Qian Ye’s focus was on the layers of old and new markers. These were the temporary supply points and scout outposts of the two major factions. As the situation in the local war changed, such locations shifted the fastest, with information from different time periods overlapping.
However, Qian Ye still noticed that if the dark races departed from the old stronghold of the Bai Clan and headed for the central cave labyrinth, they would pass right through his defensive zone.
It was possible to take a detour, but there were several new areas of beast surges nearby, as well as a supply point that the Evernight and the Empire contested over repeatedly, fighting back and forth to control. If Aiden had not anticipated meeting Qian Ye, he would have chosen to cut straight through that area.
So, Aiden was going to the central cave labyrinth?
According to the intelligence currently available to the Empire, the central cave didn’t hold much in terms of resources and was highly dangerous.
After the will of the Void Behemoth that shrouded the floating land was eliminated, the Empire had organized personnel to conduct further investigations. They discovered that in a short period, the number of vicious beasts dwelling deep underground had increased by several types—beasts that had not been reported by the powerful figures who participated in the battle for the essence of the void. Among them, the highest-ranking beasts posed a significant threat even to a general.
In summary, apart from its location at the heart of the floating land, this was an utterly worthless region.
Qian Ye did not doubt the accuracy of the intelligence, as while the Imperial Family symbolically claimed the central cave, they had not invested any military forces within it. The Empire still did not know how the native fierce beasts in the cave multiplied, making it impossible to exterminate them. Ordinary troops entering the cave would suffer heavy losses, being annihilated in batches by the ferocious beasts.
Yet, the battle with Aiden indicated that the dark races’ understanding of the floating land differed from that of the Empire, especially in some mysterious aspects. From another perspective, since the Chaos Beast had chosen this floating land as its grave, there might be other unknown secrets here.
However, Qian Ye did not dwell on these thoughts. They were merely his speculations, with no concrete evidence, and he did not feel inclined to discuss this with the Li family.
By now, the quartermaster had completed the registration. The verification process was not complex, as the Li family had its own system to evaluate the completion of such tasks. Some of the casualty records and special operation intelligence came from the Evernight side, which corroborated the accuracy and rarely caused disputes.
The quartermaster simply checked the performance evaluation manual for the defense zone issued by the Li family for the past week, marking Qian Ye with an excellent rating. He then said, “The military merit for the defense zone has been recorded. It is currently for one cycle. Do you have anything else you need to exchange?”
“Anything else? Oh, no.” Qian Ye shook his head. Though he had the Shadow Ode, only a fool would exchange such a thing.
“No? Haha, lucky guy!” The quartermaster’s expression seemed somewhat strange.
Qian Ye understood what he was thinking. Under the current circumstances, the dark races stationed in the Crimson Sunset Bay clearly viewed the Misty Forest as a channel for reinforcements. Even if someone’s defense zone was on the forest’s edge or periphery, battles were bound to occur. With battles, there would be gains. Those who completed the defense zone missions would usually submit some military merit certificates and spoils, the more they submitted, the fiercer the battle.
But Qian Ye’s evaluation for this mission was excellent, yet he had nothing to show for it, indicating that no dark army had passed through his zone, and he had easily earned a generous reward.
Qian Ye was too lazy to explain and didn’t care if others misunderstood. Had he not coincidentally encountered Aiden and tied him down in his defense zone, it would have been hard to say how many of the Li family’s defenders near the central cave would have survived.
Those responsible for the Li family’s supervision and evaluation might eventually learn some details from the Evernight side, but the quartermaster, who handled logistics, would never have access to such intelligence.
As Qian Ye was leaving the exchange area, he suddenly heard someone shouting not far away, “What did you say? A damn ten-level acting general’s basic treatment is higher than mine? Has your Li family gone blind?”
The man’s voice was loud, with a thick and powerful origin force. His roar reverberated in the hall and carried far. Qian Ye’s brows furrowed slightly; the combination of “basic treatment” and “ten-level acting general” almost confirmed that they were talking about him.
When Li Yanshou offered him the terms, they were indeed very generous. In fact, the first batch of free strongholds joining the Li family’s defense zone, including Du Li and Zhu Huan, received favorable treatment.
However, after the introduction of the merit board and the high rewards for Mirror Water Purification and the Skywind Cloud Bead, the number of strongholds joining the Li family’s defense zone surged. The later arrivals naturally did not receive the same treatment as the first batch.
The Li family played their hand well. They needed to recruit many free strongholds, but instead of blindly increasing individual benefits, they used incentives. On the surface, the Li family invested invaluable rewards, but if you counted the number of new free strongholds, the average amount was less impressive. Simply adding gold coins to each person’s compensation would not have attracted so many strongholds.
However, the basic treatment for each individual should have been strictly confidential. Although there was a list of guest members in the early days, and Qian Ye’s ranking was quite noticeable, Du Li’s provocation also stemmed from this. But now, the information on participating strongholds was a thick book, already divided into different task types. Why would someone stir up trouble at this time?
Qian Ye paused, feeling the urge to look back, but quickly shook his head. He had no intention of dealing with a rash person incited by others. Let the mastermind behind the scenes come forward when they couldn’t hold back anymore. Since he chose to accept the Li family’s recruitment, he wasn’t afraid of being bothered.
Thus, Qian Ye continued toward his next destination: the workshop area. The Qu Long armor had suffered damage in two fierce battles, with the origin force arrays damaged and needing repair. Additionally, the chest armor given to him by Wei Po Tian, which had been stored in the An Duy space, was made of silk-wrapped refined gold, an excellent material.
The workshop area was vast, with over a dozen large workshops connected, each with its own specialty. Providing energy for this workshop area required two large power towers, showing the Li family’s long-term plans to develop this place into a self-sufficient permanent base, suitable for post-war reconstruction into a provincial capital.
As Qian Ye entered the battle armor and protective gear section, someone approached. The young man, seeing the rank of acting general on Qian Ye’s uniform, greeted enthusiastically, “How can I assist you?”
Qian Ye pointed to the alloy box in his hand, saying, “I have a suit of armor that needs repairing.”
“That’s easy, follow me. Master Zhu is on duty today. Your luck is good.”
The young man led Qian Ye to a workroom, knocked on the door, and said, “Master Zhu, there’s a general’s armor that needs repairing.”
A rough and impatient voice came from behind the door, “Fixing armor, and you’re bothering me with this? I’m busy! Send it to my apprentices, see if they have time.”
The young man, rebuffed, looked a bit displeased but tried again, “Master, this is a general! At least take a look, won’t you?”
“Scram!” came the curt reply.
Qian Ye, standing nearby, then said, “My armor is somewhat special. I’m afraid your apprentices can’t handle it.”
“Special, my ass!” The master inside clearly had heard this before and showed no grace.
Qian Ye hadn’t had the time to learn about the Qu Long’s craftsmanship and materials, but he knew one of the main ingredients, so he said, “This armor is made of Blue Steel.”
“Blue Steel?!”
Suddenly, a puff of steam rose from the bottom of the door frame, and mechanical tracks clicked and moved, slowly opening the door. As the door opened, a wave of heat rushed out, along with flickering firelight, making the room look like a giant furnace.
Inside the workroom, the furnace burned brightly, with a pot of molten metal bubbling on a rack, flashing with vibrant colors.
Master Zhu, though not tall, was broad-shouldered and muscular, built sturdily. He left the pot unattended and rushed out, asking, “Where is the armor? Is it from the Bai Clan?”
Qian Ye was not surprised by Master Zhu’s reaction but was intrigued by his mention of the Bai Clan.
“It is indeed from the Bai Clan, but how did you know?”
Master Zhu, impatiently, said, “Nonsense! The Bai Clan invented Blue Steel, and although the formula is now public, the main sources of the critical components are controlled by the Bai Clan. For years, only the Bai Clan has thoroughly understood the properties of Blue Steel. If Blue Steel armor is not made by the Bai Clan, it’s worth less.”
Qian Ye handed over the armor box, saying, “It is indeed from the Bai Clan.”
“Let me see it!” Master Zhu grabbed the box, which, despite its weight, didn’t seem too heavy in his hands. He opened the lid and took out the damaged chest plate, his eyes scanning a mark in the corner, and let out a cry, “Bai Songhe!”
Qian Ye, unfamiliar with the name, asked casually, only to receive a glare from Master Zhu, who scolded, “You don’t even know Master Bai? He’s a true master in the field of armor! Compared to him, I, Zhu Ruhuo, am nothing.”
Zhu Ruhuo pulled out the Qu Long pieces one by one, holding the damaged plates as if they were precious treasures. After examining the entire set, he finally looked up at Qian Ye, though his gaze was much softer.
Qian Ye asked, “Can this armor be repaired?”
Zhu Ruhuo carefully placed the Qu Long back in the box, his eyes fixed on every line, every curve, and even every damaged notch, as if the charred, gray, and mottled silver armor pieces were the most beautiful things in the world.
Qian Ye repeated his question twice before Zhu Ruhuo snapped out of his reverie, saying, “Of course it can be repaired, but it will take some time.”
“How long?”
“Ten days, no, three months!”
The young man who brought Qian Ye over couldn’t help but open his mouth, but before he could speak, Qian Ye understood. Clearly, Master Zhu wanted to study the methods Bai Songhe used to craft the Qu Long.
Qian Ye, undeterred, said, “I only have one day.”
“One day? That’s not enough! I haven’t even had a chance to look at it properly!”
Qian Ye, expressionless, said, “If you can’t fix it, I can go to the Bai Clan and find someone who can.”
Zhu Ruhuo opened his mouth, speechless for a moment, then let out a sigh, “With this level of damage, even if you take it to the Bai Clan, they can only restore the origin force array to 80%. One day isn’t even enough for a round trip.”
Qian Ye smiled, “You mean the load-reducing array? That’s not important, just fix the defensive parts.”
Zhu Ruhuo picked up the chest plate and examined it again, pondering, “One day is tight, but if we ignore the auxiliary array, it can be done. Come back tomorrow at this time! You’re lucky, I happen to have two pieces of Blue Steel in stock. For this armor, I’ll only charge you cost price, and the other minor materials are on me. But I have a condition: in the future, you can only bring this armor to me for repairs!”
This was a small surprise for Qian Ye, so he agreed to Zhu Ruhuo’s condition, left the Qu Long, and departed the workshop area.
The next day was uneventful, and Qian Ye enjoyed a rare moment of leisure, sleeping soundly. The night was peaceful, and the earlier shout in the exchange area had no follow-up.
But the calm before the storm was often the same.
The following morning, Qian Ye spent a leisurely day, replenishing some supplies, and then went to the military merit exchange area to check on the assessment of the two Dark Shadows blades.
Most humans who obtained black titanium weapons rarely used them directly. Instead, they tried to separate the black titanium for various uses, so the assessment and separation could be done simultaneously.
There were a few new faces in the military merit area, indicating the Li family’s recruitment efforts were ongoing. With more and more strongholds drawn in, the complexity of the personnel increased.
Qian Ye saw several small groups, though their attire was simple, their equipment and demeanor were unmistakable. If these people were truly freelancers living off bounties, it would be a miracle.
The military merit exchange was always efficient, and Qian Ye was informed that the value of the last loot had been credited. He checked his military merits and frowned.
The total column showed a high third-class merit, equivalent to killing a first-class viscount. The number of merits was a bit low, but it was normal. In both battles, Qian Ye had been locked in combat with Aiden, leaving no time for hunting. Occasionally, he managed to harvest a few unfortunate souls who stumbled into their battlefield, and later, he couldn’t even find the shadow of a dark scout.
However, if you considered the two Dark Shadows blades, the amount of merit was absurdly low. Qian Ye didn’t know the exact content of black titanium in the blades, but he had a basic idea of the purity. He estimated that the two blades alone should be worth at least a third-class merit, plus the bonus for special weapons, bringing the total to at least a high third-class merit.
“Can I see the detailed breakdown? The number of merits seems off.”
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