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Chapter 246: The Effect of the Mutated Yeast

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

Zhang Tie came back a bit late tonight. In the past few days, once he was free at daytime, he would take a round in the neighboring villages and the wild for two purposes: first, to look for the animals raised in the neighboring farming households that could be set free and lead to the corresponding Fruit of Redemption; second, to cultivate by himself.

On a huge, bald rock on top of a hill several kilometers away from Chevli village, Zhang Tie found a good place that was suitable for him to cultivate the "Bear Back Iron Body Skill". Over there, no matter how he would hit that rock using his back, that huge rock weighing several thousands tons would remain unchanged. This brought Zhang Tie another chance to strengthen his body and promote the growth of Iron-Body Fruit.

Based on his current strength, if he practiced "Bear Back Iron Body Skill" against the wall of Hanna's house, once he exerted his full strength, he might collapse the wall. However, if he used less strength, he might not be able to achieve the ideal effect. That's why he had to find a proper place to practice this skill. If he could not find a stout tree, he had to find a huge rock or a cliff that could stand his thousands of kgs' force.

Zhang Tie guessed that one of the reasons why he wasn't killed during that bloody fight with the undying army of the Sun Dynasty might also lie in the Iron-Body Fruit. Although he had not eaten too many Iron-Body Fruits, the effect of those he had eaten must have been utilised at the most critical moment and saved his life. Because of this, Zhang Tie started to pay more attention to the Iron-Body Fruits after his body fully recovered.

Especially now that his body had mutated to a preliminary recovery body, Zhang Tie had super great wound recovery and healing capability which suggested much more special ideas about his future cultivation road. The effect of the Iron-Body Fruit reinforced his physical defense and anti-striking capability. If he could further exert this effect together with the effect of his preliminary recovery body, he would definitely have a greater chance to survive and be as robust as a cockroach which had a super strong vitality.

Zhang Tie was actually very afraid of death, so after gaining the preliminary recovery body, he immediately became extremely concerned about the Iron-Body Fruit. That's why these days, he definitely spent more time practicing "Bear Back Iron-Body Skill" than ever before.

At daytime, he would ram his back against that huge rock. When he had to stop due to pain, he would forcefully pat his lower abdomen, chests, neck, thighs, and shins. After that, the pain on his back would have relieve somewhat and he would start to ram his back against the huge rock again.

He kept doing that all day long. Even though it were lunch or supper time, he would hurriedly eat some dried rations before returning to his practice.

Zhang Tie really regarded himself as a red iron plate that needed to be hammered. Each time he was hammered and rammed, he would enjoy great happiness. Sometimes, as long as one's mentality changed, arduous and boring cultivation could also be filled with pleasure. For Zhang Tie, this cultivation process was actually a special individual game.

Since he constantly practiced like this, four days ago, the first Iron-Body Fruit after his complete recovery became mature. After eating it, Zhang Tie finally felt its sweet juices. It didn't make him suffer from diarrhea, just turned into a wisp of icy energy that penetrated into his skin and muscles from inside to the outside.

In the following two days, when Zhang Tie constantly patted and rammed himself, he had a different feeling as he felt a wisp of comfortable, warm qi and energy that started to fuse with his skin and muscles. In the process of alternatively warm cultivation and eating icy fruits, Zhang Tie really felt like a hot, red iron plate being quenched after being hammered.

After recovery, the second Iron-Body Fruit was 82% ripe yesterday. After today's practice, Zhang Tie estimated that it would have become completely ripe. Besides this Iron-Body Fruit, the first Leakless Fruit after recovery should also have ripened today. The moment he thought that he could engulf two fruits tonight, Zhang Tie became highly spirited.

After igniting two more burning points, he would be able to be promoted to a LV 5 warrior. As Blapei was peaceful now, and he had gained a preliminary recovery body, Zhang Tie was thinking about completing this promotion in the next month or two. Although this promotion was twice as difficult as the one before, it was of great significance to Zhang Tie at this moment.

If there was no emergency, he felt that his Iron-Blood hidden strength could be promoted to Iron-Blood invisible strength when he reached level 5. Controlled by the invisible strength, his Iron-Blood Fist and red-snake sword would be even more powerful. Additionally, when he reached level 5, his physical strength and potential would be further tapped, which meant that his javelin attacks would be more horrifying.

Actually, on that night when he fought with the undying army of the Sun Dynasty, the speed of the javelin that Zhang Tie had freely thrown had already reached the speed of sound. However, Zhang Tie clearly knew that the sonic boom skill that he could grasp had just passed the sound barrier. He could not fully play the role of the sonic boom yet as the effect of his sonic boom was not stable yet. But when he reached level 5, none of the above problems would exist. Perhaps by then, the javelins could fully exert their power in Zhang Tie's hand.

...

When Zhang Tie came back to Chevli, it was already night. However, the village was ten times more boisterous than usual. As the beer carnival was tomorrow, many people in Chevli village had started to make torches and festival lanterns. Additionally, many kids couldn't wait to ignite the torches and the festival lanterns and played with them. Looking from afar, the Chevli village was brightly lit and filled with people's laughter and joyful words.

People here enjoyed eating roasted gooses in festivals. Tonight, from many houses in Chevli village drifted the aroma of roasted gooses.

Speaking of them, Zhang Tie had made a new discovery these days—in Blapei, actually, he could set free some more animals, namely those chickens, ducks, and gooses that were raised in many houses in the villages neighboring Blapei. It wouldn't even cost him too much money to set free those animals. To tell the truth, Zhang Tie was really curious what would the Fruit of Redemption look like after he set free those average livestocks.

Although this idea was very good, Zhang Tie couldn't find any proper reason to do this. He was afraid that the moment he set those livestocks in the wild, they would be caught back by others. It wouldn't work at all.

Although he could set them free in the Castle of Black Iron, where he didn't need to worry about them being caught back by others, it wasn't exactly the beset solution. He had brought some earthworms inside the Castle of Black Iron several days ago and made earthworms the second animal that settled ithere after the bees, but the livestock were much bigger than earthworms.

It would work if he brought a couple of into the Castle of Black Iron, but it would be too eye-catching if he brought too many of them inside. Additionally, since he was living in Hanna's home, if he often brought chickens and ducks back in to his room which would then disappear the next day, leaving nothing at all, how could he explain that to them. Even an idiot would notice something wrong. Of course, Zhang Tie didn't want to be the target of the public.

...

When he returned to Hanna's home, Hanna instantly pulled him back into the dining room. What made him surprised was that all of Hanna's family members were staring at a glass of beer on the table in the middle of the dining room. Old Harley, Hanna's dad, and Hanna's elder brother were piously gazing at that glass of beer on the table without even blinking. Hanna's mom and elder sister-in-law also were pretty nervous.

'Why are they staring at that glass of beer? What's happening? Is it a traditional ceremony that is going to be held before the beer festival?'

But before Zhang Tie could open his mouth, he saw Hanna silently glance at him, and so he swallowed his words back.

After a long while, old Harley who was staring at that glass of beer let out a sigh.

"Already six minutes!"

"The bubbles are still there!" Hanna's elder brother said, his eyes shining bright.

"The bubbles in the beginning definitely reached over three centimeters!" Hanna's dad added in an obviously trembling voice.

After that, the three men exchanged glances with evident uncontrollable excitement and ecstasy.

Zhang Tie saw nothing special. After silently asking Hanna what was happening, she told him that for men who treated beer as their lives in Blapei, during the past hundreds of years, they had already concluded a series of methods to appraise the quality of beer. Besides tasting it, they could also judge it with their eyes. Take the bubbles of the beer for an instance, many people could judge the quality only by the bubbles and luster—the standard of top-class beer was that the bubbles could rise three centimeters above the mouth of the glass and remain unchanged for at least four-five minutes.

After smelling its odor, checking its luster and tasting it, its lasting time was the final procedure to appraise its quality. The result was super excellent like the other aspects, so all Hanna's family members became really excited by that.

...

"It looks perfect too. I drunk too fast just now and failed to appraise it's real taste. I will try it again..."

Licking his lips, Hanna's elder brother stretched out his hand to take that glass of beer on the table.

"Bastard, you've drunk one glass before!"

Hanna's dad pushed away the reaching hand of Hanna's elder brother with a cold expression while stretching his own hand towards that glass of beer.

"Cough...cough..." Old Harley coughed twice.

Hearing that, Hanna's dad's hand froze in the air.

When old Harley was about to take that glass with a big smile, Hanna took the initiative and picked that glass of beer from the table. She then brought it in front of Zhang Tie. Old Harley gave an embarrassed smile as he drew back his hand.

"Try it!"

Hanna stared at Zhang Tie, full of expectations.

Zhang Tie held the glass and took a careful look. Given its luster, the glass of beer seemed to be more translucent and pure than those he had drunk before. Although it was under the lamp light in the evening, holding the glass, Zhang Tie felt like holding a big piece of excellent yellow crystal which had a very strong texture visually.

When he moved the beer close to his mouth, a unique fragrance brought a sense of liveliness. To tell the truth, Zhang Tie had not smelt such a good odor from beer ever since he was born.

The moment the golden liquid entered his mouth, it tasted both fine, smooth, and refreshing, seeming not to have that bitterness and astringency of other beer. Instead, it was fully energetic. It seemed like every wisp of sunlight's essence had been absorbed by the raw materials that then were turned into alcohol.

With just a sip, Zhang Tie had become addicted to it.

Although he was not an expert in tasting beer, he clearly knew that the beer in his hand was definitely the most excellent one.

While the other three men in the room were forcefully swallowing their saliva, Zhang Tie bottomed that glass of beer.

After that, he glanced at Hanna with an expression of inquiry. Hanna slightly nodded. Zhang Tie then understood it at once.

This beer was brewed by Hanna using the mutated yeast that he had given to her!

At this moment Zhang Tie was so shocked that he became speechless.

This beer was brewed with the yeast that only contained one third of the properties of the original basic aura yeast. What if the original basic aura yeast was used?

Zhang Tie's heart pounded as he suddenly remembered that what he had brewed in the Castle of Black Iron with those mutated yeast could be drinkable too.

His heart raced fiercely.

...

"Does the God bless our Hanna to be be this year's Beer Queen?"

Hanna's mom was so excited that she even dropped tears.

"It cannot be that. The beer that Hanna brewed before had not been this tasty. Since she brewed it like always, how could she make such special beer?" Hanna's elder brother became dubious. "No way, I will try another glass to check whether it was an illusion just now!"

"Nobody is allowed to taste Hanna's beer any more!" Old Harley solemnly glanced at Hanna's elder brother as he had immediately seen through his plot. "Tomorrow, the beer will conquer every man in Blapei; Hanna will definitely be the Beer Queen of Blapei!" Saying this, old Harley glanced at Zhang Tie and forced a smile. "Can you temporarily keep the secret of what happened tonight for Hanna?"

Zhang Tie nodded.

"You know, we've got one more thing to negotiate at home..."

Zhang Tie felt embarrassed at once. The moment he was going to leave, his arm was grabbed by Hanna. Being straightforward, she directly revealed the secret to the other family members.

"Grandpa, you don't need to feel strange about that anymore. The reason that my beer is different from before is that Zhang Tie gifted me a packet of very special powder of beer yeast before..."

After being slightly stunned, Hanna' dad instantly sprung up from beside the table. He didn't let Zhang Tie leave, instead, he rushed outside and looked around. After finding no people there, he hurriedly closed the door.

Besides Hanna, everybody in the room focused their gleaming eyes on Zhang Tie, causing him to feel like he was surrounded by a pack of wolves...

Chapter 247: The Start of the Carnival

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

The annual beer festival in Blapei would be fixed on the first weekend of each November. Because the beer festival originated from the festivity of farmers in the most leisurely time of Blapei, even though the month chosen was not as hot as June and July, people's passion for their favorite beer was enough to ignite the whole Blapei on the same day each year.

Even if facing the danger of war and just having suffered a bomb attack from the Sun Dynasty several weeks before, each house in Blapei today still became boisterous like flaring fire.

It seemed that because of having been oppressed by the upcoming war, people here became really mad and decided to give full vent to their inner emotions.

Old Harley said that the quantity of festooned vehicles from Chevli village this year was the largest in recent years. The festooned vehicles were also more beautiful than before.

For this festival, Zhang Tie also showed great interest. Since last night, old Harley had been ten times more enthusiastic about him than ever before. After learning that Zhang Tie had not prepared a traditional costume for the beer festival, in the early morning, he sent a whole new, decent costume to Zhang Tie.

This proper and decent costume included a jazz hat decorated with beautiful feathers, an average and good-looking jujube-wood walking stick, a black woolen coat without lapels, a small black vest, a round, woolen half-body cloak, a pair of black leather jazz pants, a pair of stockings, and a pair of brown, round-head brogues.

Once he dressed in these clothes, Zhang Tie found himself very funny. Looking at himself in the mirror, he felt like he was much more mature. If a mustache was put on his mouth corner, he would look like a mature gentleman. Since he was almost 16 years old, Zhang Tie's lips were covered with fine cyan hair, making him as tender as a Chinese onion.

Zhang Tie estimated that this costume had cost old Harley at least 20-30 silver coins. When old Harley sent it here, he was even worried that Zhang Tie wouldn't receive it.

After Zhang Tie generously received the clothes, all the family members of old Harley became excited. After all, these items were really trivial compared to what Zhang Tie had promised them last night.

After what happened last night, he had turned from an ostentatious outsider to a respected guest of old Harley's family.

Hanna also changed to a set of beautiful clothes today. She wore a beautiful dress with corset and an open collar whose neckline was decorated with a circle of delicate folded lace. Her shoulders and breasts were decorated with a rectangular purple silky cloth of beautiful lace, on which was a bow knot and some beautiful bibelots. The sleeves of the skirt were bulging puff sleeves. The lower part of the skirt which was also decorated with many delicate ornaments reached her feet.

Of course, on the lower part of the skirt was an apron that greatly impressed Zhang Tie. It was said that an apron represented that the working woman was diligent.

As an unmarried woman, Hanna wore a beautiful garland woven of camellia.

In this costume, Hanna became more fascinating and beautiful. Zhang Tie liked it very much as it revealed her womanly figure and displayed her plump breasts and butt that attracted men's attention.

...

At this moment, Zhang Tie was standing near the windowsill in his room, revealing a weird expression. He seemed to be enjoying the scene, gasping, and watching the courtyard of Hanna's home.

Besides Zhang Tie, everybody in Hanna's home were wearing new clothes. Even old Harley had changed to a set of clean and decent clothes.

"Zhang Tie, have you seen Hanna?"

Seeing Zhang Tie standing next to the windowsill in his room and facing the courtyard, old Harley who was seeking for Hanna raised his head and asked.

"I saw her down there in the courtyard just now!" Zhang Tie answered loudly from upstairs.

"Where has that wicked girl gone..." Old Harley mumbled downstairs in the courtyard before turning back and leaving.

What Zhang Tie said just now was true. A moment ago, he truly had seen Hanna in the courtyard. but now...

Hearing Zhang Tie talking with old Harley, Hanna who was squatting down and working hard became more excited. After forcefully swallowing and spitting several times, Hanna's apex nasi had almost reached Zhang Tie's pubis on the lower abdomen. With eyes half closed, Hanna became slightly intoxicated. At a rhythm, she would slightly groan besides the "zi zi" sound made by her lips

getting in contact with Zhang Tie's d*ck. It seemed that this state could bring her a certain pleasure.

Zhang Tie was very pleased as he liked to do this very much, spiritually, physically, and even visually.

Because she was squatting in front of Zhang Tie in a dress with an open collar, her slightly raised head, revealed the beautiful curve of her neck and the part above her clavicle. Zhang Tie felt that Hanna was like a beautiful swan at this moment.

A beautiful swan singing a song for him...

Zhang Tie felt very lucky.

Around ten minutes later, Zhang Tie started to violently tremble. Out of consciousness, he hugged Hanna's hand with his own while Hanna also accelerated the frequency tacitly. Her blond hair started to crazily weave under the camellia corolla. Finally, Hanna's whole face almost lay on Zhang Tie's lower abdomen as she tightly held Zhang Tie's d*ck in her mouth and remained still. At the same time, Zhang Tie completed a thorough ejection in the deepest part of Hanna's mouth...

...

Hanna swallowed everything before extracting the last drop of body fluid of Zhang Tie with her lips and tongue and put that tamed thing into his jazz pants.

"Your waistband is very beautiful. Is it new? I've not seen it before..."

After arranging Zhang Tie's pants, Hanna noticed his new waistband.

"Yea, It's new!" Zhang Tie could only reply in this way.

Already having stood up, Hanna touched the red snakes which were embedded in the buckle of the waistband. "That's weird, it's two snakes; isn't it be a bit large for a buckle of a waistband? But it's very beautiful and gorgeous. Plus that weird snake, you have three snakes now, one big and two small, hey hey..."

"You coquettish woman!"

Zhang Tie became slightly dumbfounded as he found that this woman was even more lewd than him.

"What? Don't you like it?"

Hanna stared at Zhang Tie in an enchanting way.

"I do like it!' Zhang Tie honestly answered.

"Many times last month you've forcefully ejected into my body by pressing me down, I was worried about being pregnant; unexpectedly, my menstruation still arrived last month on time!"

"Haven't I told you that if I don't want you to get pregnant, you wont' get pregnant!" Zhang Tie replied with a smile as this was a mysterious function brought by the small tree.

Only when he wanted to have babies could the essence ejected from him contain the most important energy that could breed new lives. Normally, although the essence looked no different from usual, it would never make a woman pregnant.

When he made love with Pandora in Blackhot City for the first time, the selective dialog box had popped out in his mind at the most critical moment, making Zhang Tie more relaxed and happier to make love with those girls of the Rose Association later on. This truly saved a lot of trouble for him by preventing the women from getting pregnant. Besides the fruits, Zhang Tie felt that this function of the small tree was the most considerate.

"You know what, I've already recovered today. Little boy, don't forget to wait for your teacher at night! Now, I have to go to the festooned vehicles..."

After stealthily glancing at the courtyard, Hanna kissed Zhang Tie's face, then rearranged her dress, and, walking on her tiptoes, quietly ran down the stairs from Zhang Tie's room.

...

Five minutes after Hanna had left, Zhang Tie also went downstairs like a thief.

Today, most of the people in Chevli village wanted to go along with the festooned vehicles to see the flower parade and the evening carnival in Blapei. Previously, old Harley and Hanna's dad had also wanted to be there; however, after what had happened last night, the two men of Hanna's family decided to stay at home.

Last night, when Hanna explained that the reason for the beer being so delicious lay in the special yeast powder gifted by Zhang Tie, all the other family members became thrilled. Of course, the quality of the yeast used to ferment the beer could not be judged by one's eyes or mouth. However, people in Blapei who had several hundred years' traditions in brewing beer truly had their own method to test the quality of the yeast gifted so as to check the truth of Hanna's words.

Old Harley only took a small half glass of beer zymotic fluid from the fermenter. After that he fetched a vial and sprayed a bit of weird powder from the vial into it. He then slightly shook the bottle. After a short while, at the sight of the small half glass of zymotic fluid, old Harley became so thrilled that his words started to be disordered.

"Oh, my god, it's true; how could it be? There's no other anaerobia except for yeast in the zymotic fluid. This was really a wholly new yeast that I've never seen before..."

After Hanna explained it to Zhang Tie, he finally understood why old Harley was so excited.

In Chevli village, all the zymotic fluid left from brewed beer was recyclable. However, the recycling times were limited to 4-5 times. It would be ineffective after being recycled 6-7 times. The reason was as follows: during the process of beer fermentation, besides yeast, there would be other anaerobia. After each fermentation, the quantity of these anaerobia would increase. When the quantity and proportion of other anaerobia became greater than 20% of the total amount of yeast in the zymotic fluid, the beer brewed would taste bad.

For a long time, people in Blapei had concluded a series of methods to test the proportion of other anaerobia in zymotic fluid to determine the zymotic fluid's availability. Zhang Tie didn't know what old Harley had sprayed into the zymotic fluid, but Hanna told him that if there were anaerobia inside, after spraying the powders inside, the color of the zymotic fluid would change accordingly. Experienced people could identify the proportion of anaerobia inside from the changing color.

After spraying the powders inside, old Harley was shocked by the result as there was almost no anaerobia inside the zymotic fluid. However, this phenomenon had never been seen during the past hundreds of years in Blapei. After being brewed for the first time, the content of anaerobia inside the zymotic fluid would usually increase by 3-5%. Old Harley's family members had not even heard about any zymotic fluid that would contain no anaerobia after being used once. Of course, the reason was the special yeast spices in the zymotic fluid.

Hanna's words were verified at once.

All the family members clearly knew what this meant.

Such zymotic fluid could be recycled forever. However, this wasn't the real deal. What was most important was that as long as they were not afraid of trouble, after some filtering procedures, they could use the yeast in the zymotic fluid to cultivate more of the same yeast, which could be used to brew more top-quality beer. And top-quality beer symbolized great honor and a great amount of money in Blapei...

A bright road suddenly appeared in front of Hanna's family members!

However, Hanna's family members didn't know that the yeast was fully under the control of Zhang Tie. As it was a mutated species from his Castle of Black Iron, if Zhang Tie didn't like something, he could lock and change some of the yeast's gene functions to stop its reproduction. After eating the Fruit of Creator which could control the yeast, once Zhang Tie sent an order in his mind, he could kill all the yeasts which had been carried out of the Castle of Black Iron at once.

Facing the eyes of Hanna's family members that were full of desire, Zhang Tie had made an agreement with them last night which almost drove them mad.

...

The beer brewing workshop in Hanna' home was locked for today while the remaining zymotic fluid was carefully stored away. But even so, they were still not reassured, so two men stayed to keep an eye on the treasure.

In Blapei, the value of yeast that could improve beer's quality could almost drive everybody mad.

From last night, the affair of Zhang Tie gifting his mutated yeast to Hanna had become the top secret in old Harley's home.

...

Because he planned to go back downtown today, Zhang Tie followed the festooned vehicles and the teams to head for Blapei after taking a very roundabout way.

Hanna took her beer and sat on the predominant festooned vehicle while everybody in Chevli village including the village head surrounded her like numerous stars circling around the shiny moon. Last night, old Harley had silently called the village head into his home. After drinking a glass of Hanna's beer, the village head decided to let Hanna represent Chevli village to compete for this year's Beer Queen...

The news that Hanna was going to compete for the title of Beer Queen immediately shocked the whole Chevli village.

As Hanna hadn't brewed too much beer using the yeast given by Zhang Tie, not everyone could have a chance to taste her beer to verify her qualification. But after the village head shown the same "bubble certificate" in the public like what Zhang Tie had seen last night, all the villagers in Chevli were conquered.

For people in Blapei, the quality of beer could be identified by eyes.

The moment they opened Hanna's barrel, the fragrance of the beer almost caused a chaos among the team that had entered Blapei.

After the chaos, the team of festooned vehicles of Chevli village no longer looked like going for a parade in Blapei any more, instead, they looked more like an army heading for a battle as everybody was highly spirited and with a high morale. If there was truly a Beer Queen in Chevli village, it would be a huge pride and honor for all the villagers in Chevli.

In this atmosphere, Zhang Tie was ignored by others and was pushed to the end of the team. Nevertheless, he didn't mind it at all.

Seeing Hanna's happiness while being surrounded by the people as if she was a queen, Zhang Tie also felt glad for her.

He was truly in a good mood today!

At least good at this moment!

...

After the arrival of the teams of festooned vehicles from surrounding villages, the grand beer carnival in Blapei officially kicked off at noon.

Today, every place in Blapei was well decorated. Roadside stores, houses, and lamp poles—all were covered with colored ribbons, flags, and various joyful symbols.

The first news that Zhang Tie heard after arriving to the downtown area was not about the beer festival but about the war. Last night, in revenge, a brave airship of the Iron-Horn Army had dashed into the air territory of the Sun Dynasty and dropped two bombs on to an important logistics base of the Brilliant Feathers in Lazian City which was 160 km away from the frontier of the two armies, which greatly shocked the Sun Dynasty and its predominant army——the Brilliant Feathers.

Zhang Tie read the news in the official newspaper of Blapei. Although it made him speechless, it was still very inspiring. Certainly, it might also be a propaganda act to deliver such news to a city which had been attacked by the Brilliant Feathers of the Sun Dynasty on the same day of the beer festival.

After all, the spies and saboteurs of the Sun Dynasty had not been caught yet. However, it seemed that the rare patrolling soldiers of the No. 21 Division could be seen on the streets in such a festival atmosphere because of the arrival of such a grand festival and the two bombs last night.

Previously, Zhang Tie had wanted to follow the festooned vehicles of Chevli to watch how Hanna competed for the title of the Beer Queen, but sadly soon after he entered the downtown area, he lost contact with the team of the festooned vehicles...

Chapter 248: Trap and Honor

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

The boisterous atmosphere in Blapei because of the beer festival was almost out of Zhang Tie's imagination. Walking through the streets, he could see many people in holiday clothes surrounding the teams of festooned vehicles which were heading downtown. Those festooned vehicles came from all the suburban areas around Blapei. Additionally, many communities and business groups downtown also organized festooned vehicles to parade through the streets. Some were even matched with bands and dressed clowns walking on stilts. The festooned vehicles passed by with flying colorful ribbons and flags.

When Zhang Tie came to a populated place, he saw beautiful women displaying themselves by constantly sending air kisses in all directions and tossing great amounts of petals. Some of them were even tossing small trinkets like locusts woven from wheat straws, which made the surrounding kids reach to grab them.

Beer brewing workshops, roadside bars, and beer hotels in Blapei pushed out many competitions. As a result, the whole city became extremely boisterous.

Among the various competitions, the most common one was beer drinking in a limited amount of time that anyone could participate in at the cost of only one silver coin. The final winner would have a chance to win a bonus besides tasting many kinds of beer for free.

Zhang Tie had intended to push into the civic square to watch the Competition for the title of Beer Queen. However, because the area around the civic square was the most boisterous place today, when Zhang Tie was two blocks away from the civic square, the road became so crowded that he could not even move. Even if he tried for the two other directions, the dense population still held him back like a flesh wall. After pushing for ten minutes, Zhang Tie still had not moved even ten meters forward.

In the crowded streets, women screams could be heard from time to time, someone having stealthily touched their bodies.

Seeing what was happening around him, Zhang Tie had no other choice but to stop. If Hanna became this year's Beer Queen, he would learn of it at night. Each year, after the Beer Queen was selected, she would gain a great bonus and an imperial crown. The Beer Queen would sit on a special festooned vehicle and travel across Blapei.

For women in Blapei, Beer Queen was almost the highest praise and the most brilliant honor that they could gain in their whole lives. The selection of the Beer Queen was the start of the climax of the entire beer festival and carnival of Blapei. However, according to the customs, the Beer Queen could not be selected until the dusk fell and torches were ignited.

Zhang Tie really wanted to see how Hanna looked when she was selected as the Beer Queen. Since that cute girl had brought him so much happiness these days. he hoped that today could be the happiest day in her life. Zhang Tie didn't know the quality of the other women's beers as he was a layman about beer, but seeing her family members, the village head, the villagers of Chevli village becoming so confident about her, he also became confident of her success.

Old Harley casually mentioned that he slept very well after drinking two glasses of beer that Hanna had brewed using that marvelous yeast. These years, as he was growing old, he usually coughed at night. However, it was very strange last night as he didn't cough at all. Until this morning, he was still highly spirited.

Although others didn't put much weight on what old Harley had said, Zhang Tie bore it in mind as he remembered that when he had health problems or felt uncomfortable at a young age such as coughing or catching cold, his mom would always feed him the fruit yeast solution which was used to make the rice brew. It was very marvelous. Each time he drunk that, his health would become much better, so Zhang Tie had not gone for a doctor since he was young, neither did he suffer from any big disease while those small problems could be solved at home.

Perhaps the yeast could extract the substances from plants that were beneficial to people's health. Benefiting from this, old Harley slept quite well last night. Thinking this, after Zhang Tie came back to his residence last night, he ate two fruits to enhance his real strength. Additionally, he also took a look at those vats of fruit yeast solution that he had brewed in the lab of the Castle of Black Iron.

He had brewed too much, and the craftsmanship that he used to brew the fruit yeast fluid was obviously different from one used to brew beer. After a month, the fruits in the solution had not been completely decomposed. It meant that it would take a longer time for the yeast fluid to complete its final fermentation. However, the fragrance from the vats of yeast fluid had already filled the air, making him intoxicated.

The beer brewed from the yeast that only had one third of the properties of the basic aura yeast was great to drink, so the original basic aura yeast should be even more outstanding.

As for why the fluid fermented by yeast would have so many marvelous functions, Zhang Tie could not figure it out due to the limited knowledge that he had received since he was born.

Zhang Tie was thinking that perhaps he should go to the private library once again today to read a few more books and have a good study on the functions of yeast as the beer that Hanna had brewed using his yeast had made him realize that such trivial things might be very useful in the future.

...

The parading festooned vehicles parked in the afternoon in every street of Blapei. They became mobile stalls for selling beer and roasted meat. Zhang Tie then spent three silver coins to drink a few glasses of beer and eat some roasted meat in a festooned vehicle, accompanied by beautiful and passionate girls of Blapei who danced happily in the melodious music of a violin.

In such a boisterous and happy atmosphere, Zhang Tie really didn't want to wear his military uniform and return to the No. 9 Equipment Center and face a pile of worn-out machines. Right now he might as well do something else.

So after leaving the secret signal in the rendezvous point to Bilis, Zhang Tie came to the Grant's Library once again. He stayed in the retrieval area for two hours. Finally, he grew disappointed and left. Although there were some books on yeast, all of them were only related to beer brewing. No other aspects about yeast were mentioned in those books.

In such a private library, due to limited quantity of books, one could not usually find the knowledge that he truly needed. Perhaps he truly had really good luck last time.

After leaving the library, Zhang Tie soon arrived at the rendezvous point where he usually met Bilis.

As was expected, Bilis was already there.

"You're really responsive today, I thought you might not see my secret signal until night!" Zhang Tie leisurely told Bilis.

"I... I've been waiting for your news these days, so those guys even started to doubt the words that I told them several days ago!" Bilis seemed to be a bit nervous. "If you don't show up in a couple of days, I might not even dare to see them anymore!"

"Ho...ho..." Zhang Tie gave a smile. He also felt that Bilis was nervous. However, he didn't care about that as he guessed that he was nervous because he couldn't control those guys. "Don't worry, I will go see them with you today. I hope they can recognize me in this costume!"

Hearing Zhang Tie's words, Bilis let out a breath. "That's great! If you can show up in front of them, it will be more convenient for me to serve you from then on!"

"Where are they?"

"Some of them are at home; but as we often kill time in a billiard room in Xicheng District, many of them are also there today!"

"Well, I will go meet them then!"

Because of traffic control in Blapei today, with the exception of parading festooned vehicles and military vehicles, all other vehicles were forbidden to move on the roads downtown, so the two people could only go to that place on foot.

Compared to other places in Blapei, there seemed to be more poor people in Xicheng District. Buildings here were old. There were many slums and some factories. The coke-oven plants and the only steel plant in Blapei were also located in this district, so as one could imagine, the environment here was very bad.

Bilis guided Zhang Tie through the roads in the downtown area. Seeing the narrow and dirty lanes that he was walking through and the exceptionally less wealthy population which formed a sharp contrast with the boisterous atmosphere that he had seen, Zhang Tie slightly frowned. Many people here looked dumb, indifferent, grim and fierce, making him very uncomfortable.

"Do you usually stay here?"

"Yea, most of us do. This is the most chaotic area, this Xicheng District of Blapei. About two thirds of thieves, liars, rogues, rapists, prostitutes, jobless workers, low-level hatchet men, and drug addicts of the city live here. Previously, many criminals who were wanted by the Andaman Alliance also stayed here!" Bilis carefully answered.

Thinking of that night when Bilis and the other guys came to find him trouble for only two gold coins, Zhang Tie shook his head inside.

"Once you follow me, I promise you that you will soon leave this place and get to live a decent life!" Zhang Tie told Bilis very seriously.

Hearing Zhang Tie's words, Bilis suddenly slowed his speed, his shoulders and neck becoming stiff.

For some reason, since he entered this region, Zhang Tie felt like he was being watched. He glanced over all sorts of people who were silently looking at him from behind dim windows and doors and the prostitutes who had started to solicit trades under roadside lamps by leaning against dim wall corners at dusk. He then shook his head and forced a self-mocking smile. His clothes were truly not congruous with this place, so no wonder he would attract others' attention.

Bilis guided Zhang Tie into a beer hotel in a dim lane. The hotel had a very poor business with only a couple of people drinking beer inside. Zhang Tie glanced over the hotel and found nothing special.

"The billiard room is behind the hotel..."

Zhang Tie then followed Bilis into the billiard room which was made to entertain the guests of the hotel.

The size of the billiard room here was medium with 4-5 billiard tables inside, but for some reason, nobody was inside at all.

"Where are they? Can you wait here for a minute, please? Those guys might be hugging women upstairs. As they don't know you are here, I will call them downstairs!" Bilis said, lowering his head.

Zhang Tie nodded and Bilis left the billiard room. For some reason, Zhang Tie felt that the man was a bit flustered when he left.

After ten more seconds, Zhang Tie frowned as he felt that something was not right. Additionally, he smelt something bloody...

When Zhang Tie's face turned pale, with a loud "boom", a wall on the hotel's side was suddenly pushed down. The entire wall collapsed outward. Before Zhang Tie could make any response, a pile of people "flew" inside from the direction of the collapsed wall.

In this case, of course Zhang Tie instinctively avoided them. However, these people seemed weird as they all lay on the ground after "flying" inside...

They were not "flying" inside but being "thrown" inside. They were not live people but a pile of corpses in dark red military uniforms of the Norman Empire with various wounds on them. Strangely their faces felt familiar to Zhang Tie.

The fifteen corpses filled the whole billiard room at once. The nearest corpse was one meter away from Zhang Tie, face turned upward. Zhang Tie immediately recognized him—it was the guy who had beaten him and whom he had killed that night two week ago .

"We found the saboteurs of the Sun Dynasty!" someone loudly screamed outside.

Soon after that, many guys in red gloves rushed inside from the collapsed wall. With weapons in hands, they immediately surrounded Zhang Tie. Many red gloves then slashed towards the corpses on the ground and the surrounding walls and worn-out billiard tables. Some of them even slashed on themselves, none of the wounds fatal.

All of a sudden, the billiard room in the beer hotel seemed to have witnessed a fierce battle.

A red glove with silver hair then slowly walked out of the crowd gazing at Zhang Tie like how a wolf gazes at its prey.

"Major Franca, the remaining forces of the Sun Dynasty refused to be caught, so we've killed them all except for one person. When we rushed inside just now, this person was negotiating with these saboteurs of the Sun Dynasty. He was submitting an item to the saboteurs."

After his words, a red glove ranked first lieutenant searched out an item from a corpse lying on the ground and gave it to Major Franca.

That major then carefully unfolded that item with blood stains on it. He took a glance at it before facing Zhang Tie with a smile. "This item is the map containing the defenses of the Comprehensive Logistics Relief Base of Blapei and all the material warehouses. Who are you? How could you have this item?"

Hearing this, Zhang Tie knew that he was set up once again. The pit that he was in was bottomless...

"You bastard, motherf*cker!" Zhang Tie fiercely swore...

...

When Zhang Tie was surrounded by a group of red gloves, on the civic square of Blapei, after the afternoon's competition, the final result of the competition for the title of the Beer Queen was revealed: the winner today overwhelmed all her competitors and conquered all the 21 beer tasters from the Blapei Beer Industry Association.

Today, the civic square witnessed a miracle, a miracle that could make all the 21 beer tasters to vote for the same person without any hesitation. This had never happened in the history of Blapei. In the recent years, there was not even one woman who could gain more than half the votes from all the beer tasters and put on the crown of the Beer Queen of Blapei.

At this moment, in the center of the civic square, a single name gradually resonated. "Hanna... Hanna... Hanna..."

In the beginning, only a few people were shouting, but as time passed all the population in the square started repeating it while some of them even shouted loudly...

"Citizens of Blapei, please shout as you will, Blapei has its Beer Queen this year once again. This year's Beer Queen is Hanna. Hanna here brew the greatest beer in the history of Blapei. She conquered all the 21 honorable beer tasters..."

Tens of thousands of people started to cheer while many people from Chevli village were so excited that they even started to drop tears.

Chapter 249: Pulling out the Sword

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

Zhang Tie knew that he had already fallen into a delicately designed trap. At the sight of those corpses that he had killed two weeks ago, although being very infuriated, Zhang Tie still remained extremely calm.

Facing these strictly hierarchical and terrifying secret police of the Norman Empire, as long as he made one mistake, he would disappear from this world.

Although these people had died two weeks ago, they were still well preserved like having been killed just now. Zhang Tie was not that foolish to ask how they could have preserved these corpses so well as it was just a trivial problem. Donder had told him many methods to preserve corpses such as the most commonly seen freezing or if something slightly more complex - ointment or paste. There were many methods that could be used to keep corpses "fresh", allowing the others to set him up.

The moment he saw those corpses, Zhang Tie immediately figured out a couple things. First, these were the people who had burned the warehouse. They did this to destroy the scene and prevent him from noticing that the corpses had disappeared when he went back to check on them. Zhang Tie had then believed that the fire was set by other saboteurs of the Sun Dynasty.

Second, when he killed those people from the Sun Dynasty, the process was definitely under these people's monitoring. They had to have been hiding in the darkness. They must have witnessed how he killed those people or discovered it through investigation.

After understanding those two things, Zhang Tie became more clear-minded.

"You must be responsible for the two missing soldiers of the No. 21 Division. You did that to make me trust that Sun Dynasty's saboteurs were still in Blapei and make me believe that the fire was set by the saboteurs to destroy evidence inside and eliminate my doubts?" Zhang Tie asked icily, staring at the silver-haired Major Franca.

Major Franca then flicked his hand to let all the other red gloves surrounding Zhang Tie exit, leaving only him, Zhang Tie, and the corpses all over the ground in this messy billiard room of the beer hotel.

Zhang Tie's pupils immediately shrunk from his actions. At this moment, this one still dared to face him alone. This meant that this guy was at least a fighter above LV 8 and was very confident in defeating him. Zhang Tie didn't believe that this person who had been thinking about setting him up for such a long time didn't know his performance in the Iron-Blood Camp. Although being a LV 4 warrior, he could easily deal with LV 6-7 fighters.

"You're right. I assume the responsibility for the two missing soldiers of No. 21 Division to make everybody believe that the spies and saboteurs of the Sun Dynasty were still in Blapei. Given the effect, it worked!" Major Franca casually said as if chatting with Zhang Tie. Meanwhile, he took off his red gloves and slapped them onto one palm.

"It's said that there's a disagreement between members of the Order Committee of the Norman Empire and Marshal Lin Changjiang. Could that difference in views between the top-class figures truly make you so frenzied that you'd kill soldiers and frame military officers of the Norman Empire?"

Zhang Tie stared at Major Franca with sharp and fierce eyes.

Hearing Zhang Tie's words, Major Franca started to laugh like a lunatic.

"Now that you know what we've done, you must know our role in Blapei. Hehehehe, in the eyes of the big figures, small figures like us can only make someone disgusting. We are like a pile of rotten meat covered with worms or vomit, a number of beggars or dirty shit. We were dispatched here to make someone frown, lose appetite, or better lose temper several times at the sight of us. Do you know how we feel being treated as worms, rotten meat, shit and vomit? You could never know..." Major Franca's face twisted slightly. "In order to get rid of such life and easily throw out a pile of people like me as if cleaning up vomit, it's nothing serious to kill two soldiers and set up a military officer."

Under the laughter and wolf-like eyes of Major Franca, Zhang Tie saw an oppressed ambition, madness, and a terrifying man.

"That is to say, from the beginning, those spies of the Sun Dynasty had been under your monitoring."

"Hehe, smart!" Major Franca rubbed his thumb and his third finger, making a crispy sound, before pointed at those corpses lying on the ground. "Soon after coming to Blapei, I had clear trace of these mice and scumbags. Previously, I was just waiting for them to cause enough damage before catching them to satisfy the superior who had dispatched me to Blapei.

"These mice and scumbags were very far-sighted as they caught a disabled first lieutenant of the logistics department to force you to bring them into the logistics base of Blapei to cause great damage there. This was really a great idea. I actually hoped they would succeed there; sadly, against my expectations, you killed them all and completely destroyed my plan. Nevertheless, this was also a good thing as I found something more valuable from you!"

Major Franca licked his lips as he greedily stared at Zhang Tie.

"What do you want from me?" Zhang Tie asked icily.

"Not get, but trade!" Major Franca said, full of confidence. "As long as you tell me your secret, I will forget what happened here today. Nobody will have seen you here. You will continue to be a first lieutenant of the Iron-Horn Army and enjoy your life by making love with your mistress in Blapei and continue to enjoy your 'Woman's Excellence'."

Major Franca even told the name of a weapon that Zhang had Tie once used on battlefields.

"What secret?"

Zhang Tie's heart suddenly raced.

"Ho... ho... don't be nervous. I know you're very nervous. You've got too many secrets. For instance, how did you kill those people before they could react? How did you suddenly form Iron-Blood hidden strength? Why weren't you afraid of blue frost? How could you become a terrifying, powerful soldier from an average student in Blackhot City in only several months?" Major Franca then let out a sigh while his voice and eyes became tender. "Actually, I also want to be like you. If I can have your abilities, I can get rid of my life being regarded as vomit. Can you help me?"

Zhang Tie knew that it was useless to explain that he was struck by a lightning bolt any more. This man had set him up for the secret that could make him so powerful. Everything that happened today originated from this man's ambition and greed.

"What if I don't tell you?"

"Hehe, those people who sent me here would be interested in a young military officer from the Iron-Horn Army who would betray the Norman Empire!" Major Franca seriously looked at Zhang Tie. "I bet you don't know how the Order Review Committee and the secret police of the Norman Empire deal with traitors.

"You, your family members, even your friends will regret having come to this world. Even if you've formed the Iron-Blood Battle Qi, nobody will be able to save you. Even the Iron-Horn Army, Lin Changjiang, and the special protection tradition of the Battle God Church will not be able save you. Besides, you're just a trivial first lieutenant who has only formed the Iron-Blood Hidden Strength..."

Zhang Tie lowered his head. It was very weird that he didn't feel infuriated at all. For some reason, hearing Major Franca's words, he only recalled the scene at school several months ago. That day he had been leisurely sitting under a tree. Then some guys walked in front of him and threw down some dining plates, ignoring whether he would refuse or not...

Sometimes life was like this. You leisurely sat under a tree and watched the sky when some bastards decided that you were easily bullied and threw some dining plates in front of you, letting you make a choice between humiliation and pain.

Today, that person who threw a pile of dirty dining plates in front of him became someone from the secret police of the Norman Empire, the silver-haired Major Franca.

The same choice was put in front of Zhang Tie.

Franca thought it was a choice; however, it was not a choice for Zhang Tie at all as the two paths were both dead.

Raising his head, Zhang Tie glanced at Major Franca. "Although you've talked much just now, only one sentence is right!"

"Which sentence?"

"You're really disgusting. It was really proper to send you here to Blapei!" Zhang Tie calmly said.

Major Franca' face immediately turned blue...

"Have you made the decision? Do you know the outcome of refusing me at this moment..."

Major Franca fiercely gazed at Zhang Tie with his eyes needle-like. He wanted to continue...

But Zhang Tie smiled.

"Outcome? There's no outcome. You're just a small major, a small figure in the eyes of big figures. Perhaps I truly have some secrets, but who are you? You're not qualified to trade with me. Do you feel that it's your turn to be unrivaled across the Northern Border Army of the Norman Empire? Do you think that secret police could easily frame an officer of the Norman Empire who had won the Iron-Blood Medal by only talking?"

"Do you think to negotiate with me?" Major Franca asked, gazing at Zhang Tie as he revealed a scornful smile on his blue face, which also had a wisp of alertness mixed in it.

"There's no choice but I have another way to go!"

"Which way?"

"The bloody way!"

Zhang Tie pulled out his sword.

Chapter 250: The Bloody Way

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

Everyone's life was usually composed of accidents. Take the accident of Bilis setting him up for an instance, Zhang Tie had not imagined that he would encounter something like this today. After delicately arranging this trap, Major Franca had not imagined that Zhang Tie would dare and have the strength to fight back.

Previously, Franca had made a survey on Zhang Tie. He had made a lot of preparations to respond to Zhang Tie's ability that made fifteen people lose their strength to resist. However, what Major Franca had not imagined was that Zhang Tie had completely recovered.

Zhang Tie was attacking him not by poison, mysterious knowledge, but pure fighting skills.

The moment Zhang Tie started his attack, Major Franca's face slightly turned pale. Although with a pair of sharp eyes like that of a wolf, this major of secret police started to feel that what happened today was jumping away from his expectations and becoming uncontrollable.

According to his plan, Zhang Tie only had two choices: first, being compromised; second, being stubborn and getting caught. After arresting Zhang Tie, he would take him away from Blapei at the fastest speed to fix the fact that he had committed the crime. As long as Zhang Tie was in his hands, of course Franca had his way to make Zhang Tie obedient.

After all, Zhang Tie was just a 15-year old juvenile, a juvenile who was akin to a cripple. If not, why would those mice and scumbags of the Sun Dynasty target him?

Major Franca knew that Zhang Tie was setting free earthworms these days. He also knew his excuse for it. Although he found it weird, the excuse itself was reasonable. However, he had not imagined that Zhang Tie had completely recovered his combat effectiveness.

Besides, Zhang Tie even had been promoted to the preliminary recovery body as well as eaten two Iron-Body Fruits and one Leakless Fruit. At this moment, Zhang Tie not only had completely recovered his combat effectiveness, but his performance would have definitely surpass that of when he was in the Iron-Blood Camp.

Major Franca was more than two meters away from Zhang Tie, a billiard table between the two of them. The moment Zhang Tie popped out his red-snake sword, the sharp sword qi and the sword's tip had already went past the over two meter space like a long spear and rushed towards Major Franca's throat.

Now that he had launched the attack, Zhang Tie would never keep him alive. He would never care about his status, even being part of the secret police. Like on a battlefield, he would definitely be cold-blooded and waste no time...

'If I'm alive, I will kill you...'

However, as a major of the secret police, Franca was definitely not average. Having long been alert, he also responded instantly. Almost the moment he saw the sword qi, he had already moved back by tilting his body backwards.

Of course the red-snake sword moved faster than him. When Major Franca felt a sharp qi attacking his throat, he had no other choice but to incline his head to one side.

A wisp of silver hair fell off at once.

Major Franca's face immediately turned pale. If he had moved slower just now, he would have been struck through his throat just now.

Zhang Tie's combat effectiveness was really terrifying.

However, in that split second, Major Franca had already taken out his weapon, a pair of steel claws.

Major Franca caught the thin sword blade of the red-snake sword with his steel claw. However, the moment he caught it, he felt like having caught a twisting and smooth neck of a snake.

It bounced towards him and Major Franca then caught it with another steel claw. At the same time, the super long sword's body twisted towards him too. With no more hands, Major Franca could only let go and move back once again. This time the sword blade touched his face when he felt a cold breeze pass his face.

When he moved about five meters away from Zhang Tie, Major Franca felt wetness on his face. He touched it and found a finger-long wound cut on his face. In a split second, his sharp eyes became bloody.

The red gloves then rushed in like a tide once again.

"Kill him!"

Major Franca pointed at Zhang Tie as he delivered his order without any hesitation. By then, he clearly knew that if he could not kill Zhang Tie here and now, he would rush out. And if that happened, the whole thing would be totally out of his control.

From the moment Zhang Tie started to attack, Major Franca had a bad feeling. Zhang Tie's last words were very right. Whether it was in the Northern Border Army or in the Norman Empire, although sometimes he might have advantages, it was never his turn to be number one. Zhang Tie was a military officer while he was part of the secret police. If the secret police wanted to frame a military officer who had won the Iron-Blood Medal as traitor, unless he was caught in the scene...

Seeing Major Franca only suffering from a small wound facing his two fatal moves, Zhang Tie felt a bit pitiful as those moved were what he had comprehended after practicing the red-snake sword these days. The first fatal move was a sword thrust while the second one was a three-section attack. They were both indefensible fatal moves.

In a split second, Zhang Tie understood that Major Franca's real strength was definitely above his own. As his best moves could only cause small wounds on him, it wouldn't be that easy to wound him again.

Seeing the two of them starting to fight, the other red gloves rushed in once again with the front ones holding a pitch-black cylinder. After hearing Major Franca's order, one of the red gloves standing at the front immediately put the cylinder facing Zhang Tie.

After a loud "boom", there was a huge net blown out towards Zhang Tie.

'Dammit!'

It was Zhang Tie's turn to show surprise. With a roll, he moved beneath a billiard table. Almost at the same time, the huge net covered the place where Zhang Tie had been standing before while some steel nails on the net's sides fixed to the ground at once...

Before the other people could shoot out their nets, the red gloves's eyes popped out as a 300-400 kg billiard table was lifted from the ground and flying towards them like Mountain Tai. Hurriedly they avoided it.

Soon after that Zhang Tie jumped out from behind the billiard table. With a sound of "chiliu", the sword qi of red-snake sword radiated from his hand and immediately flew through the narrow space like a spiritual snake...

Almost at the same time, some red gloves' heads flew away, fresh blood spurting out one meter high. In the meantime, Zhang Tie rushed towards the door.

"Stop him..." Major Franca shouted loudly while rushing towards him.

Hearing the order, some more red gloves surged towards Zhang Tie. However, before their weapons touched his shadow, the three meter long red-snake sword's blade slid through their bodies and hands. Almost at the same time, the red gloves released miserable screams; two more hands were now lying on the ground and several red gloves whose wounds were now longer than one meter in total were rolling on the floor.

When Zhang Tie was about to rush out through the door, another batch of red gloves rushed in. In a blink of an eye, the "s-shaped" snake-like sword qi swam across the narrow passageway, and it immediately became a bloody lane.

At this time, Major Franca rushed close to Zhang Tie.

After withdrawing the sword qi, the red-snake sword turned into a short sword at once. The moment Zhang Tie clashed his short sword with Major Franca's weird steel claw, he felt a weird yet familiar strength being passed from his red-snake sword into his arm. In a split second, Zhang Tie's hand was wounded.

It seemed like Iron-Blood hidden strength, yet it contained greater strength than Iron-Blood hidden strength as it had a feminine sense and was more aggressive.

'Iron-Blood invincible strength', a thought flashed across Zhang Tie's mind.

Seeing Zhang Tie's shocked expression, Major Franca sneered. "Did you think that only those guys of the Iron-Blood Camp can use Iron-Blood Fist Skill?"

Saying this, Major Franca didn't stop attacking and the two people experienced two rounds of fighting in a split second. Finally, Major Franca's steel claws broke through Zhang Tie's defense and he was punched by Major Franca and flew back in the air. Spurting out a mouth of fresh blood on his way, Zhang Tie was wounded once again.

'Dammit, this guy has also practiced the Iron-Blood Fist Skill. He even has formed Iron-Blood invincible strength. Perhaps this guy failed to form the Iron-Blood Battle Qi and turned to practice other battle qi. Still, he is still a powerful opponent. What's worse is that this guy is already LV 8, which makes him overwhelming...'

Zhang Tie knew that although the other red gloves might not defeat him, he could not defeat major Franca at this moment at least, especially in this narrow space where he could not use the full power of his strong points.

The moment Zhang Tie fell to the ground, he grabbed a billiard table from his side and threw it towards major Franca. Nevertheless, before the billiard table made of granite and covered with a faded green cloth reached Major Franca, it was punched to pieces.

Still, Zhang Tie had already won the precious time to escape.

He quickly moved back and forcefully slashed an "X-shaped" mark deep in the wall behind him using his red-snake sword. After that, Zhang Tie used his full strength to fiercely hit the wall, like how he practiced the "Bear Back Iron Body Skill".

As Major Franca's howled and his expression shifted to fury, Zhang Tie broke through the wall.

The rest of the secret police who were surrounding this beer hotel seemed to not have imagined that someone might break outside through the wall.

When Zhang Tie broke out, the nearest red glove was two meters away from him. By the time he turned his head, Zhang Tie had already rushed forward like a mad tiger. Before he even arrived in front of him and the rest of the secret police outside, the sword qi of his red-snake sword had reached more than ten people. In a blink of an eye, over ten heads were sent flying in the air. As a result, the red gloves were greatly weakened.

The highest combat effectiveness of these common secret police was merely equal to the common soldiers of the Brilliant Feathers. How could they hold back Zhang Tie who had been driven mad? In a split second, he had already broken the first encirclement.

Although the secret police standing at higher points shot a round of bolts towards him from their crossbows, Zhang Tie caught a man nearby and used him as a shield. Then before the second round of bolts could be shot and Major Franca rushed out of the beer hotel, Zhang tie was more than twenty meters away.

When he left, Zhang Tie saw Bilis's corpse lying on the ground outside the beer hotel and swore inside, 'You idiot, did you think you could survive when you've got yourself involved in framing a military officer of the Norman Empire?'

"Catch up with him!"

All the secret police ran after Zhang Tie together with Major Franca, who was gritting his teeth.

Not until then did Major Franca realize that he had forgotten one of the most important factors about Zhang Tie - his running speed. Although Major Franca obviously ran faster than most of the secret police, Zhang Tie's running speed was amazing. Even though he had been wounded, the distance between Major Franca and him was still becoming greater.

However, this was not what Major Franca was most concerned about, what worried him most happened when Zhang Tie ran several hundreds of meters and came to the area of downtown.

He didn't run towards the less populated place; instead, he ran towards the most populated place.

There were many people in the area who were celebrating the beer carnival. At this time, most folk had already ignited their torches. Because the Beer Queen of this year had been selected, when the dusk arrived, the grand carnival would start. Many people were waiting for the passing of the Beer Queen's festooned vehicle.

"Secret police Major Franca is a traitor; he killed the two missing soldiers of No.21 Division and framed a military officer of the logistics department of the Iron-Horn Army..."

...

"Secret police Major Franca is a traitor; he killed the two missing soldiers of No. 21 Division and framed a military officer of the logistics department of the Iron-Horn Army..."

...

"Secret police Major Franca is a traitor; he killed the two missing soldiers of No. 21 Division and framed a military officer of the logistics department of the Iron-Horn Army..."

Zhang Tie kept running as he shouted loudly like a super great trumpet which could be heard by everybody on the avenue. Major Franca who was closely chasing after him was so infuriated that he almost spurted a mouthful of blood. This method was definitely more lethal than the slash on his face. At this moment, even though he could kill Zhang Tie at once, after those words had been shouted out, it would be impossible for the Iron-Horn Army not to make any response to this event.

When the people in the avenue heard Zhang Tie's appalling words, they all became stunned. But before they could make any response, a great amount of secret police with weapons in hand followed Major Franca out and the whole avenue became in chaos.

...

Watching Zhang Tie disappearing in the flurried crowd, Major Franca immediately stopped, his face turning extremely pale and ugly-looking. This had been absolutely out of his expectations.

At this moment, not only Major Franca, even the other secret police following him had twisted expressions. They knew what the outcome was. What they did was now known by the public.

Nobody noticed that Major Franca's fingers couldn't help but tremble slightly.

A person behind him forcefully swallowed his saliva as he lowered his voice to ask., "Major Franca..."

Major Franca gritted his teeth. "Contact the headquarters right away. When we carried out the mission in Blapei, we found First Lieutenant Zhang Tie of the Logistics Department of the Iron-Horn Army to be a traitor. After being revealed, he refused to be arrested by our forces. He even killed officers of the secret police and incited the Iron-Horn Army in Blapei to hate the secret police of the Norman Empire by spreading rumors.

"Now, Zhang Tie is escaping. I'll request the headquarters to deliver the class A order for arresting Zhang Tie. As Blapei is in extreme danger, in case of unnecessary conflict with the local soldiers of the Iron-Horn Army, we have to leave here right now!"

...

One hour later, in the minister's office of the headquarters of the Logistics Department of the Iron-Horn Army in Blapei, General Goethe smacked the desk, causing a loud sound in the office.

"Where are those bastards? Where's Major Franca? Where are they?"

The news made General Goethe so infuriated that his face turned red and his mustache rose.

"When Colonel Bach of No. 21 Division received the news and took soldiers to the airship base to stop the secret police from leaving, Major Franca had already flown away from Blapei along with the other secret police, giving a feeling as if they were escaping. Now, the soldiers of No. 21 Division are very furious..."

"Where's that first lieutenant?"

"We've not found First Lieutenant Zhang Tie. Based on the witnesses, he might have been wounded. At that moment, he was being chased by the secret police. It was said that he was a traitor."

"Nonsense! Could an officer who has been granted an Iron-Blood Medal be a traitor? Go fetch First Lieutenant Zhang Tie right now. Ask him to explain it. Meanwhile, contact the headquarters to warn the airship troop of the Iron-Horn Army to intercept those bastards in the air. I want them all under arrest and interrogated one by one. If those bastards truly dared to do this in Blapei, I will peel off their skin this time!"

"Yes sir!"

...

This night, it was not peaceful in Blapei. Through the whole night, Zhang Tie was not found, but Major Franca's airship was found 190 km away from Blapei in a valley in the northeast. It had been heavily destroyed with all the secret police having died except for Major Franca. According to the investigation, before the airship crashed, all the victims had been poisoned...

On the same day, in Nordinburg, the capital of Norman Empire's northern border, two orders for arrest were delivered at the same time: one was from the Northern Border Army of the Norman Empire; the other was from the Northern Border Order Review Committee of the Norman Empire.

The image of Major Franca appeared on the first order for arrest while the image of First Lieutenant Zhang Tie appeared on the second order for arrest. They were wanted at the same time.

Coincidentally, the crimes on the two orders for arrest were also the same - murder! One murdered the two missing soldiers of the Norman Empire and escaped while the other murdered the secret police of the Norman Empire and escaped. However, the charge of traitor didn't appear on either order for arrest.

Although big figures quarreled in Nordinburg, they made compromises too...

On the same day, a fish-like silver airship arrived at Blapei and hovered in the air for two days before silently leaving.

Chapter 251: Junkmen in the War Zone

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

It was winter. Forgue town was covered by dense fog before the sunrise for quite a long time due to being close to a river.

Zhang Tie woke up after another long sleep in the morning to find that all the wounds caused by Major Franca when he escaped Blapei had completely recovered. Because of the double recovery effect of his preliminary recovery body, although he felt a bit uncomfortable when he went to bed last night, this morning, he felt that his body was as spry as usual.

For the first time, Zhang Tie realized that his preliminary recovery body was extremely great.

It was the fourth day since Zhang Tie left Blapei. Each morning, this small town called Forgue would be covered by a dense fog. It was located over 120 km to the south of Blapei and was part of the Kalur war zone where the Iron-Horn Army fought the Brilliant Feathers Army.

One fourth of the buildings in the small town had been destroyed in the war. Many places revealed marks of being charred by white phosphorous gel bombs. Although the remaining three fourths of the buildings were well preserved, all the town's residents had long escaped, leaving nobody at all. It was as desolate as a ghost town now.

It then became a proper place for Zhang Tie to recover.

Today, a great amount of soldiers of the Iron-Horn Army were looking for Zhang Tie all across Blapei, but nobody could imagine that at that night, Zhang Tie had kept running for three hours and had hidden himself in the barren mountains and hills of Kalur war zone.

On the second day, having slightly recovered, Zhang Tie found the small empty town on the riverside. He then found a house there and settled down before taking a good rest to recover like a wild wolf.

In four days, only four days, the wounds caused by Major Franca had completely disappeared.

During these days, Zhang Tie didn't have any contact with the outside, so of course he didn't know what had happened. He could never imagine that the day after he left Blapei, the airship from Huaiyuan Palace of Zhang clan had arrived at Blapei. Nor could he guess that on the same day, Major Franca, who had set him up became a wanted man by the military party of the Norman Empire and became a criminal like Zhang Tie.

From the moment he pulled out his sword in the beer hotel, Zhang Tie had prepared for this situation. Back then, he could choose only one thing between being slaughtered and slaughtering others. Unfortunately, the people after him were neither average guys nor soldiers of the Sun Dynasty whose death could help him gain an Iron-Blood Medal. They were from the most powerful agency in the Norman Empire and worked as law enforcers.

Although there were always numerous law enforcers in humanity's history, even though law enforcers themselves were heinous criminals and scumbags, when something like this happened to him, Zhang Tie finally started to understand why those heroes were forced to be bandits on Liangshan Mountain[1].

Additionally, even if he was an officer of the Norman Empire, he was still not able to explain himself to others. This event originated from the greed of someone who had discovered a bit of his secret. Unless he revealed the secret of the Castle of Black Iron to the public, he could not explain it at all.

So he could only escape as a murderer. The only other thing he could do before escaping was to muddle the waters.

If the Iron-Horn Army was not that easily bullied, they would ensure the safety of his family members in Blackhot City before the secret police caught him and confirmed that he was a traitor. If he was safe, his family members would be safe. If his secret was not revealed to the public, his family members would be safe. That was why Zhang Tie decided to fight the secret police to the end in the beer hotel. He knew that besides himself, anyone who learned of or got his Castle of Black Iron might immediately kill his family members in case of potential dangers.

These couple of days, as he didn't know what happened outside, Zhang Tie was very concerned about the safety of his family members in Blackhot City.

Although being in recovery these days, Zhang Tie was always worried about his family members. The only thing that comforted him was that he gained a new Fruit of Brilliance these days. Although not all of the dozens of secret police killed by him were bad guys as they were just following orders, there were truly some big scumbags among them who undoubtedly were the best nourishment for the Fruit of Brilliance.

After eating the new Fruit of Brilliance, Zhang Tie's spiritual energy increased by 4 points. Compared to before, Zhang Tie's spiritual energy had reached about 62-63 now.

If such a speed was revealed to the public, it would definitely be amazed.

After another increase of his spiritual energy, Zhang Tie felt that his senses became even sharper than before as he could carry on four arithmetic operations on two abacuses in his mind at the same time in a faster and more flexible way.

...

Because he had completely recovered, Zhang Tie quickly took action after waking up.He was more alert this time. Before leaving that room he was in, he first accessed the Castle of Black Iron and changed his look and clothes inside.

Several minutes later, an average-looking 20-odd Chinese youth who had killed Samira stealthily flashed out of a deserted room in Forgue town.

For Zhang Tie, the most urgent thing was to ask for news. After that, he would find an opportunity to go back to Blackhot City and transfer his family members away in advance. They could not stay in the Norman Empire any more. He had to move his family members to a country predominated by Chinese in the southeast of Blackson Human Clan Corridor. He would have to transfer his family members to the Eastern Continent before the third holy war between humans and demons anyway.

Zhang Tie was carefully walking through the small town which was covered by a dense fog. It smelt refreshing, cold and clean. With each mouthful of breath, Zhang Tie would feel that his lungs and chest had been washed.

These days, according to his observations, besides two teams of scouts from both parties, no troop of above 100 people had been here. However, as this place was in the war zone, Zhang Tie had to be careful. Having experience in fighting here, he knew well that the safer the place you were in felt, the more dangerous it probably was because a great number of people might be hiding in a dark place, aiming at you with their crossbows. At this moment, Zhang Tie didn't want to fight anyone for no reason any more.

But before he could walk out of the small town, a series of footsteps drifted over from up ahead. From the sounds, Zhang Tie judged that there were at least ten people. At the sight of an open door on the side, he flashed inside the room while pulling out his dagger at the same time. 　

Zhang Tie came to the kitchen of this deserted house and stood close to the window while listening and observing what was happening outside. The disordered footsteps sounded as if they belonged to a group of escaping soldiers who were moving closer to him.

Because there was a small door in the kitchen connected to the courtyard of this house, Zhang Tie chose to hide here. In an emergency, he could avoid being surrounded and escape through that small door.

The kitchen was covered with dust while some millets and utensils like colanders were scattered on the ground.

The strangers soon arrived in front of this house in the dense fog. What amazed Zhang Tie was that they were not escaping soldiers but a group of figures with all sorts of luggage and sundries. They were not beggars, refugees, or roving bandits.

"Austa, Beane, you take someone to search this house. Gaer, Gerry, you take someone to search that house. Keep your eyes opened, don't miss good items. Many houses here belonged to rich lords from downtown who came to the mountains to hunt in the autumn. When they returned home, they would always leave some items that they felt not valuable, especially those in the kitchen and cellar. If someone finds food, we might get full this morning..."

After this order, a number of people poured into the houses on two sides of the road. Around seven to eight people rushed inside the house that Zhang Tie was hiding in. The moment they entered, they started to turn all the items over. After a short moment, the empty house looked if it had suffered from a plague of locusts, having been cleaned by those people.

"Ha, look what I've got? A silver-gilt candlestick..." someone started to happily shout in the parlor outside the kitchen.

"I bet the former owner of this house was a miser. Only those guys who were niggards yet pretended to be rich would buy this cheap fake item..."

"This item is worth at least 10 copper coins in Kalur, someone would like it..." The former voice still sounded happy. "At least we can change it for a loaf of brown bread!"

"You two, go check in the kitchen..." another voice said.

Hearing the gradually getting closer footsteps, Zhang Tie's heart raced and he put his dagger back, making two coughs on purpose in the kitchen...

The moment he coughed, the whole house became quiet.

Zhang Tie walked out of the kitchen and caught sight of seven people in the parlor who were glancing at the kitchen. When they saw Zhang Tie, they all let out a breath.

"Ha... You've got here earlier than we did, you're really brave, what did boss say..."

"The early birds get the worms!' A guy who was holding the candlestick wove it in front of Zhang Tie with a pleased expression, "Sorry about this, although you came here first, I found it first, so it's mine!"

When this person talked, all the others guys clenched their fists, making the sounds of "gazhi, gazhi", At the same time, they cast fierce looks at Zhang Tie, seemingly indicating that if he dared to have any questions about who the candlestick covered with dust belonged to, they would never mind punching him and telling him what was 'strength in numbers'.

Chapter 252: Return to Kalur

Translator: WQL Editor: DarkGem

In the afternoon, Zhang Tie followed the team of junkmen and entered Kalur City's control area.

It was a bit ironical that when Zhang Tie arrived at the Kalur war zone last time as a military officer of the Norman Empire, he hadn't even had a chance to enjoy the city's view before having to leave. This time, only after a short period, he came here again as a criminal.

What Zhang Tie saw along the road from the deserted Forgue town to the actual control area of Kalur brought him a more concrete sense of the war between the Sun Dynasty and the Norman Empire.

The closer he got to Kalur City, the more serious the confrontations between the Sun Dynasty and the Norman Empire were. Judging from the bases, fortresses, and fortifications the two forces had built around Kalur, it was clear that this war which involved hundreds of thousands of soldiers was doomed to be a long lasting competition. Zhang Tie understood this current situation of the Kalur region based on the news he'd received from the junkmen and what he had seen and heard in the military,

Besides the Sun Dynasty and the Norman Empire, there was another party in the Kalur region that had a say about this war—Kalur, the city of machine, the manufacturing center of Andaman Alliance and the fat which brought about the war between the fierce tiger and the hungry wolf.

The reason that it could become a fat in the eyes of the Sun Dynasty and the Norman Empire was that it was qualified and had the benefits to be a piece of fat. Compared to Blackhot City, an emerging city which only had a history of dozens of years, Kalur had over 200 years' history which meant a rich accumulation of resources in all aspects. Population, prosperity, manufacturing force, army establishment, actual power and control area of this city all ranked number one in the Andaman Alliance.

Even now Kalur still had a regular army of almost 80,000 soldiers plus the tall city wall and the terrifying city-defense weapons that the city had carefully managed the past 200 years. Such a force was capable of determining the result of this war.

The moment Zhang Tie came to the actual control area of Kalur City, he was shocked by the prosperity here. He even failed to see the city wall within 10-odd km. His eyes were blocked by the huge chimneys that were as dense as woods.

Those chimneys originated from the plants in the controlled area which had already formed a wide industrial zone. Many plants were even connected by pathways hanging up in the air and various tunnels of different sizes. Under the winter sunlight, the black smoke erupting from the chimneys almost dyed the whole sky dark gray. The plants were still producing various items, revealing no sign of depression at all.

Compared to the plants here, the ones in Blackhot City, besides them being on scale, they were as simple and crude as rustic workshops of country moneybags.

What Zhang Tie was seeing right now was just a corner of the actual control area as he was standing in the north.

A single smoking chimney reminded people of pollution while hundreds of tall, smoking chimneys made people feel trivial.

Here, Zhang Tie felt the power of industrial development.

Although people inside those plants were still busy working, outside the plants, hundreds of thousands of refuges poured in from the surrounding areas because of war, causing the whole area to become a bit chaotic.

Walking through the streets, Zhang Tie could see shabby and exhausted refugees queuing up outside plant recruitment points while more men and women were raising boards on the roadside on which were written: 'I'm a tailor; I want to work for food.'

In relatively vacant places on the roadside, refugees had built their tents. Kids' cries drifted over from the insides of many tents.

On the relatively better and cleaner wall next to the roadside were plastered various paper tapes and photos seeking for relatives.

Since this was Zhang Tie's first time being here, he didn't want to attract attention to himself and so insisted in seeing more and speaking less. He kept his head lowered and carried his items while following the other junkmen. Not until the team arrived at the control area of Kalur City did head Fred let out a breath and put back his blue-green flag.

On the way here, Zhang Tie heard many legends. In the past months, many junkmen had not come back after entering the war zone.

There were junkmen who truly made a fortune by discovering some items that had not been taken away by others in some deserted towns or villages. Some even picked up some valuable booty such as excellent weapons or gold coins from corpses in the fields of battle where the two armies had clashed. And some unlucky guys also lost their lives.

It might be very exciting to search for forgotten treasures in the deserted villages and towns surrounding Kalur City, but this was at the risk of one's life. This profession born from war was really akin to licking blood from the blade of a saber for commoners.

...

"Have you seen my daughter? My daughter is Selena. Here's her photo. She said that she was going to school in the morning, but she still hasn't come back yet..."

...

"Have you seen my daughter? My daughter is Selena. Here's her photo. She said that she was going to school in the morning, but she still hasn't come back yet..."

On the roadside, a 50-odd woman was holding a photo of a girl and pulled at every passer-by to ask the same question. Although she was asking, her eyes were as hollow as if she'd already lost her soul.

Zhang Tie followed the other junkmen and silently passed her.

"This woman is done for. She comes from the south. It's better in the north. It's said that in some southern places, those beasts of the Sun Dynasty would rape every woman they see, aging from small girls to grandmas. Any men who dare to resist would lose their heads. Many of them would even be caught to do labor works, repair roads, and carry items..."

Walking beside Zhang Tie, Gerry let out a sigh. "The tide of refugees coming to Kalur started from the south, but hearing what was happening in the south, the northern people also escaped. They all wanted to escape to Kalur for protection. However, they did not know that with the increasing number of refugees pouring in here, nobody would live well..."

Zhang Tie became silent as he was shocked inside. This was the true, cruel side of war. War would cause the greatest harm to commoners. The war between two countries where hundreds of thousands of soldiers fought had caused such a great disaster, how miserable would it be if the third holy war between humans and demons broke out?

...

After walking through the control area of Kalur for less than 20 minutes, Zhang Tie arrived at the junkmen's base. It was inside a large landfill behind the plant district. It was covered with deserted black coal gangue, so Zhang Tie could not tolerate the environment here.

More than one hundred years' wastes like coal gangue were piled up here, so one could imagine the scene here.

In this landfill of coal gangue, there were thousands of tents. At least 10,000-20,000 people lived here. When Zhang Tie followed the team here, he still saw many steam-based trucks that carried coal gangue and poured it inside this place.

The moment the trucks arrived, a great number of kids started running after them. They didn't care about the possible dangers at all. When the coal gangue with low combustion efficiency was poured out, the kids then rushed forward with small kegs and pack baskets and started to dig for the little coal in this coal gangue that could still be used.

The whole refugee camp was covered with dust due to the vehicles and running kids. All of the refugees were huddling together, men, women, old, and young, like ingredients in a pot of porridge.

Soon after they entered the tent area, a 60-odd man came toward them. "Fred, what did you bring this time..."

"So... We went to Forgue and brought back some tableware and something to live through the winter. Quote us a proper price..."

"Something to live through the winter? Many people don't even know how to live through this!" After appraising the items on their backs, the 60-odd man nodded. "Follow me..."

Zhang Tie also followed the others and arrived in front of the old man's tent. He was only carrying several dirty quilts that he had fetched in Forgue town. Besides, he was wearing a half new wool-like coat which didn't seem to match his image well, making him look like a refugee. Seeing him walking with the team, that old man only cast a glance at him before moved his eyes away.

The tent was very large, filled with many items while strong hatchet men were patrolling around. This seemed like a hub of this tent area.

Many people were standing in front of a notice board on the roadside next to this tent. When Zhang Tie passed by that notice board, he saw images of him and Major Franca. They were two orders for arrest under which there were some other orders for arrest. However, because the bonus of the two were the highest-3000 gold coins, they were put on the top.

With just one glance, Zhang Tie memorized the contents on the orders for arrest in his mind.

His heart raced. It was not too shocking to see orders for arrest in the refugee camp as it was close to the Norman Empire; this was just a slum that had not been destroyed by war. What made Zhang Tie really confused though was that Major Franca was wanted by the Northern Border Army while he was wanted by the Orders Review Committee.

This was good news for Zhang Tie. At the sight of this, he recovered his composure and no longer worried about his family members any more. His family members would be protected by the Northern Border Army and would never have to suffer from any danger from the secret police. If not, the Northern Border Army and the Iron-Horn Army would be smacked on their faces.

As Zhang Tie's current age and looks were both far different from that image on the arrest order, nobody guessed that one of the junkmen was the guy on the poster worth 3000 gold coins.

...

Zhang Tie sold the items that he brought from Forgue town for 4 silver coins and 37 copper coins.

Each one in the team had to pay a tribute. According to the rule, every person should submit 30% of their income as the protection fee. After submitting 30% of his income, Zhang Tie won a more genial look from Fred.

"How about that? You are brave enough. How about joining us. We can work together!" Fred invited him with in an enthusiastic voice that promised 'great undertakings together'...

...

Of course Zhang Tie did accept this "promising profession". With the excuse that he wanted to find stable work in the plant, he refused Fred's "invitation". After that, he touched the silver and copper coins in his pocket and left the refugee camp.

Although the secret police's power had not reached Kalur City yet, it didn't mean that he was safe now. Many people would risk their lives here for 3000 gold coins. Generous rewards birthed heroism. If he was caught here, the people could definitely transfer him out of Kalur's war zone. Even the huge airship of the Sun Dynasty could arrive here, let alone a person getting transferred only over 100 km away.

When he was walking through the streets, he kept thinking about that. Even if he was not wanted by the army of the Norman Empire, he could not go back to the troop either. He could not explain the conflict between him and the secret police. Such a great event could never be covered by saying he was struck by a lightning bolt. Then how could he go back to Blackhot City and contact his family members?

Zhang Tie kept walking as he thought.

He did not know for how long he walked. When a building appeared in his vision, he was suddenly shocked.

On the front door of that building was a relief of a mighty four-winged golden roc...

Yes, Golden Roc Bank!

Recalling the services that the Golden Roc Bank in Blackhot City provided, Zhang Tie's eyes brightened up...