Castle of Black Iron

Looking at Donder who was so excited, Zhang Tie became stunned as he had not imagined that such righteous words could come from that mean guy. What made him even more amazed was that the book that he had picked up from the roadside stall could play such a huge role.

Everything that had happened today made Zhang Tie muddle-headed. Soon after, he recovered his composure, realizing a lot of useful information from Donder’s words.

First, the cultivation of spiritual energy mainly relied on visualizations. However, before the secret of ’Mental Arithmetic by Abacus’ was discovered, it seemed that the greater part of methods being used to cultivate one’s spiritual energy were very sophisticated and hard to master. It was an especially tough challenge for young people and kids not yet twelve years old as they didn’t have a stable temperament.

Second, for a common boss of a grocery store in Blackhot City, it was not his place to care about the survival and development of Chinese. Their rise and fall were several millions of miles away from his daily life.

”Does me giving you the book mean so much?” Zhang Tie asked.

As for Donder’s explanation, if it was heard by someone in Blackhot City or the Norman Empire, that guy would join the list of missing people in less than two days with nothing of his presence remaining. How could he brag in such an exaggerated way by using hundreds of millions, even billions, of Chinese people?

”F*ck, of course I cannot, but the organization behind my back can!” Donder calmly replied.

”The organization behind your back?”

Zhang Tie was surprised. He finally understood that everybody had their own secrets, including him and even Donder, that mean guy.

”Of course!” Donder answered full of pride. There was a strange brilliance to him, almost a sense of honor, that Zhang Tie had not seen before. ”My status is very trivial in my organization, and I’m just an eye and an ear of my organization in Blackhot City. Do you understand it?”

Zhang Tie finally understood that Donder was a spy of his organization responsible for collecting intelligence in Blackhot City .

”How is your organization when compared to the Norman Empire?” Zhang Tie asked out of curiosity.

”Have you seen those ten thousand year fluorite lamps hanging on the wall?”

Zhang Tie nodded.

”If the Norman Empire was one ten thousand year fluorite lamp, my organization would be the shiny sun in the sky!” Donder solemnly said.

Zhang Tie was shocked once again.

”No doubt about that. If we can encounter each other in the future, you will know that I have not cheated you! Because of ’Mental Arithmetic by Abacus’, I’ve made great contribution to my organization. As a result, my organization dispatched me back to the Eastern Continent. My mission in Blackhot City has been completed in advance, and I finally have the chance to go back home!”

”Aren’t your organization in Blackson Human Clan Corridor?”

Donder smirked. ”Blackson Human Clan Corridor is a Hebrew expression. Among Chinese, it is called Waii Peninsula or Waii Subcontinent. It is only a small area on the entire Kun’ang Continent, an uncivilized area which is far away from the axis of the world and revolves around it. Do you know what is an uncivilized area to Chinese? You should understand that a really huge dragoon will not play with water in a shallow pond. As for me who is just dreaming of not having to starve to death, I was dispatched here to just watch the weather change!”

Zhang Tie stared at Donder, feeling uncomfortable about what he had said about the uncivilized thing.

”As for Chinese like you who have long been dispatched to an uncivilized area, when you’re alive, if you don’t come for a pilgrimage in the east or visit the place where gathers the most Chinese, if you don’t go to have a look in the area where your bloodline roots in so as to experience the honor and brilliance of the Chinese clan that you have not tasted before, you will have spent your life in vain!”

What Donder said made Zhang Tie long for that unknown glory. He asked, ”Are you leaving here for the Eastern Continent?”

”Yea, tonight I will leave Blackhot City for Kalur by train. When I arrive at Kalur, someone will pick me up over there. I will then take an airship. During the trip, I’ll transfer several stations by other vehicles. If I don’t get stuck somewhere in the middle, I’ll see the Eastern Continent in one and a half months.”

Zhang Tie’s face fell slightly. ”Will I see you again?”

Since Donder was almost a master to him, realizing that guy was going to leave soon, Zhang Tie felt a bit reluctant to part with him. In a split second, every memory that he had with this guy flashed across Zhang Tie’s mind. Instinctively, he felt like crying.

”This is the most important thing that I want to talk with you about, today!” Donder looked solemn. ”You should remember what I’ve told you today. No matter what, you have to leave Blackhot City along with your family members in two years, though the sooner, the better. You must move to settle down among Chinese nations in the southeast of Waii Peninsula first.

”Afterwards, you should seek for a chance to move all of your family members to the Eastern Continent. The entire world is going to be in great chaos. Hundreds of millions of lives will soon be burned into ashes. Waii Peninsula is not a long lasting area. For the sake of you and your family members’ lives, you have to leave as soon as possible!”

”Why?”

Zhang Tie’s heart pounded.

”Because the holy war between human beings and demons will start soon!” Donder gloomily said.

”A holy war?”

Zhang Tie was startled. Soon after he understood what Donder was talking about, his face immediately twitched.

Holy war? That phrase was able to startle everybody.

Given the history and relevant knowledge that Zhang Tie had learned about the holy wars, there was only one word that could be used to describe those two previous holy wars: Destroy!

Terrifying demons poured out of the underground world like locusts which could immediately sweep over human cities and nations one by one. Every place that demons passed by would become mountains and seas of bloody bodies, no single person left alive.

The first holy war broke out about 600 years ago. At that time, the human race, which had just recovered a bit, was almost completely destroyed by demons. At school, when giving an introduction to the first holy war, the science teacher only said several things: the amount of human casualties was 27 billion and over 600 human nations and regions were destroyed by demons.

The first holy war lasted roughly 70 years, over three generations. After this holy war, the total amount of human beings was only over 10 billions, which indicated that two thirds of people had died in the first holy war.

The second one broke out about 300 years ago, which was also called the one hundred years holy war. It lasted for over 110 years. The amount of casualties of human beings in this holy war was 48 billion. Over 1000 human nations and regions were destroyed by demons. Compared to the first holy war, the second one was much more miserable as many human races were completely eliminated by demons. Numerous human families were broken apart.

Each holy war between the human race and the demons would be a catastrophe of the entire human race.

When the respected science teacher was talking about the previous two holy wars, he even choked several times in class. Compared to any other kinds of wars, in holy wars between the two races, people had to save themselves. As for demons, humankind was their most delicious food whose fresh blood, muscles, and brains were the favorite food of all demons.

After each holy war, each black-and-white photo taken by historians and war correspondents about any place that once was occupied by demons was like vivid hell for those still alive.

Zhang Tie once saw the black-and-white photos that were brought to the classroom by the science teacher. That cruel scenes in them made Zhang Tie and all the other animals in his classroom sick. They had all lost appetite for lunch...

Holy war was a nightmare for each person, lasting over 100 years!

According to the previous two holy wars, the third holy war would probably be even more tragic than the previous ones. It would last longer while many more areas would be involved. As a result, more people would die in the third long lasting holy war.

”Go to the east. The most powerful Chinese clan is where the hope of the humans lies in. Even if all the humans on the Kun’ang Continent died in this holy war, the Eastern Continent could still support the last few people!” Donder said.

The dialogue with Donder before he left Blackhot City unlocked many puzzles in Zhang Tie’s mind. He abruptly understood why so many things happened in Blackhot City in the past two months: why the Andaman Alliance would be destroyed over night, why the prices of the grains on the market had started to surge since months ago, why Zerom said that the chaotic world would arrive.

It was because privileged big figures who had the right to write the history of Blackson Human Clan Corridor had accelerated their preparations for the incoming holy war. Before the arrival of the holy war, the alleged emperors and chancellors were nothing different from squirrels who were busy trying to save up for the winter.

How long was left before the third holy war between the human beings and demons would break out? According to Donder’s judgment, it would at least take five or twenty years at most before it finally broke out. But this short period before it began was for big figures to accomplish the warm-up mobilization which concerned the lives of the human clan.

Donder told Zhang Tie that many nations and families on the continents had already prepared for over 100 years for the third holy war between the human beings and the demons. However, no matter how well they had prepared. When the third holy war really broke out, all the preparations might not be enough.

Before the arrival of the overwhelming demons, nobody knew whether the steel and iron fortresses that they had built would be as weak as a piece of paper which would be easily broken by demons. Nobody dared to firmly say that the strategic materials that they had prepared could help them stick till the end of this holy war.

Before leaving, Donder gave Zhang Tie the following things: the real property transfer certificate of this apartment building, a lot of key belonging to it, several deeds of house property, 400 gold coins, and a strange resin card with many small holes on it. The older men told Zhang Tie that if he arrived at the Eastern Continent, he would definitely be able to find him using this card.

Besides these items, Donder also left Zhang Tie with a book about ’cross-dressing’. Everything in this basement was for ’cross-dressing’, including various props, materials, and clothes. There was even a hidden tunnel in the basement which led to a perennial chartered room of an underground bar.

That underground bar ran around the clock. As many people went there, nobody would notice him even if he accessed that chartered room from here.

As the third holy war would not break out soon, Donder hoped that Zhang Tie could well prepare and gain enough money to move his family members to the Eastern Continent, using the things provided by him.

This was the expenditure left for Zhangs’ escape. This amount of expenditure would allow a poor student like Zhang Tie to be one of the possessing class.

Donder didn’t care about this wealth at all. He said this was only a bit money, which was just a trivial compensation for him to thank for Zhang Tie’s gift of ’Mental Arithmetic by Abacus’. The organization that he was serving had awarded him many times more than this amount of wealth for his discovery of the ’Mental Arithmetic by Abacus’. Therefore, Donder told Zhang Tie not to feel reluctant for receiving such a bit of wealth.

After leaving the apartment building, Zhang Tie walked on the Avenue Monet for a long time. He felt muddled-headed as he hadn’t yet recovered his composure from everything that he had experienced today. Not until he turned to the avenue where his house was located and a little boy ran the bells on a bike, happily passing by, did Zhang Tie become clear-minded.

Seeing the innocent and joyful smile of that little boy and hearing the crispy rings of the bell, Zhang Tie almost immediately broke through a translucent glass wall that was before him, since he could finally see the entire vivid and free world again.

The holy war thing should not be a concern to a trivial person like him. No matter what, when he realized something bad was going to happen, he would run away along with his family members. This amount of wealth would even be enough for him to move his beloved girls like Pandora and the members of the Brotherhood away to the Eastern Continent.

Zhang Tie revealed a smile when he thought of the wealth left by Donder and felt very good.

’I’m rich, I’m rich! As a charter man of an apartment building, I’ll get a gold coin per month. Hista cannot imagine that I’ve made his dream come true, hahahaha...’

The entire Blackhot City suddenly became brilliant!

Humming all the way, Zhang Tie returned home. The moment he entered, he saw three guests: Alice, Beverly, and Pandora. They looked as beautiful as wax dolls and were chatting with his mom. Seeing Zhang Tie come in and his mouth falling open at the sight of them, the girls smiled at the same time.

Zhang Tie’s mom glared at him with mixed moods. ”My idiot son told me that he had found three girlfriends in the survival training, I didn’t believe that until the three beautiful girls came here for him now.”

With such a son, his mom felt both happy and worried. She became upset although being a bit excited: Zhang Tie was not that fickle in love and adorable in girls’ eyes. How could he bring back three girls merely in the survival training?

”Guoguo[1] has really grown up!”

His mom became gratified and dejectedly sighed inside...

Zhang Tie didn’t know that the news that he would start a duel with Sodor in two days had spread wide through many schools of Blackhot City. Few people knew that he had become a second lieutenant of the Norman Empire; it had only spread in a small circle. In many people’s eyes, a show between a fresh graduate and a LV 4 warrior was truly attractive.

However, Zhang Tie didn’t really have this thing on his mind. For him, the beginning of the life in Iron-Blood Camp was the most important thing in his future...

Not until Donder had left did Zhang Tie realize that he had forgotten to ask about his ability to throw lances so precisely, because the news that the third holy war between the human beings and the demons would soon break out was too appalling.

[1] Zhang Tie’s nickname at home. It means Little Fruit