175 - 182

Chapter 175: The Secret of Martyrdom

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

This day, the Seventh National Male Middle School was much more boisterous than ever before. Although it was still summer holidays, the amount of people who poured into school today was several times larger than normally. Upon hearing the rumors about the duel, everybody surged into the school in the afternoon, including Zhang Tie's classmates, male and female students from other schools who had attended the survival training, and others from all walks of lives.

The Seventh National Male Middle School in Blackhot City was a sea of people. Not only the playgrounds where Zhang Tie would duel with Sodor, even the corridors in the teaching buildings were crowded.

Barley and the other members of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood had come, as well as 64 brothers of Gods Bliss Association whom Zhang Tie had cheated in the mine, Pandora, Alice, Beverly, and roughly 1000 female students from two female middle schools and teachers from several schools.

This duel was the first public duel in Blackhot City in the last dozens of years, also the first duel after Blackhot City was incorporated into the Norman Empire.

Events like duels could arise many people's curiosities, let alone it happening so close to them. So nobody wanted to miss it.

Because the school was too populous, the Military Administration of Blackhot City dispatched several groups of soldiers here to preserve the order in case of riots.

As for the duel itself, even the Military Administration of Blackhot City had no right to interfere with it. Additionally, they had to ensure that it went on under the premise of openness and justice.

Compared to the Andaman Alliance which forbade duels, they were a very sacred and solemn ceremony in the Norman Empire. All the legitimate duels would be protected by the laws of the empire. As for duels for revenge between blood-tied members of two families based on barbarous survival training's rules, they were forbidden to be interfered by others.

From the school gate inward, the soldiers in dark red military uniforms and armors, with weapons in hands, stood in every corner of the campus, which gave this duel an air of solemness and dignity.

Although many people had gathered in the campus, nobody shouted loudly. They were just sharing their opinions about its outcome and how it would proceed. As for the cause of this duel, over 1000 people had heard it when Garner and Sharon poured out the whole story when they saw that Zhang Tie had broken Zuhair's neck in the canteen—Zuhair was the one who had thought up the conspiracy to kill Zhang Tie. The latter then killed Zuhair to repay him with the same. As to killing a person that planned to dispose of you by sick means, there was nothing wrong with getting back at him without kindness.

Since Zuhair's death was not worth pity at all, when his elder brother Sodor appeared at school, what waited for him were whispers and hisses.

The only thing that made people curious was how could Glaze disappear in the survival training. Many people speculated that he had encountered Zhang Tie somewhere, and then was killed. As Zhang Tie had not admitted to this particular murder, this speculation lacked good foundations.

Additionally, Zhang Tie was only a LV 2 warrior in many people's eyes, so how could he kill Glaze who was already LV 3? Someone then thought of Zhang Tie's legendary lance throwing skills. If he used them, it was possible that he might have killed Glaze.

If Zhang Tie's lance throwing was truly as great as rumored, then even if he was only a LV 2 warrior, he could still easily kill a LV 3 one. If a lance fell from the sky, making a hole in his chest, Glaze would also have been killed, even if he was as strong and agile as a LV 3 warrior. Before such a powerful throwing weapon, there was no chance for him to be resist.

However, in today's duel, Zhang Tie was forbidden to use lances or any other throwing weapons. Zuhair's elder brother was already a LV 4 warrior. If Zhang Tie, a fresh graduate who was LV 2—at most LV 3—who had just completed the survival training had to fight against him, was there a chance for him to win?

When Sodor appeared, he was holding his weapon - an upgraded standard-issue spear produced in Blackhot City. It was over two meters in length and made completely out of steel. Its head was heavier in weight and greater in diameter than of average standard spears. It weighted more than 30 kg. A LV 4 warrior not using a long sword but such a heavy long-handled weapon to fight a fresh graduate—it seemed that Sodor planned to be extremely shameless.

As for a LV 2, even a LV 3 graduate, no matter what weapon he chose, long or short, if he had to face a LV 4 warrior with long-handled weapon in hand, he would be killed before even getting close to his opponent. This was the advantage of weapons with long handles. Even if the weapon was one inch longer, it would be more powerful. On the premise that there was a great gap in fighting force between the two parties, the advantage of long-handled weapons was very decisive.

Many people saw through Sodor's plans. So when he took his long spear and stood on the high platform with his arms crossed, the hisses from the surroundings became louder.

The two brothers of Zuhair's family were each more shameless than the other.

Not influenced by the crowd's reaction, Sodor revealed a shadow of a cold smile on his face. He raised his head and looked at the sun, waiting for the beginning of the duel.

The duels of the Norman Empire were usually fixed at 2:00 pm. It shouldn't be too early or too late. This was the decree of the Norman Empire which was said to have been borrowed from eastern wisdom.

Because the sun was hanging high in the sky at this time of day, and was also the brightest, it had the most abundant yang Qi of the day. Additionally, people killed at this time would not form wronged ghosts while the killer would not get entangled with wronged ghosts. Therefore, this time was suitable for duels and executing criminals.

Seeing Sodor's confident look, many people who cared about Zhang Tie started to worry about him, such as those members of Gods Bliss Association who didn't know about Zhang Tie's recent change in status.

"Do you think Zhang Tie will be okay this time?" Potter the fire holder asked Francis in a low voice with an expression of full concerns. They were both standing on a high platform occupied by the members of Gods Bliss Association,

"The enlightened one will be okay. Don't forget that he has been blessed by the Big Blessing Skill!" Francis replied in a low voice too.

They then whispered to each other among the crowd of Gods Bliss Association, not afraid of being overhead by the surrounding people. "It's said that many brothers have already sensed a bit of the effect of the Big Blessing Skill. What's that feeling?"

"I don't know whether it's the effect of Big Blessing Skill or not, but many brothers have felt increasingly more relaxed recently. They always feel like they're filled with a sense of pleasure. I've two similar experiences too!" Potter whispered.

"That's right. We should have confidence in the one that has enlightened us!"

The son of a gardener in Blackhot City nodded with great force, a sense of sacredness in his eyes. Martyr, as his appellation, had brought him an unprecedented sense of holiness. Other people couldn't sense it. However, Francis could. Seemingly after obtaining this appellation, he had gradually lost his feeling of inferiority and narrow-mindedness. He started to treat the misfortunes and bitterness of daily life in a different way. Having benefited from this, he became even more positive and compromising.

Only after being back home for several days, his family members had already felt his changes. After returning, whether being beaten or sworn at by his drunken father, Francis didn't rebut anymore. Neither did he glare at his father. Instead, he silently bore it all, exerting all his efforts to be a responsible son.

An unprecedented sensation had arisen in Francis's heart. He found that when one decided to be a 'martyr', he would not consider himself anymore, instead, he would only consider others. In his heart, a wholly new and glamorous self gradually appeared.

On the evening four days ago, his dad had come back home very late after drinking a lot of alcohol. If it was before, Francis would have quarreled with his dad, loudly. However, this time he didn't. He just calmly stayed at home like an 'innocent son'.

When his dad knocked on the door, Francis opened it and helped his dad walk in. He then started to clean off the vomit from his dad's clothes. After that, he washed his dad's face and cleaned his body before feeding him with the sobering soup. Afterwards, he took the supper back to the dining table. Although he was repaid by his drunk dad punching him in the face, Francis didn't have any response, instead, he continued to be that 'innocent son without any private thoughts'.

Finally, when he started to wash his dad's feet, a tear suddenly rolled down his father's cheek, his eyes fixated on him. From that day onward, his dad seemed like a completely different person. He didn't even drink a drop of alcohol anymore.

Each time he wanted to drink, he would sip a mouthful of vinegar. As a result, Francis' family had already started to change.

He owed all the changes to the effect of becoming a sacred 'martyr' upon joining that divine ceremony. Francis felt that he had already understood a bit about the secret of being a 'martyr'...

Sodor, on the duel platform urged those teachers who acted as notaries to call Zhang Tie out. However, Zhang Tie didn't show himself.

About ten minutes before the duel was to start, when the masses had already decided that Zhang Tie did not dare not to come and were whispering to each other about it, Zhang Tie finally arrived.

Nobody could have imagined the way he would present himself...

Hiss arrival caused chaos to break out in the campus...

In a valiant second lieutenant's combat suit of the Norman Empire, Zhang Tie appeared outside the school gate on the top of a wheeled armored vehicle, followed by dozens of military vehicles full of soldiers from the Iron-Blood Camp. These military vehicles drove directly through the school's gate and stopped in front of the duel platform in the playgrounds.

Many people immediately recognized that the arrogant person dressed as a second lieutenant sitting on top of an armored vehicle of the Norman Empire was the protagonist of today's duel -

Zhang Tie!

Then, all the onlookers became dumbfounded, and the entire campus became quiet at once...

Chapter 176: Sodor's Tragedy

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

Everybody became dumbfounded and kept quiet when Zhang Tie jumped off the armored vehicle.

Zhang Tie knew that this went too far. However, he hadn't imagined that after the guys of the Iron-Blood Camp learned that someone would challenge him to a duel, they would treat this as a provocation towards the whole Iron-Blood Camp itself, a spit on on their name.

Because the Iron-Blood Camp was known to have the highest casualty rate in the Norman Empire, in the hearts of the soldiers who believed in the Battle God, if a person wanted to duel with one from that camp, it indicated that he swore to those guys of the Iron-Blood Camp to die as soon as possible on the battlefields.

Zhang Tie was speechless when he heard about this. Thankfully, after hearing the cause of this duel, not all the guys of the Iron-Blood Camp rushed out. Under the order of boss Reinhardt, only a small portion were allowed to set out.

Over one hundred people surged out of the camp in armored or military vehicles. Extremely infuriated, those tough men from the Iron-Blood Camp wanted to have a look at what kind of an able bastard dared to duel with the No. 1 real man in the Iron-Blood Camp.

The moment Zhang Tie jumped off the armored vehicle, two leaders of small teams dispatched by the Military Administration of the Norman Empire to maintain order ran towards him. Standing at attention, they made military salutes towards Zhang Tie.

"Sir, we've received the order of the Military Administration of the Norman Empire to maintain order here. We wonder why would brothers of the Iron-Blood Camp would come here, and whether you need our coordination so as to unify the command!"

In the Norman Empire which had a strict hierarchical system, without any special occasion, in any place full of soldiers, especially in executing tasks, the person who had the highest rank at present would have the highest authority.

Now at school, Zhang Tie had the highest military rank, that of second lieutenant's, therefore, the two team leaders which were dispatched to ensure that everything went well ran towards him of their own initiative to ask whether he wanted to guide their movements or not. This indicated the self-consciousness of a soldier of the Norman Empire.

"No need, I'm here for a private thing. You just execute your tasks, maintain the order well!"

"Yes sir!"

Although curious, the two team leaders didn't dare to ask more.

At this time, the order at school couldn't be better, especially when a batch of tough men jumped off the armored vehicles one by one; none of the onlookers dared to make a noise. Many people who came to watch the fun even had started to regret their decision. They all started to pray inside, wishing not to get involved with any kind of troubles. As citizens of an occupied city, many people here were naturally awed by the Norman Empire's soldiers in their dark red military uniforms.

Watched by these many people, Zhang Tie felt his skin under the combat clothes start to heat up. Those familiar with him all cast amazed and disbelieving eyes at him.

At the sight of Captain Kerlin, Zerom, and the other teachers of the Temporary Supervision Committee that was set in the Wild Wolf Castle, Zhang Tie walked over to them and saluted those teachers on his own.

"I'm sorry about what I did in the Wild Wolf Castle, sorry to bring you trouble..."

Because Captain Kerlin and Zerom had long known Zhang Tie's status because he had revealed it to them before, although they were still shocked at the sight of him, they could understand what had happened. However, the other teachers were so shocked that they didn't even know what to say.

A fresh graduate had immediately become a second lieutenant of the Norman Empire. This was rarely seen even across the Norman Empire itself, let alone Blackhot City, which had been occupied by for less than one month.

In many people's eyes, Zhang Tie was simply as shiny as a sun.

Was this Zhang Tie a love child of a big figure in the Norman Empire left in Blackhot City? such a thought flashed across many people's mind at once.

Captain Kerlin recovered his composure and walked onto the dueling platform before loudly declaring, "Since Zhang Tie has arrived, we shall start the duel!" .

After walking onto the dueling platform, at the sight of Sodor whose face had turned completely white, Zhang Tie grinned.

Many people who didn't know him before screamed at the sight of Zhang Tie walking onto the dueling platform. Those voices were closely followed by gasps and coughs.

"Weapons are allowed to be used in this duel. Sodor chose a long spear, you can also choose the same weapon!" Captain Kerlin reminded Zhang Tie.

"Get out of the way, get out of the way, here's our platoon leader's weapon..."

The moment Captain Kerlin finished talking, Beckham and Moos, two 'half-women' of Third Platoon, brought Zhang Tie's terrifying battle sword onto platform. Stretching out one hand, Zhang Tie picked up the 358 kgs' battle sword.

Another batch of onlookers were shocked into silence now. Motherf*cker, was that terrifying battle sword the size of a door used to fight?

Seeing Zhang Tie holding that terrifying battle sword in his hand, Sodor was really scared, his long spear even slid down to the ground from his hand, causing a loud 'dong' sound. Face gone completely pale, Sodor hurriedly bent over to pick it up.

Looking at Sodor's stupefied look, those soldiers surrounding the duel platform became really infuriated. Such a timid guy dared to seek a duel with a military officer of the Iron-Blood Camp, and even one that had a weird strength while also being favored by the Battle God. That timid guy was really not afraid of death!

Beckham and Moos who had carried in Zhang Tie's weapon immediately grinned. "Platoon Leader, is that stupid guy the one who wants to duel with you?"

"Yea!"

Zhang Tie nodded.

"Don't let that guy die too fast. That would humiliate your nickname Mummy. It's not interesting to directly cut him in two halves. Like how you pat cucumbers, you should pat him all over from his feet to his head with this 'Man's Certification'!"

"Piss off!"

Hearing Beckham call his nickname on this occasion, Zhang Tie was driven so mad that he even wanted to kick this guy off the platform.

'Man's Certification' was the name the soldiers gave to Zhang Tie's battle sword. They knew that the battle sword had been in the division's arsenal for a very long time since no lieutenant could use it. When they learned that Zhang Tie could attack with it, everybody felt a sense of honor. No matter what, the guy who could use this 'Man's Certification' was a military officer of the Iron-Blood Camp, which could certify again that the Iron-Blood Camp was the most powerful troop in the entire division. That was enough.

"Can we start?" Zhang Tie asked the one-eyed man who had walked down the dueling platform. At present, there were only two people on the platform - Zhang Tie and Sodor, who was quivering all over.

"Yes, you can start!"

...

It was hard to say whether it was because he was too afraid or for some other reason, the moment the one-eyed man declared the start of the duel, Sodor howled like a ghost, cried like his parents had died, and darted towards Zhang Tie with a long spear in hand.

In Zhang Tie's eyes, Sodor's attack was pretty naive whatever you looked at: strength, speed, moves, or conviction. He looked like a toddler who had just learned how to walk and now with a wooden stick in hand rushed towards Zhang Tie, eyes closed.

When his long spear was about to reach Zhang Tie, Sodor really closed his eyes.

Zhang Tie was left speechless. With just a slight wave of his 'Man's Certification', he hit Sodor and sent him flying back to fall onto the ground ten meters away. He went back at a speed three-five times greater than when he had rushed towards Zhang Tie, and upon landing was unable to pick himself up from the ground.

At the same time, Sodor's long spear also flew high into the air, falling back to the platform along with Sodor, and causing a crisp sound as it bounced off the ground for a couple of times, its shaft curving.

Seeing this duel, the onlookers under the platform were all greatly shocked. With merely one hit, the middle part of Sodor's additionally weighted steel long spear had formed a curve of 60 degrees. What great strength would it take for Zhang Tie to bend the steel handle of a long spear?

All the members of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood widely opened their eyes like seeing Zhang Tie for the first time. A LV 4 warrior was driven mad and destroyed like a turd under Zhang Tie's nonchalant counterattack. Was this person their good brother or not? Barley and the other members were all left muddle-headed.

Pandora and Alice immediately covered their mouths. Was this person that susceptible youth who had embraced them to justify himself, and the one that would think about them when he saw black mulberry seeds in the wild? The jealous eyes of the women of the Rose Association fell onto Pandora, Alice, and Beverly.

Seeing the scene on the platform, the eyes of the brothers of the Gods Bliss Association became shiny. Tightly grasping their fists, they all felt like they were being scorched inside. From then on, everybody's belief in the Big Blessing Skill and the mysterious ancient gods became as firm as iron. In their eyes, Zhang Tie became as lofty as the gods.

Everybody cast their eyes on Zhang Tie in different moods!

Zhang Tie himself was patting Sodor right now! If he cut him by placing his sword horizontally, four halves would be seen on the platform: two halves of Sodor, two halves of his long spear. Then everything would come to an end, but Zhang Tie did not do that.

Merely by this counterattack, all the teachers with high fighting skills could judge that Zhang Tie was powerful, very powerful, especially his weird strength, which was far out of the public's imagination. Merely because of that pure physical strength, Zhang Tie's fighting strength had already reached the level of a LV 7 warrior.

Would Zhang Tie really pat Sodor to death like how one patted a cucumber? The teachers of the Temporary Supervision Committee all had strange faces. Miss Qili's turned completely blue, Zerom frowned as he looked at Kerlin, who then slightly shook his head—based on Kerlin's understanding about the youth, he didn't believe that he was that cruel.

With one hand dragging his huge sword behind himself, Zhang Tie walked towards Sodor step by step, leaving a groove of medium depth on the cement ground of the platform...

Chapter 177: Assassination

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

The entire playground became quiet. Everybody cast their eyes onto Zhang Tie. They could only hear his calm footsteps and the friction between that terrifying battle sword and the cement ground.

Zhang Tie's strike convinced all the onlookers. At the sight of his huge strength and skills, all the soldiers of Third Platoon, Fifth Company of the Iron-Blood Camp shrunk their necks. With such a powerful man as their platoon leader, nobody would have any different opinions about it. At this time, when they recalled that Zhang Tie had sworn to protect them on the battlefield the first time he saw them, many people felt a warm flow in their hearts.

Although Zhang Tie sincerely said it in the past, those guys didn't believe in those words because none had sensed Zhang Tie's real strength. However, now, when they had all witnessed his real capabilities, they started to feel warm about his sincerity.

Zhang Tie's strike against Sodor shocked the soldiers of the Iron-Blood Camp more than when he had taken up the 'Man's Certification' by one hand in the morning. The latter simply indicated Zhang Tie's huge strength while the formed revealed his ability to be depended on and trusted in a battlefield. They were very different from each other!

At this moment, Sodor was miserably lying on the ground, the part between his thumbs and index fingers bleeding, torn open, wrists and forearms broken and twisted. Sodor looked as white as a piece of paper, spitting fresh blood out of his mouth.

Although clear-minded, he had completely lost his ability to move. Widely opening his empty and frightened eyes, he looked at Zhang Tie who was dragging that terrifying sword of death towards him.

Lifting his sword with one hand, Zhang Tie put the blade onto Sodor's neck. At this moment, if he loosened his grip, without even having to use his strength, he could cut off Sodor's head with this 'Man's Certification'.

"Do you know why I killed Zuhair?" Zhang Tie asked Sodor.

"I know!" After being silent for two seconds, Sodor replied in a hoarse and quivering voice.

"If you were me and someone wanted to kill you in that way, when you could kill him, would you kill him?"

"Yes, I would!" Sodor squeezed out hard. "But Zuhair is my younger brother..."

"If you had said no and wanted to reason this out with me by using your small tricks, I would have cut off your head right away. But as you said yes, I will not kill you today!"

When Zhang Tie declared that, everybody was stunned. Even Sodor who was lying on the ground didn't believe that, his eyes widening even more than before.

Zhang Tie immediately took away his sword from Sodor's neck and hefted it onto his shoulder.

"The reason I killed Zuhair was that there was an animosity between us, while you seek revenge because you're Zuhair's elder brother. As your younger brother was killed by me, no matter for what reason, you have to take revenge for him, otherwise you'll have no face to stay in Blackhot City anymore. Nor would you have the face to see your family members, relatives, and friends.

"Everyone would then regard you as a loser and a wimp. You would not raise your head up in public anymore.

"As you're committed to take revenge for your younger brother through this duel, I agree and respect your choice to seek for a duel with me as I have an elder brother too. Now that the result of this duel has come out, and you've tried your best stand stand behind your choice, everything will be over then."

"You... really won't kill me?" Sodor stammered out.

"You should feel lucky that as a person who grew up in Blackhot City, I don't want for the first person I kill in this military uniform to be one who is also from Blackhot City like me. Therefore, I won't kill you today. However, you have to remember that you only have one chance to survive. If you dare to seek revenge again or will try to do harm to me for Zuhair's death in the future, once I hear of it, I'll kill you without any hesitation!" Zhang Tie explained to Sodor in an icy tone.

Looking at Zhang Tie's icy eyes, Sodor quivered all over. He lowered his gaze, not daring to meet that freezing look of the other anymore.

Zhang Tie then walked off the platform, leaving Sodor lying there alone. After exchanging glances with each other, Zerom and Kerlin both saw a shadow of gratification in the other's eyes.

Many teachers let out a sigh inside. After experiencing this frustration and being taught a lesson, if Sodor wanted to find Zhang Tie trouble later on, he would definitely be seeking death. Zhang Tie's real strength, status, or the Norman Empire's laws, Sodor could not face any of them.

Once he considered to do harm to Zhang Tie, whatever he did, success or not, what awaited him would only be death. There would never be a second chance. Judging from his expression, Sodor was not that righteous man who dared to take death calmly, like going home. As for ones who treasured their own lives very much, few of them would do something when they knew that the only outcome of it would be death.

Zhang Tie's reason for not killing Sodor showed others his inner brilliance and kindness. Including those soldiers of the Iron-Blood Camp, everybody showed their sincere respect to Zhang Tie for his choice of not killing Sodor.

At this moment, Sodor was given support to leave the dueling platform by several of his men, all of their heads lowered down. As for Sodor's fair-weather friends who had come here together with him, they had already slipped away the moment Zhang Tie stepped onto the platform. It was not a wise choice for them to get involved in a duel with a military officer of the Norman Empire in the city which had just been incorporated into that particular empire's territory.

They were scared of trouble.

...

This moment, the most brilliant existence in the entire school campus was Zhang Tie. He was surrounded by soldiers of the Norman Empire, who were maintaining order. Many of the onlookers wanted to push close to have a look at Zhang Tie, however, they didn't dare to push through the soldiers.

Zhang Tie caught sight of the brothers of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood, Blues, Peter, Pandora, Alice, and Beverly among the crowd. They were all very thrilled, faces red.

After waving his hand towards those people, Zhang Tie then handed his huge sword to Beckham and Moos. "You go back first, as Ive studied here, I have a lot of friends to meet. I will go back in the evening!"

Although the duel was not splendid, all the brothers of the Iron-Blood Camp felt that they had not arrived here in vain. Through this duel, they had learned more about Zhang Tie and felt more awe towards him. Everybody started to treat Zhang Tie as a reliable partner.

After a loud shout, all the brothers of the Iron-Blood Camp started to get back into their vehicles. At the same time, the two team leaders on duty here also came over to report to Zhang Tie that they would collect their teams too. After that, students and the other onlookers all drew closer.

As it was not suitable to talk here, without saying anything, Zhang Tie just stretched out his arms to embrace Barley and the other brothers.

Seeing that Zhang Tie was still as enthusiastic with them as before even at this moment, Barley, Bagdad, Hista, Leit, Sharwin, Doug, Blues, Peter, and Bonder all laughed out loudly, feeling highly spirited.

"You liar, you've really tricked us! How could you become so great this quickly?" Blues asked when they were embracing, patting Zhang Tie's shoulder.

"It's a long story. I'll invite you all tonight. We'll find a place to eat and chat. I will then introduce some of my good brothers to you!"

"Fine, I heard Norman Empire's soldiers enjoy a good treatment, so we'll not worry about eating all of your coins!'

Zhang Tie revealed a smile.

...

Although Pandora, Alice, and Beverly had intended to come over, the other girls in the crowd quickly pushed them aside, not caring for who they were.

They were just Zhang Tie's girl friends. Additionally, they weren't acquainted with Zhang Tie for a long time, and might not even have slept on the same bed. On top of that, even though he already had three girls, for such an impressive man who was extremely excellent, he must not mind having several more.

Driven more mad by the second, the three girls could only watch Zhang Tie get surrounded by a bunch of girls at once.

"They're all bitches of the Rose Association!" With her hair turned into a mess by those girls, Alice swore. She then rearranged her hair and nervously exclaimed, "Hurry up, help me look at my hair. I really don't want to be seen by him like a mad grandma with untidy hair!"

"No need, he's already seen that!"

Beverly smiled.

"If he's our man, nobody can grab him away from us!"

Pandora also smiled.

With eyes fixed on them, Zhang Tie walked directly towards them. At this moment, he was filled with a sharpness and attentiveness. The surrounding girls didn't dare to hold him back. Seeing him walking over to the three girls instead of themselves, they all hurriedly gave way.

As a result, the three girls who had been pushed behind the crowd immediately became outstanding again.

Stopping before the three girls, Zhang Tie stretched out his arms and smiled. "I've not told you that day because I really wanted to give you a surprise in this military uniform! Alice, actually your hair looks nice no matter how they look!"

The three girls were moved and found it hilarious at the time.

When Zhang Tie intended to embrace the three girls, his smile suddenly froze. All the onlookers and their voices seemed to disappear in a strange point in time that could not be described by words.

With a surging spiritual energy, in a split second, Zhang Tie felt a sharp killing intent that covered him and the three girls. All of a sudden, he felt like he was about to step into a thorn bush, a sharp item about to break his clothes and thrust into his body.

There was only one phrase that could be used to describe Zhang Tie's feeling - on tenterhooks.

Actually, at this moment, due to an early warning by his high spiritual energy, Zhang Tie had several methods to avoid such an abrupt attack. However, if he escaped by himself, the three girls in front of him would hardly survive as they had no preparations at all.

So in the period that was much shorter than one second, Zhang Tie did two things: forcefully pushed the three girls aside, and turned back...

Two sprays of spurting blood came out of Zhang Tie's body almost at the same time while the third bolt shot towards the place where Alice had stood just moment ago.

Zhang Tie didn't fall down, but instead watched the person who had suddenly thrown down the quiver and jumped out of the crowd in an extremely calm way that could not be understood.

"Pay me back for my son Glaze's life!"

The person rushed towards Zhang Tie with a dagger in hand, like a fierce tiger with a huge black spider's totem of battle Qi behind him.

'F*ck!'

Zhang Tie knew who that person was...

At this moment, Zhang Tie felt like he was in a trouble-reappearance situation. It didn't feel like this was his own body.

When that person was less than two meters away from him, Zhang Tie pulled out the bolt from his left shoulder with his right hand. At the same time, he threw it back with great force. As a result, that bolt penetrated through that person's left eye socket and directly entered his brain. Closely after that, the huge black spider behind him dispersed. Although he still came surging forward, he fell down in front of Zhang Tie's feet.

Nobody else had realized what was happening. Only now did the girls nearby start to scream loudly...

The two wounds on Zhang Tie's body immediately started to feel numb and stiff. Additionally, the sense of stiffness started to spread all over his body. The last image in Zhang Tie's eyes was a group of soldiers of the Iron-Blood Camp darting over like furious tigers while he seemed to be hearing Alice's cries.

'That bastard dared to daub quick-acting poison on the bolts!'

'I really suffered a great loss in this life. This father is still a virgin before death!'

'Mom, dad, sorry...'

Face starting to turn blue, Zhang Tie'd body turned numb and he fell to the ground, causing a great chaos across the campus.

Chapter 178: Alive

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

Evening of August 9th, Holy Brilliance Hospital, the best hospital in Blackhot City...

When Colonel Leibniz came to the hospital, it was already past 8:00 pm. By the time he came, full-armored soldiers of the No. 39 Division occupied each corner of the hospital. Not only the atmosphere in the hospital, even the entire Blackhot City became tense.

The one who assassinated Zhang Tie was a classmate's father whose son got lost during the survival training. That person firmly believed that Zhang Tie had killed his son. Therefore, he wanted him to pay for his son's life with his own.

If you ignored Zhang Tie's and Glaze's dad's statuses, it would be a trivial matter, but if their statuses were to be considered, this thing would become complicated.

Zhang Tie was a military officer of the Iron-Blood Camp of No. 39 Division of the Iron-Horn Army of the Norman Empire, while Glaze's dad, who was already dead, was the guard leader of Gregorian family, which was once one of the greatest families that ruled the Coal, Steel, and Iron Federation of Blackhot City. Almost one seventh of the entire wealth across Blackhot City was occupied by Gregorian family.

If on the land that had been newly incorporated into the territory of the Norman Empire, a guard leader of a ruling family that had already lost its power dared to assassinate a military officer of the empire in public, the outcome would be very severe. Who knew whether there was a plot against the empire behind the killing?

Especially since the bolt container and the poison in which the bolts were quenched both originated from Gregorian family. Therefore, Gregorian family could not make this thing clear anymore.

The violent Iron-Blood Camp had already surrounded Gregorian family's fortress in Blackhot City, preparing to surge inside and eliminate every single person inside.

The other families in Blackhot City were so scared that they became as quiet as cicadas in late autumn. In case of repeated occurrence, Colonel Leibniz declared a curfew in Blackhot City. Now, on the avenue outside the hospital, soldiers in full-armor were patrolling with heavy killing intent.

As for these soldiers, they only needed to know one reason about this curfew—a military officer of the Iron-Blood Camp was assassinated by a guard of a rich family in Blackhot City.

...

Previously, Colonel Leibniz hadn't planned to go to the hospital as he had heard that Zhang Tie was dead. Upon hearing this message, he just signed inside. He could still remember the boy who was looked upon by the Battle God and was very energetic in the military uniform of the Norman Empire.

Colonel Leibniz had planned to build this youth into a main character of an interesting story in the cocktail party and salon of Nordinburg. Unexpectedly, he had died this way. It made Colonel Leibniz feel like he'd lost an interesting toy. The message brought him a similar sense as when an oak-root tobacco pipe was pushed off his writing desk by his cat.

Zhang Tie was poisoned by blue frost which was usually daubed on the blades or bolts by assassins. It was a rare poison with amazing killing effect. Commoners could not get this poison at all. In Blackhot City, only rich families like Gregorian might have some of it. The weapon and poison used to assassinate Zhang Tie were also from the arsenal of Gregorian family.

Upon touching blood, blue frost would be fatal in one minute. Mostly, it could not be cured. That was not to say that there was no antidote to deal with its toxicity, but the antidote for blue frost was hundreds of times more expensive and rarer than the blue frost itself. It could not be found in Blackhot City at all. Therefore, upon hearing his adviser's report about Zhang Tie's situation and confirmation that the youth was poisoned by blue frost, Colonel Leibniz treated him as a dead man.

Knowing that Zhang Tie was poisoned by blue frost, the entire Iron-Blood Camp was like a gunpowder barrel being ignited, with heavy killing intents, they all became infuriated and wanted to seek revenge from Gregorian family.

Previously, Colonel Leibniz didn't blame his cat for making his oak-root tobacco pipe fall to the ground, however, today, he had to pay great attention to this incident. He was the head of No. 39 division and the one assassinated was his man. At this moment, each soldier of the Norman Empire in Blackhot City represented the dignity and honor of the Norman Empire itself, especially when political intents were involved in this accident, he should not regard it as unimportant anymore.

In the entire afternoon, honorable lobbyists in Blackhot City who interceded for Gregorian family against those furious military officers of the Iron-Blood Camp, completely holding colonel back in the office. He couldn't leave his office at all. One party of high-ranking people defended the Gregorian family while the other wanted Leibniz to give orders to his soldiers to sweep over Gregorian family's fortress.

The Gregorian family had dispatched an assassin to kill a military officer of the Norman Empire in public. Once this guilt was verified, Gregorian family would be in great chaos.

Facing such an event, even the strong Gregorian family became restless. So at supper time, a head of another family which had ruled Blackhot City invited Colonel Leibniz to have supper in a private mansion in Blackhot City. On the table, Gregorian family expressed their 'sincerity' for complete settlement of this misunderstanding through an intermediator, which greatly moved Leibniz.

Although these 'dirty money' families which had dug mines for dozens of years in Blackhot City didn't have deep-rooted family histories nor great fighting force, by wealth, they even dwarfed the nobles of the Norman Empire. God knew how much wealth these families had accumulated by digging mines for dozens of years.

On one hand, Gregorian family's 'sincerity' made Colonel Leibniz's heart pound, but, on the other hand, this event was truly tricky, and it was rather difficult to satisfy both parties. Therefore, Colonel Leibniz was left scratching his head.

At this moment, he heard shocking news—that Zhang Tie, who had been poisoned by blue frost, was still alive.

Because of this, Colonel Leibniz saw a beacon of hope for the complete settlement of this event. Full of curiosity, he came to the hospital where Zhang Tie was brought.

...

The youth lay with his shoulders and abdomen wrapped with gauze. His face and skin looked terribly blue, making him a blue eggplant. So far, he was still in a comma. However, he was still breathing as people could see his chest and abdomen slightly rise and fall every couple of seconds.

Although Colonel Leibniz had seen a great amount of weird things in his life, he had to admit that the one happening to Zhang Tie would definitely rank in top three—a person poisoned by blue frost at least seven hours ago was still alive without taking in any antidote? With the toxicity of blue frost, even a magical beast would have been killed.

"Are you sure he's been poisoned by blue frost?" Leibniz asked a doctor.

Seemingly having expected that she would be asked this question, the doctor took a vial of blue liquid and a white rat. After that, before Colonel Leibniz eyes, she lowered the needle of the syringe into the vial before thrusting it into the white rat.

Under the gaze of Colonel Leibniz, that white rat only jumped twice before gradually becoming still. Ten seconds later, it started to convulse. After ten more seconds, that pitiful white rat's skin started to become blue. One minute later, its body became as stiff as a frozen piece of meat.

Colonel Leibniz didn't doubt it any more.

"This vial of blood was retrieved from him! We're sure that he had been poisoned by blue frost! As there is no antidote in the hospital, we don't have the treatment either. Therefore, we can only wrap and deal with his wounds. Compared to the toxicity of blue frost, his wounds were not fatal.

"Previously we thought that he would surely die this time. However, for some special reason, his physical condition is different from that of commoners. Under this event, others would have died hundreds of times by now. Nevertheless, the harm the blue frost brought to him is not as severe as what we've imagined. Therefore, he's still alive for now. This is definitely a miracle!"

A thought suddenly flashed across Colonel Leibniz's mind. He abruptly remembered that Zhang Tie had been struck by a lightning bolt. Was this a special ability that the youth had obtained after being struck by a lightning bolt?

"He's was struck by a lightning bolt and suffered Post-Lightning Stroke Savant Syndrome. He has extremely great strength. Besides, he can cultivate very fast. Is it possible for him to be able to resist blue frost after being struck by a lightning bolt?"

"This person is suffering from Post-Lightning Stroke Savant Syndrome?" The doctor was startled. After thinking for a while, she nodded. "It's very possible. Human body has countless secrets, just like a treasure bank. Nobody can say how much his body changed after being struck by lightning!"

"Will he wake up then?"

"Because his combat suit has good defense against bolts, the wound on his abdomen is very shallow. Although the wound on his shoulder is deeper, it isn't fatal. Judging by his breath frequency, blue frost's harm has been controlled by him. Although I cannot tell you that he will surely wake up, it is truly possible for him to wake up!"

"Fine, please give him the best treatment. This person is the most excellent military officer of the Norman Empire. He has an endless bright future!" Colonel Leibniz told the doctor.

"We will try our best!"

Before Colonel Leibniz left Zhang Tie's ward, he ordered a team of soldiers to stay in the hospital to stop anyone from disturbing the treatment. Meanwhile, he ordered them to keep secret about the current situation. If Zhang Tie woke up, they should bring him the news immediately.

Additionally, before getting into his exclusive vehicle, Colonel Leibniz allowed his adviser to go to the Iron-Blood Camp to tell those violent maniacs that Zhang Tie was not dead yet.

He also canceled the curfew in Blackhot City at once. Colonel Leibniz didn't want to make a big thing out of event today. Therefore, he sent a relief signal to someone in Blackhot City right away.

Soon after colonel Leibniz left, a large group of military officers of the Iron-Blood Camp headed by battalion commander Reinhardt rushed into the hospital like the wind and entered Zhang Tie's ward.

Seeing that Zhang Tie was still breathing after being poisoned by blue frost for such a long time, the military officers of the Iron-Blood Camp were somewhat dumbfounded.

After knowing the possible side effects of Post-Lightning Stroke Savant Syndrome, Reinhardt seriously asked Guderian, "I will have a try, how about that..."

"If you were struck by a lightning bolt to death, there would be no person who has formed Iron-Blood battle Qi across the entire No. 39 Division. Without anyone who has formed Iron-Blood battle Qi to succeed your position, the No. 39 Division's Iron-Blood Camp will get canceled! That would be a huge shock to the entire No. 39 Division. If so, No. 39 Division would be the only division abandoned by the Battle God in the Iron-Horn Army. Not only us, even colonel Leibniz would not allow you to do this..." Guderian calmly replied.

Reinhardt only let out a deep sigh. Everybody then cast admiring eyes onto Zhang Tie who was lying on the bed. Then everybody noticed that the patch of blue on his forehead had gradually become lighter...

In Zhang Tie's mind that could not be overheard or spied on by others, a message appeared...

——Manjusaka Karma Fruit tree has completed the judging and recombination of the toxin in your body; it is being cleared. Your physical functions are gradually recovering. Poison-Resistance Fruit can be formed,

Yes or No?"

"Yes!"

Chapter 179: Fish in Turmoil

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

The chirping of birds outside the window woke Zhang Tie up. When he opened his eyes, he saw a cozy beige ceiling. A snow white quilt was covering him. Smelling the familiarly sterile environment, Zhang Tie immediately understood where he was.

He was lying in a hospital!

The moment Zhang Tie wanted to sit up by supporting himself with his hands, the pain on his left shoulder and abdomen made him grit his teeth at once, which reminded him of the two bolts before he fell to the ground at school.

'F*ck!'

Zhang Tie winced as he swore.

The wound on his abdomen was not very painful. In contrast, he was much more pained by the hollow where his chest connected with his shoulder.

Opening his quilt, Zhang Tie took a look at his body. Previously he felt excited about not having to be a mummy anymore, unexpectedly, he was now wrapped in even more gauze than last time.

'Is this the aftermath of the nickname Mummy?'

It was sunny outside the room. Hearing birds twittering and smelling flowers' fragrance, Zhang Tie got off the bed and walked close to the windowsill. Opening the window, he watched the scenery outside and took a deep breath.

Below was the hospital's garden. The scenery there was very good. Standing by the window, Zhang Tie judged the shapes of the buildings outside the garden and immediately knew where he was in—the Holy Brilliance Hospital of Blackhot City.

He had not imagined that he could ever stay in the best hospital of Blackhot City, seemingly placed in the senior individuals' ICU ward.

Zhang Tie mocked himself, 'The treatment of a military officer of the Norman Empire is really not bad.'

Seeing sunshine outside the window, while he was wrapped with gauze and bandages, Zhang Tie stretched out his hand to touch the warm sun's light. Feeling very happy, he closed his eyes.

Not until now when he sensed the warmth of the sunshine outside the window did he get rid of the last remnants of the terrifying poison.

It was a very horrible feeling, being stiff and cold. He had felt his blood and muscles freezing into ice from the toes to his tongue. It felt like his body no longer belonged to him. His physical body seemed to disappear, turning into ashes that scattered away, and left him no feeling anymore.

During that period, Zhang Tie thought that he would definitely die. A poison with such a quick-acting effect was obviously numerous times stronger than the greater rat poison in Donder's grocery store. It had taken less than five seconds for him to lose his senses after being shot by the bolts.

Thinking back to that feeling, Zhang Tie's heart pounded even now.

...

After standing close to the windowsill for less than two minutes, the door of the ward was pushed open, and a nurse entered. She seemed to have come to change fresh dressing for his wounds.

At the sight of Zhang Tie standing close to the window, she was really shocked and screamed out, 'Aaahh!'

The moment the nurse screamed, four soldiers in dark-red military uniforms rushed in.

"You woke up, sir?" a soldier asked with his eyes popping out.

"Did I sleep very long? What's the date today?" Zhang Tie asked.

"Today is August 11th, you've slept for two days, sir!"

...

Only a bit more than ten minutes later, Colonel Leibniz and a large group of military officers from the Iron-Blood Camp got the news. Everybody then hurriedly arrived at the hospital and poured into Zhang Tie's ward.

Seeing Zhang Tie awake, everybody let out a sigh.

By now, Zhang Tie had already learned the name of the poison - blue frost. In addition, he found out about some of the things that had happened in Blackhot City during the past two days.

The Iron-Blood Camp had set out to surround the fortress of Gregorian family because of the assassination. They wanted to take revenge for him, which greatly moved Zhang Tie.

A manager and a guard leader of Gregorian family in Blackhot City were arrested. The manager was responsible for watching the family's arsenal while the guard leader was the superior of Glaze's dad. Glaze's dad had stolen the crossbow and the bolts out of Gregorian family's arsenal to assassinate Zhang Tie, yet, those two people didn't even know about it.

Therefore, the two people were taken as scapegoats so as to relieve the fury of the Iron-Blood Camp.

Sodor was also arrested along with the two people. He had requested a duel with Zhang Tie, who was then assassinated at school. Nobody knew whether Sodor and Glaze's dad were accomplices or not; one in the open, the other hidden. So after Zhang Tie was attacked by Glaze's dad, Sodor was immediately put behind bars. Through interrogations, Sodor 'finally admitted' that he had 'contacted' Glaze's dad after hearing that Glaze had not returned, and they then discussed ways to kill Zhang Tie.

After admitting his conspiracy with Glaze's dad, Sodor died in prison due to severe wounds, and all the details concerning Zhang Tie's assassination were revealed to the public.

After 'admitting' his guilt, Sodor helped Gregorian family out of the name of 'main instigator of the assassination'. Of course, nobody cared whether this small figure was alive or dead at this time.

Zhang Tie sighed inside. No matter whether Sodor was involved in this event or not, it had already came to an end. Since Sodor had died, it wasn't necessary to look further for guilty parties.

In this case, Zhang Tie didn't feel wronged for being shot by the two bolts. Although there was no evidence that he had killed Glaze, Glaze's dad was sure that Zhang Tie had done it. Then how to deal with it?

He could only blame himself for being careless as he had regarded the Glaze thing way too simple. He had thought that nobody would find him trouble if there was no evidence. However, he had not realized that in this world, sometimes, someone would not need any evidence to do something once they had made up their mind.

'Glaze's dad must have thought it would not be a loss for him even if he and me both died in this fight. It's right for him to take revenge for his son.'

Even now, Zhang Tie didn't hate Glaze's dad at all, even if he had killed him. He might have been a good father, but he had brought up a bastard son.

The only ones wronged in this case were Sodor and the Gregorian family. They were the 'two pitiful fish involved after the city gate caught on fire'. But one was a crocodile while the other was not even a tadpole, merely a plankton. Since the crocodile was in trouble, that plankton then became the scapegoat.

This was the game rule of this world. Like Donder had said, there were always similar cases in this world: when the rich were in trouble, the poor would be screwed.

The cause of the entire thing was Glaze, though. Zhang Tie reflected on the innocent method he had used to deal with with Glaze. Only the underprivileged side required evidence to comfort themselves and seek for sympathy and support, while for the privileged it was actually bullsh*t and needless.

What evidence was used for the Norman Empire to incorporate Blackhot City? What evidence was used for a lion to eat a hare? What evidence was used for a dauntless man to seek revenge? What evidence was used for big figures to decide the life and death of tens of millions of people?

The mindset that Zhang Tie had formed as an underprivileged person had almost killed him this time.

What a really powerful man would have done if they had been in the same situation? They would have definitely come back to Blackhot City and sought for a chance to kill Glaze's dad so as to eliminate this threat in its sprouting stage in case of being further screwed.

Naive, naive, too naive! Because of this event, Zhang Tie immediately became more broad-minded, and his mentality greatly improved. He grew up a bit more.

The other benefit of this event was that the others finally believed that he was suffering from Post-Lightning Stroke Savant Syndrome. Previously, they had still doubted whether Zhang Tie was struck by a lighting bolt or not, but now everybody were assured of it as they had all witnessed Zhang Tie surviving the blue frost without receiving any antidote.

If it was revealed to the public, everyone would be very shocked. If it was not for the lightning strike that had changed his physical structure and tapped his mysterious physical potential, how could he have picked his life back up?

The first batch of people who poured in to visit Zhang Tie started to be interested in the lightning bolt around the end of the conversation. They asked questions including when he was struck by that lightning bolt, at which place, the size of the lightning bolt, his physical condition at that moment, which part of him was struck, and all sorts of other weird questions. Everyone was asking it very seriously, and even Colonel Leibniz started to show his interest in it.

Having been well prepared for this, of course Zhang Tie could reply to all of them well. If anybody wanted to verify it, they could definitely find the evidence of a lightning bolt strike beside a big tree on the hillside not too long ago, of which Zhang Tie told them about. Unless someone was able to date back to the previous strike, nobody would find any leakage in Zhang Tie's lies.

...

"You can take a good rest now. The doctor said that you'll need a month to recover. So I'll give you one month's holiday, during which you don't need to go back to the camp. You can return when you completely recover!"

Colonel Leibniz straight away gave Zhang Tie a long holiday.

He had been in a very good mood the last couple of days. After perfectly solving this event, he would even laugh out loudly to himself in the evening whenever he thought of Gregorian family's sincerity. Because of this event, Colonel Leibniz found that Zhang Tie was certainly his lucky angel, and so he started to pay more attention to him. The boy could not only bring him continual good luck in Nordinburg, but also in Blackhot City.

Colonel Leibniz started to feel that it was his wisest decision to recruit Zhang Tie into his division.

Seeing Zhang Tie awake, Colonel Leibniz finally ordered the security guards to leave. After the military officers of No. 39 Division left, those guys who had been waiting outside the ward, forbidden to enter, now started to pour inside.

All of them were waiting outside the ward by turns for news about Zhang Tie.

Zhang Tie noticed that Leit, Doug, his elder brother, Beverly, and Wood all looked a bit fatigued. It seemed that they hadn't rested well the past two days, especially his elder brother. Although he strove to act lively, his fatigue was immediately caught by Zhang Tie's eyes. Though, it was more a spiritual fatigue than a physical one.

After seeing Zhang Yang's red eyes, Zhang Tie asked first, "Does dad and mom know about what happened to me?"

Zhang Tie was most worried about his dad and mom, if they had learned about what had happened to him a couple days ago.

"At the beginning, I didn't dare to tell them. I just said that after you left that man alive, you returned to the military camp. Because of the great amount of people at school, there was turmoil, but you didn't even lose a hair. Later on, when I found out that you had a chance to recover, I didn't dare to tell them either.

"So they still don't know about it. Although dad heard some uncertain gossip outside and asked about you last night out of suspicion, mom also starting to become dubious, I pacified both of them. If you're feeling better, you'd better go back home to comfort them. Even if you don't come inside, it will also work if you just greet mom from outside the door!"

Hearing that his elder brother had lied to their parents for two days, Zhang Tie finally let out a sigh. Since few people had witnessed him getting assassinated, and soon after the school campus had turned into chaos, there were all sorts of gossip flying about. It quickly spread outside the school gate, and because the Gregorian family was involved, it further evolved into more varieties.

Due to his elder brother intentionally hiding it, Zhang Tie hadn't made his parents worry about him. This was the most lucky thing out of the great misfortune.

...

No matter what, as he had a great amount of time left, Zhang Tie first chatted with Leit and Wood and comforted the others. Then he let them go back and have a good rest. He also asked them to tell the other members of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood that he was fine. After that, Zhang Tie cast his eyes onto Alice, who kept watching him without saying anything since she entered the room.

Seeing this, others voluntarily walked out of the ward. At the sight of Alice's red and swollen eyes, Zhang Tie smiled and showed his muscles using his right arm that could still freely move.

Alice's eyes immediately teared up. She walked over and carefully embraced Zhang Tie for two whole minutes, afraid of hurting him. She kept dropping tears on Zhang Tie's undulating chest without saying anything.

Zhang Tie was really scared by this and hurriedly helped Alice to wipe off her tears. "I'm sorry to have frightened you that day. I know it wasn't good to kill a person in front of you. It was a bit bloody..."

Seeing her man still worrying about frightening her that day, Alice just shook her head, tears coming down her cheeks in a greater torrent.

"What are you crying for?" Zhang Tie was pained by her sorrowful visage and started to kiss away her tears. "You must have not slept well these two days!"

"They all say that you had realized it at that time. If you had chosen to avoid the bolts, they would have never hit you. But because we were standing in front of you, you decided to protect us by pushing us away at the cost of your life. You then used your own body to face the bolts, didn't you?" Alice held Zhang Tie's face between her hands, her tearful eyes filled with deep love fixed on him. "Why were you so foolish?"

Zhang Tie giggled, not knowing what to say. It had been just his instinctive response at that moment; he hadn't thought that much about it. He only felt that it was not right for Alice, Beverly, and Pandora to face danger when he was still standing alive. This was especially so now, when he knew that the bolts had been quenched in blue frost.

Zhang Tie started to really feel that he had made the right choice. Thankfully, the two bolts were shot at him...

"To tell the truth, I only feel very happy now; thankfully, the two bolts were shot at me! If they had hit you, I wouldn't know how to face that. I cannot imagine what I would do if you lay there and would never wake up again because of me. I might have been driven mad by it..."

Right now, they actually didn't need to say anything. Alice moved her lips closer to Zhang Tie and started to kiss him. Today, she even wanted to engulf him whole.

Chapter 180: A Performance and Orphanage's Troubles

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

On the same evening Zhang Tie woke up, he gave a performance together with his elder brother.

In the evening, Zhang Tie put on his clothes and drove a military vehicle that was left by the Iron-Blood Camp out of the hospital. Because his left hand did not work well yet, Zhang Tie only used his right hand to control the steering wheel. Since he was fully-dressed, nobody could see his wounds.

This car, powered by a steam engine, was very easy to control. It only had a neutral position, a former block, an after stall, a brake, and an accelerator. Of course, accelerator was an old word

from before the Catastrophe. According to the present professional terms, it was a pressure-variable pedal connected to the car's boiler. Through this pedal, the output power of the steam engine at the head of the car could be adjusted.

Steam-driven cars drove easily. They could reach above 100 km/h in the city. The only shortage of this car was that it would take at least half an hour to ignite every day. Only after the boiler had been heated and the pressure inside the boiler rose to a certain degree could the car be used. But the car needed ignition only once a day. After it was ignited, what the driver needed to do was to feed coal into the charging bin, add water in the water container, and clean the ashes out of the automatic ash discharging container every day.

Iron-Blood Camp was the most mechanized camp in No. 39 Division. There were five cars available in Third Platoon alone, in which Zhang Tie served. Three of the five cars were half-covered armored vehicles used to transport soldiers, while the other two were five-seat military convertible SUVs. As the head of Third Platoon, Zhang Tie had an SUV exclusively to himself. As he was recuperating in the hospital, the Iron-Blood Camp just left the vehicle there for the convenience of Zhang Tie's travel.

With the pile of gold coins that he had gotten from Samira's purse, Zhang Tie drove the car directly towards a rice store. After buying two bags of rice, he let the lad working there to put the rice onto his back seats. After that, he paid and drove his car towards his parents' place.

On the way back home, Zhang Tie felt pretty cool sitting in the car. His vanity was satisfied once again.

Zhang Tie estimated that his family members were eating supper now. After pressing the horn twice, he didn't get off the car, instead, he directly shouted loudly, "Elder brother, open the door!"

As they've agreed on in the morning, the moment Zhang Yang heard Zhang Tie's scream, he opened the door and walked outside. With a surprised expression on his face, he said, "Aya, you've learned how to drive a car. Come on in, we're eating supper now!"

"No, I've already finished supper. As I have something to deal with today, I brought you two bags of rice in case you need to buy them again. You can just take them out of the car. I won't go inside today!"

"Fine!"

While the two brothers performed, they grimaced to each other. While Zhang Yang was taking out the two bags of rice off the car, Zhang Tie's dad and mom walked out the door.

With a big smile on his face, Zhang Tie enthusiastically waved his right hand towards his parents. "Dad, Mom, I'm here to bring your some rice! How about my car? Is your son great? I've learned how to drive a car!"

Seeing Zhang Tie outside the door of their home, as was expected, their parents revealed smiles, as if a heavy burden was taken off their shoulders.

"Hurry up, go home and eat supper!"

"No, dad, I'll take you out for a ride one day. As I've just finished supper, I'm here to bring you two bags of rice by the way!"

"Guoguo, are you okay?" Saying this, his mom prepared to walk towards Zhang Tie. "I heard that something happened to you during the duel!"

Placing his left hand on the steering wheel, Zhang Tie hammered his chest with great vigor using his right hand. "I'm very good. As there were a lot of people at school that day, some chaos arose. Your son is fine, although having been almost eaten by a pile of girls. There was someone who had a conflict with soldiers sent there by the Military Administration to maintain order, but they were arrested. Mom, you just go back home. I have something urgent to deal with today, so I'll go back to see you another day!"

After saying this, since he was afraid that his mom would notice something wrong if she drew close to him, Zhang Tie waved his hand towards her and stepped on the pressure-variable pedal, driving away.

Now certain that his son was okay, Zhang Tie's mom finally let out a long breath. She stayed at home the past two days, so when Zhang Yang told her that Zhang Tie was okay, she believed it. But when she went out to buy vegetables today, she heard that Zhang Tie was assassinated. She was really startled by such news.

As few people had witnessed what had happened to Zhang Tie that day, there were many versions of the event spread around. Some said that the military officer of the Norman Empire picked a fight with the onlookers of the duel; some said that he was assassinated during the duel; others even said that the soldiers of No. 39 Division started a massacre in the Seventh National Male Middle School.

There was also a gossip that the Gregorian family schemed some plot, but it was found out, and so the fortress of Gregorian family was surrounded by the soldiers of No. 39 Division, which led to curfew across the whole Blackhot City.

Zhang Tie's dad and mom had heard a lot of different versions the past two days, and they couldn't judge which one was true at all. Therefore, they were really worried about Zhang Tie.

After seeing him drive over in a good condition, they finally became reassured.

Zhang Tie really didn't want his dad and mom to worry about him.

After the performance, Zhang Tie prepared to go back to the hospital as he had to change fresh dressing for his wounds tonight.

...

Because it was supper time, there were only a few passers-by on the road, so Zhang Tie found it extremely pleasant to drive. The landscapes on two sides of the road kept moving backwards rapidly, and he seemed to have that feeling of running in the wind again. While driving with this great pleasure, Zhang Tie caught sight of Grandma Teresa, who was standing on the roadside in green nun's clothing. Beside her were a group of kids. Zhang Tie's car passed by them by 20 meters in a split second.

With a sound of 'Zhi', Zhang Tie pushed on the brake, leaving a 7-8 m long tire mark on the cement ground. He drove back to the old woman.

'She's really Grandma Teresa!'

More than ten kids were standing on the roadside. One was holding a box for donations in his hand, while another held high a paper board on which was written - 'We're very hungry!'

The rest of the kids were holding pots of flowers and grasses.

Standing among them, Grandma Teresa collected donations together with these kids from kind-heart passers-by, who would get a pot of flowers or grasses as a payment.

It was late, and the lamplighters were about to come out; few people were still walking on the road. Therefore, those people who were collecting donations on the roadside looked pretty desolate.

Zhang Tie immediately jumped off the car and walked towards them. Although in a military uniform, all the kids could still recognize him.

It was the elder brother Rice Soup who would send yummy rice soup to the orphanage every week before.

"Elder brother Rice Soup..."

Zhang Tie was immediately surrounded by the kids. At the sight of the dejected faces of these kids between 4-9 years old and that board 'We are very hungry', Zhang Tie felt like crying. After the price of grains had surged up across the entire Blackhot City, even his home's rice brew business became depressed. Zhang Tie could definitely imagine how bad a situation Grandma Teresa's orphanage was in now.

At the sight of Zhang Tie, Grandma Teresa smiled like before, however, after three months, she looked more haggard than before.

"Elder brother Rice Soup, will you send us rice soup like before? We've not drunk yummy rice soup for over a month!" asked a 6-7-year-old-girl in a timid way while pulling on the corner of Zhang Tie's military coat.

Hearing the words 'rice soup', all the other kids started to forcefully swallow their saliva at the same time, their shiny eyes fixed on Zhang Tie.

"Good girl, elder brother will send you yummy food after a while!"

Saying this, Zhang Tie slightly touched the little girl's head.

Grandma Teresa then walked towards him. Being different from those kids, she clearly knew what it meant him wearing this military uniform. After three months, the coy youth who had sent rice soup to the orphanage had become a second lieutenant of the Norman Empire. Even Zhang Tie's personality had greatly changed.

"Grandma Teresa!" Zhang Tie greeted the old woman who was walking towards him.

"It seems that the god's willingness has been displayed on you!"

Grandma Teresa embraced Zhang Tie warmly after coming over.

"How many days have these kids been starved?"

"Over the past month, these kids could only eat till they were half-full at each meal. Additionally, three meals a day have been reduced to two meals a day. I had no other method but to take them out and collect donations on the road. If it continues like this, the kids will definitely have health problems. These kids I take out are healthier than those being left in the orphanage who don't even have the strength to walk!" Grandma Teresa said dejectedly.

"What do you need most now?"

"Food, salt, it would be better if there was some sugar and alcohol!"

"Grandma, do you believe in me?"

Zhang Tie stared at Grandma Teresa with a serious expression.

"Of course, my son!"

"Then go back to the orphanage together with these kids, boil water and clean the warehouse, I'll bring the items there soon!"

After deeply staring at Zhang Tie and then kissing his forehead once again, Grandma Teresa said nothing more. She felt tears filling her eyes. She knew that these kids of the orphanage would finally be saved...

Touching the hears of the kids surrounding him, Zhang Tie revealed a smile. "You first go back to the orphanage together with grandma and tell your friends in the orphanage to prepare for the yummy food your elder brother will bring to you. How about that?"

"Fine!"

The small kids all nodded with shiny eyes fixed on Zhang Tie.

Without saying anything more, Zhang Tie waved his hands to those people as he immediately jumped into the car and sped away...

Not until Zhang Tie disappeared at the end of the road did grandma Teresa let those kids who had been standing outside for almost a day to return to the orphanage.

Chapter 181: Relief

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

Zhang Tie then immediately drove his car into the trading center where he bought things.

He was still using Samira's purse. When Samira failed his plot to screw Zhang Tie in the Wild Wolf Castle by losing his purse, Zhang Tie found that this purse was very fashionable and comfortable, so he decided to keep it with him. Not afraid that Samira will find him trouble for it.

The two bags of rice cost only a small half of the silver coins in the purse. There were still more than 20 gold coins that were still untouched.

The amount of money inside the purse was equal to more than his dad's two years' salary. It was not a small amount of money for Zhang Tie. Previously, he had felt reluctant to spend it, however, when he thought back to those small kids who rose high the board 'We are very hungry' with wide-open eyes fixed on him, Zhang Tie couldn't hold onto it any longer.

Zhang Tie felt that it might really be the god's willingness. In the beginning, in the name of the phantom 'contract of soul and bloodline promise' of Grandma Teresa and that Guardian God School, he prevented Samira from winning against him in the court and finally gained a complete victory. Therefore, today, he would use this money for the orphanage of the Guardian God School.

Most average people in Blackhot City would have time to buy things only after they finished their work in the evening. This was especially so after the prices of food sharply surged, compared to before, and people could buy fewer things at a time, though the purchase frequency increased. Therefore, many shops and firms in the trading center would not close up until 10:00 pm.

Being very familiar with this trading center, Zhang Tie had a clear route in his mind. He directly drove to a comprehensive firm opened by a Chinese.

The moment Zhang Tie got off his car to look around, the boss of the firm was already enthusiastically greeting him in front of the gate. Zhang Tie saw a shrewd personality in this boss that could be seen on all Chinese businessmen who did business in foreign countries.

Looking around the various commodities that had been piled as high as small hills in the warehouse beside this firm, Zhang Tie nodded his head internally.

"What can I do for you?"

The Chinese boss was very enthusiastic about his new customer because of Zhang Tie's Chinese appearance and the good reputation of the Norman Empire's soldiers when they shopped in Blackhot City.

The boss spoke Chinese. In this age, all the Chinese were very united. In the eyes of other human kinds, the they were people who could become partners from a group of two, form a team from a group of three, and a gang from a group of five. In any place, once the number of Chinese exceeded ten, nobody would then dare to find them trouble.

Without saying anything, Zhang Tie directly threw that purse to the Chinese boss, who easily caught it.

"I will spend all this money in your firm, how many benefits can you give me?" Zhang Tie asked in Chinese.

Simply after weighing it in hand, the boss already revealed a smile. "You can enjoy 30% off in our firm if the cost exceeds 20 gold coins, once. As you are a Chinese, I'll give you an extra 10% off, totaling in 40% off. Besides, I can help you send the commodities to your home. Due to low profits in grains, this is the largest benefit that I can give you!"

"Fine, give me the list of commodities, I want to have a look!"

Of course little deals would not need a list of commodities, however, as for transactions above ten gold coins like this, the boss would present a list of commodities for the guest to choose from. The list included everything that was stored in the warehouse and what the boss could get for the guest.

Glancing over the list, Zhang Tie started the shopping spree like ordering dishes in a hotel.

50 bags of rice, 25 kgs in each bag...

34 bags of corn, 30 kgs in each bag...

50 bags of flour, 25 kgs in each bag...

140 kgs of dried meat slices...

98 kgs of white sugar...

127 kgs of salt...

23 bottles of plume oil, 5 kgs a bottle...

17 bottles of alcohol, 2 kgs a bottle...

Zhang Tie ordered all the items one by one while the Chinese boss scribbled it down on a notebook with a pen. After noting it all, he hurriedly started to calculate on the abacus. After deducting 40% of the total price, he got the final result - 26 gold coins, 18 silver coins, and 33 copper coins. He then opened Zhang Tie's purse and counted the coins inside. After he finished counting, he was really dumbfounded. There were 26 gold coins, 18 silver coins and 33 copper coins inside.

They were precisely equal to the total amount of these commodities.

"What? Isn't it enough?"

"Enough, enough, the money inside is precisely enough. Not even one coin less. I just had planned to reduce 33 copper coins for you before!"

Sweat formed on Chinese boss' forehead.

'It took this military officer less than 30 seconds to order all the items. Most of the prices were different, and were not even integers. Besides, I even gave him a 40% off. Had he calculated them all in his mind when he ordered? How could that happen? It takes me, a highly skilled abacus manipulator with dozens of years' experience, over one minute to calculate them all, how could this person know the answer only after one glance.'

This could never be a coincidence.

At once, the Chinese boss started to feel that this young military officer of the Norman Empire was unpredictable. He could never know that Zhang Tie's 'Mental Arithmetic by Abacus' had reached a level that could not even be described by himself. When Zhang Tie took the list of commodities, only after one glance over it, he already knew how many items could be purchased using the money in the purse. After two seconds' consideration he had already determined what he could purchase.

"Can you load them up now?"

"Oh, yea, right away! These items will be directly taken from the warehouse, though the alcohol will take some extra time as it has to be sent from elsewhere..."

"Fine, please hurry up, someone is waiting for these items to cook supper!"

"Alright, I'll arrange it in ten minutes. Please come in and have a drink!"

The boss looked more affable after the sale.

Ten minutes later, a truck full of commodities and four carriers drove to the west side of Blackhot City following Zhang Tie's car. After a short while, they arrived at the orphanage in the civilians' area, which was not far from the west city wall.

Like what Zhang Tie saw when he came here bringing rice soup before, Grandma Teresa and a group of kids from the orphanage stood at the entrance with raised heads, waiting for Zhang Tie's arrival as they all knew that he would bring them some food today. However, nobody could have imagined that what followed Zhang Tie would be a truck full of all kinds of food and materials that the orphanage needed most.

Rice, flour, corn, sugar, dried meat, oil, salt, and alcohol.

A truckload of items! Since Grandma Teresa founded this orphanage, this was the largest donation that the orphanage had received till now.

Seeing the truck, all the kids cheered up, and their small faces revealed jubilant smiles at once. The desolate orphanage immediately became joyful, like welcoming a grand festival.

Although Zhang Tie felt reluctant to spend all of this money at the beginning, the moment he saw the brilliance and hope on the faces of those kids and Grandma Teresa, he also felt warm and very happy inside.

'Everything I did for the orphanage is worth it,' Zhang Tie murmured inside. He felt truly rich, which originated from how many people he could use his money to please and satisfy.

A mean guy with countless gold coins was definitely not as satisfied as him; if he had kept the money in his purse, he would still not have tasted this sense of satisfaction and pleasure.

It was really happy to have money, however, he would feel happier, more satisfied, and more brilliant inside if he could spend that money to make his beloved people happy!

Filled with such great pleasure and satisfaction, Zhang Tie almost forgot his wounds, joining the army of carriers, helping them to bring the items into the orphanage from the truck.

However, after he placed two bags of rice under his left armpit and used his strength to carry it, the wounds on his abdomen and shoulder started to pulse with pain.

He gritted his teeth and went ahead, but after carrying only one round of items, Zhang Tie's face had already turned sallow, a patch of fine sweat drops forming on his forehead. Worse, the two wounds seemed to have started bleeding again.

A little girl with a bag of salt in hand happily rushed over and hit Zhang Tie's abdomen carelessly. She hurriedly apologized when she saw his face immediately turning pale.

"Doesn't matter, go ahead and bring inside what you're carrying!"

Zhang Tie forced a smile as he saw off that little girl, then panted for breath.

Grandma Teresa walked over with her eyes fixed on Zhang Tie's face.

"You've been wounded?"

"Yea, a bit, doesn't matter. These items should help the orphanage pass through this period!"

Zhang Tie revealed a smile.

"Can you show me your wounds?" Grandma Teresa asked carefully.

"You can deal with injuries?" Zhang Tie joked in a relaxed manner.

"God's brilliance exists everywhere!"

...

When the kids and female servants of the orphanage were jubilantly preparing for a grand supper, under the persistent suggestion, Zhang Tie took off his upper clothes and laid down on a hard bed in Grandma Teresa's prayer room.

Guardian God School's pious believers would regularly lock themselves inside such prayer rooms where they can isolate themselves from the outside for seven days, during which they would pray, meditate, and clean their own inner heart and body.

After undoing Zhang Tie's bandage and gauze, Grandma Teresa noticed that the wounds on his abdomen and the hollow that connected his left arm and his chest had already started to ooze blood. After checking the wounds carefully, she told Zhang Tie to lie on the bed and wait for her to come back; she would get a bottle of medicine.

Under Grandma Teresa's strong persistence, Zhang Tie couldn't refuse her anymore. Therefore, he just stayed in the prayer room.

Two minutes later, she walked in with an old-fashioned small box, the material of which he did not recognize...

On its outside was a silver olive branch pattern of the Guardian God School. At the sight of this small box, Zhang Tie instantly knew that the item inside was definitely not common.

Chapter 182: A Kind Heart is Most Precious

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

After putting that small box onto the table at the head of the bed, Grandma Teresa first used gauze and alcohol to clean off the blood stains from Zhang Tie's wounds before meticulously opening the box and taking out a crystal vial with a narrow mouth.

The moment Zhang Tie caught sight of that delicate crystal vial in Grandma Teresa's hand, his eyelids jumped. This natural-born crystal vial was of great value; the lesser half of it was filled with a green liquid. The moment Grandma Teresa opened the lid, the entire prayer room was filled with an exceptional fragrance; Zhang Tie had not smelt such a good fragrance before.

Even the vial was of great value, let alone the value of the liquid inside it.

"Grandma, is the liquid in this vial very precious? If it is, it's not necessary to use it on me. My wounds will recover in a few more days. Additionally, I'm living in the hospital now!"

Saying this, Zhang Tie wanted to sit up.

But Grandma Teresa put her hand on his right shoulder, telling him to lie down again.

"Son, nothing is more precious than a kind heart!"

With these words, Grandma Teresa poured out the green liquid onto both of Zhang Tie's wounds.

The moment the liquid touched Zhang Tie's skin, it immediately soaked in, like water dropped onto a sponge. After a slight feeling of cold, he found himself comfortable and refreshed. It was too comfortable...

The wounds on his left shoulder and abdomen felt slightly itchy. After that, under Zhang Tie's amazed gaze, the two wounds started to mend at a fast, visible to the eye speed...

With eyes wide-open, Zhang Tie stared at this unbelievable scene. Feeling cool and refreshed, he watched as the wounds slowly mended. In only 2-3 minutes, they completely disappeared. Besides the newly-grown skin, which looked a bit fresh, the wounds could not even be located.

It was too amazing!

Touching his wounds twice, Zhang Tie confirmed that his wounds had really recovered. They had truly healed, just like in a dream!

Zhang Tie then immediately sat up on the bed.

"Grandma Teresa, what is this?"

"It's an advanced recovery medicament produced by the Guardian God School, which is more effective than any other advanced recovery medicament! As I've served the School for many years, due to a chance, I obtained this one..." Grandma Teresa revealed a smile. "Put on your clothes, the small kids outside are waiting for you to join in supper. If it wasn't for you, two days later, I would've been forced to sell this vial of advanced recovery medicament for those small kids.

After saying this, Grandma Teresa put back the crystal, narrow-mouthed vial, however, the green liquid inside it had been all used up.

Zhang Tie knew that he really owed a lot to the Orphanage now. Advanced recovery medicament was an almost legendary item in Blackhot City. The greatest alchemist in the city could only produce medium-level recovery medicaments. For commoners, even the preliminary recovery medicaments were rarely seen, let alone advanced ones. Maybe only Gregorian family would have this kind of item.

However, the advanced recovery medicament of Guardian God School seemed to be more precious than average advanced recovery medicaments. The price of this vial had to be more than ten times higher compared to how much he'd spent for these kids today.

Unexpectedly, he could gain such a great payment for his kind heart.

...

The 'grand supper' in the orphanage was just a pot of gruel boiled with rice and corn that could make everyone full. A spoon of white sugar was put in each kid's bowl. For these kids who had been starved for over one month, this supper was exceptional, and out of their expectations.

Grandma Teresa told Zhang Tie that as they had been starved for many days, it was not suitable for them to eat too much at once, so drinking porridge was the best choice.

Zhang Tie also drunk a small bowl of porridge together with the kids of the orphanage.

When he was going to leave, all the kids felt reluctant to see him off.

When Zhang Tie came back to the hospital, nobody knew that his wounds had already recovered after a single outing. More than that, due to the marvelous effect of that special vial of advanced recovery medicament, he even felt much better than before the duel.

The unexpected recovery told Zhang Tie another fact: he was really a rustic who knew little about this world. Besides that vial of advanced recovery medicament, how many other things were there that he didn't know about? Didn't even imagine?

Blackhot City was very small, yet the world was very big!

For the first time, Zhang Tie started to long for the vacant world outside Blackhot City.

...

He stayed another night in the hospital.

Early the next morning, Zhang Tie's ward was filled with many visitors, including all the members of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood, Pandora, Alice, Beverly, Bonder, Abu, Salvey, Potter, Francis, Wood, Blues, Peter, Kerlin, Zerom, and some beautiful girls whom he didn't even know.

After being told the address of his apartment in Avenue Monet in a low voice, the members of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood, Peter, and Blues all left rapidly. After greeting Zhang Tie, Bonder and Abu also left. Seeing a great amount of enchanting girls in the ward, after chatting with Zhang Tie for a while, Salvey also left.

With Pandora, Alice, Beverly, and those girls of the Rose Association, the atmosphere in the ward was exceptionally weird which many men could not stand. Even Kerlin and Zerom, after visiting Zhang Tie on behalf of the school, and hearing Zhang Tie rave about being struck by a lightning bolt, also hurriedly escaped.

However, the news that Potter, Francis, and Wood brought to Zhang Tie made him dumbfounded: in the coming holiday, the members of the Gods Bliss School were determined to dig out a mine outside the Blackhot City.

These guys had really gotten addicted to digging mines.

It was not too unexpected that the members of Gods Bliss School would appear in Zhang Tie's ward. Everybody else treated them as those 'poor relatives of the rich' who came to strike up an acquaintance with Zhang Tie after he became famous. Even Zerom thought so.

However, actually, nobody knew that Potter, Francis, and Wood only came to the hospital to tell Zhang Tie the 'enlightener' that they would continue to cultivate 'Big Blessing Skill' through mining. They were here to show their decisiveness to Zhang Tie on behalf of the other members of Gods Bliss School.

At this time, each member of Gods Bliss School started to worship Zhang Tie, crazily and blindly. After experiencing so many things since the time when they worked together in the mines to the present, Zhang Tie, the 'enlightener' had become a teacher and a guide in the eyes of the 64 brothers of the Gods Bliss School. He truly became a real 'enlightener' in everybody's eyes.

Even Zhang Tie hadn't imagined that the 'Big Blessing Skill' that he had fabricated on a mischievous mood in the mines could gather such a great amount of people to him. In Zhang Tie's original plan, after the survival training, almost all of these guys would depart their own ways. Everything that had happened in the mines during the survival training would just leave them a hopeful life philosophy.

The persistence of the members of Gods Bliss School also brought Zhang Tie a bit of pressure. He didn't know what would happen to these persistent guys if the truth about the 'Big Blessing Skill' was revealed.

'I'll never tell them that the Big Blessing Skill was faked!' Zhang Tie mumbled seriously after Wood, Blues, and Peter left.

'Later on, facing Wood and the other members of the Gods Bliss School, I can only continue the 'barbarous miners' survival model. Hopefully, after digging in a mine for another two months and seeing no effects, these guys will not persist in it any more, for I'll feel guilty of making them so obsessive otherwise.'

When all the other men left, Alice's disguised smile and politeness immediately disappeared. She then glanced over the other women with a pair of icy eyes.

From among the other girls in the ward, Zhang Tie only knew one—that blonde who had taken his pine nuts in the survival training.

However, judging from the girls' attitudes, they had to think that it was not important whether he knew them or not. What was important was that they knew him. Additionally, they all knew each other now.

That blonde who had taken Zhang Tie's pine nuts was Angel, while the other girls were Sharapova, Sushan, and Fiona. Their figures could even match those of Alice and Beverly, especially Fiona's; her name meant 'little woman' in Hebrew language.

Really like a little woman, at a young age, Fiona had a innocent Lolita face and the sexy figure of a mature woman. Her pair of boobs were even bigger than Alice's. At the sight of that, Zhang Tie had to admit that such a woman could trigger most men's desire to ravage her.

At the sight of Fiona, Zhang Tie's untamed thing really moved, but since he was still pretending to be sick and lying on the bed without even undoing his bandages, others couldn't see it.

"What are you doing here?"

With her hands on her waist, Alice stared at those sexy girls who dared to come wishing to steal her man with a cold expression.

"It's very simple, We, Rose Association, are just here to invite Zhang Tie to be the guardian knight of the girls of Rose Association!" Angel answered with a smile.

Hearing this, both Alice's and Beverly's expressions twisted. Alice was driven mad, Beverly was startled at first, then a winsome smile came onto her face. Only Pandora just ignored them, remaining in her position beside Zhang Tie with a smile. She peeled a fruit and put it into Zhang Tie's mouth, seemingly not having heard Angel's words at all.

Zhang Tie was confused. Guardian knight? What was that? What the hell were these girls doing here?

"What guardian knight?" Zhang Tie asked, still trying to figure it out.

"You cannot say it!" Alice shouted to Angel, face turning red.

At the same time, smiles appeared on the faces of Angel and the other girls of the Rose Association. As if raising Zhang Tie's appetite, they truly didn't say it. With this trick, the girls of the Rose Association felt that they had taken the wind.

Since they didn't say it, Pandora, who was always quiet, opened her mouth.

"The alleged guardian knight of the Rose Association refers to a person that needs to protect them from all danger. If you accept, as payment, from then on, each girl of the Rose Association can be rode by you for free. You can plunder any virgin's crown at any time. Until marriage, all the girls of the Rose Association will be your lovers."

"Puff..."

Zhang Tie sprayed out a mouthful of tangerine juice.