Returning once more to his small camp, Yang Zicang, still in the sky, could see the silhouette of many people moving about.
Although he had only been away for just over a month, the camp’s appearance had undergone dramatic changes.
“The A-Squad Team is back!”
At that shout, many people turned to look at the huge carpet slowly descending from the edge of the area.
Equipped with a prosthetic leg, Lyv Zhi hobbled out of a brown stone fort by the edge of the area, looking up at Yang Zicang descending with the goods he had brought back.
In the surrounding fields, at least two to three hundred people gathered, gazing at him as if he were a celebrity—this man whose name had already spread across all of Lost Frequency Land.
“Why so many people?”
Yang Zicang looked curiously at these unfamiliar faces and the rows of wooden houses.
Several murky wells had been dug open, forming small ponds. In the clearing not far away, there was even a Demonic Nightmare pickup truck parked; the loose gas cap still emitted a metallic bloody scent, attracting lingering insects. There were many more wheelbarrows and beasts with nose ropes tied.
“This is nothing much.”
Luo Bin, who was helping unload cargo from the giant carpet, chuckled. He shouted a command, and immediately a group of people came forward to help unload the bundled fabrics and clothes brought back from Rose Creek.
Teacher Chen dashed out of the house like a whirlwind. “Zizang is back! Haha, what do you think? Quite a change, isn’t it?”
“It sure is.”
Lyv Zhi, leaning on his cane, hugged Yang Zicang and clapped him on the shoulder. “Needless to say, of course. Word of us has spread far and wide! Come on, let’s head inside quickly.”
As the few of them entered this ancient, otherworldly building—replicated by Oblivion Engines—people from inside hurried over in surprise to greet them as they walked in.
No sooner had they sat down than Zuo Feixian burst through the doorway, trailing dust, gleefully throwing his arms around their shoulders in hugs. Laughing wildly, he tried to scoop up Yang Zicang to weigh him, to see if he’d put on any meat.
“Stop messing around,” Teacher Chen said while pouring tea.
“Zi-cang, after we got a large number of commercial orders from Hub Town at last month’s Autumn Gathering, our Dajiafang Construction Team’s reputation grew even stronger. People from many nearby shed areas have been coming over here to trade. And, haha, quite a few came and simply didn’t want to leave anymore.”
Yang Zicang brought the teacup to his lips, about to take a sip, but upon hearing this, he looked up with curiosity and asked:
“Could it be because it’s safer here?”
Teacher Chen cast a glance at Lü Zhi, who looked a bit embarrassed, and said, “Exactly. Ever since Lü Zhi gained control of that illusion artifact, he can instantly funnel his mental power to a range of over ten kilometers, and he can even launch mental attacks covering a territory of twenty to thirty li. With such defensive strength, which large shed on the Lost Frequency Lands can claim to be able to do the same?”
“Haha!”
Upon hearing Teacher Chen’s words, everyone in the room made no effort to hide their pride and burst into hearty laughter.
A sense of relief also welled up in Yang Zicang’s heart.
“A treasure that brings benefits to more people is the real treasure.”
“It’s not just safety. The water here is fresh, there are plentiful fields, and we have a drugstore and a department store. Hah, who wouldn’t want to come over? Aya came and flatly refused to go back to Ning Yang’s place.”
Hearing Aya’s name mentioned, several of them in the room exchanged lewd winks and snickered mischievously. The woman who had been trafficked to Ning Yang’s shed district was inherently pretty, and now that she had settled here, she had stirred the appetites of these rough men, who eagerly went to pay her court every other day.
“Everyone did well,” the young man said, turning to Lyu Zhi. “Lyu Zhi, from now on, you’ll be in charge of the treasure exclusively. Take good care of the land that Qin Meng left us.”
Lyu Zhi nodded solemnly.
“It’s just that I can’t fully unleash its power the way it did among those mountains.”
“How can the living compare to the dead? To fully unleash its power, you’d have to give up your own body and merge your Psychic Body with it. Don’t ever think about doing something like that.”
Teacher Chen said, “I think our settlement here is bound to become a major hub that rivals ‘Trouble-Free Trade Zone’. But as the population grows, we’ll face all sorts of construction and planning issues… Zizang, can you think of anyone from your time in the city who has experience in this area and is trustworthy?”
Zuo Feixian quickly added, “And we need more materials too. Besides the well, the riverbed can also be used. Our snow slope has already melted; you know what that means, right? So the remaining plots require professional maintenance. Left untended, they’ll only go to waste.”
A stranger with a deeply tanned complexion said, “We managed to bring back a few more fertile Terrain Engines from ‘Six Mountain Ridge’. They should yield some good farmland in the future. If we can have a stream around them, they’ll be even more fruitful.”
“And there’s the issue of construction. If we keep using wooden planks for all these people, we’ll run out of trees. Shed Master Song plans to come over soon and will bring some planks, but his vehicle will already be crowded with his people. Besides, to cut down on yearly replacements, we all think it’s best to get hold of more ‘Lost Cognitive Engines’ of the architectural type.”
Yang Zicang felt a headache coming on.
He had no experience in urban planning whatsoever, but fortunately, the board of the “Monster Hunter Alliance” kept many such “idle hands” on payroll. At this moment, Yang Zicang also began to understand some of the difficulties faced by the “Headquarters,” and sighed in relief that, while they were rather infuriating toward combatants, at least they allowed those with knowledge to survive.
“About that… we can’t just expand blindly. We need to consider security as well.”
Speaking of security, Yang Zicang remembered Yuan Kun and asked offhandedly. The others said that kid had already formed his own hired goods transport team, the “Great Wilderness Spear Brigade,” and often took jobs transporting goods and hunting for the settlement—he had completely gone solo.
Luo Bin and Little Liu walked in carrying two piles of clothes and casually tossed them to Zuo Feixian. “Divide them up.”
Yang Zicang looked at the entering Luo Bin and said:
“For the planning matters, just ask Luo Bin. From now on, he’ll be the one handling most of these decision-making things.”
He turned to the slender, bespectacled Teacher Chen. “Also, Teacher Chen, from now on don’t bother with anything else. You’ll be solely responsible for producing our fossil relic equipment.”
“How many pieces do you want?”
“Heh.” Yang Zicang said with deep meaning, “It’s not a matter of how many pieces. I’ll tell you the specifics later.”
After stepping out for a walk, Yang Zicang brought Luo Bin to Hub Town.
On the train.
“So, do you have confidence in running this settlement well?”
“Are you really that reassured about me? Isn’t it just a job that’s over in three months? What, is it so cushy over there you don’t want to come back?”
“Hmph.” Yang Zicang shot him a glare. “You know how terrifying an existence like Xingmiao is. But even someone so strong couldn’t stop their world from perishing. Do you really think our puny strength amounts to anything?”
Yang Zicang relaxed, resting his hands behind his head against the train seat, speaking with a somewhat resigned tone:
“Even after I resign, I’ll have to find ways to boost my strength faster. Otherwise, who knows if one day disaster won’t come crashing down—heaven falling and earth cracking. Don’t you think?”
“Boosting your strength, huh…”
Luo Bin lowered his head, gazing at his own chest. “To be honest, if it weren’t for you, I might still be in the city, trying to upgrade my model on my own. But now, you already wield the ultimate power I’ve dreamed of, and yet you still want to climb higher.”
He murmured, as if baring his soul.
“But I… can’t see any direction to further improve my strength.”
Yang Zicang looked at this seemingly alcohol-addicted, ordinary-looking, chubby man. In reality, though, Luo Bin was someone who had struggled and stumbled through this nightmare-level world entirely on his own, painstakingly compiling thousands of detailed documents in a desperate bid to refine his model.
A man like him knew how to conceal himself, yet he never wavered from his original goals and never lacked drive.
This was also why Yang Zicang felt at ease entrusting that gathering place—built on the vision of a better life for so many—into the hands of this portly man.
“And that’s why meeting today, for this very purpose, is something I came to bring up.”
“What do you mean?”
“The quadrilateral isn’t the end. Bloodline abilities are stronger, but something seems to have gone wrong with my last attempt to obtain the Bloodline Resonance Statue.”
Luo Bin stared wide-eyed at Yang Zicang. “What, what the hell? Your plan to get the Bloodline Resonance Statue—when did that happen!”
“I’ll tell you once I figure it out myself.”
……
In Morrie’s room, Yang Zicang closed the door and locked eyes with the man.
“Did you know, what’s in that Emblem World we visited?”
“Looks like you’ve caught on to something.” A glint of a smile flashed in Morrie’s eyes. “Fine, I admit it—Haocheng left some intel for you in there that needed deciphering. But don’t ask too much, or I might change more of the future than I should.”
Lou Bin, sitting beside them, stared blankly at the exchange.
Not even Boboli was allowed in for this talk—so how come he himself got a seat? Hmm…
Hearing this, Yang Zicang relaxed and straightened up. “So that’s it—information about the future. No wonder those guys were so desperate to get their hands on it.”
Finally, he understood why Han Mingxiao, someone who had painstakingly infiltrated and hidden within Lost Illusion Company for so long, would risk exposure just to enter the Sankt-level Psychic Loss Field corresponding to the Emblem.
“So Haocheng planted it there. Then I won’t ask anymore.”
That man named “Hong Haocheng,” whom he had never met before, took the risk of reshaping fate—though he had pushed Morrie into the dangerous position of potentially crossing his own timeline to deliver the intel.
“Zicang, I have a question about the Void Zero weapons you mentioned earlier.” Once Yang Zicang finished asking about what puzzled him, Morrie said, “Since it’s very difficult for people from other cities to enter City 11, if you can go in so easily to create weapons, are there any restrictions?”
“There are indeed restrictions—very significant ones.”
The two looked at Yang Zicang.
“Not only can we not transfer those weapons out of the city, but we can’t even produce them there either. However, it doesn’t matter if we just bring people in.”
“Bring what in?!”
“You want to take people in? With such terrifying weapons, how would we defend against them if they leak out?”
“The ranks of the top 25 cities could have agents that manage to enter the devastated City 11, so Void Zero weapons have already been obtained by some experts; they just keep it secret. Bringing some people in won’t cause a proliferation; instead, it can create a form of containment. Moreover…”
“Moreover, what?” Luo Bin suddenly straightened his back, clearly indicating Yang Zicang was about to say something important.
“If we equip fossil relics with Astral Binding Cores attached, then it would allow Void Zero Sequence to be easily nullified against each other, like clashing weapons.”
“Fossil relics?” Luo Bin thought for a moment, then his eyes suddenly lit up. “You mean those ancient equipment from another world that Teacher Chen studied?”
Luo Bin felt his blood boiling wildly, as though countless “Born Treasure” abilities were falling from the void onto him.
“That’s exactly the kind of thing we can manufacture! So this was your plan, you bastard!”
Selling spears isn’t as good as selling shields; one swing of the sword puts everyone in danger, so the demand for previously undervalued exotic-world equipment will skyrocket in an instant.
Even after leaving Morrie’s new house, Luo Bin was still dazed. He looked at Yang Zicang, who seemed very relaxed by his side.
This guy has quite a few secrets hidden up his sleeve.
Qingqing licking his lips, he took a couple of steps back.
Come on, let me see what other goodies you’ve got hidden away.
Luo Bin closed his eyes, the ring on his chest glowing as the quadrilateral slowly rotated. Suddenly…
Pfft!
Two streams of blood shot out from Luo Bin’s nostrils.
Yang Zicang turned his head. “What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing.” Luo Bin wiped his nosebleed and said.
Title: Round Up for Commissioning
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