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Chapter 160: The Super-Heavy Battle Sword

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

When the military officer fetched the item that had been placed here for a long time, he introduced himself to Zhang Tie. "Karak, first lieutenant of the Logistics Base of No. 39 Division. My position is medium-ranked. Since I neither had any contacts among big figures nor could be promoted by battle experience, so I ended up as a bad luck civil official who can only defend the warehouse and deal with the chores in the Logistics Base."

As for his kind hint, of course Zhang Tie could hear it. So he also made an official introduction to first lieutenant Karak and that slippery Calvin , expressing his thanks for their help today.

Afterwards, the atmosphere became more harmonious.

Standing aside, adviser Vessie changed his opinion of Zhang Tie as the boy's quick-mind completely overthrew the advisers notion of those who had formed Blood-Iron hidden strength. Across No. 39 Division, all the guys who had formed it were violent maniacs with cruel personalities. They were either bad-tempered or as hard and icy as stones. People who had formed Iron-Blood Fist skill yet were as kind as Zhang Tie were rarely seen—how could the Battle God favor such people?

Adviser Vessie couldn't understand it, however, this didn't prevent him from having a good impression of Zhang Tie. Perhaps such a guy could really become famous in No. 39 Division.

Calvin finally fetched something out of the piles of items using a hand-pushed forklift that was used to transport items in the warehouse. He pulled it in front of them.

At the sight of this item, Zhang Tie's eyes also popped out as this weapon was way too exaggerated.

It was a truly huge sword in a terrifying shape. Compared with it, all the long swords that Zhang Tie had seen, even the largest one that he had seen, were like toothpicks before a chopstick.

This sword was as large as a weapon used by giants. Lying on the forklift, it was definitely longer than 2 m, which meant if it was put down point first on the ground, it'd be taller than Zhang Tie.

"This super-heavy battle sword is a non-uniformed lieutenant-level main battle weapon made by weapon craftsmen when blood rushed to their heads. It weighs 358 kg. Nobody can wave it among all the lieutenants of No. 39 Division!" First Lieutenant Karak introduced the weapon.

"If lieutenants can have it, then higher ranked military officers can definitely have it too?" Zhang Tie asked out of curiosity.

"Field officers' weapons would be made of superior materials. When you are promoted to a field officer, if you like this kind of heavy main battle weapon, you can definitely have one made using better materials. This is the privilege of imperial field officers. This weapon is mainly made of LV 2 tungsten-manganese alloy steel, while imperial field officers are entitled to use LV 3 special alloy!" Adviser Vessie explained. "When you enter the army, you will gradually understand these things!"

Staring at that battle sword of 358 kg, Zhang Tie felt his blood boiling. If Karak and Vessie knew why it did so, they would pass out right away.

'Donder said that if there's a benefit to be gained, and you didn't take it, you'd be a bastard. As for such a special weapon, even if I don't use it, it's still worth a lot of money if I sell it in an emergency! LV 2 tungsten-manganese alloy steel shouldn't be average!

This was what Zhang Tie really considered at this moment. Such a super-heavy battle sword was a great benefit waiting for him to pick it up. If he did that, he would own it.

Therefore, Zhang Tie felt his blood boiling in his body. He then put the cylinder of lances to the side. After taking a deep breath, he walked in front of the hand-pushed forklift. With his hands, he took hold of the handle of the 358 kgs' battle sword.

The handle was like a stout stick composed of compressed dough-like ducks' eggs. As the four sides of the handle were covered with wavy grains, it was definitely anti-slippery. It was roughly 40 cm in length which could be grasped by two hands.

The blade part was designed much simpler. The armguard that connected the handle and the blade of the sword was a square steel alloy board which was as large as a small shield. It alone would weigh at least 30 kg, having over 20 cm of blade inside.

One side of the blade was plain and sharp-edged, undergone anti-rust treatment, while the other was saw-toothed and glittering with icy lights. Besides that, the blood grooves on the blade were as wide as a person's thumb. If one was slashed by such a fierce weapon, it was easy to imagine the outcome.

The only problem now was who could use it.

When Zhang Tie took hold of that super-heavy battle sword, Karak, Vessie, and Calvin's hearts started pounding.

One reason that Karak had fetched this super-heavy battle sword was to check Zhang Tie's real strength.

With the handle in his hands, Zhang Tie gradually increased the output of his strength...

When those 358 kg of the battle sword started leaving the forklift with the sound of 'Ge zhi' from the spring and hydraulic supporting the rod beneath the forklift, Karak, Vessie, and Calvin's eyes immediately popped out.

It was heavy, very heavy, but it was still within Zhang Tie's physical limit. If he tried to hold it only using one hand, that would be too presumptuous. So he brought it up with both hands and wove it in the air as if slashing someone. Right, slashing someone.

Seeing Zhang Tie slashing with the super-heavy battle sword, the three guys were really scared, hurriedly jumping away.

Zhang Tie moved so fast that a killing wind could even be felt when he raised it to the top of his head and slashed down before steadily stopping it half a feet above the ground, causing the dust on the ground to be blown away by the air flow produced by the blade.

He burst out laughing. Since he ate the nine Wild Wolf Seven-Strength Fruits, he had not been as cool as today.

This battle sword was heavy, able to completely make use of the nine wild wolves' strengths in Zhang Tie's body. Slashing with, Zhang Tie felt like doing a very interesting physical exercise. Although it was a bit hard, he found it very fun and pretty cool, especially when he saw the other three people's faces turn pale.

All men longed for great strength. With the powerful sword in his hands, Zhang Tie found it very interesting to exert his strength. It brought him a sense of achievement.

"Hu...hu...hu..."

Zhang Tie slashed with the huge sword of 358 kg, causing continual weird sounds. The other people hurriedly moved a couple more steps back.

After slashing for about half a minute, Zhang Tie intended to put down that battle sword. After loosening his grip, it fell to the ground, making a small pit and several cracks on the cement ground.

"I feel this battle sword is very proper!"

When Zhang Tie hefted the battle sword of 358 kg and walked out of the arsenal, he attracted the attention of all the passers-by in the Logistics Base. Adviser Vessie helped him by carrying the container of the lances which weighed more than 100 kg, while Karak and Calvin aided in loading the packages and that crate with the set of Sharp-Arrow Type-B Light Armor on the the back seats of the vehicle.

These items, in total, would weigh more than half a ton. After putting them in the vehicle, the chassis seemed even lower than before.

At this moment, Zhang Tie felt like he'd robbed several stores on the street. The sense of free selection was really cool.

He started to feel really well about being a citizen of the Norman Empire...

After thanking Karak and Calvin, Zhang Tie bid farewell to them and got on the vehicle. Afterwards, he left the Logistics Base along with adviser Vessie.

"Officer, I feel that this brat will become someone great one day!" the short and slippery Calvin said to Karak after seeing off Zhang Tie.

Karak nodded, feeling that what he did today would bring him great returns. As for freaks like Zhang Tie, it would be weirder for them not to become outstanding.

"Where are we going?" Zhang Tie asked adviser Vessie, who was driving.

"To register in the Iron-Blood Camp, then coming back to the Headquarters. I'm sure Colonel Leibniz will want to know how you look in an imperial military uniform.

"Can you tell me something about the Iron-Blood Camp?" Zhang Tie asked.

"Have you seen those idiot senior fighters who just stand still with arms crossed behind big gang-like brothers, exposing their tattooed and developed muscles to others?" Adviser Vessie turned his head and asked Zhang Tie. "There should also be gangs like this in Blackhot City."

"Yes, I've seen them?"

"Iron-Blood Camp is full of those kind of fighters, those who would even perform as part-time dare-to-die corps..."

Zhang Tie became speechless...

Most of the barracks left by the City Guard, who'd been given a holiday to wait for updates at home, had been occupied by the No. 39 Division. The barracks of Iron-Blood Camp were in the east of Blackhot City. Coincidentally, it was where Zhang Tie's elder brother's regiment had been stationed.

Besides the soldiers standing guard outside the entrance, when Zhang Tie arrived at the headquarters of Iron-Blood Camp, he saw few people walking about. Those he did see inside presented two extremes.

One pile of careless-looking people were lazily lying around the grassland with sunglasses on. Some of them had even fastened soft beds between trees; sleeping in them, they stretched their hairy legs outside the hammocks.While others were playing cards and exclaiming under trees, seemingly gambling. They were like playboys from rich families enjoying a holiday.

In contrast to these scenes, some guys were training extremely hard on the training ground. Zhang Tie saw dozens of tough guys practicing Lying-Tiger Move with sweat running down their backs in torrents; the skin on their backs had also peeled off from the scorching rays of the sun and must have felt like it was on fire.

The guys here didn't seem to care about anything as the arrival of Zhang Tie and adviser Vessie didn't attract their attention whatsoever.

Adviser Vessie seemed to have seen this scene numerous times, so he didn't find anything weird about it. Taking Zhang Tie into an office, he briefly explained his reason for coming to an on-duty military officer and gave Zhang Tie's file to him. After that, he introduced Zhang Tie to that officer before giving the youth two keys for his officer's dorm and a pass card. By then, Zhang Tie had finished his registration in the Iron-Blood Camp.

"The holiday of Iron-Blood Camp will end in five days. You have to come here then to greet boss Reinhardt. During these days, you can do whatever you want. You can also stir up trouble if you're not afraid of being caught by those bastards of the military police or being remembered by others who'll find you here!"

Here, even the on-duty officer looked lazy.

The lieutenants' dorm was not bad. It was located in a six floor building beside the training ground. There was a small garden underneath it. Outside the entrance of the officers' dorm building was sentry box with soldiers watching inside.

Each floor was matched with a service platform and servicewomen. Zhang Tie's dorm was in Room No. 508, floor 5. It was a single room with less than 30 square meters, wooden floor, and matched with an independent washing room where he could take a bath. There was also a steam-heated system, a bed, a table, a wardrobe, a shoe rack, a safe, and a weapon and helmet hanger.

Zhang Tie had place enough to leave all of his luggage in here; it was surely like a hotel. As for the two keys, one was for the door, the other was for the safe inside the room.

The status of a military officer of the Norman Empire was fully displayed here.

Adviser Vessie and Zhang Tie ran two rounds before taking up all of his belongings upstairs and placing them inside the room.

When leaving the Iron-Blood Camp together with adviser Vessie, Zhang Tie suddenly felt that there was something weird with the service platform. He remembered that no female workers could be seen in the military officers' dorms of the City Guard of Blackhot City. If women were thrown into the pile of tough guys, it would be no different from throwing a lamb into a pack of wolves.

"What are the servicewomen there for?"

"Servicewomen?"

Vessie stared at Zhang Tie with a puzzled look, not sure what he had meant.

"I mean those women standing behind the service platforms on each floor!" Zhang Tie explained himself.

Adviser Vessie then finally understood.

"I was confused there for a moment. Those women are not servicewomen. They're guilty slaves that stay with the army. The Norman Empire gave them a chance to reduce their guilt by providing manual labor and other services!"

After saying that, adviser Vessie glanced at Zhang Tie. "As a military officer of the Norman Empire, if you do not wish to play them to death, you can order them to do everything you want. Remember, everything. This is also welfare for the Norman Empire's military officers."

Zhang Tie was not a kid any more, so he immediately understood adviser Vessie's words. These guilty slaves that lived with the army were playing two roles: living servants and military prostitutes. They had no dignity at all.

Zhang Tie's heart pounded as he thought of the women. Today's fantastic experience almost made him forget that the Norman Empire was a hierarchical monarchy which had its icy and hard side...

Just moment ago, he had become a member of the huge and hard system of this empire.

Adviser Vessie seemed to understand that Zhang Tie would have trouble adapting to some aspects of the Norman Empire's system. After all, there was a great difference between the one he had lived his whole life with and the one he found himself in now.

"I wonder, have you heard a proverb of Emperor Felix?" adviser Vessie asked Zhang Tie while driving the car.

"What proverb?"

"Hierarchy is order, order is beauty!"

The steam-driven car drove Zhang Tie away through the streets of Blackhot City, leaving dust flying in the air...

Chapter 161: Returning Home

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

With a sound of 'Zhi...', a military SUV painted dark green parked in front of Zhang Tie's home. The parking sound was very harsh and loud, and the solid rubber tires left a 2 m long black mark. Hearing that screeching sound, all the passers-by who were walking on the sidewalks with parasol trees were startled.

When they turned their heads and caught sight of the two Norman Empire's military officers in the car, they did not dare to have another look at them; instead, lowering their heads, they hurriedly turned and left. Several gentlemen in tall hats even took off their hats and gave a salute to the two military officers.

In a wholly new pair of military boots, Zhang Tie opened the door of the vehicle and with agility jumped off the car.

Although it was only a day since he had returned home last, he felt like having a dream: when he left yesterday, he was a suspect; now, he came back as a Norman Empire's military officer.

"Remember, you have five days of holidays left. You have to greet battalion commander Reinhardt in Iron-Blood Camp in five days. The commander is not kind man, he alone in the entire No. 39 Division dares to butt heads with Colonel Leibniz. If you commit a crime and get caught by him, even Colonel Leibniz won't help you out!" Adviser Vessie warned Zhang Tie.

"Thanks for the warning!" Zhang Tie expressed his appreciation to adviser Vessie.

He was about to leave, when he suddenly thought of something. He then asked adviser Vessie straightforwardly, "You should know about my affair. I want to seek for an opportunity to deal with Samira these days as there's discontent between us; if I want to get back at him, what should I do?"

After hearing Zhang Tie's words, adviser Vessie was a bit stunned. However, realizing that Zhang Tie dared to ask him something like this in such a straightforward manner, he suddenly felt very happy inside as Zhang Tie hadn't treated him as an outsider. At least he hadn't set a mental defense against him nor was afraid of him reporting this thing to Colonel Leibniz.

After accompanying Zhang Tie for an entire afternoon, especially taking him back to Colonel Leibniz with the new uniform, from the surprised expression of Colonel Leibniz, he immediately understood that Zhang Tie will have a very bright future. Perhaps Colonel Leibniz was already thinking about promoting Zhang Tie to a higher position just now, although he hadn't opened his mouth.

In army, where friendship between comrades in arms was very important, nobody would be unhappy with having one more brother.

"Do you know the only principle that is followed in the military management system of the Norman Empire in the newly occupied zones?" Adviser Vessie inquired.

This question made the fresh second lieutenant of Norman Empire shake his head.

"In the occupied zone, the soldiers of the Norman Empire are always right. The truth is always in the hands of the Norman Empire's soldiers. This is the only principle that is followed in the military management system of the Norman Empire! If a bright and brave youth, a potential elite military officer who had been looked upon by the Battle God was framed as the enemy and potential insurrectionist, it would be regarded as the greatest insult to the entire empire, all the soldiers across the empire, and even the Battle God himself," Adviser Vessie told Zhang Tie in a very serious way.

Hearing this answer, Zhang Tie smiled. 'Who was the motherf*cker that said Norman Empire's soldiers are all barbarians and butchers, who was the motherf*cker that said Norman Empire's hierarchy system is inhumane. Norman Empire is so cute, and so are its troops. I look so handsome in this military uniforms of the Norman Empire, heh... heh... heh...'

After bidding farewell to adviser Vessie, Zhang Tie checked himself over from head to toe. Finished, he arranged his military hat and the walking sword over his waist before knocking on the door in a passionate way.

Beside the door of his house, Zhang Tie found that the rice brew store had not been opened for a few days as some dust had fallen onto its door. If it was opened everyday, mom would have certainly cleaned it up.

Today, after circling a small half of Blackhot City, Zhang Tie felt that the atmosphere in Blackhot City was much more tense compared to before. The market also looked depressed.

According to Vessie, the army of Iron-Horn Army of 300,000-odd soldiers was in a stalemate with the Brilliant Feathers of Sun Dynasty which contained roughly the same amount of soldiers in City of Machine Kalur. After gaining eight cities of the Andaman Alliance each, the Norman Empire and Sun Dynasty ended their temporary 'honeymoon'. They were not fighting against the City of Machine, the real fat, one that owned above 30% of the overall manufacturing capability of the entire Andaman Alliance.

The Norman Empire and Sun Dynasty both felt confident about occupying it. Compared to the lightning war before, the two armies' ferocious confrontation now became the true reason for why Blackhot City was tensed.

As for the lightning war against the Andaman Alliance, adviser Vessie described it as a rapid march and armed travel since the Norman Empire's army had met almost no resistance. The Andaman Alliance was simply not in the same level as the Norman Empire. So as long as the Norman Empire's army came close to a city's walls, everybody inside would make the wisest decision.

By contrast, the confrontation with the Sun Dynasty's Brilliant Feathers was a true battle.

However, all these things had nothing to do with Zhang Tie.

Zhang Tie then knocked on the door of his house, awaiting, both tensed and excited. His parents would certainly be very happy to see him come back home safe. But he was not sure of what they would think when they saw him wearing a set of the Norman Empire's military uniforms.

In this age, soldiers died early in all lands. After Zhang Tie's eldest brother Zhang Yong had turned himself into a crate of bone ash, he knew that his parents could not stand another event like this. In their eyes, if he could serve in the army while staying safe for several years before returning to Blackhot City, and then sought out a stable job, marrying a woman to deliver his kids, that would be perfect.

So Zhang Tie didn't know whether they could accept his current status.

The moment he knocked, he could hear footsteps hurriedly moving towards him from inside—the door was soon opened.

His elder brother Zhang Yang stood behind it.

As Zhang Tie has guessed, at the sight of him standing in a military uniform of the Norman Empire, Zhang Yang's eyes and mouth opened wide, and he froze on the spot for some time.

Seemingly realizing what Zhang Tie was doing, Zhang Yang made a move that was really outside Zhang Tie expectations.

He forcefully grabbed Zhang Tie inside before stretching out his head to look around outside the door. After that, he hurriedly closed the door.

"Do you want to die? Don't you know that you'll be killed if you pretend to be a soldier of the Norman Empire? Several days ago, it was a bit chaotic in Blackhot City. Some bastards got their hands on several sets of the Norman Empire's uniforms from a makeup room of a theater.

"They then put them on and plundered the city. In the end, they were caught and hung to death!" Zhang Yang's face paled, and he lowered his voice to urge Zhang Tie, "Hurry up, take it off in case someone notices. Ah... you've taken a whole set of a second lieutenant, including the boots and the walking sword. You're too audacious! Hope you didn't cause any trouble... Hurry up, take it off and hide everything! It's not funny at all!"

After glancing over Zhang Tie's clothes for a while, Zhang Yang's face turned even more white. He even wanted to peel them off his brother's body by himself.

Moved, Zhang Tie hurriedly stopped his elder brother, looking at him with an unexpectedly serious expression. "Elder brother, there's nothing wrong with my clothes, I'm now a second lieutenant of the No. 39 Division of the Norman Empire's Iron-Horn Army. I came back in the car of the No. 39 Division's headquarters.

"What? You've become a second lieutenant of the Norman Empire?"

Zhang Yang was stunned. Based on their mutual understanding of over ten years, and judging from the tone and expression, he realized that Zhang Tie was not cheating him. His mind then became a mess. His little brother was just taken away by the soldiers of the Norman Empire on charges of treason, so how could he return as a military officer of that same empire a day later? What a joke!

"I will explain it to you after a while, where are dad and mom?"

"Inside!"

There were voices coming from further in house, so Zhang Tie patted his elder brother's hand and walked inside. Before entering the room, he heard a familiar voice shouting loudly.

"... Who knows why Zhang Tie was caught by the red-hide dogs of the Norman Empire this time! I heard he has committed a great crime. If it's really like what you've said, it would be good for him to come back today. If he doesn't, I'll take my daughter back tonight, in case she'll get involved with whatever might happen to your family.

"My daughter has not enjoyed anything since she married your son. If she would have to suffer bitterness together with your family also, we could never allow it as her parents. It's so chaotic outside, the ruling power changes so rapidly, even the Andaman Alliance was over in such a short period of time. Who knows what will happen tomorrow?

"So I'll tell your the truth, even if Zhang Tie returns, as you have only one house in Blackhot City, the rights to it should be clarified at this moment. Zhang Tie and his wife in the future should not live here too. This house cannot accommodate two families. I heard that the Norman Empire also follows the eldest son succession system. So we have to clarify this thing..."

"Dad..!" elder sister-in-law shouted out with embarrassment inside the room.

"Shut up, you're forbidden to interrupt your seniors, us. We should clarify this thing as early as possible. As your belly is growing larger, Zhang Tie has also grown up. We have to clarify this thing now. Otherwise, we might even quarrel with each other more fiercely because of this thing in the future. Additionally, the engagement between you and Zhang Yang should be fixed at this time. No more wait..."

The familiar voice belonged to elder sister-in-law's father. Hearing all this, Zhang Yang looked pretty embarrassed, face becoming all red. The moment he wanted to rush in, he was held back by his brother.

Zhang Tie gave a smile, expressing that he didn't mind what he was hearing. After that, he coughed while opening the curtain and walked inside the room.

Chapter 162: Basic Aura Yeast

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

Many people were sitting inside the room, including Zhang Tie's dad and mom, elder sister-in-law, and a man who looked like her but was several years older. At the sight of him, Zhang Tie knew that he was her elder brother.

'Elder sister-in-law's family members might have come here to pour out their true thoughts when they heard about what happened to me. Its somewhat impulsive. In contrast, dad and mom are silent.'

When such an event had happened to Zhang Tie, although the relatives by marriage put it a bit straightforwardly, it was not completely unjustifiable.

While they were talking inside the room, Zhang Tie opened the curtain and entered. At the sight of him wearing a dark red military uniform of a second lieutenant, everybody was startled. Only dad and mom, hearing Zhang Tie's cough, became spirited and stood up from the chairs. Of course, as his parents, they could identify Zhang Tie's voice very well.

Elder sister-in-law's family members were given a fright, and their faces paled, especially her dad's, who was just swearing at the red-hide dogs. At the sight of one orthodox 'red-hide dog' in the room, he almost slid off his chair.

"Dad, mom, I'm back!"

Facing his excited mom and dad, Zhang Tie hurriedly moved forward and hugged both of them. Unlike others, his parents had first noticed Zhang Tie himself before having their eyes fall to his military uniform. Seeing it, his parents reacted similar to his elder brother—they immediately became worried.

"Where did you get this set of clothes from? Take them off right now. It's not funny at all..."

His dad's face also turned pale at once.

Zhang Tie hurriedly moved a step back with his heels close to each other. 'Pa!', he stood at attention and gave a solemn salute to his dad and mom with his right hand at the level of his eyebrows.

"Newly promoted platoon leader of Iron-Blood Camp, the No. 39 Division of the Iron-Horn Army from the Northern Border Military Region Zhang Tie is here to report to you, dad and mom! Your son has become a glorious military officer of the Norman Empire!"

"Stop kidding!"

Zhang Tie's dad glared at him, looking a bit infuriated.

It was clear to Zhang Tie that he could not make himself understood quickly, so he directly pulled out a Norman Empire's Military Officer Certificate that he had received today and put it into dad's palm.

"Here's the Military Officer's Certificate that I've received in the No.39's Division's headquarters this noon. If it's fake, I will replace it for a true one. Waiting for your check, dad and mom."

In the Norman Empire, soldiers' position was superior to all the other people. All of soldiers' utilities were very fine. As for military officers of the Norman Empire, one could identify their social positions from the fine-making of Military Officer Certificate in Zhang Tie's hand.

His certificate was a dark green mini book, in the center of which was a dragon-shaped relief of the Norman Empire made of silver. The dragon-shaped relief was very delicate, and under it were two crisscrossing long swords which were surrounded by leaf-like patterns.

Soon after taking the booklet, Zhang Tie's dad identified that it was true. The cover was mainly composed of a special animal's bone glue, several special plant fibers, and some minerals. Although looking trivial, it contained very advanced technology. Its craftsmanship was a top secret, which could not be easily obtained by common small nations.

Across the entire Blackson Human Clan Corridor, there were less than five nations which had this technology. Thankfully, the Norman Empire was one of them. The technology called 'all-purpose plasticity in Black Iron Age' originated from the Eastern Continent. The technology adopted by the Norman Empire was more advanced than that adopted by other nations, making it outstanding in the Blackson Human Clan Corridor.

Zhang Tie's dad knew how it was produced, so the moment he touched the Military Officer Certificate, he knew that it was true.

Opening it, he saw the same 'all-purpose plasticity material in Black Iron Age', although being a bit different in color and texture from th one on the cover. The texture inside was more like that of paper. But it was smoother.

The page contained Zhang Tie's photo, his name, detailed descriptions of his looks and physical features, his job responsibilities, and rank. Above the photo was an embossed stamp, and under the photo was a double-layered watermark. Zhang Tie's official rank was clearly written on it: Second Lieutenant, platoon leader of Third Platoon, Fifth Company, Iron-Blood Camp, No. 39 Division of the Iron-Horn Army, Northern Border Military Region, Norman Empire.

The Military Officer Certificate couldn't be more real. Zhang Tie's dad then became dumbfounded by how his son could become a military officer of the Norman Empire after being taken away by soldiers for treason. That reversal was really too quick!

Zhang Tie's mom also grabbed the Military Officer Certificate out of curiosity and took a serious look at it.

When his mom was looking, Zhang Tie turned back and smiled at the elder sister-in-law's family members who had long been standing up at a loss of what to do next.

"Uncle, aunt, elder brother, don't be that polite, just take a seat."

"You... you... you... you're Zhang Tie?" elder sister-in-law's father, who had been very talkative moments ago, barely stammered out.

"We've met the last time when you've come here. Uncle we've talked to each other at that time!"

When Zhang Tie met his elder sister-in-law's father last time, he was losing temper and shouted at him, "None of your Zhang Family is good!". Reminded of it, the man immediately remembered it. When he came to Zhang's family to ask for engagement, he truly had met Zhang Tie. Gradually, he connected that Zhang Tie to this one in the Norman Empire's second lieutenant's military uniform.

The moment he remembered the boy, he felt his legs go soft, and he almost sat onto the ground. Everybody knew that what he had just said now had been heard by Zhang Tie, including that sentence of 'red-hide dogs'. The first one who had used this sentence in Blackhot City had been hung on the gibbet by those same red-hide dogs. After hanging for several days, the corpses of those people could not even be found anymore.

"Zhang Tie..." The elder sister-in-law with her constantly bigger abdomen hurriedly moved two steps forward. "My dad was raving just now, please don't care about that..."

"What did uncle say?" Zhang Tie shrugged his shoulder like knowing nothing. "Because I was talking with elder brother outside the door just now, I heard nothing at all. I've came back to tell dad and mom that I'm okay, and to tell you all that I've been given a military officer's dorm. It has good conditions, much better than those of the attic. Two days later, I'll move away from home. Additionally, elder brother and elder sister-in-law, your wedding ceremony should not be prolonged anymore..."

Hearing Zhang Tie's explanation, everybody stared at him with complex expressions. At this moment, even his dad and mom could feel that their son seemed to have grown up.

Afterwards, in about an hour, the atmosphere became more harmonious, and everyone sat around, listening to Zhang Tie's 'story'.

In survival training, he was favored by Captain Kerlin and was presented with a book called Iron-Blood Fist. In the loner's survival training, he was struck by a lightning bolt. Not only surviving it, he could also cultivate at a faster speed after that. Additionally, he could form Iron-Blood hidden strength without encountering any obstacles.

With Iron-Blood Fist and Iron-Blood hidden strength, he obtained the nice treatment of the Norman Empire's army after being caught. After the misunderstanding that he was framed was solved, he was recruited by Colonel Leibniz, the head of No. 39 Division, and joined the army. According to the laws and traditions of the Norman Empire, he immediately became a second lieutenant...

This process was simply a strange adventure. Everybody was struck dumb with astonishment. As to the dangers that he had met in the survival training and the event in the 'club' last night, Zhang Tie didn't mention them in case of his parents' concern.

Finally Zhang family had a dinner with elder sister-in-law's family members and arranged the marriage on the table. After that, elder sister-in-law's family members left with satisfaction.

Afterwards, Zhang Tie was immediately grabbed by his mom, and she started to ask him with all seriousness about how he was struck by the lightning bolt and his present physical condition. Only after confirming that he was really okay, did she and his dad become completely reassured.

Once the supper was done, Zhang Tie pretended to be jubilant when he talked about the whole military officers' dorm thing in the Iron-Blood Camp.

"Dad and mom, I'm telling you, I can even take hot water baths in the military officers' dorm. That's just too convenient. There are all sorts of services in there for me. Even special people who will wash clothes for me. A few days later, I'll move there to register in the Camp..."

Hearing Zhang Tie's words, his dad and mom forced out their smiles.

"Dad and mom, give me a smile..." Zhang Tie used the old method of hugging his dad and mom as he kissed them on their faces. "Aren't you happy about your son's bright future?"

"Happy, of course, I'm happy. But..."

His dad felt reluctant to say it, yet he couldn't hide it either.

"I know what you're worried about. Trust me, your son's life is most valued. Wherever I go, I won't show off. Additionally, the No. 39 Division is stationed in Blackhot City. Even if I move away, I can still come back to see you at any time.

"Your son has grown up now. It's time for me to go out. I have an objective. When I save enough money, I'll certainly buy a big house for you both. You'll be able to sit in the balcony and watch the sunset everyday..."

Before going to bed, Zhang Tie kept performing as a cute kid at home, trying to make his dad and mom happy. In that solemn Norman Empire's military uniform, he looked very attractive, especially when he vividly talked about the funny things in the survival training.

From his performance, his dad and mom, who had been frowning, finally relaxed. Especially when they heard that Zhang Tie had enticed three girls at the same time. His mom then finally burst out laughing and flicked at his forehead.

"You? I will thank the god if you're not alone. If you're that able, you should bring the three girls back home one day!"

"Fine, I estimate that, not counting elder brother's, I alone will bring 50-60 women home to call you mom. Then your daughters-in-law will give birth to more than 100 kids for you. After that, you and dad will do nothing but manage Zhang's kindergarten!"

Just from how far he went with his joke, his dad himself wanted to kick his butt...

With Zhang Tie's gag, Zhang house was filled with laughter once again.

After washing himself, Zhang Tie still returned to sleep in his attic. In the three months he attended the survival training, the room was well-kept by his mom. Knowing that Zhang Tie would come back today, she had even placed a new set of quilt and cotton-padded mattress for him. Having been dried under the sun's light during daytime, they still smelt like sunshine and warmth.

After removing his disguise that he had made for mom and dad, Zhang Tie stood still in this familiar attic for ten minutes. He carefully glanced over everything in this room. Not until then did he finally understand what he could not take with him to the dorms. Once he left this place, his parents' home, he would still be missing its every inch.

After standing still for quite a while, Zhang Tie took a deep breath. He then comforted himself inside that no matter what, one had to face reality.

Reminded of reality, Zhang Tie locked on the arched door in his mind and disappeared from the room.

...

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

——The fourth evolution and mutation of the yeast fluid has been completed. The process has succeeded and you have obtained the basic aura yeast. Please check it!

The moment he entered the Castle of Black Iron, the second tip almost made Zhang Tie jump up. After failing three times in the past three months, that bottle of yeast fluid he had brought had finally completed its first evolution and mutation, resulting in a wholly new bottle of yeast fluid...

Chapter 163: Fruit of the Creator

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

Zhang Tie couldn't wait to open the Living Beings and Communities Management Panel of the Castle of Black Iron. He selected the Micro-organisms Management Projects under Carbon-Based Living Beings and Communities Management Item and further checked the latest mutation and evolution process of yeast fluid.

The familiar semi-translucent dialogue box appeared in front of him. Besides that bottle with yeast fluid inside, there were several photo samples of the control groups.

The photo samples of the first comparative group were about the yeast individuals under microscopes before and after evolution and mutation.

Before mutation, the microorganisms looked as common as water drops or beans of oval or irregular round shapes. They were semi-translucent and different-sized. However, after mutation, they looked greatly different in shape. In Zhang Tie's eyes, the microorganisms after the mutation were like miniature gourds which looked pale emerald and brought one a sense of vitality.

The comparative samples were the sample comparisons about the gene and DNA between two yeasts. The vertical photo samples of genes and DNAs of the two yeasts were revolving in the dialogue box in a very vivid way. However, Zhang Tie had a headache since he didn't know what the hell were those photos at all. Intuitively, he only felt that the DNA sequence of the yeast after mutation was longer than before.

Under this comparative group of photos were several more comparative groups. Those samples were more micro, seemingly having went deeper into the differences between the internal sections and chromosomes of the two yeasts' DNA. Only a slight glance was enough for Zhang Tie to feel like he was reading an alien language; he couldn't understanding anything in the photo samples or what was written next to them.

Almost at the end of the entire text, he finally saw several paragraphs that he could almost make sense of.

——Basic aura yeast is a wholly new yeast species after mutation and evolution. The viability of this yeast in oxygen-deficient environment is 25% higher than that of the original yeast. In common environment, this yeast's fermentation time is 8% less than that of the original one. Besides, it can produce 27% more kinds of enzymes and 18% more of them quantitatively with 31% higher activity.

——Note: Higher energy and aura affinity means that the yeast can extract and convert more life energy and aura of the leavening during fermentation. The yeast's energy and aura affinity value is 1, which indicates that the amount of energy and aura that can be extracted and converted in fermentation accounts for 1% of the total content of the leavening.

——Based on its super high energy and aura affinity value, the system named it as basic aura yeast. As the creator, you, the castle lord can also rename it in the management panel.

——The life template of this yeast has been recorded by the system. If you need, the system can present it at any time.

...

After reading this, Zhang Tie started to have a more concrete understanding of this new yeast, especially the part that the yeast could extract and convert life energy and aura from the fermented food.

Zhang Tie remembered that when he was suffering from minor illnesses or bruises, his mom would always feed him some yeast fluid made of fruits and vegetables. He would then recover very fast. He didn't need to eat other medicines anymore.

Previously, he didn't understand why, but now, reading that paragraph, he immediately understood the reason. It must be the life energy and aura that was extracted and converted from various enzymes that were formed from the fermentation of the shattered fruits and vegetables mixed with sugar and yeast.

If Miss Daina was beside him, Zhang Tie was sure that she could explain it to him better. In his eyes, any question concerning living beings could be solved by her.

Zhang Tie didn't think too much at this moment, neither did he feel how great this new yeast was. After all, yeasts were trivial and could be easily obtained. He had only input a few aura and merit values and energy into a vial of common yeast fluid for four times during the past three months. After failing three times, he had finally succeeded.

When he thought of the yeasts, the only thing that Zhang Tie was concerned about was whether he could use this new yeast to make better rice brew and improve his family's business.

After chatting with mom and dad, he knew that in the past three months, because of the sudden change in the situation and the arrival of the war, the prices of grains in Blackhot City had almost risen to twice their size. Now, although the market had slightly recovered, the highest prices of grains were still roughly three times what they were before.

Before Zhang Tie attended the survival training, his dad had used the money given by Zhang Tie to buy several bags of rice and some raw materials for rice brewing. Soon after the prices of grains surged, the sales volume of rice brew declined. So the rice were left, thankfully, because of which his family members did not have to starve.

No matter what, although it was trivial, the new yeast might be helpful to the rice brew business of his family, so Zhang Tie felt a bit pleased with himself.

Having not checked the basic attributes of the Castle of Black Iron for a long time, he then opened the basic attributes panel.

——Castle of Black Iron

——Length: 1 Krosa

——Width: 1 Krosa

——Aura value: 31637

——Merit value: 6338

——Basic energy storage: 712

——Special output: basic aura yeast

The aura value and basic energy storage were still within Zhang Tie's expectations. The basic energy storage had remained unchanged for a long time after completing one time's topographic transformation and the last two times' evolution and mutation of yeasts. These were the remaining points out of the 4000-odd basic energy value that he had accumulated through mining. It delighted him that the aura values in the Castle of Black Iron increased over 1000 per day now.

However, the surging merit value greatly startled him. He remembered that after several times' consumption, the last time he checked, it was only a bit more than 1000, which even included him saving Salvey. How could it have become over 6000 so quickly? The sudden increase of more than 5000 merit points was greater than what he had obtained after killing Snade and Huck. What was happening?

Zhang Tie hurriedly opened the log of merit value and checked it with great care.

——Do the righteous thing for the Gods. You have ended the evil souls in the cell on the underground floor 3 in Blackhot City prison. By spreading the Gods' mercy in the secular world and punishing the evil people, you have obtained 5179 merit points as a compensation.

Zhang Tie was so happy that he almost jumped into the air. After shutting off the log's and attributes' window, he rushed towards the small tree jubilantly.

On the same twig where the last Fruit of Brilliance had grown up was hanging another golden and round Fruit of Brilliance.

——Fruit of Brilliance has become ripe. Usage: Pick and directly eat it. Notice: The fruit cannot be taken out of the Castle of Black Iron. After twelve hours of having been picked off the tree, its energy and vitality will gradually decline.

'Is this the award for killing those scumbags that day? It's too cool!'

Zhang Tie burst out laughing before touching a button on the top of the dialogue box. He then saw the familiar words, seemingly telling him about how the Fruit of Brilliance was formed.

——The deteriorating glorious rays will definitely be used after the death of the sinners. The soul of the sinners shall return to the Dark Land, while the glorious rays of the soul shall remain. The glorious rays are a force that is granted to the soul by the Creator and should not be desecrated. The glorious rays belong to the brave men who spread the righteousness of the Gods. As a brave fighter who brandished your blade against evil, you will earn glorious rays as you judge evil. The glorious rays of the soul will coexist within you, making you stronger.

'It must be because of that.'

Zhang Tie shut off this dialogue box with satisfaction and picked the Fruit of Brilliance without any hesitation. After sitting down with legs crossed, he threw this fruit into his mouth and broke it with one bite.

What happened next was the same as when he ate the first Fruit of Brilliance. Zhang Tie felt his body become completely translucent while the gold fog from the Fruit of Brilliance constantly rose up from his mouth and the inside of his body. Afterwards, they converged by wisps into a swirling golden fog in his mind. It gradually became denser and much brighter as it expanded.

'Yeah, yeah, yeah!'

Zhang Tie's soul was cheering, expressing an inexpressible delight.

Finally, when the wisps of golden fog completely converged into that golden radiance in Zhang Tie's mind, his spiritual energy surged to thrice its size at once.

If Zhang Tie's spiritual energy was a slim bamboo before, that bamboo had become a thick and stout tree now. With the addition of the spiritual energy of the scumbags in the dark cell, Zhang Tie increased his spiritual energy by three times. Along with the one brought by the nine Wild Wolf Seven-strength Fruits, his present spiritual energy was at least 30-40 times greater than the one he had before having the small tree.

Zhang Tie's hidden strength surged once more.

Opening his eyes, Zhang Tie felt that the world had become much more vivid and real, like a layer of thin silk had been torn from in front of his eyes.

After picking himself up from the ground, Zhang Tie felt more energetic while a powerful strength flowed across his body. That powerful strength brought him a lot of confidence; He felt like there was nothing that could not be made by him in this world.

Such a fruit was really great. Even if that bastard Samira suddenly became adorable in Zhang Tie's mind.

'Without being screwed by that guy, how could I have gotten this Fruit of Brilliance?'

After a surge of his spiritual energy, Zhang Tie abruptly felt that there one more fruit on the tree. He somehow knew it through an uncertain and indescribable spiritual sense without even having to look at it.

It was a whole new fruit in the shape of a tiny emerald green gourd. It reminded Zhang Tie of the yeast that he had created just now.

——Fruit of the Creator. Usage: Pick and directly eat it. Notice: The fruit cannot be taken out of the Castle of Black Iron. After twelve hours of having been picked off the tree, its energy and vitality will gradually decline.

——All the creations are related to infinite karma. Because of you, the basic aura yeast microorganisms appeared in this world from nowhere. They were created by you. Therefore, they belong to you. You are the father and god of this creation. The Fruit of the Creator will allow you to control all the basic aura yeast microorganisms in this world based on the material existence rule that the microorganisms follow. From now on then, your will and orders will decide their existence.

Although Zhang Tie had experienced so many surprises today, he still couldn't have imagined that the greatest surprise would appear last. This Fruit of the Creator was Zhang Tie's biggest achievement today. Because he had created the new species—basic aura yeast—he was the father and god of this basic aura yeast.

From today on, after eating this Fruit of the Creator, all the basic aura yeasts would listen to his orders. This was the most powerful control, based on the material existence rule that was followed by this kind of micro-organism.

Zhang Tie didn't know what was the most powerful control based on the material existence rule; however, he would control a new species which was also a great and a magnificent thing for him.

With curiosity and piety, Zhang Tie picked the tiny gourd-like emerald green fruit from the small tree and ate it.

After that, the moment he closed his eyes, numerous messages from the tiny gourd impressed themselves into Zhang Tie's mind by patches, while that special energy in the tiny gourd also converged with Zhang Tie's spiritual energy.

After ten minutes, Zhang Tie opened his eyes. This time, his spiritual energy hadn't increased anymore. Instead, his eyes were ravished with joy. He finally understood what was the most powerful control as he felt that he was the God, the God of the trivial yeasts of only several micrometers in diameter that he had created.

Merely with his pure spiritual energy and thoughts, he could completely control those yeasts.

'If it was not a vial of yeast fluid but a different species such as a pack of smart wild wolves or other advanced magical beasts, would I become the inherent deity of the new species which would have been created through mutation and evolution in the Castle of Black Iron..?'

When this thought suddenly flashed across Zhang Tie's mind, even he himself didn't notice that a new emotion budded in his heart. It was an emotion called - Ambition!

Chapter 164: Circumcision

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

Zhang Tie's revenge plan had been aborted on the next day of his release. When he prepared to aggressively seek revenge against Samira, he found out that despite him locating Samira's Business Group's base, the man had already hidden himself away.

When Zhang Tie was set free and promoted to be a second lieutenant yesterday, Samira learned of it the same evening; the Military Administration of Blackhot City had canceled his business group's supplier certificate. Scared by such an abrupt change, Samira had rolled away all the money of the Business Group and disappeared on the same evening without even giving notice to his employees.

When Zhang Tie arrived there, he found those employees were seeking for their boss, no one able to locate him. There were also many people who were bustling outside, asking for payment and goods from Samira's Business Group. The moment they found out that Samira's Business Group's supplier certificate was suddenly canceled by the Military Administration of Blackhot City, the partners rushed here; pitifully, they were still one step late.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Tie could only sigh that Samira was too cunning. Merely over one night, this guy had already slipped away.

Failing to catch Samira, Zhang Tie had to leave the base of Samira's Business Group.

Unexpectedly, only after a few days of his return, he had already managed to scare Samira away. Thinking of this, Zhang Tie became a bit arrogant.

A couple of days later, he would leave home and go to register in the Iron-Blood Camp, so the days left at home became precious. He had to hurriedly arrange and deal with his previous affairs: Donder, Iron-Thorns Fighting Club, Hit-Plane Brotherhood, and the three girls, Pandora, Alice, and Beverly, in the short period of time left to him.

Additionally, that damned circumcision operation concerning his 'sex happiness' should also be dealt with. Otherwise, after registering in the Iron-Blood Camp, Zhang Tie was afraid that he would have less time to do that.

From adviser Vessie, Zhang Tie had learned some information about the situation outside. Besides that confrontation between the Norman Empire's army and Sun Dynasty's army in Kalur, the entire Blackson Human Clan Corridor seemed to be being pushed to be chaotic by a dark force.

Many places had broken out in small-scale wars. Some small forces were annexed by bigger forces. Blackhot City was lucky enough to get included into the map of the Norman Empire, as in other places, there were many casualties everyday in the wars, and such a chaotic situation in general.

The next day, Zhang Tie found an abacus at home. He spent an afternoon to impart the oral skills of the 'mental arithmetic by abacus' to his elder brother and asked him to copy all the content in the book.

After learning that the 'mental arithmetic by abacus' could improve his spiritual energy and accelerate its recovery, Zhang Yang opened his mouth so widely that it could even hold a chicken egg inside.

After trying it, Zhang Yang could immediately sense how 'mental arithmetic by abacus' improved and helped to recover one's spiritual energy.

With his experiences and insights in the past years, of course Zhang Yang understood how precious this 'mental arithmetic by abacus' was. In this age, any method that could be used to improve one's spiritual energy would be regarded as the top secret which could not even be purchased by money.

On the third day, Zhang Tie put away that handsome military uniform, and instead put on a proper set of plain clothes. He left home in the early morning, slid into a hospital introduced by Hista, and completed the circumcision operation at the cost of 54 silver coins.

After taking off his pants together with his underwear and lying down on the operation table, a 30-odd plump and tall nurse lifted Zhang Tie's 'bird' with two fingers and cleaned off the fresh pubic hair under it. The shaving knife was very sharp. When it touched under Zhang Tie's abdomen, he felt all chilly. Having not made this operation before, Zhang Tie was scared that the aunt would directly cut off his 'bird'. He really did not know how this operation would go.

"Hehe, that's fresh!" When shaving his pubic hair, the aunt ridiculed him with a smile. "Many kids have already taken this operation when they were just born. This is called capistration. What's pitiful boy is that you did not discover this problem before. But when you wanted to be a man, you realized it cannot work!"

The aunt hit it directly, leaving Zhang Tie, whose pants and underwear had been taken off, lying on the operation table, feeling embarrassed all over. He had not been that embarrassed since he was born.

After shaving his pubic hair, the aunt brought a basin of water before washing it. Zhang Tie was overly embarrassed during the entire process. When she moved his 'bird' back and forth, the relentless guy abruptly became as hard as iron. Seeing that, the nurse kept giggling while washing it.

"I did not imagine that you've got such a great 'root'" Saying this, the aunt forcefully flicked his 'bird' using two hands, leaving an unexpected stimulative to Zhang Tie, whose face turned red all over in a split second.

'I've been played by an aunt?' After experiencing it for the first time, Zhang Tie felt hot blood rushing downside, making the thing below as hard as iron.

When a man's hot blood rushed down, he would find every part of the woman before him beautiful. Like now, this 30-something nurse in Zhang Tie's eyes became a bit enchanting. All in a sudden, the nurse's chest, waist, and bottom were full of an alluring sense of mature and sexy woman.

Instinctively, Zhang Tie moved his hand to her bottom.

It was very huge and soft. Although scared by his own audacious move, Zhang Tie truly felt it very stimulative.

The nurse only cast a glance at him with a smile. She then continued to help him clean it. During the process, Zhang Tie's heart pounded as he felt very stimulated by touching the nurse's butt using one hand with a layer of white nurse uniform in the middle.

Soon after, she cleaned it up. The nurse then forcefully patted Zhang Tie's untamed thing like punishing it down. "Wait a moment, the doctor will come soon!"

Then, she took the water away. Lying on the operation table, Zhang Tie was still recalling that nice feeling in his hand. This was his first time touching such a mature woman. Compared to Alice, Beverly, and Pandora, a mature woman seemed to have another special taste.

The wait passed by quickly. After lying on the table for a few minutes, a doctor came in.

It was a male doctor in a mask and hat. Zhang Tie couldn't clearly see his face. After sterilization and anesthesia, in less than ten minutes, Zhang Tie became senseless. He could only feel a bit of icyness on that thing. After a circle cut, the entire operation was completed.

Once the doctor left, the nurse carefully daubed medicine onto his wound before bundling it using gauze. Afterwards, she told Zhang Tie that he could put on his pants and underwear after getting off the table.

When he sat up, Zhang Tie looked at his thing, which was as ugly as a mummy bundled in a gauze with only the head exposed. The red-white scene was really dazzling——it was really too ugly! Additionally, covered in gauze, it felt heavy and uncomfortable, at least not as free as usual.

"Here is the gauze and medicine. Three days later, you can change medicine and the gauze by yourself. If you recover fast, it'll be okay in a week or so. Before it recovers, you should not do too many excessive activities. Watch your health. Wear loose pants so as to lessen the rubbing against it. Before going to bed, drink less. Additionally, don't think about doing bad things; otherwise you will suffer a lot!"

After telling him about the taboos, she handed a small roll of gauze and a vial of medicine to Zhang Tie. "The anesthetic effect will disappear after a while, so it'll be a bit painful for the next few days. Stand it!"

"Thanks!" Thinking of his aggressive move not long ago, Zhang Tie abruptly felt embarrassed. "Er... back then... sorry about that!"

"No need..." The nurse smiled carelessly. "Once stimulated, you kids will always be curious about doing something. That's very normal. However, at least that indicates that I'm still enchanting..."

Looking at the smiling nurse, Zhang Tie learned it that mature women would become beautiful by smiling.

"Er... will it be very painful after the anesthetic effect disappears?"

"It will feel painful for a few days. But it's still bearable. It will be okay if you don't let blood rush towards it and make it hard." Saying that, the nurse touched Zhang Tie's head. "Today, one more bad brat was made capable of bullying girls. Remember to treat well your beloved girl!"

"I know!"

Zhang Tie felt embarrassed, and scratched his head before smiling awkwardly.

After chatting with Zhang Tie for awhile and telling him about the taboos, the nurse arranged the items on the operation table and twisted her waist away.

Walking out of the operation room, Zhang Tie suddenly realized that he could be a man like others in a few days. He then felt his life being filled with sunshine and wonderful things...

...

The anesthetic effect started to disappear five minutes after Zhang Tie had left the hospital. The wound started to feel painful. But after surviving through the countless agonizing experiences in the numerous miserable practices in the Trouble-Reappearance Scenes, Zhang Tie cared nothing for this bit of pain.

During the last hour, he had removed the biggest obstacle in his path of becoming a man and bravely flirted with a nurse. Such an experience made Zhang Tie feel unbelievably proud of himself.

He felt so good, knowing that his spring will come soon. In one more week, he would be a real man, a man who could defeat women.

After leaving the hospital, Zhang Tie walked straight towards Doner's grocery store near the railway station of Blackhot City.

Under the military control, many places in Blackhot City became somewhat depressed since soldiers in dark-red military uniforms of No. 39 Division could be seen patrolling everywhere around the city. However, unexpectedly, that flea market beside the railway station was more bustling than before. The population flow there was at least 30% greater than before.

Donder remained unchanged the past three months. When Zhang Tie entered the grocery store, he found the man with his head lowered, calculating on an abacus before an account book.

Chapter 165: A Gift to Donder

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

Hearing Zhang Tie's cough, Donder raised his head from behind the counter. However, he didn't show any surprise, just revealed his teeth.

"Brat, you've come back here. Do you want me to invite you for a lunch?"

"Yea!"

Zhang Tie revealed an innocent smile and honestly nodded.

"No way!"

Donder's face immediately looked as hard as the door plank of the grocery store.

"If so, I will go then. Previously I thought that if you invited me for a lunch, I'll give you something as a payment for your care for me in the past years..."

After saying that, Zhang Tie pretended to leave.

"Heh heh. You want to cheat me with this trick. Brat, don't forget that I taught it to you. I've already played and become tired of this trick dozens of years ago..."

Donder smirked behind the counter, seemingly having seen through Zhang Tie's lie.

Without saying anything else, Zhang Tie just pulled out of the original book from one pocket inside his coat and waved it before Donder. With only one wave, he was sure that Donder must have already clearly seen the capitalized Chinese characters on the cover.

As was expected, when Zhang Tie pretended to leave again, Donder stopped him from behind the counter. "Wait a moment..."

Zhang Tie then turned back and stared at Donder with a smile. "How about that, you've changed your mind?"

"Wait a moment, I'll have somebody send the alcohol and dishes to our store. We'll talk here then. After two months, you look changed. You're taller now..."

Donder revealed a big smile.

Waving his head, Zhang Tie said, "Immortals Gathering Hotel!"

"What?" Although with that same smile on his face, Donder jumped up from like having been poked. He became infuriated and swore, "Bastard, do you know how much it would cost me to have a meal in Immortals Gathering Hotel? That is the most expensive Chinese hotel in Blackhot City. As it's chaotic now, the price of a meal there would be at least twice of one before!"

Zhang Tie didn't care one bit what Donder was talking about. Turning away, he went through the door.

"How about Delicacies House? That's also a nearby Chinese hotel. The dishes there are also good!"

Donder hurriedly rushed out from behind the counter.

Zhang Tie turned back and repeated for Donder's benefit, "Immortals Gathering Hotel!"

Donder gritted his teeth and glared at Zhang Tie, intending to find something in the latter's expression, but Zhang Tie looked calm, that's all. After struggling for quite a while, Donder finally compromised, "Brat, you win! If you dare to cheat me, I'll beat the sh*t out of you!"

Zhang Tie laughed loudly and pulled Donder away.

"Wait a moment, I've got a few pages not calculated yet!"

Zhang Tie walked over there. He took up the grocery's account book, and only after a simple glance, he started to jostle down numbers on the result column. Then he turned to another page, and with another glance, he wrote down a couple more numbers, after which he turned to the third page and scrawled down the rest of the results.

In less than ten seconds, he had calculated all the three pages which would have taken Donder ten minutes to finish it.

"It's done!"

Putting down the pencil, Zhang Tie patted his hands.

"Bad*ss, what are you scrawling on my account book..."

Dumbfounded for a while by what Zhang Tie was doing, Donder rushed over there, glaring at Zhang Tie with the solemnity of a funeral ceremony. After tthat, he hurriedly took up the abacus and started to calculate the numbers.

In less than three minutes, Donder's expression had changed. On the first page, none of the numbers written down by Zhang Tie were wrong.

'How could he be that fast? Even with mental arithmetic, one could not know all the results with merely one glance.'

Donder had no idea that Zhang Tie's mental arithmetic by abacus had reached a level that could not even be imagined by the boy himself after surging three more times. With merely one glance over the numbers, the answers appeared in his mind, which was one hundred times sharper than the common mental arithmetic in modern times.

"Do you believe me now?" Zhang Tie waited to the side until Donder twisted his face and looked at him with a doubtful expression. "Don't worry about the other calculations. Don't waste anymore time!"

"When did you learn such sharp mental arithmetic?"

"That's not mental arithmetic, but a side effect of Mental Arithmetic by Abacus..."

"Side effect?" Donder asked with disbelief.

"Side effect!" Zhang Tie confirmed, nodding his head.

Donder finally revealed a big smile on his face. "Well, Immortals Gathering Hotel!"

...

Immortals Gathering Hotel was the most advanced Chinese hotel in Blackhot City. Before everything, eating here for Zhang Tie was almost as difficult as climbing into the sky. The lowest per capita consumption here was never less than one gold coin.

Before the entrance to the Immortals Gathering Hotel were a pair of stony lions with Chinese characters. It was heard that the architectural style of the entire hotel was Chinese classical style: gray tiles, cornices, verdant trees, and red windows. The architectural style was unique in Blackhot City.

On the Horizontal Board were three Chinese characters 'Immortals Gathering Hotel' and two huge vertical columns with two Chinese couplets on them:

——Under a half burned oil lamp, one holds half a cup of alcohol and enjoys a fraction of happiness in the human world, though half-drunk.

——With immortal pals, friends, dishes, and alcohol, one invites fairy maidens to share the drink in the immortal house.

These couplets surrounded the three Capitalized Chinese characters in the middle: Immortals Gathering Hotel!

There was only one hotel like this in the whole of Blackhot City.

After entering through the gate of the Immortals Gathering Hotel, they saw a rock garden with rivulets flowing down and across. Two rows of blondes with plump breasts greeted them in skintight cheongsam[1] with openings reaching their thigh.

The moment Donder and Zhang Tie entered, the two rows of blondes bowed together towards them, saying in an orthodox Chinese 'Welcome', which really shocked Zhang Tie.

Ever since he was born, it was his first time seeing so many foreign girls speak Chinese in unison.

The pale yet elegant skintight cheongsom, black high-heel shoes, snow white legs, and the plump breasts that were exposed through their 'V-shaped' collar when the blondes lowered their heads almost made Zhang Tie's head spin.

Donder walking in front did not pay attention to the bowing women since he was used to it. However, Zhang Tie abruptly felt his legs go soft and almost fell down.

"What's wrong?" Donder glanced at Zhang Tie with uncertainty. "Weird, what's wrong with you today?"

At this time, cold sweat had already covered Zhang Tie's forehead. Just now, when he caught sight of the lined pairs of plump breasts, his untamed thing reacted, causing a sharp pain between his legs. Just having been circumcised, that spirited thing pained Zhang Tie so much that he almost went down and squatted on the ground.

"It's okay, it's okay!" Zhang Tie said with a trace of fear and wiped off the cold sweat from his forehead.

After, he slowly picked himself up.

'I forgot about this!'

Zhang Tie swore inside. His original plan was to let Donder bleed by spending a lot to invite him to the Immortals Gathering Hotel, the most expensive hotel in Blackhot City, which Zhang Tie had no chance to have ever visited before. Unexpectedly, he was almost killed by the cheongsam blondes outside the hotel.

With narrowed eyes, Donder glanced at Zhang Tie, then the beautiful and sexy greeting girls. Immediately, he revealed a shadow of obscene smile at the corner of his mouth.

Straightening, Zhang Tie didn't dare to look around anymore, just followed Donder inside.

"I want a quiet chartered room. Two more waiters to help lift my younger fellow who has something wrong with his body!" Donder ordered. For some reason, he emphasized the words 'younger fellow'.

With a blow of fragrant wind, two blondes arrived and started to lift Zhang Tie's arms enthusiastically.

Before refusing them, the moment he smelt the fragrance, Zhang Tie was greatly pained again and squatted down. It was his turn to glare at Donder this time.

"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

"What are you talking about? What am I doing on purpose? "Donder rebutted with an innocent expression, shrugging his shoulders.

"You must have known about my thing. You dare to say that you don't know what I'm talking about? You're just playing with me!"

The blondes standing aside stared at the two people quarreling at the entrance of the Immortals Gathering Hotel with eyes wide-open.

"Do you mean you've had circumcision today?" Donder pretended to think about it for a quite while before he shouted it out. It was so loud that even people from 30 m away could hear it.

After his scream, many blondes standing nearby burst out laughing when they caught sight of Zhang Tie's awkward look squatting down on the ground. Afterwards, they realized that it was impolite to do that, so they forcefully stood it. However, they started to glance at that place under his abdomen.

'Revenge, this was definitely revenge. Donder the bastard loudly revealed my secret in public to shame me, forcing me to change to another place. I'll make him pay for it!'

Zhang Tie gritted his teeth and picked himself up from the ground without peering at the beauties nearby anymore, instead, he shouted out loudly, "Where's your most expensive chartered room? Take me in, I'm hungry!"

This time, it was Donder's turn to twist his face.

Several minutes later, in a luxurious chartered room of Immortals Gathering Hotel, Zhang Tie started to order dishes. Each dish he ordered would make Donder's fat face painfully quiver. When he ordered the eighth dish, Donder started to gaze at him with fury.

"Bad *ss, can you even eat so many dishes?" he painfully screamed out.

Zhang Tie didn't ignore him but asked a waiter standing next to him, "Can I take them away if I can't eat them all?"

"No. The food and dishes in Immortals Gathering Hotel can only be taken away in your stomach," the waiter politely answered.

"Alright. I'll then just taste some more..."

Zhang Tie laughed loudly and ordered eight more dishes before stopping with satisfaction.

By the time he did so, Donder was already gasping with red eyes on the other side of the table.

The older man asked, "Have you finished then?"

"Yes, I have!" Zhang Tie gave him a big smile.

"Well, it's my turn now!" After saying that, Donder turned to the waiter. "Please send me two blondes. I want the coquettish ones with little clothing."

After saying that, Donder glared at Zhang Tie who was also ferociously glowering at him.

"I've forgotten, I want lark-dragoon soup!"

Zhang Tie gritted his teeth and added one more dish.

"Two blondes are too few, I want two more: one on our right side, and the other on our left side. That would be more interesting!"

Donder gnashed his teeth.

"We have to drink alcohol. I want one bottle of Cloud-Immortal Alcohol!"

Zhang Tie clenched his teeth.

"We have to have dancers for alcohol. Go fetch me one voluptuous dancer here, the sexier, the better!"

Donder added one more dish for Zhang Tie.

The two then furiously glared at each other while panting like fighting roosters, killing intent filling their eyes, the reason for which could only be understood by them alone.

Feeling not right in the room, the waiter silently slid out...

Several minutes later, along with dozens of yummy dishes came a group of charming and plump blondes, accompanied by two qin [2] and drum musicians.

This meal was very painful for both Zhang Tie and Donder. Donder's heart bled for the high costs while Zhang Tie felt real pain in his wounded flesh.

It took them over an hour to finish this meal; they both looked pretty rigid by its end. Donder's fat face twitched every now and then while Zhang Tie's sweat kept rolling down his forehead. This meal almost made the two of them faint.

In the end, looking at the awkward expression of the opponent, one of them forced a smile and then the two of them burst out laughing at the same time.

Donder waved his hand to let all the dancers and musicians move away.

"Brat, you win. I've not been madder at anyone in the past dozens of years. I feel that many years younger being around you. How about that? Do you still hurt now?" Donder asked.

"Thankfully, I found that drinking alcohol can relieve pain and transfer one's attention! Later on, if anyone dares to say that you're mean, I'll spit all over his face. This meal will cost you at least 5-6 gold coins."

Zhang Tie also relaxed and leaned against the chair. The past hour was really a torture for him. It was no different from suffering a criminal penalty and more torturous than staying in the dark cell.

"5-6 gold coins? Rustic. It's not enough to even pay the women. Plus the dishes and two gold coins' chartering fee, it will at least cost me 15 gold coins!" Donder widely opened his eyes as he shouted loudly.

Zhang Tie sighed inside as 15 gold coins were even higher than his dad's one-year salary. When he was driven angry just now, he hadn't realized that, but after recovering his composure, he started to realize that it was a really great harm to Donder. It would take his grocery store at least two months to make 15 gold coins at a normal speed.

So after hearing that, Zhang Tie felt embarrassed and scratched his head. After thinking for a while, he directly pulled out of the book from inside his coat and threw it to Donder, who was sitting on the opposite end of the table.

Donder solemnly took it and seriously skimmed it from beginning to end. As a person who excelled at making calculations on a real abacus, of course, he understood the basic principles of Mental Arithmetic by Abacus.

"Hmm, this is a mental arithmetic based on virtual abacus. It's fashionable and one level superior to directly calculating on a real abacus. You didn't cheat me, brat. This meal is worthwhile!"

After reading the entire book, Donder satisfactorily nodded before putting it into his coat.

Hearing Donder's reply, Zhang Tie smiled, shaking his head.

Donder was stunned.

"What? Am I not right?"

Zhang Tie didn't speak but pointed at his own mouth, shaping his mouth in silent words 'spiritual energy'.

Since Donder had taught him the lip reading skill, which was a communicative skill used by many pioneers, Zhang Tie was sure that the older men could clearly understand what he was saying.

They were in a chartered room in a hotel, so Zhang Tie had to be careful. Now even if someone was eavesdropping, he could not hear anything about the secret.

As expected, seeing Zhang Tie's mouth shapes, Donder was dumbfounded. His eyes popped out with disbelief.

So Zhang Tie continued by moving his lips, "By practicing mental arithmetic by abacus, you can improve your spiritual energy. I've tried it. This might be the easiest way for everybody to grasp the secret to improve one's spiritual energy..."

Shocked, Donder picked himself up from the ground where he had crashed next to the table. He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to shout out from amazement, but he knew better and covered his mouth with a hand.

In any place, any method that could be used to raise one's spiritual energy would be very important.

He then just gazed at Zhang Tie without even winking.

Zhang Tie nodded seriously.

...

After departing from Donder and returning home, it was almost dark. On the way back home, Zhang Tie took a look at the grains store. He found that the price of 25 kg of rice had truly risen to 10 silver coins, which was twice as high as three months ago. Such a high price would definitely lay a heavy burden on many commoners. Although it was not very severe, not to the point of the sky collapsing anyway, such a high rise had already greatly influenced many families' daily lives. They started to live in a more frugal way.

In the afternoon, Zhang Tie had also went to the Iron-Thorns Fighting Club. What made him disappointed was that the gate of the fighting club was tightly closed this time. It seemed to have been suspended for a few days.

In the past month, many things in Blackhot City had changed.

Avenue Bright, the most prosperous place in Blackhot City seemed to have lost its original brilliance. Almost one third of the stores had been closed. As to the rest, although they opened, they weren't as sought out as before.

In the entire Avenue Bright, many roadside stores and houses were marked with transfer and for sale.

The prices of fixed assets in Blackhot City like real estates started to sharply decline; many people were dumping them. In contrast, the prices of daily necessities like food, weapons, and medicine materials had started to surge. Even prices of resources like coal, iron, and steel had started to slowly raise. This was the current condition of Blackhot City that Zhang Tie saw after circling around for half a day. It did not look like a promising sign.

When Zhang Tie slowly returned home, he found that the door of his house was encircled by a great many people, making the outside of his house noisy. It seemed that someone was stirring up trouble there...

...

[1]'The cheongsam is a body-hugging one-piece Chinese dress for women, also known as qipao.

[2] 'Qin' is a classical Chinese seven-stringed plucked musical instrument in someways similar to a zither.

Chapter 166: Duel

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

Bagdad looked outstanding among the crowd because of his height. Besides him, Zhang Tie also caught sight of Barley, Hista, Leit, and Doug. With the exception of Sharwin, all the other members of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood had gathered here.

There were more than 30 people circling the door of his house, making it noisy over there. Besides the members of the Brotherhood and the group of Gods Bliss Association, Zhang Tie also saw Captain Kerlin and Mr. Zerom along with the other two teachers of the Temporary Supervision Committee. As for the other people, some of them were onlookers while the rest were loudly shouting.

After taking in that scene, Zhang Tie knew that the event of when he had broken Zuhair's neck in the canteen of Wild Wolf Castle had finally broken out after a few days' development.

Judging by how much time had passed since everyone returned to now, the duel was about to start. Zuhair's family would have had enough time after receiving the notice of their boy's death to figure out Zhang Tie's background, and most likely, prepare well to start a duel with him.

A bunch of people were surrounding the house. Someone wanted to rush inside, but Zhang Tie's elder brother forcefully held them back with an excuse that Zhang Tie was not home. However, there were still someone who didn't believe that and tried to use force to enter the house to find him.

A person jumped at Zhang Tie's elder brother, shouting out loudly, "Call Zhang Tie out. He killed my younger brother. Now, according to the rules of the Norman Empire, I would like to challenge him to a duel. Don't be as timid as a rabbit!"

"Come out, come out, call the killer out! If Zhang Tie doesn't come out, we will go in!"

Many people started to clamor.

"Zhang Tie is definitely not at home. Wait a moment, don't be impulsive..." Barley tried to reason with the crowd.

Several teachers of the Temporary Supervision Committee in the survival training stood a bit farther away with neutral stances. They didn't take sides with either of the two parties. According to the rules of the Norman Empire, their role now was only act as witnesses of a fair duel between Zuhair's family members and Zhang Tie. This was also one of the aftermath tasks of survival training.

"Zhang Tie must have hidden himself. He wants to escape from the duel. Let's rush inside to catch him!" someone started to loudly shout from the crowd, inciting others to break through.

"Who dare to come in, this father will slay him here!" Zhang Tie's elder brother roared, immediately pulling out the long sword on his waist and pointing it at those who wanted to rush into the house.

Seeing Zhang Tie's elder brother pulling out his long sword, the one who was jumping up in the crowd did not hesitate to pull out his own long sword too. At the same time, the sounds of 'ceng', 'ceng', 'ceng' could be heard everywhere. Many people had already pulled out their long swords, bringing a dense smell of iron in the air. Seeing this, some onlookers hurriedly ran away.

"Who said I was hiding?"

At the most dangerous moment, Zhang Tie's voice could be heard. Everybody turned their heads to see him slowly walk towards them on the sidewalk.

At the sight of him, his elder brother looked a bit worried, while the eyes of the members of the Brotherhood were filled with concern. In contrast, the inciters' eyes were filled with pleasure at his misfortune.

The crowd separated, allowing Zhang Tie to calmly walk through.

"You're Zhang Tie?"

At the sight of Zhang Tie, that person who had been in confrontation with his elder brother turned back and ferociously glared at him.

Judging from that person's face, which was a bit similar to Zuhair's, Zhang Tie guessed who that person was.

"You're Zuhair's elder brother?"

"Right, was it you who killed Zuhair in the survival training?"

"Right, he deserved to die, so I killed him!" Zhang Tie calmly admitted it.

Hearing that, the person walked towards Zhang Tie, a long sword in his hand...

At that moment, a hand stopped him. Zerom had moved to stand between the two.

"It is your right to start a duel with Zhang Tie; Zhang Tie cannot refuse it. However, the duel has to proceed with fairness. Private killing in revenge is definitely forbidden, unless you want to be a murderer who is wanted across the Norman Empire. "

That person then stopped and glared at Zhang Tie with a death-filled look before forcefully returning his long sword into the sheath on his waist.

During this period, Zhang Tie greeted the surrounding friends and relatives with a smile, including Captain Kerlin and the teachers of the Temporary Supervision Committee. His careless look made the guys who were casting furious glare at him gnash their teeth.

"Zhang Tie, in the survival training, based on the rules of barbarous survival training of the Norman Empire, you killed Zuhair in public, so you should face any request for a duel from anyone of Zuhair's blood-tied relatives within three generations. You cannot refuse it. I have to warn you that in the duel, like how when you killed Zuhair, Zuhair's family members will not assume any responsibility if they kill you!" Zerom warned Zhang Tie once more with a solemn expression.

"Thanks for you warning, Mr. Zerom. I accept the request for a duel from Zuhair's family at any time and any place!" he calmly said, his expression not changing at all. Since the day he had killed Zuhair, he was waiting for today.

Zhang Tie's calm made even Mr. Zerom and Captain Kerlin, who had been staring at him, a bit startled. With the exception of Zhang Tie's elder brother, nobody at the present, including Zerom and Captain Kerlin, knew that Zhang Tie had encountered many things since he returned home two days ago. Now, he was not the same boy of before.

"According to the dueling rules of the Norman Empire, long-ranged weapons like bows and arrows, javelins, hidden weapons, and crossbow bolts, as well as pets, riding, and poisonous substances are prohibited. Each dueler can only bring two weapons at most. I have to warn you of this in advance; it was especially requested by Zuhair's family members!" a teacher standing nearby warned Zhang Tie once again.

"I know!"

Zhang Tie nodded.

"Now that you've agreed, here is the duel certificate. You two sign on it. According to the laws of the Norman Empire, the duel will start seven days after the signing of this certificate. It will be held at your school, the Seventh National Male Middle School. You two have one week to prepare for it. During the period, according to laws of the Norman Empire, if either of you runs away from this duel, he will become a wanted man across the whole Norman Empire. After being caught, the one that had escaped would be lowered to become a guilty slave while his family members' status would also be degraded. "

After saying this, the teacher pulled out a drafted duel certificate from his pocket and let Zhang Tie and Zuhair's elder brother sign on it.

After a ferocious glare at Zhang Tie, Zuhair's elder brother took the pencil and signed his name without any hesitation.

When Zhang Tie took the pen, his elder brother rushed and shouted loudly, "I will participate in this duel on behalf of my younger brother!"

"No, this duel can only be accepted by Zhang Tie himself. No one else can represent him!"

With a shake of his head, Captain Kerlin stretched out his arm to stop Zhang Yang who was driven to a bout of impulsiveness.

"Bighead..!" the members of the Brotherhood started to shout in unison.

Zhang Tie just smiled at them, who cared about his well-being, before signing his name on the duel certificate without any hesitation. When he did so, he learned that Zuhair's elder brother was named Sodor.

After Zhang Tie signed his name, Sodor burst out laughing. Glaring at Zhang Tie, he sniggered, "Brat, you've seven days left, pray for yourself. Seven days later, I'll break your bones before chopping off your head to make you pay for Zuhair!"

"Idiot!"

Zhang Tie showed the whites of his eyes, not caring about the man before him at all.

'What's Sodor's level, LV 4, LV5, or LV 6? Ma Long in the dark cell looked much more powerful than him. I don't need to worry about the duel with him at all!'

After achieving their goal here, Sodor and his men left. They were no longer afraid that Zhang Tie would escape anymore. If he ran now, they would be even happier as a guilty slave and the family that contained a guilty slave would suffer a lot.

As Sodor and his men left, Captain Kerlin and the other teachers who had witnessed and arranged the signing of the duel also left in case of gossip.

When Captain Kerlin was about to leave, Zhang Tie called him, "Captain Kerlin!"

"I'm not captain anymore, call me Instructor Kerlin!"

The one-eyed man forced out a helpless smile. The City Guard had already ceased to exist except in name. The one-eyed man felt shamed by letting others call him captain anymore. The appellation that he liked before sounded a bit jarring now.

"Thank you!"

Zhang Tie sincerely bowed in front of the one-eyed man. If this person hadn't presented him the book of Iron-Blood Fist skill, although alive, Zhang Tie would have never been set up this well.

Scratching his head, the one-eyed man asked, "What for?"

"Do you remember what you told me on that night when I was recuperating in the Wild Wolf Castle? Because of a couple reasons, I've become that one in a hundred now!"

Zhang Tie believed that the one-eyed man could understand what he was talking about.

As expected, upon hearing Zhang Tie's words, the one-eyed man became stunned for awhile before widely opening his eyes and staring at Zhang Tie, like having seen a ghost.

Finally, the one-eyed man took a deep breath to recover his composure. "Perhaps this was the best decision that I've made in my life. I'll be expecting to see your performance seven days later!"

After saying this, he glanced at Zhang Tie again before leaving. Most of the onlookers already left by now.

This left only the members of the Brotherhood outside Zhang Tie's house.

As soon as they heard that Sodor was here to request a duel with Zhang Tie, Barley and the other members of the Brotherhood had rushed over. In the past two days, the news that Zhang Tie had killed Zuhair spread like wildfire. It went not only through their school, but others, too. The event became the biggest news among the students that had attended this survival training in Blackhot City.

The Brotherhood always kept an eye on how this event was developing. Previously, they had set to gather tomorrow, but unexpectedly, Sodor, the elder brother of Zuhair, had decided to find Zhang Tie trouble today. In case their friend might suffer a big loss when he met Sodor, they hurriedly followed the mass here to boost their companion's morale.

Knowing that Zhang Tie had something to explain to his family members, Barley and the other members of the Brotherhood also left after warning Zhang Tie to be careful.

But before Barley could leave, Zhang Tie had pulled him close to whisper something in his ear. Upon hearing the words, Barley popped out his eyes.

Zhang Tie had told him two things: first, he was already LV 4 now and had formed Iron-Blood hidden strength; second, he was a second lieutenant of No. 39 Division of Iron-Horn Army of the Norman Empire.

...

Even after leaving the Zhang house several hundreds meters behind, Barley still felt his head humming. At the same time, his legs felt soft, like stepping onto cotton. While Hista and Bagdad were concerned and discussed the duel in seven days, only Leit found that Barley was a bit absent-minded.

On a path with fewer people, Leit asked, "Barley, what did Bighead tell you just now. You don't look good."

Woken up by Leit, Barley shook his head before looking around and realizing that they were already far away from Zhang's family.

"It's not convenient to talk about it just now. Bighead told me two things, he wanted me to tell you not to worry about his duel!"

"What?"

Everybody curiously stared at Barley .

Barley made a hand gesture for the four people move closer to him. Afterwards, he repeated the two things that Zhang Tie had told him which made all the other animals dumbfounded...

...

The moment Zhang Tie returned home, he saw his mom's worrisome look. Without any hesitation, he directly knelt down in front of her when he entered the house.

"Mom, sorry, you son made you worried once again..."

Previously, as Sodor and his men were shouting outside the door by requesting a duel with Zhang Tie, his mom had heard them all, including how Zhang Tie had killed Zuhair in the survival training. Touching Zhang Tie's face and seeing him kneeling down in front of her, his mom immediately burst into tears.

Although he had described the survival training life as simple and interesting as living in the suburbs, nobody knew how much bitterness and how many dangers he had experienced. What happened today broke the white lie that Zhang Tie had fabricated before his dad and mom, exposing the troubles that he had experienced in the survival training to them.

"Tell me how you've suffered a lot and encountered many dangers in this survival training, even almost losing your life! Mom knows your temperament. If not being forced to that degree, you would never kill anyone!"

Zhang Tie nodded and tears slipped down his cheeks. "They didn't want me to come back alive. I didn't want to be set up or see mom cry holding my ash case everyday. So I killed him. Will you forgive me, mom?"

"It's all my fault, I couldn't even protect my own younger brother, leaving you to be bullied by others..." Zhang Yang's tears also fell down his face, and he knelt down in front of mom. "Mom, just condemn me!"

"I will not condemn either of you. Zhang Tie, well done..." Touching her sons' faces, their mom also started crying as she spoke in a tone as hard as iron and steel. "Remember, from today on, no matter who wants to kill you brothers, even if the emperor, kill them all! Your dad and I are very satisfied with you two. As long as you two can survive, your dad and I will feel like we've not lived in vain. If there's something wrong with you brothers' lives, your dad and I will not feel like living on either.

"So if you meet something that endangers your lives, don't care about your dad and I, just look after yourselves and live on well. This is what we would like to see most. Remember, you're from Zhang family, and you are Chinese. We Chinese is one most honorable human race, and the reincarnation of the Heaven's Dao. As a big family, Zhang is an honorable family name. We Chinese Zhang prefer to fight to death instead of kneeling down to seek for survival, in the sky or under the ground. Nobody can bully our Zhang family in this world..."