father's admonition came to mind, Zhang Tie hurriedly pulled out his hand. Thankfully, he hadn't violated the rule too much. He recovered his composure after a period of time before getting off the bed and moving towards the window. Peering out the window, he saw his elder brother leaving the house with a woman. He had already put on the uniform of the city guards of Blackhot City and was sending the woman home. Judging from her shadow, she should have been the daughter of Mr. Wang, the boss of the tailor store on this street.
Feeling someone watching him, his elder brother turned his head, raised his jaw, and smiled at Zhang Tie, who was peering out the window. Zhang Tie pretended to flick his fists as he saw them off in the dimly lit street. A handful of crystal sand was placed on a small plate by the windowsill. An ordinary double-headed white crystal was in the crystal sand. The crystal was naturally born and was barely qualified to be a low quality Class-2 crystal. It could be changed in the crystal sand just like a battery before the Catastrophe; however, it was much more convenient than a battery. Although the Class-2 double-headed crystal could never match the pyramid-based one Zhang Tie sold today, it was still the best cultivation material that Zhang Tie had.
With the crystal in hand, Zhang Tie took off his shoes and sat on the bed with his legs crossed, as if he was doing yoga. Ignoring the weird odor from his feet, he put his hand in front of his stomach and aimed one end of the double-headed crystal to his navel. He then closed his eyes and began to cultivate.
The process of cultivation was simple yet boring. Firstly, one had to slow their breathing and gather their spirit and consciousness to their navel, following the "Qi" that they inhaled. This process was repeated until they touched the existence of the burning point in the "shrine" in the navel. After touching it, "rub" this burning point with your spirit and consciousness in a rhythm and gaze at it like a fly on a rotten meat until one day, the flame of meditation at this burning point would be ignited, symbolizing that they were now a Lv1 fighter and an adult.
In this age, if a man could not even ignite the meditation flame at the burning point in the "shrine", then he would be seen as disabled and slow-witted. This was the law of survival in the Age of Black Iron.
Zhang Tie felt that the point in the navel was like a piece of gold underneath the sands. When he was in meditation, he firstly swept the sands using a broom to show the burning point. His consciousness was like sandpaper which he used to constantly rub and polish the piece of gold until one day, he would burn it like drilling wood to make fire. Then, he did it...
He learned to how to cultivate from school. It started back in preliminary school where he could learn the method for free. As his teacher always said, the burning point was the largest secret on the human body. Besides the visible burning point in the navel called the "shrine", other burning points were all invisible and could never be touched without reaching higher levels. However, even now, people could still not figure out how many burning points there were on a human being, and what these mysterious burning points were used for. It was still a secret on how to explore and touch more burning points on the human body, and how to accelerate the cultivation of these burning points for everyone everywhere. The powerful sects, schools, shrines, and legendary fighters were all safeguards and the beneficiaries of this secret.
Almost a fifth of all the people in Blackhot City could only ignite the meditation flame on the first burning point at the "shrine" throughout their lives…
For commoners like Zhang Tie, it was extremely difficult to enter meditation. He had to constantly adjust his breath to reach it. After half an hour, Zhang Tie entered meditation and finally touched the shrine burning point in the navel. He then began to inject his spirit and consciousness into this burning point constantly. Zhang Tie felt his navel start to generate heat slowly. The burning point gradually showed up, and finally, being "polished" by his spirit and awareness, it slowly grew brighter and brighter. The light finally became as large as a grain of rice as it shone blue. Meanwhile, the crystal in his hand was linked to the burning point after the burning point was ignited. It was an energy that would usually never be touched. At this time, the energy was slowly injected into the burning point from one end of the crystal. Influenced by his spirit, consciousness, and the crystal, the blue light gradually became brighter and brighter. The light started to gradually brighten up the surrounding darkness like a star in the pitch night sky. Although it was faint, it always brought him a beacon of hope.
After a long while, Zhang Tie felt that his spirit and consciousness had already been dried up and exhausted. He had reached his limit, and thus, he woke from his meditation. With several hours of practice a day, he could barely feel any evident progress. For Zhang Tie, he could not feel the progress without several weeks or months worth of accumulation. He evidently felt the change of the color of the burning point. In these years, Zhang Tie had experienced red, orange, yellow, green, and indigo from the beginning of his cultivation. He had to reach blue and purple before igniting the meditation flame. It would take him one and a half year to accomplish the other stages according to experience. His cultivation speed was almost even with most commoners who would ignite their meditation flame in the shrine on the first year in the army post graduation, which was the most important point in their lives.