Fan Domain's undersea tunnel.
A high-speed rail car loaded with supplies and members of Fan Domain's Commerce Pavilion shot forward through the pitch-black tunnel.
There was no scenery on either side.
No light sources.
Through the windows, only the dark, elliptical contour of the tunnel was faintly visible.
Seated inside the carriage, the Commerce Pavilion members were both nervous and excited. They had no idea what their mission entailed, only that they were heading out to explore a new land.
It was a major assignment.
And during the months the Domain Master had disappeared, he had been laying the groundwork for this very endeavor.
Now the preparations were complete, and it was their turn to take the stage.
Fan Domain's high-speed rail cars had originally lacked seating; built on the prototype of a max-level hanging basket, they naturally had none. But for certain cars reserved exclusively for Fan Domain personnel, the Logistics Pavilion had installed seats.
It made the journey far more comfortable.
After all, Hope Island was a full thousand kilometers from Fan Domain—a ride of two shichen, or four hours.
If they had to stand the entire way, they would hardly be fit to dive straight into work upon arriving.
"A bunch of kids."
Inside the car, Zhang Damao, sitting beside Wang Mazi, looked around at the anxious and excited Commerce Pavilion members. Grinning, he barked, "This mission isn't all that dangerous. It's a walk in the park compared to our last run. What we did back then was truly risking our necks."
Zhang Damao was a veteran of the Commerce Pavilion.
He had crossed the forbidden death zone known as the Thunderstorm Sea with Wang Mazi, discovered the New Continent, and returned in triumph.
Following recruitment drives, the Commerce Pavilion had expanded to more than seventy members.
The eleven who had survived alongside Wang Mazi had all received official appointments, each serving as a squad leader in charge of several subordinates. Within Fan Domain, Commerce Pavilion members rose through the ranks faster than anyone else.
By now, they had truly come into their own.
Truth be told, he was somewhat uneasy himself. He didn't know what the mission was either—only that the Pavilion Master had told them the danger level was low. But remembering that he was now an officer with a title, he reflexively put on a brave front so as not to betray his apprehension.
"Brother Mao," a nervous Commerce Pavilion member from his squad asked, "do you know where this undersea tunnel leads? It feels like we've been riding for ages. If we were on the Jiangbei wasteland, we'd almost be at the bridgehead by now, getting ready to cross into Jiangnan."
Zhang Damao chuckled, feeling a bit nostalgic. "This undersea tunnel is far longer than Line 1. Just sit back and relax; we've still got a long way to go."
"Don't say I didn't warn you," he added. "You'd better use this time to eat, drink, fill your bellies, and get some sleep. Conserve your energy. Once we arrive, if danger strikes, whoever runs the slowest dies."
"That's also why in the Spirit Accumulation Pavilion, our Commerce Pavilion members always prioritize movement techniques when training in martial arts. We don't need to kill enemies. We just need to run fast enough."
"Understood."
Taking a deep breath, the squad member took the advice to heart. Pulling some dry rations from his pocket, he began chewing quickly. He had originally belonged to the Logistics Pavilion, but had applied for a transfer to join the Commerce Pavilion.
His superiors had approved it.
The Logistics Pavilion was extraordinarily safe.
The places they went were locations ghost creatures never bothered. To be blunt, the Logistics Pavilion had the third-lowest casualty rate in Fan Domain. It wasn't the absolute lowest, since if war broke out, transporting supplies to the front lines carried some risk.
However, the Commerce Pavilion was universally known to have an extremely high casualty rate.
In other factions, commerce pavilions primarily handled business.
In Fan Domain, the Commerce Pavilion was mainly tasked with exploration.
Exploration often brought immense opportunities alongside immense perils. It was a department where one could make tremendous meritorious contributions in an instant—or end up dead in an instant. The Logistics Pavilion was safe, but offered virtually no opportunities to earn glory.
And his sole reason for requesting a transfer to the Commerce Pavilion was that he wanted to earn merits, gain promotions, and raise his pay.
It was that simple.
In the past, there had been no ladder to climb. Fate was decided at birth, and all one could do was scrape by in silence, praying to survive the next rainy season. Now that an opportunity existed, he wanted to give it a shot and see how far he could go.
Wang Mazi stood at the front of the carriage, gazing into the dark depths of the tunnel ahead. Listening to his subordinates chatting behind him, a smile crept into his eyes, though he didn't turn around to join in. Back during the rainy season, when he followed Wang Kui to Jiangbei Chen Family Outpost No. 37 and first met the Domain Master, he had never imagined his fate would pivot from that very moment.
All he had wondered back then was whether those few arrow towers could protect them through the rainy season. He had never dreamed a day like this would come.
This expedition to explore the New Continent—this monumental mission that would determine the future direction of Fan Domain—was entrusted entirely to him, Wang Mazi, to execute!
Such trust was beyond words.
***
The New Continent.
By the beach, the temporary walled settlement Chen Fan had dubbed New Continent Outpost No. 1 cast a faint yellow glow into the night.
The inner city was enclosed by Level 6 walls ten meters long on each side.
The outer city was enclosed by Level 3 walls a thousand meters long on each side.
At the four corners of the outer walls, he had placed ghost fires to maximize the firing range of the God-Slaying Cannons mounted atop them. Night had fallen.
Eternal Night descended upon this slaughtered continent, blanketing the entire land in endless darkness. Only this fortress glowed with a tenacious yellow light, resembling an eggshell against the void.
Chen Fan stood on the wall, eyes narrowed as he peered outward.
He was waiting.
He was waiting to see if ghost creatures would attack. He wasn't certain whether any existed on this continent after Eternal Night fell, but so far, not a single one had appeared. He hadn't even heard the rustle or stir of ghost creatures in the darkness.
If any showed up, he would upgrade the walls immediately.
The outer walls of New Continent Outpost No. 1 were Level 3, which was already considerably tough. Even the walls of Fan City were currently only Level 1.
Outside of the rainy season, Level 1 walls were more than adequate.
In fact, under most non-rainy conditions, walls weren't even necessary; ghost creatures never assaulted ghost fire.
Still, this was the New Continent after all, situated upon an extraordinarily brutal ancient battlefield. He couldn't say for sure what might happen.
Yet looking at it now, this continent might truly be devoid of ghost creatures.
A deserted continent wrapped in silence.
Inside the settlement, hundreds of monkeys quietly and rapidly collected ghost stones and ghost bones from the ground, neatly piling them to the side. They were preparing to load them onto the train once the Commerce Pavilion members arrived so the haul could be transported back.
Because the undersea tunnel's rail line was a single track, there were no passing sidings.
Just then—
A faint hum echoed, and a travel-worn high-speed rail car pulled slowly to a halt at the tunnel exit.
"Domain Master!"
Wang Mazi led the Commerce Pavilion members up the wall, carrying large crates of supplies and jogging up excitedly to stand before Chen Fan. "All seventy-six members of the Commerce Pavilion have arrived! We've already rested on the train and are ready to deploy at any moment!"
Looking at Wang Mazi beside him, Chen Fan couldn't help but smile. After several months apart, Wang Mazi's face was as pockmarked as ever. Who could have imagined that the fellow who had jerked off to a female ghost back in the rainy season would grow into a Pavilion Master capable of standing on his own?
"You're not a nobody anymore. Haven't you thought of a way to clear up those pockmarks on your face?"
"Heh heh." Wang Mazi scratched the back of his head with an honest grin. "If I cleared them up, would I still be Wang Mazi?"
Chen Fan didn't pursue the joke. Turning to face the darkness beyond the wall, he paused for a long while before speaking in a soft, reflective tone.
"Wang Mazi."
"This is the New Continent. The continent you discovered."
"Over these past few months, Weiwei and I braved the wind and the elements to carve out this undersea tunnel. We completed a monumental engineering feat—one that I believe no faction on the Eternal Night Continent could ever match."
"I conducted a preliminary survey during the day."
"This is a continent thoroughly annihilated by ghost creatures, strewn with countless ghost stones and ghost bones. I can't say with absolute certainty whether any other ghost creatures remain, but in all likelihood, there are none."
"Those monkeys down in the settlement are exotic beasts Fan Domain subdued on Hope Island."
"They will be responsible for gathering the ghost stones and ghost bones across this land."
"However..."
"Ghost stones and bones aren't scattered uniformly across the entire continent. The abundance here is because this was a defensive line where an unimaginably fierce battle took place. Your Commerce Pavilion's mission is to explore this continent."
"Scout every destroyed defense line across this land."
"Seek out those ancient battlefields."
"Mark their coordinates on the ghost-skin maps."
"This matter is of the utmost importance to Fan Domain. I've delayed Fan Domain Telecommunications by several months for this—a project with sky-high expectations, projected to earn tens of millions of ghost stones."
"There may be many perils deep within the continent, but you must face them head-on."
"If you handle this well, I will credit you with another major merit."
"On the day the Jiangbei defense line is completed, you, Wang Mazi, will claim the top honor."
"Rest for the night. Depart tomorrow morning."
"Yes, sir!" Wang Mazi responded solemnly with a deep, resolute voice. "I will never disappoint the Domain Master's expectations!"
"All right." Chen Fan smiled and patted Wang Mazi on the shoulder. "In truth, there probably won't be too much danger. If you run into trouble, contact me immediately and I'll come to your aid."
"You've done well."
***
The members of Fan Domain's Commerce Pavilion had all gone to rest.
Only the monkeys continued their tireless labor.
In a little over half a day, they had already excavated all the ghost bones and ghost stones on the surface within the settlement and loaded two train cars to be shipped back to Fan Domain. The grounds of New Continent Outpost No. 1 were hardly small—a full kilometer on each side, covering a massive area.
The efficiency of these hundreds of monkeys was astonishing.
One could even say it was absurdly fast.
Moreover...
Coming down from the wall on his way to upgrade the Vehicle Workshop, Chen Fan paused beside the troop of monkeys with an odd look on his face, waving Quehou over.
"Quehou, tell them," Chen Fan said, "they don't need to push themselves so hard. There's plenty of work ahead. We have to cart all the ghost stones and heavenly materials and earthly treasures back from this continent; this is just the beginning. There are far more ghost stones and bones outside the walls waiting to be gathered. If they work themselves to the bone right from the start, they won't have any stamina left later. This is a long-term project—they should rest when it's time to rest."
Although these monkeys worked with extreme efficiency, he didn't want them exhausting themselves to collapse later on.
Notably, Quehou had mentioned that he could communicate on a basic level with them, instantly understanding each other's body language and glances. Chen Fan didn't know how he managed it—perhaps simply because both had "monkey" in their names.
"Understood!"
Quehou nodded and quickly summoned the Monkey King, who was directing its troop nearby. After man and monkey gestured and chattered at each other for a good while, Quehou returned to Chen Fan with a peculiar expression.
"Young Master."
"The Monkey King says they don't need to sleep. They restore their stamina through food. They haven't slept a wink since the day they were born, and there's only one circumstance where they do sleep—the eternal slumber of death."
"And they don't get tired."
"As long as they're fed, their energy is fully restored. Back on the island, it was precisely because they had boundless excess energy that they poured so much of it into planting trees."
Chen Fan stood in expressionless silence for a long time, the corner of his mouth twitching.
He didn't know the exact species name of these exotic beasts, nor had he observed any special abilities.
But now, he knew what their ability was:
The perfect workforce.
They didn't even need sleep.
What else could he say? If the monkeys weren't tired, he could hardly force them to sleep. He turned and headed toward the nearby warehouse. Before leaving, he glanced at the Monkey King standing nearby, chattering and waving its arms dramatically as it directed the work.
He wondered what criteria had led to this creature being chosen as king.
The Monkey King merely looked a bit larger and ran a bit faster than the rest; its strength didn't seem noticeably superior. It was also cowardly.
When Weiwei had charged out, the king had been the very first to flee.
And while all its subjects worked furiously, the king didn't lift a finger, serving solely as overseer.
It munched on a chicken drumstick while gesticulating orders, looking thoroughly pleased with itself.
Chen Fan entered the warehouse set up at New Continent Outpost No. 1, retrieved the Ya Bone and Sea Embryo brought by the Commerce Pavilion, and walked over to the Level 1 Vehicle Workshop nearby.
He prepared to upgrade it.
He needed to find a faster mode of land transportation for the Commerce Pavilion's continental exploration.
He wanted to see if upgrading the Vehicle Workshop would unlock one.
If not, they would have to rely on Skeleton Horses, which would slow exploration down considerably.
After several successive upgrades, a panel suddenly popped up before him:
[Vehicle Workshop upgraded to Level 4.]
[Please select an upgrade path:]
[1: Slightly reduce vehicle construction time.]
[2: Slightly reduce vehicle construction cost.]
[3: Slightly reduce vehicle energy consumption.]
[New craftable vehicle: Stilts. Can be operated by a single person on land, offering decent performance across complex terrain. Crafting cost: 100 ghost stones.]
This was the second Vehicle Workshop he had built.
When his previous workshop reached Level 4, the craftable vehicle had undergone a qualitative change into the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage, so he had never known what vehicle it would normally unlock.
Now he knew:
Stilts.
A vehicle that sounded practically useless, suitable only for extremely niche situations or peculiar terrain. Without lingering on the choice, he casually selected the first upgrade path.
The Vehicle Workshop continued upgrading.
Consuming 10,000 ghost stones, it reached Level 5, unlocking the craftable Giant Tortoise.
Consuming 20,000 ghost stones and one Ya Bone, it reached Level 6, unlocking the craftable Sea Ship.
Consuming 50,000 ghost stones and one Sea Embryo, it reached Level 7, unlocking:
[New craftable vehicle: Subsea Vessel. Can travel underwater at depths not exceeding 1,000 meters. Comes equipped with ghost fire and rudimentary cannon towers. Hull possesses defensive strength equivalent to a Level 2 wall. Crafting cost: 10,000 ghost stones.]
Chen Fan's eyes narrowed slightly. Raising the Vehicle Workshop to Level 7 yielded a subsea vessel—essentially a submarine capable of underwater navigation. This expanded Fan Domain's vehicle repertoire and vastly broadened its exploration reach.
A depth of a thousand meters was virtually unreachable by ordinary manpower.
Perhaps they could uncover numerous heavenly materials and earthly treasures on the seabed. It wasn't full deep sea; even the waters off the coast of Jiangbei didn't reach a thousand meters deep.
However, it was of no immediate use.
What he needed right now was an overland transport faster than a Skeleton Horse.
He didn't expect it to match his high-speed rail, but it had to outpace a Skeleton Horse. If it could match the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage—which was three times faster than a Skeleton Horse—that would be ideal.
He looked at the upgrade requirements:
[Note: Upgrading to Level 8 requires 100,000 ghost stones and two Sea Embryos.]
Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly. He had painstakingly hoarded eleven Sea Embryos, thinking they would last a long time, yet upgrading to Level 8 required two at once.
Pained though he felt, he didn't hesitate.
He had saved the Sea Embryos precisely for critical junctures like this.
He proceeded with the upgrade.
As 100,000 ghost stones liquefied into a milky sheen and surged into the Vehicle Workshop, he tossed the two Sea Embryos from their salt jar into the interior of the structure.
Soon, a panel flashed before his eyes:
[New craftable vehicle: Flying Boat. Dimensions: 70 meters long, 20 meters wide. Equipped with built-in ghost fire and customizable cannon towers. Hull possesses defensive strength equivalent to a Level 3 wall. Crafting cost: 100,000 ghost stones.]
Chen Fan froze in place, then broke into a wide grin.
This was it!
This was the exact vehicle he had wanted—the ideal vessel for the Commerce Pavilion's expedition. Looking over the vehicle's detailed specs, its speed was five times that of a Skeleton Horse.
Excellent.
That made it faster than the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage.
In fact, it was on par with the high-speed rail. Crucially, as an aerial craft, it could traverse all terrain in flight. Aerial vehicles held an overwhelming, dimensional advantage over land transport.
Aside from the steep crafting cost, it had no drawbacks.
He checked the requirements for the next upgrade:
[Note: Upgrading to Level 9 requires 200,000 ghost stones and one Mountain Embryo.]
He had no intention of upgrading further for now.
Even if he did, he would upgrade the workshop located at Fan Domain's headquarters.
This was merely a temporary rear outpost; there was no need for heavy asset investment here.
The flying boat would suffice.
The next moment—
After consuming 100,000 ghost stones with no additional materials needed, the Vehicle Workshop rumbled for the span of an incense stick.
The workshop doors swung open.
Countless wooden planks flew out, assembling rapidly into a colossal flying boat that hovered in the low air.
This was the vehicle that had taken him the longest to build.
And that was only because he had chosen to reduce crafting time at every upgrade option; otherwise, it would have taken even longer.
Still, it was well worth it.
Chen Fan gazed at the flying boat before him. Stretching seventy meters from bow to stern, it was undeniably imposing, larger even than the sea ships. There was only one way to board:
A rope ladder.
The deck hovered well above the ground, and since he couldn't fly, he had to climb up.
Once on deck, he inspected the various compartments inside the cabin.
There were living quarters.
A section housing the ghost fire.
And even... a Mustard Seed Chamber. Yes, the very same chamber found in the warehouse, though not quite as expansive. Still, it was impressive, dramatically multiplying the vessel's cargo capacity.
Unlike the sea ship, which came with built-in cannon towers, the flying boat had none pre-installed.
Instead, it provided customizable hardpoints—seventeen emplacements in total, distributed along the bow, stern, and both flanks.
He didn't scrimp.
He mounted seventeen max-level God-Slaying Cannons straight into those hardpoints.
A max-level God-Slaying Cannon was currently Fan Domain's most formidable offensive weapon, costing 37,800 ghost stones apiece. Crafting seventeen of them set him back a staggering 640,000 ghost stones.
This single flying boat was worth more than the accumulated reserves of several Jiangnan factions combined.
Extremely expensive.
Yet extraordinarily powerful.
Chen Fan stood on the deck, examining the brand-new vessel beneath his feet with immense satisfaction. This wasn't Fan Domain's first air-to-ground strike platform. The Nine-Five Dragon Carriage, that rare vehicle, possessed the ability to fly into the sky and deploy the Heaven and Earth Chessboard; every node on the board could support a cannon tower to rain devastating bombardment upon the earth.
Relying on that method, he had carried out the night raid on the Pill Sect and cemented Fan Domain's dominance over Jiangbei in a single stroke.
He simply hadn't used it a second time.
The Heaven and Earth Chessboard had numerous limitations.
Its biggest drawback was its finite durability; after several uses, the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage would shatter and become unusable. Furthermore, it could only hover for the span of an incense stick, and its aerial speed was far from swift.
The flying boat was different.
As long as ghost stones were supplied, it could remain airborne around the clock with zero usage limits.
Naturally, it fell short of the Heaven and Earth Chessboard in some respects. The chessboard had 361 nodes, each capable of hosting a cannon tower; if every node was fitted with a max-level God-Slaying Cannon, the sheer destructive power would dwarf the flying boat by orders of magnitude in a blanket bombardment.
To use an imperfect analogy:
The Nine-Five Dragon Carriage was like a limited-use, short-range strategic bomber meant for deterrence, while the flying boat was an unrestricted, long-range fighter.
The ghost fire aboard the flying boat didn't cover a vast radius—just enough to envelop the vessel itself, keeping ghost creatures at bay outside the rainy season.
Of course, aerial ghost creatures were exceedingly rare to begin with.
Like the Heaven and Earth Chessboard, the firing range of the cannons on the flying boat exceeded ordinary camp boundaries.
He also left 300,000 ghost stones in the craft's storage.
As great as the flying boat was, the amount of ghost stones required to fly it far exceeded other vehicles. Firing its cannons, however, incurred standard ammunition costs without extra penalties.
Three hundred thousand ghost stones should suffice.
With that, after expending a total of 1.04 million ghost stones, a flying boat armed to the teeth and stocked with fuel was complete!
Unlike the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage, this flying boat could be reproduced; in other words, it could be standardized and put into mass production!
If he had three flying boats, the skies over the four regions of Jiangbei would belong to him.
If he had thirty, the Guanxi Plain would have to bow its head in submission.
If he had three thousand, even ghost creatures seeking to invade the Eternal Night Continent would have to look to his countenance.
The cost was indeed exorbitant.
Chen Fan still felt a twinge of heartache. Although he was flush with wealth now, and Wang Kui reported daily via voice transmission talisman on how Fan Domain had been turned into a money-printing machine that raked in ghost stones even in Chen Fan's absence—bringing their total reserves to 47.98 million ghost stones—meaning he could well afford a million stones, it was still jarring.
Just half a year ago, during the rainy season, he had been pinching every single ghost stone as if splitting each one in half. Now, spending 1.04 million ghost stones to construct a single strategic-class flying boat truly felt extravagant.
Over the months spent excavating the undersea tunnel, Fan Domain's wealth accumulation had slowed slightly.
It wasn't because he wasn't there in person; even away from Fan Domain, he monitored and directed affairs daily via talisman. It was simply because the various factions and commoners were running out of ghost stones.
The initial intake had been lightning-fast largely because people had savings. By now, he had nearly drained them dry. People only had so many stones; ghost stones didn't appear out of thin air.
Under normal circumstances, according to plan, he should have been preparing to advance into the Guanxi Plain to expand his revenue base. But with the New Continent discovered, the focus had shifted to developing this new territory first.
After wrapping all this up, Chen Fan walked into a nearby wooden cabin to sleep. Once things were on track here, he planned to return to Fan Domain, where several buildings also needed upgrading.
Soon, light snores arose.
Chen Fan hadn't had a good night's rest in ages. Today, he was going to sleep his fill.
***
Inside New Continent Outpost No. 1, only the rustling sounds of the busy monkeys could be heard.
Aside from them, this continent was utterly empty. It exuded an atmosphere of desolate solitude. Quehou, however, was quite accustomed to it; he had already experienced such isolation during the rainy season.
That memory—when the entire Jiangbei wasteland seemed to hold only them, under ceaseless rain, surrounded by hordes of ghost creatures just beyond the ghost fire—was etched into his soul.
The monkeys adapted well too; on Hope Island, they had never seen humans anyway.
Weiwei needed no mention; for years it had guarded Nameless Mountain alone, never encountering people either.
Thus, an environment capable of driving any social creature to psychological despair had no negative effect on Chen Fan and his companions. Beyond being exceptionally quiet, it felt no different from ordinary life.
Who knew how much time had passed.
"Domain Master!"
"Domain Master!"
In his groggy haze, Chen Fan heard Wang Mazi shouting outside the window. Irritated, he pulled his head under the quilt and pressed the pillow over his ears. When one was busy and exhausted, one barely noticed it, but the moment one stopped, exhaustion collapsed upon the body like a lead weight.
He hadn't slept properly for months. Being woken from a deep slumber made him intensely annoyed. Right now, he wanted to ignore everything and just sleep; even if the sky fell, it could wait until he woke up.
Soon, the noise outside ceased.
Just as Chen Fan began drifting back to sleep, his chest suddenly grew warm, burning hotter by the second.
*Snap.*
Chen Fan threw the quilt aside, pulled out the scorching voice transmission talisman from his chest pocket, tossed it aside, dressed, and pulled open the door. He stared expressionlessly at Wang Mazi standing outside, behind whom stood dozens of neatly outfitted Commerce Pavilion members.
"Domain Master," Wang Mazi asked hesitantly, scratching his head, "did I disturb your sleep?"
"No."
Chen Fan looked up at the horizon, where the first faint glimmer of fish-belly white was dawning. Clearly, Eternal Night had just receded, and the sun had not yet risen; the sky hung in the transitional threshold between dark and light.
After a brief pause, he smiled.
"I was cultivating a mental art last night and got a bit carried away."
With that, fully shaking off his grogginess, he stepped out and led Wang Mazi and his group over to the flying boat. "This is a strategic-class flying boat I built for your Commerce Pavilion last night, at the cost of over a million ghost stones."
"Its maximum flight altitude is three thousand meters."
"Without activating the God-Slaying Cannons, flying at full speed consumes one thousand ghost stones a day. Its speed is on par with the high-speed rail, perhaps even slightly faster."
"There are currently three hundred thousand ghost stones stocked inside, enough to keep you flying for three hundred days."
"Of course, firing the God-Slaying Cannons is another matter entirely. They consume substantial energy, so try not to fire them unless it's an emergency."
"I've packed the Mustard Seed Chamber in the cabin completely full of ghost stones, so there's no room for other cargo. Your mission is exploration, not hauling."
"Figure out the rest yourselves."
With that, Chen Fan turned and walked back toward the wooden cabin.
He couldn't take it anymore.
He desperately needed to sleep. These past few months had nearly driven him mad with exhaustion; if he didn't get a proper rest, he would genuinely feel like murdering someone.
By the time the dumbfounded Wang Mazi and his crew snapped back to their senses, Chen Fan had already vanished. But a moment later, Wang Mazi grinned from ear to ear, threw his arm up, and roared, "Board the ship!"
Excitedly, the Commerce Pavilion members scurried up the rope ladders into the vessel.
Soon, the flying boat slowly lifted off. Turning around in midair like a floating leviathan, it surged ahead at tremendous speed, soaring over abandoned defense lines one after another toward the farthest reaches of the New Continent.
The Domain Master had erected a Signal Tower at New Continent Outpost No. 1.
Within a thousand li, they could maintain contact with the outpost.
Beyond a thousand li, they would lose contact.
Ahead lay the unknown, both daunting and thrilling.
Standing on the deck, Wang Mazi leaned over the railing, looking down at the ruined defense lines streaking past below. This was the first time he had seen the New Continent up close in broad daylight.
Those lines of fortifications, reduced to rubble...
The countless ghost stones and pale ghost bones half-buried beneath shifting sands...
All of it proved that this had once been an unimaginably catastrophic battlefield.
Innumerable lives had perished here.
Many years had passed, but time had not erased the scars. As latecomers, they had set foot on this continent once more, soaring through the upper sky toward the uncharted unknown.
Standing on the deck, Wang Mazi spread a single arm wide.
Feeling the chill of the high altitude and the howling wind rushing against his face, his spirits soared, and he almost felt inspired to compose a poem. It was the height of summer, yet up here, a cool chill hung in the air.
Not counting the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage, this was his first time flying in the sky.
It was also his first time viewing the world from such a perspective.
"Pavilion Master!" shouted Zhang Damao beside him, opening his mouth wide against the rushing wind. "Why don't you spread both arms?"
"Bullshit!" Wang Mazi snapped, clutching the deck railing tightly with his other hand. "With wind this strong, what if I fall off? Could you survive that drop?"
"Wang Tianfang found the user manual in the control cabin! We can activate a spirit shield to block the wind and cold!"
"Does it consume ghost stones?"
"It does—a hundred ghost stones a day."
"Damn it, that's expensive!" Wang Mazi cursed. "Leave it off! Save the ghost stones. It's not easy for Fan Domain to earn stones, and we still have to build the Jiangbei defense line. If the wind's strong, let it blow! Tell everyone on deck taking in the view to watch their step and not fucking fall overboard!"
By now, many Commerce Pavilion members were leaning against the railings, gazing downward.
This was their first time experiencing flight.
Truth be told, they were scared, their legs shaking.
Yet they were also thrilled.
The sensation felt like having an illicit rendezvous—a whirlwind of dread and excitement, an entirely novel life experience.
Wang Mazi glanced back at his subordinates, then turned back toward the plain ahead, grinning and muttering, "A bunch of country bumpkins who've never seen the world."
The next moment—
He suddenly froze, staring at an abandoned defense line on the distant ground. With sudden excitement, he shouted hurriedly, "Lower the flying boat! Go take a look down there!"
Having a flying boat was wonderful.
The visibility was boundless.
To think they had discovered another ancient battlefield so quickly!
Looking back now, they could still faintly see the seven abandoned defense lines erected at the entrance of the coastal plain. The two battlefields weren't far apart. On the ground, one couldn't fully appreciate just how magnificent those seven defense lines had been.
Only from the air could one see that the seven lines were packed closely together, forming a colossal rampart to shield the entire plain behind them, aiming to hold off all ghost creatures making landfall from the ocean floor.
Unfortunately, they had failed.
All seven lines had been reduced to ruins.
Before long, the flying boat touched down gently in the heart of this ancient battlefield. There was only a single defensive line here; as far as the eye could see, countless ruined structures sprawled across the earth, surrounded by ghost stones and ghost bones.
Wang Mazi lowered his head and kicked at the white bones closest to him. Not a scrap of flesh remained, nor did they appear weathered by the wind; they looked gnawed clean by creatures like vultures, though he had seen hardly any living creatures thus far.
It felt as though it wasn't just humanity that had been wiped out; other living beings had been nearly driven to extinction as well.
Back on the islands outside the New Continent, they had seen a few rats.
This defense line wasn't long. Gauging it from the air, it spanned only a few kilometers, standing at the entrance to a canyon with a mountain range stretching behind it—terrain somewhat reminiscent of the canyon at Nameless Mountain.
Wang Mazi lowered his head to mark the location on the ghost-skin map in his hands, then lingered no longer.
The flying boat rose straight into the air, resuming its journey of discovery.
Their duty was exploration; the extraction would be left to others.
Having the flying boat made things vastly easier. If they had been riding Skeleton Horses, their field of view would have been severely limited, and their pace exponentially slower.
***
Back at New Continent Outpost No. 1, Chen Fan stood before the Vehicle Workshop, crafting Giant Tortoises and sea ships. He hadn't gone back to sleep. He had wanted to catch some more rest, but once awoken, sleep eluded him. After inputting the production numbers, he walked over toward the seaside.
Standing by the shore, he gazed out across the ocean at the hundreds of tightly clustered islands. Densely packed, they looked like fragments of an entire continent shattered to pieces. Every island held countless ghost stones and ruined fortifications.
In the next instant—
Chapter 158