Anxious

The changes at Coast affected far more than just Luo Island. In fact, the impact on Luo Island was the lightest of all. Given Luo Island's size, Coast had long since established a total monopoly; this was nothing more than an internal adjustment that hardly made a ripple. Yet as employee benefits and compensation surged across the board, friendly competitors in Haizhou and the Mid-Continent began squirming... Even after the hike, the wages barely matched the statutory minimum wage prescribed for the Federation's Central City, but that was already enough to deliver a dimensional strike against industry peers in the wilderness and the Mid-Continent. What was more, there were insurance plans and bonuses, not to mention employee cafeterias and markets operated internally with zero profit margin, alongside generous employee discounts and perks on company products—including wilderness hard currencies like tricycles, pickups, vans, and tractors! *Dude, are you running a company or raising sworn death commandos?!* Faced with hordes of corporate pack mules resigning in droves, competitors were beside themselves with fury! And in that state of extreme rage, they raged several more times... Once the anger was spent, they wiped away their tears, clutched their contracts tight, and, with aching hearts, clicked their abacuses to figure out just how much of a raise they could afford to give. What else could they do? Pull dirty tricks? You had to be joking. In the wilderness of Haizhou, Coast was now an all-powerful titan blotting out the sky. It had only ever been Coast's security division heading out to collect debts, murder, and commit arson; when was it ever someone else's turn to play dirty? Even if you escalated complaints up the chain, where could you take them? The Haizhou Protectorate Office?! And in the Mid-Continent, they had the backing of the Tacheng Security Operations Division on the surface, staunch support and guarantees from the Church of Chongguang among the public, and in the shadows, the burgeoning White Nation Restoration Army keeping watch over you! In these chaotic times of war and strife, what could possibly possess someone to court death like that? It was under these circumstances that Xinquan Town began yet another round of expansion. Sprawling construction sites radiated outward from Coast's factory district. Vast numbers of scavengers were recruited, put through intensive crash courses, and immediately thrown onto construction sites and assembly lines, laboring behind heavy machinery. As populations converged, service and catering businesses sprouted like bamboo shoots from the wilderness outside Xinquan Town. It was as if an invisible gravity were tugging at scattered settlements across the wasteland; drawn by a magnetic pull, a colossal floating population gradually coalesced toward Xinquan. In the wilderness once loosely linked by Courier Logistics, a brand-new hub was steadily taking shape... And the catalyst for it all had begun late that night when Isis sent out the notice. "So that's it! I get it now!" Old Gou, who hadn't slept a wink all night while staring at the map of Haizhou, slammed the table in sudden revelation. Widening bloodshot eyes, he burst into wild laughter. "Mr. Ji is planning to build Xinquan City!" "What on earth?" Yu Shu stared, dumbfounded. "Wait, Old Gou, are you serious?" Wait, hadn't they both studied the same Federation language? Why had he stared at the employee regulations for half the day and deciphered nothing beyond tightening workplace discipline and safety protocols? Did you secretly tear out two pages or something?! "What else could it be?" Old Gou countered. "At this stage, what area does Coast still need to improve? Hasn't the boss always been strict about safety protocols? Why would he harp on the same old tune? "This has to be about bold expansion!" "Uh..." Yu Shu hesitated. "How about... we just ask him directly?" "No need. Look, Secretary Isis didn't say anything either, did she?" Gou Er gave a meaningful smile and patted his shoulder. *Little Yu, you're still too green! How the hell could anyone ask about something like this!* *If we don't ask, it's just the subordinates taking the initiative and guessing. Even if we mess up or fall short, it won't matter. But if Mr. Ji steps into the arena personally, and what if it produces no effect? Wouldn't that needlessly diminish his authority and stir up turmoil?* "Looking at the long run, this is about Xinquan City. Looking at the near term, isn't it just expanding Xinquan Town? It's not something accomplished overnight anyway. We just start doing it and lay down solid foundations!" Gou Er was fired up, his wizened, sallow face flushing crimson with excitement as he gestured animatedly. "Besides, is Xinquan City really impossible to build? "The way I see it, it's only a matter of time!" Otherwise, why would Mr. Ji spend so much effort, pour in so much blood and sweat, and build such a massive enterprise without demanding even a shred of profit or return? Wouldn't it all be for nothing! At that, Yu Shu fell silent. Their motives and starting points might differ, but on the future, Yu Shu had never once doubted. Xinquan City? It sounded a bit far-off, but as long as Mr. Ji was here, was it really an insurmountable feat? "Rest easy, Little Yu. I won't run wild, and you don't need to make a fuss either. As long as we have a clear picture in our heads, we just do the work steadily and get everyone pulling in the same direction. In the past, Mr. Ji always handled everything personally. Now that this rare opportunity is here, it's our chance to show him what his subordinates are capable of!" Hands clasped behind his back, Gou Er stood before the window, gazing out at Xinquan at four in the morning. His eyes shone with intense brilliance, as though beholding a rising sun. *No one understands the boss's ruthless drive and ambition better than me. No one!* *I have understood everything!* *Mr. Ji, I, Xun... no, I, Gou Er, will never let you down!* *Break through, One-Million-Horsepower Lackey Magnetic Field!* *From this day forth: ride horses, chop firewood, and build Xinquan City!* And so, whenever Ji Jue's vision went dark, the little figures that popped up grew ever more numerous, dancing with increasing exuberance! "Wait, Isis, over the past two days my vision has gone dark seventeen, eighteen, nineteen times. It's like I ate poisonous mushrooms—the hallucinations are getting crazier by the minute. Is this normal?" Ji Jue rubbed his buzzing temple, feeling that something was definitely off. "It is entirely normal, sir," Isis replied calmly. "According to my observations, everyone is exceedingly supportive of the regulations you issued. They have expressed one after another their desire to contribute bricks and mortar to your grand ambition, dedicating themselves so that you may acquire a new set of clothes. "Surely you wouldn't reject your employees' heartfelt devotion?" "Is that really it?" Ji Jue asked, bewildered. "Yes, precisely." Isis nodded resolutely. Then that had to be it—even if, somehow, somewhere, something seemed slightly amiss. Yet the secret rite of Chixiao was progressing steadily. In fact, its efficacy was stellar. In just two or three short days, Ji Jue felt fifty to sixty percent of the crushing weight across his body lift, replaced by an almost hallucinatory sensation of lightness. It was as though invisible palms were gently lifting him aloft. According to the records of the Nine Forms, once all the burdensome weight that impeded every step vanished, and the sword artisan felt the exhilarating freedom of heaven and earth moving in concert with every gesture, Chixiao's Foundation would be fully achieved. As for what it could develop into after that, that would be left entirely to fate and destiny. There was no helping it; precedents were simply too scarce. In several centuries, among the ancestors of the Ye family, hardly anyone had been formidable enough to carve out a new foundation overseas. Apart from the six ceremonial swords prepared in succession for emperors during the ancient Eternal Empire, there were virtually no examples to consult. And among those, not a single one could truly be called a success; even the occasional replicas had all been used by the main branch to suppress rebellions from branch families—stellar against their own kind, but an embarrassment before external foes. They offered no guidance whatsoever. He could only forge his own path! Now, the impact brought by true, orthodox Tianyuan could be said to be immediate. To say nothing of Xinquan and the Mid-Continent, all of Luo Island grew visibly tranquil, no longer plagued by widespread panic, functioning smoothly and methodically. It wasn't a sudden overnight cure, but a gradual shift that felt entirely natural. Perhaps it was the influence of Tianyuan's power, but Tianyuan was formless and shapeless. Immersed within it, who could explain it clearly? If one were to actually ask, the answers people gave were all over the map. "Mr. Ji isn't panicking, so what is there to panic about? The assistance hotline works fine, nothing to get worked up over. Coast is still paying daily wages, and today's leafy greens look fresh—gotta head over early to trade for more. Aren't patrols still running? Once you get used to those lumps of iron, they look kind of cute... Sea Locusts? Ah, right, that was a thing. Saw a huge swarm burnt to ash just last night. Fast work, though they made a racket; kept people awake. Could you put in a complaint for me?" Perhaps Tianyuan's power had stabilized the situation, or perhaps only after the situation stabilized was there room and foundation for Tianyuan to operate. Which contributed more, which came first—it was like the riddle of the chicken and the egg. While pursuing the question to its end yielded little practical value, pondering it seemed to grant a faint, deeper layer of comprehension toward the Supreme Good. Wasn't the so-called tapestry of Supreme Good—which compiled all of past and future, aggregating ten thousand phenomena—woven from these very threads of insignificant fibers intertwined together? Grains of infinitesimal dust gathered into mountain ranges; countless unremarkable mortals, through a lifetime of toil, life, and death, formed a single fraction of it, dyeing those strands with their joys, angers, sorrows, and delights. Even the exalted Chosen were nothing more than nodes woven from the warp and weft of Heaven's Mandate within it. Even the magnificent vastness of a Sage, viewed across the entirety of past and future, might be no more than a single motif in the grand design. And what did he count for in all of this now? An errant, tangled knot? Or a stain tarnishing the entire scroll? Ji Jue gazed at the seemingly eternal night beyond the window. Snapping out of his reverie, he let out a self-deprecating sigh. No point in reaching for castles in the air; better to keep focusing on the present. Under that same night sky, blazing flames raged across the sea. Swarm blood flames surged and spread, igniting countless rotting bones of calamity beasts. Amid artillery fire, the Sea Locusts gathering faintly around the city were thoroughly annihilated. Amid triumphant paeans of victory, the Yamen Fleet cruised majestically, displaying its power to defend the homeland, drawing cheers across live broadcasts. Far off, the heavily fortified central district of the Yamen Archipelago was brightly lit, buzzing with bustle and splendor as if nothing had changed. Regrettably, the districts scattered around the periphery were dimly lit—or plunged entirely into darkness. After days of earthquakes and rainstorms, only the drone of swarming flies and mosquitoes sounded in the devastated slums piled high with shacks. A deathly silence hung over the foul, narrow streets. Amid the ruins lay garbage and rotting corpses left uncollected everywhere. *Crack.* A faint, subtle sound. Beneath the shack ruins and garbage, the broken carcass of a Sea Locust suddenly pulsed. Amid the slime, from among torn eggs, a palm-sized larva hatched out. In the narrow crevice, it shook its body with difficulty, flinging off fluid, and wriggled along following the scent of rot. Sinking its teeth into a decaying corpse, it gorged itself ravenously. Soon, after a hearty meal, the newborn Sea Locust grew to the length of an arm. Swimming in the filthy water, its scales and carapace gradually hardened, sprouting several slender legs. The rudimentary shapes of wings formed on its back, though lacking sufficient nutrition to fully develop. Hungry, still ravenously hungry. Following the scent of decay, it sprang forward, devouring the remainder of the corpse along with its bones. Still not enough. Following an even sweeter aroma, it squeezed through a fissure in the sewer. It saw a young, dirty, bewildered face. A child curled up inside. *Food!* Instantly, it let out a delighted hiss and lunged forward impatiently. But immediately after, its compound eyes saw not terror, but the child's overjoyed smile. Brimming with delight. Grinning, baring chipped teeth. *Food!* *Thud!* A rusted piece of rebar stabbed down from the side, skewering the Sea Locust. Quick and precise, it pinned the newly airborne beast to the ground. In an instant, two or three people who had been holding their breath pounced, holding the creature down with all their might. Rebar and hammers rained down indiscriminately upon its head until the newborn Sea Locust stopped moving altogether. The starving people swarmed forward, tearing the Sea Locust apart and sharing the meat. Even the child who had served as bait was given a piece the size of two fists. Clutching the bloody chunk of meat with both hands, the child scrambled through the sewer on all fours, hunched over, stumbling several times before ducking into a long-abandoned pipe. In the foul stench, a curled figure covered with half a tattered blanket raised a swollen, pus-oozing face. "Look, Mama! Meat, we have meat!" The child held the large chunk to her lips. "Mama eat! Mama eat!" "Mm, Mama's eating... I'm eating." She took a tiny bite. A faint smile seemed to grace her swollen face as she held the child. "Good boy... eat, hurry and eat." The child kept his hands raised. One bite for Mama, one bite for me. When it was all gone, with the child nestled beside her, the mother fell into a deep sleep. The child leaned down, kissed her gently, and crawled back out on hands and knees to forage for more food. Just beyond the narrow ledge of the sewer, wastewater surged in a roiling, foul-smelling torrent. From the distance came the faint sound of shouting and screams. And wailing. In a square surging with crowds, torches and spotlights flared continuously. Disheveled refugees huddled together, holding up crude banners and placards, shouting disorderly slogans. Soon, they were dispersed by high-pressure water cannons. Leaving behind only wreckage and debris strewn across the ground. The torches went out. In the dirty water, a flier detailing the Seven Cities minimum wage ordinance and social relief efforts grew blurred. To the sound of cocking rifles, a combat-booted foot trampled through the dirty water, grinding the leaflet into the mud until it was indistinguishable. Nor did anyone care. Days slipped by, and Luo Island continued to operate steadily. Aside from the occasional small swarm of Sea Locusts, everything appeared normal. The once-sky-blotting calamity beasts seemed like an illusion, pushed to the back of people's minds. It had been over a week. With no movement for so long, maybe it was already over? Yet only Ji Jue knew that nothing was over—in fact, it hadn't even begun. In his observations, the Tyrant's covert corruption was still spreading... covert and swift, disturbing not a blade of grass or twig of wood, yet unnaturally fast! It was practically like sneaking back into an empty office over the weekend with duplicate keys to steal the official seal, knowing the exact position of every single surveillance camera. This level of familiarity was definitely not a first-time job! "Those useless bastards in the Sukarno family..." Ji Jue nearly ground his teeth to dust. He never expected he'd still have to wipe those scoundrels' asses at this stage. Surging with fury, he snapped, "Isis, double their workload again!" "Understood." If hard labor won't kill them, work them to death! Those useless trash thoroughly deserved it! Collaborating with a Tyrant was bargaining with a tiger for its hide to begin with, but they hadn't exercised a shred of caution. The guy had already snuck right behind them, and they still had no idea they were buck naked! According to Saino's confession, the collaboration between the Sukarno family and the Tyrant had been going on for a long time, tracing back hundreds of years to when the Sukarno family first established its foundation on Luo Island. Back then, like-minded scum had hit it off immediately. According to their pact, the Sukarno family was responsible for regularly supplying that Tyrant with healthy living humans, regardless of race or gender. In return, they could borrow the Tyrant's power to navigate perilous shipping lanes, expanding their business or covertly crushing other families' forces while disguising the incidents as calamities or accidents. Over all these years, they had colluded hand in glove, thick as thieves, even cooking up a monstrosity like the Bloodstained Mother. It was mainly because the Abyssal Lord couldn't go ashore and the Sukarnos couldn't venture into the deep sea; each needed what the other offered. Otherwise, such a prolonged partnership could never have lasted. And now, the Sukarno family was gone, and the thousand-plus people scheduled to be shipped into the abyssal trenches this quarter had all been happily absorbed into Ji Jue's factories. Though he didn't know what significance this batch of people held for the Abyssal Lord, between new grievances and old hatreds, it would be strange if the Abyssal Lord *weren't* hopping mad. When the Lou family was around, he naturally didn't dare show his face. But once the baneful winds arrived, the situation changed completely... After swigging down a couple of drinks to bolster his courage, he had rallied his strength and quietly reached his hand into Luo Island once again. Only, where on earth was this hand reaching in from? Ji Jue was utterly baffled. Lowering his gaze in deep concentration, numerous concealed drones carrying the spiritus blades of Chunjun had flown across Luo Island, relying on a wisp of the Fire of Non-Fate sealed within the blades. Through Non-Fate's resonance, he carefully traced the marks of the other party's infiltration. The invisible law of the Tyrant radiated outward like blooming petals, spreading stealthily in thin, subtle tendrils... and the absolute epicenter of the corrosion was none other than the reservoir at the heart of Luo Island! Built around the only freshwater lake on Luo Island, the reservoir was undoubtedly the island's lifeline, its primary source of drinking water. Following samples taken during routine patrols, Ji Jue could finally determine the entry point and exact origin of the Tyrant's law—at the bottom of the reservoir, a fissure resembling a spring that connected directly to underground water veins! The fissure had existed for untold years. Scoured smooth by water currents, it looked completely natural, still slowly bubbling with fresh water. Through such a narrow rift, the resonance from Non-Fate was extraordinarily intense. If Ji Jue wasn't mistaken, this fissure was very likely personally gouged open by the Tyrant of yesteryear! Even if it was so tiny—less than the size of a palm—wasn't a thousand-mile dike undone by an ant's burrow? There was an old saying: "Though thirsty, do not drink from the Robber's Spring." Sometimes that wasn't a moral maxim about integrity, but a genuine recipe for survival! The prerequisite of any contract was exchange. Once you swallowed a pie that fell from the sky, how much you paid for it was no longer up to you! Tianyuan's contracts were usually fairly equitable; at worst, they tacked on some interest, and even predatory agreements had their terms explicitly stated on paper. But what a Tyrant handed out was pure usury—the kind where you borrowed nine and repaid thirteen, with compound interest rolling like a tumbling donkey! You didn't even need to agree deliberately. Tilt your phone while gaming, accidentally scan your face, and *ding*—loan approved... By the time you realized what happened, the debt collectors were already standing at your front door. If Ji Jue's guess was correct, then for centuries, the water drunk by everyone on Luo Island had, to varying degrees, been mingled with spring water bestowed by the Tyrant! And that included Ji Jue himself! Even if it was merely a drop of water received in kindness, at a critical moment, the Tyrant could forcibly demand that it be repaid with a gushing spring! The Tyrant likely never imagined that a contingency originally meant to keep the Sukarno family in a stranglehold would now be turned on Ji Jue. If he had no prior defenses, then in the face of Sea Locust assaults breaching from without, beset by internal troubles and external threats in total disarray, Ji Jue dared not even imagine how catastrophic the fallout would be once the other side made their move. He might even fall entirely under the Tyrant's control! Mmh, if he didn't possess the Fire of Non-Fate, the Hand of Non-Offensive, Panying, Zhanlu, Juque, Chixiao's Foundation, the Veil, the Lord of the Flies, his status as a sword artisan, the Tianyuan position of the Emperor's Hand, his identity as the Wolf of the White Stag, the fire of the vile fiend, or the Celestial Rail Group's Doomsday Express, and so on and so forth... he really would be slaughtered like a lamb. As for now, watching the Tyrant's hand reach in from outside to grope around covertly, Ji Jue found himself in an unexpected dilemma—with so many fine gifts, which one should he use to entertain his guest? Also, what the hell was taking this bastard so long?! You've been brewing and peeping for so long—why don't you come inside and have a seat, damn it! I even pulled out Chixiao's Foundation as groundbait... Why won't this fish bite the hook? He was getting impatient. Not only was Ji Jue anxious, others were growing anxious too. Beneath the roiling turbid waves of the sea, ten thousand fathoms down in the abyssal trench, amid dilapidated palaces enshrouded in eternal darkness, an urgent voice sounded once more: "Luo Island is within arm's reach. All conditions are fully met. With such a rare opportunity before us, why does the Abyssal Lord hesitate to advance?"